Beer 250: Haters Gonna Hate, But Not on Urthel Tripel

Penn State dropped this tidbit of information in a PR release yesterday:

Penn State ranked among top 50 world universities

Wednesday, August 15, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) has released its 2012 ranking of the top 100 world-class universities and has ranked Penn State at No. 49. Penn State is one of 53 highest-ranking institutions in the United States, 30 in Europe and 17 among Japan, Israel, Canada and Australia. Penn State is one of five Big Ten universities and one of only two Pennsylvania schools to make the top 50.

Researchers at the Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University conduct the annual ARWU ranking using six objectives. According to its website, these are: “the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, number of highly cited researchers selected by Thomson Scientific, number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science, number of articles indexed in Science Citation Index - Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index, and per capita performance with respect to the size of an institution.”

Researchers also break down rankings by some individual fields. Engineering at Penn State ranks 11th in the world, while Penn State’s social sciences ranks 23rd, economics and business is 33rd, physics is 37th and natural sciences/mathematics is 44th worldwide. Penn State mathematics, chemistry and life/ag sciences are in a group ranking of the top 51 to 75 programs in the world.

The complete ARWU list is here and detailed methodology can be found here.

But wait! The NCAA told me -- and the world -- that football was the only thing that mattered at Penn State.  How could our engineering program rank 11th in the world? IN THE WORLD!?! In a nation that is failing to educate its students in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math), how could Penn State be excelling like this? Perhaps it's because football is not the end all, be all.

Maybe, just maybe, Penn State should be lauded for having a cadre of educators who can impact the abysmal state of STEM education.  Perhaps everyone needs to lay off the Joe Paterno was a pedophile / kill Penn State football / fine the hell out of all of us rhetoric to step back and realize what an amazing institution Penn State is in the Commonwealth and the nation...and the world.

(puts her soapbox away and takes a chill pill...)

Tonight we're drinking multiple beers because I have nothing in my back pocket for use in a non-beer drinking emergency.  It's a scary place to be if you're writing about a new brewery every single night. I'm planning on rectifying that situation at TJ's in Paoli tonight.  I may also try to lure Gary into a little Quizzo.

For the review, let's talk Urthel Hibernus Quentum -- a tripel ale from De Leyerth Brouwerijen in Flanders, Belgium. It poured a hazy apricot color with a bit of head that was off white in color.  The nose is fruit and honey. The flavor is more rich and mellow honey. The mouthfeel is full. There's a strong malt profile but also a warm, straight out of the oven bread thing happening. The flavor also has some fruit to it, but there's also a tartness that I really like.  This tripel is just different enough to warrant a place in my top 25.

Interesting note: If you see a bottle of this anywhere, BUY IT. This beer was originally brewed as a seasonal beer and after a number of years has been retired. I have no idea where we bought this bottle.  Rats.

Cheers!