Garrett Drinks Beer: Dernier jour en France

 Garrett's last day in France.

Garrett Drinks Beer: Jour Quatre

This might actually be Day Five?  I don't know?  I don't think Garrett sent me any texts yesterday.  He might have been too excited about getting back to Paris?  I don't know?

Anyways, today he is drinking Ma Petite Française Denise FPA, but I don't know if he liked it or not?

1774. Taxman Expat Toasted Coconut Tropical Lager

Once upon a time, Taxman was my favorite Indiana Brewery.

They still make beers I like, and will buy - but this is not one of them.

I love coconut, and this doesn't have much.

The beer is blah, and nothing stands out - other than the lack of coconut flavor.

Garrett Drinks Beer: Jour Trois, Quatrième Partie

Garrett added another French beer.

It was originally #74 on my FIRST 152 list.

But, then in the summer of 2021, when Caitlin and I were in Disney, and ate at the "Beauty and the Beast" themed restaurant Be Our Guest - I purposely drank this French beer, because "Beauty and the Beast" was originally a French novel.

1773. Guggman Haus Guard Shack

There are a lot of flavors going on this beer, and I actually think they blend well together.

It's billed as a "sour" but there's just the most minor hint of sour here, it's really a tasty tropical fruit punch flavor.  Obviously, there's not as much coconut as I would.  There's a hint of it, but it's also masked with the creamy milk sugar flavor.  But, these fruity flavors all go well together, and make for a really tasty beverage.

1772. Guggman Haus Sour: Raspberry Mango

My buddy Michael hit me up a few days ago and asked about my calendar on Sunday, which was pretty clear.  So, we made the plans to get together at Guggman Haus - it's about halfway between where we each live, and just hang out and chat.  Indy was out of town this weekend, and with no Bayern matches, and none of the guys seem to be getting together for the USA matches, it was just nice to get together and hang out.  We invited the other guys, but no one else was available.  So, we had some beer, talked about sports and movies and TV shows, and it was just a chill afternoon to hang out.  I'm glad Michael hit me up, it is always nice to go out and be in public, instead of the lonely feelings on my couch,  And with Garrett and Cara in France, that's harder to find people who want to hang out with me.

So, I was happy to see a sour from them that I haven't had.

It was tasty.  Good tart flavor.  Nice to drink.  I really enjoyed it.

Garrett Drinks Beer: Jour Trois, Troisième Partie

This beer is from Belgium.

Which I'm sure made Garrett happy it wasn't French.

I'm still jealousy of it, because I haven't tried it...

I'm NOT linking to their website, because it sucks, and doesn't work, and after I put in my birthday and click the "enter" button - NOTHING happens.  So, they don't deserve a link from me.

Garrett Drinks Beer: Jour Trois, Deuxième Partie

Garrett Drinks Beer followed up this morning with a text about finding a beer from Pelforth.

Visiting their website, I love seeing the four bottles that show the evolution of the Blonde Label over the past 100 years.  I like things like that, I don't like the my level of "French Jealousy" I have towards Garrett right now...

Garrett Drinks Beer: Jour Trois

Garrett's texts are getting earlier and earlier, and they make me want to start drinking earlier each day!

Luckily, this afternoon I'm headed to Guggman Haus to hang with one of my Bayern Brothers, and hopefully add a beer or two today, myself.

Garrett added three beers (Pale, Lager, and Amber) from Fidèle, and it's breweries like this that make me jealous of what he's getting to drink over there.

Garrett Drinks Beer: Jour Deux, Deuxième Partie

I can only imagine that Garrett and Cara had a romantic French dinner (hopefully some baguettes were involved...) before Garrett found this tasty-sounding 12% ABV:  Les Brasseurs de Gayant La Bière du Démon.

Garrett Drinks Beer: Jour Deux

Woke up this morning to another beet text from Garrett.

Looks like today's delicious is:

Fischer Doreleï Bière Ambrée (which some internet searching shows this is a Heineken product?)

and

Ninkasi Triple (which sounds absolutely amazing!!!)

1771. Brew Link Double-O

So, I took some of the beers that Ryan Miller gave me, and passed them on to my buddy John Peddie - so that he could try them for his BEER BLOG (I mean, I guess it's really a real blog that covers more than beer, but that's where he talks about beer, so I consider it a Beer Blog, despite the fact it's more than that...  Whatever...)

ANYWAYS!  I made sure I could catch Peddie at work, and when I arrived, I was happy to find that he had a gift for me in return!

And it's a gift that I am REALLY excited about.

This is a beer I've been wanting to try for years.

And I thought I had tried Brew Link before - I really thought Brandon Yotter had given me some back when we worked together.  But, according to my own website - I've never drank anything from them.

I was never willing to go all the way out to Plainfield to their Brewpub, and even though I saw some of their beers at the liquor store - if it's an Indiana brewery that I can visit, that's how I like to try their beers for the first time.  But, it never happened.  Peddie reminded me that they took over the former Two Deep Brewery - and now I need to find the time to head in there (it's still a trek from me, but half the distance to Plainfield).

So, after work today, I finally made the time to hit the grocery, and I just couldn't convince myself to buy an entire package of Oreos (I really try to avoid sweets, due to my lack of self control) - so, instead, I grabbed a small package of the Cakesters Oreos, and I thought that would be good enough.

So, the beer is good - but I think my expectations were too high.

I like the beer, it's nice and chocolatey and a little creamy.

I think I wish it was a little sweeter, it's just kind of dry upfront, and oddly, doesn't stay dry.

Which is good, and I like that.  As it warms up, it doesn't seem to alter the flavor very much.

Pair it with the Cakesters also doesn't really seem to have much an affect.

So, it's a really tasty beer, that's only fault is that it didn't live up to what I wanted.

Garrett Drinks Beer: Jour Un

My brother, Garrett Miller and his wife Cara are over in France right now.

And if you know Garrett, you know that's terrible for him - and how much he hates the French (or at least how much him and I play up our dislike for French Footballers/Clubs).

Well, he's using this trip to the best of his ability and making me jealous - by drinking French beers while he is over there.

Day One:

Pietra and Leffe (Beer #77 on the First 152)

The Tomb of Millerkhamun

Yesterday, I was headed down to Franklin to meet up with my buddy Troy, so we can grab dinner at The Willard, and then go to the Artcraft for their 35mm print showing of "Dazed and Confused".

My phone rang, and it was Ryan Miller.  He had an offer for me, and we agreed on a meeting time today.

When I showed up at the house he was moving out of, he opened the beer fridge in his garage, and said, "I have nowhere to store these at the new house.  Whatever you don't take, I'll have to throw away, so take whatever you want."

And looking in his fridge, I must have felt the same emotions as Howard Carter when he opened Tutankhamun's tomb.  There were Dark Lord beers, there is a special Dark Lord variant, multiple Bourbon Country variants, there were Taxman Evasion variants that have been aging since 2018.  There's random Sun King small batch beers, Untitled Art beers, New Glarus beers (not available here in Indiana), and there's a Lost Abbey. 

The fridge lit up like the briefcase from "Pulp Fiction".

Ryan's only stipulation is that I have to hold onto the Dark Lord Variant for him to come over and drink with me.  And that's something I have no problem doing.

I barely drink at home there days, but every now and then - I'll find something special from this lot to enjoy.

1770. Hi-Wire Boogie Board

So, I had high hopes for this beer. 

I have a place of affection for Hi-Wire.

This has all kinds of fruits, that I like.

But...  then.... it also has guava.

And the guava flavor over-powers all other flavors in this beer.

And that's disappointing.

I'm happy I tried the beer, it's good, but I wish some of those other fruits came through more than the guava.  I doubt I will ever drink it again.

And Cara makes a Miller Cameo.