Now that Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head have re-released Life & Limb I am compelled to share a story that happened way before the days of I Drink Good Beer. It was around Christmas time and I had just got word from my cousin that his distributor had received a case of Life and Limb. My cousin knows I’m a beer drinker and lets me know when they get special cases like this. Naturally I told him to hold the case for me as I could pick up 2 days later on my way to West Virginia for an event. Fast forward to the weekend, Jared and I are an hour away from the distributor and my cousin calls and says “I know you didn’t get the case and not leave your cousin a bottle.” I said “dude I’m still an hour away.” I hear silence on the other end and my cousin says he will call back. When he does call back he informs me of another patron who caught wind of my case and scooped it up. That patron was nice enough to give the mis-informed employee one of the bottles which I in turn got for his huge mistake.
I brought the bottle back home and we did a little beer tasting at Adam’s old apartment.
Just the label had me anxious to crack the bottle open. It looks so fun and inviting.
We have been through too much anguish over this one bottle of beer so lets crack it.
Our main contributor, Jared, sniffs and smells the syrupy goodness and pairs it with an amp energy drink.
 Some cool signage Adam had up in his kitchen at the time.
Our culinary author at IDGB, Brandon, was also on hand to sample this East Coast West Coast collaboration.
This beer was truly good till the last drop. I stated above that I Drink Good Beer was pretty much a brain fart in 2009. We had an idea for a beer blog but no name to it. That night I said to Adam “these pics are for the beer blog when ever we start it.” This is the first I Drink Good Beer post that was ever documented so I am happy I saved these pictures to share with you. It makes me think about how far craft beer has gone in the past two years. What I thought was a one off brew has been reintroduced and I can’t wait to share more Life & Limb content with the rest of you.
-Brian
Monday night I was invited to 
 7 kegs of Lagunitas best were tapped for the festivities.
 The staff was already in the swing of things with some eye catching stickers.
 VIP pass for free beer.
Featured beers for the evening.
 I started with a Pils. I am very familar with the Lagunitas brand but this is the one beer we get around here that hasn’t graced my palate. It was amazing to say the least, truely a style meant to be enjoyed fresh.
Crisp and hoppy, rounded out with some malty sweetness. An easy drinking brew for sure.
 Good lacing too.
 I love their tap handles!
 The Lucky 13th Alt tap handle had to be the most eye catching.
 Steve recently had this sign made to represent the restaurants excellent draft selection.
 Before I could even realize it, the bar was bum rushed with people looking for a fresh pint of Lagunitas.
 Keeping the crowd entertained for the evening was 
 James Vidale, the bands singer, was in good beer spirits wearing his Duff beer shirt.
In the kitchen Chef Stefan was preparing the nights h’ordeuvres. Here he’s putting together some spiced pork belly tacos with apple and savoy cabbage with a truffle vinaigrette
Bacon and onion liverwurst gougeres with Hop Stoopid jello
 Bacon and goat cheese brioche sandwiches
 Spiced pork belly and egg vinaigrette
Peanut Butter stuffed dates wrapped with bacon
5 Spoke Creamery cheddar with figs and chocolate & oat cracker
Sweet potato danish
 While I was back in the kitchen I spotted one of the staff rocking a Lagunitas shirt
 It was about time for me to have another beer and I couldnt really decide. Do I get Undercover Shutdown? How about a Pale Ale?
 Being the hop head I am, it wasn’t hard to settle with the IPA.
 The man behind the event, Trevor Jankowski, other wise known as the Lagunitas East Coast Consigliere.
It seems as if the dog on the mason jar was a little sad I was nearing the end of my beer. I would have love to keep refilling it but my night was cut short because of my dreaded day job.
Some of you may be wondering who are the 
Gabor doing some quality control, making sure the Red Ale is carbonated and ready to go.
Adam too was making sure the beer was proper.
Let the pouring commence.
To get an understanding of the beer. Adam and Gabor prepared a sheet with all you would want to know about the brew. Tasting notes, ABV, IBU’s also the hops and malts that were used in the brewing process.
They were also taking orders on their T-shirts.
Adam and Gabor were getting great feed back left and right. All that came had nothing but great things to say about their latest brew.
Once again they had a questionare. All this research is key as it helps them find out what their customers really like.
Adam taking in more feed back from a patron.
Last week I was invited along for a craft beer excursion to Stoudt’s Brewery, courtesy of my friends at the 
9:30am – We are greeted to an open bar consisting of morning libations and a nice continental breakfast. No complaints here…
I had a bloody mary; should have went for the Irish coffee. Failure on my part.
I mentioned this was an excursion, right? High Grade chartered a bus and it was definitely the highlight of my journey. I felt like I was on a grade school field trip!
On the bus were complimentary beers from High Grade’s outstanding portfolio.
They were offering: Estrella Damm, Tommy Knocker Maple Brown, Victory Head Waters, and Nectar Ales IPA. I started off with a Flying Fish Farmhouse Summer Ale.
After a few beers and a two hour bus ride, we finally made it to 
During the restaurant’s opening in the 60’s, Ed developed a love for antiques and rented out his cellar space to local dealers. It started as a small venue in the basement of the restaurant and is now a 78,000 square foot building housing over 400 merchants.
Stoudtsburg was awesome! Little shops and cafes spread around this tiny village as if to capture a little of the German spirit. Here you can find furniture, clothing, jewelry and artwork.
Sweet fountain in the middle of it all.
Let’s get on with the beer talk. In 1978 Ed and his wife opened the Bier Garten and had their first Gemütlichkeit Beer Festival. Everything was up to their standards at the event, except for the beer – it wasn’t fresh! They knew they had to have some quality brew at their festival and what had been served was insufficient. So, Carol and Ed began to take trips and meet with different brewers, eventually winding up at a Brewer’s Conference with known figures such as Charlie Pappazi and Ken Allen. It wasn’t long before they started Stoudt’s Brewing Company. Established in 1987, it was one of the first microbreweries to open since Prohibition and was formed during a time when most microbreweries failed to stay open for more than a few years. Another familar figure in the craft beer world – Karl Strauss – helped Ed, Carol, and their inaugural brewer Scott get their brewery going.
Originally brewing only 500 barrels for in-house use, Ed and Carol picked up an antique bottle filler for champagne magnums in 1988 and have grown drastically to what is a 10,000 barrel brew house today.
It was bottling day so we needed to be aware of our surroundings.
Aside from an informational tour we had a nice spread of food for lunch, and of course, endless samples of Stoudt’s beer. I opted for a piece of fried chicken and a hot dog with kraut and mustard.
Which brew should I taste?
Double IPA it is.
You can’t have just one. I was a big fan of the American Pale Ale.
One of their original beers, Pils, is a German-style pilsner. Crisp, hoppy, refreshing, and – might I add – fresh.
Eddie Stoudt called out a few raffle winners.
Our friend Kasey from the Mohawk House won this sweet clock and bequeathed it upon us. It lights up the office pretty nicely. Thanks!
Don’t forget to swing by the gift shop. They have t-shirts, glassware, hats, posters – even beer.
You can get some exclusive brews here that aren’t in stores. Take this bottle as an example: 1860 IPA brewed specifically for 
I can honestly say this was one of the best trips I have been on in long time. Even though it was only a day, I feel like I got to take a mini-vacation to Germany and really enjoyed myself with some fine food and good beer. I would like to thank Steve and Rachel from Mohawk House, Kasey for tagging along with me, and Mike along with everyone else at High Grade for putting this trip together for the local bars and restaurants. I can’t wait to go on the next one!