Orange County Beer Festival 2010

Another great beer festival at Irvine Lake.  The second annual (hopefully) Orange County Beer Festival was held on May 15 instead of August like the previous year, and that resulted in much cooler weather.
I went with a friend and two designated drivers (always good to have a backup at an event like this in [...]

Tonight’s Tasting: Partagas Black Label Pronto and Spezial Pilsner

Life is good.  I scored with an impulsive cigar purchase, and I scored with tonight’s random pairing.
Partagas Black Label Pronto (4 3/16″ x 36)
The impulsive purchase in question was a box of Partagas Black Label Prontos.  You need to understand that I don’t buy boxes of cigars.  There are just too many great cigars out [...]

Tonight’s Tasting: God of Fire by Carlito and Hoegaarden White Beer

Hey Federal Trade Commission.  You’re telling me and all the other bloggers that if we get paid for an endorsement, we damn well better disclose that fact, or face a penalty of $11,000.  Well no one has ever paid me for an endorsement, and if they ever had I wouldn’t need you to tell me [...]

Tonight’s Tasting: Dixie Jazz Amber Light and G.A.R. Robusto

Dixie Jazz Amber Light
I picked this one at random, not even noticing it was a light beer.  It’s a great concept, giving you the option of a light amber beer when you want to save a few calories (just 92.5 calories).  And the taste did not disappoint.  It pours dark, with a nice foam [...]

Two Cool iPhone Apps to Help With Your Beer “Research”

Any app that can help with the task of finding and researching beer is okay in my book.  I found a couple that now hold places of honor on my iPhone.
The problems with so many iPhone apps that rely on data bases is that the data is so sparse that they little more than novelties.  [...]

Tonight’s Tasting: Sol Cubano Cuban Cabinet and Tire Bite Golden Ale

Temperatures in Southern California are back in the 80s.  The motorcycle is back on the road and the Lido Deck was singing its siren’s song.  Time for a pairing of beer and cigar.
Sol Cubano Cuban Cabinet, Magnum (6.0″ x 50)
I went to my humidor with no particular stick or style in mind, but was [...]

Alec Bradley Medalist Churchill Cigar Review

If you haven’t yet discovered CigarMonster.com, you should probably leave it that way. I usually have a tab on my browser open to CigarMonster. It’s a cool hourly timer, with a demonic laugh playing at the top of every hour when Famous Smoke Shop offers a new deal for that hour.
Problem is, [...]

Tonight’s Tasting: Mirror Mirror and Diesel Unholy Cocktail

The weather here in Southern California has been crazy, dipping down into the low 60s!  I had to search through the back of my closet to find a light jacket in order to go outside to smoke a cigar.  They’ll probably close schools and stuff until we get back into the 70s.
Nonetheless, I braved [...]

OC Beer Festival Set for May 15, 2010

The fine folks that brought us the Orange County Beer Festival last year were kind enough not to make us wait an entire year for a repeat.  The event was both magnificent and munificent last year, and in my review I suggested that any self-respecting beer drinker west of the Mississippi should plan on attending [...]

Out of Bounds Stout Ranked Number One in Competition

Great minds think alike.   Back in June, I wrote of the perfect convergence of beer and smoke when I teamed an Out of Bounds Stout, by Avery Brewing, with a God of Fire Robusto by Don Carlos.  I rated the Out of Bounds Stout a 9.6 on The Morris Scale — the highest ranking ever for a stout.  I [...]