Gremlin Talks Wedding Attire

Teachable Gremlin here to discuss wedding attire, specifically for the groom's side.  Recently, I was in a wedding and that was a trip, a very fun expensive trip.  My mind was made up going into this week that I would discuss some measure of how to save money while hosting a wedding, while still managing to get all those great beers.  That could go one of a hundred ways, so I have decided to focus on just groom side wedding attire.  This is specific because I was in the wedding and I have experienced it now in multiple times.

Bridesmaids dresses can be expensive, and often are not worn multiple times, which is silly considering how expensive and nice* they are.  Luckily, groomsmen don't get those.  However, groomsmen attire can still be very fancy, expensive, and ridiculous.  Having been a groomsman 5 times and married just once, I can relate.

The key with groomsmen clothing is twofold: 1 make sure whatever you get is approved by your future spouse, and 2 make sure that what you get can be worn again.

1- This item should seem pretty straight forward, why wear something that your spouse would not like?  So get that approval first when looking at what clothing you are going to have don along with your 1-12** closest friends.  Now this item may seem straightforward, but for saving money it is not.  There should never be any reason that the groom has to buy a bunch of shirts to see how they fit and look - just go to the store together or the internet and decide together.  No one should be doing this charade more than one time.  Save money and time by making sure you don't make a wrong decision, and by letting the real decision maker help you make the right call (hint for all you future grooms out there).  Side note - for all guys who are really into fashion, cool, just still listen to your spouse unless you are told otherwise.

2 - This one is not as easy.  People live all kinds of varied lives with different types of work and social structures.  Some might need to dress fancy on a weekly occasion, some might do it once a year.  Try to make sure that any shirts, pants, and accessories be useful to those people.  That means if you are given the latitude to pick shirts and patterns, please don't make them stupid or ridiculous.  For instance, I have a shirt from a wedding that is so bad I refuse to wear it at work (and my sense of style is terrible per my wife).

Weddings don't need to be expensive, though some families will hop on that train the instant a wedding is announced.  Wedding attire is one of the many things people blow money on, where there is no need to.  Renting suits? Don't, buy one - it will pay you back after wearing it 2 or 3 times instead of renting more crap later.  Got a nice shirt? - great they likely will be able to use it at work or social functions after.  If people are going to pay a lump of cash to be in your wedding party, the least that you can do is make sure their wedding attire is not full of single use items.

Final note - if people are expected to spend more than $150, stuff better be useful...

* well they can be really weird too, I am going off my wife's judgments here.
** for the record I have never seen more than 8 groomsmen, but I have seen 12 bridesmaids...

Do you suit up all the time or just when you have to?  I only do it when I have to.

- Gremlin

April Review / May Preview, 2018

Busy Gremlin here to talk about how my investments performed in April, and what is expected of May.  April was a very solid month for my investments; while many of my coworkers and friends lamented the roll coaster in the stock market, I just smiled and kept collecting cash. I also smile when any jest is made about how inexpensive my lunches are (never really break $1.50 cost except for rare occasion) and that through my bike and the train my commute is free.  Small savings and side cash, are a formula for success.

April also had some work travel for me.  I am not the biggest fan of work travel, as I have done a lot of it over the years and it can be a drag, however I do try to take advantage to save extra cash and see something new.  Last month as part of my travel I wedged in a brewery visit.

April:

This month I made one purchase, buying shares in the Royal Bank of Canada (RY), while selling legacy holdings Pengrowth Energy (PGH) and Willamette Valley Vineyards (WVVI).

Last month I brought in a total of $74.85 in dividends ($65.85 taxable, $9 Roth, and $0 IRA).  This is an increase from last year ($70.94 total) by 5.5%.

In terms of dividend increases, I realized* 5 raises from the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Coca-Cola (KO), Realty Income, and Walmart.  The increases ranged from 0.2% to about 5.5%.  I have now realized 23 raises thus far this year.

Next month I will realize four raises from the Gap (GPS), Ameriprise Financial (AMP), Kinder Morgan (KMI), and General Dynamics (KMI).  The increases range from 5% to about 60%. For the record KMI raised their dividend 60%, which is clawing back from the 75% cut they had in early 2016.

* I only count increases when realized, because until that money is delivered any statements or declarations are simply conjecture.

May:

The mortgage continues, so at least part of our 'rent' counts towards our house. Our debts currently outstrip our assets (I choose not to count the house as an asset).  Outside of our house, we still have very low interest auto debt (1.9 and 1.5% for our cars).  Both my car and house are receiving slightly out-sized payments monthly.  We are effectively eliminating debt, while still building and assets.  Even on just one income

Hopefully May is a quiet month, but I would not hold my breath.  Nothing gets quiet, slows down, or goes exactly according to plan when you have a baby.  That being said, none of those concerns are a bad thing!

I should have a buy in my IRA, but I might old off until June depending on the market prices and closure of the Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS ) - Keurig / Green Mountain merger.  In addition, I will likely write a quick historical analysis relating the stock market, business cycles, and historical revolutions.  If that sounds weird to read, it felt weirder to type, but it will all wind itself together in a rational sense.

Next month should produce around $270 in dividends, which is a 9.5% YOY increase.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

Hope everyone has a great March.
- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers mentioned (except PGH and WVVI)

Brewery Review, April 2018

Beer Gremlin here to conduct a brief brewery review.  Recently I had to travel for work, which is not the most desirable thing in my opinion.  The trips are short, the free time is minimal, and I am away from my family.  However, while I am out I might as well make the most of the situation.  After all, it is a slight break from the norm and my expenses are essentially covered, so the little extra freedom is I use to my advantage.

For this trip I was in Kansas City.  While there I popped into the new (2-3 month old) brewery called Casual Animal, close to the heart of the town.  I tried a total of six (out of nine) different drinks before heading straight to bed.  The six were their lager, honey ale, wit style, Belgian spiced ale, the double IPA, and the brown ale, which I will discuss briefly.

Cutting to the chase with the three light beers; they were alright.  A little light on flavor for my taste, but I think they would make excellent choices in the summertime.  Of them the wit was my favorite, and the honey ale was the one I thought could use more kick.

The darker drinks I found more to my liking.  The brown was nice, but needed some extra malt to really pull the flavor through.  The two winners, hands down, were the double IPA and the Belgian spiced ale.  The IPA was not too bitter, still had a solid hop crispness to it, and packed a ton of juicy flavor.  If you like IPAs that are not just a cyclone of bitterness and you live in Kansas City - that is your move right there.  The Belgian was strongly spiced, now I know that can rub some the wrong way, but its something I like.  It reminds me of the darker Belgian styles, something to really get you ready for the fall.

Casual Animal is new on the scene; having worked in a brewery I realize there are kinks to sort out, but they are starting out with strong promise.  They had a lot of variety, and its clear they have done well on a wide variety of styles.

Have you been there, had any favorites lately?

- Gremlin
- Full disclosure, I like all styles of beer though my favorites in no particular order are pale ales, Belgian style spiced beers (dubbels, trippels), sour beers, IPAs, German style lagers, hefeweizens, and creamy stouts.  So really I do like them all, though some are much better seasonally.

December 2017 Review / January 2018 Preview & End of Year Review

Happy End of Year Gremlin here to talk about December and the end of this year.  This December has been very busy.  I have completed another professional certification (CSP), dealt with Christmas shopping, run the holiday party gauntlet, and delivered a work presentation.  All while changing diapers and doing all that good dad stuff.  Most positive things should be challenging, so it makes sense that December has indeed been a splendid month.  I expect the hard work to pay off strongly in a monetary, professional, and social fashions.  Part of getting better opportunities are the credentials you have and putting forth a good personality along side of it.

It is also the end of the year.  2017, for all its hubbub and commotion, was good year for me.  Bought a house, had a baby, etc.  My investments and life have a lot of momentum, and the goal is to keep that going into 2018.

December:

This month I added one new position, Leggett and Platt (LEG), in my Roth IRA. 

Last month I brought in a total of $349.36 in dividends ($135.59 taxable, $80.64 Roth, and $133.13 in my IRA).  This is an increase from last year ($262.32 total) by 33.1%.  This total is my new highest ever.  My IRA is now a year old, and my percentages will not look as ridiculous, but the totals will continue to look juicy.

In terms of dividend increases, I realized five this month from McDonald's (MCD), Microsoft (MSFT), Starbucks (SBX), Union Pacific (UNP), VF Corp (VFC), and Emerson Electric (EMR).  The increases range from 1.3% to 20% - most being in the 6-10% range.  This brings my total raises to 50 on the year, with 1 cut and 1 initiation.

Next month I will realize two dividend increases from Realty Income (O) and Disney (DIS), at 0.2% and 11.5%, respectfully. Also one cut from General Electric (GE).

* I only count increases when realized, because until that money is delivered any statements or declarations are simply conjecture.  

January:

The mortgage continues, so at least part of our 'rent' counts towards our house. Our debts currently outstrip our assets.  Outside of our house, we still have very low interest auto debt (1.9 and 1.5% for our cars).  Both my car and house are receiving slightly out-sized payments monthly.  We are effectively eliminating debt, while still building and assets.  Even with a new Gremlin in the lair. This is a long game, and I am nothing if not patient.

I should be making another buy in January in my taxable account.

Next month should produce around $73 in dividends, which is a 3% YOY decrease.  This decrease is thanks the the excellent leadership at GE.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

2017:

What a year.  So let's look at how I did last year compared to the goals I laid out for myself.

(Results in RED):

• Break $2500 in total dividends.  Fail. $2481 - Ugh dammit.
• Achieve forward dividends for taxable accounts of $1000.  Fail. $926 - Dammit, again.
• Get back into shape, specifically workout 5 times a week.  Mostly a success, I am about 5lbs lighter than I was at this time last year.  Even with the baby I am able to workout 3/4 times a week, so thumbs up.
• Bike to as many local places as possible, do less driving (already half way there as I do not drive to work).  Success.  I usually bike to the train station from my new house (but my bike seat was stolen recently, sigh).  I have biked and walked to the store bunch to do shopping too.

Overall that is a 2/4 success rate.  Not the best performance overall.  2017 had a lot of challenges, a new baby, a new house, etc.  I came pretty close to what I wanted and that is a success itself.

2018: 

So the question becomes what do I attack for 2018?  My main goal is to achieve the biggest swing in net worth overall.  There are two facets to that, first targeting debt and second adding wealth.

• Invest a total of $8000 next year, $6000 in taxable accounts, at a minimum.
• Achieve forward total dividends for all accounts of $3000.
• Keep getting into shape - lifting 2x and running 2x / week and bike to the train station + other places.
• Reduce total spending (after debt payments) by at least 10%.

A huge goal for 2018 will be to invest more and spend less.  This is a bigger challenge than it seems because my wife will not be working in any capacity until August.  We have decided it best for her to stay with the baby for the 1st year of his life, before he gets to spend his days with Grandma.  We both strongly believe this is in his best interest for healthy development.

We are admittedly boring these days, and that is fine by me.  Its cheaper and honestly, I do just as much enjoyable stuff without blowing loads of money.  I believe 2017 was a turning point and 2018 will reflect that.

Hope everyone has a great January and a Happy New Year!
- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers mentioned

Lessons in Pragmatism

Somehow Still Calm Gremlin here with a few general updates and thoughts on the future.  So, the update is that there is now a Lil Gremlin living in my house.  The Lil Gremlin even has an online profile stating that he likes milk, long walks - so long as you are holding him, car rides, things similar to car rides, and sleeping (just kidding, but if one did exist it would probably say that).  I was there when Lil Gremlin was born and it was a powerful experience.  It is something I would not have missed for the world, and it is the type of event that is beyond life altering.

This new addition has gotten me thinking, what will I teach Lil Gremlin as he grows.  To start there is the obvious stuff - how to tie your shoes, how to ride a bike, the best flavors of ice cream, how to rock at Tetris, etc.  What I mean is, what will I teach him about personal finance?

My wife and I have a good idea of what kind of education Lil Gremlin will get in school.  However, personal finance only receives limited coverage in school.  Most of what I have learned is from my own trial and error, with some extras from friends and family.  What I learned came later in life than it should have; that information would have been amazingly valuable had I learned it sooner. 

First, I plan to teach him how to save and why to save.  It is one thing to have extravagant plans for investing, but it is impossible to accomplish those goals without having the capital to do so.  I surmise this will require small lessons such as how you can save money such as by biking places.  In the syllabus will be how to save on the every day things, getting the best value on the big ticket items, and most importantly not caring about what the Jones' have.  After all, it does not take a lot of money to get the most enjoyment out of life.

Second, I plan to teach him the power of compounding and investing.  This will be done by establishing an account for him and for him to see the power of it via my accounts.  I will continue the focus on dividend growth stocks and work on establishing for him a bank of stocks and or funds that work for him and us.

Third, I plan to teach him the power earning more.  As powerful as saving can be, earning a higher income is the 2nd punch that really can propel people to financial independence.  Lots of things contribute to improving earnings - having a side hustle, professional certifications, advanced education, fields studied, and hard work of course.

Finally, I plan to teach him to lookout for bad advice.  This is one that I wish was covered more often by those in the dividend growth community.  Some of the bad advice is easy to spot and can come from anyone - friends, family, late night advertisements, etc.  That advice usually starts with the phrase 'its okay you can afford / deserve it.'  Usually this is followed by statements that make it seem normal or expected to be in debt.

However, there is much more subtle bad advice out there parading around as if it was good advice (no not the Indexing vs Dividend Growth argument, I think they are 2 sides of the same coin that is made up of FU / FI money).  What I am talking about here are some popular platforms that have large followings.  Some such as the Financial Education Channel - on YouTube* have large subscriber followings, so you would think the advice given is sound.  It often is anything but sound; examples include the presenter concentrating his portfolio in 1 to 5 stocks or overly frequent re-balancing.  Other bad advice can come from those who often give good advice.  Here is an example from Dave Ramsay covering credit cards.  Ramsay is all about paying off debt (good), but refuses to see how small amounts of interest earned from things such as credit cards can help (he would laugh at many DGIers' side hustles).  His advice is clearly aimed at people in the community who need more rudimentary advice.  This all runs counter to my beliefs, which is every dollar counts - Mr. Money Mustache said it better in this article (one of my favorite articles of all time in any form).  Ramsay states that people spend more with plastic than cash, which is not necessarily true.  Having worked at a bar I know people who pay in cash usually tip significantly more.  There is merit to the idea that card users spend more money, but once again that is a mind set that a strong willed person can easily overcome.  The fact is the world is progressing away from cash at a steady rate.  Might as well learn how to deal with it now and take advantage. 

Naturally, Lil Gremlin will need to learn a lot of things for himself.  Sure I can try to teach him everything, but that does not mean everything will stick or matter to him.  I like soccer and hockey, he might prefer ping pong.  However, I can still attempt to pass on important financial advice that I wish I had when I was younger.

* There are some good dividend growth / investment videos out there, but it seems like the majority or at least the ones that pop up in searches first are not among them.

- Daddy Gremlin
- PS I do intend to teach him that pizza and ice cream are the best dinner - dessert combo on the planet!

First Dividend Initiation

Self-Hazing Gremlin here to talk about initiation.  From the looks of it one may think I am talking about a college initiation with heavy drinking or something similar.  Rather I am talking about a dividend initiation.  I have experienced over 30 dividend increases this year already, and have had over 70 since 2014 without a doubt.  Some of those are as small as 0.2% (I appreciate the consistence Realty Income - O!), with others getting as high as 16+%.  However, I have never had a dividend initiated by a spun off company.  That all changed last week.

YUM China (YUMC), was spun off from YUM Holdings (YUM) in December of 2016.  The split at first meant a lower payout combined, with YUM decreasing its dividend accordingly and YUMC not paying one.  Some might take this as a good reason to sell one or both stocks, I did not.  My mindset was to put YUMC on a clock, and see if they cannot rectify this situation.  They did, my clock was about 1.5 years long.  This past week they declared their first ever divided, unexpectedly to many.

YUMC's announcement was very exciting.  Sure it is not a ton of cash - $0.10 per share (assumed to be quarterly), but it is a start.  The yield should come out to be approximately 1.0%.  The payout ratio will likely be very low (once past year numbers are fully tallied, we will have a better idea), hence there will be a lot of room to grow the payment.  This is what matters when it comes to compound growth - time, patience, and growth!

Have you had a dividend initiated before, or are you sharing in this YUMC experience?

- Gremlin
- Long O, YUM, and YUMC

On tap when writing: Victory Brewing (PA), Sour Monkey - 9.5% ABV.  Biting sour flavor, not too heavy body.  Been a big fan of sour beer of late.

September Review / October Preview, 2017

Cold(er) Weather Gremlin here to talk about the last month and take a peek through the looking glass into next.  The end of September has finally brought some chillier weather to my area.  Being that I bike to the train for work, I enjoy not getting on board and being a sweaty mess.  In addition, the wife will appreciate it, as being pregnant in hot weather is considered less than desirable.  Either way, the big deal is the baby around the corner.  We have done some classes, gotten the room ready, and all that other fun stuff.  The real challenges and fun are still ahead.

September:

This month I made no new purchases, but I should next month.

Last month I brought in a total of $319.66 in dividends ($106.24 taxable, $80.64 Roth, and $132.78 IRA).  This is an increase from last year ($115.43 total) by 177%.  This total is extra high as Discover (DFS) changed its payout month, and it will be the last time that the IRA really blows that percentage out of proportion.

In terms of dividend increases, I realized* seven this month from DFS, Hershey's (HSY), Kellogg's (K), Kraft-Heinz (KHC), Target (TGT), J.M. Smucker's (SJM), and Westlake Chemical (WLK).  The raises range from 3.3% to 16.8%.  Thus far for 2017, I have realized 38 dividend increases!

Next month I will realize three raises from CIBC (CM), Scotiabank (BNS), and Realty Income (O).  The increases range from 0.3% to 6%.

* I only count increases when realized, because until that money is delivered any statements or declarations simply appear to be conjecture.  

October:

The mortgage has started, so at least part of our 'rent' counts towards our house. Our debts currently outstrip our assets.  Outside of our house, we still have very low interest auto debt.  Both my car and house are receiving slightly out-sized payments monthly.  We will be effective at eliminating debt, while still building and assets. This is a long game, and I am nothing if not patient.

I have cash on hand to make another buy, but I might not depending on other needs.

Next month should produce around $68 in dividends, which is a 15% YOY decrease.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

Hope everyone has a great September, sorry for those who are back to school, but don't want to be...
- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers mentioned

December 2016 Review / January 2017 Preview & End of Year Review

Happy New Year Gremlin here to talk about December and the end of this year.  December has meant presents and family, similar to what November holds plus the presents.  Personally it means winter is here to stay, and more importantly that January is here so I can wind down.  "The Season" always seems to come and go so fast.  Frantically acquiring gifts you hope people will like.  For me, I am simple - give me a nice backyard, some drinks, and anyone willing to play yard games.  But now that time is over, soon it will be back to the normal grind.  So let's enjoy 2016 while it lasts for the good it has brought and the silver linings we can find in the world everywhere else.

December:

I was able to put $660 to work in three existing positions across my taxable and Roth accounts.  As much as I want to keep up this pace, it will be hard knowing how I plan to be saving extra cash for unrelated reasons. 

Last month I brought in a total of $262.32 in dividends ($83.10 taxable, $60.29 Roth, and $118.93 in my IRA).  This is an increase from last year ($101.34 total) by 158.58%.  My SEP IRA continues to make this comparison silly, but it will just have to be that way until the end of next year. Its yet another month over $200.

In terms of dividend increases, I realized five this month from McDonald's (MCD), Microsoft (MSFT), Union Pacific (UNP), VF Corp (VFC), and Emerson Electric (EMR).  Raises ranged from less than 1% to  over 10%. 

Next month I will realize one dividend increase from Realty Income (O), the usual minor increase.  For 2016, I have realized 36 dividend increases!  I know of a few next year already, but I have been less than diligent in editing my spreadsheet, so some will just be happy surprises.

January:

The only debt that remains are extremely low interest auto loans.  Looking ahead, I will be saving a solid amount of cash.  This is related to the fact that my wife and I will look to get a house sometime in the next 2 years.  I want to go in with a decent down payment to make sure we get what we want.

I keep being lazy about putting up a beer review, perhaps I just have not had any that remarkable.  Side note, I will be starting a Trivia Night at my side job.  For me its fun, sure there is a little bit of cash out of it, but its more about the fun.

Next month should produce around $80 in dividends, which is a 5% YOY increase.  January has just never been a strong dividend month for me.  Also on an investing note, I am keeping a very diligent eye on commercial real estate markets.  Why?  Something seems off about it, similar in a way to 2007 with the residential market, though the bomb is probably a little smaller...

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

2016:

Wow, what a year.  A lot of good things occurred, as did of course many unfortunate things - but lets keep it positive.  On a personal note I upgraded my income, my wife has a less stressful job, we went on a great vacation, and I was still able to put a solid amount of cash into investments.  So let's look at how I did last year.

Last year I had hope I would achieve several goals.  So to reference them they are below.  With the results in RED.

• $1100 in total dividends in 2016 (taxable and Roth).  Success, beat that number by $60.
• $250 in Loyal3 dividends in 2016.  Success, more like $323, or 29% higher.
• End the year with a forward-12 month dividend estimate of over $1200 (between taxable and Roth).  Success, currently sitting a few bucks over that. Way more with IRA...
• Pay off my wife's student loan debt of $5,500 (ish).  Success, her loans are toast.
• Get a raise at my current or another job.  Success, got a new job with a raise!  Then I got a strong side job!
• Continue to exercise 5 times a week at a minimum, and ride my bike places when possible.  Failure.  Part of the failure was due to a bad ankle sprain in the fall.  Overall I am working out 4 to 5 times a week though.  Also biking has faded because my new employer pays me to commute with public transit, and they have no shower (I sweat a lot if I bike anywhere).

Overall that is a 5/6 success rate.  Next year, I plan to have fewer goals; so this section is easier to write and I can focus harder on those goals.

2017: 

Well, on a personal note my biggest goal is to rectify that bottom goal.  Otherwise, right now my life has been on a good track and I want to keep that momentum.  So here are my goals for next year.

• Break $2500 in total dividends.
• Achieve forward dividends for taxable accounts of $1000.
• Get back into shape, specifically workout 5 times a week.
• Bike to as many local places as possible, do less driving (already half way there as I do not drive to work).

There are so many ways I can improve my situation, but little changes can make a huge difference.  Time to test out lifestyle and money saving changes!

Hope everyone has a great January and a Happy New Year!
- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers mentioned

November, 2016 Brewery Review

Patriot Gremlin here on Election Day!  Now I know, and hopefully you do too that all of the USA's founding fathers were either brewers (well Sam Adams and T. Jefferson were) or enjoyers of the craft (Now that is definitely true - though wine, applejack, and cider were the top drinks).  So in honor of the national history I will do a quick review of a local brewery to honor their legacy.  The brewery in question is located in the DC area and is named Denizens.  Their layout is nice, with an upper and lower area plus they do have bottling services so you can find their creations outside of their main location (which is important).  However, it will be hard to find anything they make outside of the general DC area.

So in running through their beers, there were four main candidates.  Each was very different from the other and I would argue that these are the best four they had out of the 9 or 10 they had on tap.  So here they are below on a scale of sip, sample, half pint, and full glass (not displaying their branded names).

Sip - Porter: Not my favorite breed in general, but among those who do prefer the more coffee or chocolate-centric flavors, this is the one for them.  Having tried it I would say that it is not too heavy on either flavor and is fairly light as it goes down.  This is what I would recommend for staying in near a fire during a snowstorm.  3.2/5

Sample - Rye IPA: In general I drink a fair amount of IPAs, but I prefer those more with a floral flavor versus the very bitter.  This was not too bitter, which can be common with rye types, but it did have a nice floral finish.  This is a summer and early fall drink right here for me.  3.5/5

Half Pint - Belgian Triple: Do you like sledgehammers?  Because this is a sledgehammer.  Most people will only need one glass of this before they have to hail a taxi to get home.  Still, it had a great taste with a great spice mix, and it was light going down.  I have to say I would have drank more of this, had I not known it was a trap with its 10% alcohol (A. By Volume) content.  4.2/5

Full Glass - Kvass: This is a sour beer, so if you don't like sour beers then quit right now.  I love sour beers, even though they are hard to find.  Kvass is an Eastern European style drink, which has morphed here into a beer.  Typically low in ABV (normally kvass is 0.5-1% ABV, this one is 3.5%), this sour is loaded with flavor.  This is my top by far and the one I would most consistently return to.  4.8/5

Happy / Hoppy Voting!

Gremlin 4 Pres:

Brewery Reviews for May 2016

Party Gremlin here to talk about some breweries.  This past May I was fortunate enough to make a trek out to Colorado, as part of that trek I got to sample some of work the locals are putting into their product.  Those in the know may appreciate this because Colorado is one of the best areas for micro / nano / whatever kind you want of brewing in the country - possibly only outstripped only by the Portland, Oregon in the USA.  In this post I will be reviewing two beer-hubs for the record.  That being said I am going to focus on the quality of the tour and the drinks, but I will attempt to stray too much into detail over specific beers.  The reason for that is twofold; first I cannot remember all of the names of the beers themselves and two because I want to try to discuss the breathe as well as depth (and there is only so much time).

Wynkoop, Denver, Colorado:

This was our first stop and coincidentally it was the first micro-brewery in the Denver area.  They do their work in the basement of their restaurant / pub, and do can and bottle their products for sale in the local area.  In my time sampling suds, I've been on a few tours of facilities.  This tour was one of the better tours as it gave a lot of history to the local area and ingredients that they use.  The importance here is everywhere you go the essential process is the same, but discussion of the history and ingredient list should and will be different.  On top of that a good tour should always provide samples, and guess what it does!

Now to the real business, now was their product?  I sampled approximately 6 different types.  Three beers really stuck out to me as being excellent.  The first is their imperial red ale; very strong in terms of taste and percentage.  Second is the milk stout; very smooth like a chocolate milk shake that would go down very well even on a hot summer day.  The third and final is their flagship IPA; it was not over hopped and the bitterness did jive very well with the other flavors of the beer.  These three represent the best of what I tried there.  I like a lot of different styles of beer, and its hard to find a place that does several well even if its a small sized operation.  I would recommend visiting here and give them a 4 out of 5 ranking.

http://www.wynkoop.com/

New Belgium, Fort Collins, Colorado:

From time to time, people come across gems, they take them out of the ground polish them and they become either very valuable or priceless.  I can honestly say that the city of Fort Collins and their New Belgium Brewery (NBB) are one of those rare gems.  To start, the tour was excellent.  Their equipment is also not entirely regular equipment.  NBB has a very strongly automated process, allowing them to effectively make a lot of different types of beer and then age them for long periods of time.  The backbone of this clearly comes from ownership that is very science oriented, which as a person with a science and engineering background is great to see.

I've never been to a major macro-brewing facility, in fact this and Sam Adams in Boston years ago are the closest I've ever been.  However, the process at NBB is such that it will allow for them to create a whole lot of different though in smaller batches. This is because the initial stages of brewing for almost all beers is very similar.  As we speak they are aging and conditioning dozens of different types of beer in all sorts of containers.

Now onto the important parts.  The tour does have beer on it, making it good - but the tour itself is great.  I've never said that before, I usually just listen for histories, ingredients, and then wait for samples.  This was not that tour.  The beer here is also great.  I've had plenty of NBB before, and some of the bigger ones are just good (even the best place may make something that does not click with me, it happens), but their special seasonal, limited release, and aged beers are phenomenal.  My two favorites I tried were one of their sour beers and a blackberry barley-wine.  All of what they had was good, and I also must add this is one of the first places I've been where I noticed a difference in how the beer tastes due to its freshness when being served.

All in all, 5/5.  If you're in the area, it'd be a mistake to not head here.

http://www.newbelgium.com/Beer/home

Have you tried any new flavors recently?
- Gremlin

Getting a Second Job

Worker-Bee Gremlin here. I've floated the idea of getting a second job in the past, both here and in various comments.  Nominally I kind of had one acting as a sports referee, but that really only paid me enough to cover my league fees so I could play for free.  Nothing wrong with that, but the gig ended for reasons outside of my control.  In my regular work life I no longer have to travel, allowing me to open up to the idea of finding a second job. So it was kind of great when a nice opportunity just happened to fall into my lap.  I got a second job working at a local brewery that started up in January.

It really was a lucky break too.  I had heard about the place from a friend so I stopped to check it out to try some of the products, you know for quality assurance purposes.  And lo and behold, another friend of mine was working there.  Naturally, one thing leads to another and soon enough I am getting an email to stop by talk to the owners and see if I am able to work there, and then bam I have a side job.  As of writing this I have put in one full day and am expecting many more over the next few months.  The working time is mainly on weekends* not more than 4 or 5 days in a month, and I am working for tips.

Could I be doing something else to make more money?  Yes, but I don't know if I would enjoy that.  I do not want my 9-5 job becoming my side job too.  I really enjoyed working at this side job, to the point where it honestly does not feel like work.  There is a lot of things I learned, a lot of cool people I met, and there are so many things to learn about the industry.  It is definitely a place that I want to be working.  After all, I would volunteer there, but it is definitely cooler to get a little compensation for your time.

Some of my friends did throw me a curve ball of a question, why would I do that with my free time?  Well first off, as I said I would do it for free - so already it is how I would spend that free-time.  Secondly, its a job that one day maybe I want to look into making it a full time situtation in some aspect (in terms of my association with the industry itself and the various positions therein).  Lastly, there is some compensation, which will be used for a few important things.

Any cash I generate will be subject to taxes and withholding.  That being said the remainder will be divided in three ways.  The two biggest chunks will be equally sized and sent to augment investments or pay off debt.  Any remainder will simply be pocket change that will get rounded into savings or checking accounts.  Cash will be put to extraordinary use buying securities, crushing my wife's student loans, and maybe even buy us a few meals on our summer vacation I have started planning for us in Europe**.  Yes, it will not be a ton of money, but every little bit counts when working towards Financial Independence.  Why not have some fun while doing it too?

* = The hours of operation are currently limited to weekends (Friday - Saturday anyways)
** = I already booked the flights, more on that as it was a points bonanza.

Have you found a second job or do you plan on keeping your free time free?
- Gremlin

Fall Mix Pack

Drinking Gremlin here to chat about the 'work' and experiences I had a few weeks ago.  I was once again out of town for work, so I took some time to put in a little research.  This time the topic was Fall Drinks.  So I snatched up six different fall flavors for a taste test.  Below are the results, hopefully you will be able to try some of these one day!  Brewery is in bold, beer in italics, percentage in [brackets].


Shiner - Märzen-Style Oktoberfest [5.8%].  A Texan attempt at Germany's greatest party beer.  It has a quality malt with a complete flavor.  I find it almost has a little bit of caramel after taste.  Grab a pretzel, a big pretzel, and drink a few!  6/10

Brooklyn - Oktoberfest [5.5%].  A different approach than Shiner, a bolder malt flavor with a slight touch of bitterness.  At this point I am almost sad I did not add a German Oktoberfest to the role to compare them.  Out of the two German celebrations this is my favorite on the list.  I feel over the course of a 6 pack this one would be tougher to drink more of, but on an individual basis it is the one I would first order in a stein.  6.5/10

Southern Tier - One Buffalo [4.8%].  An American Blonde Ale, made specifically for and with the Buffalo Bills in mind.  Nothing says 'Fall' like football.  The beer is very smooth and crisp, no exotic flavors, but does have a fantastic after taste.  This is a nice lighter beer, one that you can enjoy with a game on TV.  For me it went very well with some Asian food.  7/10

CB- Harvest Jack Pumpkin Ale [5.5%].  Wow, this beer has a ton of flavor.  When I first opened it I had low expectations, it is a pumpkin beer and that usually means I will get my hopes only to get disappointed.  I was not; this beer describes itself as rich and creamy with a pumpkin flavor, and that is the best way to describe it.  It reminded me of some type of pumpkin bread, perhaps with chocolate chips.  I would venture to say this is best enjoyed as a dessert beer or for one crazy weekend breakfast.  9/10

CB- MacBubba [6.5%].  This time CB was chosen to be represented twice.  A Scotch Ale made with the usual fury you typically find a Scotch Ale.  I've had this beer before at their brewery and I must say I loved it there, in fact it was my favorite one I tried.  Now sampling out of the bottle I found I still like it a lot, it has a strong malt flavor and almost has a hint of that roasted caramel type flavor.  I'd recommend this beer with a big juicy burger and some fries.  7.5/10
Fun fact: during the reign of Diocletian of the Roman Empire, the Romans tried to set prices on all items bought and sold within the Empire.  This included beer, of which there were three types - Celtic, Pannonian (modern day Hungarian Plain), and Egyptian.  The first two cost the same, the Egyptian half as much because it was likely half as good.  Making it the Schlitz of the ancient world.

Kuka - Banana Nut Brown Ale [5.5%].  The name is a great description of this beer.  It is not my favorite brown ale that I've come across, but it has some really interesting flavors.  I taste a little bit of banana nut, but I really want more.  This could be a solid dessert beer, but it lacks a little bit of punch that I got out of the Harvest Jack above.  It is still a solid make, but perhaps I need to actually have some banana nut bread with this one.  5.5/10

Good luck in your tasting, may you enjoy whatever you are looking for this Fall Season (my favorite of beer seasons).!

- Gremlin
PS: many of these in various reviews will be hard to get outside of regional areas.  In this case Brooklyn and Southern Tier are widely available in the Mid-Atlantic of the USA and Shiner (from Texas) is fairly accessible throughout the whole country.

NY State 6 IPA Chase

Drinking Gremlin here to chat about the 'work' and experiences I had last week.  As some of you know I have been working on the road a lot more this year, and this current assignment requires a lot of time in upstate New York.  So I've decided to do some taste testing as a way to enjoy my time here a little bit without busting the bank.  This past week I decided to study India Pale Ales available at the grocery store.  The one caveat is that they must be from the state of New York.  So I acquired a mixed six pack; with one beer each.  This means everyone has one shot to impress me.  So here are the contenders, they are ranked in order of consumption, mind you they were enjoyed over the course of the week.  My scoring is on a 1 to 10 scale (10 being the best).  So here are the scores and reviews.  Brewery is in bold, beer in italics.


Ithaca Beer Co. - Cascazilla, Red IPA [7%].  A smooth beer that goes down quickly and has most of its hops and bitterness hitting your tongue in the after taste.  Not the most bitter beer out there, but it seems to be lacking a punch of flavor that an IPA usually has.  Might be a good day time beer.  Overall I usually am a big fan of Red IPAs so, this might need to get a bunch more tries.  5/10

Saranac - Legacy IPA [6.5%].  Wow, a beer that hits you tongue like a hammer made out of citrus.  The hoppy flavors follows, but its hard to not get past the strong and delicious citrus flavor.  I believe this beer is the kind you would love to drink on a hot day.  Soak up the sunshine and crack one open, then relax on the porch.  6.5/10

CB - Caged Alpha Monkey IPA [6.5%].  Having been to this brewery before I was interested in trying one I had not tried there, and it is their flagship brand.  It is easy to describe this beer; big hops and big taste.  However, it lacks some of the crispness that some IPAs really throw at me.  5/10

Brooklyn - East IPA [6.9%].  This is an IPA drinkers IPA.  It has the crispness, the citrus flavor, and the bitterness that follows.  However, it is not too much of any of the above.  The key is the balance between those qualities, these guys nailed it.  8/10

Southern Tier - IPA [7.3%].  Smooth is the best adjective here.  Overall I wish it had a little more citrus or exotic flavor that my favorite IPAs carry.  It feels like a good late night beer, pair it with some chips / dip and a good game on TV.  To be honest though, feels like so much was put into it, but the extra effort diminishes the finesse sometimes required.  6/10

Southern Tier - 2X IPA [8.2%].  I only had so many options in getting single regular sized bottles, so I ended up with two from Southern Tier.  Still this IPA attempt is excellent.  It has a ton of punch in its percentage, but it is smooth to a drop.  Its crispness goes along with a citrus set of notes that sits on the tongue the way I like.  I would recommend this beer with a steak, fish, pizza, or a hangout session anytime!  9/10

As I am editing this I am beginning another set, my individual write up was done last week.  My current 'work' is a new theme and its harder to keep with the theme due to the amount of variety that is available.  Note these, as with all other reviews, are my opinions.  I recommend you try these or as many types as possible to find out what you like.  Or if you are really awesome, make your own! 

- Gremlin
PS: many of these in various reviews will be hard to get outside of regional areas.  In this case Saranac, Brooklyn and Southern Tier are widely available in the Mid-Atlantic of the USA.

Beer Review, August 2015 - Geneseo New York and Some Life Lessons

Keg-Gremlin here to discuss some more fun topics.  Currently, I am on work travel in upstate New York, specifically in the Geneseo area and I took the time to sample some local beers.  If I had more time I would have also sampled a lot of wine, which the Finger Lakes area of New York is famous for.  Plus the countryside is gorgeous up here, in more ways than one.  My work in this part of the country has also linked me up with an interesting cast of co-workers, which I will talk about later in this post.

In my travels I got to visit two breweries, and though sadly I could not try every beer, I got to try a good bunch.  Also fair warning, most of these are probably hard to get in general, and I have never seen them 3 states away, so this is more of a 'if you get the chance to visit' sort of post.  So without beating around the bush, here are the reviews.

Brewers:

CB Craft Brewers (http://www.cbcraftbrewers.com/):
These guys started out as a contract brewery and branched out after.  While I was there, I tried both their beers and some of the ones they made on contract.  In general CB offered a lot of high percentage beers, especially on the IPA front.  IPAs are their flagship in general.  My two favorites IPAs were their Silverback Double IPA and their contract GC "Fat 20" brand IPA.  Their current list is found at here, but sadly I do not remember the name of the GC brand IPA.  Of the ones listed it was my preferred.  My other favorites were their Scotch style ales including CB's MacBubba and the contract Roger's Hound Dog.  The last one was by far my favorite drink on tap.  One of my coworkers was along for this ride as well and recommended the Three Head "The Kind", another IPA.  He is primarily an IPA drinker, so I would take that as a good recommendation.  Overall a good spot with a nice bar and reasonably priced tasting.  I would heavily recommend it.

VB Brewery (http://thevbbrewery.com/):
I know, what are the odds we would go to CB and VB?  Well anyway, this was our second stop and the tasting was little less comprehensive than the first.  Sadly they were out of my first choice, which was a Belgian style ale.  This brewery was also very heavily bent towards IPAs, with a full 1/2 of their choices being IPAs.  Here is their current beer selections.  My coworker concentrated on the IPAs, and found them not to be up to the level of the prior brewery, but this may be due to drinking too many bitter pours.  We both agreed that their #6 Petite IPA was one of the better IPAs we've had.  However, I found that #7 their Black Magic IPA was probably a head better.  I also tried their number's 8 and 10.  8 was decent, but 10 was disappointing.  At both breweries I tried a brown ale, and was not very impressed.  Typically I find that type excellent, but not these.

Both are in nice spots, in or near very nice small towns.  IPAs and Scotch ales seem the way to go.  If I had more samples I would have added the Altbier at the first place and the #11 at the second place (which was the not available of course when I was there!).  However, I feel there is a little too much focus on IPAs in general between the two.

Life Lessons:

My coworkers on this job are a true cast of characters.  One of them was discussing money with me, specifically how much he had made on some past jobs.  It was mind boggling, he was throwing out that as his bonus on some jobs he was making as much as some people make in a year.  Don't get me wrong, he is good at his job.  However, it appears he is very strongly fitted to that work hard - spend hard hedonistic treadmill.  Yet, he still complained about work and travel a lot. 

He has been working for a long time, I get the complaining, but he also makes a pretty great paycheck.  Perhaps he loves his job, but then why is he complaining?  Truth is he probably could solve a lot of his problems through DG-investing (or similar) and living a more frugal existence.  Frugality does not make life any less enjoyable.  No more dragging your progressively aging and aching body to a job that you may not care to do.  Considering his salary, he could have quit years ago with cash and time to spare and spend as he deemed fit.  Instead he is worried about the things at home he is missing and the fish he sadly is not catching.

For these reasons, I pushed myself even harder being here to save a few bucks and make some new investments.  This gladly brings me to the conclusion that I have opened a position in Hershey (HSY).  It is a small Loyal3 slot, but I hope to really expand it over the next few months and I plan to add Walmart (WMT) soon too!

I hope everyone is safe and having a great August.
- Gremlin
- Long HSY

Make it a Double!

Investor Gremlin here.  Just a quick little update about one of my stocks, which I do not mention much.  That is partially because it is my only non-dividend position and also because it is a small position.  Nonetheless around 5 years ago I decided to purchase shares in Willamette Valley Vineyards (WVVI).  In that time the shares have more than doubled in value.  Today I am writing just to express how cool it is to pick a winning security and watch it double in value.  That being said on a long enough time line, I expect every position I have to pull its weight.  Just its cool that WVVI was the first one to that race.



Going forward none of my other positions will include non-dividend payers, but something about this tiny position just made me want to hold onto it.  Partly my love of their substance itself and partly because I would love to run and own one day.

- Gremlin
- Long WVVI (I'd take a bottle of wine each year in lieu of a dividend).

Career Growth!

Been busy Gremlin here.  Over the last few weeks I have been working on both career growth and was on the road a lot.  The career growth I am going through was preparation for a professional licensing test, and I figured it was important to take my time and study, which made my weeks a little more boring for a bit.  In that time I also decided in addition to foregoing video games and other entertainment, I would not write here.  Now that its over, we shall return to the regularly scheduled program.

For this post I will be talking about a little bit of everything: my career growth, minor investment activity / market trends, some travel, sports, and frothy beverages.  There is no reason I cannot enjoy all those things at the same time!  So let's get to it, shall we?

Career Growth:

One of the best ways to save faster for financial independence (FI) is to earn more from your day job.  Overall, that is a no-brainer.  A way to accomplish that can be through professional certifications.  In my industry typical professional certifications include Professional Engineer (PE), Professional Geologist (PG), Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM), and many others.  Yes, mine is one of those, but I am waiting for the certificate to come in the mail before I post which one I got on my about me page.  The one I got was years in the making, literally with multiple years in the industry required on top of my degree and specific experience.  Once that was achieved, I applied to be able to take the exam.  Then last Friday I took and passed the exam.


Naturally, I won't get a salary bump right away, however I will now be able to demand a better salary no matter where I work.  It is not my intent to leave my current job, but it would be nice to receive some extra benefits for upping my skill set to improve the company's marketability.  Regardless of what the future holds, I know at this point I have taken a strong step up the proverbial ladder and it should help build FI!

Investment Activity / The Market:

The market has been awesomely volatile of late.  Naturally people point to the larger situations that have come and gone, domestically and overseas.  It is always interesting hearing the distress from coworkers, friends, the talking heads on TV + radio, and the experts forecasting what will happen.  The answer to all of them is, no one knows; and all we can expect is this to be long term noise, which will open the door for people like me and other long term investors.

This is excellent timing as I've just received a generous special dividend from Kraft Heinz (was KRFT, now KHC).  That money was received in my Roth and will spur another large buy shortly.  Right now I am debating between several stocks I really like - UNP, NSC, CSX, TROW, BEN, ETN, and NOC mainly.  None of those are 5% yielders, but the plan is to get (oddly) lower yields first with high growth in my Roth, so in 5 to 10 years time I can turn around and add high yielders and sit on a retirement monster. 

In addition, Chubb Corp (CB) recently announced that ACE Insurance (ACE) was buying them for approximately $120+ per share; I will receive $62+ and 0.6015 shares of ACE per share of CB.  In a way this is sad, because I liked CB's future prospects.  On the other hand I will gain likely 2 positions for 1 - the new cash will spur another buy when the deal completes and I will have approximately 7 shares of ACE.  Currently, the plan is to sit on the shares and continue collecting CB's dividends.  Once the deal completes there will be a grace period to decide if ACE, despite its foreign with-holdings, is right for my Roth.  As of right now, I am leading towards dropping it, but we shall see.

Lastly, I have hit 25 shares of Coke (KO) in my Loyal3 account.  That value is slightly over $1000, and so long as it stays above that threshold I am done with it.  It feels extra nice to tick another Loyal3 position off my list, but if the price drops I will not be afraid to capitalize!

Travel:

Recently I've attended one wedding in the city of Harrisburg, PA.  I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised with the nice little downtown area on the water, and Appalachian Brewing company there.

Then immediately after that wedding, I traveled to Texas.  I am currently involved in a contract that involves testing of indoor filtering machines to make sure they are working right, which means there are a lot of stops in a lot of places for each trip.  This one started in Dallas, then wound its way down through Austin, San Antonio*, Laredo*, McAllen, and Brownsville*.  The asterisked locations indicated places that were just passed through.  My perception was that Texas seemed like an alright place, and sadly I did not have enough time to really see anything.  Dallas and Austin in particular seemed cool, along with the coast by Brownsville.  Alas, these places will just have to get added to the list at this time...

Sports:

Summertime for me is usually when I careless about seeing any sports and more about playing them, I'm just not a big golf or baseball fan.  However, this year we have the Women's World Cup and the Gold Cup in soccer.  It was really cool to watch the US Women win the whole thing again in such dominate fashion (at least once pool play was over).  At one point I almost felt bad for Japan during the final game, and really bad for England who I thought should have taken on the USA.  England did dominate Japan in that game, but they just had one lapse that lead to their collapse.  (Plus it would have been cool to beat the Brits again the day after July 4th...)

With the women's team winning, perhaps its time to see the men's step up and take the Gold Cup this year.  2 semis left, and 1 final, it would shock me if the games were not exciting.  Mexico's win over Costa Rica last night was very exciting to watch, though Costa Rica got hosed badly at the end falling due to 1 bad call.  Really though Mexico could have won 3-1, if strikers could just shoot on frame...

Beer:

As much as I'd love to say I've tried a ton of new beers of late, that would simply be a lie.  However, my travels did allow me to get a few sips on some new flavors.  Specifically these were at Appalachian Brewing in Harrisburg, PA and Glasstown Brewing in Millville, NJ. 

Appalachian had a few excellent beers.  My favorites here were their IPAs, Belgian, Pale Ale, and Scottish Ale.  Appalachian showed they clearly excelled in both hoppy and malty styles.  The newer Glasstown surprised me with an excellent variety.  Though I did not try the stout, I was told it was one of the best people have had in a while.  Their Pale Ale and Red Ale were both fantastic.  In general both were very reasonably priced and provided nice if completely different atmospheres.

Moving forward on my beer posts I've decided to add some variety and spice it up in the future.  Posts will review my favorite beers within certain categories.  These could include by state,  country, style, and in depth reviews of local crafters.  I will also cover some wine in this, as that frequently gets paired with dinner in my house depending on the meal of course.

Thanks for reading, sorry it was long.
- Gremlin
- Long UNP, CB, KHC, KO

Sun's Out!

Not Yet Tanned Gremlin here to talk about some spring time activities and consumption habits.  Normally at this time of year most people are finally going outside and enjoying the weather and sunshine.  I am no different.  In this post I will be talking about my favorite summertime pastimes and beverages.

My favorite summer pastimes include hiking, swimming, ultimate frisbee, soccer, tubing (down a river), kayaking, and stand-up paddle boarding.  It is impossible to pick a favorite activity from the list above, because they are all so awesome.  Each one of these also can get people to to relax, enjoy life, and sweat; personally I sweat a lot - thanks Dad...

There is nothing like enjoying the weather and then enjoying a lazy end to a good day.  Once you  feel ready to be lazy, what better way to enjoy a cool down than with a good beer?  If you answered a good wine, I would accept that as well.  Either way, below is my Summer Beer List for this year.

1 - Kölsch 151 by Blue Mountain (VA)
Cost is $9.99 per 6 pack, ABV = 5.0%.  PS# = 1.998

This might not be the strongest beer, but it is awesome in summer.  It has a cool crisp flavor and finish, and each one makes you crave another.  I could go on all day on this one, its my favorite for most of the year.

2 - 21st Amendment Monk's Blood (CA)
Cost is $11.99 per 4 pack (x 1.33), ABV = 8.3%.  PS# = 1.921

Get outta the way!  This one is one is meant for the late evening as time is winding down on a hard day.  A strong Belgian ale with plenty of spice and smoothness to go with it.  Its delicious, but this is only for those with a good sense of strong beer and the palate to match.

3 - Ways and Means by Port City (VA)
Cost is $10.99 per 6 pack, ABV = 4.5%.  PS# = 2.442
Somewhat hoppy, but mostly refreshing is how this beer should be described.  It is not the strongest, but is full of flavor and not the kind that fills you up after a one bottle.

4 -  Samuel Adams Summer Ale (MA)
Cost is $9.49 per 6 pack, ABV = 5.3%.  PS# = 1.791

Sweet with a little spice; this is a summertime staple.  I enjoy it, and it is partly on this list because its is one of my wife's favorites.  They are in my house or cooler and lot because of that, and due to that I have come to appreciate it.

5 - White Hatter by New Holland (MI)
Cost is $10.99 per 6 pack, ABV = 5.5%.  PS# = 1.998

Yikes summer beers are expensive, but they are tasty!  This is a nice refresher for someone who likes the IPA bitters plus the smooth sensation of lighter spiced style, all done in the way a Belgian would.  White Belgian IPAs really are excellent choices for a hot day under the sun.

$/% (The PS#) = $ cost per 6 pack (in local stores) / % Alcohol By Volume (ABV)

This is updated from my last post, and corrected.  A 4-Pack Multiplier of 1.33 (to make up for lost cans/bottles is now introduced).

This list could easily be longer.  I left out some of my other favorites like Starr Hill's Soul Shine, Leinenkugel's Shandy series, New Belgian's Fat Tire and Shift, and Blue Point's Blueberry Lager to name a few.  Summer might be the best or second best season for beer, after winter of course.  The variety is astounding, however the beers typically lack the strength of the winter types.  That being said, this will be followed up by a 'Wines of Summer' list later this summer - it will be heavily influenced by my wife's side of the family.  Though that is not to say I will not be partaking in tasting.

Have fun its nice out.  Sun's out, guns out!
- Gremlin

Advertising...

Viewer Gremlin here.  In a past post I discussed putting advertisements on this site, and since then a decision has been made to do this.  The main reason is, it would be foolish not to.  Running this website is not crazy hard work, but it still takes up some time. So sorry in advance about them, but it had to be done and was only a matter of time.  I do promise I will try to put 'better' ads on here, aiming for appropriate to the audience and topics of discussion.

In other news Kellogg's (K) recently announced a small dividend increase of 2% (slow clap), and Apple (AAPL) should have news release today or soon on their plans.  I have been looking for AAPL announcements, but have yet to see any.  There have been other dividend announcements recently, including JNJ.  The full scope of increases and progress along with an outlook for next month will be released shortly, as is tradition.

For next month there will be at least one piece of not related to investing, focusing on summer beer.  You might ask yourself why I skipped over spring beer, well its because most of what comes out is not memorable or exciting.  Summer is a much better season.  I will also be including some workout stuff - for those who like to stay in shape without paying for an expensive gym.

End of month to come soon,
- Gremlin
- Long K, JNJ, and AAPL