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Merry Christmas, Everyone!
Back to blogging soon. Cheers!
Saturday, December 25, 2004
1:32 PM
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Tis the season (well, pretty soon)
Realbeer.com's holiday beer guide.
Saturday, November 13, 2004
10:43 PM
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Conservative brew
National Review runs a symposium on beer.
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
5:21 PM
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Octoberfest begins
Enjoy!
Saturday, September 18, 2004
8:36 PM
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Octoberfest
Man, it's that time already!
The Black Forest Brew House Octoberfest is the last weekend in September, and first two weekends in October. I'll link to other events as I find em.
Sunday, September 12, 2004
10:36 AM
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New Hampshire Report
We're back from a terrific week in New Hampshire, exploring Franconia Notch State Park, Woodstock and Portsmouth. We took the kids to Magic Wings butterfly conservatory, the Castle In The Clouds, the McAuliffe Planetarium, and saw finback whales with Granite State Whale Watch. At Franconia Notch, we rode the Cannon Mountain tram, visited the Flume Gorge, swam in Echo Lake, and viewed the site of the former Old Man of the Mountain. All fun, and recommended. The kids were even able to hold their own verbally sparring with a comedian/magician in Portsmouth.
Now, on to the beer!
The Woodstock Inn was a great find by Eliz: a nice country inn, with a big, fun restaurant and, amazingly, a really good brewpub!
At Woodstock, we enjoyed the:
Pemi Pale Ale
Old Man Oatmeal Stout
Pig's Ear Brown Ale, and
Red Rack Ale, all for three nights in a row.
Then we drove north, through the park and up to Littleton to Franconia Notch Brewing Co., who's motto is, "New Hampshire's smallest brewery, New Hampshire's best beer." We got owner/brewer John Wolfenberger on the phone, and he was nice enough to invite us in for a quick tasting while he and a friend loaded up a truck for a party. We tasted the Grail Pale Ale, which was terrific, and bought growlers of that, the River Driver ale, a malty amber, and a Double Bock, which we haven't even tasted yet.
The next day, we headed to Conway in search of Tuckerman Brewing Company, which we eventually found on a small light industry road behind the Ham Arena. The place was vast compared to Franconia Notch Brewing, but though the loading dock was open, it took us a while to find anyone inside. Eventually we found a friendly guy who explained that the brewery had just moved from smaller quarters and wasn't reopened for visitors yet (maybe September). He did recommend a couple of places to get Tuckerman beer, though he noted that supply was limited due to the move. We eventually found the Tuckerman Pale Ale in a supermarket in Portsmouth. It's a clean ale with nice hop aroma.
We thought there was a brewery at Castle In The Clouds, according to a pamphlet we had from the New Hampshire Craft Brewers, but it turned out we were a couple years late. Still, it was a beautiful place, and a key 'Teddy Roosevelt slept here' site, but a letdown on the beer side. We saw several other people there decked out in beer shirts and hats who seemed to feel the same.
So we pressed on to Portsmouth, and found ourselves at the Portsmouth Brewery, a busy restaurant/brewpub downtown. Here, we got the best 'sampler' serving I've had at any brewpub--a paddle of ten good-sized glasses of everything on their menu--for $5.50 (I think)!
The ten beers included three from their sister brewery, Smuttynose Brewing Company, and in rough order from best to worst, they were:
Smuttynose Old Brown Dog--great balance
Black Cat Stout--loaded with roasted barley
Blueberry Ale-- surprisingly good for a fruity beer
Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale
IPA -- very hoppy -- Eliz didn't like it
Smuttynose Portsmouth Lager
Cream Ale
Weizenheimer
British Mild (Eliz: "like soy sauce")
Leffe Blonde
Good food too, and we got a deal on t-shirts.
Monday, August 30, 2004
8:37 PM
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New Column
Whew! It's been busy-- here's some of what I've been up to.
Friday, August 27, 2004
3:41 PM
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Move the Big Duck?!
It could happen...
Friday, July 16, 2004
4:54 PM
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A Terrific Long Island Wine
Wow, just tried the 1999 Laurel Lake Vineyards Syrah and it is terrific! This is a strong, powerful red and I think I spent less than the $19.99 listed on the site. Nice job!
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
6:59 AM
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Some Nice Wines
1999 Pugliese Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve -- a Long Island bargin at 12.99.
Wishing Tree 2003 Shiraz Western Australia -- an Australian bargin at $10.
J. Lohr Estates Riverstone 2001 Aroyo Seco Chardonnay -- the current Eliz favorite.
Saturday, June 19, 2004
9:00 AM
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Happy Bloomsday!
It's the hundredth anniversary of June 16, 1904, the day portrayed in James Joyce's Ulysses! Have a pint!
Newsday has a good article on Ulysses, Joyce and Bloomsday.
I'm actually more than half way through Ulysses (started a couple years ago, in anticipation of finishing by now). Parts are great, funny, touching, understandable, though I confess I "intellectually hydroplaned" over much of it (to pick up a phrase from the Daily Show's Stephen Colbert, quoted in the Newsday article).
Google celebrates Bloomsday with this Joyce-themed graphic.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
8:31 PM
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Ronald Reagan, RIP
Favorite Reagan joke from the 1980's: "I used to think God was neutral in the struggle between the superpowers, but no more. Reagan has survived an assination attempt and three different kinds of cancer. The last three Russian leaders have died of colds."
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
8:15 PM
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Transit of Venus
Next Tuesday morning, for the first time in 122 years, the silhouette of Venus passes in front of the Sun.
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
12:14 PM
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Two Years of Wandering Rock
I really expected this whole blog to be more about Long Island wines, but family life has sure eaten in to time for trips out east! Still, it has given me a chance to plug some good beers, a few wines, and express my thoughts on one or two other matters.
More to come...
Monday, May 31, 2004
9:45 PM
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May Wrap
Some new brews: Tony served up the Dogfish Head 60-minute IPA, while I purchased the Dogfish Shelter Pale Ale--suddenly Dogfish is widely available! I was excited about the Dogfish, as it's 90-Minute IPA is a repeat champion of RealBeer.com's Battle of the Beers. (The 90-Minute is still hard to come by, it seems.) I'd have to say though, that neither Dogfish has become a favorite. Still, next time I'm passing through Delaware (it happens), I'll make sure to check at the brewery in Lewes.
On the other hand, another beer in sudden good supply is Magic Hat, from South Burlington, VT. I tried the Fat Angel ("a paler shade of ale") and really enjoyed it.
9:17 PM
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New Blogger
Trying out the new Blogger interface. Pretty cool. The editor's cleaner, it's easier to save entries for later posting, publishing tools look quicker too. And it even catches my bad html!
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
7:43 AM
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John Harvard
Had dinner Saturday out at John Harvard's Brew House by the Smith Haven Mall. They serve a nice variety of good brews. Our favorite - the Oatmeal Amber.
Monday, March 29, 2004
7:08 PM
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Wrote my column and cleared my e-mail box! What a day!
Friday, March 19, 2004
6:58 PM
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March Madness
And now the RealBeer pairings are up! What a shopping list!
Friday, March 12, 2004
9:10 PM
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RealBeer.com's Battle of the Beers starts March 12.
Thursday, March 04, 2004
7:52 AM
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Instapundit writes about Brewing and Blogging.
Monday, March 01, 2004
1:04 PM
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Christmas Ale Wrap
This year's crop of winter/festive ales.
In a nutshell -- The Old Fezziwig is always a favorite; the Sierra Nevada Celebration, and Winter Ales from Blue Point and Sam Adams were a treat. The Harpoon Winter Warmer was terrific for the first six I had, but the second went flat. This year's Anchor Christmas Ale didn't match last year's, but was still worth the longer-than-usual wait for it to appear.
Sam Adams Old Fezziwig
A dark amber - fine bubbles and a creamy head
Some sour, metallic homebrewey notes in the aroma
Spices in the taste - partidularly nutmeg
Full bodied / clean aftertaste
Blue Point Brewing Company Winter Ale
I like this beer but can't put my finger on it
Has some of that metallic hoppy taste I find in other winter beers
Eliz says "very appetizing looking and smells great" but she doesn't like the "harsh" aftertaste
Sierra Nevada Celebration
Lighter orange color, much thinner head than the Old Fezziwig.
Fruit in the aroma, Hops in the taste
Anchor Christmas Ale 2004 (OSA-Our Special Ale)
Smell of nutmeg and cinnamon
Very dark amber, thick brown head
Rich, complex taste - not nearly as much spice as in previous years (see below)
Sam Adams Winter Lager
Amber, some light head
Hop aroma
Full flavor, some metallic overtones
Harpoon Winter Warmer
Very flavorful burst of cinnamon and nutmeg.
The bottles in the second six pack were quite fizzy - almost like soda, then suddenly flat
Others held their head and mouth feel somewhat longer, but not like the first six.
Saranac Season's Best Nut Brown Lager
Brown color, off white head that mostly dissapated
Nutty flavor and aroma, hop bite
Sam Adams Cranberry Lambic
Once again--unspeakably vile. Why are the Old Fezziwig's chained to these?
Some oldies but goodies I had a chance to try again this winter:
Anchor Brewing Christmas Ale 2002
Dark -- didn't see the fine bubbles of 03, but a foamy brown head with good lacing
More spices in the aroma - nutmeg and cinnamon
Anchor Christmas Ale 1996
Tony uncorked a magnum of this: Alcohol in the aroma - a warm, rich taste - some mellow spice flavor. Very smoothly blended after seven years.
Monday, February 23, 2004
9:33 PM
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What, Now WLIR's Gone?
In January, Long Island alt-rock mainstay WLIR (sometimes WDRE) went off the air, replaced by Spanish-language radio. Along with WNEW, which underwent a long-slow death of its own, these may be my most-listened-to radio stations ever. Still around is KROC, of course, and WBAB (just up on Sunrise Highway); new stations Island 94.3 and Q104 (where much of the WNEW crew went); New Haven's WPLR (which always came in great in Stony Brook) and the "all Bob station" WFUV from Fordham. I found a good tribute to WLIR at 2Walls Webzine.
Thursday, February 05, 2004
9:19 PM
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