Passport and Pints

JB Lovedraft's is my go-to for Tuesday night karaoke - they also host Thursday night for those with a preference for the hard rock jams not so often appreciated at the more traditional karaoke events. DJ Damion will hook you up and will show you a whole new world. I digress... In conjunction to JB's on Harrisburg's eventful 2nd Street, I'm thankful for Jimmy John's late night hours and the ease of grabbing an Uber ride to and from the sandwich heaven. If you're an IPA lover, those hops will catch up to you and you'll be making the stumble over to "John-John's." Tonight called for an array of various new brews ranging from local to the Seven Kingdoms. Evil Genius hails from Philly and has some of the most creative names I've seen. Most have heard of the "Sweet Baby Jesus" Porter - I'm only not a fan because porters don't agree with my stomach. Turtle Power was on the docket for me tonight and that's exactly how I ...

After a long week of work, a night out with my beau and girlfriends was highly deserved. I consider myself lucky to have such a tight-knit group who are all such strong, independent, driven women who also have a yearning to get together with pure intentions of a good time and new brews. For this occasion, we were on a mission: to try the exclusive, limited quantity concoction brewed by The Vegetable Hunter, their Purple Reign IPA. This IPA is not just another dart thrown at the proverbial brew wall of trying to twist the traditional IPA - this has been done by many breweries, some with success and some not so much, as I'm sure I'll be touching upon in future posts. No, they took the general "what makes a good IPA" and threw in glitter. You read that right, glitter . This particular brew was purple  with glitter . Visually, this was not quite what was advertised - think typical Amazon order rather than a Wish order. The coloring was definitely there and glitter...

Mix-a-Six variety packs are quickly gaining popularity across Pennsylvania, particularly in grocery stores. In southcentral Pennsylvania, Wegman's was one of the first in the area to offer the $11.99 mix-a-six, opening up the doors to try new beers without the full $6-7 investment for a full pint at the bars not offering flights or having to suffer through a full six-pack of a less than enjoyable beer. The Giant Food Stores have a decent rotation of what they offer for new brews to try out of the beer garden. What helps in this "rotation" is the infrequency at which I check their selection - guilty. I've tried so many different ones and while they do have some real treats, I find I have to do my own rotation of venues for the true "new" experience since I've cleared Giant's newbies on numerous occasions *cue shrug emoji* In this particular trip, I went for beers that were a bit wheatier (spellcheck is telling me this is not  a word, but work with...

As with many flavors in this world, beer as a whole is an acquired taste - diving deeper, as those more experienced with a brewski beyond Coor's and Miller Lite would know, there are many styles within the world of beer. Sours, IPAs, lagers, stouts, imperials, porters, etc. are a mere handful as many of these have their own subcategories as well with variants based on additives and the craftsmanship of the brewery itself. In the past week I've tried some truly interesting flavors - all logged in my handy dandy Untappd app account**. There are a plethora of craft brews which have cropped up around the country in the past several years, many of which are just in my backyard waiting to be explored and conquered. There are two local breweries in particular to which I'm partial: Boneshire Brewery in Harrisburg and Tattered Flag Brewery in Middletown. Both feature a vast array of interesting flavors. Boneshire is a BYOF, or Bring Your Own Food, and features an ever-changing...

Visiting local breweries are a great way to try new brews outside of one's comfort zone and also deviate away from the mass-produced cans of college memories. Boneshire Brew Works is relatively new to the area, opening up at the end of 2016, but boasting quite the impressive array of nostalgic board games and IPAs. Girls' night would make the guys envious as my gal pals and I all enjoy catching up with some cold hops in hand. Boneshire offers a calm ambiance not always found at the more frequented bars and restaurants in the area.  While they brew their own craft drafts, Boneshire also features some of the surrounding breweries' favorites. Best part? The flights. On this particular occasion, I went with a flight of the house beers, choosing primarily IPAs on which to sip: Armory American IPA Green Machine American IPA AuZealand American IPA Tried and True Witbier  Green Machine was the close winner so if you're building your own four-glass taster, d...

On Chinese Brews... I recently traversed across China from bustling Beijing and the underrated city of Xi'an, down the Yangtze River and looked down across the expansive city of Shanghai... unsurprisingly, China offers such a culturally-rich experience for any traveler seeking new sights, sounds, and tastes. On the grounds of beers, however, there is quite an untapped (pun intended!) market for wanderlusting taste buds, especially in you are new to the beer drinking world and in need of a simple lager. I tried my first Tsingtao on my flight (literally) across the world from Dulles International Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport - it would be far from my last over the course of the next two weeks. Tsingtao is like the Bud or Coors Light of China and quite frankly, I never want to drink it again. Sorry to my Chinese readers, I had had quite my fill over this two-week period of this temporary thirst-quencher. And for those of you who know me, know that I woul...

Time to tuck in for a story... From a young age I've been fascinated with fantasy worlds and mythology, seeking solace in these phantasmagorical domains brought to life and only limited by how far my imagination stretched. This brought about intrigue of the "funny words," or later recognized as fantasy languages, created by authors to add a realistic element to their literary universe. After learning a few French words and soaking in all of the history films I'd watch with my Fajer, at a young age, it became apparent to me just how diverse our own world was, starting with the language. I was his little shadow, his little buddy, peppering him with questions about the foreign lands we saw on the History Channel and listening to his stories behind what we watched. The more I learned, the more I wanted to see and experience for myself, to see what these real , faraway lands were truly like and how they had evolved since their war-torn days frozen in history.. Fun ...

Cliché, yet succinct. We see the Instagram pictures, the ever increasing number of accounts of influencers who are paid to explore the depths of the world, capturing its beauty in picturesque 1080 x 1080 pixel clarity; perhaps we've been tempted by the bombardment of vacation packages pushed into our email by the countless traveling agencies for which we've signed up. Quite possibly we have felt that pang of FOMO from watching social media friends having a carefree summer while we toil away at an internship or juggle two jobs and schooling, longing for our own moment to break out of the routine day-to-day for our glorious breakthrough... There's certainly a reason we are attracted to the escape traveling provides - and it's not just the breathtaking landscapes, exotic foods and tongues, or waking up in a different city nearly every night. Curiosity is an inherent human trait, one our ancestors possessed as well as those of more recent generations; without it, the...