What are you guys drinking tonight?

I'm a sucker for a good whiskey to unwind.

 

Mighta had one too many of these last night....

 

Did it live up to its name?

 

I done messed up my quotes. @Hammer is that local?

 

Oh yeah - Bitch Creek is a delicious brown ale. And it's made a block from my house, so I'm a little biased.

 

IPA Kolata by Evil Twin Brewing of Stratford Connecticut. If you don't like coconut then skip this one. One of the more layered tasting beers I have tried, depth and breadth there is a lot going on here. Smooth and creamy all the way through, starts with a strong coconut pineapple flavor that fades into a hoppy flavor with a fizzy feel. Ending with more creamy and tart coconut flavor with the tart fading to leave just a silky coconut finish. A pleasant coconut pineapple aroma with a hint of hops. Packs a bit of a punch on the alcohol side as well! If I see it again I won't pass it by!

 

Okay, this is afternoon but.....
Hop Rising Tropical Double IPA from Squatters Craft Beer, Utah Brewers Cooperative, Salt Lake city, Utah. Light on aroma, hint of fruit and bread. Up front taste made me think mango, goes into a piney dank hop flavor but still a little sweetness. Finishes with an almost creamy dank mango, odd but I think I like it, these double IPA's seem to be growing on me.

 

It's getting chilly out, and that means it's about time to break out the family recipe nalekwa.

 

Enlighten me? Looks almost like a brandy?

 

Gladly! This one is booze infused in cherries.

The basic recipe is to put 2lbs of pitted cherries in a jar with about 3/4 cup of simple syrup (water + dissolved sugar) and a full bottle of spirytus. Seal it up and let it sit for at least a month before straining and bottling.

It's a Polish home tradition with as many variations as there are families lol. Raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and walnuts are other popular variations.

 

V odka

 

This thread needs music.

I won't do it. Not a chance.

What musique here?

 

Grandma did that with wild raspberries and wild grapes, used it for cough syrup!

 

Bully Porter Robust American by Boulevard Brewing Co. of K.C. Missouri. Smells smoky, tastes smokey up front to finish. Hints of dark chocolate and toffee but mostly just a seriously dark smoky flavor. Maybe a bit too much, kind of one note and a touch burnt bitter taste. With the right meal it may work.

 

Deschutes Obsidian Stout. Absolutely delicious.

 

Dopamine.

Well, not really. Vodka is these days my alcohol of choice. Actually gin, but I'm on a budget, have more important things to buy (machetes and clothing for winter, plus a ticket to Scotland), and vodka is cheaper. (Both are low carb.)

But this new study explains why alcohol works: it's all about stimulating dopamine production, and they seem to have found a key. It's about blocking potassium (K) channels in the membranes of neurons that causes release of more dopamine.

OK, now we're getting technical, and I won't go any further. (That would require at least a chalk board to describe Na/K channels involved in active transport, and turn this from a drinking thread into a biology class. <yawn>

But at least this'll help you understand how that drink in your hand modifies your state of mind.

OK, I need another vodka with coconut milk, lime and grenadine to aid dopamine production while the acetic acid (vinegar) adds another layer of patina on my bolo.
_____

When alcohol enters the brain, it causes neurons in a specialized region called the ventral tegmental area, or VTA—also known as the "pleasure center"—to release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that produces those feel-good sensations, and tells the brain that whatever it just experienced is worth getting more of.

Scientists have long sought the first step in the molecular pathway by which alcohol causes neurons in the VTA to release dopamine.

Now, researchers in the Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics at the University of Illinois at Chicago report in the journal Neuropharmacology, that alcohol blocks a potassium channel called KCNK13 that sits within the membrane of dopamine-releasing neurons in the VTA. When the potassium channel gets blocked, the neurons increase their activity and release more dopamine.​

 

The basics about dopamine. <Inquiring minds want to know!>

I'll bet vodka with lime & orange juice, coconut milk & grenadine still tastes better, though.

 

Funny, I just finished a vodka and cranberry juice.

Small world.