Horizontal and vertical sort of day

Brent and I were in front of the beer cooler debating between the Widmer Brothers Brewing Rotator Series IPA's: X-114 or Falconer's. We love the X-114 which is bursting with citrus flavors of grapefruit and orange, but we also were very curious as to what the new release of Falconer's tasted like. Being the adventurous folks we are, we chose to forgo the X-114 and try the Falconer's.

I really wanted to taste them side by side (otherwise referred to as horizontal tasting), but instead of buying a six pack of each, we chose to just go with a six pack of Falconer's. As we began our walk to the check out, we came up to the wine area where Jay from Western Beverage was pouring samples of none other than the X-114 and Falconer's. Not only was he pouring a horizontal of these two beers, but he was also pouring a vertical of Goose Island Brewery's Pere Jacques 2010 and 2011 vintages. It was my lucky day.

Jay was full of energy and very educational. After tasting both the Widmer IPA's side by side, we chose to exchange the Falconer's for the X-114. They are both solid beers, but the profile on the X-114 better suites our palate. If you have not tried this beer, do so soon before it sells out. We also bought a bottle of the 2010 Pere Jacques. As this beer ages it definitely picks up some very unique flavor characteristics.

What I learned today: I think we will have to add a beer rack in the new house to age some beers along with our 17 cases of wine.