Completing the years best.

So a buddy of mine mentioned on this blog that there is no reason to slow down beer reviews. "More baby, less beer" what bunk. Once the Baby gets here there will be less beer that's for sure. So for now, onward with the search of good beer. I have three reviews for you.

The Mad Elf Holiday Ale

Beer Advocate 3.94 / 5
RateBeer.com 3.5/5.0
I bought a six pack of this on a whim, which is a hell of a thing to do at $15 a six pack. Part of the cost has to be the 11%ABV. The beer it self is an ale, using a Belgian yeast, honey, cherries, and spices. For high ABV it sure is easy to drink. I got may Father-in-Law to have 2 and he didn't even notice the strength... at first. The flavors blend very well, add to that a creamy mouth feel and you have your self a hell of a beer. Don't know what to get for that guy friend on your list, well invite him over to split a six pack. Even at $15, it's cheaper than a bar bill.

Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale

Beer Advocate 4.22 / 5
RateBeer.com 3.86/5.0

I started this beer of buy yelling across the main level of the house at Erin "Get out the beer in the fridge, open it and bring it here for me." Just trying to get in the spirit. So after I got Erin some water I went to the fridge and pull out the bottle and off I went. Now you should know that Stone Brewing Company goes all the way with the arrogant part. Under the front label it says "Your not worthy!" and on the back of the bottle it takes 2 paragraphs to tell you, you aren't possible good enough to drink this beer let alone understand how good it is.

My thought, it's a very nice beer. The flavor is clear and concise. The hop flavor hits you after a second and very clear and hoppy. If I new a little more about hops I could probably name the hops used b/c the flavor is so straight forward. As far as oaked, I didn't get any of that. For me it was a very good beer and nothing more. Nothing I would recommend, especially at $15 a six-pack. I'm glad I bought a single.

I would be remiss however if I did not remind you of another of Stone Brewing Co. beers "Ruination IPA" which is the best beer I've had to date.

Golden Monkey

Beer Advocate 3.81 /5
RateBeer.com 3.73/5

So I think the guy at the beer store has got me pegged at this point. Every time I come in he recommends a $12 or up per 6-pack beer. This was the latest. Dinner came rolling out of the oven (Liz and Brian's baked Ziti) and I pulled out this one to have a go. I started laughing almost immediately after having a sip. You see one of the last batches of beer I brewed was a wheat beer. It was the same recipe I had used on my first from scratch batch of beer, but with a different yeast. The second time I used a Belgian yeast, which as it happens gives the beer a kinda banana like flavor. The second I sipped Golden Monkey I could taste that yeast, and I could also figure out where the monkey comes from in the beer name. But unlike my last brew this beer comes with a full package of flavors to go with the banana esters. The taste is smooth and slightly sweet. You can taste the spices in the beer that help balance and improve the banana element. At 11% ABV this is the second beer on my list that is high alcohol yet easy to drink. Smooth, full, balanced. this Beer is a winner.

We have drywall!

Got some new shots of the house in a quick stop today. It's amazing how fast this stuff goes up. If you want to see the captions click on the dialog box that pops up in the bottom left hand corner when you put your mouse over the slide show. You can pause the slide show, and then go forward or backward slide by slide if you wish. Click on the Picasa logo in the bottom right to go directly to the web album.

Dr Office Snafu

 
 

We had another check up at the Dr's office today. When we showed up it was to be a quick check up. Well it turns that Erin hadn't read the appointment card and we found out that she had to take a sugar test, which takes an hour. This is further complicated by the fact that she was not supposed to have any sugar for the 24 hours before the test. Not only had she had some sugar, but she had stopped by the Candy Kitchen for a "treat" during the day, and then the 2 of us polished of a huge chocolate covered carmel apple she had gotten from work. The test is probably going to be a complete bust, which means she'll have to go back for a 3 hour version of the test later. Fun, Fun.

On the up side, since we were waiting for an hour, they fit us in for an ultrasound. We were supposed to have one the following week so this will save us a trip. While there we got a secret sealed envelope with a very revealing ultrasound picture of the baby. We didn't look, the envelope is for Erin's mom Cindy, so she can do some baby planning stuff. Having that information out there is dangerous with Erin, she always snoops. I think she might stay clean on this one.

House Updates

Stopped out at the house today to sign some stuff and snapped a couple of shots while I was there. The house is now fully enclosed except for garage doors. It got it's energy seal yesterday, and got "predrywall electrical" and general inspections today. My parents went with me so they got to meet Joe our builder and the inspectors as well. Not that the inspectors said a word to us, they were very busy eying details. Since that's my future tax dollars hard at work I was thrilled to see them so focused.

My parents approved of the place with my dad commenting that if he and my mother had bought a house that large they probably would have had another kid. Interesting thought. I'll put up more pictures in a week or so, it should be fully drywalled by then.

More baby, less beer

It starts. I have my first (of many I'm sure) request to cut back on beer (reviews) and focus on baby (updates). I knew it was coming but just not this soon. I'll admit that I have been on a mission to review beers, and my blog shows it, but cut me some slack, the baby isn't even here yet.

That said, here are the baby updates. I'm just now seeing Erin feel some discomfort from pregnancy. Not that nothing has bothered her till now, but she has been real tough, no complaints. I've noticed recently that her back has been bothering her a bit more. Four months to go, here's to hanging tough.

I can feel the baby pretty much every day now. Little kicks, rolling, shifting and such. We have and ultrasound up coming. I'm not sure why, but it will be one more temptation to "peek" at what we are having. Which reminds me that every time someone asks "Do you know what your having?" I feel like I should place an order. "I'll have a cute and chubby baby with all the fixens, and a side order of sass and unpredictability".

We toured the maternity ward at Washington County hospital. It was very good, and a little emotional. I was born at that hospital, and so will my first kid. Add to that being in the room where your child could be born, kinda gets you a little. After the emotions faded, the other lasting impression was the security. It would be easier to rob a bank, than to walk out with your own kid before the hospital says so. It is either reassuring, or unnerving I can't decide which. They put a ankle bracelet which monitors the pulse on your baby (which never leaves you room after birth unless there is a problem), if the baby's pulse gets funny an alarm goes off and the docs and nurses come running(So far so good). If the bracelet get near the doors a different alarm goes off and the entire wing gets locked down. No one in, no one out. That's some serious security. I'm afraid I'll be checking out he baby and the swat team will roll in b/c I touched the bracelet.

That's the baby update for now, guess what I'm going to have now...

Kick it

So Erin and I are hitting the grocery store for some grub for dinner. While in line I decide, just for giggles, to hold her stomach. So I'm becoming one with the baby when WHAM... I get kicked right in the hand by the little one. Erin Looks up at me and confirms it. I felt the baby move. It's the first one for sure. There have been a couple other kindas, but this was a round house to the palm. No doubt about it. Daddy time here I come...

Here is a little catch up on the house. It is amazing how fast they throw this stuff up now. You can see a couple of photos from trips 2 weeks ago, the rest are from today (Saturday Nov 10). I'm very excited.

Brew me some of that

I've had the opportunity to wave several out standing beers. I'll group them into 3 categories, "Nice" - "I'll buy that" - "Can't wait to Imitate" aka "I hope the beer I brew is this good"

-Nice-

Samuel Smith - "Pure brewed Lager Beer"
RateBeer.com 3.18/5.0
Beer Advocate 3.69 / 5
Taste exactly like BPR.

Blue Point Brewing Co - Hoptical Illusion
RateBeer.com 3.54/5.0
Beeradvocate 3.95 / 5
I very nice IPA, but nothing memorable.

-I'll buy that-

Green Valley Brewing - Wild Hop Lager
RateBeer.com 2.26/5.0
BeerAdvocate.com 3.13 / 5
This is what it says, a lager with a solid hop element. It almost made the cut for beers I want to brew. It's smooth, with a lightly creamy mouth feel, and a mild hop flavor and just a bit of bitterness. I would buy a six pack if I saw it, and I think I could serve it to anyone and they would enjoy it. I was surprised that the beer is affiliated with Anheuser-Busch.

Dogfish Head - Shelter Pale Ale
RateBeer.com 3.13 / 5
BeerAdvocate 3.34 / 5
I had this on draft at the Mexican joint around the corner from Carrington's new store. Dinner was crap but the beer was memorable. Smooth easy to drink, and a gentle hop bite. I have to say trying all these IPA's is making me think I might like them.

-Can't wait to Imitate-

Stone - Ruination IPA
RateBeer.com 4.06/5
BeerAdvocate 4.29/5
This was a great beer. The problem i have is that I drank it 3 days ago and cant remember the details. I just remember picking up the bottle to read the label 3 different times, each time going, "Damn that is a great beer". It had a full on hop flavor yet it was so easy to drink, which at 7.7% abv and 100+ IBU's is dangerous. of course at $3.35 per bottle, it might be easy to keep away from.

Samuel Adams - Black Lager
RateBeer.com 3.42/5
BeerAdvocate 3.84/5
This is the type of beer I envisioned making when I got into brewing. It is black in color, malty in flavor, creamy mouth feel, and packed with flavor. It taste like dark malt syrup looks and smells. I absolutely loved it.

More Pick 6

So I'm at the Liquor store over by Giant wondering around when I see a shelf of single bottles. Now I've been in this store a bunch of times and I have never seen this shelf. I new about another shelf which sold large bottles of beer and had some cool varieties, but not this two level double sided shelf of adventure. It's like discovering that you closet really does have a passage to another world. So I quickly (35 min) pick 6 beers to try, 3 IPA's and 3 Lagers. I spent about $13 for the six pack, which seems like a lot to me until I think of buying 6 beers at a restaurant.

So, I rush home and make the wife and I a great Mediterranean pizza (Marinated artichokes, sundried tomato, feta cheese, pine nuts, and Greek salad dressing) and then reached for a beer to go with dinner. Please realize that I haven't got a friggen clue what types of things go with what, so I reach for one of the IPA's and have a go.

Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA
ratebeer.com - 3.96/5
BeerAdvocate.com - 4.22/5
Holy shit, drinking this beer is like drinking a bitter green plant. The weird thing is that I think that is the point! It smells like the plant from little shop of horrors, except imagine the plant was hops. I will say that the one thing I always like about IPA's is it's hard to drink them fast. Once I get past the shock of hops I do kinda appreciate the beer. The hop flavor though overpowering is very nice. I read another review of it which said it tasted like grapefruit. I kinda see where that comes from. Take the citrus and any semblance of sweetness out of grapefruit and it's that type of bitter. I don't know if I like it... but I have about 20 small sips left to figure it out.

Punkin the Pumpkin

It all started on the way back in September on the way back from the eastern shore, camping with Ryan and Kristen. We passed a trailer full of the largest pumpkins I had ever seen in my life. Since we normally do up Halloween right around here we had no choice but to buy one. It took me and a farm hand using a sling just to get it in our car, and it barely fit it the car. I mean it's so huge we had to give extra distance braking.

So we get it home and put it in the back yard hoping it stays in good shape until Oct 31. Well today we are running all over the place and I'm cursing my self b/c I should have carved the thing last night. We get home at 5:00 and the kids start coming out at 6, so I have 1 hr to carve this behemoth and I'm standing on the pack porch with it trying to figure out how to get in the house. 10 min and one herniated disk later I have it in the kitchen.

No comes the fun part. I have so much damn fun carving pumpkins I have no idea why I sometimes skip a year. I think with a little effort I could go pro. Anyway... I break out the power tools. 10 Min getting the top out, I got slowed b/c the pumpkin was thinker than my sawzall blade. Cleaning it out took 10 min, and then came the fun part. The mouth took about 1 min and 1 swipe of the blade, another 10 and the first pumpkin was done. Another 30 min and a couple spade bits and second pumpkin was done.

I got it out just after the first couple of tricker-treaters were through. I've got t0 say I was a little surprised that a lot of folks thought they weren't real. I mean come on guys, just cause the look to good to be real, doesn't mean there not 100 Natural... besides they feel real too!

Beer Reviews - Update

Here are 4 of the promised beer reviews. At some point I'm going to develop a way of reviewing so I really cover the whole beer profile. For now this is what I got.

Blue Moon - Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale
Very nice and smooth, but Dogfish Head's Punk is still my favorite.

Saranac - Pomegranate Wheat
I didn't taste any Pomegranate, and as Wheat Beers go it was blahh.

Blue Moon - Full Moon Winter Ale

That was a damn tasty Beer. I want to say it was spicy, but there was no spice, just a really full flavor. I highly recommend it!

Leinenkugel - Red Lager (see picture)
I'm a Yuengling guy so to me all lagers are compared to that. This one was similar, but with a bit more hops flavor and bitterness. It's made in Wisconsin, and was pretty cheap. As a change of pace I think you should try it, A.

Sierra Nevada - Summerfest (Bottom Fermented)
What-a-damn tasty beer. I always new SN made a good beer, but this is delicious. It's a Pilsner style Lager, with a good hop taste. The hops is assertive in flavor towards the finish. I'll be buying this one next time I see it.

Wild Goose - Pumpkin Patch Ale
So I have never been a fan of Wild Goose beers. A fact which kills me b/c I can almost with the brewery with a rock it's so close. I once got comped a variety case a beer by a guy that worked there, and I didn't like but one or two of the 8 beers. So popping the top on this one I was really hoping for a winner. I didn't get one. I thought the beer was bland and barely tasted like pumpkin at all. I still pulling for the place. I'm gonna set up a brewery tour one month and give it a through shot. My taste have changed a lot since that first case (which was made under prior ownership) so maybe I'll like some of there brews now. But I can tell you now I don't like the pumpkin.

What a Square!

So this is the latest project at my place. It's the Square yard, a flying wing design that I found in Flying Model's Mag. I bought the plans about a year ago, but only started on it two months ago. I need to cover it, tweak the settings and do some ground test then its ready to fly. It's gonna Kick a lot of ass.

Diaper Dude

Ok, so there were 3 finds in WV today and this is number 3. You've heard of the man bag, well this is a man bag for men that have proved that their sperm are first class swimmers. Yes it's the Double D's of manhood, it's the Diaper Dude.

We found this in the back of a baby store in WV and I gotta say... I had to have it. It's got more pockets than Cargo Pants, comes with a changing mat and a place for your cell phone. While I have 5 months until I can give it a real test drive it looks like a winner. So all you future dad's out there pick one up for around $60, just don't put you Jack Daniels in the Baby Bottle compartment and you'll be fine.

Pick your 6

The pick six pack... So we are bumbling through Shepherdstown today trying to get the lay of the land when we made two great finds. A Chinese food joint that was awesome (get the Chicken and almonds) and A wine and some beer joint. I say "some beer" b/c in West Virginia you can only buy non-intoxicating beer at store with a standard Liqueur license. That would be Beer with ABV less than 6%. But the store did have a killer mix your 6 shelf and I scored the following

Blue Moon - Full Moon Winter Ale
Blue Moon - Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale
Saranac - Pomegranate Wheat
Wild Goose - Pumpkin Patch Ale
Leinenkugel - Red Lager
Sierra Nevada - Bottom Fermented Summerfest Beer

Reviews to Follow.