Redneck Mother, 500 Beers and the Lovely Redhead

Not much going on in the kitchen, as I was busy rambling about Lexington this past weekend. I did pop the top on the first bottle of Redneck Mother, that Imperial Red that sat in my primary fermenter for an ungodly amount of time, while the yeast slowly moseyed it's way to a horrid attenuation. It's my own damn fault...I bought that oxygenation kit a couple months ago, I just haven't gotten around to dragging my ass up to the welding shop to buy a bottle of oxygen. And yeast definitely needed the oxygen boost for this brew: it should have come out somewhere between 9.5 and 10% ABV, and it barely squeeked out 7.8%...and took forever to do even that! Anyhow, WAY too freakin' sweet, even for my Zombie Woof sweet tooth hangin' half a mile long, and under-carbonated. It looks OK in the pic, but the carbonation dissipated almost immediately. I'll let it age some more just to see what happens, but I'm thinking very large batches of chili, marinating ribs and other cooking uses are in this brews future till next attempt at brewing. And yeah, I think it's got potential, I just missed the mark on this one.

 Now, the 500 beers in the title: y'all have heard me babble on about Untapp'd and what a fantastic app it is for discovering new brews, finding the beers you like, keeping track of what beers you've tried and what you thought of them, as well as sharing all that with your beer drinking buddies. Well, I talked a couple friends into joining me down at Country Boy Brewing here in Lexington to enjoy some flights of their tasty brews Saturday, as I knew I was going to hit 500 different beers checked into Untappd. Halfway through the second flight, Amos Moses Porter (one of Country Boy Brewing's own amazing brews!) tipped me over that 500 mark! On to the next 500...! Drink like a chimney, and enjoy every beer!

As you can see from the pic below, I wasn't the only one at the table enjoying some flights that afternoon! :-)

Flights are a great way to discover new beers and compare offerings. Or just bump your numbers up, if you're a badge-hound. ;-) Most bars with multiple taps will offer flights...ask you friendly, neighborhood bartender. Then tip like crazy--there's a lot more dishes to wash, and a lot more questions to answer.

Gastro Gnomes Food Truck had stopped by Country Boy Brewing that afternoon, and I enjoyed a Country French Burger (I may be mangling the menu listing?) It was a burger with ham and asparagus in a bechamel sauce. It sounds kinda weird, and with my poor photography prolly looks even weirder. But OMFG it was TASTY!!!!! It was definitely too messy to grab a handful and just stuff in your mouth like a lesser hamburger; knife and fork and a big pile of napkins required for this one, but it was a truly lovely taste experience!

And don't forget, Country Boy Brewing is one of the few brewpubs in the world that offers 2X4 Jenga on their patio!!! Life-size fun!!!

 Keep Gastro Gnomes on your short list--this truly outstanding and amazing eats! Eat Well and Die Happy!

 Alright, already...I'm getting to why you clicked in the first place: the Lovely Redhead. By which, I of course mean, the lovely Lydia Loveless, who recently played an outstanding show at Willie's Locally Known here in Lexington. This was my first visit to Willie's Locally Known...it smelled great, and I'm sure the food was fantastic, but it's not gonna make my list of great places to catch live music. It's really, really difficult to create a space that works well for live music. I really applaud the owners for booking the incredible talent they've been bringing into their restaurant, but the space just sucks as a music venue. Sorry Willies, but I won't be back often.

The Lydia Loveless show itself was fantastic! The night opened with several songs rocked out with plenty of support from her band. All showed tremendous enthusiasm and talent, but special accolades for their drummer who just carried the shit in this crappy little room, and for the bassist James Lamb. I've seen a lot of bands, but I've never seen anyone attack a stand-up bass quite like that! Loved it!!

 

She finished out the night with some solo tunes. Lovely stuff...

 And after the show, Lydia was gracious enough to allow her picture to be taken with

 that guy from KitchenBrews! Now, if I could just get her to sing a few tunes in the Kitchen...!:-)