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
I sat at my desk this morning typing away and fantasizing about tomorrow's Sourfest at Devil's Den when I heard someone shout, "Say cheese!" A chorus of tiny voices yelled cheese but it escalated quickly into screaming at which point I thought, "Seriously. There is no need for that much screaming when taking a photo." What will their angelic little faces look like? (Screaming devils would be my best guess.)
But as quickly as the cheese screaming began, it subsided into a lovely rendition of I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee. Some lyrics if you will:
I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee, Won't my mommy be so proud of me, I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee, Won't my mommy be so proud of me! Ouch! It stung me! (Spoken)
I'm squishing up the baby bumblebee, Won't my mommy be so proud of me, I'm squishing up the baby bumblebee, Won't my mommy be so proud of me! Ooh! It's yucky! (Spoken)
I'm wiping off the baby bumblebee, Won't my mommy be so proud of me, I'm wiping off the baby bumblebee, Now my mommy won't be mad at me!
What I didn't realize is that the lyrics go on for a few more verses ending with this child bringing home a baby dinosaur (where does this kid live???), who ends up eating him. Violent, no?
In case you were wondering, yes I did sing that damn song all day. I may have even reenacted some of the dance moves that go with it. And on that note, I really wish I had a honey based beer for tonight's review.
Instead I give you the Kissmeyer Pilnzer from Denmark. It's very easy to drink at 5.%5 ABV. It poured a light straw color with a thin wispy head. It smells like an undetermined preserved fruit. The flavor is fig, honey and coins. Both Gary and I thought there was some metallic notes in the flavor. He claimed general metal but I thought coins was a more apt description. As it warmed, I noticed more and more lemon tartness. All in all, a very unusual pilsner but quite tasty.
That's all for now. I'm off to squish up a baby bumblebee!
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.
Good news for the day - no one tried to steal my identity. Hooray for small victories! Although, I did get some laughs hearing about all of the exciting places my friends' credit cards had "been" without them, including Vietnam, Brazil, and Yeadon, PA. One of these things is NOT like the others...
Today I'm sampling the Urthel Hibernus Quentum, from De Leyerth Brouwerijen. That's a mouthful. This tripel has a caramel color and a white head that quickly dissipates. There's a sweet, honey-like aroma, and the taste has notes of malt, honey, dark fruit, and candi sugar, with a nice floral finish. If you love Belgian tripels, this one will likely be right up your alley. If you like Miller Lite, you may need to reconsider why it is exactly you're reading this blog.
Belgian beer and gnomes. What's up with that?
This brewery appears to go by the more common name of Urthel; it seems that the founder had been working on a fairy tale that was going nowhere, so he decided to brew beer. When it came time for a name, he used the artwork and a name from his still in the works fairy tale characters, The Urthels. Whatever you call it, a husband and wife team were behind the launch of this brewery in 2000. From what I gather, they have a brewpub, but contract Leffe for much of their production. If you like this review and want to try this beer, you better find one fast - this beer has been retired, and will no longer be brewed. They are producing others, which is good, as this one was quite nice.
Thing to Think About Today:
I was tempted to make a play on the name Urthel and drop some Urkel in here.
Did I do that? No, no I didn't.
But I can't do that. Instead, if we're thinking about fairy tales for kids with an adult twist, we're dropping in some MC Slick Rick and his classic tale of a Children's Story:
I enjoyed a most interesting morning, as I received a call from Chase regarding potential fraudulent charges on my credit card. Why, no... in fact I am NOT in France trying my credit card at multiple gas stations. Sacrebleu, mon ami! Kudos to Chase for being on top of that nonsense, and suck a bag of dicks to whoever tried to clone my card and purchase petrol.
To celebrate that adventure, I'll need a beer! Tonight's offering is the Girardin Gueuze 1882, from Brouwerij Girardin. This beer has a bright apricot color, with a white lingering head. The aroma is tart and funky, and the flavor is dry and very tart, with citrus, green apple, yeast, and an earthy funk. If you're into sour beers, this one is one you'll want to sample. Very well done, very enjoyable. Marci's take on this gueuze can be found here. Wonder if you can buy this one at random gas stations in France?
This brewery doesn't seem to have a website, so I can't tell you many interesting stories. From a beer importer's site (linked above), this brewery was founded in 1845, and has been in the Girardin family since back in 1882.
Thing to Think About Today:
So.... France. Not happy with you today. You know what would make me happy? Someone covering She Wolf by Shakira. Particularly when the cover is by.... wait for it... Chester French. See what I did there? Yeah, I went there. Chester French, let's get out of here:
Today is Julia Child's birthday. I remember watching her show on PBS with my Mom and thinking I want a cooking show. To this day when I'm baking, I like to premeasure all the ingredients as if a camera crew is going to randomly show up in my kitchen to film my culinary efforts.
I can remember perfectly the first time I saw her kitchen exhibit at the Smithsonian. There's a really cool online tour of it here for those of you who aren't using iPads to read this post. If you're like me and held hostage by the Apple/Adobe war, check it out here. I'll admit I was fascinated by the 2009 film Julie & Julia. Meryl Streep was amazing in her portrayal of Julia. And there was definitely a little influence on my decision to start blogging after I read one of the books that was adapted for that movie -- the memoir of Julie Powell as she tackled all 560 or so recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. So what if it took nearly four years to kick in...
Happy birthday, Julia!
***
Today's beer has nothing to do with Julia Child. It's from Peru. Cerveza Premium. Muy premium. Caliente! Ok, I'm done sharing what little Spanish I remember from high school. The Cusquena smells like a lager, which is good because it is a lager. Lots of malt in the nose. It poured a pale amber color with a quick-to-disappear head. It's hoppier than I imagined it would be but there is a strong malt to it. There are also hints of grain. Honestly it reminds me of a slightly watered down Yuengling lager.
Beer #248 ESB / Redhook Ale Brewery, Woodinville, WA
At some point today, I had an interesting thing to write about. And as I sit here now with my fingers on the keyboard, I have no idea what it was. Politics? Sports? Witty observations on the odd things that happened today? Gone.
The beer for this forgetful day is the ESB from Redhook. It has a crystal clear, light amber color in the glass, with a wispy white head. The aroma is straight up caramel malt, and the taste brings you flavors of malt and bread, with some light citrus and a bit of a bitterness in the finish. Maybe not as malty or as flavorful as some ESB's from across the pond, but a nice beer to relax with and eat with my pizza dinner.
Redhook was a leader in the trend of multi-site brewing operations among craft brewers. Originally from Seattle, they now also have a brewery in Portsmouth, MA (where I'm sure my beer came from) to allow for a greater distribution footprint. And, if distribution was a problem before, it's not currently as Redhook merged with Widmer in 2008 to form something called the Craft Brewers Alliance (which later bought out Kona). You want more business deals? Beer Colossus InBev now owns a hefty yet minority share with 32% of the conglomerate. For those keeping score at home, Redhook, Widmer, and Kona are all being treated separately for the purposes of this blog, as they maintained their own production and identity in the M&A process.
Thing to Think About Today:
For a while in the early days of this blog, I felt every other day I was commenting on a legend who had passed away, often too soon. Today unfortunately brings us back to that topic, as Ron Palillo, better known to the world as Horshack on Welcome Back, Kotter, passed away today at the age of 63. Many frequent readers will understand that I love sitcoms (and comedies) from the 70's and 80's, and Kotter held a special place near the top of that list. However, unlike many of the celebrity deaths, I had a somewhat personal connection to Palillo. A story, if you'll allow me:
There was a restaurant in a neighboring town when I was growing up that attracted people from miles around for great chicken wings. Particularly enjoyable was their frequent 10 or 25 cent wing night, and the fact that they routinely served my friends and me beer underage. One night on our way to a 100 wing and multiple pitchers of beer order, we saw there was going to be entertainment that evening in the form of the comedic genius of Ron Palillo. I don't think anyone else in the restaurant knew or cared that there was entertainment, but we were amazed by our good luck. Or so we thought... right up until Palillo bombed. It was awful. His scripted material left the audience with completely blank stares, and eventually enough frustration that the mob started shouting, "DO HORSHACK! DO HORSHACK!" Palillo eventually gave in and immediately with the first, "Ooh, ooh, Mr. Kotter" absolutely brought the house down. From there on, the laughs flowed freely, as did the beer to underage drinkers. God, I miss the Chicken Coop.
Never being ones to miss an opportunity, we decided to, um, "borrow" the glossy head shot photo of Palillo hanging in the lobby. This would come in handy later on during our senior year when we decided to run off a few thousand copies and proceed to tape them up all over the walls of our school. Think of it as an guerrilla art installation, just WAY ahead of its time. Needless to say, our Principal wasn't quite as enthused by our new found art appreciation, although somehow he never managed to catch on that we were the ones behind the prank. A particularly fun day was when Governor Bob Casey came to our school for a "State Capital for a Day" sort of deal. On the bulletin board with red, white, and blue bunting were glossy photos of Governor Casey and his Lieutenant Governor. Lieutenant Governor Ron Palillo, that is, as we snuck a copy of our head shot photo into the official materials. Considering the questionable intelligence of the kids we went to school with, it wasn't a big surprise that no one picked up on the fact Horshack's picture was up there, although I would have hoped at least one teacher, civics or history perhaps, would have noticed. Anyway, a long and not entirely funny story unless you were there, but one that immediately came to mind when I saw that one of my favorite actors had passed away. I still have that glossy head shot squirreled away in a folder somewhere, which I suppose I now need to find and put in a place of honor. I like saving things like that, which sometimes (read: always) drives Marci crazy.
Rest in peace, Arnold Horshack. The Sweathogs will never be the same without you.
Tonight I'm drinking the ESB from It's an amber color ale in the extra special bitter style. It has a general beer smell. The flavor has a nice malty fullness with just a bit of hop bite. It's a nice, easy to drink beer but there are other ESBs out there that are much tastier. But in a pinch, it'll do.
I wish other Redhook beers would make it to the east coast. There are definitely a few that I would love to try....the Wit, the Nut Brown.
I'm harkening back to the great beer-cation of 2012 and going all hoppy with tonight's beer. It is the Twisted Pine Hoppy Boy IPA.
It poured a hazy orange-tinged copper color with an off white head. It smells like a sweet orange. The flavor is very interesting...some malt and orange layered with hop bite. It's dry with some earthy notes. If you're into solidly hoppy beers, then I think you will definitely like this one.
Beer #247 Hoppy Boy IPA / Twisted Pine Brewing Company, Boulder, CO
You know how I didn't want to spend my Monday? Having someone come in and replace my garbage disposal and a bunch of piping under the sink and in the basement. Home ownership is totally breaking my balls today, and I'm not really enjoying. Might need to take the edge off with a beer.
Today's beer is the Hoppy Boy IPA, from Twisted Pine Brewing. It pours a hazy, golden hue with a fluffy white head that eventually settles down. Your nose picks up classic IPA aromas of grapefruit and pine, and the flavor has a big dose of hops up front (more citrus and pine), but a surprising amount of malt in the middle. Lots of caramel and honey in there before it wraps up with a dry, bitter finish. Not entirely what I was expecting, but don't mistake that to mean I didn't enjoy it. A nice beer for a warm summer night.
Tall can needs a giant mug
Twisted Pine started brewing beer in 1995, and in 2003 moved to a larger production facility to help meet increased demand. For your viewing pleasure, here's a picture of a twisted pine tree we found on a hike up St. Mary's Glacier last summer.
Nature!
Thing to Think About Today:
If we're drinking a beer with pine aroma and flavors from a beer named after a tree, then we're getting our way back machine and go back to the very early 1990's for music by Belly. Why? Easy: their hit song, Feed the Tree! So feel free to sing along here (I'm assuming you're in your mid-30's, of course).
My husband is hot. I'm sitting here watching him drive, arm all slack over the gear shift, in control, taking care of me. Can someone turn on some Peter Bjorn and John because I got nothing to worry about.
I'm drunk. It's been the story of my weekend. I exert effort, I get drunk. This beer is the 10 from Brasserie de Rochefort, a Trappist Monastery. It's a little nutty. The taste is all rich sugar and lots of alcohol. It has a strong malt backbone. Very rich.
In case you were wondering, yes I did sing that damn song all day. I may have even reenacted some of the dance moves that go with it. And on that note, I really wish I had a honey based beer for tonight's review.
