2008 Recap, 2009 Preview

While I don't generally make New Year's resolutions, I do usually set goals for the year (is there a difference? Probably not.) Anyway, last year, I set my goals down in this post.

• sub 17:30 5K
• sub 1:21 Half
• sub 2:58 Boston Marathon! (a PR)
• 2,600 total miles run
• another long trail run
• run in more cities around the US

I did not run a sub 17:30 5K, a sub 1:21 Half, nor 2:58 at Boston. Failed? Not in my opinion. I PR'ed at every distance I raced from 1 mile to the marathon. In all, I had PRs at 1 mile, 5K, 8K, 10K, half marathon and the marathon. I'm most proud of my marathon improvement to 2:53. So while I didn't get that PR at Boston, I wasn't very far off, and I beat it 6 months later anyway.

I ended up running exactly 2,900 miles, far surpassing my 2007 total (which was actually 2,511. I messed up on my math last year). For a long trail run I ran the Nerstrand Big Woods half, and ran quite well for my abilities. I didn't run in many new cities in 2008, but I did log Albuquerque (and White Sands), Reno, and some new trails around Minnesota.

Here are the stats for this year (last year's stats in parantheses):

Miles Run: 2,900 (2,511)
Miles Biked: 1,697 (2,513 - I had 2 long bike trips last year)
Commutes to/from office by running or biking: 80 (80)
Different beers consumed: 279 (118 of them brewed locally, look to the list on the right)
PR's: 6 (3)

Goals for 2009:

• To NOT have a running mileage goal!
• To bike when I want to bike, run when I want to run, ski when I want to ski. REGARDLESS of how many miles I think I should be running.
• Improve as many of my PRs as possible.
• Commute by bike/run 100 times.
• Drink some wine, some good beers, and not write down every freaking beer I drink.
  
• Write a more interesting blog!
  

Merry Beermas, I mean Christmas

So I'm going on the road for a little while, which means a temporary hiatus to my near-permanent hiatus. Wait, that means I'd be taking a short break from NOT blogging. Nope, I'm just going to keep NOT blogging for the next week.

I'll have the final stats after the New Year, but as of this moment, I am at 270 beers in my 2008 beer quest. I'm drinking Great Divide's Titan IPA right now, and I have to be honest, it's not one of my favorites of the year. Too much citrus with too many hops, and a nice, thick resiny-feel. But, it's decent and it rings in at the prestigious number 270 of the year. I think the next week will be a dry week for my beer totals. I'm going to the future in-laws and they drink green-bottled beer, and I can't think of any easily-obtained green-bottled beer in Sioux Falls, SD. Maybe we can hit a micro-brew one night. And then it's post-Christmas with my family, where there are only 2 beers: Miller Lite and Coors Light.

But alas, there is far more to Christmas than drinking beer. It's a great time of family, fun and Christian fellowship (3 "f"'s??). Here's wishing you and yours a wonderful and safe Christmas!

Christmas Beer

So by now loyal readers of this blog are well-aquainted with my 2008 Beer Quest. I'm well into the 200's (my original goal was a mere 100 different kinds of beers in 2008).

So while I've been logging my beers on this blog (look to the right), I have offered precious few beer reviews and advice. But it's a new season which means this is the perfect time to give some winter beer reviews!

I'll start out with a previous favorite, Summit Winter Ale. This caramelly goodness was perhaps my favorite winter beer of this past winter. However, Summit changes the recipe every year, which I think is a neat idea, but their Winter Ale 2008 has fallen flat. It's a boring beer with no seasonal flavor. It's no more exciting than their Extra Pale Ale. While I like their EPA (and I find Winter Ale 2008 drinkable), it is a major letdown from last year's recipe. Anyone got a Summit Winter leftover from last year???

Next up, 2 Below from New Belgian Brewery. Pretty good, rich, caramelly beer. Everything from New Belgian is fantastic, so drink up!

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale: mmm.... seasonal flavors combined with Cascade Hops (as well as other varieties). Tis the season! (I drank a bunch of this Election Night, Celebration indeed!)

Anchor Steam Old Foghorn Barleywine Style Ale: I just polished one of these off which inspired this post, so obviously it's pretty darn tasty. Tons of alcohol, Cascade hops, and a phenomenal "mouth-feel". It's like drinking Christmas Beer Syrup. This is definitely a one-at-a-time beer.

And finally, my new favorite winter beer:

Bell's Hell Hath No Fury Ale. Caramel, more caramel with a dash of caramel. Wow, this is Summit Winter from last year taken to the logical extreme. While the $15/6-pack price should take this down a few notches (due to my cheap-ass leanings), this is one of the best beers I've ever had and it's worth every penny. It can be found at my new favorite beer store, the Four Firkins in St. Louis Park.

Enjoy the Christmas Hops!

100 Beers! No Way!

So yeah, I beat my goal, and it's still winter, or at least it still feels like it. To recap, my original goal was to drink 100 different beers in 2008, focusing on LOCAL beers (loosely defined as MN and WI in origin, but NOT Miller beers). I quickly realized that goal was too easily obtained, so I changed my goal to 200 beers, 100 being local.

This past weekend (on my birthday no less) I hit the magic 100 different beers (the original goal). The beer to put me at that milestone was a New Holland IPA (MI) that I thought was quite delicious. My friend James from Michigan said he wasn't a fan, but I thought that the intense hops made for quite a good beer to sip on.

The 100th beer!! (of the year, not the night)

My favorite beer was one I just had last night, #105. A local beer (WI) Viking Whole Stein. It's called a "breakfast beer" because of the coffee, oatmeal and milk flavors. I wouldn't drink it for breakfast, but I thought it was smooth and the flavors mixed so well together. Thanks Tom, a very tasty birthday treat!


95 beers to go to 200, and 54 more local brews needed for 100. With almost 9 months left in 2008, I think I've got a good chance.

Odds and Ends on a Snowy Day

It's officially spring! That favorite time of the year when things get green, short sleeves on runs come back out, and my hands finally warm up! Well, 6+ inches of snow later, it sure looks like a winter wonderland to me. The big plus of a late March snow? Shoveling the driveway is optional, because it's gone within a couple days. (shoveling the sidewalk, mandatory and courteous). The Strib weather page says that the snow should be gone in 2 days, which is hard to believe because there's so much of it, and it's not supposed to be that warm this weekend.

"Don't panic: most of the snow will be gone by Monday or Tuesday, sun angle is too high for snow cover to linger for long."

I'd never thought about the sun angle aspect before, interesting. Actually, it's great because while I love the snow, I am ready for the next season to happen. The skis are put away, and I'm done with that. I'm not even a little tempted to get one last ski in. Well, maybe a little.


But instead of skiing, I'm enjoying a nice Sam Adams Cherry Wheat and thinking about the Boston Marathon! The first and only time I had a Cherry Wheat was last year immediately following the Boston Marathon, and since I just ran my next to last long run, thoughts of Boston are pretty fresh.

Also, those of you who read this on Google Reader may have missed out on a small change I made to the blog. I put a banner across the top, from the Human Race 8K that we ran last weekend. It's a great photo (thanks Marty!) that shows 5 of us running (the guys in red, I'm in the middle somewhere). Hard to believe that we were running in singlets just last week, and today we trudged out a long run through inches of snow. Welcome to Minnesota! (Read Mike's 8K wrapup here - he's the one in red leading the MDRA charge).

Hope everyone has a happy Easter! I'll toss in a plug for my church. I'm going down to New Orleans with our youth group in a couple months, and we're doing an Easter pancake breakfast as a fundraiser from 7am-noon. It's Park Avenue Church at 34th and Park in So. Mpls. It's a wonderful church with awesome praise and worship. The music there is phenomenal, and the preaching is inspiring. In any case, no better time to check it out than Easter Sunday! Park Ave will definitely have the Spirit moving.

OOOOO, We're halfway there

Or rather, I'M halfway there. To my 100 different beers in 2008 that is!

Raise a glass (half a glass), because I'm halfway to my goal!

I logged #50 last night, a Bass Ale. It was the only beer on tap at Spike's Bar downtown (at the Hyatt) that I hadn't yet tried.

So mid-goal report time.

• 23 of my beers have been "local" (MN or WI, not counting Miller). Although when I was in Omaha, I drank 2 more beers that were local that city, which helped with the whole carbon footprint thing.
  
• My favorite (or should I say favourite) was probably Rodenback Grand Cru, a delicious Belgian I had at Buster's on 28th. Very sour with a rich, but not confusing, flavor.
• Favorite Local Beer: Summitt Winter Ale. So delicious, so caramely. It's almost too caramelly to be a beer.
• LEAST favorite beer: Brau Brothers Scotch Ale. Out of Lucan, Minnesota, this beer had too much flavor, and too MANY flavors, and really upset my stomach.
• Beer that I worked the hardest for: Yeungling Lager. I brought a 12-pack back on flight from DC. I LOVE that beer. Yeungling, PLEASE sell that here!
• Most prestigious beer: Delerium Tremens. Best beer in the world apparently. It's hard to argue with that.
• LEAST prestigious beer: Grainbelt Premium. Man, do I love my premo!
• Most likely to drink again: Well, probably 10 or 20 of 'em
• Most likely to be the NEXT one I drink: Summitt Winter Ale. Too delicious and the lifespan is too short to pass up.

So what's on tap for the rest of the year? Well, it's still February, and I'm halfway there. I think that I need to revise my goal upward to 200. But more importantly, I'm making it my goal to hit 50% local beer. I plan on trying more from New Glarus, South Shore (Ashland), Great Waters, Town Hall, and anything new from Surly.

Reduce your carbon footprint, drink local!

Mmmmm....beer....Homer like beer

I don't necessarily have the most discerning tastebuds. I try to eat and drink things that taste delicious, but honestly, I just can't tell the difference between a $10 and a $20 bottle of wine. And while I prefer more expensive, flavorful, hoppy beer to mass-produced domestics, I can't always tell you WHY I like one better, or pick out the individual flavors in each.

Kirk has embarked on a year-long adventure to drink 100 different wine varietals. That sort of challenge would be wasted on me since I really probably can't discern, and would most certainly never remember, the subtle differences between most of them. However, I like beer, and I think I can drink 100 different types of beer!

So I will have a running list on the side of my blog for the remainder of 2008. The ones listed are ones that I already have consumed so far this year. Considering that this year is only 41 days old, it may shock you (and it definitely shocks me) to realize I've already had 32 different beers. But when I really think about it, it's not too surprising. I don't drink much, rarely to excess, but when I do drink, I always have a different beer each time. In fact, the reason I've had so many Summits, Leine's and Schell's is because I bought sampler packs and had one of each.

I've categorized them into 4different categories. 3 are domestic, 1 is imported. For domestics I have LOCAL (which I'm most proud of), then DOMESTIC (which are small breweries or microbrews only) and then lastly CRAPPY DOMESTICS which is your standard mass-produced beer. I certainly like a Miller Lite every now and then, but let's be honest, compared to a Surly, Miller Lite is pretty crappy. Check back to see if I hit 100 beers before Kirk hits 100 varietals!