Stone RuinTen IPA | Stone Brewing Co.

Last weekend, Greg and I visited a new favorite little drinking establish in the New Bohemian District of Cedar Rapids. It was our second visit to the charming corner bar Parlor City Pub and Eatery... and we already had our "usual spot" at the bar to sit down at.

We drank quite a bit of beer last Saturday at Parlor City. Unfortunately, we weren't good little beer-reviewers. Chatting with a couple about local hot spots and breweries to visit, we kinda sorta forgot to jot down notes about the brews we sipped. And on the same day, my immune system decided to surrender to some random summer sickness that I'm just now getting over. (Blahhh.)

White Star Alehouse, Round 1 Red's Rye PA & Dark Side Vanilla Porter

Jess and I decided to take a little trip over to White Star Alehouse in Cedar Rapids. They have 100 different beers to try and have some pretty good food, too. Their chicken avocado egg rolls are amazing! If you are ever in town, you should hit them up just for the egg rolls. Of course, hit them up for the beer as well. One thing could have made the experience better. The people behind us ordered calamari. It was some stanky stuff, too! Not just stinky. Stanky. It made smelling the beer a somewhat difficult task for me. Jess fared alright.

Acme California IPA | North Coast Brewing Co.

I would consider this a "gateway" IPA. As in, if this had been the first IPA that ever touched my lips... I might not have puckered at bitter hops and turned my nose up to the style for over a year. Nowadays, I like my IPAs to come with a bite. Also, as a side note I LOVE the vintage-inspired label on the bottle. (Yes, it is initially what caught my eye. I bought it because it was an IPA. Heh.)

Stone Ruination IPA | Stone Brewing Co.

If you'd have asked me after my first-ever swig of an IPA a couple years ago whether or not I thought I'd ever equal hoppiness to happiness. I'd have stuck my tongue out at you through lips that were puckering at the bitterness of whatever that beer was. However, G and I have both grown to love those cones. (Hence the blog title.) And this brew is truly cream of the crop hop: