Strong Beer - 5 down, 7 to go

I made the long trek across town to try a few of the strong beers at the 21st Amendment. Since the travels were long and Muni was annoying, I forced myself to try three beers.

Imperial Jack (8.7%): great body with a roasty malty kick and only a subtle hint of the alcohol. There's just a touch of lingering hops on the finish. I could drink this all night - or at least until I pass out.
Two Lane Blacktop IPA (9.4%): Hoppy aroma, hoppy flavor, and black as night. It's very malty, but not much roast or chocolate is making it through the hops. Awesome freakin' beer, in my humble opinion.
Beer School (9.1%): rather smooth beer with a hoppy aftertaste. It's very pale and effervescent, with a light body and crisp taste. Even at 9.1%, this comes across as a very mild beer.

While drinking the Beer School, I enjoyed their Buffalo Chicken Cobb salad which was quite good. It was nice and spicy on it's own, but it really stepped up a notch when bit of spicy chicken was followed by a swallow of beer. Flame on!

Finishing off a meal in Thailand

Most meals have ended with a fruit plate - pineapple, watermelon, cantalope, guava, and dragonfruit (which tastes a little like kiwi fruit, but white and much larger). The fruit plate also comes with some dipping powders. One dip is sugar crystals plus ground up plum (at least that's what they tell me) and I think a little salt. The other is sugar crystals and ground up Thai chilies. So if you didn't get enought spice with dinner or lunch, you can kick it up a notch with fruit dipped in ground up chilies. I keep hoping for some Thai Chile ice cream, but haven't found that yet!

Have beer will travel

So I’m bad about updating the ole’ blog, but the spirit is there, just not the 24-7 internet access…
So on the long flight over, I learned two things: 1) people who leave their overhead lights on while on an eleven hour flight are annoying, and 2) United now charges for drinks, which really sucks. I hate you airlines.
Now onto beer news, I drank my first beer in Japan on the my three hour layover in Narita, so that definitely counts as a country visit. The beer in Bangkok isn’t much to write home about, but I’m drinking it anyway. Singha is good in hot, sticky weather and excellent as a fire extinguisher for Thai chilies, but that’s about it. I miss hops and flavor. Speaking of chilies, the locals that I am working with have been doing a great job of stuffing my belly with great food. I’ve made the mistake of chomping down on a few chili pieces, and they’ve brought tears to my eyes and sweat to my face. Each meal has spicy pastes and sauces that can be added to your liking, and I keep messing up and adding too much to the already spicy dishes. I guess it’ll either kill me or I’ll learn to avoid them eventually.