Catching up with the little black book

I decided that if I had to try to rate beers off memory whenever I made it to a computer that my full impression of a beer would suffer so I decided to turn this little black book into the official beer journal. Here's where it has taken me so far, beers listed with my RateBeer.com comments in italics.

July 30th - Tonight's beer is Two-Hearted Ale by Bell (4.1 rating, bound to climb).
Pours with a nice orangish/brown color, foamy white head. Aroma is incredible, sweet citrus smell, lemon zest almost. Taste isn’t so sweet, bitter and hoppy and very good. Smooth finish, the lemon tinge seems to linger on the tongue. Excellent beer.
This beer went down so smoothly and quickly I had to follow it up with a Surly Bender. Been there before, loved it but still have to rate it officially.

July 31st - Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA (3.1)
Thin frothy head, not much aroma outside slight hops scent. Nice bitter hoppy taste with no detection of citrus or floral notes. Lingering bitter finish, in a good way.

August 1st - Had a Nude Beach and realized that it was a lot closer to flavorless Mich Golden / Miller Lite crowd than I remembered. Moved on to try Flat Earth Brewing's Belgian Style Pale Ale (2.6)and Element 115 Lager (3). I was also kind enough to share one of my Stone IPA's (4.5) with Paul and Marie. They don't realize how lucky they are.
Belgian - Dark golden color, not much aroma. Standard Belgian taste to it, nothing special. Not a bad beer but not a great one in my opinion.
Element 115 - Dark golden color, slightly malty aroma. Thick malty mouthfeel and a sweet finish.

August 2nd - Stone Pale Ale (3.4). I liked their IPA (4.5) way better.
Pale Ale - Deep red color, thin white head. Malty hoppy aroma, maybe a hint of caramel. Sweet thick mouthfeel with a slightly bitter finish. Good beer but their IPA is significantly better for me.
IPA - White head, golden/orange in color. Prominent smell besides the wonderful hops was pine. Very refreshing major hops taste with a beautifully smooth finish.
August 3rd - Had a Furious (4.8) while waiting for the cable guy. Decided to start a beer club and got the foundation up and running, details will follow. So far it's me, Paul, Mike B and Bob H. It's gonna be legendary. I'm still brainstorming names but the front runners for me are the Arrogant Bastards and Beer Club (the first rule of Beer Club is...).

Also stopped by the Four Firkins to get some Imperial Stouts on Alvey's advice (along with a couple of IPA's). Bell's Two-Hearted ($10.99 for a six pack), Two Brother's Hop Juice ($8.49 for a bomber), Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout (two 12oz bottles at $2.39 each), Goose Island Bourbon County ($5.49 for a 12oz bottle) and Yeti Imperial Stout ($7.69 for a bomber).

August 4th - Had several beers from my Honey Weiss Keg as I celebrated National Night Out with my friends.

August 5th - Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout (4.1). This turned out to be one of the big surprises of the year. I asked Alvey to recommend some Russian Imperial Stouts to see how my palate would like them before Surly Darkness Day rolls around. This could be a new favorite style for me.
Picked up a couple 12oz bottles at the Four Firkins on Alvey’s advice. Unbelievable deal at $2.39 per bottle. Pours pitch black with a brown, quickly fading head. Chocolate aroma, almost a milk chocolate smell. Thick, chewy mouthfeel with a very smooth and subtle finish. Hints of chocolate and coffee in the flavor with the tastes lingering slightly in your mouth. I can’t stop drinking this beer, it won’t last long in my glass.