Walrus For the Block

Silence

2009-07-22T05:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the silence and the hiatus... but I've got secrets a-brewing... I'm working hard and studying for something, and soon enough, I'll let you all know what...

Meal Pairing: Rock Crab and Old Brown Dog

2009-06-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

Today, Mere and I decided to have a bit of a dinner adventure. We walked down to the local asian food market and bought up 6 Rock Crabs. We brought 'em home, boiled 'em up, and ate bastards. They were tasty little buggers that didn't need any sort of seasoning or butter; they were succulent and buttery right out of the shell. Anyways, I inadvertently stumbled upon a great Food/Beer pairing in the process.

About half way through the meal, I opened up a bottle of Smuttynose's Old Brown Dog Ale and poured it for the two of us to share. Just looking for a little something to quench my thirst, I was met with so much more. The mild roasty nature of the Old Brown brought out the buttery and salty notes of the crab and vice versa. Much like cilantro cuts sweetness, the bitterness of the beer opposes the sweet of the crab. Anyways, highly recommended pairing, although I might next time look towards something like the Ommegang Witte to give a bit of a lemon-y flavor to accent the crabs, and might also include an adjunct lager such as a corona in the broth to add some more sweet and salty notes.

Two Glass Beer Kits 1: Sam Adams

2009-06-17T04:32:00.001-07:00

One of my new favorite hobbies has been searching out ways to make a two-glass complete beer set for those new craft beer enthusiasts on a tight budget, with limited space, or you just would like to make wise purchases on brewery tours. The first and most obvious warning about this is you'll end up drinking at least one variety of beer from inappropriate glassware. My first stop on this brewery tour is a brewery we're all too familiar with - Sam Adams (a.k.a the Boston Beer Company.) Their Porter Street brewery sells many varieties of different glassware ranging from the standard American Tumbler/Pint glasses to their limited edition Utopias glasses that are coupon redeemable if you purchase a bottle. However, there are two glasses that I think make the case for a complete set.

First, the Sam Adams "Perfect Pint" Glass. While there is a lot of advertising devoted to this glass, I'm pleased to say it's for a good reason. This glass is fantastic! We have two of these and they get used almost every time someone enjoys beer here. The mechanics of this beer glass are actually quite simple, what they've done is take the basic designs of a tulip glass (such as the bulbous body, curved outer lip, and stem-like base) and married it with a standard pint glass. They also added laser etching on the bottom to encourage the release of carbonation, making this a great choice for most lighter Lagers, regular Pale Ales and IPAs, and some porters and stouts. Generally, if your beer is regular strength and would benefit from some release of carbonation, this glass is the best you can do outside of the individually branded glass the brewery would use for this beer.

Second, the Sam Adams Balloon Glass. For this TGBK, the pivot point is obviously the tulip style glass, as the Balloon Glass is a hybrid of a tulip and a snifter. In this case, the glass is more snifter, sporting a spherical base wider than the lip. To properly use this glass, take anything that is higher than normal strength - Imperial Stouts/Porters/IPAs - and put them in this glass. This glass is also well suited to two types of beer due to the shape of their ideal glassware pairing - Belgian Pale Ales such as Duvel and Scotch Ales. Barleywines will also benefit nicely. All in all, while you could be pouring your Chimay or your Rochefort into a chalice, this glass will definitely concentrate the nose a little bit more.

What's Missing?: While it could be argued that the Perfect Pint glass would do a good job on Belgian Wits, it leaves a bit to be desired to lambics, rauchbiers, and bocks. Doppelbocks would be alright in the balloon, but regular bocks fall through the cracks quite easily. Again, this combination could be a little more strong for Trappist Ales/Quads, but it's quite reasonable for someone looking to get into craft beer with only two glasses.

Well, that sums up the first TGBK. It's likely I'll post another one relatively soon, as we'll likely be back to the Harpoon Brewery this coming weekend. As for now, I'm off to read my new copy of Brewmaster's Table by Garrett Oliver.

Cheers!

Beer Review: Smuttynose Star Island Single

2009-06-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

I committed a bit of a beer faux pas while enjoying this beer, and I hope the beer world is able to forgive me for it. Our glasses are in a general state of dirtyness, so I poured this beer into a red plastic solo cup. Yeah, I know... it's just like being back in undergrad. Ok, on to the beer. Nose starts out very sweet, smelling of grain as if it's an Adjunct Lager. As it sits, the yeast begins to grow in the nose. After a couple of minutes, this begins smelling like an American Pale Ale. It does smell a tad like an american take on a lighter belgian wit, must be the coriander coming through. Doesn't excite me a whole lot, reminds me of the days when I thought that Blue Moon wasn't part of Bud's evil empire and was a very respectable product. Taste is a bit tart and tangy, perhaps a little bit of solvent taste coming through at the hop signature. I remember watching something where Peter Egelston made a comment about the "Single" style as a belgian session ale. I could see why. This beer is basically Smuttynose's take on wit-session ales. It's not terrible, but, on the other hand, not terribly exciting. I could see this being extremely popular with the blue moon crowd. At the same time, this beer self advertises as a "session ale," which I could see quite plainly - mission accomplished. I'm not a huge fan of wits or any beer than uses sour/tangy tastes quite yet, but I can't fault the beer for that. It accomplishes what it attempts to accomplish quite well and has that trademark Smuttynose yeasty taste that works so well in its Pale Ale and IPA.

My Rating: 8/10

Poured: I don't really want to talk about it...

BeerAdvocate: Link

DIPA/Imperial IPAs... a trend with staying power? A Primer and an Editorial

2009-06-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

I'll ignore the fact that I've not posted anything in a long time and explore this topic a bit. A phone call from my father got me thinking. He said he was talking to the owner of one of his local liquor stores after seeing an influx of new brands on his shelves and they got to talking about IPAs. My dad, being a fan of strong hoppy brews, walked away from the store with some Bell's Hopslam, some Piraat belgian IPA trippel, and another relatively high caliber IPA. When asked about the expansion of his stock, the store owner replied something to the extent of "We decided to expand our stock to include more IPAs. If customers see 'IPA' on the label, they're going to purchase it." I've been mulling over writing articles about strong IPAs for a while, but this really put me over the edge. If you're already aware of the history/style notes of IPAs, you can feel free to skip a few paragraphs down to my editorial commentary.

IPAs are India Pale Ales. These beers are actually a piece of history (not in it's uber-hoppy American interpretation.) During British colonization of India, beer was transported by ships to the colonies. The brew itself was made a bit more fortified to survive the awful conditions on the ships that it would necessarily endure for months on end prior to its arrival. Fast forward to today: there are generally two types of India Pale Ales - American IPAs and British IPAs. In many cases, the British/European IPAs tend to follow the historical case. Scottish brewery BrewDog Brewing Co. recently made the decision to pursue a pure historical representation - a classic recipe put onboard a ship for three months prior to bottling. American IPAs, however, are usually nothing short of hop bombs. As of late, the Belgians, famous for their sweet and complex malt profile beers, have been attempting their own interpretation of the IPA, including La Chouffe's Houblon IPA Trippel (which actually uses all American hop varieties,) Piraat IPA Trippel, and Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor. As you can see by the names, these are hybrid styles that combine traditional belgian ales (dubbel, tripel, etc.) with the hoppiness of an American IPA. Usually these aren't palate destroyers, but they are usually higher than 8% ABV like their strong belgian counterparts. For clarification, if the modifying word is before the style, it's an American or British IPA (eg. Double IPA.) However, if the modifying word is located after the style, it refers to the belgian hybrid interpretations (eg. IPA Dubble/Double.)

In the American IPA category, there are two further subdivisions: standard IPA and Double/Triple/Imperial IPA. The standard IPAs range from a little over 5% ABV to around 7% and normally have between 30-70 IBUs (IBUs being the standard "International Bitterness Unit" on which IPAs, and other beers as well, are usually judged.) DIPA/Imperials kick up the ABVs from 7% all the way up to 21% (in the case of Dogfish Head's 120 minute IPA) boasting IBUs all the way up to 250 (in the case of Founders' Devil Dancer Triple IPA.) A normal DIPA/Imperial IPA will be around 9-10% ABV and have about 100-130 IBUs. All this technical jargon, but what does it mean? It means that you're going to be experiencing a beer that's generally going to be more bitter than your average beer. Bitter isn't the most appropriate word for the flavor profile. West Coast IPAs tend to be very citric and floral with a very "sharp" edge whereas other regional IPAs tend to be more full-bodied beer that has a detectable degree of malt (called the "backbone" in this case.) This "sharpness" generally is manifest in an astringency on the back of your tongue that tends to linger (called the "Hop Signature" among industry nerds.) A good point of comparison would be between California's Stone Brewing Co. and their IPA (not Ruination, their normal IPA) and Portsmouth New Hampshire's Smuttynose Brewing Co. and their "Finest Kind" IPA. Stone's offering tends to be very citric and floral, whereas Smuttynose's brew has a nice earthy floral taste due to the malt and the yeast they use. Smuttynose's tends more towards affirming the PA in IPA than its left coast counterpart. Anyways you get the picture (odds are if you're reading this, you already know the difference.) A quick note, regular IPAs are generally considered to be a late spring/summer seasonal brew due to the refreshing nature of the citric/floral flavors (much in the same way as Gin.) Imperial/DIPAs however have become adopted into the winter seasonal rotations (which traditionally included Barleywines, Winter Warmers, Stouts, Old Ales, Bocks and Doppelbocks) due to their high ABV and more full and intense flavor profiles.

So, here's where the issue arises. Over the past four or five years, the American craft beer market has become nothing less than obsessed with these hop wallops (with apologies to Victory Brewing Co.) to the point where almost every craft brewery out there produces some variety of IPA. IPAs are also thought to be one of the primary styles to benefit from oak barrel/bourbon aging (eg. Southern Tier's Oak Aged UnEarthly, Founders Hand of Doom/Bourbon Aged Red's Rye PA, and Great Divide's forthcoming Oak Aged IPA) Is this just a fad, or is this a trend indicative of serious long-term attention? I'd like to present as many possible takes on the scenario as possible.

First, from a production standpoint, IPAs are among the most costly beers to provide. When evaluating pricing options on a per-barrel basis, no beer style demands more hops. Being the most costly ingredient in normal beers, hops can financially strain any brewery that's not careful. Almost everyone draws the comparison between hops and grapes in the case of wine. While it is the case that some styles use more hops than others (think of stouts... how many stouts can you think of with distinctly hop-forward flavor profiles? Aside from Smuttynose's Imperial Stout, I can't think of any,) it could be the case that this late market trend towards IPAs could actually affect what the consumer pays for all their beer styles. Look at it this way: a couple years ago, the world was hit with a somewhat serious hop shortage. Fletcher Street Brewing Co. in Alpena Michigan, our local craft operation, told us that they were forced to put their fantastic Paper Maker Pilsener on hiatus in favor of other beers such as their Maple Porter, Lumber Lager Red, Thunder Bay Bock, and Alpena Wheat Ale - all styles that don't traditionally have an abundance of hops. This 2007-2008 shortage was due to decreased production of hops due to non-ideal growing conditions, storms, etc. Imagine if the next global hop shortage was the result of the industry itself not able to have the carrying capacity to supply demand for uber-hoppy IPAs? Many small breweries might have to close their doors due to the inability to acquire a key ingredient for beer. An article in the Ithican, local newspaper to Ithica, New York, finds the prior hop shortage to have shot hop prices up as high as 400% in some cases. According to this same article, the Boston Beer Company (or, as a few of you may know it as "Sam Adams") was able to sell 20,000 lbs of unused hops to other small breweries to alleviate the pain caused by the shortage. It's unlikely that this case of brewery altruism would be able to continue if the supply of hops kept dropping every year and the price of hops, and consequently beer, keeps increasing.

On the other hand, maybe none of this would come true. Perhaps either the trend towards brutally hoppy IPAs might subside somewhat, leaving only a handful of breweries to produce these "lacerative mothers" (with apologies to Stone Brewing Co.) After all, Rogue's I2PA from Oregon is a solid DIPA, but in the world of outstanding complex behemoths such as Avery's Maharaja, Dark Horse's Double Crooked Tree, Stone's Ruination, and Russian River's Pliny series, should they continue to pursue such a brew? This is both a commercial and a stylistic comment. Such a decision could be perceived as a cost cutting measure and be taken the wrong way by craft beer consumers, many of which are up in arms about Bud/Miller/Coors cost cutting tactics. At the same time, if the brewmaster decides he just doesn't want to brew that style anymore and has a way of communicating that, it will probably disappear quietly. Another factor that could turn the tide is local farmers and breweries that have made the decision to grow their own hops. On a recent trip to Sam Adams' Boston Brewery, we were seated outside at their private Bier garden complete with hop vines and all. Their representative stated their interest in growing hops they can use, such as the German Noble Hop Hallertau, popular with several Sam Adams brews including their flagship brew, the Boston Lager. Perhaps breweries will begin buying local hops from hop farmers. After all, given ideal soil/climate conditions, you can grow hops with seeds and information found on the internet.

Could it be that this trend towards Imperial/DIPAs is a form of egoism? This couldn't possibly be the case if Stone CEO Greg Koch isn't an idealist about his views on the beer industry. At the 2009 Craft Brewers Conference held here in Boston, MA, Koch delivered a 45 minute speech about the value of "camaraderie" and "collaboration" amongst craft brewers. He views the craft brewing industry not as individuals in competition, but all working towards the same goal - delivering better beer to the consumer (or, more importantly, to everyone.) However, in a world where Koch's company can produce their Ruination IPA year-round, is what he's saying more than just rhetoric? One glance at Stone's website would reveal it's honesty - they serve many different breweries' offerings at their World Bistro and hold "Beer U" meetings where all are welcome to become educated about beer styles extending far beyond the reaches of their Escondido-based walls. On the other hand, Terrapin Brewing Co in Athens Georgia has other ideas. They produced a beer called "Hop Shortage" which was meant to "give the finger to the hop gods" as said by head brewmaster Spike Buckowski and use a ton of the hard-to-come-by plants. Not only did they address the concerns of the hop shortage, they also used it to draw attention to themselves and set themselves apart. While I'm sure they're fine individuals, this really rubbed me the wrong way.

The final consideration rests on the consumers end. With the new figures (from the documentary Beer Wars) emerging about the sales of beers, one out of every two beers sold is the product of the Anheuser-Busch/InBev megacompany. Brooklyn Brewmaster Garrett Oliver estimates that craft brew fans only comprise at most 5-10% of the American public. That being said, most websites like BeerAdvocate and other editorial beer blogs usually are guilty of preaching to the choir in terms of reader demographics. If you don't know anything about beer, the brewing process, or the politics of beer, you're unlikely to try different kinds of beer, let alone craft beer. If the average no-beer-knowledge American walked into a liquor store with the intent of buying beer, they will almost always go for something they're familiar with. What happens if that same consumer has a flash of brilliance and decides to pick something random off the store shelves or has recommended to them by a store employee, say a 6 pack of Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA or Stone's IPA, and drink it? Well, unless they have a very refined and sturdy palate, it's unlikely they'll do anything except pour the beer down the drain or attempt to pawn it off on some unsuspecting friend who will likely have a similar reaction. This same consumer has learned their lesson about experimenting with craft beer and will retreat to the comfort zone of American industrial lagers. What I'm hinting at is that the recent trend towards IPAs might be hazardous to the same craft beer industry that is seeking the stake to drive through the heart of beer megacorporations. At the same time, perhaps I'm wrong? Living in Boston, almost every bar I go to has a Harpoon IPA tap handle. While not the best example of the style, it appears to be a fairly popular beer that has been able to win over a bit of the Bud Light/PBR crowd in the battle of the living room versus the dining room (the dining room being traditionally the spot where craft beer has unequivocally won.) These same people are willing to also take a chance on Allagash's White, their take on a Belgian Wheat Ale much like the famed Weinstephaner Hefe. Again, I know Boston is a fairly progressive city, which makes me even more hesitant. Still, to see the average Joe Redsox sit down to watch Big Papi attempt to crush a few out of the park and order a Harpoon IPA is something that makes me happy.

In the end, it's a question of staying power. Staying power belongs to those beers that are more than trends. The best example I can think of is the Russian Imperial Stout. Having existed since the court of Czarina/Empress Catherine the Great, these roasty devils continue to top the BeerAdvocate and RateBeer charts year after year. Their depth and complexity makes them a wonderful experience for a wide assortment of beer drinkers. Do I think that the IPA trend will continue along a similar path? Only time will tell, although it will probably not be as intense as the past year or two, but I think that Imperial/DIPAs will hold a legitimate place in craft brewing. While it might be detrimental to the industry in more ways than one to flood the market with these hop monsters, it's likely to level out a little bit. American IPAs are to hops what Bocks and Stouts are to Malt and what Belgian Ales are to Yeast - the quintessential example of an ingredient and how emphasizing that particular ingredient, while sometimes seeming improperly balanced, can make a very tasty beer.

Go Green!

2009-04-04T18:26:00.001-07:00

I'd just like to say congrats to MSU! It's been a dream run through the NCAA tourney. No matter what happens in the final game, you've played incredibly. It almost brought tears to my eyes seeing Jim Calhoun, one of the best coaches who has ever worked in NCAA basketball talking so respectfully and reverently about the Spartans. Tom Izzo just proved that he is one of the best coaches in history. Let's ride this out, we've got the final game of the season on my birthday, so GO GREEN!

Also, since this is probably Jim Calhoun's last season, I think we should all recognize him as one of the best coaches who has ever been involved with Basketball. Coach Calhoun, you did get outplayed in this round, but you've certainly been the inspiration for generations of coaches. So, coach Calhoun, wonderful career, congrats on all the success. If you'd been playing anyone else... maybe I would have rooted for you... if there weren't any other teams playing that I liked... or anything...

Resident Evil 5... what a disappointment...

2009-04-03T06:35:00.000-07:00

If any of you have a TV, you've seen the promos for the new Resident Evil game. To be honest, I don't really know what their marketing team was thinking. They show some footage of the game that's visually stunning (as the entire game is) as the "plot" which causes someone to commit suicide. They're literally saying "This product will make you want to kill yourself" because it's a "fear you can't forget." Here's the thing, not only is that an awful way to sell a product - especially a product like this that everyone was excited to play after playing Resident Evil 4 that you could have sold just by showing footage - but it's also disingenuous as hell. I played through the entire game, never once was I frightened. Not a single time. In fact, it becomes evident early on that this was Capcom's power play towards the action genre. Someone threw the game engine of Resident Evil 4 in with Gears of War, and this is what emerged... nothing but a disappointment in my mind, let's run through some of the things this game does well. (It goes without saying that this is going to be full of SPOILERS)

1. Visuals - The game is graphically stunning. From the environment down to the character models, everything is done extremely well. While the environments themselves aren't normally something to write home about (save for the lush African landscapes that you encounter for about half the game and some of the National Treasure 2-esque cave exploration scenes that are far far cooler than watching that movie) the lighting is consistently solid and the ambience of the levels enjoy a good bit of continuity.

2. Throwback Value - If you're a Resident Evil fan, you're going to get this game. No matter how much kicking and screaming you do about them making an action game, just face it, you want to see what happens to Chris Redfield. Once you start playing this game, you realize they've they've created an elaborate homage to early Resident Evil games. That's right, they've brought the patented Grenade Launcher and 40 different (not really, but something like 6-10) different type of rounds back. Also, remember the hunters from the original Resident Evil? Yeah, they're back too... except they're less green this time and more red. They will one-shot you just like they did in the old days too... they'll incapacitate you with their tongue or get right to the point with a claw through the chest. Wesker and Jill are here, there are references made to Leon Kennedy and his romp through Resident Evil 4 (via the "Kennedy Report",) and there are still the classic "piece the emblem together" doors that have been a staple of RE games forever.

3. Digestibility - This game is very user friendly. Anyone can pick this game up, even if they've never played a Resident Evil game before, and play it. That has to be what Capcom had in mind when designing this game - the generation that played the original Resident Evil is now older, many of whom probably were turned off by the radical redesign of the game engine from RE 3 to RE 4. When that was originally released, I was one of those people who thought "They're straying from their 'Survival Horror' roots and their stationary camera, which added its own degree of difficulty to the game, yet provided players with a really cool and frightening game experience."" You have to admit, it's terrifying when you walk into a room with a really weird angle shot that just shows the character and the door they just walked through and all you can hear is a scratching noise that almost certainly spells doom - or you walk down a silent hallway that has windows to the outside that the camera is actually looking through as a number of infected dogs ambush you - that's just genius. Anyway, RE 4 really did an incredible job of making a new survival horror experience based upon an action game platform. RE 5 tries to take up the torch, but ultimately just collapses into a forgettable action game. What doesn't this game do well.

1. Real-Time Inventory - I know this is becoming all the rage now with games like Dead Space which do not incorporate a pause into the usage of your inventory, which you're forced to manage in real time, but this should be adjusted based upon the difficulty level of the game. If you're playing on easy or normal, the game should pause. Expert players should have to be proficient enough with the inventory to be able to do things on the fly. RE 4 incorporated this in with a very good and logical system of give-and-take: players could use healing items from the inventory, but they could not reload. This was brilliant and should have been kept. Instead, players are forced to manage 9 measly inventory spaces through the entirety of the game, forcing them to spend time either before levels or after dying to manage that inventory, the partner's inventory, and a meta-inventory that had a ton of spaces. I think this was their way of reconciling the small real-time inventory with the flow of the game. There was some allure of a random stranger that somehow could sneak past all the Ganados in RE 4 and set up shop, complete with a huge blue torch, without anyone noticing. That, and he had the power of teleportation, one room he would be peddling his wares and, one room later, he was handing out prizes at the shooting range (not to me though, I was too busy getting laughed at by the phantom crowd.)

2. A Fear you can't Find - This game wasn't even remotely scary. There are some points that are pretty interesting that they could have exploited more to make it absolutely bone chilling. For example, there are some enemies later in the game, the "Reapers," that are basically huge cockroaches. They emit this gas which causes everything around them to be really hazy and blurry. You stick a couple of these enemies in a really dark yet open room with pillars and a couple pinpoint light sources and what do you get? Instant terror. Instead, the only time anything even remotely approaches terrifying is a result of the player not doing their homework and scouting an area.

3. Less-than-memorable Boss Fights - The coolest boss fight in this game is the fight against the huge Oruboros thing on the ship. You needed to disable the arms and then hit them with a huge satellite laser beam to blow them up. It truly is a cinematic moment. What wasn't cool about this was that Sheva wasted all my ammo and so she just sorta sat in the corner and would occasionally attempt to knife the Oruboros wormies that the boss would throw at you - this, at least, was pretty funny to watch. Aside from that, the Gigante, the giant Crab, the giant Bat... uninspired bosses with less than memorable fights. You shoot something, something changes, you shoot whatever changed, end of fight.

4. Clumsy Controls - I hate, I hate, I hate games that have the generic action button for the most part. The reason? What happens in this game... You have to jump over something, attach yourself to cover, or jump down from somewhere so you run over to that spot and mash on the x button... and wait... and mash on the button, and wait.... and finally give up and sit there. Two seconds later, the game realizes what's going on and responds, "Oh, my bad, X for Jump Down." Gah, so frustrating. When playing the muliplayer game, this manifests itself by reaching a zone-door and yelling "Come On!" about 8 times before the door lets you go through. Seriously, work on your engine, make it instantly context specific - there's no excuse for a game of this caliber that's being advertised this widely to be so damn clumsy. Resident Evil 4 had an infinitely better game engine on a last generation console!

For all these reasons, I would say that RE5 bit off way more than it could chew. It might have been an ambitious endeavor, but the end result wasn't great. Sure, it was graphically impressive, but that seems to be the industry standard with high quality titles. You have to have something which stands out. This game is a tired action game that only appeals to fans of the series through familiar characters and an appeal to RE4 fans through a similar (yet inferior) engine. If I were considering buying this game, I'd play the demo on XBL first and keep in mind that what you're playing is the whole experience, then delete the demo and go on with your lives. By the end of this game, you'll be way more interested in not having to play it anymore than you will be to see how it ends.

My rating: 3.5/10

* = A little shout to those Eddie Izzard fans out there

Holy Shnikes!

2009-03-31T06:46:00.001-07:00

I'm almost done with my thesis! A few days, and I'll be pretty much finished! Hooray!

Just started a cellar

2009-03-21T11:33:00.001-07:00

Just started cellaring some beer! We've got 2 2009 Founders Imperial Stouts, 2 2009 Kentucky Breakfast Stouts, 1 2006 Samichlaus, 2 2009 Kuhnhenn Fourth Dimensia Old Ales, 1 Founders Curmudgeon Old Ale, 1 2007 Samichlaus Helles, and a 2009 Bell's Hopslam (just for the hell of it... had one on draft the other night that had obviously faded, but it tasted like a fruity strong ale instead...)

Another Review: Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

2009-03-15T16:32:00.001-07:00

Today, I'll be reviewing Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron. This is truly an exceptional brew from Sam and the folks over at DFH. Picked up a bottle for a little over $2 at Publick House Provisions last night. Poured about medium aggression into a DFH Snifter. My first impression... really? Brown ale? Looks like Founders Breakfast when poured.

It pours a dark ruby fading soon to black with about a half an inch to an inch of chocolate head.

Smell is very earthy, maybe a little banana bread, some dark fruits (might be my nose misinterpreting the fruit,) and smells quite boozy. Actually, it smells a bit like the last Raison D'Extra I had. So now I'm thinking less Stout and more barleywine... what's this beer up to?

Taste is amazing! This really is a unique beer. Brown Ale? Well, I don't know what the beer judges would certify this as, but I definitely think it tastes like a Palo Santo aged Barleywine or Old Ale... The boozy character drops almost completely off and there's the dark fruit, some coffee, some chocolate, some deeply masked resin-y and spicy wood. From the first taste I was ranting about how interesting the wood was that was used. Upon further drinking, it warms into some vanilla, more coffee, more fruit. The Palo Santo bite sits on your tongue after drinking, which is a very interesting. The taste conceals the 12% extremely well. Near the end of the glass, it's very chocolate-y with perhaps a hint of tobacco. It's truly a joy to serve this one at around 45˚ and witness the taste unfold.

Mouthfeel is nice, thick, and creamy. The pinnacle of the mouthfeel experience is perhaps around 55˚-65˚, where it's smooth and velvety, like chocolate milk! Very full-bodied. I've heard some call this medium-bodied... man, what beer are they drinking?

How did I only buy one bottle of this stuff? Well done DFH! This is definitely going to be added to my beer rotation! They just starting releasing this stuff all the time? Might have to buy a bunch of 4 packs and cellar them! I bet this opens brilliantly after a year. All in all, you shouldn't miss this beer for it's originality, and, if you're a barleywine/old ale fan, you especially shouldn't miss it. However, just as a warning, I think this beer might be a tad murderous on the palate. The Palo Santo resin definitely coats your tongue early on and continues through the whole experience. Mere and I shared a snifter over the course of about 2 and a half hours (we wanted to enjoy it as much as possible,) and we definitely saw the taste slowly evolve directly resulting from the Palo Santo influence.

My rating: 9/10

Poured: Snifter - Medium

BeerAdvocate: Link

LIVE REVIEW 2!: Seadog Apricot Wheat

2009-03-14T17:20:00.000-07:00

So, tonight, after dinner and a few brews at the Roadhouse, I'm reviewing a Seadog Apricot Wheat. I have to say, I'm not expressly a fan of wheat beers, but I did enjoy the Sierra Nevada Unfiltered Wheat. I will say that I am a fan of apricot beers... or, ok so I enjoy Magic Hat #9 whenever I feel like it. That being said, here comes a Seadog! It pours a medium amber into the glass with about one quarter to half inch of off-white fizzy head that dissipates quickly, leaving no lacing whatsoever. Nose is straight apricot and nothing else, but it's not overwhelming. It's a flat apricot scent. The taste is much like a magic hat 9, except for there's no bite at all. Instead of having a huge amount of character, this beer is just flat. Granted, many of the wheat beers I've had have been flat, this beer is absolutely unforgiving. It's got the bare minimum of mouthfeel for a medium bodied beer. While I've not tried Dogfish Head's season offering Aprihop, I have to say that my go-to apricot beer (yeah, because we all have those) is Magic Hat 9.

My Rating: 5/10

Poured: Sam Adams "Perfect Pint" - Medium

BeerAdvocate: Link

A Future For Industrial Beers? Of Garrett Oliver, Søren Kierkegaard, and Beer

2009-03-13T06:12:00.000-07:00

This morning's post is inspired by a comment made by Brooklyn Brewmaster Garrett Oliver at last year's American Craft Brewing Festival. I haven't heard the entire speech, but one snippet made its way to my ears via a YouTube video posted on BeerAdvocate, "There is no future in industrial brewing." I'm going to meditate on this subject just a bit, as I think it's an interesting comment that may have some validity. What this means is that I'll meander for a long time about philosophy, sociology, and psychology and then, if you're lucky, return to beer. If you're willing to hear me rant about Kierkegaard for a few minutes, I promise, I'll talk about this.

My first impression was that this statement was outright false. I hate to do this, but I'm going to reference the work I'm doing on my Masters Thesis. Having read much Kierkegaard, he makes some points that, more or less, boil down to the fact that when "the masses" are given freedom and equality, they squander it. They learn that society or anything in it is a glorified "race to the bottom" with the winner being the one that can set the bar the lowest. The bar, in this case, is the lowest common denominator by which all humans can meet with the lowest amount of effort. Because men are equal, there is no difference between the President, for example, and a janitor. These comments, while not expressly applicable today, were very penetrating at a time when this resident of Copenhagen watched the legitimacy of an absolute monarchy become twisted and tainted under the overbearing freedom of the post-French Revolution public. And while, in a perfect world, the President and a janitor are equal under the law, Kierkegaard saw a society where classes had become obsolete as the public had access to the same things those former nobles and aristocrats had. Kierkegaard's comments do still speak some truth today in the "lowest common denominator" department.

The arrangement of American capitalism is such that Americans work extremely hard (in most cases) relative to the hours they work. I don't have any actual data to back this up, but I can't help but taking this from watching and reading news reports about domestic issues stemming from individuals being overworked and underpaid, especially in this economy. Therefore, there is a vast quantity of blue-collar America that is willing to settle for whatever comes their way after work is out. Work demands the use of their intellect, their quantitative analysis skills, their problem solving capacity, ability to communicate with others regardless of differences, and, most importantly, the ability to lead others and manage multiple tasks. Coming home, they check any effort at the door and become another faceless and nameless individual among that abstraction "the public." Not to say there isn't anything wrong with that because of the American socioeconomic arrangement, but the public doesn't strive to keep a high standard of education (just look at American schools,) of health (look at our health care system, our life expectancy, our food choices - while healthier foods are emerging all the time, we still have a society flooded with outrageously unhealthy food,) and of intellectual activity. This American doesn't want to read better books, watch better TV, eat better food, chase intellectual pursuits, and, most of all, be told what to think by someone who is equally as good. After all, one man's money is just as good as another's in the market. In essence, these individuals are worn down and used by their employers day after day. When they return home, they find their family, who they love, to be nothing short of a burden. Secretly, everyone who has a stressful job wishes for that peace and quiet at the end of each day which cannot be reconciled, even by the arms of the person that loves them the most. This same person sits down after work, turns on Larry the Cable Guy, cracks open a can of Bud, eats a greasy burger and fries that they picked up on the way home from some fast food behemoth and zones out with processed media and processed food, tired, stressed, depressed, but worst of all, apathetic.

Craft brewing is really reflective of hope. It's not "progress" per se, but hope - the hope of an American future that is able to embrace a public and a private, an America that is able to embrace economics not as a means to keep themselves afloat, but to make this wonderful country even better, an America this is as concerned with the state of their children's welfare, the state of the healthcare of those they've never even met, and the state of their government. A man or woman that can walk into a beer store and choose the beer they'd most like to drink, not the beer that's easiest to identify or the easiest to follow the person in front of them, is also a person that is more likely to make an educated choice in the next Presidential election, that rejects the processed media of our age in favor of research and truth, that understands economics enough to understand the selfish nature of our mega corporations that cry out for help, not for the American public like the Auto industry - one of the backbones of American industrialism and the American identity, but like those financial executives who just long for more lining to their pockets while so many worn down Americans buckle under their weight.

So, with all due respect to Mr. Oliver, I disagree. I think there is just as strong a future for industrial brewing as there's ever been because, to choose industrial beer is precisely not "to choose" anything, but to let tradition, comfort, or popular culture choose for us. It's easier to see the impact of the craft brewing revolution of the mid-eighties to the mid-nineties with many local stores that used to carry just Coors, Miller, and Bud carrying local favorites such as Bell's Oberon, Founders' Centennial IPA, and seven varieties of Sam Adams, but that could just be the "lowest common denominator" ideology telling us to shut up and be happy so they can go back to their recliner-and-Bud lifestyle. In order for craft brewing to have some hope, my generation and the future generations need to start making it clear that we should ask more of our country, our people, and ourselves.

We're a creative people that has always embraced our individuality and freedom, just look at our craft brewing offerings: almost every craft brewery offers a range of beers that covers a spectrum from light pilseners and amber ales to porters and stouts. Some of these are outrageous - Founders Devil Dancer Triple IPA with over 200 IBUs, Various breweries that have toyed around with Peanut Butter Porters, and those breweries like Russian River, Ommegang, and Allagash that have used wine and/or wild yeasts and bourbon barrel secondary fermentation delving into the world of sour ales. America is at the cutting edge of craft beer as a result of our unwillingness to settle for those antiquated categories of "ales" and "lagers" as defining our beers, we want crossovers, we love our Southern Tier Raspberry Porters and our Peak Organic Espresso Bean Aged Amber Ales, and our Dogfish Head ales that're brewed with equal parts historical anthropology, scientific knowledge of the brewing process, and insanity.

So, Mr. Oliver, after so ardently attempting to disagree with you, I guess we end up going in the same direction - while there is just as reasonable a future for industrial brewing as ever, our future generations are going to be the ones to make this change. My generation, in this past Presidential election, has stood up and told everyone that we're not going to take it anymore. We don't want to bear the burden of the baby boomers who took over the world and are now too old, bored and apathetic to worry about cleaning up their mess. We're making their mess our rallying cry. In our future, you're right, there is no future in industrial brewing but, there is always the chance that this mess will weigh too heavy on our hearts and minds, and we'll become worn down, and our resistance to the lowest common denominator will dissolve, and we'll slump down into the pit of cultural stagnation and wait for our next generation's desire for change will burn white hot, and see whether they'll succeed where we've faltered. The future is in our hands.

Another Quick Review: BBC Coffeehouse Porter

2009-03-10T04:33:00.000-07:00

Today, I'm doing another very quick reviewski of a bottle which one of our friends procured for us: Berkshire Brewing's Coffeehouse Porter. First of all, thanks to Erica for buying us this wonderful bottle! This beer pours nice and dark into the glass. The first pour yielded a good 2 inches of light creamy head, the second one poured was a little less aggressive for that very reason. It appears black upon first inspection, but a close look shows that it's a deep muddy ruby colored around the edges. As the head fades, there's a little bit of retention, but not too much. The nose is very pleasant: coffee liqueur (in this instance, I think it smells like Bailey's,) milk, sweet cream, perhaps a very buried hint of vanilla. The taste is very nice and sweet. This time around, the coffee brings forward Kahlua, especially when swirled around in the mouth as it even gives off a false hint of booziness. This beer is like the lovechild of Left Hand's Milk Stout and Peche Mortel, meeting somewhere closer to the Left Hand brew, yet retaining a nice "I was here" note left by the coffee. The best thing about this beer is that it's very sessionable if you're into coffee beers at being a tad over 6% abv, it's not going to knock you down super quickly.

My Rating: 8.5/10

Poured: American Pint - Medium

BeerAdvocate: Link

A quick review... Peche Mortel

2009-03-09T06:22:00.000-07:00

Today, I'm going to do a lightning fast beer review of Dieu Du Ciel's Peche Mortel. We picked up a bottle after hearing that it was the best coffee beer that's brewed, to go along with Mere's Coffee beer phase. This beer checks in at 9.5% ABV and pours pure black into a glass. There would be little natural head, but I poured a bit aggressively to bring out a nice creamy brown head of about half an inch. First smell is very deceptive: it was sweet and a tad bitter but very "bright." I didn't know what to expect at all from the smell. I've had a decent amount of coffee beers lately because she's been going through her phase, and this one smelled was completely different than all of them. After pouring and agitating the ingredients, it evens out a lot more with a nice roasty smell. The taste is a perfect balance of stout and coffee - not too bitter, not too strong. The coffee taste is a nice substitution for hops for providing a bite. As it warms, it only gets more rich, roasty and creamy. It's nice and heavy on the tongue, as you'd expect from a limited release high octane imperial stout. All in all, very very good beer. I'd even go so far as to say I enjoyed this more than an Oaked Espresso Imperial Yeti I had a few nights before.

My rating: 9/10

Poured: Snifter - Aggressive

BeerAdvocate: Link

A Depressing Sidenote

2009-03-09T06:10:00.001-07:00

While working on my thesis this morning, I watched something occur that I could only call depressing. There is an older man who lives in the building across the alley from me that must have problems with his legs. He walks a little hunched over, taking small scrapes across the ground at a snail's pace. After wondering for a while whether he has the health insurance to see a doctor about trying to find a working solution to his problem, I witnessed something unbelievable. It's snowing here, of course, after having two 60 degree days. Cars have a thin layer of snow on them as a result. This morning, this man shuffled along to his car and grabbed his snow and ice scraper, and began to go to work. A minute later, a figure emerged from the building and opened the rear door of his Volvo, only to drop a few bags and what not in before himself getting in. I sat there thinking: "Wow, they'll let this guy clean his car? He can barely walk! What is it with Americans these days?" Only then did I realize there was another person loading things into his car before jumping in to the backseat. This car had the possibility of having three people other than this older gentlemen in the car; all of them, it stands to reason, could probably walk much better than him. Why the hell didn't anyone help him? If it weren't for the fact that he would have been done before I could get out there, I had half a mind to go out and help him myself and yell at his kids or whoever they were for allowing this frail old man to work for their benefit without helping or even offering! Seriously, what is America coming to?

New Tasting Notes Up

2009-03-09T05:59:00.000-07:00

Just so you know, there are a couple new tasting notes up on the Boston Beer Club site. The link can be found on the right hand side of this page. I'm not going to be posting much here for the next two weeks, as they're really integral to my thesis. Oh, and Congrats to Oskar Blues for kicking ass and taking cans, their sales increased 64% last year!

Duvel Salmon

2009-02-23T04:59:00.000-08:00

So, this is one of my staples of cooking, I love it. It's very simple, and, at the same time, very good. It's baked salmon with a Duvel lemon butter caper sauce.

What you'll need

1 Bottle (1 Pint 9.4 fl oz) Duvel

4 Tbs Butter (half-stick)

1 Lemon

1 Clove Garlic

Re-sealable Jar of Capers

Cooking the salmon is easy enough - preheat the oven to 350, make sure it's thawed (if you bought frozen,) place on a sprayed baking sheet, and coat with olive oil. If you're feeling especially adventurous, you can put a few of the pieces of diced garlic and just a tad of lemon zest on each filet. Cook from 13 - 16 minutes... but keep a close eye on it to make sure it's not getting burned. You can always bump the temp down to 325 and add a couple minutes if worried.

For the sauce, you should first melt the half-stick of butter on low heat. Once you've done that, add about 2 tbs of Duvel, stir to remove some of the carbonation and cover. You should use this opportunity to get the capers out (use as many as you'd like, they do add a nice bitter/tartness to the recipe that works well,) dice the garlic, and zest a lemon into a ramekin. Once you've prepared everything else, add the contents of the ramekin to the small saucepan and stir. This should sit on low heat until the salmon is done so the alcohol can cook off, the capers can release some of their bitterness, and the garlic can soak in everything else. Once your timer goes off, pull the salmon out, plate all the ingredients, mix the sauce well, drizzle over your filets and then spoon some of the capers and garlic on to the top of the filet as they're a bit reluctant to come out with pouring, and eat!

Btw, some of you may have noticed that the recipe calls for a big bottle of Duvel while only using a few tablespoons of it. This is because Duvel goes extremely well with this recipe - I highly recommend pouring yourself and whoever else is sharing this recipe with you a nice tulip/wine glass of duvel to share with dinner. Also, I usually accompany this with asparagus and mashed potatoes.

Founders Porter Cake

2009-02-14T11:20:00.001-08:00

For Mere's 25th birthday, I decided to give something a shot. I wanted to bake her a cake using beer! I thought it'd be a nice way to make her something creative that she'd enjoy using something that she loves. As such, I'd picked up a sixer of Founders Porter on a recent beer excursion and was determined to make a cake out of it ever since drinking it. I'm sure you could sub in any beer for this, as long as it's chocolate/coffee heavy. What this recipe gives you is a two-layer cake with chocolate ganache filling and icing.

Cakes!

2 8-inch cake pans

1 12-oz Bottle Founders Porter

3 Sticks Unsalted Butter

1 1/8th Cup Cocoa Powder

Melt the butter in a large saucepan/medium sized pot over medium heat. As the sticks are almost metled, add the founders porter and stir until flat. After those two ingredients are well mixed, slowly stir in the cocoa powder until the whole thing is a creamy chocolate mix and approaches a simmer. As soon as this begins simmering, preheat the oven to 325. Make sure your racks are in the middle.

3 Cups All-Purpose Flour

3 Cups Sugar

1 Tsp Salt

2 Tsp Baking Soda

While the previous porter creation is heating/mixing... mix all these ingredients in a huge f'in bowl. Make sure they're well mixed.

3 Large Eggs

1 Cup Sour Cream

Mix these together well at the same time in a separate smaller bowl.

When the porter/chocolate mixture is done, add to the eggs/cream mixture and mix really well. Then, take the resulting mixture and add it to the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. I recommend using a hand mixer on the lowest setting and tasting it to make sure the mixture isn't grainy. Grease and flower the two cake pans, and add the cake mix to them. You should bake them at 325 for 20 minutes, and check them with a toothpick every 5 minutes after that. They should stay in until the toothpicks come out clean. Take them out, let them cool for 30 minutes at least, level one of the cakes (they will dome,) and get ready for the ganache.

Ganache Filling!

This one's fairly simple. You're going to need the following things

2/3 Cup Heavy Cream

1 Cup Semi-Sweet Morsels

Put the cream in a small pot and heat until simmering. Put the morsels in a heat-proof bowl and cover with the simmering cream. As soon as the cream hits, begin mixing. This should result in a ganache at almost perfect temperature to apply to your cakes. Let it cool for maybe 5 minutes and then smear it on the leveled cake in a somewhat even fashion. What you do with the rest is up to you, I drizzled it over the stop of the non-leveled cake and spread so that it was somewhat even, then left it out to cool (obviously, at this point the two layers of the cake should be connected by the ganache.)

Frosting!

3-4 Cups Confectioners Sugar

1 Stick (1/2 Cup) Unsalted Butter

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

2-4 Tbs Milk

Using a hand mixer, mix these ingredients. You can add more milk if it's too solid. Butter should be room temperature when you add it (probably should have said that earlier... oh well.) I used this to glaze the top of the cake... shortly thereafter after added candles and served!

You can actually taste the beer in there, the Founders Porter added a nice balanced coffee/chocolate influence. Most importantly, she loved it (despite me missing some of the finer points of cake baking and causing the cake to be aesthetically a little messed up.) Thanks so much to Mere D. for the recipe - This cake was adapted from the Irish Car Bomb Cupcake recipe over at SmittenKitchen.

The Beer Industry: A Tale of Triumph, Defeat, Economics, and Inebriation

2009-02-05T05:59:00.001-08:00

Blogging on my other site, the Boston Beer Club page, has recently brought me face-to-face with my interest in craft beer. In this, I am far from being alone. I remember reading one blog that had been around for a while which predicted a sharp increase in the number of beer blogs that are created and are posted on regularly. After making this prediction, he stated that his hypothesis was semi-correct, with only a slight rise in the amount of beer blogging this year. While I've been drinking craft beer for years (albeit, without realizing or appreciating it,) there are several things about the beer industry which really draw me in.

First, it is full of extremely passionate individuals. Take, for example, what appears to be an ongoing dispute between two of the nations most reputable craft breweries - Dogfish Head and Brooklyn. In a recent article published in The New Yorker (which you can find linked in my Dogfish Head Brand X article,) the debate was posed between brewmasters Sam Calagione of DFH and Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn regarding a term coined by Jim Koch - Extreme Beer. This discussion boils over past superficial beer-geekdom past the now painful terms of "macro" versus "micro" into the realm of phrases like "industrial beer." The core of this tension lies at the underlying philosophies, not to mention lifestyles, of both individuals. Dogfish Head is portrayed as the Apple Computers of beer, with Sam providing a very unique creative vision to the driving force that is Bryan Selders much in a way similar to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, or perhaps you prefer Lennon and McCartney. I've always been a firm believer in the creative fusion two gifted people, I can attribute it to my background in politics and philosophy, and it is almost "empowering," for lack of a better term, to see this at work. Returning to the subject, Dogfish Head has always taken risks, and pushes the envelope more than any craft brewery of its size. Indeed, the same New Yorker article states that DFH boasts more "Extreme Beers" of any brewery in the world with beers like Fort, World Wide Stout, and 120 Minute IPA all reaching upwards of 18% ABV. For Sam, "Extreme Beer" is a form of expression to an individual who finds anything with an audience to be legit. Garrett Oliver, on the other hand, finds the term to be counterintuitive. Oliver, who, as I've read from many sources, is a beacon of unique classiness. He makes a point to dress up for beer related events, dinners, and functions and states, through interviews and publications, his dedication to the craft brewing explosion. Beneath it all, Oliver and Sam want the same thing, they just differ on the route to get there. Predictably, Sam's approach has less tact while sporting an unusually wide range of creativity. Rather than using outright brute force on your palate, DFH brews beer that is interesting enough to continue garnering wider audiences. In Sam's world, extreme beer will slowly creep across the nation and eventually take hold through sheer variety. On the other hand, Garrett's approach appears much more cunning and strategic: in his plan, beer wouldn't have any inflammatory rhetoric, indeed using much of the same as the more well-known breweries, and infiltrate and conquer from within. This seems to be the opposite of Sam's characterization of Budweiser's American Ale, where AB-Inbev uses "culture vulture" tactics to hijack the craft beer explosion while simultaneously speaking ill of dark beers and/or different beers - "Beer Racism" as Sam states. Regardless, Oliver believes terms like "Extreme Beer" drive people away and further enforce stereotypes about the difference between beer and wine, for example, at the dinner table. As someone who has authored a book and several articles on the subject, Oliver has become intimately familiar with the now difficult decision of what beverage to serve at the dinner table; those most holy shrines of the modern suburban family. Ultimately, both individuals have an extreme passion for beer and stand united on core values while divided by tactics.

Secondly, each brewer is able to make their own unique "fingerprint" on the beer world. In this age where most everything is democratized - freedom of thought, freedom to choose a career path, freedom to try new things - similarly, each individual can use whatever means they would like to get to the end product: beer. From DFH's crazy marketing ploys to the antiquated breweries of belgium that have adhered to the Beer Purity Law of the 16th century, each can choose from an almost infinite amount of variables to brew their own beer. Contrary to what most people think, achieving consistency in a beer may be one of the most difficult aspects of brewing. From a beer geek's perspective, this is why there can be so much respect attributed to what Founders Brewery calls the "Mainstream Shooby Dooers;" Bud, Miller, and Coors - whenever you walk into a store with a mind to buy any of those brands, you always get a similar product despite how much beer they brew. If any of you have surfed the BeerAdvocate forums, I would say that about 20% of the total discussion that occurs is comparing a beer from year-to-year. The most hands-on example of this I can relate to is my review of Southern Tier's Choklat Imperial Stout. Shortly after reviewing the beer, I logged on to BeerAdvocate to find a thread regarding differences between the 2008 Choklat and the 2007 beer of the same namesake. One user complained about this year's batch not being as "thick" in the mouthfeel of the beer, and too "hot"- a term that's generally used to describe a lack of properly concealing alcohol content when the beer is obviously attempting to. Other users either agreed or disagreed accordingly with the bottom line being that beer is still a beverage produced "organically," and thus subject to inconsistencies. Yeast - not hops or malt - is the engine in the beer-as-car metaphor; it is ultimately responsible for any motion that occurs. Because yeast is a living organism, it is always subject to some uncertainty and inconsistency even in this era of scientific enlightenment. Every yeast has been analyzed and is known to behave differently at varying temperatures and can be thought to have a reasonable "ballpark" range of certainty with regards to fermentation. To make matters more complicated, breweries often use different types of secondary fermentation including "bottle conditioning" - a frequently used technique where the secondary fermentation of the beer occurs in the bottle on store shelves. Beer that is bottle conditioned is frequently better served for aging as the beer may "mature" over a span of time. The best styles for cellaring are Lambics, which use a different type of yeast that "spontaneously ferments" the beer, high ABV stouts, barleywines, old ales, strong ales, and any other ale that exhibits a certain degree of malt complexity that can persevere after the hops fade away. This also says nothing of the belgian style ales that frequently use tertiary and beyond fermentation cycles. For those of you that aren't that familiar with beer, the term "Double," when applied to beer (for example, Stone's Double Bastard, Rogue's I2PA Double IPA - or higher, think Chimay Tripel or Three Philosophers Quadrupel) refers to the amount of fermentation cycles a beer has. All this combines to make beer a completely unique experience, almost every time! Think of it this way: you just returned from the store with a six pack of your favorite craft beer, let's say something like Sam Adams Boston Lager or Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. You buy this "old standby" beer because it's something familiar to you and you can enjoy one just about any time and place without needing an occasion, unlike that bottle of Deschutes Abyss you have in a dark corner of your basement. There is almost the same amount of effort that goes into ensuring the consistency of the taste on behalf of Sierra Nevada or the Boston Beer Company as Deschutes puts into their annual batch of Abyss. Albeit a bottle of Sam Adams Boston Lager or The Abyss... you're never tasting the same beer year-to-year.

The beer industry is interesting because everyone likes an underdog story. The chimerical goliath that is Miller, Bud, Coors is the bane of most craft brewery's existence. For those of us living in areas very conducive to beer geekdom, such as Boston, it's easy to find places where people only come either for the crowd or for the wide beer selection such as Deep Ellum or Publick House - RFD in Washington D.C. - HopCat in Grand Rapids, MI - The Tap Room in Grosse Point, MI. These places ally themselves with craft breweries in an attempt to load David's slingshot for that one perfect shot that'll fell the great beast. BeerAdvocate website enforces their policy of respect beer, even when discussions regarding how "low quality" that American behemoth's beer is devolve into yelling matches or outright "flaming" (to use a forum term)- the most entertaining being between those Stella Artois fans and Bud drinkers who have yet to realize their both drinking the same company's beer. What most BeerAdvocate members are griping about in the long run is the influence of capitalism on beer. Their main argument: Bud, Miller, and Coors doesn't respect beer; they only brew to turn a profit as evidenced by their huge corporations. Craft breweries are of the mind, for the most part, that competition among "allies" is a good thing as long as its to the detriment of the enemy. However, competition is a double-edged sword. In our times of advancing technology, people long for simplicity. Everything from governmental policies to small-scale social problems long for a cooperative solution where all entities can compete for the good of the whole. This form of neo-communitarianism (I'm going to avoid using those words which ignite others so in communism and socialism as they've become bastardized beyond their theoretical significance to have a highly negative connotation) can't exist under a society of such strict capitalism. Say Dogfish Head were to finally find the "golden bullet" beer that appeals to every crowd of beer drinkers and is hailed as an excellent beer world-wide. The temptation would be to take their recipe and expand so as to fell those foul American macro-breweries. Then what would they be? They would have become that thing they hate so, (notwithstanding Sam's crazy attention deficit neurotic push for variety in beer) and would be the new Bud, Miller, or Coors. They would obviously have to make the tough decision between being filthy rich and returning to a world where that temptation is left to the vast sea of craft breweries emerging in America. After all, who is to say that if DFH backs down, whether Bell's, Rogue, Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams, Founders, Alesmith, Russian River, Southern Tier, Stone, Brooklyn, Victory, Port Pizza, Deschutes, Three Floyds, Smuttynose, Goose Island, etc. (you get the picture) would take the torch and become a corporate monstrosity. I know this stands in stark opposition to the mission of most of these small craft breweries, but this age of capitalism makes craft brewing a game theoretic puzzle on a large scale - wouldn't you rather become the king given the chance because you'd be worried about someone else screwing things up? Another place I've heard this argument is among my single friends at the bar when they say, "if these girls are just looking to go home with some random sleaze ball for one night of fun, it might as well be me because I'm actually a decent human being" which is, for the most part, always a true and logical statement. But then again, who is to say that the smaller craft breweries aren't just killing each other if Garrett Oliver is right and 90% of beer consumed in the United States is Bud, Miller, or Coors? It just makes you wonder.

I see beer as embodying the soul of many nations, many lifestyles, and many situations both good and bad. It can simultaneously embody the ambition of an entrepreneur such as Sam Calagione and the profit driven capitalist character of Bud, Miller, or Coors. A good mid-point is Jim Koch, who sells more craft beer than anyone in the world. He is at least partly responsible for the revolution in craft brewing due to his ad campaigns which stress the care they take with the various ingredients in each and every batch of beer brewed which, in turn, sparked those big corporate brewers to begin using the terms "hops, malt, and yeast" in their commercials as opposed to goofy situations mimicking the latest Pepsi ad campaigns. While we in Boston are partial to our Sam Adams, I can see the cross-over between commercialism and craft brewing that was so expertly engineered by Koch who, by all rights, should be revered as a genius of his trade. Sam Adams brews something for everyone (my favorite being their Holiday Porter) with 21 different varieties of beer including several extremely limited offerings such as Triple Bock, Utopias (the pioneer "extreme" beer,) and MMM (Millennium.) With their new "Imperial Series" coming out soon, this truly cements Sam Adams as the bridge over the troubled waters that embody the strife between the beer-industrial complex and the world of craft breweries.

With that, I'll leave you for now, as I have other things to do; namely, prepare for a thesis meeting this afternoon.

Working Out

2009-02-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

Last Semester, I got really behind in my fitness plans. Ironically enough, I ended up losing weight. However, it's not "good" weight to be losing. I'm pretty sure I've lost a decent amount of the muscle mass I worked so hard to put on or tone up the previous spring. As such, I made a promise to myself that, since I'm very close to my ideal weight (currently, I'm at around 153 lbs, a weight I'd never ever think I'd get to - this is about 10 lbs lower than my ideal weight,) and since I don't like living this unhealthy of a lifestyle, that I'm going to start working out again. When I say "start," I mean literally... starting over from the very beginning, as if I've never touched a weight or a piece of workout equipment in my life. From my previous experiences, this is the easiest way to go... start working on free weights and very slowly build myself up. I'm more worried about getting a significant amount of Cardio with the weather being as cold as it is, but I've said that I'd like to get out for at least an hour of walking every day just as a start. On top of that, I'm working on major/opposing muscle groups odd days of the week. I'm going to institute another one of my little tricks that works really well, which is keeping a "workout diary" where I must initial every workout I did for a given day. This will make me not want to shirk responsibilities when I must answer directly to myself.

I'm hoping this will also normalize my beer hobby a bit. I know that I've done a ton of writing about beer and trying new beers, but I need to try to get that spending under control a little bit. I'm hoping to buy beer maybe every two-to-three weeks and have it last a while - although the release of Kentucky Breakfast later this month is going to totally bone that :P. We'll see... maybe I'll wait until the next beer meeting to buy beer... yeah, that'll last... for less than ten minutes.

Anyways, this isn't so much a "journal entry" type of blog post, I was just trying to give some helpful tips for those of you wishing to make good on New Years Resolutions to get in shape or keep weight off. Good Luck!

Kate the Great Contest Entries

2009-02-02T05:41:00.001-08:00

As some of you know, Portsmouth Brewery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire is famous for their "Kate the Great" Imperial Stout. It stands as one of the most highly rated beers on BeerAdvocate and is thought very highly of by the Alstrom Brothers (that run the site.) This beer is a very limited release, usually only once or twice a year with the 22oz bottles selling out the day of the release. That being said, their site says they brew about 10 barrels, which approximates to 140 kegs - an even split between bottles and draft lines.

They are having a "creative" contest giving away a whole case of Kate the Great and, while I will be unable to attend their release, will be entering their contest. As such, I put together a bunch of different "beer haikus," but narrowed it down to three for the contest. So y'all can read my entries and see whether I have a shot. I've never done anything like this, and know that the chances of me winning are about as good as me accidentally stumbling upon millions of dollars outside my door free for the taking, but, why not?

One last drop remains.

An oily tear chicanes slow.

A warmth reconciles.

Pulsing painful drone.

Ruby digits taunt sleepers.

Monday morning comes.

A drinker’s pub math.

Wallet’s loss gains a soul’s joy.

The whole breaks even.

Anyways, those were my entries, we'll see how they do!

Retro Reviewing: Metroid Prime

2009-02-01T05:52:00.000-08:00

For once in a good long while, I'm not going to blog about beer. Nah, not today. Well, one exception. Mere and I split a bottle of Double Bastard yesterday that I picked up last week and, well, it blew us away. Has to be in my top 5... possibly bumping Oaked Arrogant out at the top slot for right now. Anyways, I want to talk about video games, namely FPSes. My last trip to Gamestop (because I am a firm believer on always braking even on entertainment costs,) brought me three used 360 games (Lost Odyssey, Overlord [which Mere loves,] and Assassin's Creed) and one of my old favorite games... the original Metroid Prime. I, historically have been a fan of the Metroid series ever since Super Metroid, which might stand as my favorite game of all times, or at least top three (right up there with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Zelda: Link to the Past.) I remember being nothing short of giddy when they announced Metroid Prime for two reasons: first, that it was a continuation of the Metroid series and second, that it was an FPS. Well, now that I'm revisiting this game about 5 years after its initial release, I'm about to give you my second impressions.

In a world flooded with pretty high quality FPSes (the Halo series, Left 4 Dead, Unreal Tournament 3, the Call of Duty series, etc.) how does an old Gamecube game stand? Well, I'd say exceptional. In fact, I'd go so far as to put it at the top of the heap. There are a few things that this game does exceptionally well. First, it channels the previous Metroid games amazingly. If you're like me, then you run through one of your favorite games whenever you're feeling down or bored and, as a result, Super Metroid has been played through about 20 times by yours truly. I am familiar with the tilesets, the enemies, the environments, the characters, the bosses, the equipment/weapons; let's just say that I would recognize the music whenever I hear it. That being said, I've heard remixes of the old tunes quite often in this game (Magmoor Caverns is a remix of the old Norfair music from Super Metroid.) Everything is carried through from the grappling hook to the ice beam, from the morph ball to missile doors. In the Magmoor Caverns, you fight the same flame dragons you find in Norfair. If you do what I did this time around and go into the options prior to playing and disable the hint system, this plays very much like an old Metroid game with lots of backtracking, exploring, cross-level excursions that last for hours. The beauty of this game is that it takes you right up to the limits of your abilities, and shows you the ways in which you must improve or the equipment you must acquire before proceeding. Contrary to most FPS games, the mapping function isn't totally worthless and allows you to have a good indication of where you are and areas you haven't explored yet. All in all, this game accomplishes every Metroid fanboy's dream - the porting of the series to a current generation system (well, current generation about 5 or 6 years ago.)

Secondly, this game provides extreme amounts of variety. To the non-Metroid FPS fan, the environments are a bit stock; of course there's the lush jungle environment, the fire pits, a snow covered plain area, lots of ancient ruins with hints at their disappearance. However, one thing that's nice is that this game isn't an easy game, and it's not only due to the enemies. This game flawlessly integrates a platformer into an FPS game in the most pure sense - you must often complete a series of challenging leaps to get to your destination. The morph ball function frequently causes you to complete another series of jumps, bounces, or half-pipes in an attempt to acquire equipment - either optional or essential. Bottom line, this game takes skill to play from a dexterity perspective. You need to plan out your paths and your progression through the worlds, or else you'll never survive.

The enemies, contrary to most modern FPS, all integrate a degree of strategy. Very rarely will you find an enemy battle, and I'm not talking about bosses, that can be dealt with as simple as shooting until they give up their respective power-ups. Instead, every enemy has an "identity," if you will, something to remember them by. As a result, they become increasingly difficult throughout the course of the game. In this way, MP stands out against games like Halo, where you've been introduced to most of the enemies when you reach 1/3 plot completion, and then their armaments or the situations you encounter them in change and make the game more difficult. No, the enemies are difficult in their own right, and, although the situations you encounter them in might change to make the battle more difficult, the gameplay rarely seems recycled - and that's even considering the amount of backtracking you do throughout the plot.

Perhaps the most ingenious development that was ever integrated into the Metroid series began with the very first game - the use of a certain weapon to access a certain door. In this way, the game developers added another layer of complexity beyond the "find a terminal, switch, or key" type of door situation that you're used to finding. Indeed, this really makes you feel like you're pushing up against the limits of your equipment and your abilities within the game. Also, there are enemies that require use of certain weapons, perhaps in a certain order. This couples with the "visor" system, allows Samus to see images via thermal imaging or X-Rays. Plenty of games since MP have used similar systems, one of the first being the original Splinter Cell, which integrated both to a degree. Again, the visors change enemy encounters and, additionally, make for some very interesting boss fights.

Despite not having much negative to say about this game, I will say that there are things which begin to grate on your nerves. The first thing that comes to mind is the half-pipe mechanic. Despite being equipped with the boost ball, bombs, and jump, it still is difficult to properly get a half-pipe on the first try. Usually this is made more difficult by the camera. However, the camera is the point that I can understand the most because the game developers had to make the camera "context aware." That being said, if you're in morph ball form (or, as I started calling it later in the game, Grapefruit,) and anywhere on a half-pipe, the camera assumes a semi-static position that should be appropriate for attempting to go up and down. Often times though, this gets in the way and makes finding the perfect combination of up-left versus down-right or the other way around sometimes seem impossible. Next, sometimes depth perception becomes a problem with regards to the platforming. This game is designed exceptionally well, but with the HUD and Samus' helmet, sometimes the platforming aspect becomes difficult and tedious. I don't know how many times I ended up filling my suit with gallons upon gallons of magma because I missed a jump in the Magmoor Caverns. However, one other way to look at this is an added difficulty mechanism in the game. This is one of those games that, now that I've started it on normal difficulty, I wish I would have begun on hard. It's not that I don't find the game challenging in its own right, but I find the enemies to be a bit on the "nerfed" side, at least so far.

I think that the proper way to experience this game is like an old Metroid game: turn off the hint system prior to playing (it doesn't affect any early-game tutorials such as weapon use or morph ball technique, it just makes the game far less linear - you actually have to remember where certain doors/items were that you didn't have access to before and/or explore/re-explore the limits of the world around you. If you take the time and don't get frustrated with the game dynamics, you'll be in for a very rewarding experience.

All in all, I would say this game still rises to the top of the FPS pile despite the quality FPS library that exists now. Even the graphics are fairly good considering how old the game actually is. The controls are perfect for the game and, although usually I hate games with "lock-on" systems, they are absolutely necessary here (much like Zelda: Ocarina of Time.) If I was to give this game a numerical review, it would probably stand at a 9, seeing as how it's almost perfect. Anyways, if you haven't tried this game and are an FPS fan (and have a Wii or a Gcube,) go and buy it, it's only $5 at Gamestop!

Lone Wolf Beer Review LIVE!: Trois Pistoles

2009-01-23T16:53:00.000-08:00

This week's post comes to you LIVE! Woohoo! This one isn't written from tasting notes or anything, it's just me and you... you being my laptop and probably nobody else. What we've got in front of us today is Unibroue's Trois Pistoles. I was walking by Trader Joe's at Coolidge Corner and decided to pop in and buy a good beer on the cheap for a movie night tonight and settled on this wonderful beverage. I quick checked BeerAdvocate on my iPhone to see the reviews, and when they were roundly good, I picked it up. It pours fizzy into my glass with about half an inch of head that dissolves into small "clouds." The smell is straight belgian, son. It smells like it's going to be very sweet, like Chimay Rouge or like a dubbel, tripel, or quad. That being said, I'm ready for sweet. First taste is... wow, not sweet at all! Very "bready." I don't really know how to describe it, but it's like a smooth belgian bread beer; very yeasty and everything. As it warms up, the alcohol comes out a lot more and it begins to taste more like the belgian sweet strong ale it smells like. Aftertaste is the iron-y and bitter sweet, much like normal belgian ales, but with a bready/yeast-y overtone. I like it, I really do... I'd like to think I'm not swayed by the BeerAdvocate reviews, and like trying new beers - what I'm trying to say is that this is a beer that I'd buy again on my own behalf, or if I have a friend who is really interested in belgian beers but wants to try something different.

My rating: 9/10

Poured: Snifter

BeerAdvocate: Link

Lone Wolf Beer Review: John Harvard's Houblon Saison

2009-01-21T09:23:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I lied. I do have something to write about. Over the weekend, my friends and I met up for late lunch/early dinner at John Harvard's Brewpub in Cambridge. I have been there several times, but usually to watch sporting events or grab a quick dinner with Mere. However, I don't know if I've ever stayed at this place longer. We got there around 3:15 and left around 7:15 for another friend's place, growlers in tow. Let's not get ahead of ourselves yet, and return to dinner. The first and pretty much only beer I drank that night was their Houblon Saison. The waiter explained it as a "lighter unfiltered belgian wheat ale." Knowing the Saison style, I decided to give this a try. I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised. This brew is faithful to the Saison, but is a tad sweeter. The sweetness is not to say it approaches a dubbel or tripel, but it has just a hint to keep one intrigued. It was served a golden hazy color with about 3/4 inch of frothy head. The lacing on this beer was spectacular as it clung to the side unapologetically. The smell was almost a little yeasty, and definitely hearty. Can smell a faint hop aroma, but mostly other things. It was nice and smooth on the tongue and a good swishing brought out the bitter hop signature to counterbalance the sweetness. It definitely compares more to La Chouffe's Houblon IPA Tripel (geez, longest name ever for a great beer) than to a Saison like Dupont, although it would not be crazy to see this brew as a combination of the two. The aftertaste was an almost perfect balance of bitter and sweet, but left me wanting more. I ended up waiting with my first pint well over an hour just savoring it. Needless to say, I left with a growler of it which I drank later that night. Overall, amazing beer... one that is friendly to both the seasoned Belgian style ale drinkers and new fans.

My rating: 9/10

Poured: IPA glass

Location: John Harvard's Brewpub, Harvard Square

This beer is not on BeerAdvocate

The Hiatus Continues

2009-01-21T05:49:00.000-08:00

What do having a friend in from out of town, working on my thesis, and finishing up another paper have in common? They all prevent me from doing my regular posting. Unfortunately, I will be unable to have a TWIB post this week, but will be back with a good one the following week about the possible experimental meeting of our beer club. That being said, we'll see whether it goes anywhere, or it merely dissolves into three friends trying different beers (which, most likely, is what'll happen - that's pretty much what it's at now) Anyway, I'll keep everyone posted, as I know you're all hanging on the edge of your seats :P.

This Week in Hiatus... (TWIB 7)

2009-01-13T19:51:00.000-08:00

As some of you know, I've not posted a beer review or anything in a while. First of all, that's due to the fact that I've had a lot of company coming in and out and haven't been able to afford the extra good beer on the side. Mere and I've been splitting Sam Adams Holiday/Winter 12 packs as good stand-by beers. If this beer club thing ever gets off the ground, I'll review Victory Storm King, another one of my old stand-by beers, and Rochefort 10, which is allegedly one of the top contenders for best beer in the world. I'm trying to avoid the hype, but at the same time wanted something for our club to be able to cultivate some opinions on why people might think this beer is so good, or what makes it stand out from other beers. When we get right down to it, I'm not very knowledgeable about beers. Sure, I know lots of brands, styles, and glassware and stuff, but I don't know a whole ton about the specifics of tasting and whatnot that I have been trying to read and improve on all the time. So, I'm hoping our club will give me the opportunity to continue taking beer seriously, and spread the good word about a lot of the beers I love! Just recently, I was able to introduce Storm King to one of my friends, and they loved the malt complexity and bitterness of this top-notch RIS. I'm hoping others will like it as much as I do.

In other news, I still am as impressed with Sam Adams' Holiday Porter and Old Fezziwig... and am only disappointed insofar as they're not released in their own six packs, 22 0z bombers, or 1 pt 9.4 wine bottle style. Who knows. Anyways, kudos Sam Adams!

Also, I'm hoping to hunt down a sixer of Troegs Nugget Nectar next week just based on its reputation. Many people are saying that it's a wonderful amber ale/pale ale that just must be experienced. Well, rumor has it they'll have some in stock by the end of next week at Publick House Provisions.

One final thing... I was able to try a few interesting beers over at my friend's place the other night. He had a bottle of aged Anchor Steam holiday beer from 2007 and a bottle of Smuttynose's Really Old Brown Dog Ale. I remember the Anchor Steam well enough to review it, so here goes nothing... The ROBDA I remember being very fruity, but this beer followed in the footsteps of the Anchor Steam beer, so my palate was way ruined (unbeknownst to me before my friend opened this other bottle.)

Reviews

The Anchor Steam's Our Special Ale circa 2007 we opened first, and it poured a muddy reddish into pint glasses with a little bit of light tan head. The smell was holiday spices, and what my buddy described as "fruit cake." Indeed, there was a slight smell of holiday fruit cakes and fruit displays. First sip gets a hint of the spices, but your tastebuds are instantly overrun by dark fruits and molasses. From there on out, pure dark fruit. It's a very interesting beer, reminding me of the Aventinus Eisbock and Dogfish Head's Raison D'Extra but toned down a whole lot with a bit of Christmas spices added to it. That being said, I didn't enjoy either of the other two because I felt like the raisins were overwhelming. This is a lot more subdued and contained within the character of the beer. It probably doesn't hurt that this beer doesn't even come close on ABV at ~6.5% to those other two (~11% for the Eisbock and 18% for the DFH) As it warmed up, the more vivid the fruit became. I honestly was suprised that I liked this beer considering just how fruity it was. This was a beer that, as a result of being aged, had lost all traces of hop spices that would have complimented and supported the other clove/nutmeg/etc. Christmas spices and dwindled down to the malt sweetness, which didn't even taste of malt! What I'm saying is I was wholly unprepared to drink this beer, but it was very interesting. Ultimately, if you have a bottle of this laying around, you're in for quite an experience. Despite the "holiday" label, this doesn't taste like any holiday beer you've ever had, or ever will.

My rating: 8/10

Poured: American Tumbler/Pint Glass

BeerAdvocate: Link

In the meantime, you can check out our provisional site at Boston Beer Club (for a group that's largely provisional.) I hope you all know that, in all likelyhood, this club will simply be four friends sitting around trying and writing about new beers and beer experiences... and I'm totally fine about that. It also means that I'll be blogging twice as much about beer! (yeah, I can hear the groans out there... what is this guy, obsessed? Well, what can I say, I enjoy reading about the industry, trying new beers, and the like... so get ready to listen... or ignore.) Even though I said I had nothing to write about... look, I proved myself wrong! Have a good week, I'll check back in when I can.

Crafting a Beer Club

2009-01-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

It's official... we've got this club thing started! I'm really excited, and it seems like there are a number of individuals getting pretty excited as well. We don't really have a title for it yet, so our provisional title is going to be the "Boston Beer Club." That's right mother-effers, the Boston Beer Club. It's likely that'll change, but until then... hey Boston... I got your beer right here! Don't worry (as if any of you were,) I'll still post reviews on here of the beers I drink. More news to come, but this is pretty sweet. I even have my introductory letter to everyone already drafted! Yes, I'm excited about this... in case you're wondering.

This Week in Beer 6: Sick Edition

2009-01-04T09:19:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, this week's TWIB is, like last week, going to be very short. This is due to the fact that I'm pretty sick. Figures, right? I go home and spend a week at home for the holidays and come back with a decent cold. I blame my cousin-in-law, although not seriously. It was a very nice holiday and a chance to reconnect with a lot of members of my family that I haven't seen in a very long time. That being said, I tried to get a decent amount of good beer so I could recommend some different varieties to some people that were even on the fence about beer. However, I was a bit selfish and ended up picking up a couple things I didn't think anyone would really like (if they couldn't do good beer) such as Southern Tier's Backburner Barleywine... oh, yeah, and I was pretty reluctant to share any of my St. Bernardus with anyone. I was, however, very willing to spread the wealth on two of my favorite beers (Founders Breakfast and Founders Red's Rye.)

Beer Art Project

At the end of last year, I had saved most of the six-pack caddies from all the beer either my friends or I had bought and drank throughout the course of the whole year in the hope of possibly doing something... "artsy" with them. I explained what I'd like to do to Mere, and she had a bunch of great ideas about things we could do with them. We decided upon making a Chimay chalice, a Hefeweizen glass, and a bottle (one for my love of trappist/belgian beers, one for her like of wheat beers, and one for both) - all constructed out of beer paraphernalia. The picture at the top of this post is our Chimay chalice. As of yet, the only one that has been completed. Later tonight, we might begin construction on a "mosaic" style Hefeweizen glass on a background of Magic Hat Lucky Kat caddies.

Jack D'Or - Pretty Things "Brewing Experiment"

Being in Boston, I hear a lot about beer news and stuff. As such, one of the things I heard was when my parents were in town and looking to have a night at the Publick House. I read on the BeerAdvocate beer calendar that people from Pretty Things (which apparently is a husband and wife that run a small homebrew operation in Cambridge) were celebrating the release of their first beer, Jack D'Or, at the Monk's Cell. I didn't think anything of this, as I had yet to learn of their story and what exactly this beer was. Weeks later, I would discover not only that their whole homebrew operation has been very successful, but also that their beer was being served at some of the best beer bars in town (PH, Deep Ellum.) Furthermore, their flagship brew, Jack D'Or (and, as far as I can tell, the only thing they've distributed) has been received extremely well. It is apparently bit of a different perspective on a Belgian farmhouse ale, or Saison. They fashion this brew as a "Saison Americain." That being said, I'm really excited to give this beer a try, and wish I would have known the story behind it before, as I would have written about it at least a couple weeks earlier. As per usual, I'll post a review when I finally have one. (Note: I'm headed over to Deep Ellum this afternoon to catch an early dinner with Mere after meeting her new housemates, and will post something if they still have it on draft seeing as how their website isn't exactly great at staying up to date.)

Pretty Things Project

Reviews

As said above, I really anticipated Pretty Things Brew Project's Jack D'Or. It came to me in a Westmalle chalice with about two fingers of off-white fluffy head. The smell was very light and airy with a hint of saison-esque semi-sweet belgian ale scent. The taste is very much like Saison Dupont except for less of a hop bite and more of a malty complexity. I'm glad this beer is served in a very wide mouth glass to allow the malt to take on its own characteristic. The aftertaste is very minimal, malty and creamy with a slight hint of hops. That's what this beer is about through and through. I'm glad that I got a chance to sample it as I think that it's an outstanding example of homebrewing and should inspire others to attempt the same endeavor. See above for more notes on the release and the nature of the beer itself, but all in all, a very solid beer that carries the "saison" banner into a new generation of beer!

My rating: 8.5/10

Poured: Westmalle chalice (On Draught - Deep Ellum, Allston, MA)

BeerAdvocate: Link

While I wasn't planning on doing any reviews, I'll point readers to my review of the Brooklyn rare offering of Black Ops posted previously. Also, I'd like to note that I'm attempting to start a "respect beer" club of some sort, and plan on having the "best beer ever" on hand for that occasion according to the latest issue of BeerAdvocate magazine... a Rochefort 10. Psssst. Don't tell anyone, but I have one in my fridge right now... it was $1o a bottle at Blanchard's in Allston. I'll keep everyone posted as to the status of this blog if it will be taken over by hooligans (i.e. other members of my beer group.) As for now, so long, and see you next week!

Lone Wolf Beer Review: Brooklyn Black Ops

2008-12-30T18:34:00.001-08:00

I'm going to do something unheard of... post a lone review. This time, it's of Brooklyn's rare offering Black Ops. I'm going to start posting lone reviews if I don't think I'll have enough to write about, which I'm worried about due to a limited budget. I had heard rumors and whisperings of this beer on the BeerAdvocate forums and decided that I needed to give it a try. It has all the things I like in a beer: high abv, tons of character, high reviews, it's a stout, and it's aged for four months in bourbon barrels. Because I'm STILL without a snifter (damn my clumsy hands,) I was forced to use my Chimay chalices yet again. However, I did it differently this time. I only poured about 2 fingers of beer at a time to attempt to utilize the wide mouth of the chalice. While I note that this is not the same as channeling the scent from a wide basin through a narrow opening, I thought it'd be good for dispersing the scent. It pours straight black with a little bit of brown/tan fuzz which quickly disappears except around the points where the beer makes contact with the sides of the glass. Little to no lacing clings to the side of the glass, but that could be due to the fact that I had such small pours and it wasn't exactly the perfect glassware for this endeavor. Smell reveals bourbon and coffee primarily, like most good bourbon aged stouts, with hints of a sweetness. My girlfriend made the comment that the smell reminded her of something that was associated with ice cream. We finally decided that it was traces of vanilla beans that people have been speaking of in the forums. The initial taste really was interesting. I couldn't decide whether I liked it or not. First sip was very earthy, like smelling sweet soil or pure coffee grounds. That's not to say it's bad, it's just interesting. That is most likely due to the carbonation and whatnot that the special yeast release that's captured within those bourbon barrels. As it warms up, it begins to take the character of Founders Kentucky Breakfast, but less boozy and more fizzy. I must say, throughout the tasting experience, I was reminded of Sam Adams Chocolate Bock, except that this was that idea taken to perfection (I contemplated lowering the review of the SACB down to a 9 or 9.5, but can't justify it. I loved the SACB and think that I would buy it anytime.) This beer is spectacular. As this beer warms, the dark fruits, molasses, and bourbon seep up into your taste buds with a slight hint of the sweet vanilla bean. Throughout the experience there's a slight taste of bitterness and bourbon that makes up the hop signature. Also, people have spoken of its "drinkability," a term that I've began to loath as a result of those atrocious Bud Light commercials, and it is unusually smooth for a high octane brew like this. The long-term hop signature is straight molasses, coffee, and bourbon. Anyways, if you're a fan of bourbon aged stouts, this is absolutely a no-miss brew. The only drawbacks come in its rarity and its price. I payed $24 at Publick House Provisions who claimed they had already sold a third of their only case a day after receiving it (yeah, I was lucky I called.) Anyways, since it's the Christmas season, and I had a little extra money in my wallet thanks to my uncle, I couldn't pass this rare brew up.

My rating: 10/10

Poured: Small amounts into Chimay chalices

BeerAdvocate: Link

Beginning of an affair: Stone Brewery

2008-12-30T05:41:00.000-08:00

I'm apparently very very late to the Stone brewery party. I figured this out due to the fact that everyone I ask (that enjoys good beer) has had a brew or two from Stone. For me, it all started about a month ago with an Imperial Russian Stout. I was blown away! I had my fair share of RIS before, but this was absolutely perfect - creamy and roasty without being overwhelming while packing a good punch. Later, I would come to find out not only that this beer would be voted the second best beer ever by BeerAdvocate, but also that their brewery would be voted the best in the world. Two honors that, honestly, I didn't know before having my first 3 stone brews. My second and third came literally simultaneously while back at home visiting my family for the holidays. On tap at the Uptown Grille was Arrogant Bastard, a nice strong ale that I'd never tried before. It was excellent. My dad got a chalice of the Double Bastard, which he enjoyed so much that he stopped on the way home and picked up two bombers of it! I have to say, they brew beer that packs a punch and definitely has character. I'm looking forward to giving some of their other famous brews a try, such as their Ruination IPA, Oaked Arrogant Bastard, and I've heard rumors of some new special brews coming out about now.

That being said, Stone now gives me a top 5 favorite breweries which are, in no particular order: Stone, Southern Tier, Brooklyn, Founders, and Sam Adams.

Also, I'm headed out in a few minutes to attempt to track down the elusive Brooklyn Black Ops bourbon barrel aged stout... it looks like it's got my name written all over it!

This Week in Beer 5: Christmas Edition

2008-12-18T19:42:00.000-08:00

This post is going to be all over the place seeing as I wrote this at several different times. First, I hope everyone had a great time with their families or whatnot over the holidays. Secondly, this post is going to be very brief, which is to be expected. Uh, I think that's it. Thirdly, I'd like to quickly declare my undying love for Founders' Red's Rye... it's amazing. If you have a chance to pick up a six and like a relatively hoppy brew that's creamy... you MUST pick some up. Without further ado...

Beer For the Holidays

So I just got back from my neighborhood friendly beer store (which happens to be outstanding,) and this is what I ended up with: 3x4 Pack Founders Breakfast Stout, 6 Pack Founders Red's Rye IPA, 1.94 St. Bernardus ABT 12, and a Southern Tier Backburner Barleywine for me and 4 Pack Dogfish Head 90, 1.94 La Chouffle Houblon IPA Trippel, 1.94 Piraat IPA Trippel for my dad. As you no doubt notice, he has a thing for hoppy beers. It's good to have appropriate glassware again for my beers, as my parents are well stocked with glasses and accessories! (Also, there's a 4 pack of Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial porter in the fridge)

Reviews

I'm always very willing to praise Dogfish Head. Despite their being one of the biggest of the "smaller craft breweries," they also take a lot of brewing risks. Last week, I watched an episode of "How Stuff Works" that dealt with the topic of beer. They interviewed Dogfish Head brewmaster and CEO Sam Calagione several times and followed him and several other employees and the message coming through was that they were proud of their risk taking. I don't mean to blatantly plagiarize, but hey, it makes my job easier. Seriously though, I think really think they're great at the fruity, crazier beers, and am excited whenever they announce one of their projects. Anyways, the brew I'm talking about today is their Midas Touch, a doozy of a 9% ABV little spicy/wine-y/experiment of a beer. It pours a deep amber which, when held up to the light, even may appear a bit purple (while retaining clarity) with about a finger of fine off-white head. Smell is grapes, raisins, lots of tart fruit complexity. Second wiff smells a bit like ethiopian honey wine... probably the grapes. First taste is very boozy, very complex, and very fruity. Second sip is, much like the second sniff, straight honey wine. I really think those who have tried ethiopian honey wine or even mead will enjoy this beer. It's not overly sweet (although my girlfriend maintains it is quite sweet,) but has a lot of initial character. Aftertaste is almost like one you'd expect from a sweet wine. All in all, I'd say an OK beer, but perhaps I'd prefer a good mead or honey wine to this beer.

My rating: 6/10

Poured: Tulip

BeerAdvocate: Link

Following on the Dogfish Head path, let's talk about one of their extreme beers. Extreme, high gravity, high octane... they are all terms that the industry/beer geeks use to describe beers with high ABVs. Dogfish Head's World Wide Stout is definitely one of these. Clocking in at 18% ABV, drinking a whole bottle of this is almost the equivalent of four smaller beers. I've only had the opportunity to try a small batch of these extreme beers (Sam Adams Triple Bock, Dogfish Head Raison D'Extra, Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA,) so perhaps I don't understand what they're all about. As near as I can tell, these extreme beers are meant to be enjoyed in much the came way as a fine cognac; in a snifter at a relatively warmer temperature little bit by little bit. Unfortunately, having broken my snifter recently, the only snifter type glass I have is my Chimay chalice set, so I had to use one of those. This beer poured a dark brown with a small brown head that dissipated quickly. I was impressed how relatively transparent this brew was for being so heavy - the Sam Adams Triple Bock, for example, my girlfriend and I termed "liquid shadows" due to its consistency and the fact that it actually absorbed light. Returning to the DFH WWS, it swirled nicely in the glass, leaving a signature much like something of a cognac or a liqueur. Smell is very boozy; I was distraught just smelling it because you really can't smell much else. On second thought, it smells a lot like soy sauce. Only slightly roast malts buried underneath an ocean of alcohol. In the mouth, however, it's really quite pleasant. Very roasty, and the booze imparts the flavor of dark fruits, much like the other Dogfish Head extreme offerings. The aftertaste burns a little, much like taking a shot or a swig of a poorly mixed cocktail, although the roasty signature left on your tongue. This beer is pretty good, although, at the price I paid for it (over 10 for a 12oz bottle,) I'd have to say that this beer isn't worth the price. Perhaps for some people, as this beer has been very well received in the beer community, but the alcohol content, to me, just comes off as a bit gimmicky. For the money, I'd rather be drinking something a little more flavorful on its own, not as a component of the alcohol.

My rating: 7.5/10

Poured: Chimay chalice

BeerAdvocate: Link

As per usual, I've been searching the BeerAdvocate forums for the newest and best beer. One recommendation I stumbled upon Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale. As a member of the IPA family, I wouldn't have normally purchased such a beer without good reviews. I'm not a huge IPA fan, but can appreciate a good IPA. Anyways, this brew poured a hazy amber with a huge formidable head. I'm talking four fingers of pure hops. When left to sit for a few minutes, this monster died down a bit. Smell was straight hops son, right from beginning to end. Like most good IPAs that I've sampled, it's hoppy, but doesn't sting the tongue, which is nice. In fact, this beer is very pleasant! It counters the hoppiness with some great creamy malts. It rolls down the throat leaving a relatively strong hop signature on the tongue, again, without being overwhelming. I think I'm definitely biased towards a well-crafted DIPA such as Red's Rye, but this is a great IPA that I would say definitely has its place on my regular beer list - especially considering how affordable it is! All in all, I definitely wish I had another one of these, as I would crack it open right now!

My rating: 8.5/10

Poured: Imperial Pint/Session Glass

BeerAdvocate: Link

This Week in Beer 4: School's Out Forever!

2008-12-17T07:20:00.000-08:00

It's almost Christmas time again! You know what that means... cooking, extended family, shopping, presents, etc.. This year, I've been lucky enough to receive two early Christmas presents: Rock Band 2 for Xbox 360 + $30 for DLC (which I promptly transformed into songs by Boston, No Doubt [old stuff - Spiderwebs,] Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jimmy Buffet [come on, it's necessary] and The Police) and a bottle of Sam Adams Chocolate Bock! I was far beyond content with Rock Band alone, but the beer was an amazing bonus (see its review for details.) I'm really looking forward to heading back home for the Holidays, although I know what awaits me is going to be nothing short of frenetic. I can't complain too much, my life as a graduate student has hardly been difficult (although, as you've no doubt noticed from the title of this post, I've finished with my in-class requirement! Now, all I have to do is finish my masters thesis... a task that's far easier said than done.) Anyways, I know times have been tough this year with the economy as down as it is, but try to do those that you love a favor this year for the holidays, and unless you have something really perfect picked out for them and on the condition that they like/appreciate beer, buy them a bottle of beer you think they might like! Also, if this means buying a 750 mL bottle for a group of people, or a bottle per person, it matters not. The point is just to share the great beer. For example, last Christmas, I introduced my aunt to Spaten Lager and was quite happy to see the results. She had been a long time Heineken drinker and liked something with a bit of carbonation. While Spaten isn't the best beer in the world, it's one of my personal standbys. Anyways, just do it! After all, what could be nicer than sitting around the first on Christmas night with a few good friends/family passing around a snifter of a great stout or tulip of spiced ale to round out the night? Not much... Also, I recently added a quick at-a-glance section for scores on the right of the page and will update these whenever I review something new. Check it out!

FAQ

My question for the week that I'm answering is: "Why is this 'This Week in Beer 4' and not 'This Week in Beer 3' since there was no 'This Week in Beer 1?'"

Answer: I'm a bit of a slacker, and can sometimes lose interest in things really fast. "This Week in Beer 1" actually did exist, just only as a draft that was subsequently deleted. In fact, that post was originally written about a year ago and was supposed to be a review of Bell's Batch 8000. However, at that point in my life I was more concerned with drinking good beer and not appreciating it which, in retrospect, pains me. However, it did lead me to a point of appreciation of beer, which I can't complain too much about. For any of you wondering what I had to say about the Batch 8000, I loved it. I remember it being very heavy and thick on the tongue with a spicy orange peel and coriander (as advertised on the bottle!) taste. I feel like too much time has passed to remember exactly what I thought of it, but I what I remember was all positive, and I probably would have given it an 8 or 8.5 out of a possible 10.

Cooking with Beer: The Beginning... (Newcastle Pot Roast)

So, I'm not a fabulous cook. Honestly, I've never been in a position where I do a lot of cooking so don't know more than the formulas for a few Casseroles and whatnot. This week, I decided to be adventurous and try cooking with beer! Anyone who knows me knows that my brain works in funky ways - for example, I don't like using recipes unless I absolutely have to; I'd prefer to know how ingredients interact together and then use what I know to cook better food or experiment with things. That being said, when learning how things work together, I have to follow recipes. I found a simple Pot Roast recipe on the internet and decided to give it a whirl. It asked that I cut my pot roast into slices and flash fry them on both sides so that they were seared and released a bit of their juices. After that, I caramelized some onions in their grease and then added some flour to make a roux. To the roux I added about a cup of Newcastle and stirred until it thickened. Basically, all that's left to do then is add the beef back in and cook for 2 1/2 hours until extremely tender. Served with asparagus and slightly drizzled the "gravy" over the final product. This recipe was a fairly big success for me, and I'm happy with it. I'm looking forward to trying some different beers with this recipe (and am always open to suggestions either on the cooking end or the beer end, so please leave comments!) and trying other recipes that use beer.

Victory Tasting at the Publick House Provisions

I will mention ahead of time how excited I am to attend this event. I am writing/updating my draft on Thursday morning, enjoying my week off and getting a chance to surf the BeerAdvocate forums and reviews for new suggestions. As such, I've been looking through the BeerSpy calendar for events I wanted to attend, and this immediately jumped out at me. I'm a huge fan of their Storm King RIS and have tried others, such as Scarlet Moon and Hop Devil. I'm really hoping to get a taste of their Old Horizontal Barleywine, as I'm a fan of Barleywines but don't really know much about them but have sampled a few which were to my liking. Aside from that, I don't know whether they'll bring anything cool like an aged Storm King or anything although I heard that the representative from Brooklyn Breweries brought some one year aged Black Chocolate Stout and it was amazing. That being said, damn was I jealous! Damn you Thursday night classes and your interfering with beer tasting agenda! I'll update my post as soon as I get back to follow up on my expectations and whatnot (which I'll leave here, and just add the new stuff in.)

Update: So these beer tastings are really nice. They may not be much in terms of production, or planned speeches or anything, but the employees of the Publick House store are always very knowledgeable and friendly, and the representatives sent always know a good amount about the product and are willing to talk about it. I was also happy because they had a solid showing there (Prima Pils, Hop Devil, Storm King, Old Horizontal [yes!,] and Hop Wallop.) The Old Horizontal, which you know I was excited about, was very very tasty. Clocking in at 11% ABV, this was a nice sweet barleywine that I'll definitely be reviewing soon. I didn't try the IPA style stuff, as I haven't been in a huge hop mood lately. I have to say, I'm a heavy beer guy primarily although I can appreciate a good IPA (despite preferring DIPAs.) The Storm King, as always, was delicious and the Prima Pils was a nice light pils. What I liked about it was its kinda earthy flavor, and that it wasn't overly sweet. I look forward to having another one in late spring/early summer.

Aside from that, ended up doing another mix-a-six with Mere, walked out with a bottle of Old Horizontal, Young's Oatmeal Stout, Sierra Nevada Celebration (heard great things about on the BA forums,) Dogfish Head World Wide Stout (which I'm really excited about,) Stone RIS (which looks awesome,) and Dogfish Head Midas Touch (which looks interesting, one of Mere's picks but I always like spicy/fruity beer.) Hopefully I'll have reviews for those in here next week!

*I like Southern Tier's Backburner as something I can find regularly, although the best Barleywine I ever tried was the Schlafly Reserve Barleywine that Mere brought back from Kentucky. Others sampled included Nantucket's Baggywrinkle [meh,] Smuttynose Wheatwine [really boozy, but good,] Avery's Hog Heaven [pretty good,] and Arcadia's Cereal Killer [also pretty good])

Deep Ellum

This past Tuesday evening, Pat and I had been invited to a local band showcase over at Harper's Ferry by one of Pat's friends who plays in a band. Beforehand, I asked to stop by Deep Ellum, and I had heard very good things but had never been there. Being at the corner of N. Beacon and Cambridge, it's really close to Harper's Ferry, so that was convenient. The atmosphere is really cool: it's a tiny place maybe 8 tables and 20 bar stools with the longest wall being made of brick and the far wall being covered by a black and white painting. I had heard excellent things about their choices of beer: they have about 20 draft lines that they regularly rotate in and out and also have one beer on cask at all times. I had looked on their website and was excited to get to try a porter on cask, but unfortunately, they had gone through that and were left with a Ridgeway Blue. While a good beer, I was in the mood for some heavier beer (my first beer of the night was an Old Rasputin on nitro.) Pat had the Victory Baltic Thunder (a good choice... I should have gone with one of these second) and Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde. I'd like to come here when I'd have a chance to try some food - Pat and I split a cheese board which was awesome, sporting four hand selected cheeses each with their own accompaniments - but the food everyone was ordering around us looked amazing. That being said, I'd like to get a chance to come back here whenever, it's a really cool, and totally different than I expected (i.e. not a hipster infested trend-hole.) Harper's Ferry, on the other hand, is a bit of a pit. The good thing is that they have some seating and a couple decent size bars, so I don't have to stand up if I want to hear good music. I will say, in terms of music, if anyone is reading this from the Boston area and wants to see some decent younger bands play indie rock, I recommend Neighborhood, F orest Henderson, and High Speed Steal; all fun to see live and play some fun music.

Reviews

After perusing the BeerAdvocate reviews for a while, I stumbled across Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde. It had been lauded as an excellent abbey ale by the Alstrom Brothers, and I'm always down for a good abbey ale. Pat had this over at Deep Ellum, as said above, and it poured an unfiltered apricot with about a 2 or 3 finger golden head. The scent was rather unremarkable: smelled like your typical good abbey or belgian style ale. However, what met my palate was something very very nice. It's an extremely spicy beer! Spicy in the same way Chimay Red is, except magnified greatly. It's nice and thick in the mouth and tastes like the holidays! This beer comes highly recommended to anyone who enjoys a good abbey ale/belgian style ale and wants a little something different from the normal stock belgian experience. I'm hoping they might have a draft line over at the Publick House devoted to this for the holidays - if so, I'm going to have to head over and get one.

My rating: 9/10*

Poured: Abbey Ale Tulip from 12 oz bottle

BeerAdvocate: Link

*I have to note that I did not drink a whole one of these. Rather, I took several sips of the one Pat was drinking and formed an opinion based upon that. We left for the show shortly thereafter, but if we had stuck around for another drink, I would have most certainly had one of these!

I'm a sucker for limited edition beers... or beers with a cool label, fancy cork, foil wrapping, etc. I like when people draw attention to their beers, and perhaps that makes me an easy sell. After all, that's how I became introduced to one of my favorite brews, Southern Tier Gemini; that extremely infuriating gold wax around the cap. That being said, living in the Boston area has allowed me to hear a lot of gossip about the fabled Samuel Adams Utopias and other extreme beers that they brewed. A while back, I had the opportunity to try their Triple Bock; an 18% abv soy sauce kick in the pants that was too strong and very odd. Later, we came to find out that the most recent batch was brewed in 1997, and due to proper storage/cellaring techniques, many of the unopened bottles were skunked. This afternoon, while picking up a bottle of Newcastle for cooking purposes, I came across another Sam Adams "extreme" offering (although I'd prefer to see it stated as "limited edition" rather than "extreme" as the abv is only slightly above 5%,) the Chocolate Bock. It pours a very dark brown/red (you have to hold it up to the light to see through it, but it's a really pleasant and rich ruby color) with about half a finger of head which quickly fizzles down to swirls. Smell is very rich: smells creamy malts, slight chocolate syrup, a hint of vanilla and a hint of coffee. Very light on the tongue, carbonation and hops fizz slightly. Taste is malty, subdued chocolate, but ultimately mimics the smell - very very good brew. Little to no aftertaste minus a slight chocolate-y leftover. All in all, this beer doesn't disappoint, perfect at what it attempts. Chocolate is just the right amount, not overwhelming. I can't say how pleased I am with this beer. Plus, now I get to keep the bottle, and it's really cool. Ultimately, a great early Christmas present!

My rating: 10/10*

Poured: Chimay Chalice (must acquire a new snifter)

BeerAdvocate: Link

* This beer is far from being cheap. At my local beer store (Reservoir Wine and Spirits,) it was around $17 for one bottle. I did, prior to drinking, start a thread on BeerAdvocate asking people for their opinions of this year's batch, to which they all universally stated that the price was too high for such a beer. However, I honestly felt like I got exactly what I paid for, and would gladly pay this again if I wanted more. In fact, it's a shame that this beer doesn't come in a six-pack.

** This beer is usually pretty well received, but there are reviewers out there that feel like this is just "meh" and very overpriced. The only thing I can think of is that this is due to the ABV of the beer. I don't think there necessarily needs to be a correlation between price and ABV, and obviously others don't as well as long as Lindemans Framboise is still selling. This beer was amazing in just about every way.

Also of Note: This beer is not very true to form. It's less of a bock and more of a cream stout or malty porter. I noted this, but was ultimately willing to overlook it because, honestly, I didn't care.

Not much in terms of reviews this week as I've been a bit strapped for cash with the holidays coming and whatnot. I also apologize for how contentious my Chocolate Bock review was, but I felt like I should address all the possible points that people have been making on the forums in order for people reading this to get adequately acquainted with this brew. Additionally, it's likely that my next TWIB will be a very hurried couple of reviews written at home while attempting to dodge the family for 15 minutes. I guess it's going to be a crazy holiday this year with my mom telling me to expect at least 31 people for Christmas dinner. Holy cow! I'm going to need a couple good beers to get me through that evening (and some good strength and energy... I'm always on dish duty during the holidays.) If I don't get around to posting another update next week, which might be a definite possibility, have some great time with the people you love these holidays!

This Week in Beer 3: Chimay Night

2008-12-06T16:06:00.001-08:00

This Week in Beer 3

Another week, another opportunity to share with the world my thoughts on beer and the beer world. This week, I speak about an event that I was quite looking forward to attending (Celebrating 25 years of American distribution for Chimay) as well as anything else that's going on in the beer world. A warning, this is going to be an extremely brief post as I have a paper that is due in about 48 hours that very much needs to be finished. Damn you René Descartes!

Chimay's 25 Years

While we were up in the air at first about whether this was going to be an interesting and fun event, our fears were quickly dispelled as soon as we walked in. The Mission on Huntington Ave is an upscale bar, located right at the edge of the "Longwood" district containing most of Boston's medical schools. The crowd was almost exclusively late 20 to early 30 somethings looking to have an after-work drink. That being said, it was crowded, but, luckily for us, not many people knew about the Chimay anniversary. The Chimay contingent basically contained a table full of "young professionals" who were apparently part of their American distribution team and then an older man who, as near as I can tell (he gave me his card, although I don't remember where it is) is a liaison between the monks and the distribution apparatus. I spent about 20 minutes talking to him later in the evening, asking him questions such as "what's it like to work for one of the 'big 7' (trappist monasteries)?" and "do you get a lot of competition from the likes of people such as Westvletern?" Later in the evening, he became a lot more, how should I put it, candid. I guess that's what happens when you spend an entire evening drinking Chimay Cinq Cents at 8% ABV. The highlight of the evening was most certainly the free stuff (hell, that was the whole reason that I wanted to go in the first place!) This older gentleman bought us a round of drinks which came in special anniversary Chimay chalices which he told us we'd be able to hang on to. The deal got even sweeter, the more drinks we bought, the more chalices we could get! Mere and I left with 4 special chalices and Pat with 4 as well. We also got Chimay keychain bottle-openers. All in all, some great beer coupled with amazing free stuff made this a lot of fun. Pat and I went from there to the Publick House where he had a Saison Dupont on draft and I had a Bernardus 12 and a Southern Tier Krampus. This ended up being a bad decision for me; damn was I hungover! Note to self, don't save very high octane sweet beers for the end of the night.

Reviews

Another review offering from the Sam Adams Winter Holiday Pack (I don't actually know what it's called, but I'm going to call it this because, why not?) is the Cream Stout. Pours black with a slight light beige swirly head that dissipates rapidly. First smell is straight coffee grounds, son; it's like sticking your nose in a can of Maxwell House. Second or third smell reveals roasty and creamy rich malts. This is an extremely smooth stout. The coffee taste is combined very well with the roasted malts to leave a very rich and satisfying taste on your tongue. About half way through a glass, it becomes a little more bitter; another ode to the coffee. Lacing on the glass is minimal. A very enjoyable beer, but if you're looking for something to keep you warm on a cold winter night, I'd suggest perhaps something a bit stronger along the lines of RIS or American stouts, such as Old Rasputin (super roasty!), Victory Storm King, Founders Breakfast, Southern Tier Oat, Southern Tier Choklat, etc. This is a solid brew, but far from being the best in the Boston Beer Holiday Pack (that honor belongs thus far to Holiday Porter, which is a hell of a beer from a brewery like Sam Adams. If I can afford another holiday value pack in the next week or so, I'll do a review)

My rating: 7/10

Poured: Chimay Chalice (would recommend wide-mouth/snifter also)

BeerAdvocate: Link

This next review is perhaps the easiest one I could ever write. As most of you know, I'm a huge fan of Southern Tier brews. Weirdly enough, this doesn't make reviewing them any easier. I think it's due to the fact that I set the bar higher for every brew of theirs I drink and like. As such, it becomes harder and harder for them to keep brewing good stuff... or maybe I'm biased, I have no idea, but I'm willing to accept either explanation. Regardless, Southern Tier Choklat Imperial Stout has only one thing to be based on, and that's the "source material," if you will - Chocolate. It pours like oil into a glass, opaque as a wall. The scent is straight Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, son, which made me want to guzzle the whole thing, or perhaps mix it with milk. This was an after dinner drink for us enjoyed after some seafood (and a long MBTA ride home.) It was a good dessert beer, very creamy when swirling around your mouth, even at 11% ABV; by the way, each and every one of those 11 percents are well buried underneath mountains of chocolate. Honestly, drinking this is kinda what I envisioned the experience of swimming in Wonka's chocolate lake would be like... with the added benefit of alcohol! I have to admit, this brew is not for the faint of heart, nor non-chocolate enthusiasts, but it's an honest brew, taking what it's trying to do and doing it perfectly.

My rating: 9/10*

Poured: Snifter

BeerAdvocate: Link

*This beer rated so high as per the last line in my review, namely that it accomplish exactly what it attempted and the presentation was a delicious dessert beer. I could see people thinking it's easily a 3/10 or 5/10 as the chocolate is borderline overwhelming. In this case, I attribute this to the title of the beer, the chocolate bars on the front, the Mayan chocolate currency discussion on the side, etc.

+ Update: There has been some discussion on the BeerAdvocate forums about this latest batch being less chocolate-y and viscous and more bitter, hoppy, and "hot." Having not tried the previous batch, I cannot comment to this extent, but I will note that there the only hoppiness/bitterness detected at all was in the form of an initial "twinge" or "sting" on the tongue which is insignificant at most and imperceptible at least. This is not a bitter brew by anyone's standards - it's sweet and rich chocolate! As to the consistency, again, I cannot comment, but for being such a robust and rich stout, you'd think there'd be a little more there. One cannot, after all, drink something like Founders' Kentucky Breakfast without thinking about how it almost "coats" the mouth and throat. All in all, I still rate this beer highly for accomplishing exactly what it sets out to do... robust chocolate!

Brooklyn is usually excellent in everything they brew. I love their Lager, their pilsner is top notch, and their Black Chocolate Stout is a thing of legends. One brew that I hadn't tried of theirs was the East India Pale Ale. Mere and I bought a six of it and drank it. Here's our original thoughts: we both thought the beer was borderline undrinkable! It pours a hazy apricot with about a finger of light head. The "hop sting" on your tongue is pretty severe even despite it being a lower octane IPA. However, that hop sting is not natural and factors into the taste. At the front of the taste is a taste which we could only characterize as "solvent," perhaps even reminding one of the early days of school and the scent of rubber cement while making projects and whatnot. I would even go so far as to say that it tastes a bit like earwax (trust me, it's been many years since I accidentally put something in my mouth that had been in my ear, but once you get that taste, it's not one you readily forget.) I had hoped that there would be a smooth or creamy aftertaste that would help to cope with the hop solvent, but unfortunately the taste ends as soon as you swallow it with just that caustic hop signature on the end. The mouthfeel, aside from the sting, is pretty consistent and even. All in all, I'd say it'd be an understatement to say I was very disappointed with this beer (and Pat said that this beer "made him angry.")

My rating: 2/10*

Poured: Imperial Pint/Session Glass

BeerAdvocate: Link

*Edit: I have been told later that I shouldn't have expected an American IPA/DIPA when testing this beer and that my lack of knowledge of what a British IPA is tainted my opinion. However, although I go by what a beer advertises itself as, I ultimately judge independently of this. This is why I publish these reviews in my blog and not on some other site such as BeerAdvocate, because I'm being very subjective and speaking to my own tastes. Anyone who reads these review should be aware that they're nothing more than suggestions, and obviously, they should form their own opinions or consult other opinions before purchasing beer, especially expensive beer. That being said, I still stand firm, that this beer had an offensive solvent-esque taste at the front which polluted the hops throughout. Perhaps I had a skunked six-pack of it, but I don't want to jump to that conclusion

Unfortunately, that's all for this week. Now, if you'd so kindly excuse me, I have to get back to proving that Descartes' Discourse on Method is a treatise about communication of ideas and the problems associated with that. As soon as that's completed, Rock Band 2 is on the agenda (early Christmas present ftw!)

This Week in Beer 2: December 1st

2008-12-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

This Week in Beer 2: I'm Back!

After a long hiatus in the blogging world, I'm back! What better way to come back than to rant and rave about something that most of you reading this just won't give a shit about - beer! Just kidding, although sometimes I wonder who reads this. This has been a really good week for beer. Between my parents coming into town and a recent beer tasting at Publick House Provisions, it's been really hard to complain. However, the tasting itself was rather underwhelming. My introduction to this event was on the BeerAdvocate beer calendar, and I decided it'd be something that'd get me out of the apartment and out doing stuff, and also give me the opportunity to perhaps try some good beer (and I also figured since I'd be down at PHP, it'd be unacceptable to pass up the opportunity to pick up a mix-a-six grab bag of amazing beers.) As such, I'll comment about this tasting first, then go into other beer stuff.

Features - Merchant du Vin Tasting Session @ PHP

The tasting was hosted by the Merchant du Vin importer, one which is responsible for some good beers (think Trappist Rochefort, Trappist Orval, Trappist Westmalle, the Celebrator line, Ayinger, Samuel Smith, etc.) However, their showcase was very limited: they only had a bottle of Ayinger Ur-Weiss, Trappist Orval, Trappist Westmalle Dubbel, and the famous Lindeman's Framboise. I sampled everything except the Framboise, which I know from experience is little more than Raspberry Soda with no real alcohol (2.7% ABV - for shame!) I always hypothesized that one could never get drunk even if they slammed an entire wine size bottle of Framboise, which I would back up at any given time if someone were to challenge me (those of you who know me know how much of a lightweight I am, and if it even had around 4% ABV, it'd probably be more than significant to get me going - after all, from previous drinking endeavors in my undergraduate career, I knew that 2 or 3 coors lights could get me rolling.) Anyways, it was nice to try the Orval again, the last time I had a bottle of that was over an entree of Pumpkin Ravioli at the Publick House. It's nice and crisp with just a hint of bitter. The thing I always love noting is the head on Trappist ales, they're perfect - never any froth, just comprised of visible bubbles uniform in size. They always leave beautiful lacing on the glasses as well. The Westmalle dubbel was nice as well. Pat, Mere and I split a mix-a-six, settling on 2 beers a piece we'd love to share with each other (Me: St. Bernardus ABT 12, Trappist Rochefort 8; Pat: Delerium Noel, Old Engine Oil; and Mere: Founders Red's Rye, Southern Tier Raspberry Porter) and I coupled in two large bottles: one of Southern Tier Choklat and Dogfish Head Pangaea.

Back to the Roadhouse

With my parents in town and my dad lobbying for a good place to watch the Red Wings play the Bruins, we ended up at the Publick House Roadhouse. As is no doubt evident, I really like anything Publick House related, albeit expensive. They just provide such a complete experience in their restaurants between ambience [dark and intimate with all dark wood, numerous rare and tasteful beer memorabilia from some of the best breweries in the world, and they love their chandeliers] beer selection, and food are usually second-to-none. I've heard good things about Deep Ellum as well in Allston, and I'm looking forward to giving it a shot when I get the chance and have saved up a bit of coin - the only thing worse than having a hobby which centers around good beer is living on a limited budget!

This time around, we were stuffed from having had the best bacon cheeseburger in Boston at Doyle's in JP. Honestly, if you dig mushroom/swiss burgers with bacon, go with the pot belly minus the peppers medium rare, it is, without a doubt in my mind, the best cheeseburger in Boston. We arrived at the Roadhouse a little after 7:30 with the intention of eating late while feasting on an appetizer (BBQ Shrimp) and some great beer. As such, beers were ordered around (Me: Magic Hat Lucky Kat [one of my go-to's for early in the evening,] Southern Tier Choklat, Saison Dupont [thanks to Pat for the suggestion] Mere: Coffeehaus Porter, Founders' Rubaeus, Dad: Rogue 12pa, Smuttynose Wheatwine, and Victory Golden Monkey Trippel. (didn't go with a view to review them, just enjoy them, so only recent reviews in my review section this time.)

The food was very good. I've heard the reviews rolling in of this place and they aren't very positive. Despite that, as stated above, even if the food wasn't spectacular, the Publick House crew craft a very compelling package in a restaurant that would bring you back to try it again in some time, not that they ever settle or are satisfied unless that package is complete [if you don't believe me, just talk to the employees there, they're really tough on their work.] I ordered the Pork Ribs and they were just ok, but everyone else's food was spectacular. My dad had the Catfish fingers, which were outstanding; mom had the Goulash which was great (and was even better as leftovers!); I forgot what Mere got, in retrospect, but I remember it being good. The jalapeño cheddar cornbread was great that came with all the meals, and the BBQ sauces were all very sweet, but at the same time brought the heat. Overall, I'd say the experience was a 7 of 10 given that my entree was just ok, but everyone else enjoyed a delicious dinner. My dad commented afterwards that it was one of the best days for eating he'd ever had - Doyle's in the afternoon, Roadhouse in the evening, can't complain at all!

Reviews

I recently fell in love with the St. Bernardus ABT 12 on draft at the Publick House over the weekend with my parents. It's perhaps the most dangerous beer in known existence for me, as it's 10% ABV but tastes so sweet that you'd never know it. That's not to say it's fruity throughout as a Lambic or Fruit Beer would be, but it's just sweet enough. I'd say the only fruit tasted in this one is a hint of Banana Bread... Aside from that, pours a mid-amber color with about a finger of off-white perfect head. Taste is sweet, but not saccharine; just right. For those of you that don't really care for Abbey trippel and dubbels as they are too sweet, give this a shot, because I think it's the best of the sweet without being out of hand. The aftertaste is the only remotely boozy bit, but it's so subdued that it doesn't even matter. Out of a glass, didn't disappoint, although not quite as crisp as the draft lines at PH. Oh well, can't complain about a brew that apparently used to be brewed with the same recipe as and out of the same abbey as the infamous Trappist Westvleteren Ales.

My ratings: Draft 10/10 - Bottle 9/10;

Poured: At PH: St. Bernardus Chalice; At Home: Chimay Chalice

BeerAdvocate: Link

The Founders Red's Rye was perhaps the perfect hoppy beer for me: it really blended two things exceptionally - a brilliant amount of beautiful hops (that didn't get out of control, I've had plenty of IPA, Double and Triple IPAs that kick my ass with hops, and it's not much of a pleasant experience - the hops here knew their limits and stayed perfectly within them, not even pushing it, but don't get me wrong, the hops are far from subdued in this brew) and a full-bodied taste. I know it seems very "mainstream" to use the phrase "full bodied," but I mean it in the purest sense - the taste didn't live and die by the hops, as said above, it was a very robust beer in and of itself - the kind you could almost envision without the hop taste at all (if that makes any sense, which I'm really not sure whether it does.) This beer is just short of perfection, and has everything I'd ever look for in an IPA.

My rating: 9.5/10

Poured: Session/Imperial Pint Glass.

BeerAdvocate: Link

Also of note: It goes extremely well with a creamy havarti cheese (no gimmicks [drink], just the creamy havarti.)

Dogfish Head as a brewery, on the whole, specialize in a few things; beer geeks will know this already. They specialize in IPAs and fruity beers. That being said, I get excited whenever they come out with a new fruity beer to try as they seem to know exactly how to brew the perfect "off-center ales." Over the years, I've tried tons of their beers: IPA 60, 90, 120; Raison D'etat, Raison D'extra, Fort, Chateau Jiahau, Indian Brown Ale, Punkin, etc. Of those, I liked the IPA 90 Minute, Fort, Indian Brown, and Chateau Jiahau the best - and the Raison offerings the least. Pangaea is a beer which perhaps is more of a gimmick (drink) than anything, boasting to have acquired at least one ingredient from each of the seven continents in the world. That being said, I really wanted to try it; I'm a sucker for good marketing ideas. Anyways, this beer also boasts a strong ginger taste, which I was excited to see in a beer. We cracked it open (as the third beer of the night) and gave 'er a shot. As advertised, very gingery, but I like that - in my opinion, it is on the burden of the brewer to properly use sugar/saccharine sweetness in sweet beers, that's one of the reasons I'm not a fan of Lindeman's Framboise is that it's overly sugary as opposed to malty which usually a good fruity beer does. It poured an opaque apricot/light orange with a nice off-white head. Was very tasty. Ginger all the way. If I was going to draw an analogy, I'd say that ginger is to Pangaea what Orange Peel and Coriander are to Chateau Jiahau. Tastes sweet on the tongue, hits with some complexity on the aftertaste. At the same time I was indulging in a very garlicky pizza, which perhaps brought the ginger out a bit much, but all in all, good brew. Not one I'd buy on a semi-regular basis, but good nonetheless. Of the strong beers they brew, I don't know if any would be able to top the Fort and Chateau Jiahau.

My Rating: 7/10;

Poured: Tulip (mine, although the other two were poured in Chimay Chalices)

BeerAdvocate: Link

The Old Engine Oil was a beer that I'd encountered in a store close to my parents' home back in Michigan. It was billed as being a black ale, and knowing at the time how much I enjoyed black lagers, stouts, porters, and the like, my wonderful girlfriend suggested it. I don't remember whether we ended up getting it or not, it was in early August before I shipped out to Boston for the last full semester of my graduate career (i.e. the end of the semester in which I'm writing this.) Anyways, this time around it was picked up by Pat after reading the label and description. I was excited to try this for real this time. It poured black with a slight dark tan swirly head. Upon holding the glass up to the light, the beer is not opaque, but a very very dark ruby red, a beautiful color for a good beer! Roasty, warm, and tasteful, this beer didn't let us down. It's rather subdued for a dark beer, being only 6% ABV, but that doesn't detract from the experience, and perhaps is better because it brings out the smokey flavor a lot more without mashing your face in with booze. If I was forced to draw a comparison, I'd say a mix between Victory's Storm King RIS and Sam Adams Black Lager/Cream Stout - in this case leaning more towards the latter in style, but with the robust roast and flavor of an RIS.

My rating: 8/10

Poured: Snifter (other was in a Chimay chalice)

BeerAdvocate: Link

Also of note: it goes extremely well with Rogue Chocolate Stout Cheddar, which was provided thanks to Pat.

These were the only beers I feel I have the capacity to review based upon their position in the evening. After all these, we had the Delerium Noel, and it seemed excellent, but I admit our overindulgence would taint anything I'd have to say about it. Still in the fridge are the Choklat, ST Raspberry Porter, and Rochefort 8, which will probably go down tonight! Stay tuned next week, I'll review them, and anything else of interest in the beer world! Thanks again to PH and Merchant du Vin for the tasting! Next week I'll be talking about the event on Thursday, December 11th to celebrate Chimay's 25th year importing to the US... we'll see if they have any tricks up their sleeve!

Moston Bearathon

2008-04-21T08:34:00.001-07:00

Here in Boston, apparently everyone makes a big deal out of the Boston Marathon. I've never experienced this before, so I can't really speak about the scope and scale of this outside of what I've witnessed here. Having tons of work to do, I needed to escape the narrow confines of my distracting apartment and escape to the library for one day out of what will become a week of work.

First thing of note is that conveniently enough, the Marathon has managed to close off my apartment from Campus. Well, that's what I thought until I realized that despite police every 50 feet, I could cross the road when there was nobody passing that was participating in the event. Secondly, doesn't it seem a bit... oh, I don't know, morbid perhaps, inappropriate at least, to have the 23rd mile of the Marathon, which is close to where I live, run past one of the largest cemeteries in Boston? It's almost as if the event planners are saying "You're sooo close! But hey, if you can't finish, we can just stick you in the ground right over there." It's weird, I don't know... maybe I'm just weird. Third, what I most don't understand about this event is why it means that everyone is out drinking and partying at 10 AM? Don't get me wrong, I love that shit, and I'm all for cracking one open on a nice spring day and chilling outside, but, for every one of me there are, there has to be someone doing something else, doesn't there? Not here. Almost everyone (that I can't see here from my wonderful view out of the BC Library) is outside grilling stuff, drinking, whistling and screaming whenever someone strides by, carrying bags of chips (yeah, apparently Lay's is the official sponsor of fatasses everywhere who love to sit around and watch the Marathon from the convenience of... any place that means they don't have to run) etc. Don't worry, I'm not bitter about the fact that I can't be partying with everyone else... well, not much at least :/.

So, in true "I'm a grad student" fashion, I'm locking myself in the Library until I'm at least finished with my 6-10 page Locke paper, and possibly doing as much research as I can stand for one day on my 35 page Security Studies research paper. The only good thing about today is that the library's not crowded, so I can barely hear anyone else doing anything - definitely a good thing considering my attention span (after all, I'm supposed to be writing my Locke paper, right??)

-B$ out

Great comment

2008-04-07T20:45:00.001-07:00

I was looking at one of the blogs I read regularly, a sports blog called "Deadspin," and I came across this comment, and I loved it - read the side, the "Latest Comment" - you have to click on the picture for a larger view...

The Absurd: A comparison of Haruki Murakami and David Lynch

2008-04-02T09:25:00.001-07:00

Me writing about literature is both new and novel, we'll see how well I manage to tackle the subject before feeling like I'm doing a complete and utter disservice to literary works on the whole. This morning, I made the mistake of watching David Lynch's Blue Velvet. It is a mistake only insofar as the time was concerned. At 9:30 in the morning, most people have just woken up and are most certainly not sitting down in their favorite chair to "enjoy" a David Lynch film. It was a good movie, definitely was very Lynch-esque. Anyways, both Haruki Murakami and David Lynch have something in common: their use of the absurd. The way I understand it, they're both trying to do the same thing, but due to the difference in mediums (between literature and film) the aim appears as different.

Let's first look at Murakami. I'm not going to fill this post with spoilers, although I'm going to need to include a few things from various novels of his. The nature of literature is such: literature requires trust on the part of the reader. The author is presenting the reader with words, however pretty or woven together they may be, they're still words. The reader trusts the author to imbue these words with a special ability which allows them to translate to images in the mind of the reader. In this way, every individual experiences a piece of literature differently - everything from the appearance of the characters to the way they talk, the surrounding environments and the like are conceptualized differently by every reader. In this way, novels and literature are merely guidelines - the true value of a piece of literature is in the ability of the individual to take what they're reading and translate it into compelling pieces. That being said, Haruki Murakami is a master of making the absurd and bizarre seem commonplace. In fact, its so compelling most of the time that you don't realize what was awkward until after you've finished reading one of his novels and are reflecting on it. Take, for example, Kafka on the Shore: one of the central characters has the ability to converse with cats. He also finds himself in several bizarre scenarios that are taken totally on face value simply by the reactions of the characters and the way in which he describes these situations. It can be said that most of his "bizarre" sections are merely metaphors, but even if that's the case, they're presented in such a way that they could pass as non-unusual situations.

I know I said I would talk about David Lynch films, but the only movie that I saw which came close to accomplishing in film what Murakami suggests in writing, although still changed by virtue of it's medium (which I'll mention below) is Terry Gilliam's Tideland. I have to credit the DVD version of this film, however, because it features Gilliam explaining to his audience how to properly "watch" the film. It's quite incredible to watch the film having not heard his intent, because it really is a completely different movie. Anyways, the point I was trying to make is that, when this film is viewed with Gilliam's note, it accomplishes the exact same thing: perfect seamless use of the absurd and making it seem like nothing special, bizarre, or unusual. However, if viewed without the note (and if you don't pick up on it through the course of the movie, which is entirely possible) that is definitely not the case.

The nature of films replaces that inherent "trust" which the reader has for the author for a sort of contempt. For most film viewers, they come into the film experience with a preconceived notion of what they'd like to see based upon the information known about the film. It is for this reason that not everyone watches every movie that comes out; not to mention the sheer quantity of watching that would require is simply untenable, but that's beside the point. This contempt is to be expected, the filmmaker is presenting the audience with a finished piece of work that stands as their interpretation of something. As audience members, we are required to watch, and may make comments about the form and function of ideas throughout the course of the film, but cannot have any role in the creation of the movie. In this sense, it stands to reason that readers really fulfill, at least partially, the role of author and audience in relation because of the need for them to interpret the work. David Lynch movies seem like the film version of what Murakami attempts to accomplish, but this contempt makes it hard to stomach, even for his most avid fans.

I may try to flesh this out some more later, it was a gut-check reaction from Blue Velvet.

The Language of Music

2008-03-13T07:04:00.001-07:00

I've decided it's pretty necessary to take a break from the videogames posts and attempt to write about something which is very dear to me: music. This could be a long and meandering post, but if you try to bear with me, I'd like to attempt to explain my relationship to music to all who are willing to listen. Also, as a musician myself, my relationship with music changes when interacting with a musical instrument, but that's part of the way I think about music and will be spoken of as well. I'll put the name of songs, artists, albums, or whatnot in parenthesis for ease of reading.

I have a decidedly unusual love for music. I have always known this, but I began to realize it more when taking a car ride with my girlfriend. She had noticed this and decided to ask me about it because I think certain songs speak to me in ways that they don't speak to anyone else. I gave her a somewhat slapdash answer because I'd never thought it through, but there's a lot of truth to what I said then, and I'll think through it and relate it to you, with the use of songs (just as reference, I don't expect anybody to have heard or have these songs on hand at any given time.)

The start of my answer to her was about the role of instruments in a song. I recognize every musical component of a song as an instrument - this is something that many people don't acknowledge simply on the basis that vocals are commonly thought to be something different than an instrument. A good exercise for anyone seeking to try to understand what it feels like should try the following: take a good hip-hop song, not some Top 40 song that's bass heavy or pointless, but something that's a carefully thought through piece of art constructed out of an artist's love for the genre, say (The Roots - Act Too... The Love Of My Life.) The theory behind hip-hop or rap is that the vocals are used as a purely rhythmic instrument or component of the song. Granted, I always preference the sound of vocals more than the message, which is almost impossible for some to even conceptualize, but I've always thought if the voice is an instrument, it should be such, not purely an outlet for a message. This is not to say that there's not a time and place for pure messages, or beat poetry, or whatnot, but if you're trying to do music, please, treat the voice as an instrument. Anyways, back to hip-hop, the way that Black Thought and Common use their words is as another instrument - and there is an equality among instruments.

This is something else that I look for in music, the interplay between instruments is something I heavily preference. It may seem like something that's never overlooked in music, but how often have you heard a song where the focus is on the vocals,a catchy guitar riff, or beat and the rest of the song relies upon that to get it through. An examples - think anything that's been pop-rock and popular for the past at least 5 years - a simple chord structure with someone doing their best Eddie Vedder impression over it, or Scott Stapp, or whatever. The focus of the song is on the vocals, any guitar solo or fancy drum work that occurs is just to trick people into thinking this isn't the case, but it is. This isn't to say popular music is always bad and incapable of interplay - think (My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade;) it's the kind of thing you'd see on an attempt to recreate (The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band) in the modern era: a bit of theatrics, a bit of desperation, a bit of anxiety, it's all done very well and put together equally. There are two songs I like to cite when thinking about interplay between instruments as I don't think it could get any better: (Sufjan Stevens - All Good Naysayers...) and (Radiohead - Idioteque). I know the second is an odd choice due to the use of synths and sequencers or whatever, but, much as an earlier song on (Kid A) suggests, (Everything's In It's Right Place.) As I'll explain, I also become very emotionally involved with music - every individual component speaks to me in some way in well-constructed music. (Idioteque) to me suggests urgency while

Music speaks to me in emotions. That may make no sense, so I'll explain in terms of making music, then expand to listening to music. I think of chords, licks, solos, etc. as having a context or a connotation: for example, I will play one line, and if I'm really into it and can feel it, it can bring me close to tears. A good example, if I was had been involved in writing (Genesis - The Cinema Show,) they'd probably have to invest in several boxes of kleenex for the section between (2:46 and 4:35.) It's almost pure beauty - like several tiers of icicles dripping musical drops on an icy cave floor, and the woodwind instrument that comes in sounds like the natural call of some animal. It's a perfectly written section of music; nothing could be more contextually perfect. Two more examples: the first, (Everything But The Girl - Mirrorball [Dj Jazzy Jeff Sole Full Remix]) This song manages to establish the perfect emotions of sadness, melancholy, and hopelessness, but package it in a user-friendly shell. The piano line that is reiterated in the background sounds to me like tears (or raindrops, suggested by my girlfriend but equally somber and sad - she might have a better suggestion due to the frequency of the notes and it's role.) It reckons to memory someone who's trying to keep composed and appear like they have it all together, but are severely hurting on the inside - it's another song I believe is contextually perfect. The second song (Coheed and Cambria - The Willing Well II: Fear Through...) has a section that manages to be accomplish something that I really struggle to define. The first section like this appears at (:44 to :51.) The song gets into this groove that they manage to achieve a perfect balance of instruments and it just makes you move, it's weird but awesome. The bass line cradles the bottom while the guitar adds thread to the loom, and the layering of Claudio's voice adds a perfect counterbalance. Oh yeah, not to mention his background vocals are just haunting.

When making music, I operate almost exclusively on this attachment of emotions to music. Granted, I'm not so spectacular at writing music, but the few songs I've written have maintained a certain feeling throughout the entire song according to how I feel emotions and they flow through music. My "channeling" of emotions leaves much to be desired in terms of song-writing, but I feel more satisfied with my work when I follow this because it feels "congruent" or perhaps "coherent." It's kinda sad, it makes writing music appear on paper to sound as if writing an assignment for class, but it's far from it in interest.

I'm sure this is incomplete, but I look forward to adding new posts that would be semi-reviews or additions to this post in different ways, maybe explaining how certain songs speak to me more or whatnot.

-B$ out

Phil Harrison Resigning? Confusion will be my epitaph...

2008-02-25T04:42:00.000-08:00

It's finally here: Sony's Swan Song for the Playstation 3, and no, I don't think it's going to be a great new exclusive series. Phil Harrison, shiny head behind so many videogame conference speeches not only belittling the competition, but also introducing all the Deus Ex Machina designed to catapult the PS3 to the front, is resigning. Rumor has it (according to Kotaku) that Mr. Harrison is joining third party software developer Atari. I think this is terrible for Sony, perhaps an action which is as good as a political concession speech about the inferiority of the PS3, and I'm about to tell you why. (Hint: it has to do with Sony's credibility)

The Console War Begins - First, we all know that Sony has struggled. Microsoft took a big risk releasing the Xbox 360 much earlier than the other two current generation (if you consider horizontal innovation to be a possible form of measure instead of standard "raw power" benchmark used by the industry, then the Wii would count) systems. However, Microsoft was able to all but kidnap the vast majority of third party support by displaying the system's power and potential. It boasted the same type of technology as the Playstation 3 - a cell processing unit capable of an exponential increase in processing power and system multitasking over the previous generation of systems as well as integrated internet technology, high definition graphics, and a legitimate branch out to other media outlets (TV shows, movies, music, etc.) They came in early, stole the game market from under Sony's feet, and have sat there laughing ever since, knowing that they have been victorious over the console which might eventually bring us Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 (the two "big" PS3 exclusive games prior to launch of the system, but if you think about it, their predecessors were not key exclusive games, nor did they look half as good as the prospects for the Xbox. Sony would have been smarter to get Square-Enix into motion earlier [prior to system launch] and get the ball rolling for Final Fantasy XIII trailers; a game which now may not be exclusively a PS3 title seeing as how Squeenix has openly criticized the PS3 for underperforming and has called it a failure of Sony's marketing team.) Also, it's laughable that Sony is not able to outperform a company who has released millions of defective units - several people (myself included: #3) are not on their first console!

The Third Party Vicious Circle - For Sony, this is one of the key reasons why the PS3 hasn't gone anywhere. Third party software developers, (think Epic, EA, 2k, Rockstar, Bioware, etc.) were convinced that the hardware of the 360 was the easiest to develop games for and given their presence in the market early, would develop for the 360. Also, the gamer base was seen to be diverse enough to provide these companies with enough means to develop exclusive game and exclusive series for the 360; some of these at the detriment of Sony's previous third party base due to the overwhelming triumph of the Playstation 2. Anyways, now the situation is that software companies will not develop exclusive titles or series for the PS3 because they don't see it as profitable enough. The irony is that the Ps3 is underperforming due to a general lack of exclusive titles and series, making the problem fatal for Sony. In a market where game companies are largely living "game-to-game," no developers (with the exception perhaps of EA, who is absurdly large) can afford to take a risk on a PS3 exclusive series. Proof of this, by the way, can be seen in all the gamers choice awards where the choice for best Playstation 3 game was none other than Call of Duty 4 - A Multiplatform game!! Xbox 360's game of the year was Bioshock, native to the Xbox and PC (not mutiplatform.)

So wait, what does Phil Harrison have to do with this? - Phil Harrison was the man who introduced many of the games designed to lift the weary heads of PS3 owners (that bought the system exclusively - many of the PS3 owners also own either a 360, a Wii, or both due to their financial capacities) is moving to a third party software developer? This is the man who introduced Little Big Planet, a game which was supposed to be the next big thing for the PS3 (which, quite frankly I have no idea why - it looks like some puppets running around, the game looks like N+ except far less minimalist and infinitely more hype) and he's jumping ship? With Kaz Hirai leaving earlier this year for another internal position and now Harrison, Sony's executives have all but said "Ok, so this one was our fault, we get it, we're slowly going the way of the HD DVD" and acknowledging their shot credibility. The people you see introducing games at confrences now won't be the same ones you've been seeing in the past. Why is that, you may ask? Because they've either left or been "redistributed" because they were failing miserably at their mission and although the Mythbusters can raise a sunken ship with ping pong balls, Sony's not going to be able to salvage the PS3 with anything short of a purely unadulterated (except for graphically, obviously) Final Fantasy VII remake. Isn't that sad, a remake is the only thing that could, while perhaps not "save" Sony, buy them time and perhaps credibility to gain some of their third party support back. Either that or they're going to have to give up on the PS3 and get ready for the next round.

Wii Review: Endless Oceanic

2008-02-20T18:14:00.001-08:00

Against my better judgement (yeah, I'm a total game snob,) I decided to risk being bored and humiliated by purchasing "Endless Ocean" for the Wii. The following led me to purchase the game: Step 1. Read the Penny Arcade comic "Endless Oceanic." Step 2. Look the game up on Metacritic. Step 3. Think Step 4. Purchase... It is worth noting that Endless Ocean garnered a score of 72 out of 100 on Metacritic - pretty good.

The game is about, yeah, scuba diving. You're a diver on the an Island who is asked to perform several tasks for the head of a local marine research organization for Alfred Thorman. These tasks range from "topographical surveys" (as near as I can tell, getting in the water) to acting as a diving guide for several people who demand to see one particular fish. There's also a plot element centering around a mysterious species of aquatic life that has to do with a member of your "crew."

The one thing of note is that this is really two different games on one disc - one occurs on the boat and the other occurs in the water. The game that occurs on the boat is awful, nothing more, nothing less. The graphics are terrible, the jet ski noises are not believable, nor do they alter in volume as they drive away, nor does it create any ripples in the water. Further, the character you play emotes in very mechanical awkward motions that are completely unrealistic.

Under the water, the game is completely different. The one thing this game really has going for it is that it's almost like an exercise in zen - it is one of the most relaxing game experiences ever. The graphics are far superior - not quite up to par with this generation of systems, but still pretty alright (I would liken it to a PS2 game.) The game itself is almost like the traveling element in an MMO, which I think is kinda relaxing and monotonous as well. This is a very niche game, but if you're down to try something different and relaxing - something that's barely even a "game"- this game is something you'd like. I have played about 10 hours of the game, which was enough to finish the "plot" element, but the game, as near as I can tell, will continue for as long as you'd like to play it - which is kinda nice. Oh, one thing to note, the soundtrack goes well with the game... at first... but it gets old really fast. You're going to want to make sure you have a SD card reader to load MP3s on, which the game includes support for.

Graphics - 6
Music - 7
Sound Effects - 9
Originality - 8
Replay Value - 5
Overall Composite - 6.2

Frontline: Fuel of War MP Demo Review (Xbox Live)

2008-02-19T19:31:00.000-08:00

So I recently downloaded and decided to play the new multiplayer demo for Frontline: Fuel of War. I heard that this is the second incarnation of the demo, the first being what I read to be an awful single player experience. However, not having played it, I had to venture out into the Frontline universe alone.

That being said, there's one thing I can can definitively say about this game: it makes you feel small. Not small like you're walking next to Yao Ming small, but small as in insignificant, like how one feels sometimes when gazing into the stars. I say this because, as near as I can tell, I made absolutely no difference to my team no matter what class/role I played. I played two maps (I think the only two on the demo: Oil Field and Streets) and this is true of both of them, but in different ways. Oil Field is a massive vehicle map. As such, tanks, APCs, Helicopters, and Humvees were scattered throughout the map. The driving system is clumsy at best; I spent most of the time either getting blown up by enemy airstrikes or running into inanimate objects... always time well spent. Running on foot is like playing Final Fantasy XI and traveling without a chocobo... oh yeah, and way before you reach your destination, you die and have no idea how. The map Street is designed for combat on foot, but it doesn't change the fact that there's something about the game interface or environment or engine that makes you individually feel like you're totally insignificant. Perhaps I'm terrible at the game... I'm totally open to that option. I guess in that respect the game reminds me of Tribes, except that Tribes had one element that this game is still critically lacking: fun.

Speaking of class/role - I think their idea is kinda neat. It's not too far off the beaten path with games like Team Fortress having been around for ages and games as such, but the differentiation between class and role - the ability to chose a role independent of a class - is something worth noting. The closest thing I would be able to relate to it is perhaps being able to choose your weapons and perks separately before each spawn in Call of Duty 4. However, the downside is that there is a loading period between the selection of said call/role and spawn which is pretty weak. No other game has a non-mandated respawn time (think Halo, there's a forced respawn time, or perhaps team hardcore on CoD 4.) Your classes are pretty standard - Assault rifle, LMG, SMG, Shotty, Sniper, Rockets. The roles are where the game gets interesting, there's a soldier role that allows you to deploy varying degrees of manned/unmanned sentry turrets after a certain amount of time, a drone tech role that allows you to use UAVs, an air support role that allows you to call in varying degrees of airstrikes on a certain location, and an EMP tech role that allows you to disable equipment and not appear on the map. Interesting, we'll have to see how it plays out in the actual finished version of the game.

My final words: if this game is going to compete with the juggernauts out there like Call of Duty, Halo, and Orange Box, it's gonna have to cut the loading time out prior to respawns (or at least disguise it by making it seem forced,) perhaps manipulate the engine so the game feels more responsive to the player, maybe decrease the map size and cut the player limit (which is currently capped at 50 - sure it feels epic, but it doesn't come expenses free.) On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 4 - it doesn't do anything particularly well and doesn't really keep my interest long.

In Defense of Mass Effect

2008-01-21T21:08:00.000-08:00

In a previous post I commented on not having played BioWare's latest release, Mass Effect. Recently, I had (am having) the opportunity to correct that having borrowed it from a friend. I was planning on writing a sort of review of this game while being in the middle of it anyways, but ever since I saw the Fox News report about Mass Effect, I have wanted to write this even more.

I will say very bluntly that there I harbor little respect for Fox News. They hold no actual journalistic integrity as their so-called "reports" are merely re-processed information from various surveys that have been pre-packaged with opinions. These opinions are usually less-than-savory and find ways to argue against what most people would consider "common sense" properly understood: a set of basic pragmatic ideas that allow the world to function through the acceptance of compromise. Fox News, instead of finding "news" even stoops low enough to discard any hope of compromise (not in a political, partisan-hackery sense; in a pure and simple social sense) and embrace the spirit of endless criticism. Now, I'm all for debate strengthening the integrity of a subject or concept, but there's always a threshold. Individuals able to think for themselves would be the easy solution to correcting the sway that Fox News has on the general public, but in a world that lives paycheck-to-paycheck and is concerned with the bottom line, that's not always possible. Anyways, enough about Fox News and the system they've played upon to ensure their longevity, turning to the report.

In Fux News' report, they alleged that there was a sex scene with full nudity and it was able to be fully controlled by the player. This statement is as incorrect as it is uninformed. It is easy to jump on the bandwagon, much like the "psychologist" does when asked what she feels about the game, and regurgitate numbers of surveys that prove that men have hormones, and unfortunately, that's just what happens. A member of the gaming community is opposite her and addresses the claims that both she and the Fux News host are claiming. He has played the game, he knows the situations in the game. To reinforce his position, the sex scene does not, as most people know due to leakage of the sex scene's footage on YouTube and other popular video hosting sites, show anything past a partially naked alien butt and alien side-boob. Additionally, it is quite tricky actually accomplishing the "romance subplot" and occurs no sooner than about 15-20 hours into the game. It is blatantly apparent that Fux News wants to comment on the "Lesbian" nature of the sexual encounter, but knows that they don't have a strong enough case, so they jump back on harassment of a game, a game that's rated appropriately and deserves, beyond anything, immense praise.

Mass Effect is more than an RPG, it's a world. A world that spans the confines of the Milky Way and forces us to challenge what we conventionally think about Science Fiction by building the occurrences in a completely rational and believable light. This is bolstered by the Codex of Commander Shepherd, the player-controlled main character of the game. The codex weaves together information about what is seen and what is inferred in this extremely compelling plot. Codex entries range from technical information about somewhat plausible theories of space travel to the evolving meta-political situation with regards to humans, other races of aliens, and a confederation which serves as the "United Nations" of most of the "civilized" galaxy. Even these concepts, whether the authority of the confederation should be taken into account not only are pervasive throughout the political story woven through the codex, but factor into decisions made by the player in real-time. Mass Effect is so compelling as a storyline, that it becomes a philosophy; it becomes, in some ways, a normative look at humanity's future and in others warnings based on human decision theory.

Decision theory actually becomes a large part of the gameplay. The player is asked to choose between several options during everything ranging from normal conversations to stand-offs, their response determines not only the course of action taken in any given situation, but in the entire game. To compare this with other games that have allowed users to make decisions revolving around whether to "diffuse situations without violence or draw a weapon and let the bullets speak for themselves" is a complete disservice to the game. It's so much more than that, and in the process, it manages to capture a good representation of the human essence. Returning to the "romance subplot," although it may seem a bit strange in the course of the plot, it is nonetheless compelling as an actual relationship; contrary to what everyone has heard about this game, it's not just sex, it's an actual bond thats forged between two people. The videogame advocate was so right when he stated that Mass Effect should be the standard for how videogames portray intimacy because it rejects the conventional "women-as-objects" stereotypes - something that the psychologist would have probably embraced had she played or even seen footage of how the relationship plays out in the context of the struggle for survival (as it were, she merely responded something witty and "intelligent" to the degree of "I let the numbers do the talking for me.")

Given that, I'm completely immersed in the environment, which is far more detailed and rich than most anything encountered, and if not, at least far more compelling. Honestly, aside from a few very basic logical miscues and some almost insignificant game flaws (most of them are barely even noticable,) it is, for sure, one of the best games I've ever played... and I'm not even finished with it! I have to say, if you're a fan of Battlestar Galactica or Firefly or any other somewhat compelling Sci-Fi series and you're prone to stay up late watching to see what happens next, pick up a copy of this game... but don't rush through it. This game is best enjoyed savored.

That being said, I'll probably have more to say after I've finished the game, which shouldn't be too long now.

-B$ out

Beer! The Brews I sampled while on vacation

2008-01-13T07:35:00.000-08:00

I'm going to try to keep this as organized and as short as possible... but there's really not going to be any order aside from which beers come to mind... hopefully I'll keep it organized by brewery. To make this list, either myself or my girlfriend would have had to drink one of these beers.

Dogfish Head
-Raison D'Extra
-Chateau Jiahu

Pyramid Breweries
-Pyramid Hefeweizen
-Pumpkin Ale

Chimay
-Red (Premiere)
-Blue (Gran Reserve)
-White (Cinq Cents)

Boston Brewing Company
-Sam Adams Black Lager
-Sam Adams Triple Bock
-Sam Adams Winter Lager
-Sam Adams Cherry Wheat

New Holland Brewing Company
-Dragonsmilk Ale

Bell's Brewing Company
-Batch 8000
-Two Hearted Ale
-Oberon Ale
-Winter White Ale
-Java Stout

Fletcher Street Brewing Company (Alpena, MI)
-Celebration Ale (Growler)
-Maple Porter (Growler)
-Thunder Bay Bock (Growler)
-Lumber Lager Red

Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
-Calabaza Blanca Witbier

Great Lakes Brewing Company
-Burning River Ale

Brouwerij Huyghe
-Delirium Nocturnum
-Delirium Tremens

Spaten Brewery
-Spaten Premium Lager
-Spaten Optimator

Hoegaarden Brewery
-Hoegaarden Ale

Rogue Brewery
-Juniper Ale
-Mocha Porter

Goose Island Brewing Company
-Bourbon County Stout
-Oatmeal Stout

Lexington Brewing Company
-Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale

Sapporo Brewery
-Sapporo Reserve

Ridgeway Brewing Company
-Insanely Bad Elf Ale

St. Peter's Brewing Company
-St.Peter's Cream Stout

Belhaven Brewing Company
-Belhaven Scottish Ale

Moorhouse Brewing Company
-Black Cat Ale

Paulaner Brewing Company
-Paulaner Salvator Doppelbock

Breckenridge Brewing Company
-Vanilla Porter

Hieniken Brewing Company
-Hieniken Lager

Magners Brewing Company
-Bulmer's Irish Cider

Month-in-Review: Video Games

2007-11-30T06:58:00.000-08:00

So Yeah, it's been a hectic couple of weeks that has forced me to neglect this beautiful little blog, but I'm going to take some time to write my review of this month in gaming, for anyone that cares. It'll start with some releases and such, and some happenings and whatnot. I'd like to comment on the latest scandal, the Jeff Gerstmann issue, but not enough information has been given out yet. On face, it does appear to set a poor precedent for not only game reviews, but reviews of anything including movies and TV. The advertiser does not pay the reviewers for more favorable reviews, they pay for exposure in any form. It's not as if nobody bought Kayne and Lynch as a result of Jeff's review, plenty of people probably bought it and were looking forward to it prior to its release. That being said, it's not hard to find people outraged over his firing, and whenever more information becomes available, I'll probably write something about how the whole thing went down.

1. Super Mario Galaxy - I'll begin by saying that up until about three days before the game was released, I had no idea when it was going to be released. I had figured, given all the news of Smash Bro's and whatnot around the holidays, that we wouldn't see this for quite a while. I believe I was looking around Gamespot's upcoming releases and saw this, immediately hopped on Amazon and ordered it. Turns out that was a bad idea. Amazon missed the mark with judging pre-order quantities perhaps, and then declared that they would not ship any units until up to a week after the game was released. Nice work, guys. After finding that out, I promptly cancelled my order and pre-ordered with Gamestop. I think it was the right decision, after all, who wouldn't want a "rare" commemorative coin to mark the release of the game? I say rare in quotes because it seems like 1 in 2 people in the US use Gamestop for all their gaming needs. Really rare, eh?

The initial reviews of the game were super hyped. Many said it was superior to Mario 64 while others said it was not only a worth successor but the true sequel to Mario 64 (discarding, as many did, the less successful Mario Sunshine, which I'd like to get my hands on again, I remember thinking the game was quite good despite not being totally similar to Mario 64.) After finally receiving the game, I popped it in. People who know my gaming habits have been that I complain about the quality of graphics on the Wii, even with titles like Metroid Prime: Corruption which are grainy at times. I will say, the art direction in SMG is spectacular, every edge is smoothed, there is no grainyness, pixelation is kept to a minimum, shading is handled excellently, and textures are always tasteful. I found it as surprising that I was impressed with the graphics as I was with my wanting to promote this game to others almost immediately. The first night I had it, it was only played maybe for an hour or so, and I promptly put up an away message stating "SMG... proving the Japanese have better drugs than you since 2007." It's a trippy game, small pieces of sometimes amorphous debris floating in space not only have their own black holes, but systems of gravity which frequently apply to all sides of the object. The controls are done in the same spirit as M64, using the wii pointer capability to a minimum and again, tastefully. The story, like many Mario games is really corny and themes are focused around things that kids can relate to, such as contempt of adults (in the "Beach Bowl" galaxy, a group of young penguins urge you to throw a shell at something while the adult penguin pulls a Jack Black circa Orange County and tells you "You better not!")

Overall, I will say that Nintendo knows how to make better games than just about anyone, either first or third party I know. One of the more astute comments about the games industry I have heard was made by a non-gamer when he stated that there are two types of things masquerading as games currently: games and simulations. Games disregard realism to a degree or embrace types of surrealism that make a world totally distinct from the one we live in, and I don't mean to say that science fiction games like Mass Effect are not simulations. Nintendo makes games, Sony and Microsoft's 3rd party game developers make simulations. Halo series - simulation, Gears of War - Simulation, Serious Sam - Game (ftw!) And that is only how it's possible within the FPS Genre. Anyways, Nintendo continues to make stellar games, and should be praised for both Super Paper Mario and SMG, as they were both excellent gaming experiences that I'd recommend to anyone.

2. Rock Band - I am going to preface this by saying two things. I've loved the most recent incarnations of rhythm games (i.e. Guitar Hero.) Secondly, I think I've possibly played a bit too much of them. When I purchased Guitar Hero III, I played through 3/4 of the game on expert (I didn't, and still can't pass Slipknot's "Before I Forget," there's a section about 3/4 of the way through the song that's just plain unfair. I've even beat some of the songs after that like "Cliffs of Dover," "Cult of Personality," and "Number of the Beast" but I can't beat that one part of the damn song!) and put it down for about a month. I think I may be a bit burnt out on these games, but really wanted to try Rock Band. I will say that it seems like the ultimate "Friends + Beer + Game = Party" game ever conjured up. That being said, I met up with some friends who had recently purchased the game the day after Thanksgiving and we played. The guitar that they bundle with the game, due to copyright issues with the Red Octane guitar, is completely different and uses a different strum mechanism that's completely awful. It's impossible to know if you're hitting notes from the bar, which instead of clicking, offers lots of resistance and not much more. What's more, Kotaku ran an article the other day about how most of these guitars are faulty and have been breaking. Nice, huh? Aside from that, it takes a while to get used to the square notes instead of the circular ones, and I have no idea how to find whether a note is going to be a hammer-on or a pull-off. The drumming is pretty realistic, and very difficult and it's all because of that blasted bass pedal. Song difficulty appeared to be no way close to Expert on Guitar Hero III, but I really didn't play the game enough to say definitively. The vocal analyzer appeared to be alright too, but I thought I was, in a few cases, singing at the pitch of the song and it told me otherwise.

3. Mass Effect - I have to admit, I can't say too much about this seeing as how I've not played this game at all. In fact the only way I've experienced this game is through a few different gameplay videos, including the super-controversial lesbian sex scene that is possible in the course of the game, oh, and through Penny Arcade's rendering of the absurdity of a few portions. It's gotten roundly alright reviews and is probably a good game, I look forward to giving it a shot at some point if someone I know buys it.

4. Call of Duty 4 - I just played this game for the first time last night, and, not having any experience with the other CoD games, sucked real bad. I will say that this game has a monopoly on sheer intensity, whether it's in the single player missions, which frequently make you feel like you're actually fighting in a war and not the mere isolated combat situations that Halo frequently finds you in. In contrast to Halo, its the things which you're actually involved in that feel epic as opposed to what's going on around you (on many levels, dogfights appear overhead or squadrons of Hornets fly off towards a Covenant cruiser, making the game artificially feel more epic than it actually is.) I am hoping to pick this game up in the near future and give it a more in-depth review, as well as get pwnt by 13 year olds online, which I was doing last night.

So yeah... a sports post and an apology

2007-11-22T07:14:00.000-08:00

So yeah, that last post... sure, it was a bit corny, but was it false... not really. Anyways, let's talk about the Red Wings. So yeah, how good is "Hank" Zetterburg? Fantastic! He's unreal. Last night against the St. Louis Blues he scored in the first 12 seconds of the game. You read that correctly, 12 seconds. Not only was a penalty assessed in the first 6 seconds of the game, an ill-advised delay of game penalty to one of the Blues who decided that it was a good idea to shoot the puck over the boards in their own zone, but 6 seconds into the power play, two of the best players in the league, Holmstrom made a beautiful backhand pass to Zetterburg who iced Manny Legace and the Blues.

So, here's a question I was wondering... how was Zetterburg not shortlisted for the Selke trophy (best defensive forward)? Wait, in order to be shortlisted, you'd have to be listed! Zetterburg, who is an amazing all around player, is a staple of Mike Babcock's penalty kill! Not only that, but if you've seen him play, there's no way that you can deny his defensive ability. He's unreal. I could list all those fancy stat thingies, or I could just assure you that he's unreal... which would you prefer? Right, you're going to trust me. Anyways, I bid all of you a Happy Thanksgiving, go stuff yourselves!

-B$ out

First snow of the season!

2007-11-21T21:21:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I'm a bit crazy... but snow... especially the first snow of the season smells so beautiful that I find it hard to contain myself. Indeed, I just returned from running around in my sweatpants and socks in the snow for the past 20 minutes or so... and I must say that even in light of the amazing-ness that is the smell of Cedar burning the smell of the season's first snowfall is unbelievable. After an evening of drinking 3 Kentucky Breakfast and 1 huge Westmalle bottle, I'm a bit sauced, but that does not detract from the beauty... I mean, it may detract from the sanity of the individual speaking to you, but nothing smells better than the first snowfall of the season, I promise... I just wish that I had a certain someone (who happens to have a name beginning with M) here to share it with me... then it would mean a little more to me. I guess I have to wait a little longer to see her... and unfortunately, we're in the middle of a bit of a long-distance stretch, but I think she's worth it... and not in a kind of me way... anyone who knows me might know that I've grown up a lot over the past couple of months, and I had to give her a chance on my own terms, and it's really impossible to deny what I feel towards her, so I'm happy to have her back in my life... and I can't wait to claim her from the muddy clutches of Kentucky... so yeah... I can't wait to be in her arms... but that's all I'll say... and yes, if you have snow on the ground, please, do yourself a favor and walk outside and take a wiff... it'll change your mood...

-B$ out

Beer for the Holidays!

2007-11-21T15:28:00.001-08:00

No trip up north is complete without making a stop at Jimmy's. It is, despite being located in basically the middle of nowhere, hands down the best beer store in Michigan. I don't really understand who would consistently purchase some of their more expensive and rare beers, but there must be someone purchasing them or else Jimmy would not keep ordering them from his distributor. Breweries that are well represented at Jimmy's are: Bell's, Founders, Rogue, Lindemanns, Victory, Great Lakes Brewing Company, Alpena Brewing Company, Breckenridge Brewing Company, etc. Favorites of mine usually include Founder's Kentucky Breakfast Bourbon-Aged Stout - my current favorite beer, a very heavy stout that tastes as dark as it looks, but it's not a bad thing - Victory Storm King Imperial Stout, a few select Alpena beers (Thunder Bay Bock, Paper Maker Pilsner, and Lumber Lager Red usually... the best you can get without going right to the tasting room.) Aside from that, it's usually a toss-up. However, with the recent move to Boston and being in close proximity to what is perhaps the best beer bar in America (The Publick House) I've been changing my tastes away from stouts exclusively towards more Belgian Trappist and Abbey ales. As such, my recent purchases reflect that

1.750 mL Chimay Gran Reserve: Perhaps my favorite beer as of late - a beautiful amber brew that is as refined as it is smooth. This beer exudes quality and, at the same time, is such a joy to drink that you don't even notice when it knocks you down with its high ABV (9.00 ABV.) This is one of the illustrious Trappist ales and lives up to its reputation.

2. 750 mL Westmalle Trippel: I've never tried the Westmalle Trippel, so I'm looking forward to cracking the bottle open here very soon. The reviews about this beer speak relatively highly of it on BeerAdvocate.com, so I'm excited to try it out.

3. 4 Pack Founders' Kentucky Breakfast Bourbon Aged Stout: My current favorite, have to take advantage of it while still in Michigan.

4. 6 Pack Samuel Adams Black Lager: Probably the best thing brewed by the Boston Beer Company (a.k.a Sam Adams, as if that wasn't apparent.) It is a semi-complex, yet smooth beer, and proof that a lager can masquerade as a porter or a stout without much problem.

Also, I'm going to start posting a beer review a week soon! Tomorrow, perhaps, will be my first one. I'll be reviewing Bell's Batch 8000, as I still have 3 left from my recent purchase of a 6 pack. Check back later if you're interested.