LTD Limited Edition Lager & Titan IPA

Greetings fellow beer drinkers!!!

It's been a great day, March Madness is in full swing with the NCAA Men's Basketball conference tournaments going strong. A terrific string of OT games and upsets all day today, and what's better than watching great College Hoops??? Drinking some good brew while watching College Hoops of course!!!

How excited was I to enjoy a Limited Edition beer from one of my favorite NW breweries while watching the hated Duke Bluedevils loose to NC State in the FIRST ROUND of the ACC conference tournament today???? Double-ly Excited!!! I was able to enjoy the upset while consuming a Full Sail Brewing LTD Limited Edition Lager. The bottle describes the brew as "An easy-drinking albeit wicked awesome Limited Edition Lager from our ace crew of libationary wunderkinds."

When I read "wicked awesome," I felt like I was back in Bean-Town - although I've never been to Bean-Town - and was trying to Paak the Caa in the Shed! But after my first sip, the feeling was definitely back in the NW state-of-mind. As a lager the LTD Limited Edition is a VERY easy drinker. It felt like a beer I could enjoy back in PHX (I'm currently in Seattle w/my college drinkin' bud SQHub - soon to be future blogger on hopsandbarley) when temps rise into the triple didgets; which they tend to do from May thru Sept. Why do people live there???

I'll admit that I was a bit nervous that the LTD Lager would feel like Full Sail's Session Lager introduced last year (in trendy 10.5 oz bottles - gip!) which reminded me of Pabst-Genuine-Weiser - aka every US Macrobrew Lager. But I was surprised and the brew was more flavorful and qualifies - IMO - as a craft brew rather than general macro-swill. I'd recommend this beer for an afternoon quaff in your favorite sunny spot.

Later in the evening I enjoyed another fine brew later in the day in celebration of Cal's OT upset of #1 Seed UCLA in the Quarterfinals of the Pac-10 tourney. A fine IPA from Great Divide Brewing Titan IPA from Denver, CO. I've been on a bit of an IPA kick these days as can be seen from my previous post. The Titan was definitely not as hoppy as the Big Horse Pale Rider - probably would not generate the Bitter Beer Face response from my lovely wife, but the floral hops flavor and aroma is definitely present. SQHub agrees, although this was his first beer while still taking oxycodone, percocet and baclafin (muscle relaxer) after his heinous Winter Park ski accident - more to come in future blogs, I'm sure.

It's coincidental that I've actually been to the brewery recently. After a wicked Fathers & Son Ski Trip (myself, my father and father-in-law) @ Copper Mtn. in December, we had a couple hours to kill on a Sunday morning before our flights and we decided to head to downtown Denver to try to find a pub to grab some breakfast, some beer and watch a couple NFL quarters before heading to the airport. Turns out Great Divide is walking distance from Coors Field, and I believe it's a Bear's Bar, but don't quote me on that. The breakfast wasn't memorable, but the bar was full - The Dads each had Bloody Marys if I remember correctly.

Well, there's 6min left in the Huskies/Cougs rematch in the Pac10 Quaterfinals, and the game is tied. No more multi-tasking! Got's to go.

It's after 5 somewhere - including Seattle! Salud! And Goooooo Huskies!!!!