Hoppy - to balance out the unhappy

Please note - I do not promote drinking as a solution nor way to avoid your problems. I simply enjoy the tastes of trying a new brew and collect those "tastes" through means of logins and ratings in the Untappd app (let's be friends there!). I do not endorse drinking away your sorrows.

Now that my disclaimer is out of the way - particularly in regards to recent events in my life, i.e. work stress and relationship constraints - we shall peruse through the mix-a-six I had referenced in the last post. As my exhausted and emotionally-drained butt was too lazy to waddle over to the fridge to list out the beers I had chosen whose names I could not recall due to aforementioned reasoning, you'll be proud to know that I took the time to jot down some notes while I enjoyed over the past few days.

I know what you're thinking - oh my, 6 berrrrs which equates to 2 berrrrs per night. Holy moly, me oh my, this girl is either sad or has serious self-control to limit to 2 delicious brewskis/night! Or, you're wondering if I downed them all in one day and merely waited to tell the tale. If truth be told, by recklessly engorging upon brew after brew, you're firsthand experiencing the laws of diminishing returns and won't truly be able to enjoy each one for what it is - a mini exploratory roadtrip for your tongue and tastebuds to experience.

Beer tasting is an experience, the crafting of the beer is the art. To guzzle down beer after beer - hell, we've all been there, let's be honest with ourselves - is not getting the most out of the piece that has been brewed and perfected over time and served in your glass, bottle, can, stein, plastic drinking cup, etc. As usual, I digress, which seems to occur when I try to fill a void *nervous laugh* I'm fine.

• Saranac ADK Pils, a Pilsner by Saranac Brewery - this baby hails from Utica, NY which always makes me think of Game of Thrones because it sounds like eunuch as the Unsullied soldiers were. Bear with me, here, and see the gif below. With a 5.3% ABV, it's a mid-range for alcohol content with a crisp and dry flavoring.

• Victory's Home Grown Dry-Hopped Lager yields hints of floral in its lager body. For a lager, it was better than expected. Lagers are a great beer to start with when it comes to tasting beer as opposed to drinking beer. It has a dry ending to it, but smooth in its flavoring.

• Another lager: Peter Straub Signature Brews Ridge Top Runner - this is why one should try various beers in the same classification. This and the Victory are both lagers yet this one had more of a malt flavoring in it with that same smooth finish. Fun fact: Straub is near my hometown & I still have not visited so noted in my own mental slab of future adventures...

• Venturing over to the West Coast - Cali, not the other side of the Susquehanna River - we have the Maximus by Lagunitas, a double IPA so it's doubly hoppy (logically, right?) than an IPA and definitely a higher ABU, clocking in at a cool 8.2% so by no means for the faint of heart. Stone's IPAs have my heart in their iron fists, but this one ranked right up there.

• The Mango Even Keep IPA by Ballast Point has a relatively low ABU in comparison to most IPAs, with a 3.8% rating. This, however, did not detract from its nice fruit/hops balance. Despite the summer month, I generally gravitate towards my IPAs so this was the best of both worlds in something "light" with a bit of wheaty bite to it.

• Rounding out the half-dozen is the Love Wheat Beer by Starr Hill. It seems appropriate as this is the fruitiest of the bunch with its banana flavoring infused in the Hefeweizen blend.

"I fear the man who drinks water and so remembers this morning what the rest of us said last night." -Greek proverb