Board Games and Beer

What's better than board games and beer?
Maybe this is a subjective rhetorical question.
Last night was my friends last day in town before shipping off to a dry community in Alaska to teach. He and I have been enjoying a number of beers lately and went to Beers of the World about a month ago to stock up. We didn't quite get through everything we bought, but were able to try a number of great beers and play the grand-daddy of all board games: Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition. My favorite game of all time.
My wife, Brynn, joined us, the more the merrier, and we played from about 7-8 p.m. to 4-5 a.m. the next day when they all gave in to my 9-7 lead (game is normally played to 10 VP). To most people this would be a night from hell, but to me it was epic glory.

Here's all the beers we tasted along the way:

This time I managed to order them left to right in the order we tried them, so it will make this a little easier.
(1) Heavy Seas Holy Sheet,  a Belgian style ale aged in brandy barrells. I wasn't the biggest fan, but I would be interested in trying this in a snifter instead of a pint glass and seeing if I like it more. Anyway, it was a little on the sweet side and lacked complexity as a result. The oak didn't shine and the sucre on top of the brandy must made it too one note, sweet. See more info here.
(2) Fuller's London Pride, an English bitter that for its 4.7% ABV is quite tasty and would be a good session beer choice, malty in character with caramel notes. Also slightly flat because that is what a good English brew is about. See more here.
(3) Breckenridge SummerBright Ale, a competitor of Shock Top in that the flavor profile is similar, perhaps less wheat and cleaner. Despite being a step up from the fore mentioned, not my group's favorite, as it contained a somewhat burnt, rotten or heated fruit flavor, owing to the orange and lemon peels. More here.
4) Shiner White Wing, brewed at the Spoetzl brewery in Shiner, TX, this had a nice coriander addition with a tinge of citrus peel in the aroma that again we were not fond of but in this case it wasn't as bad. Overall, the witbier base was scrumptious. More here.
5) Weyerbacher White Sun Wit. We were on a belgian witbier kick and it was fun to compare similar beers. This had added complexity because it had anise, just a tad, but did not show off the coriander as well. Sharing between three glasses the pour left two of us with a haze that swirled and then clouded our beer, while the third's was perfectly clear. Must have been the pour as it is a proclaimed cloudy Belgian. It is worth noting that this beer used to be called Blanche and was changed in 2012 while the beer remains identical. More here.
(6) Mendocino Talon Extra Select Double Smoked Porter, living up to its long winded name, complex, as smoky as I've ever had, with chocolate, coffee, creamy notes, it lingers and warms. It actually reminded me of kalua or Irish cream in a way. Great info here.
(7) Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron, one of my favorites, a super complex, rich, robust brown ale aged in Palo Santo wood barrels with vanilla and caramel. An aroma like you've never smelled before, this is a heavyweight coming in at 12% ABV! More here.

No surprise here, my favorite was the Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron. I've had that beer quite a few times in the past 5 years or so since I've gotten into craft beer and it will probably always be one of my favorites for its complexity and uniqueness.