So where to begin?

So much beer, so little time.  

Who am I kidding?  I'll make time.  I do however, have limited time to update this blog.  As you can tell.  It's been over a year!

Rest assured, I have still been traveling and drinking.  Like I said - so much beer!

David and I have been in Vermont now for a little over a year.  It's been quite the year!  We've been busy with work, and getting settled in our new house.  We decided to buy a townhome in Waterbury last fall.   This is a great town - known for being the hometown of Ben & Jerry's; and more importantly, The Alchemist Brewpub!  (Yeah, we're not stupid.  OF COURSE we're going to live within stumbling distance of one of Vermont's finest.)

I have much to get caught up on - I've seen moose and llamas, been to brewpubs in Maine, Quebec City, Montreal, New Hampshire, Sarasota, FL, taken up knitting, and I'll have my review of the Vermont Brewer's Fest!  

For now, I'll leave you with a picture of some lovely beer from the Moat Mountain Smokehouse and Brewing Company.  They're a brewpub located in North Conway, NH that has some fantastic brews.  They do an amazing Blueberry Ale - so good, we had to get a growler.  North Conway is a neat little town, known for it's outlet malls.  Here's a pic of their sampler, and a pint of the Blueberry!

Cheers!

Brewpub Review: 7 Barrel Brewery in Lebanon, NH

So this last weekend I flew to VT to spend a few days with my husband (yay for my husband!) and get some of our stuff unpacked.   Yeah, we won't go there, LOL. 

Anyhow, on Sunday we drove to NH to do some shopping & hit Macy's and complete some of our wedding registry items.   There is no sales tax in NH, so we figured we'd save some money and get our wine glasses.  I'll be posting later on why Macy's can suck it.  

And now, for the beer. 

We stopped at the 7 Barrel Brewery on our way home.  David had been there previously and said that I had to try their Maple Ale.  I was not disappointed!  

We each ordered a sampler - of which the lineup was: 

Queechee Cream Ale

Ice Rock Canadian

New Dublin Brown

The Red 7

Champion Reserve IPA

RIP Stout

Plus the Maple Ale, and another seasonal IPA.  David enjoyed the IPA's - he said they weren't too hoppy.  We decided to bring a growler home. 

For dinner I had the Pub Cheese Plate - smoked gruyere & cheddar, apple chutney, and quite possibly some of the best bread I've ever had - tasted like it just came out of the oven, and it was 9 pm! 

No pictures, as we left the camera at home. 

Flashback: The Corn Palace

So, tonight begins a new feature on Suitcases and Beer.  This whole blog focuses on our love of traveling and beer, and since we took many many trips before discovering the joys of blogging - from time to time I'll feature a Travel Blast From The Past.  

Today I was watching the weather channel and they were showing snow in Mitchell, SD.  For those of you who aren't from the Midwest, you may never have heard of the World Famous Corn Palace.  I find this shocking, but there you have it.  

Before I continue - I should tell you that David and I don't exchange birthday presents.  Instead, we plan a surprise weekend trip.  The birthday person has no clue what the destination is.  It can involve flying, be local, or be a road trip.   In the Summer of 2005 David took me on the first ever Birthday Trip.  We left our house on a beautiful summer Saturday.  In a rented convertible!   We headed south and made a few stops: 

The world's largest ball of twine -- Darwin, MN

Olivia, MN - the Corn Capital

The world's biggest peace pipe -- Pipestone, MN

At this point - I still had NO CLUE where we were headed.  A few months earlier I had mentioned that I had always wanted to see the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD.  Later that evening - guess what we drove past?   The Corn Palace - lit up in all it's glory!

Here's what it looks like in the daytime: 

According to their website, it was created in 1892, with this particular building being completed in 1912.  Every year, the exterior mural is stripped down and re-created using corn, wheat, and various grasses.  A new design is created by a local artist.

And on our way home - we stopped off at the Jolly Green Giant in Blue Earth, MN.  

Ho Ho Ho - Green Giant! (That's me at the bottom!)

Honeybeer? Beermoon? You decide!

OK, what honeymoon (at least for us) would be complete without checking out some local suds?

David and I decided to spend our honeymoon in Big Bear, CA - about a 4 hour drive from Las Vegas. We own a timeshare and were able to get a week there; we didn't have to buy another plane ticket, and THERE IS A BREWPUB THERE.

Our first night we stopped in at the Big Bear Mountain Brewery. And oh what a time we had! We bellied up to the cozy little bar and ordered a sampler. Impressive. They offer a German Pilser (Old Miners Gold), an Amber (Orange Blossom Amber ~ seriously, it tastes like oranges!), an English Pale Ale (Mountain Pale Ale), an excellent IPA (Lil Beaver - and what honeymoon is complete without a little beaver????) , a Red (Red Ant Hill), and a yummy Doppel Bock (the Grizzly Bear).

They've got a fantastic bartender - I don't remember her name, but she's the very friendly blonde behind the bar - and she recommended that we mix the Grizzly Bear and the Orange Blossom. Seriously - one of the BEST beers we've ever had. We ended up not only taking a growler of it back to the condo - but we brought a refill back on the plane.

Who wants a Dam Beer?

Yeah baby!  

On our way to Big Bear, CA we decided to go through Boulder City, NV and see the Hoover Dam followed by a stop at the Boulder Dam Brewing Company. 

The dam jokes NEVER get old.   The Hoover Dam was impressive.  Here's a picture of my dam Husband: 

Good thing we didn't bring Brandy with us.  Cuz you KNOW she'd be disobeying that sign and would be all over the dam place. 

If you are in the area - definitely stop off at the Boulder Dam Brewing Company.  They have a Blueberry bock that is to die for.  The flavor is pretty true to blueberry and not overpowering. 

Brewpub Review: Triple 7 Brewpub - Las Vegas

This was actually our second visit to the Triple 7 Brewpub, located in the Main Street Station Casino in downtown Vegas.


And like our first visit, we weren't disappointed! We decided to go downtown with Pat, Eric and Jeffrey and have some lunch & a beer sampler. You have to love a brewpub with the philosphy of "Save Water, Drink Beer" (and yes, we bought the t-shirt!). It's all about the environment.


All of there beers are good - it just depends on your preference. And they incorporate a Vegas/gambling theme into the names - you can choose from the High Roller Gold, Royal Red Lager, Blackchip Porter, and others. The food is good, and plentiful, as evidenced by Jeffrey's ginormous Cobb Salad:
And when you've got a full tummy and are just a little tipsy - it's time to head out to the casino and gamble!

My first ever beer drinking contest....

How best to top getting married on Leap Year Day? 

Enter a beer drinking contest!  Yeah, that's right.  Unfortunately I had left my dirndl at home, but I was still permitted to enter the Hofbrau Haus's All-Girl Beer Drinking Contest.  With my friend Alisa.   After a meal of pretzels and unpronounceable German food (and I have to say, their spaetzle is NOWHERE near as good as my friend Jeffrey's) I was refreshed and ready to bend my elbow and try to win a $25 gift card.  

Yeah ~ they had a ringer.  Some chick who DID have not only a dirndl but blonde braids.  The stereotypical German fraulein drained that sucker in about 10 seconds flat.  I did, however, get about half a beer for free.   And we all know free beer makes everything better!  Prost!

Here's a picture of David with his pretzel: