Bourbon Barrel GBS

Hardwood did a damn fine job this with its gingerbread stout; the original, rum and bourbon were all awesome!  I really can't say which one is better.  The bourbon one was sweet, smokey and malty perfection. 

On the 18th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

Woodchuck Cellar Series Chocolate.   Boy is this thing chocolaty.   Very sweet with strong chocolate aroma and flavor,  OK for short sessions.

On the 17th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

Traveler Winter Shandy.  This beer may be dark but the taste is so light.  This is no doubt a Shandy, but one with spices.  This beer is pretty good and refreshing.

On the 16th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

Full Nelson Lights Out Ale.  A nice dark but hoppy ale.  Not the best on the advent calendar but certainly drinkable

On the 15th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

Leinenkugal  Cranberry Ginger Shandy.  This beer is pretty taste but is certainly on the sweet side.   This beer is light and refreshing and a nice change from heavy dark Christmas beers. 

On the 14th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me

Bison Organic Ginger Bread Beer.  Doesn't really taste like much of anything to be honest. Very bland and ehhh!

Alexander's

4.5 STARS

101 West Bank Street, Petersburg, VA 23803

This little hidden gem in downtown Petersburg is well worth the trip to the ATM, which you will have to go to because they don't take plastic. 

Inside the place is old school and small but the food makes all the trouble worth while. Alexander's is a Greek restaurant but they carry other non-greek dishes. I've been before and got the cheese stuffed chicken for dinner and it was absolutely awesome.

This last time I went it was for lunch and I got a bacon cheese burger which I had been told was very good.  Not a thing had changed since I was there last, which was close to 5 years ago!

Our waitress was sweet and attentive and did an outstanding job.  My burner was perfectly cooked and tasted great. Simple, but perfectly cooked and topped with some tzatziki it was one of the best burgers I've had for a while.  Served with just chips and a pickle, the burger was around $8  but well worth it.

I was very impressed with Alexander's for both lunch and dinner and I highly recommend it.  Next time I go I plan on getting the gyro which looked ridiculously delicious.  But just remember, bring cash or a check.

On the 12th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

Sierra Nevada Celebration: Fresh Hop IPA. 

Great pale ale, but not christmasy at all. 

On The 11th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

Goose Island Festivity Brown Ale.

This is an extremely good brown ale. There are honestly not a whole lot of brown ales out there but this is one of the best.  This one is brewed with Christmas spices and a prefect hops and malts ratio. A very good, drinkable beer.

On the 10th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me

Avery's Old Jubilation Ale..

This is a malty winter warmer in the best sense with a slight hoppy after taste.  A good beer with strong and robust flavors.

On the 9th Day of Christmas CeJae Wore...

Dress Stewart Tartan Pants, a navy blue blazer, and a red knit tie...

One day while I was at the Goodwill I spied these bad boys and had to snag them up.   But with great pants comes great responsibility.  I have gotten a lot of comments about my pants today, all good, but you have to remember that you must be as jolly and cheerful as your clothes are.  

This outfit lives up to the old adage, you can never go wrong with a navy blazer and red tie.  While the pants are obviously the focal point, the jacket and tie bring it all together.

Thanks for reading and remember only 16 more days until Christmas!

On the 8th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me

A Breckenridge Christmas Ale...

A nice malty beer. Not to strong nor very spicy. It could use a little more spice to make out more christmasy but overall not a bad beer but not outstanding.

On the Seventh Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

Blue Moon Cinnamon Horchata.  

This is one extremely light beer, it really doesn't taste of anything except for a very slight cinnamon flavor.  It doesn't taste bad, if just doesn't taste like much of anything.

On the 6th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me

Sam Adam's Merry Maker Gingerbread Stout...    OK beer, not all that... Malty with a touch of hops.  There are spices and a faint bit of gingerbread present but they are not very strong.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

St. Bernardus Christmas Ale...

This might be the king of Christmas Beers.  Strong and very complex with a great amount of malts and there flavor of dark fruits. Great winter warming beer.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas My True Love Have To Me...

Anchor Brewing Special Christmas Beer!

Anchor brewing bed a different Christmas beer each year and typically the results are spectacular.  But this year, I'm sad to say that it's not all that great.  Being their 40th anniversary of this beer I thought it would be amazing. It's certainly drinkable but nothing amazing.

On the Third Day of Christmas my True Love Have to Me

Sweetwater Festive Ale...     This is a nice malty ale with just a touch of holiday spices.  Its a good beer but not as amazing as some beer blogs will lead you to believe.  Don't get me wrong, it's very good but not amazing like it was hyped up as being.

The Second Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

Dubuisson Scaldis Noel. 

Now this is a good beer, not really all that Christmasy though.  It has the flavors of a much more heavy and darker beer, sweet and malty with the flavors of dark fruits.  Although i really hate drinking foreign, it is actualy a very good beer.

The First Beer of Christmas That My True Love Gave to Me

Shock-Top's Shockolate Wheat...

Nothing too fancy to start the season of with, but I've never had it before.  Taste very similar to watered down, carbonated chocolate milk.  Shock-Top makes some decent beers, nothing great but decent.  This beer is not even decent, it's actually pretty bad...

Neptune's Land and Sea

403 E Washington St
Petersburg, VA 23803
http://www.neptuneslandandsea.com/



 I recently purchased a Google Local coupon for Neptune's Land and Sea in downtown Petersburg because I wanted to give it a try.  Because it was $25 for $50, Amanda and I decided to invite her parents to eat with us.

Just to warn you, Neptune's has a very small front parking area so we had to park in the sketchy hotel parking lot. It is right next door and the parking lots are conjoined but it's still a little unsettling parking next to what looks like an hourly motel, if you know what I mean.  Inside the place is absolutely packed and extremely loud, like I mean practically shoulder and shoulder packed and so loud you can barely hear the person next to you.   I honestly don't think that Neptune's is usually like that but unfortunately we went on the same night as an VSU fraternity alumni reunion.

Luckily, the party did not adversely effect us getting a seat or the service.  We were immediately seated and promptly waited on by our server.  The menu consisted of an assortment of sea food and soul food.  We started off with the crab dip, which was extremely good. Rich, creamy and full of crab meat. For $9.99, it wasn't a whole lot of dip but it was very good.  Since we started with crab dip, I decided to try something that was not seafood. I was torn between the PITTSBURGH BURGER- an angus burger, topped with corned beef, swiss cheese, cole slaw and a poached egg and the chicken and waffles- 3 jumbo wings served with a waffle topped with apple or blueberry topping and whipped cream. I decided on the chicken and waffles. Amanda got the fried scallops.

It did not take very long before we received our food. My chicken wings were not quite jumbo but they were full wings and fried to a golden brown. They were a little on the bland side but they were cooked very well, crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.  The waffle was large but it was a little too soft for my liking. I prefer to have my waffles a little crunchy on the outside.  It came smothered in blueberry topping and whipped cream. The salty and savory wings went perfectly with the sweet blueberry topped waffle.  Amanda's scallops were pretty freaking good. They were large and succulent and cooked perfectly.

Overall, Neptune's Land and Sea was good but far from great.  Honestly, the place was not really my scene. While I don't care and didn't feel uncomfortable, it seems to cater more towards the Fort Lee and VSU crowd.  Also, I think that it is hard to compete with Croaker's Spot when serving seafood and soul food.  If I do go back to Neptune's, I am going to go for the seafood; probably the She-crab soup and the seafood mash, which is mashed potatoes topped with she-crab soup and seafood.