Growl..

When I first moved to the United States one of my main missions was to have a Bud Light.  The amount of hype that I had experienced living abroad about Budweiser was incredible.  Every year the Bud commercials would make their rounds in Africa and the United Kingdom.  I would see them on the internet and I really could never afford the steep price of drinking the legendary bud import.  First thing I asked my peer mentor to do was take me to the liquor store and get me a case of bud light.  This was accomplished within a week of me been at college.  My first sip of the legendary drink was nothing short of amazing, well so I thought.  I enjoyed the beer and savored every sip.  I felt like I was finally a connoisseur.  Fast forward about nine months and I meet my best friend Mark... he is a well rounded character and I invite him over for beers the one evening along with a few other friends.  He comes over with a six pack of Harp by Guinness and some roses lime juice.  I try this combination and I am completely blown away.  All of a sudden the legend that was bud turned to just another domestic brew and it lost its appeal.  It became a party beer, a beer that had no constitutional rights what so ever.  So what if you leave a man behind, its just a bud became the attitude.

During the rest of my sophomore year, I tried all sorts of beers and within two years, my best friend and I had sampled over 100 different beers.  We have a bar in Hoboken called Maxwells to thank for that.  I felt like I was at a point where I knew what a good beer was and I drank the likes of Stella, boddingtons, sam october fest and others.

So knowing now that Inbev the makes of Stella Artois just purchased Budweiser and knowing that Miller Light and Amstel are actually South African beers what is my take on beers now?  Well the answer is simple, beers are relative to the individual drinking them and the experience can only get better.  While I do have my reservations about Inbev diluting its perfection with Bud, I will continue to drink Stella...just maybe not as much.  You see in my time here in Rockville, I have found a 3 breweries, one of them is called Growlers and my Roomate Jenny and I frequent this place every Saturday its one of our roommate rituals...just like we watch movies on Sundays.  

What is unique about growlers is:-

1.  They have their own brews that you can not get anywhere else in the world.

2. They have a growlers club which is absolutely essential.  It basically turns everyday into happy hour with brews going for about $2.83 after tax all day everyday.

3.  If you find a beer you like you can get 1 and 1/2 gallons for $8.

These three key points tied with the serbian bartender and his sister who are more than sociable make it a great experience where you are guaranteed not spend more than 25dollars before tip unless you are a maniac or silly enough not to join the growlers club.

Given all the mergers and all the commercial breweries it is nice to find a small place that you can go to and actually sit down, enjoy a great beer and leave with your wallet relatively full.  The only draw back is, you are forced to become a regular and drink there if you find a beer that you like... Unless you plan on taking a few growlers with you and trust me 1.5gallons when drunk gets a little heavy.

Just my two cents... Got hops?

For those of you interested here is the current lineup at growlers

Dirty Blonde Ale - A.B.V. 6.7%

Kingpin Kölsch - A.B.V. 6.2%

Butler's Peach Ale - A.B.V. 6.7%

Pumpkin Haze - A.B.V. 7.8%

Brass Lantern I.P.A. - A.B.V. 5.7%

Guest Beers

Magic Hat #9 - A.B.V. 4.5%

Shiner Bock - A.B.V. 5.4%

Flying Dog K-9 Cruiser - A.B.V. 6.4%

Brass lantern I.P.A. : An orange-copper colored brew of sizable strength and alcohol. This beer is full bodied with heavy hop aroma and true to the Indian Pale Ale style.

Hammerhead I.P.A. : Named after a night of drinking these, this I,P.A. is unfiltered and full flavored. The balance comes from a delicate combination of four different malts and four hop variations.

Centennial: Strong ale with a dark copper color, a heavy malt flavor and high alcohol content. 

Irvington Pale Ale: A classic version of British pale ale.  This beer is pale-copper in color and generously hopped with a dry, crisp, full bodied malt flavor.

Brick House Ale : A clean, full-flavored pale ale with a balanced finish for people who enjoy a generous amount of hops and malt.

Cream Ale : This gently hopped session beer has a light golden-blonde color and is crisp and refreshing.

Dirty Blonde Ale : A light straw colored traditional American Ale. This beer is a nice light bodied and refreshing brew with a hint of hop aroma and just enough bitterness to offset the malt flavor.

Kingpin Kölsch: this style exhibits some of the more desirable features of both ales and lagers.  Our Kolsch is pale gold with light body and a slightly dry palate.  Medium hop bitterness and light hop aroma.

Razzputin Kölsch: Our raspberry Kolsch is pale gold with light body and a slightly dry palate with a hint of raspberry. Medium hop bitterness and light hop aroma.

B1 Bomber Blueberry Hefeweizen : Fresh Oregon blueberries provide a depth of character and flavor to our Wheat beer . A great way to enjoy a hot summer day!

2 Penny Ale : A light-bodied brown ale with light hops and a mild finish. Low in alcohol but high in flavor.

Growlers Summer Rye : A light summer ale brewed with a combination of rye and barley malt. We added fresh lemon grass and dry hopped to provide balance and complexity.

Red Kilt Ale : This Scottish 90 shilling ale has a wonderfully deep ruby red color and very light body. A nice compliment to any food, it can be consumed during any season with ease. A true session ale!

Sunset Coast Lager: An unfiltered West Coast lager. This beer has the best of both worlds. The aroma has a definite aromatic profile of a lager and the slight bitterness of an ale. Very well balanced and clean with complex fruit and malt flavors.

West Side Pilsner :The West side Pilsner is a very light, slightly floral beer. We use only the finest imported malt and hops to create this wonderfully refreshing brew.

Uber Brown : A light colored, sweet brown ale with hints of caramel and chocolate in flavor and light hops in aroma.

Yorkshire Porter:  True British style ale, this beer exhibits some coffee and chocolate flavors along with a very light hop profile. We use traditional British hops and malt with our house ale yeast to produce this lighter version of a stout.

Huckleberry Lin : The Huckleberry Lin is our Kolsch with fresh pureed Huckleberries to give it a deep purple color and delicate berry sweetness.

Pumpkin Haze: Strong ale with a copper color and a heavy malt flavor, seasoned with Matt's own pumpkin patch secrets. 

Hoppopotamus Double I.P.A.:  This unfiltered Imperial I.P.A. is the "BIG" brother of our Brass Lantern I.P.A. The "Hoppo" is full flavored and full bodied with extra to spare! We dry hop with fresh whole leaf Cascade hops during maturation.

Hopocalyptic I.P.A. : A bold I.P.A. with fresh, spicy Argentina Cascade and Amarillo hops complementing the large hop profile and distinctly clean finish.

Saber-Tooth Squirrel Nut Brown :  A crisp, clean nut brown ale, biscuit in flavor, with a malty aroma. A great Autumn ale for those brisk October days. This beer profiles a bold amber-red color to embrace the days of fall.

Broken Shovel Stout: A very dark, almost black, top fermented brew made with highly roasted chocolate and black malts. This stout is full bodied and lightly hopped.

Black Widow Stout: A robust stout with undertones of chocolate and burnt flavors and a smooth clean finish. Our stout is lightly hopped to balance the malt profile.

Butler's Peach Ale:This brown ale has been infused with locally grown peaches to give it a very unique and refreshing flavor. Our Peach ale is very lightly hopped to balance flavor and aroma.

Downtown Mild Brown :A clean traditional style British-Mild. Low hops and rich malt flavor and aroma make this beer a great low carbonated session beer.

Iron Curtain Stout :This Imperial Russian Stout is a full-bodied, rich stout that contains all the flavor and malt to be called Imperial. This beer has a low to moderate levels of carbonation with huge roasted, chocolate, and burnt malt flavors.

Engine House Ale :An American Golden Ale. This beer has a nice straw color, balanced hop bitterness, and a pleasant dry finish.

Firkins and Pins : We take one of our house brews and add a mix of sugars and hops to force an additional fermentation. This creates a wonderful twist of aromas and flavors true to British cask conditioned ales. We dispense the ale through a beer engine to ensure a foamy head and true compliance to this tradition.

The world in your hands

So today is Saturday, college game day starts right about now.  I am sitting at my local pub with my laptop watching as I start to plan the day.  The waitress comes over to my table and looks extremely confused, I don't blame her... There is a reason to my madness.  I do not own a TV, I watch all my TV on my laptop connected to a larger monitor, however due to the shortcomings of my landlord my room was about 45-50 degrees today with my personal heater on.  This made for some rather brisk conditions couple that with the fact that we do have a 60inch High definition television in the lounge but my roommate Jenny is watching 13 going on 30 and will not agree to change the channel I was forced to resort to slightly desperate methods.  At least here at the pub by securing my seat early I can order brunch and know that it is fresh... Eat at my own pace and type away at my blog.

Who wakes up to watch college game day anyway?  Well I do, reason is in a few hours I have to get to the office so at least if I can get the predictions and so forth then I can at least sort of know what is going on.  Although I work for a help desk and my work revolves around helping the people in the office lately with all the upgrades we are going through it has become necessary to be in the office when it is empty.  I work faster and I am not distracted by side chit chat or users that are to busy to let me inspect their stations.  It is also important for me to be able to go through each computer and make sure that it will be in perfect working condition by Monday and by the time the user comes in the only difference they notice is the computer is faster.  That's the tough thing about IT you have to be passionate about what you do or else your job will royally suck, I have a little bit of passion so it works out well.

There is a certain satisfying feeling when you get done with all your hard work on the weekend.  Not to sound cocky or anything but you definitely feel like some sort of a God.. Your little IT world is in your hands and you control each and every single heartbeat what goes on and what does not...and even though people do not come to you every day, they secretly have faith in you and what you can do.  They need you...

Help....

So a little bit about me... A while ago, almost six months ago now, I moved from the town I had lived in for close to six years to be closer to family and to try some new things. I figured it would be a lot easier living close to family and honestly I thought I was ready for a change.

The first three months of my stay in the DC/MD/VA area were a blast. I did all sorts and I was all over the place, Atlantic City to Manhattan it was great and I pretty much lived of my savings. At some point I decided I needed to start working again funds were running low and well we all know what the market outlook is like so the search began. I found a few jobs but one in particular appealed to me because of the chance to make a change.

I found myself working for a non profit in the Help desk and well so far it has been great, I have made some very good friends along the way. One of those friends inspired me to start blogging and as such I decided what better way to start than with a little back story.