Don’t mind me. I’m just over here green-faced and burping at the mere recollection of my journey to 20 stamps. Chooch kept saying this was going to turn me into an alcoholic but in the end, I think it actually turned me AVERSE to beer.

Anyway, let’s get the rest of the stamps on record here for prosperity.

We met up with THE Chronica at Headley’s for some stamp action. I truly lost track as to what # stamp this was but rest assured we had a wonderful evening with Chronica. We hadn’t seen them since their going away party last July at Spoonwood! They returned from Spain in the fall but are actually headed back again as I type this. So I am super grateful that we got to see them during a hectic holiday season!

Either Chris or Monica pointed out that this picture makes it look like we were hanging out a random animal hospital, and very happy to be doing so, LOL. I don’t know why we were positioned this way, probably at my misleading direction, but it makes it even funnier honestly!

Of course I made them pose with the bag of CHRONIKKAH Dark Matter coffee that I saw and had to pick up for them when we were in Chicago because they have gone by the portmanteau
Chronica for probably as long as I have known them!?

Last weekend, we went to Helicon in Oakdale. It was OK. I wasn’t wow’d and probably would not go back. I also started to get a headache almost IMMEDIATELY after my first sip of whatever this was.

After one half pour at Helicon, we went to the new Grist House location also in Oakdale. I have GOT to stop getting locally-brewed Belgian beers because they do NOT TASTE LIKE BELGIAN BEERS. I didn’t really enjoy my other beer either (some kind of sour that was supposed to make me feel warm on a cold day or something but that was not true) HOWEVER!! I am not writing off Grist House because I have had one of their IPAs from somewhere else and I thought it was just fine, plus this new location is really cool, the staff were incredibly friendly and attentive, and I am just going to go ahead and say this now – I think I had the best soft pretzel of MY LIFE there. Would certainly go back for that and the vibes.

This is the sour that did not inspire warmth.

The next day, we went to Golden Age to buy beer for Christmas Eve, as previously mentioned in my Xmas Eve post, and that counted toward a stamp!

On the way home, we stopped at Burghers on the Southside. I didn’t see anything on the menu that appealed to me so I opted out, but Henry got some New Zealand ale thing. I took a sip expected it to be basic but YOOOOO. Was this possibly the best beer out of all 20 stamps? I don’t know but it was NICE. You know how when people say something tastes bright? Well, now I understand what that means because it legit lit up in my mouth. I loved it. I probably ended up drinking half of it.

Then we went down the street to Velum. Mid, honestly. The people there were very nice but I wouldn’t go back.

I can’t even remember what this was but it was whatever. Henry got two tiny IPAs that were fine. One had a description saying it tasted like spruce and yep, they got that right.

I dunno, I didn’t really like the vibe in there either. It felt like we were sitting in a snack bar, which is only acceptable if it’s connected to a ROLLER RINK, obviously.

And then Friday was THE DAY! I decided on Eleventh Hour for my 20th stamp, because I realized that I never collected the 10 stamp prize along the way and Eleventh Hour was one of the only breweries listed that had BOTH prizes available to collect.

I LIKED THIS PLACE! I think I’ve had their beers before at other places, but the vibe of the actual brewery was super chill (I mean, it was also a Friday afternoon, so…) and the bartender was great. She didn’t even count my stamps, just completely trusted me!

I had a REALLY delicious sour (I am so fickle with sours so when one is amenable with palate, I rejoice) and enjoyed it while lovingly stroking my prizes. Meanwhile, Henry was looking at the Pgh Brewers Guild website and it says that these books DON’T EXPIRE?? That you just can’t combine books for the rewards?? So I can technically still keep collecting stamps in this one I guess until I reach 30??

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.

That chaotic race to 20 for WHAT.

Oh well, it was fun and you know I love a challenge.

Anyway, I came home and shoved my rewards in Chooch’s face.

“Oh wow,” he deadpanned. “How will you talk about this for 30 minutes at the Christmas Eve table with Kevin and Corey?”

OK HATER.

(Literally, he said we talked about beer for 80% of the night on Xmas Eve and I really find this to be a gross exaggeration.)

Here are the breweries we visited (or popped in just for a to-go pack and stamp); the ones I will definitely go back to are bolded:

• Lolev, obv.
• Cobblehaus
• Dancing Gnome
• Brew Gentlemen
• Hitchhiker
• Aslin
• Back Alley
• Headleys
• Helicon
• Strange Roots
• Burghers
• Velum
• Eleventh Hour
• Chimera
• Grist House
• Sly Fox
• Southern Tier
• Golden Age (I loved that Christmas beer!!!)
• Hazel Grove
• East End

What have I learned?

• I have low tolerance
• I am extremely picky
• Flights aren’t for me – I get sick/drunk every time I get a flight
• I’m so over IPAs yet they’re also my failsafe / fallback
• I really like red ale but have also had bad ones so I don’t know
• Christmas beers are better than pumpkin beers
• Belgian beer should only be made in Belgium
• Sometimes if a beer sounds like it’s going to be plain/boring, that might end up being the best one so I need to stop looking for the flashy ones!
• I need to find a new challenge for 2026, preferably one that involves salads and lots of exercise
• Beer tastes better at concerts 100%

No comments