Saturday, April 2, 2022

Friday Night on Elm Street

Time for another Not Lame Minus Boston area adventure...

I drove to Alewife, parked and zipped into Davis Square on the Red Line. Then I grabbed two seats at Elm Street Taproom's bar, ordered a decent A Little Rain IPA from Small Change Brewing Company, and waited for Brian's arrival. We got dinner: I had the Double Skinny Burger and waffle fries, and he got a BBQ Chicken Sandwich to go along with his Old Fashioned. I had another beer, and around 7:00 we headed out to find another place to hang out until Gavin could meet us around 9:00 pm.

We crossed the street to go to The Burren, but it was packed, so we walked a few feet to Sligo instead. Upon entering, I recognized it for the same dive bar I'd patronized years ago (and disliked greatly). However, as an in-between stop for one round, it was fine. Brian bought the round: a Guinness for himself and a serviceable Harpoon IPA for me. An hour passed with a decent soundtrack, the Red Sox and Celtics both playing on the televisions, and the typical smells and sounds of a dive.

We were going to meet Gavin at Saloon, a favorite destination of recent years, but the wait for a table was over an hour, so we opted for The Foundry instead, where we immediately were shown to a booth even without our full party present. Brian got another Old Fashioned (which was better than the one he'd had earlier), and I decided to try a fancy drink myself. I opted for the Float Downstream, a tequila-based drink containing mango, pineapple and turmeric, with a 'tajin rim', whatever that was. The drink was surprisingly good. The tajin rim was not. So I drank from the other side of the glass. When Gavin arrived he also got an Old Fashioned, and when we ordered food, he got wings with some odd maple BBQ sauce, and I had the fish and chips (very good!). At around 11:45 as a group we decided to call it an evening, though Brian wanted to keep the revels going.



Another fun night in the books, with plans to meet up again in a few weeks...

Friday, April 1, 2022

Beer - Took a Boat to Church

I grabbed a couple of four packs of beer from the local liquor store, and one of them was Took a Boat to Church IPA (Citra & Strata hops, double dry hopped) from Shire Breu-Hous out of Dalton, MA. It is exactly what I want from an IPA: super hazy with a bit of a bite, and seeds at the bottom of the can or glass. At 6.5% ABV, it actually hits a bit stronger, but the flavor makes it worth it. Highly recommended. I only had one last night, so that means there are three left for future fun!