New IPA day!

There's a new IPA in town, and it's a local one, from Knoxville, Iowa, a town heretofore known pretty much only for sprint cars. Now I'm not saying Peace Tree Brewing is going to supplant auto racing as the local claim to fame, but they do make a fine IPA. It is (as all their beers) sold in shorter, fatter bottles, which is a bit different, though a purely aesthetic choice. The brew itself is pretty good, hoppy, but supported by a solid malt character and a smooth and almost sweet finish. I'm not sure it's worth $10/six pack, but it's an alright beer nonetheless. Pricing this at $7 or $8 would reserve it a spot in my regular rotation, it just isn't quite good enough to justify $10, but it is pretty cool that another brewery in Iowa has started producing quality beers. Unlike, say Hub City, a brewery out of Stanley, Iowa, that as far as I can tell from 4 or 5 beers, can't make a passable brew. Good job local boys! I might have to make a trip over to check out the brewery and the tap room.

So my wife, many friends, and tons of customers are all on RAGBRAI this week. Some friends and my wife met the team bus in Webster City. Now I need to retrieve the car. I'm pondering a ride up there after work tomorrow. I've got a route i think will work fairly well, but I'll have to take off right after work and it's gonna be 65-ish miles. I figure I've got about 4 hours of light to work with before I need lights, which I have, but finding a gas station in a strange town at dusk might not work so well, but at this point I'm up for a crazy bike riding adventure. I just need to pack well tomorrow morning and swing by home to grab and go. It will probably be a weather based decision at go time. Anything other than a north wind is probably a go. We'll see.