Tag: beer allowance

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The Beer Allowance – August

So this month, not that I was in dire need of beer. I just received the Stone 16th Anniversary IPA. But the $20 was burning a hole in my pocket and I had just learned via Beer of Tomorrow that a liquor store near me stocked craft beer so I headed to Bill’s Liquor in Atwater Village and took my $20 to spend.

And this is what I got….

Now, I wish to explain the reasoning behind this choice. I could have picked up the Ommegang Biere de Hougomont. (spell check that beer lovers) but that would have shot the wad on one bottle. They had Golden Road’s Wolf Among Weeds but I had already tried that. Some nice foreign beers as well but I decided to stay semi-local and try an offering from IE that I had at last year’s Brew at the Zoo and the anniversary ale from Bootleggers. Risky? Yes. But that is what this monthly allotment is for. To buy the beers that you have walked past before. Reviews will be up on both Untappd and Ratebeer when I decide to crack them open.

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The Beer Allowance – July

Each month in 2012 I have an extra $20 (courtesy of my wife) for craft beer and this month, I decided to go all Widmer….

I have tasted all of the Rotator series of IPA’s and so far, my favorite of the bunch is the Spiced IPA. Primarily because it was sooo different from the normal IPA. I first encountered Shaddock at the Oregon Brewer’s Festival a couple year’s back and was mildly impressed but I wanted to re-visit thinking that the recipe may have been tweaked.

I had two Omission choices. Lager or Pale Ale. I went with the lager simply because I don’t normally buy lagers and it was a hot day when I bought it. We shall see if that decision pays off.

You can check out what I bought in June (also from Oregon) HERE

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The Beer Allowance – April

Beer geeks don’t typically get beer at a major grocery chain. Either the selection is sub-par or the good stuff has been sitting for awhile because the typical buyer is picking up the cheapest or largest box of industrial water lager they can get into the cart.

But the Ralphs near me has really improved of late. Hangar 24. Dig from New Belgium. Some good Widmer bombers and I even saw Sublimely Self-Righteous on the shelf. So I have been making a point to buy beer there on occasion to endorse the changes. Letting my wallet do the talking and taking advantage of the fact that they are tracking my purchases and someone in data analysis will see that I started buying when the changes were made.

And one of those purchases was my April beer allowance money from my wife…..

I have heard good reports on the Discord and Outburst IPAs from Pyramid and throwing in a maibock and their decent but not exciting hefe is a steal. And like the first three months. I even saved a bit of my $20 to spend at the end of the year!

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The Beer Allowance – March

Instead of waiting until the middle of the month or till the end, in March, despite having a well filled ‘fridge. I took my $20 allowance that I received for Christmas and went to Vendome in Toluca Lake and picked up two beers and still had $3 to spare!

Now in February I bought Rayon Vert from Green Flash which I did not care for. Too medicinal and overpowering for my tastes and I also bought Kili Wit from Logsdon which I haven’t popped open yet.

This month’s choices were Epic Brewing (the Utah one) and their Brainless Golden. Epic has just entered the L.A. market and I wanted to try a “base” beer before getting Big Bad Baptist or Brainless on Cherries. Choice # 2 is from Telegraph of Santa Barbara. Part of the Obscura line. But this one is made with artisinal chocolate.


If they all get opened, I will follow up with my notes and to see what I bought back in January, click HERE.