Beers To Try Before you Die or the Beer Bucket 52 List 6 of 52 400 Smoked Pigasus From 4 Hands

Smoked Pigasus from 4 Hands Brewery is a nice smooth Porter. Just like the stouts and porters I tend to love it has a rich chocolate, caramel flavor. The Smoked Pigasus is a smoky blended malt of flavor. This is the technical terms, now to the most important part it is great tasting. 

I wanted to try beers from all over but had to grab some great local beers and this is a brewery I have actually been inside.

 Working my day job as a Photographer for a lifestyles and entertainment show, I get some perks, and 4 Hands Brewery was one of those perks.

 I have already tried their Reprise Centennial Red, Their Chocolate Milk Stout and the Pyrus (Saison) all really good beers. Also 4 hands would be the four hands of the owners family Kevin Lemp,  

no not those Lemps from St Louis 

With a lot of great beers and a nice atmosphere if you are here in St Louis for a visit, 4 Hands is absolutely worth your time. 

And Smoked Pigasus is also a definite if you are a beer lover.

I am going to give this one a 5 Beer rating,

 it is tops in my book and absolutely a beer I will be revisiting in the future. 

(after I try their Bona Fide Imperial Stout, which is the main reason this did not get a 6 pack I needed room for my favorite style of Beer hopefully I am right that will be a 6) 

To view what all the ratings mean go to the 52 Beers to try Before You die Bucket list page

Disclaimer I am a beer drinker and a beginner home brewer the above is only my taste buds telling me what I enjoy, it is not the law or rule of the land, these would be the beers that I am grateful to have tried before the day comes when I pass on and meet my maker. 

Anyone UP, for a Ride?

ON MY WAY!!!

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The Daily Beer And Bike Log Feb. 6, 2015 Enjoy The Ride

Well It has defiantly been tough trying to write about five times a week with not too much going down other than a new weekly beer and a couple of rides. I promise this should get better once the weather breaks and the mud dries into ride able dirt. 

So once again I find myself trying to wing it here. Mountain biking is a lot like life. You can cruise through it, following the trail as it winds and turns, having a blast, sometimes you have to crank it and go uphill, huffing and puffing along the way (or at least if you are 40 like me sometimes it is a bit of huffing and puffing)

Then once in a while life throws a tree root out in front of you as you try and hit that switchback too quick, and BAM! 

Not me but you get the point

You are airborne and not in a good way, since you left the bike behind you. You may be lucky and hit the dirt with minimal damage, or you may ricocheted off a tree and cut yourself up as you try and slow yourself down.

Again just a random pic but this is what I feel like as it is happening

 I can say that the few times I have wiped out it is strange that it happens so fast yet it seems like everything around you is in slow motion, well until impact.

And the impact is what changes us all. On the trail you are probably going to approach that turn a bit different next time, with more awareness and a little more skill than you approached with on that first try. In life shit happens, sometimes it is a scratch other times a deep cut you get when life sends you flying through the air and into a rough patch of woods. 

OUCH!

The best thing anyone can do is get back on the bike and try again. The past is the past, you can’t change it, but you can learn from it. There is no one who has rode through life without a fail, but there are those who ignore the fails (or falls) and keep approaching the situation the same way over and over again, with expectations that somehow the result will be different the next time.  I am not trying to write a post with any type of deep meaning here, just relating something I love with something I enjoy deeply. I love my life, it is a gift to have the family and support in the good and bad times. And Enjoy riding deeply, it is also a gift to escape once in a while into the woods and challenge myself.

For once this is me

In all just remember when you fall down, pick yourself back up, clean off the blood and dirt and keep riding. You may have to adjust your approach a bit, but in the end you will be better for it. GO RIDE!!!

The Daily Beer And Bike Log Feb 4, 2015 God's Roller Coaster

You know I don’t think I have day dreamed this much since I was a child. I watch the weather and hope for enough dry warm days in a row to get my bike on the dirt without it turning to Muck. I have only been out twice in 2015, both good times, both muddy dirty rides, but without wanting to screw up the trail for others not very long rides. Long enough to get a little aggression out on the trail, but not much time out there in the overall scheme of things.

I sit and watch videos, I read the magazines, and think about the next time I can ride my bike. Frustrating? Yes. Hey I get quality time with the family and that is important. Got to get out and run for the first time in a while, and since I have committed myself to some charity 5k’s and 4 milers I need to run a bit. But I would rather get on my bike, which is exercise anyway, but exercise I never think about till I need a sip of water.

Now I do not want to sound preachy or anything. I have a deep belief in God and that he created everything around us. And I think that is why I feel some peace in the woods and on the trail. I am not saying this is how you should feel, maybe to you the bike itself is what you see as the peace. I have just taken an idea that is not my own, (Actually read it in Phil and Jase  Robertson's books, and I think the idea is amazing) 

They see God as the Architect of all that surrounds us. I tend to agree with the idea. However you may look at it. Just stop for a moment and take it all in. 

 I look at my bike as a simple form of transportation that takes me onto God's roller coaster ride through the surroundings and it is everything weaved into this wonderful time I get to spend in the woods. (I also started hunting and get to feel it on a slowed down different level there also)

 Growing up a city kid, I did not get out into nature much. In the Military I got out a bit more, but after I almost avoided it. I would rather be inside. 

Then as I have gotten older, I rediscovered so many things I have missed. And because of my bike (along with hunting and fishing) I get to take it all in. When I get going on the bike everything is moving so fast, yet in slow motion.

 Don’t get me wrong one of those days in the mud, everything was moving slowly, it was hard fought, and the flow just was not there. But I still enjoyed my time outside. So weather you believe in God, you are an atheist, maybe you think Mother Nature herself is why we have what we have, get out there and enjoy the great outdoors. If you are reading this blog (all 4 or 5 of you) I assume you enjoy the biking route (and beer) but even when on your bike, stop for that sip of water once in a while and appreciate your surroundings. It is a beautiful thing.

The February 2015 Bottle opener of the Month!!!

This one is from Capcathcer Bottle openers A classic wall mounted Bottle opener, is it as fun as a lightsaber or .50 Cal bottle opener? No, but it is pretty cool

Bike School 101 From the Net: GoPro: Backflip Over 72ft Canyon - Kelly McGarry Red Bull Rampage 2013

Okay this really is not going to teach you how to back flip over a 72 foot canyon, but it is pretty cool. This is shit I only wish I could do. Now take me back to my teen years or even my early twenties I may give it a try, but these days my older ass is not going to end up in traction. Anyway watch and enjoy, This is from the GoPro page on YouTube, which has a ton of other sports that use the GoPro cameras'

The Daily Beer And Bike Log Feb 3, 2015 Budweiser Super Bowl Commercial What is a Beer Snob?

No riding as of yet so I am going to chat Beer today. While watching the Super Bowl  I know everyone wants to say aww look at the cute puppy in the Budweiser ad. I admit great ad until the fucking wolf. Really? You lost me there. I laughed at you not with you. That wolf would have eaten that puppy way before the Clydesdale's  got close. Granted they may have stomped him into the ground for eating their little buddy, which would have made a great commercial, but anyway...

But even more insulting was the attack on craft beer drinkers. Not so much that I was offended, just baffled as to why Ab InBev would do it.

Hey to each his own, if you enjoy Budweiser, more power to you, my taste is not going to be your taste (or in my opinion the lack of taste a Bud has, I have no desire to taste, I would rather drink water, since it is not that far off and I have at hockey games simply because I would rather pay 3 bucks for a water than 9 for a watered down beer)

 Anyway Budweiser or InBev as well as the other 2 of the Big Box beers enjoy a large part in the marketplace. But the "Micro" or craft breweries have been gaining steam for a while now. You wouldn't notice it in the supermarket much since the Big box beers take up a ton of real estate. (see the documentary Beer Wars great info on how this happens)  

Last I heard Craft beers have taken a almost 18 percent jump in the marketplace while the big companies have dropped a few percentage points (which for them I believe adds up to big bucks)

I am not trying to make them into the big bad corporate meanies here either. I could give two shits how much they make, More power to them it is the United States of America. But the fact that they feel threatened, although they kind of push that off in the ad, but paying millions for an ad to say they are not scared pretty much shows they are. 

 They are successful companies and enjoy what comes with that success. But there are so many other beers out there to try. Why limit yourself? Would you eat McDonald's burgers the rest of your life? We will get to that in a minute. First Anheuser Busch is trying to buy up Craft beer makers like they did with Elysian Brewing in Seattle  and you may not know it but they bought controlling interest the Chicago based company Goose Island  Back in 2011   (which in my opinion is good beer, hell even look at the bottle you would not know AB or InBev owns it, it isn't on the bottle anywhere) And then there is Shock Top, another decent summer time beer, that appears to be a craft beer but is made by Bud. 

So why the hell would AB shoot themselves in the face with an ad like this? Fuck if I know but here is my view on it.

It is like they are trying to divide people into beer drinkers and beer snobs. But who is the real snob here? Hey when I have no choice at a concert or an event I will have a Bud or Bud Select. The again if you look above I have taken the water option for my moneys worth at times. Would I rather have or try something else? Yes. But I am not saying I am above drinking a watered down beer. But they make people who like to experiment and seek out other types of beer into some Hipster snob.

 But I want the choice, and people who enjoy those beers should have the choice also, I don’t need to sniff my beer, or swirl it around (and I do know some people do that and that is fine, I don't do it with wine much either) I do smell the beer once in a while (usually the very first time I try something, it is part of your senses) but the enjoyment of drinking beer is…well drinking beer. They say Budweiser is "Beer for Drinking" and not to be "fussed over" or "Dissected"

If someone likes something, why not talk about it? Like a new movie, or book, food or Mountain biking trail? Hey, Captain Obvious, No shit beer is for drinking. You fucking tools in the end even my Imperial stout is to be enjoyed by, wait for it...Drinking!

Finding a great new beer to me is like when I was younger and finding a great new band. You spread the word and say wow the guitar playing is awesome, or the vocals kick ass. But in the end you enjoy the band for what it is. Music.

Do I really take offense to the ad itself? No. More so I look at it as AB InBev being hypocrites, if you don’t like the type of beer drinkers, who enjoy tasting and expanding their horizons in the world of beer, why are you trying to buy up the smaller "Craft Beer" companies? Or throwing out products like Shock Top (or Blue Moon which is Coors version of Craft beer) Then making a commercial that makes fun of those beer drinkers. Just strange to me.

Let’s go back to McDonald's burgers. McDonald's sells billions of burgers every year, do I love McDonald's Burgers? No. I really don't even like them at all. Would I eat it if not given a choice and I was hungry? Yes. (I can count the amount I have eaten in recent history. I have had three yes three burgers from McDonald's in the past 10-11 years)  Would I rather have a nice thick juicy burger full of flavor from a nice restaurant? Yeah, probably overpriced, but I have had some good ones. Or even better, from the grill in my backyard? The answer, every single time.  A frozen burger cooked on a grill with all the flavor taken out of it, just is not that appealing to me. I want variety and taste. Does that make me a burger snob?

 That is how I look at the beer. 

While as much as I make fun of a can of Budweiser it is not a horrible beer, but in my personal opinion, it just does not have that much taste to it, so it is not a good beer either. It is a light beer you can drink while fishing or maybe at a hot summer barbecue. So they are right it is a beer for drinking, that is all.

And how about this part of the commercial Beer Brewed the hard way....

Really? Somehow it is harder to make this beer with all the employees, and resources they have, than a batch of let's say Pumkin Peach Ale?

Now while Pumkin Peach Ale is also not my thing, (I have enjoyed some Pumkin brews but not a fan of peach)  there are plenty of Ales that are and I am sure a ton of heart soul and hard work goes into the smallest Micro brew (another knock in the commercial Bud is a "Macro Brewery" a name that makes the words AB Factory real fancy) 

While beers made by the smaller brewers (or hell even Sam Adams who has gotten to be big time yet still is a craft brewery and some of my favorite beers come from there) have in my personal opinion great taste, and I would rather support the local guy who is putting everything he has into his beer than a factory who may care about their product, I have no doubt about that, I am sure the people working there work hard, but it’s a product I would rather not drink (unless I had to) and if that makes me a beer snob, Well Fuck it! I guess I am a beer snob. And yes Budweiser "there is only one" Unfortunately for you there are thousands of other better tasting beers out there for me to try.

Beers To Try Before you Die or the Beer Bucket 52 List 5 of 52 400 Pound Monkey IPA

This past weekend was a blur. My wife and I had a bunch of things to do Saturday morning, I ran 3 miles for the first time in forever (to cold and wet for a bike ride so had to do something to keep the beer calories off) had Super Bowl Plans for Sunday which only would include my four quarters of Sam Adams Cream Stout.

Yum! (See Beer # 4 Post )

But in an Impromptu pay per view order we decided to watch UFC 183 Silva vs Diaz

And with a good fight night come some beer drinking. My Sister in Law helped out by bringing over some

400 Pound Monkey IPA by Left Hand Brewing

I have had Left hands Nitro Milk Stout and yes that will end up on this list

 But let's talk 400 Pound Monkey it is an English Style IPA, Now I am not a huge fan of IPA’s I like some and don’t like others, With Stouts, Porters and the seasonal Octoberfests type beers I am pretty consistent I enjoy most of them, But IPA some I can take others I can leave. 

With that explained I think I did like this one. The hoppy flavor that comes with IPA’s was there but not as sharp (thus I think well balanced?) as with some that I don’t enjoy. I also wanted to spread out my beer styles on this list (Later I will give a Short and Stout Top Ten, since these have been some of the best and every time I go shopping for a new beer find a ton of Stouts I want to try) and it takes a little arm twisting for me to go out and actually buy IPA’s so I am going with a few that she brings over during family get togethers and nights like UFC 183.

My Impression. Well, not a Skunky beer taste (meaning not a terrible beer) If you enjoy IPA’s (Like my sister in Law does) She said it was a good beer not tops but a middle of the road type IPA. 

For me my favorite has been Sam Adams Rebel IPA (Yeah I know I sound like they sponsor me or something, but no I just have not found many I like and the Rebel IPA is a West Coast style that I do enjoy)

 But this was good, good enough to say it should be one you should try before you die. Now I am going to give it a Single beer rating, 

Only because it has been my least favorite beer so far in this journey to 52, but again 1-6 is only in comparison to some solid and outright great beers (and that is only in my opinion, you know what opinions are like?) 

A one beer rating is still a great beer and worth your while and if you really like IPA’s this could rank higher on your own personal list. Well Until next time, Go out and enjoy some beers there are so many flavors and styles out there, don’t limit yourself to just one.

To view what all the ratings mean go to the 52 Beers to try Before You die Bucket list page

Disclaimer I am a beer drinker and a beginner home brewer the above is only my taste buds telling me what I enjoy, it is not the law or rule of the land, these would be the beers that I am grateful to have tried before the day comes when I pass on and meet my maker. 

The Daily Beer And Bike Log Feb 2, 2015 uDesign by Jakroo

I was looking for anything to write a post about..Since my weekend was spent centered around Super Bowl 49, and the Pats Pulling one out!!! GO PATS!!!

At this point I can not wait for some riding time to get you something a little more interesting that found shit on the net. Anyway I came across this ad on my facebook page, while scrolling through to see if anything good was happening out there. I thought this was pretty cool....

uDesign By Jakroo will help you create your own bike jersey I went through and tried to creat one just as an example but could not grab the pics. But if you want your own design on your own bike jersey this looks like a great place to design one.... Here is one designed by Bike MS and then a sample starter shirt.


                           

Kind of fun if you don't want to wear shirts with everyone elses logos all over them.

Mountain Bike 101 From The Net: How to ride Switchbacks on a Mountain Bike Better in 4 minutes

I am always looking for anything to help me become a better rider. And some days I have had trouble with the switchbacks (especially if they are going uphill) I found this one on the MTB tips YouTube page.  They have a bunch of great videos but this is the technique I will try next time out.

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