festive festiness

With October in full swing we can also enjoy Oktoberfest legitimately.  Last weekend, Mad Brewing was offering an Oktoberfest menu with several German style beers, including a nice märzen.  The menu was really for sharing, but there is also a bratwurst "sandwich" and big, puffy pretzels.  Not to mention fruit pies (don't remember which, wasn't strudel).  It seems fitting to have another seasonal beer, another märzen in fact, although it comes from the States rather than Germany.  Founders Oktoberfest, off we go!

It has a similar look to La Caníbal's märzen at Mad Brewing, both of them somewhat warmer and richer looking than märzen's like Voll Damm.  The scent is malty and caramelly, with a little tingly fall feeling.  There's more apple in it than a lot of this style, something like a beer/cider blend.  It's not really bitter at all, although not sweet either.  Like apple cider, it's tangy and twisty, with beer bubbles making it cocktail-like and festive.  Eventually a little breadiness makes an appearance, but the fruit profile remains supreme.

Supplier: La Cervecista

Price: €2.90

openly smuggled

The latest discussion was the Great Beer Wars of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.  Founders represents the situation pretty well, a craft brewery that got swept up in hopes of greater market access.  I mean, it's not 100% owned by Mahou, but it's more than 25%, which is enough for the Brewers Association to say it doesn't count as craft anymore.  There's plenty of interesting stuff coming out of there, though, like Barrel Runner, a "Mosaic hopped ale aged in rum barrels".  Oughta be something different, at least!

There is a strong, sweet smell of rum right away, and the beer has a honey gold color that is certainly appetizing.  The head isn't over-abundant, but thick and stays put.  A little further sniffing pulls a fruitiness out of the aroma, something like a fig newton.  The flavor captures the burny feeling of strong alcohols, with a touch of rum sweetness, but there's a clash of flavors with the bright citrus of the mosaic hops.  It almost tastes like two drinks at once, like you're taking sips from separate glasses and mixing them in your mouth.  It's an experience, although I think it's not as smooth as other rum barrel beers I've had.

Supplier: La Cervecista

Price: €8.20

Door #10

Now, this one I know I've seen before.  Not so often in the bottle, although I think it's lurking around there too, but on tap every other Sunday.  I don't always get Founders Dirty Bastard, since it has a pretty heavy sweetness which is a little much for me most days, but sometimes it's nice.  It's especially nice on colder days, but still the porter is my go-to when I'm down there.

As always, it's heavy and sweet from the start, with good slather of licorice.  There's a little twitch of sour candy in there, and a slightly smokey finish.  The wood from the aging comes through after a while, adding another dimension to the flavor.  It has kind of an odd mouthfeel, being on the thicker side, but it's not quite syrupy.  It also isn't a super smooth kind of beer; maybe that should be obvious from the name.  You don't have to fight it down exactly, but it's certainly a proud and unswerving drink.

Although cloudy and chilly, it's not enough to be snowy.  No Christmas weather here, but where I come from we only have 30% chances of a white Christmas on any given year.  Stick with beer foam, that's a lot more reliable.

giving a chance

I've been seeing Mahou's IPA, made in collaboration with Founders, on supermarket shelves for a while now.  Mahou has tried its hand at craft style beers before, and the results were not all that disappointing.  Now, with the help of Founders proudly noted, their more modern session IPA might have even more of a craft slant.  The things I do for information gathering...

"More intense", "More flavor"!  Almost anything is more than regular Mahou!

It's pretty clear-colored, but bubbly, foamy head, and bright, citrus-hoppy smell.  The first sip has a puff of bitterness but a little orange flavor peeps out in the aftertaste.  It definitely tastes like an IPA, similar to Cibeles, and in spite of the clarity it's quite a mouthful.  The beer itself has a slightly weighty feel and leaves a little stickiness behind too.  Like those supported crafts, it is very balanced and doesn't show a lot of change from start to finish, a good quality when the beer isn't the main focus.

of beer and nations

On this 4th of July, which is also Wednesday, which is Mug Club Night, I wondered if there would be something going on at Roll.  There sort of is; the American Club is having a bit of a get-together.  I can sit quietly in the corner, though.  I think.  I don’t have my passport if anybody asks (gasp).

Anyway, tonight it’s Founders Dirty Bastard.  I haven’t had it for a while, and I thought I should have something from the homeland for such an illustrious day.  It’s a bit different than I remember.  I remember it being sweeter, almost to the point of cloying, but it’s not that bad this time.  It is sweet, with a good bit of licorice undertaste, but there’s also a rough bitterness that I don’t think was there before.  It’s kind of an oaky flavor, making the beer seem more like its barrel-aged brethren.  The alcohol weight of Backwoods Bastard isn’t there, however.  I’m glad the temperatures have gone down in the past couple of days, because it is still a pretty sticky beer.  Would’ve been uncomfortable on a 90º evening, I think.

As much as I have eschewed my national connections, I kind of enjoy the idea of 4th of July now.  Especially because its a shining example of national identity compared to where I am now.  There’s a lot of confusion about ethnic and political nationhood, at least in terms of who gets to be what and what everyone should aspire to be.  Despite the current exclusionary rhetoric, I think our ideal is still a nation of culture and values rather than a nation of birthplace.  Those who want to belong can choose to belong, and a majority is willing to accept them if they play the game.  I hope I’m still speaking with an understanding of the national mind, and not with the cloud of nostalgia that comes with being an expat, sometimes.

double header!

It's the last Saturday, so it's time for drinking out!  There was a "black beer party" on Thursday, which is something I just cannot pass up, but I went off for a quieter beer on Saturday as well.  The black beer was all at Roll at c/Amaniel 23, a restaurant rather than just a bar.  I'm told the burritos are amazing.  But!  Just beer for me this time.

Yakka Beyakka Black IPA, not what I expect to start with, but under the recommendation of the bartender I’ll take it.  They all kind of look the same today, black and opaque with dark beige head; well, the IPA head isn’t quite so dark.  I’m intrigued by the kind of stouty aroma, a little chocolatey in fact, not much citrus behind it at all.  It’s much heavier than other black IPAs I’ve tried, creamy and not too bitter at first.  It’s rather stouty in feel as well, smokey, earthy, no citrus flavor at all.  It’s really quite a surprising beer and extremely pleasant.  After a few sips there is a mild sourness that starts to raise its head, perhaps a nod to its IPA roots.  It also gets a little sticky as the glass winds down, nothing too bad, but it might require a palate cleansing if there’s variety of flavors to be had. At the bottom of the glass there’s kind of a weird smell, I can’t quite put my finger on what it is, it’s a little bit grassy.  Still, all in all, a nice finish to a well balanced beer.

Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout, the cousin to KBS, I guess.  Mapley instead of bourbony ought to be the style.  The look is the same between the two of them, nice, dark black/brown with the thick beige head.  It has quite a strong scent, very sweet and really quite alcoholic.  This is kind of bourbony, in fact.  The taste is definitely sweet but not cloying, kind of like a lightly mixed cocktail.  Smooth with no sharp edges going down, although with a healthy burning, like you might expect from a strong liquor.  The aftertaste is really sweet, in that warning kind of way.  It’s a much punchier sweet than wheat beers, for example, which have kind of a light floaty sweetness to them in many cases.  CBS has an “I will fuck you up” kind of sweet.  At least with a bitter beer, you don’t find yourself constantly wanting to sip.  CBS is very drinkable at first, but the alcohol starts piling on almost immediately and remorselessly.  It also actually increases in sweetness as time goes on, getting almsot a cotton candy aspect to the flavor.  When it’s down to the last sips, it also gets a bit syrupy for my taste, and starts weighing down the enjoyment of drinking.

(imagine a picture of a small glass here - it looks like I forgot!)

I’m told the batch of KBS this year is less balanced than the one before, having a much stronger alcohol push and less blended flavors.  I only ask for a taste and find it to have a strangely footy smell and, while surely alcoholic, a little sour and a little bitter but without a clear note of chocolate or coffee that I remember.  Disappointing!  But them’s the breaks.

For a real taste of black beer, I go to The Flying Inn Local Roast Export Porter.  I feel kind of shooed away from the KBS so I’ll fall back into bottles.  This sounded good at first, but there’s a sort of ashy aroma from the brew...coffee and cigarettes maybe?  It’s a rather sour porter, thin compared to the Beyakka, maybe it’s a sort of green coffee flavoring.  It’s pretty sharp whatever it is.  Waiting a while allows a light fruitiness to develop, some plumb perhaps.  The background is still sour more than creamy, earthy or anything else.  I started out strong with the first two, only to stumble in the end!

To try to find a good note to end on, I pick up another bottle, Vic Ale Choc Infested Porter.  It looks good, nice dark brown, a little light on the head.  It has a spicy smell actually, maybe a little bit of pepper even.  The flavor is slightly sweet but mixed with bitter, enticing, but also kind of thin.  At least the taste is strong and pleasant, fairly typical porter with a hint of sour, but a base of thick dark beer.  I can’t say I notice a smokey flavor, but there is something black and weighty, making itself known but not oppressive.  It’s not the greatest, but it’s certainly a better note to end on than the last one.

My outing for the weekend was to Birra y Paz, a beer store, but one of those with taps.  There's only one, and today it's pouring out La Pirata's Panoptic NEIPA.  Well, it's a change from the black beers.  Contrast is good.

It's cloudy and evenly opaque, strongly citrus scented.  Good NEIPA, very juicy and fruity, hardly bitter at all.  There is a slightly bitter aftertaste that floats up, with a touch of sour too.  It's very summery, tropical and light feeling, really a refreshing beer for the days ahead.  While it doesn't let you get complacent drinking it, the beer is a bubbly complement and not demanding of your full attention; you could give it if you wanted, though.  The flavor is very even and calm, no big changes from top to bottom or from fresh and cold from the tap to instilled with room temperature enhancement.  The fruit essence doesn't get out of hand and no sourness overwhelms the balancing touch of bitter.  A fine goodbye to May drinking!

Birra y Paz is on c/Menorca 9, quite near Retiro, so I'm always a little surprised that there aren't more thirsty people roaming around.  I mean, I'm not upset for me, I can't stand a crowd, but you hope the place stays afloat.  There is often one other person or small group when I go, though, so that's something.  There was a family with a young girl today, sipping some NEIPA.  There girl wasn't, of course.  And she was pretty patient for having nothing to do but wait for her parents.  They did walk out with quite a bundle, so at least for them a few minutes to sit and sip were worth it, I'd guess.

worth the wait

Finally, I get my porter-chocolate beer float!  It's Founders Porter, so it's gotta be good.  The ice cream is frozen solid as usual, but it's a hot day so it should soften up quickly.  It has a very milky, frosty look as bubbles and ice cream meet in the glass.  The scent of chocolate is strong, and there's typical float foam, a mix of foamy ice cream and disappearing carbonated suds.  The pastry can't battle the bitter head at first, but sugar pops up in the end.  The beer ends up looking like chocolate milk, but with foam on top.  It has a very dark chocolatey taste, a little bit bitter/sour as it goes down, which is what you can expect from the porter.  The ice cream has chocolate chunks, tiny ones, so it's a good thing I got a spoon today.  The chocolate is more resistant than the mango was, maybe it has a heavier consistency, or maybe All Day was warmer than the porter to begin with.  Seems like a porter shouldn't be as chilled if either one isn't, but it's definitely cool now.  And smooth, and bittersweet, and wonderful.  As I expected, there are lots of chocolate bits at the bottom, but they taste like chocolate liqueurs when they get fished out.  Tasty!

all day, every day

I expect this float to be sweeter than the barleywine concoction, even though All Day is a tongue squeezer itself.  On the other hand, mango isn't always as sweet as it is tangy, so maybe my expectations are off again.  What I certainly don't expect is something I don't like at all.  It looks like the mango ice cream is more malleable than the vanilla, so it comes out pretty quickly.  No spoon this time, though.  The ice cream seems to kill off the foam, and give the All Day a darker color than it normally has.  A quick stir with the pastry brings back some bubbles.  The scoops of mango ice cream look like egg yolks, floating helplessly in the drink.  There's a very identifiable citrus taste, which is probably due entirely to the beer, but it's also a little fruitier than normal.  I can only assume that's the mango.  The pastry still adds that sugar when you take a bite, which enhances the bitterness.  As I got the the bottom, I saw that actual bits of mango were sitting on the bottom of the glass.  Presumably they came from the ice cream, I don't think those were added separately.  I pondered getting the porter-chocolate, since the day is threatening rain, but I had already decided on that All Day mango!  Heart set on it!  I have the rest of the week for that last one (maybe they'll have even more if they switch the beers up too).

threefer!

Somebody must've spent hours on this

Our old pal Founders is introducing some new brews and had a little presentation at Roll this week.  The promotion emphasized that the fruit beer would be tapped for the first time ever in Spain, which certainly made it sound exclusive (for a while).  The beers were all barrel aged, fairly high in alcohol content, and spoken of in the most glowing of terms by the representatives.  Although it was a business presentation, everyone was pretty relaxed and friendly.  I was recommended Backwoods Bastard first, a take on their Dirty Bastard scotch ale.

Like Dirty Bastard, it comes off as a sweeter beer than I normally like, although it has its attraction in colder months.  The smell is definitely sweet and I don't detect much else behind it, but the taste is pretty balanced, not syrupy.  The noticeable flavor is definitely vanilla, although the aftertaste has more of a mellow and woody note.  I find it heavier than I remember Dirty Bastard, a little too heavy now that the weather is warmer, at least for my taste.  As winter holidays come around, though, the Backwoods Bastard is a good choice to warm your stomach, if not your heart.

I tried Kentucky Breakfast Stout, or KBS, next.  The previous Breakfast Stout had been disappointing, lacking in flavor for me.  I'm so spoiled with these intense beers.  KBS was much better right off the bat, with a rich chocolatey-ness and smooth texture that marks the perfect stout for me.  The barrel was harder to detect, and I never felt like the bourbon overwhelmed the stout with sugariness, something that some barrel-aged beers suffer from.  I was terribly pleased with KBS, and had several samples over the course of the night.  Highly recommended for stout lovers!

Glass two came with a mini-cupcake

Finally, the fruit beer, Frootwood.  It's a cherry ale, again aged in bourbon barrels, but those barrels also held maple syrup at some point apparently.  The beer is a frisky pale red color and has an aroma that reminds me of both champagne and cheese.  I saved this one for last, thinking it would perk me up after the powerful Bastard and KBS, and it is indeed refreshing.  It's also a strong one, at 8%.  The flavor is light and unpressuring, though, and would be lovely on a hot summer night, as well as a sunny winter afternoon.  The fruit is the most noticeable part of the flavor, but the texture of Frootwood is also interesting.  Somehow it feels more solid than the other two, almost like a melting Jello shot.  It's still easy drinking and quite pleasing.

More snacks!

There's nothing like a gathering of beer lovers to perk up your week!

Especially beer lovers with dapper clothes and snazzy beards

Beermas Day 12

On the twelfth day of Beermas I poured out for me
Twelve curmudgeons drumming (fingers)
Eleven roosters pipping
Ten kingly pilsners
Nine ladies sighing
Eight cream ales fizzing
Seven spicy mockswans
Six stones a-hanging
Five golden caps
Four calling birds
Three speckled hens
Two flightless non-doves
And a pear cider fresh from the tree

Aw, the last day and I slip up, huh?  Well, at least I can say I post on a holiday anyway.  To end my Beermas I have Founder's Curmudgeon, which I've actually had before on tap, although I didn't remember that when I bought it.  It's fitting, though, as it tasted like Christmas to me at the time.  Here's to a year of beer and happiness and everything else.  Don't you see his fingers drumming with impatience at all the young whippersnappers who think they're so smart?

Drum, drum, drum...

Just popping the cap releases some kind of holiday scent, sweet, spicy, inviting.  I get a little bit of apple with closer inspection.  It looks like a foamy apple cider in color and cloudiness.  But, it's much bitterer, with only a hint of sweet and sour apple as an aftertaste, then going more rum-sweet after a few sips.  Something almost smoky starts to develop, still with hints of fruitiness.  It tastes like a Christmas punch or spiced beer, heavy for the summer, which I thought in June, but very nice on a chilly winter night.

Supplier: La Tienda de la Cerveza
Price: €5.50

drinking with wolves

I had high hopes for the second German movie, high hopes.  I was sadly disappointed.  Possibly I'll think better of it later, but for now, I'm left with a not so positive impression.

Spoilers - I thought, when reading the description, that the story was about a young woman who decides that the wilderness is the best place for her and follows her journey and adaptation into it.  But no, Wild starts with a slightly unhappy introvert deciding what she needs is to keep a wolf in her apartment.  She sees the wolf one day before she gets on the bus and becomes obsessed with capturing it.  She is portrayed as a bit socially awkward, not wanting to party with her co-workers and not in a relationship like her sister, whose boyfriend comes off as kind of an immature dick.  Annia, the main character, is attentive to her grandfather, dying in a hospital, but not very friendly with anyone else.  She also seems to have a hobby of target shooting.  She manages to trap the wolf with the help of some factory workers and strips of cloth and sticks him in a room in her apartment.  Because of her grandfather's illness she is allowed to take time off from work and she spends the time trying to get to know her new soulmate through a hole she has smashed into the wall.  Eventually neighbors start complaining and she has to decide once and for all not to go back to work at all, which leads to her having sex with her boss on his desk, and when he leaves she takes dump on it and accidently sets it on fire by dropping the cigarette he gave her.  Meanwhile, the wolf has managed to escape the room, knocking out a suspiciously square hole in the wall, and she thinks they will run away and be wild lovers together in the wilderness.  Her boss actually tracks her down and finds her with her wolf on the roof of her apartment building.  He tries to convince her to return to work and normal life, but she lets the wolf loose, and her wild side kills her old conventional side.  She runs off with the wolf after calling an ambulance and they run through a sandy waste that looks more like a construction site without machinery than a space near a German city, and when she collapses in the sand in exhaustion the wolf lies down next to her.  As night falls, she drags herself into some weeds to sleep.  In the morning she is deliriously happy to see the sun, even though the wolf isn't around, and it is implied that she has found true happiness in her newly wild state.

I was hoping for something more in the wild, not just somebody trying to force the wild to fit itself into their lives.  Annia seems to want to keep living her normal life at first, but with the influence of the wolf to make her bolder and better.  She kidnaps the poor animal rather than go into the wild herself at first.  Her progression from wallflower to woman of the wilds is shown by her increasing sexual appetite, since only animals with no control actually want sex apparently.  In the beginning she seems embarrassed and bored by her co-workers' antics at the party, and disgusted by her accidental spying on her sister with her boyfriend, but by the end of the film, when she is "wild", she's ready to have sex with cleaners in her boss' office before she has demanding sex with him.  Her awakening of sorts comes when the wolf licks her face and she runs out of her apartment to slide down the banister and get off.  Then she comes back to make scrambled eggs for breakfast like after any hook-up.  I guess the movie is a message against the civilizing forces of our lives as unnatural, and a call to feel our true natures more keenly, although it also shows that we have to give up the comforts that we enjoy to be truly wild and free.

I passed by Cervecería l'Europe before the film, just to get a look at what they had for Founder's Week.  There was an old ale I hadn't tried before, that I recall, which seemed like just the thing.  It's something new, and a chance to take.  Just like going wild, right?  So, I got my Curmudgeon, and it was a nice nutty brown, with a healthy head, not very aromatic but maybe just a little sweet.  Oh my god, it tastes like Christmas.  Really.  It is sweet, but there's also a bit of spice lurking around, cinnamon or nutmeg perhaps.  Besides that, there's the sweetness, which makes me think of a rum mixed drink.  Eggnog, maybe.  It's a little bit heavy, with a feeling of something aged and concentrated in flavor.  Still, very tasty, and definitely something to try...before running off into the woods.

Supplier: Cervecería l'Europe
Price: €6.30/pint

exercising the sweet tooth

Geez, last week was mead, now it's a raspberry ale?  What the hell, palate?  Some time ago, Sagra had a special beer for a beer fair with raspberries - Framboise - which was quite a tasty red ale, in fact.  Founder's has been impressive on other occasions, albeit from tap rather than bottle, so I will take this chance.

It pours out with just a touch of raspberry pink and develops a fluffy white head.  It looks like Cherry 7-Up actually.  I do get a tangy hint of the raspberry over the ale smell, so I can only hope it doesn't taste like Cherry 7-Up.  And I like Cherry 7-Up, I just don't want to be fooled into drinking it.  Oh, not Cherry 7-Up, for sure.  There's a little danger of lambic sourness at first, but dissipates quickly, leaving a bitter beer taste behind.  The raspberries are a little stronger than I remember from Framboise, leaving the beer heavier on the fruity flavor, but it's not incompatible with a relaxing drink.  In spite of the light fruitiness in the taste, it doesn't hide its beery base, being a tart and refreshing ale in its pink little heart.

Supplier: Palma Brew
Price: €7.90 (Like a certain comedy writer, I drink craft beer because I hate money)

crossovers

If anything promotes a beer, it's having people drink it all.  Founders Dirty Bastard, a Scotch ale, was on tap at a place I've been to before.  But, I had started a bit small and when I went for my big girl drink, they were out.  I was assured there would be another keg the next day, but the winds of chance have not blown me back.  So, in the import store's cooler it was sitting in the bottle and I had to snatch the opportunity.

Oh, doesn't everybody have a beer towel?

I think I detect  hint of whiskey in the smell, but it's probably just my imagination; the "Scotch" in the name is having an effect on my expectations.  It's a nice dark brown beer, beige-ish head, a bit bubbly.  The strongest flavor is bitter, but it's a rounded, mellow bitter, with some flashes of light sweetness at the edges.  In fact, I'd almost call it a candy bitter.  It maintains a nice, smooth, laid-back flavor, with a good balance of bitter and sweet that doesn't push one or the other too much.  It's a bit strong at 8.5%, although not the strongest beer you can find these days without looking too hard, but a good conversational beer that keeps words flowing without distracting the tongue.

I guess I'm going to have to make a trip, to see if the draft is as good as the bottle.  Probably better...it'll be just my luck if they're out again by the time I find a minute to go.

It would be just like him, too

Supplier: Taste of America
Price: €4.95

can't always be a hermit

Just for some variety, I'll sum up a little beer tasting at a relatively new place in town.  While I've been away from tastings for a variety of reasons, not enjoying them is not one of those reasons.  It's mostly been a problem of time.  So, when the opportunity comes around, the smart is not to let it go by.  Toast Tavern is the latest of the food&drink empire the owners are building, although the man behind the bar is instrumental in bringing in the beers and presenting them.  We had a set of five, mostly national, and a nice progression in terms of strength and "weight" - which for me is the intensity of flavor and the darker notes in that flavor.

First we had a witbier from Garagart called Gary & Esti.  The brewery is Basque, but this is brewed in Logroño, so still national.  It has a definite champagne sort of flavor, a bit sour, and definitely bubbly.  It's a slightly bitter and grapey beer, with a background of spices.  We were told cumin has a hand in the make-up, and some chamomile too.  Honey also comes up on the ingredient list, but I really didn't find it to be a very sweet beer at all, with the champagne similarity increasing as the glass gets drunk.  All right, but not my personal glass of beer.

We moved along to a session IPA, Founders All Day.  This is the one representative of foreign beers, being from Michigan, and a fine ambassador it is.  Session beers have often been perfumey in my experience, but this one is pretty laid back in that regard.  There is a certain sweetness in the smell, which my neighbor described as "like a Jolly Rancher".  I would not go that far, although I can see where the connection might be.  There is a little more kick than something so flatly sweet as a Jolly Rancher might have, which makes for pleasant drinking.  I found it cidery, but like dry and bitter Spanish cider.

Number three was also Garagart, although I did not catch the name of this particular brew.  It is an IPA, but not like the typical craft IPAs that tend to hit you with the citrus.  It is just a little flowery in taste, with a nice aley bitter too.  It's not as complex as its Garagart colleague, but more in line with my drinking preferences.

The serving for the big kids

Our next-to-last sample was what I had started with, having arrived a little early.  The excitement of a beer tasting after all this time, you know.  Falken 1UP is a fine Imperial IPA, with a nice dark color.  It is noticeably bitter, although more of a rounded flavor than a sharp one, and it also avoids the typical craft IPA citrus.  I noticed in the tasting, after the other samples, that this beer has a but of fruit to it, but it's something plummy, not orangey or lemony.  It also does get a little syrupy if you have a large serving, but not too sticky.

We went back to Founders for the final sample.  Founders Porter looks the part and does not disappoint when called on.  It is sweet like many a porter, but not too much, and there's an undeniable smokiness about it in the taste and the smell.  The fruit kind of lurks in the background.  The flavor also has a hint of chocolate mixed in with the smokey sweetness, so it's not especially tangy, but a nice, balanced palate for the tongue.

The space is not especially large, but that's what you can expect in most Spanish bars.  It is easy on the eye, a little rustic, and excellently located.  And of course, beers that can't be beat.

And a mascot - gotta have a mascot