we are leaving for houston in the morning(friday). we have a rehersal dinner on friday night, then a big reception after the wedding on saturday.. so i dont know how much avail time we will have to go find places to eat.. my wife has made it clear that we WILL go to goode, so who knows from there.. i would love to find a place that has some fresh gulf shrimp. i know they bring em up the houston shipping channel every day.

bigjohn

fresh gulf shrimp? try Goode Company Seafood off the south side of 610.

My fav pub just got Maredsou in. I like it very much.

unfortunately, we were so caught up in wedding activities, that we wernt able to really go anywhere..

we had some gourmet pizzas at the reception hall in the church after the rehersal. then, we went straight to bed friday night.. we had some kalachies from a little german bakery on saturday morning on our way to the church. after the wedding, went to a place in downtown houston called 'Sambuca'.. kind of a hip, trendy little jazz joint. food was good, but not great. after that, we just wanted to get the heck out of houston, so we headed back home.. oh well.

no goode, and no gulf shrimp.

BTW- i just got back from the grocery store, and bought my next 'experiement' beer.. it is called 'Bavaria', from holland.. i will have a few tomorrow and give you my impressions.

bigjohn

OK, now the review on the 'Bavaria'.

in my recent experiements, i have expected most of the foreign beers to be too powereful, and have a overly strong flavor that i wouldnt like. i have been pleasantly surprised. the st paulis girl, newcastle, and bitburger have all been very pleasing, and not at all what i had been expecting. the 'Bavaria' that i tried was even MORE weaker than the others. it had a good flavor, almost sweet, but had no bite what so ever.. in fact, i would almost compare it to an american light beer. it was lacking pretty much everything. its not that it was bad, just not memorable. when i have a beer, i wanna know that i am 'having a beer'... the Bavaria was unremarkable in all aspects. it had no particular aroma, and the eventual bite that i was waiting for, never came.

all in all, a very plain, bland beer.. perfect for the guy who likes zimas, but wants to drink a beer so his friends wont laugh at him. on a 1-10, i give it a 5.. i WONT be buying this one again.

of all the ones i have had, the bitburger is still the best. i look forward to another sixer of that, once my 'experiemental' stage is over..

bigjohn

Hey John, keep it up. It's fun to read about your recent experiments. It reminds me of when I was at the beginning of my "quest for the perfect beer". I see that you're mostly trying Lagers and Pilsners. I started with ambers, porters, and stouts because I assumed that lagers and pilsners wouldn't have any or enough flavor for my tastes. However, I quickly learned otherwise. Some others you could try are Red Hook (Blonde or Sun Rye), Peroni (Italian). I only wish there were more German beers around here to try. Lately I've found that I really enjoy a good Belgian Golden (Duvel, Lucifer), or Pale Ale (Corsendonk Pale Ale). Anyway, enjoy the ride and all the beers.

well, thanks.. i am such an amateur, that i really couldnt tell you the difference between lagers, pilsners, porters, and stouts. i mean, if was to drink one or the other, i wouldnt know which one i had.. ? make sense..? my choices thus far have been simply based on the country of origin. i did see the peroni at the store, so i will try that next week.. there was also a japanese beer that looked interesting.

i need to go to a beer web-site, and learn more of the proper terms and lingo to use when judging beer. i am just kinda wingin' it. i dont claim to be a professional, nor am i paid for my endorsements. its pretty much, do i like it, or do i not!! thats about as simple as i can make it

i will try the peroni, and i need to go out to the liquor stores and try and find some of the others mentioned in previous posts.. i checked, and the grocery store dont carry none of them. all the liquor stores are on the out-skirts of town.. its illegal to sell liquor in town, other than at a bar.. so much for living in a religiously based town. oh well, i dont mind the drive.

bigjohn

I had never heard of that "Bavaria" and didn't want to taint your impression of it, but that is a Dutch beer named for a region in Germany? Obviously made for the export market. I'd have to agree with you, bigjohn - all the Dutch beers I've tried have all been pretty mild and unexciting.

Most Japanese beers that we can buy in the states are now made in Canada. At risk of offending our Canadian friends, the beer is not as good. Those Japanese beers were pretty unremarkable in the first place, IMO, but now they also have the tannic bite of 6-row barley. I'd save my money for something from Europe or a North American craft brewer.

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Dutch beer named for a region in Germany?

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bigwill, i have not, and will never question your beer knowledge, but this is the beer i tried. it even says on that web-page that it is "a light, refreshing and less harsh beer than traditional Dutch beers".. and it even goes on to say, "it is styled to appeal to a broader american market with a lighter feel and less hop bitterness and aftertaste".

sounds to me like they took ALL the taste out of it? i would agree with all of that. it has NO bite, it is VERY light, and was less harsh than anything else i had tasted. very bland.. i hate when they cater to use americans!! just give us the normal stuff!!!

bigjohn

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i need to go to a beer web-site, and learn more of the proper terms and lingo to use when judging beer.

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You might want to check http://www.ratebeer.com
That's where I find a ton of reviews and generally anything with an 85 and up is worth a try.

I wish our mega-breweries made better beer. If they used all malt (no rice or corn) and a scoach more hops the beers would be much, much better.

Ever have Rolling Rock, Michelob, or AB Amber Bock? I'd love to try that Anheiser Busch World Select, but it's like $8 per sixer - I'm afraid it would taste just like Bud.