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Hops & Scotch

7001 Sunne Ln #100
Walnut Creek CA 94597
(925) 378-7980
  • PUB QUIZ—Mondays @ 6:00pm
About Hops & Scotch

Whisk(e)y originates from Gaelic for “water of life”. According to author David Broom, the Scots and Irish Gaelic translation of this is uisge beatha. This referred to a proto-whisk(e)y redistilled with spices and herbs and the straight version became known as 'usky'."

Now is it Whiskey or Whisky? In short, the spelling "whiskey" is common in the United States and Ireland. The rest of the world, including Japan, Scotland and Canada, uses "whisky."

Bourbon, Rye, Single Malts, Blends - they're all whisk(e)y. There is no one right way to drink all whisk(e)ys. Whether you drink it neat or on the rocks, whisk(e)y is one of America's most beloved spirits.  Enjoying this beverage is a personal journey that could easily change from week to week, day to day, drink to drink.

You'll find that many whisk(e)ys are greatly enhanced by ice, but you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you don't at least try the whiskey neat. Have you tried your Scotch with a few drops of mineral water?  A splash of water can be a great thing as it releases the hydrophobic elements in the glass, allowing you to detect more aromatics on the nose, and by lowering the alcohol content, it can allow you to taste more flavors on your palate.

At Hops & Scotch we have over 450 types of whisk(e)ys ranging from American Bourbon to Japanese Whisk(e)y.  Whether you like your rye neat or your Scotch with a drop of mineral water, or your bourbon with our ice spheres molded at the bar, Hops & Scotch is sure to have something to please your palate!

QUIZ RECAP

Mon Mar 29 2021
| by Quizmaster Paul Benson
|

Spring had definitely sprung at Hops and Scotch as it was (socially-distanced) packed! We had a couple of new teams, apparently lured by the dulcet tones of my voice, as well as some returning favorites. 

Things started out a little slow, but round 4 demonstrated that some folks were definite Beliebers as Tanner Stage Pregnant nailed the Guess Who, with The Sweet Angels, Wine O Mite, and Calvin and the Porkchops coming close behind with 8 points in that round. Justin Bieber must have been the guardian angel for the game, as ultimately Tanner Stage Pregnant took first, with The Sweet Angels only two points away in second. Quizzie McGuire, after a slightly shaky start, slid into third place.

For the drinking round, in honor of Godzilla vs Kong I challenged people to name the giant monster movie based on the plot. Apparently a lot of people love monster movies, as some of the films were guessed very soon into their plot summaries.

Game Rank Team # Team Name Score Teams Beaten Team Beat Average
1 Tanner Stage Pregnant 39 9 1.000
2 The Sweet Angels 37 8 0.889
3 Quizzie McGuire 36 7 0.778
4 Bad Hombres 34 6 0.667
5 Wine O Mite 28 5 0.556
6 Calvin and the Porkchops 22 4 0.444
7 Positively Negative 20 3 0.333
8 OGs 14 2 0.222
9 Night Owls 11 1 0.111
10 K Team 3 0 0.000

QUIZ RECAP

Mon Mar 22 2021
| by Quizmaster Paul Benson
|

Our second night back, and the word had definitely gotten out as Hops & Scotch was packed! (with six feet in between tables, natch.) There were a lot of teams back who I hadn't seen since November.

Things stayed pretty close overall for the first few rounds, but the "Guess Where" round started shaking things up by having The Sweet Angels, Tanner Stage Six and Calvin and the Porkchops draw up next to previous leader Positively Negative. Last week's winners Moms & Scotch were close behind, but had trouble finding their footing.

There were some more ups and downs, but ultimately Tanner Stage Six took the win, with Calvin and the Porkchops a close second place.

For the drinking round, I challenged the crowd to guess the villains and the actors that played them from DC Comics films. I was especially impressed when a member of Quizzie McGuire nailed Heath Ledger as The Joker on the very first hint.

Game Rank Team # Team Name Score Teams Beaten Team Beat Average
1 Tanner Stage Six 53 7 1.000
2 Calvin and the Porkchops 51 6 0.857
3 Quizzie McGuire 50 5 0.714
4 Positively Negative 34 4 0.571
5 Fit Force 30 3 0.429
6 Moms and Scotch 28 2 0.286
7 The Sweet Angels 27 1 0.143
8 Infinity Squared 23 0 0.000

QUIZ RECAP

Mon Mar 15 2021
| by Quizmaster Paul Benson
|

Beware the Ides of March Trivia!

Wow, was it really November since we last had a game at Hops & Scotch? Crazy! Everyone was happy that we were able to get things up and running again.

Most people were a little rusty after the latest lockdown, so it was nice to have a more intimate group. Things were pretty close for most of the game, but got shaken up in round 7 as Bad Hombres missed just one of the questions going for a double or nothing. This allowed Moms & Scotch to cinch the lead, which they held onto through the end to take first place.

For the drinking round, I asked everyone to guess the classic movies from quotes from the films. No one could identify Dracula, but one person was astonishingly fast at Casablanca.

Game Rank Team # Team Name Score Teams Beaten Team Beat Average
1 Moms & Scotch 39 3 1.000
2 Bad Hombres 31 2 0.667
3 Brooke and Dom 24 1 0.333
4 Keg 19 0 0.000