Mr. K’s visit was quite short (its hard to believe its already passed), but it was so wonderful to see him. We started Saturday off at what I have now dubbed ‘our’ brunch place: Zachary’s.
I had the basic eggs with over medium eggs, oatmeal molasses bread, half order of breakfast potato and half order of fruit.
It was delish. And a perfect way to start off the day. The breakfast potatoes are seriously the best.potatoes.ever. No joke. And – they’re vegan.
We continued our rainy days at the movies, where we saw Paul, which I really enjoyed and thought was quite hilarious. I would recommend it – it’s a fun movie. Definitely a children’s story/movie turned into an adult feature film. But I will warn you: if you don’t like profanity, steer clear. I’m pretty sure the f-bomb was dropped every other second. But the profanity didn’t bother me, and I kind of thought it enhanced the movie and made it that much more entertaining.
After Paul, Mr. K and I walked around town, before embarking on our beer tasting afternoon.
When I was in Denver over Christmas break for the AEA conference, I went to a lot of breweries and came back to Santa Cruz with a ton of beer.
First, we tasted New Belgium Frambozen.
It was a raspberry brown ale. It had some good flavors, but brown ales aren’t my favorite drinks. I enjoyed the raspberry taste on the front end, but I didn’t enjoy the brown ale taste that remained. I was satisfied with half a pour, and didn’t really want any more.
The second beer we tried was the Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout.
The oatmeal stout had a rich, chocolaty oatmeal taste. I really liked it, and enjoyed the complex palate it had. However, I can’t drink very much of any stout. They’re good – but I think they’re too rich for me.
After two samples of beer, Mr. K can no longer make a straight face 
Third beer we tried was Pliny the Elder by Russian River Brewing.
Pliny is an IPA. And OMGGGG. If you don’t know already, IPAs are my favorite. And my favorite beer by far is Bell’s Two Hearted. That being said, Two Hearted better watch out… Pliny the Elder may be giving it a run for its money. And the fact that I can get Pliny the Elder here in California (its brewed in Sonoma County), means that it will probably be appearing a lot in my beer drinking habits over the next few years. If you can’t tell, my review (as an IPA lover) is that I loved the hops, the mixture of flavors and the all around quality of the beer. Two thumbs up!
Last up was Avery’s Maharaja.
This was an imperial IPA, and it was definitely another good one. I had had it off the tap while we were in Denver at the Avery Brewery – and it was phenomenal, so I knew I had to get one for Mr. K to be able to try. And the verdict? Delicious! It was a solid IPA, with tons of flavor, hops (I love hops!) and there was plenty of it. I was a happy girl 
The final rankings?
1. Pliny the Elder
2. Maharaja
3. Oatmeal Stout
4. Frambozen
I’m not quite sure of Mr. K’s rankings, but I think it was similar to mine (I’d have to ask him again, though to be sure!). It was a great way to spend the afternoon, just hanging out and relaxing. Its not very often we get to hang out in the same place together, so I like to take advantage of every moment.
After the beer tasting, we cooked an amazing dinner…stay tuned
What is your favorite kind of beer? Favorite brewery & beer? Like I said earlier, I love Bell’s Two Hearted, but I’m just an all around IPA girl. I used to only drink wheat beers, but then Mr. K introduced me to IPAs, and I have never really looked back. Thanks, Mr. K for enlightening my beer palate!
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