Free beer is usually the best beer

so, I had the pleasure of drinking way more than usual this weekend, but in nice moderation. Friday night was the usual bars, going to Pub Dog for their tasty beer and pizza. Apparently their new seasonal isn't out yet, but I'm intrigued to try it when it comes out, whatever it is.

Saturday, a local wine store, Iron Bridge Wine Company, had a big wine sale, complete with free tastings and free food. I really like Iron Bridge, because their tastings allow you to see what kind of wines you line, and they place them on a scale of weaker to stronger, and have very knowledgeable staff on hand. I found out that I need to find more Grenache and Cote Du Rhone wines to try.

After that, it was over to perhaps the best local liquor store, The Perfect Pour. This place has literally the best beer selection that I've ever seen anywhere. It is ridiculous how much beer they have. They were also having a tasting, and were featuring Woodchuck's spring cider, and Fraoch's 20th Anniversary Ale.

Woodchuck's spring cider was just awful in my opinion. It is supposed to have a sort of mead influence, but it comes off like a bouquet of flowers dipped in too much honey - It didn't taste like a cider at all. It was sugary to the point of horror, and just really not my thing. My friends didn't mind it as much, but yikes. Not for me.

Fraoch is a Scottish brewing company which I'd never heard of before. However, clearly I was missing out, as their 20th Anniversary Ale is a Heather Ale, aged in Speyside whiskey casks and was *delicious*. It had a nice heather/herb/hoppy flavor, but was subtley smokey as well. Really enjoyed it, hoping to find more offerings in this vein.

Sadly, Saturday was not an adventurous beer night, especially with a bunch of bombers chilling back at my apartment - we settled for a 12-pack of Sam Adams mixed styles, which was nice, and Yuengling's special release Bock.

Yuengling's Bock was actually really tasty. Like most of their offerings, it's not really complex or adventurous, but that's not what you look for in Yuengling. It was tasty and dark without being heavy, and was extremely drinkable. Yuengling is that nice middle class - ridiculously better than Bud or Miller, but not as expensive as Sam Adams or other starter craft beers.

In summary - the woodchuck was cloying, the fraoch was delicious, and the yuengling was tasty and enjoyable, in the most relaxing way. Try the yuengling if you're grabbing a case for a night of movies or cards, and grab the Fraoch if you're looking for something new and interesting.