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New Belgium Hoptober Review
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$\"\"$ Summer is ending which means the next round of seasonal beers are out. This past week I was at my local grocery store and saw New Belgium’s Hoptober out and had to give it a whirl. Hoptober is New Belgium’s seasonal that they release August-September.

I had a little trouble getting started with this review. I drank the first 5 of the 6 before I snapped a picture. When I poured the 6th beer for review, my camera battery died, and of course I couldn’t find my backup battery until after the head died down (although I did manage to get a picture with my cell phone camera).

The beer poured a nice golden color with a good thick layer of head. As the head died down, it left nice lacing on the glass, which is a thing of beauty.

I really enjoyed smelling this beer. It has a fairly strong hoppy and malty smell with some slight citrus notes. It definitely got my mouth watering.

It was a little hoppier then I was expecting from a golden ale, although I shouldn’t be surprised with huge hop lineup of Centennial, Cascade, Sterling, Willamette, and Glacier hops. It tastes great with a somewhat creamy mouthfeel. One drawback I thought it had was that is tasted slightly over carbonated. I’m not so sure that it is a big deal as this beer tastes GOOD.

Overall this is a perfect “transition” beer from summer to fall. It is more like a summer beer compared to most fall seasonals, but is more like a fall beer compared with most summer seasonals. It is easy to drink and pretty dang delicious if you are a fan of the hops.

My New Belgium Hoptober Grade: A-

Here are the details:

ABV: 6%
IBU’s: 40

What’s your thoughts on New Belgium’s Hoptober?

Note: If you represent a brewery and are reading this and would like your beer reviewed on BlogAboutBeer.com, please contact me for more info. Thanks!

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The Greatest iPhone Case For Beer Drinkers
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I admit that I’m somewhat of a gadget geek. When products come out that make sense, such as my Reef sandals that have a bottle opener on the bottom of each foot, I get excited. I’ve been wearing my sandals when I’ve needed to open a beer, and they have been a life saver (ok, that might be extreme, but they have definitely come in handy).

What happens though when the winter comes and I’m wearing shoes and need to open a beer? I could try opening my beer with a key, but wouldn’t using my phone be more practical? I may not always be wearing my sandals, but I always carry my phone. That’s were iBottleopener comes in handy.

iBottleopener is a case for your iPhone 3g/3gs (iPhone 4 coming soon) that has a bottle opener attached. For $19.95, it’s not a bad deal. Most cases are right around that price anyway, so you might as well get one with a bottle opener right?

Here is their commercial which speaks for itself.

Hopefully they will start making these for other phone models, but I think it’s a pretty great idea. What do you think?

Check out their website at http://www.ibottleopener.com

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Top 10 Songs About Beer
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$\"\"$ While sitting in my office this afternoon, I was starring at my drums and thinking about music. I love music almost as much as I love a good IPA. Music and beer go hand in hand. I believe that music is better if you have a beer in hand, and drinking beer is better with some good tunes rocking.

It got me thinking about songs about beer and gave me an idea to make a beer drinking playlist to listen to while I work. After looking over the songs, I figure I would write a post on the top 10 songs about beer.

I’m sure this list will be different then yours. Read through it and add your thoughts below. You can listen to the songs using the list on the right.
1. Pretty Good At Drinkin’ Beer – Billy Currington
  Yeah, he talks about drinking Bud Light, but this song reminds me of me.
  
  I’m not the type to work in a bank
  I’m no good at slappin on things
  Don’t have a knack for makin motors crank, no
  But I’m pretty good at drinkin beer
2. Beer Run – Garth Brooks and George Jones (originally by Todd Snider)
  I’m a sucker for Garth Brooks and George Jones, so had to add this one on the list.
  
  I guess half a dozen cases doesn’t last that long
  Come tomorrow morning it’ll be all gone
  Then, it’s turn around, leave town, sounds again
  Like a B Double E Double R-U-N.
3. Beer Bottle Boogie – Koko Taylor
  Great blues song, with a nice guitar solo.
  
  I drink good beer when I go home
4. Beer – Asylum Street Spankers
  Good catchy tune.
  
  Well I’ve tried ‘em all and it might sound queer
  But my favorite drug is a nice cold beer.
5. Who Spilt My Beer – The Adicts
  A little English punk. Will someone please tell the truth, who spilt his beer?
  
  Come on in
  Lets go buy me a beer
  If one of you dosn’t own up pretty soon, I’m gonna be very angry
  Who spilt my beer, who spilt my beer?
6. I Like Beer - Tom T. Hall
  An oldie but a goodie.
  
  I like beer. it makes me a jolly good fellow
  I like beer. it helps me unwind and sometimes it makes me feel mellow (makes him feel mellow)
7. Beer! – Psychostick
  This wins my WTF award.
  
  I like beer ‘cos it is good
  I drink beer because I should
  if there was a song to sing
  I sing it and beer you bring
8. Beer Beer Beer – Flogging Molly
  Had to add an Irish drinking song to the list.
  
  A barrel of malt, a bushel of hops, you stir it around with a stick,
  The kind of lubrication to make your engine tick.
  40 pints of wallop a day will keep away the quacks.
  It’s only eight pence hapenny and one and six in tax, 1 2 3 4 5
9. Beer Thirty – Brooks & Dunn
  I think a few people have covered this song, I like Brooks & Dunn’s version the best.
  
  Yeah life’s too short, let’s get to livin’ it
  Let’s give it all we can give it
  Let your hair down, turn the music up
  We gonna paint the town flat, tear it up
  The party starts here get in line
  It’s beer thirty a honky tonk time
10. In Heaven There Is No Beer – Soggy Bottom Boys
  From the movie Oh Brother Wear Art Thou.
  
  In heaven there is no beer (no beer!)
  That’s why we drink it here
  And when we are gone from here
  Our friends will be drinking all the beer
So what would you add to this list?

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