365 different beers from 365 different breweries in 365 days with random musings on beer, food, music, sports, dogs and anything else interesting along the way
Stuffed toys suffer a cruel fate in our house. They get unfaced almost immediately upon their arrival. This poor guy suffered not only a face and eye removal but also an ear-ectomy. Sad moose would be sadder if only he could hear your pity!
And who is the evil-doer destroying stuffed toys like it's his job? This guy...
He's so pleased with his latest ear-ectomy, he's wagging his tail at a speed that prevents photographs! And I'm left with an entire zoo-worth of faceless, unstuffed creatures lurking about the house, who also evidently taunt the army of dachshunds and need to be taught a lesson. Poor moose, we hardly knew you!
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Tonight we're getting fancy with our beer! It came wrapped in this fun star wrapping paper. Beneath that fun and somewhat useless wrapping is a delicious saison from KleinBrouwerij De Glazen Toren.
The Saison d'Erpe-Mere poured a hazy straw liquid with a thick white head that disappeared pretty quickly. It did leave lots of lacing behind. The smell is a bit funky and herbal. The flavor is biscuit, peppery spice, the tiniest hint of banana. It drinks with a refreshing dryness. The ABV is 6.9%.
I've been drinking A LOT of Saisons lately and this one stood out with its herbal notes and crispness. Good stuff!
Beer #156 La Moneuse / Brasserie de Blaugies, Blaugies, Belgium
Important news of the day: It's David Byrne's birthday. Now I just need him to go back on tour this year. I mean, I could ask for the Talking Heads to reunite, but that seems unlikely, so I'll just keep my requests easy.
Important thing I should remember: After playing basketball, don't go shopping in the grocery store next to your office, where you're likely to run into no less than ten people you work with. People who you work with, who may wonder why I'm completely sweaty and why I (I'm sure) smell awful.
With those items out of the way, it's on to today's beer, a saison from Brasserie de Blaugies. In the glass, it shows off a hazy apricot color, with a thick, persistent white head. You get aromas of wheat and malt, and flavors of orange, hops, apple, sweet malt, with a nice spice. At 8% ABV, this beer packs some punch. Very nice offering, and I'll definitely add this to the roster for the summer.
Photogenic, and tasty!
de Blaugies has been brewing beer since 1988, and this beer is named for Antoine Joseph Moneuse, a legendary bandit who would hold his victim's feet in a fire until they gave up the location of their hidden money. The brewers trace their lineage back to Moneuse, and named this beer after him. An image of Moneuse in a coonskin cap adorns the bottle.
Thing to Think About Today:
In honor of David Byrne, and because we were just catching up on some episodes of Treme, which starsJohn Goodman (who stars in this video), let's have the Talking Heads take us home with Wild Wild Life. This song came out when I was 11 or 12, and the video made me want to own Goodman's orange sport coat. There's still time...
The Army of Dachshunds were in for a tune up today and I was assigned for pick up duties. They've come to despise sitting next to each other in the car. Unfortunately for them, I drive a Mini Cooper so their options were limited for seating. Salinger spent the 2.5 mile trip home jawing at Picasso. Not a problem when he keeps it to a low rumble but full-on barking in a Mini Cooper is deafening. When reasoning with them didn't work, I found myself barking at them in an even more obnoxious manner than they were behaving. The surprise effect of the human barking quieted them down momentarily.
Then it happened. Picasso sat on Sal and the barking started again. Without any hesitation, I looked over at them and threatened to pull the car over.
*I turned into my father.*
Just like that.
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I'm not sure what Canada has to do with insanity...ok maybe it's Canadians' willingness to live in that environment...but tonight I'm drinnking a Canadian Belgian pale ale. The Hopfenstark Ostalgia blond.
It poured with a crazy thick white head that left a fun "iceberg" of foam in the glass and significant lacing as I made my way to the bottom of the glass. It poured a hazy yellow-amber color. Carbonation was very evident with lots of bubbly activity in the glass.
The scent was yeast and malt and fruit. The flavor was grassy, fresh and herbal with candy sugar notes. It finished with an expected spice. Overall it was quite satisfying.
After an amazingly productive day yesterday, today was a day of relaxation and family time. Spent the day with the fam at Mom & Dad's house, despite both my sister and I offering to host a Mother's Day gathering. Mom's a good cook and likes to do it, and having Mom host allowed my sister-in-law and nephew to stop by as well. Plus, my nieces - who absolutely love dogs - got to spend the afternoon with our pups. If that's not enough, I picked up some great belated birthday & anniversary gifts, so it was a great day in all.
Now comes some additional relaxation on the deck to close out the day. Today's beer is a Belgian pale ale from a Canadian brewery, Hopfenstark. It pours a hazy apricot with a thick white head and gives off aromas of bread, flowers, and fruit. The taste has a balance of yeast, orange, and a persistent spice. There's also a nice sweetness hiding out in there too. Easy drinking at 5% ABV, I would definitely like to have this beer again. Particularly as my allergies went apeshit today, and my assessment of aroma and flavor may be way off base. Someone buy one and let me know what you think.
Safe to cross & drink!
So what is Ostalgia? This word references nostalgia for the former East German nation, as some folks are apparently struggling with the culture of the unified Germany. One example is their desire to retain the green figure in their crosswalk signals - one of which can be seen on the bottle. What that has to do with this brewery, I'm not yet sure. However, now you'll know when it's safe to cross the street should you ever find yourself in the country formerly known as East Germany!
Things to Think About Today:
In honor of Mother's Day, let's the incredibly amazing sounds of Paul Simon and his Mother and Child Reunion carry us home. To all of the mothers out there (especially mine), thank you for the time and energy spent raising us all. You guys rock, and I hope you all had a great day!
It was a celebration of moms today...my awesome mother-in-law, super mom sister-in-law and, of course, my sister, who amazes me every day with her mad-child-raising skills. Missing was my Mom because sometimes life likes to kick you in the balls and take loved ones way too soon. Oh and by the way, cancer, you still suck. Today was filled with good food, good beer and wine and lots of laughter. Kind of a perfect day.
Now onto that good beer. It was the la Moneuse Saison by Brasserie de Blaugies. It poured a deep apricot color with a full white head. It smelled lightly of fruit. The taste was dry and crisp. Lots of spice, lemons, mild hops. It was very easy to drink. You know it's a good beer when I wish I didn't have to share with Gary. Cheers!
Hopefully your corner of the world had the same awesome spring weather we had in my corner of the world. Clear skies, warm temperatures - perfect day to spend hours working in the yard. Which is exactly why I did anything but work in the yard. Yard work sucks, and time is better spent having fun, so today included sleeping in, getting breakfast, finalizing some gifts, getting the dogs' nails trimmed, going for a bike ride on the Schuykill River Trail, getting an afternoon beer, stocking the beer/wine cellar at Total Wine, and dinner at Fellini's. Couldn't ask for anything more. Except for a gardener to clean up the yard... it looks like the Amazon rain forest out there.
Today's afternoon beer was the Finest Kind IPA from Smuttynose, and came on draft at TJ's. This draft pours with an apricot color and a thick head which stuck around, sort of a giant spoonful of marshmallow fluff in the glass. The aroma was light, with notes of citrus and grass. The taste is really good - a mix of grapefruit and hop bitterness, with some malt and a subtle earthy, grassy finish. Very good option if you're in the mood for an IPA.
If only beer came with marshmallow fluff.....
Your knowledge for the day: Smuttynose is named for an island off the coast of New Hampshire. Okay, so why is the island named Smuttynose? Good question - this name can be found on nautical charts dating back to the 1700's, and the origin of the name has been lost to time. Stupid time, always losing things. Smuttynose has been in business since 1994, and they're currently working to build a larger facility. Now you know.
Thing to Think About Today:
"Your book on how to pick up trashy women came today. Tell me something.... what's a little boy like you doing with big boy smut like this?"
- Mailman
Every time I hear the name of this brewery, I think of the movie Better Off Dead, from which the quote above comes from. Most of my friends speak in movie quotes, and I'm willing to bet yours do too. Meaning, in the middle of ordinary conversation, instead of just saying our own thoughts, we'll drop in just the right quote from a movie.
Starring John Cusack back when he had a sense of humor, Better Off Dead is a haven for great quotes, most famously the line, "I want my two dollars!" from the paperboy who hounds Lane Meyer throughout the film for past due payment. Other Better Off Dead in this blog can be found HERE, and a website with .wav files of the quotes from this film can be found HERE. Your super sentimental trivia for the day: this was the first movie that Marci and I saw together, even before we were "officially" dating. Awwww.
So let's end Saturday thinking of our favorite quotes from an outstanding movie:
I'm testing out this new blog app and so far, so good. Today's beer: Great Divide Colette. It's a Saison that pours with just a slight haze and a thick white head. There's just a hint of earthy funk in the nose. The taste is fruity citrus, hops and spice. There's also some pepper. Overall quite good.
Beer #153 Pater Dubbel Ale / Brouwerij Corsendonk, Oud-Turnhout, Belgium
It's been a long week for many of us, and I certainly don't need to bother you with any of the boring details. I will say it ended on a high note, as I managed to escape the dungeon a bit early and head to a happy hour in honor of a co-worker and friend moving to a new position in a new department. I'm lucky in the sense I get to work with great people - it makes going to work much, much easier. I now work with one less great person, but our company has the habit of bringing things full circle, so I'm sure we'll run into each other again. I do worry that the work happy hour is starting to stretch far beyond the typical "happy hours" and is moving into the evening hours. Hopefully I at least get to hear the stories - occasionally, being in charge isn't great when it comes to hearing the stories.
What is great, is beer. Specifically, tonight's beer is the Dubbel from Brouwerij Corsendonk. It pours a dark brown in the glass with a thin white head. When you take the scent in, you get aromas of malt, dark fruits, and chocolate. The taste is quite nice - a balance of malt, spice, stone fruits, a hint of smoke, and a sweet chocolate finish. Not a beer I'd drink every day, but certainly a very tasty Belgian double. If you find it, drink it.
As best I can put it together, Corsendonk is a brand name that references a religious order that dated back to 1398 and brewed beers until 1784. It doesn't appear they still have a bricks & mortar brewery, but instead it seems to be brewed at Brasserie Du Bocq through a contract brewing relationship. I think. If you know more about this, feel free to correct me.
Thing to Think About Today: Last night, I blogged about Cisco Brewers. Cisco, you say? After sleeping on it, I realized if I was drinking a Cisco, I should have thrown in a reference to early 00's rapper Sisqo, not the Dead Milkmen. But don't fret - we're talking about (Corsen) Donk tonight, so I think the Thong Song still makes a tremendous amount of sense. If you don't get the donk reference, you may be too old to read this blog. And so, let's close out our Friday in grand style:
Does anyone know what Sisqo is doing these days? I mean, is he working at a telemarketing job with his hair dyed silver? If you know the answer or have seen him lately, please let me know. I worry about him.
Posting to the blog from my iPad is a giant pain in the ass. Sadly tonight is going to be short and sweet. I'll be mourning the possible demise of our laptop shortly while I fight with the iPad to get my post out. I have an awesome pic for tonight...photobombed by Picasso.
Sad Marci will be sad if I can't figure out an app to upload to Blogger soon.
Anyway I've been saving this bottle of Boon Kriek for weeks. I'm impatient. It felt like ages. After launching the cork across the room, it poured a garnet color liquid with a fizzy pink head. It smells mildly of cherry. The carbonation is very apparent - it's very bubbly when drinking it. The flavor is mostly cherry with hints of vinegar. Quite tasty!
Beer #152 Whale's Tale Pale Ale / Cisco Brewers, Nantucket, MA
Keeping it brief tonight, as I spent the evening at the opening of the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Franklin Institute. If you're in or near the City of Brotherly Love, make it a point to stop by and check it out, particularly if you're a history or religion geek. Really interesting look back in time, and fascinating that these documents important to both Christianity and Judaism were hiding out in jars in a cave for 2,000 years.
Tonight's beer is the Whale's Tale from Cisco Brewers, which I had during last weekend's day drinking with friends. It comes in a can, and pours a rich amber, with a think white head. It gives off aromas of malt and fruit, and the taste gives you flavors of apple, lemon, tea and malt. For a pale ale, there wasn't as much hop bitterness as I might expect - this almost drinks more like an ESB than a pale ale. Makes sense, as when you read their website, it's promoted as an English pale ale, which is typically less bitter than other pale ale offerings. All good, as this was a refreshing, enjoyable beer. Will definitely look for this beer again soon, maybe even for a tailgate this summer.
Shiny can, fun whale - what's not to love?
This brewery has been selling beer since 1997, although their roots in the beverage business are a tad bit longer, as they also are the people behind Nantucket Winery.
Thing to Think About Today:
In the spirit of the Dead Sea Scrolls, I hereby propose we spend some time and think about... I don't know...it's late...how about the Dead Milkmen. What do they have to do with anything? Nothing, really, except for the band has "dead" in their name. See the connection now? Oh, and they're from Philadelphia, just like the Franklin Institute, so that probably counts for something too.
Anyway, a trip back in the time machine to the late 80's for some quasi-obscure punk music with their hit (?) Punk Rock Girl:
