Off tomorrow (yay!) so I went to Rich O's and celebrated virtual Friday.

Well, maybe celebrated is the wrong word. Perhaps observed would be better.

Rich O's was fairly empty and I sat at the island by myself all night. A few of the professional beer drinkers were scattered around, and three semi-cute girls were sitting in the red room, but that's it. Nobody I cared to talk to was present.

Determined to try new beers, and only new beers, tonight, my first selection was a Ridgeway Santa's Butt Porter. Here's what I said about it at ratebeer.com:

(draft) Probably the blandest selection that Rich O's Saturnalia has to offer. A bit of a chocolate smell and taste that's followed up by a very watery finish. Decent but not memorable at all.

Next I had a Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale.

(draft) Tastes like a pilsner until you swallow, that's when the funkiness takes over. I guess the funkiness was due to the sake yeasts used on the rice. My enjoyment of this beer grew with each sip, but by the time the glass was gone I still didn't like it enough to order another pint.

Finally, I had a XX Bitter De Ranke, a beer with a scary (to me) name.

(draft) The hop aroma was very evident and I was surprised to find such a tame flavor behind it. This is a beer I could drink all night, but I wouldn't want to because it's pretty boring.

So I had a very pleasant and relaxing night, disturbed only by VigilanteGirl's continuing perkiness. My castle walls have been completely rebuilt so she's wasting her time trying to get in. My loss, really.