Mixed bag Saturday on the #BrewDiet

Saturday on the #BrewDiet was marked by two disappointing beers, a heart-burn inducing performance by my college football team, and one of the most challenging movies ever.

The bad beers: Shock Top and Oktoberfestier. Read about them below. They have a huge following. I'm in the minority because I do not like them. But I do not like them. Not even a little. But a friend of mine does, so he got a five-pack of the Shock Tops. And the other wasn't even mine to begin with.

The lackluster performance was made by The University of Oklahoma Sooners. It's a good thing I had a birthday party and a movie to go to so I couldn't see the debacle of our terribly-inconsistent-on-the-road team. We pulled it out in the end, but the spread should have been much greater. Gods, I love/hate college football.

And the movie: The Human Centipede 2. Hey, don't judge. I really enjoyed the first movie. And yes, it holds up under multiple viewings. But this? No. Once was enough. Vile isn't strong enough of a word. I'm not upset that I went, as I'm a complete-ist. People were wondering how the director would top the first one. This is how. But it was more of a "bottoming" than a topping. Wow. You probably don't want to see it.

Here is my beer/food rundown for the day:

• For breakfast, I thought I'd try drinking a Shock Top Belgian White by Anheuser-Busch, and what a mistake that was. Yuck. My 2nd worse experience on the #BrewDiet. Reminding myself that "popular" does not equal "good".
• Not only did Ryan give me the Boundary Bay beers, he brought back a homebrew. I have no idea what it was, so I just called it  an Unfiltered wheat by Unknown Washington. I liked it!
• College football watching started with a Session Premium Lager by Full Sail Brewing Company Oh, and a chicken sausage.
• Followed by a Dale's Pale Ale by Oskar Blues Brewery. I was still a little hungry, so I powered through a hot link. Nice!
• I then helped fellow #BrewDieter Charlie finish off his Oktoberfestbier by Spaten-Löwenbräu-Gruppe. Not what you'd call "good", either.
• Caught the first part of the OU game and a a Session Black Lager by Full Sail Brewing Company
• Found a solid HopShock I.P.A. by SanTan Brewery at Ron's 50th birthday party
• And then smuggled a Dale's Pale Ale by Oskar Blues Brewery and some Lil' Smokies into the theater

Wow. Well... it was Saturday, so I'm not all that surprised. And in hindsight (I'm posting this on Sunday), I feel great!

Related articles

• Of smuggling sausages and beers (funanymore.com)
• Beer + Coffee gets me through the day. Oh, and sausage. (funanymore.com)
• Return of the #BrewDieter (funanymore.com)

Boundary Bay Brewing gets it right on a #BrewDiet

Friday is always a good day on the #BrewDiet. This one was even better, as I only worked until about noon. Making up for that terrible long day on Wednesday that we're just going to forget about, OK?

Major props to Boundary Bay Brewery. They hold the distinction of being the first and (as of yet) only brewery to reach out to me on social channels, thanking me for including their beers in my #BrewDiet. These guys are smart and paying attention to the social space. They didn't offer to send me beer or ask for a testimonial from me. They simply chimed in on one of my (drunkenly misspelled) checkins from yesterday:

Easy. And smart. Our replies went back and forth a couple of times, and they got exposure to everyone who follows my antics. Many of whom are craft beer drinkers. Their target audience. And you can bet the next time I find myself in Bellingham, I'm stopping to knock a few back at BB!

Here's what I did today:

• Breakfast was an Imperial Oatmeal Stout by Boundary Bay Brewery
• Lunch was a full chicken sausage and the rest of the Imperial Oatmeal Stout by Boundary Bay Brewery, and so ends the fine gifts given to me by Ryan. Of all the Boundary Bay's he brought back, I liked this one the most.
• The afternoon found me a bit thirsty/hungry, so I had a pre- #evfn treat of a Japanese Green Tea IPA by Stone Brewing Co.
• Arrived early at Draw 10 Bar & Grill for #evfn and started off slow with an Easy Street Wheat by Odell Brewing Co
• I talked Mel, the cook, to making me a special sausage dinner. Again, I'm going way off the menu. It's a good thing JB likes me. Washed it down with an Orange Blossom by Papago Brewery at Draw 10 Bar & Grill
• Wrapped #evfn and the evening with a Leg Humper by Sleepy Dog Brewing at Draw 10 Bar & Grill

Saturday is college football day, which typically increases my beer count. Let's see what happens!

Related articles

• Does beer you make fat? Quite the contrary, data shows. (funanymore.com)
• Day 4 of #BrewDiet. Hello, hunger (funanymore.com)

O'Beer:30 Thursday meets #BrewDiet

Today was a good day to drink beer and eat sausage. All hail #BrewDiet!

Though it started out terrible. I've been up since 3:30AM. Yeah. That sucks. Couldn't go back to sleep. So I got up and posted on A Simpler Way about Podcamp AZ. Though I won't be talking (specifically) about beer, you should come. It's in November. And I promise you that my November can beat the shit out of your November.

Let's do the beer and food first:

• Breakfast was a Scotch Ale by Boundary Bay Brewery, with massive thanks to Ryan Gudmundson for supplying me with great Seattle beer! He's the theme of today (and probably b'fast and lunch tomorrow!)
• Scarfed down a whole chicken sausage for lunch, washing it down with the second helping of Ryan's a Scotch Ale by Boundary Bay Brewery
• Then it was O'Beer:30 time with my crew, where I started with a Kiltlifter Scottish Style Ale by Four Peaks Brewing Co.
• My goal is to march through the drafts here , so I ended with a Sunset Amber Ale by Grand Canyon Brewing Company at Mellow Mushroom
• Dinner was a sausage and salsa stir-fry and an IPA by Boundary Bay Brewery. Thanks again, Ryan!
• Of course, it's a big beer, so I had an IPA by Boundary Bay Brewery one more time.

And now... I'm fading fast. I stayed up this late doing updates for Podiobooks.com. Man... the chance of me making major screw-ups there are legion this month. So far, they've only been minor. I hope.

So I'm off to bed. As I said, it was a good day. Tomorrow is Friday, and I think I'm taking a half-day to eat up the hours I spent at the office yesterday. And remember: I rarely post on Friday nights. It's #evfn after all, and there's more than my normal amount of drinking involved. I'll see you Saturday morning sometime.