Beer Review

The French.  Tell me what you think of when you read that statement.  I can tell you honestly I never thought of beer that's for sure!  I thought of snobby ultra cool, slick haired smelly dudes with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths saying things like "HAW HAW WEE WEE" and "Jew are an EEDIOT, you SILLY AMERICAN!".   I know, I know that is very closed minded of me, that I am being stereotypical.  But admit it, you were thinking the same thing.  Every frenchie sounds like Pepe Lepew, and wears one of those bight colored mushroom hats (berets).  HA! Yes these are the things that float in my head, you should see what I think about you!

Ok, enough slander against France and her people, lets have a bit of a history lesson.  The beer I sampled was an offering from Flying Dog called Garde Dog.  It is modeled after a type of beer known as Beire de Garde.  Which is a french beer that is produced primarily in the Spring months.  It is a small business in France, and is known mostly as a "farmhouse" brew, but is also being picked up and supplemented by small companies.  This is the first time I have ever heard of this type of beer, let alone a state side offering, so I have no other comparisons to others I can make.  That being said, I was pleased with this brew.

This beer pours out into a glass producing a full head, but drinks fairly lightly.  It has a color that lends itself to a blonde ale with its lighter color and white lacing.  Malty for a lighter beer it finishes cleanly and is very smooth.  If you close your eyes you can almost feel yourself standing in a flowering meadow with its floral hints within the little hops it does display and its citrus smell and aftertaste.  It seems to me to have a very organic taste to it that isn't over powering, walking a fine line between good taste and robust "notice me" flavors.

All in all this is a good beer to try.  It is good out of the bottle, but I would recommend pouring into a pint glass and savoring it a little more.  However if you are a drunk like me drinking it from a glass or a bottle is good just as long as you are pouring down your gullet!

 I would say this is a good "sit and sample" beer, with good taste, and many subtle notes to figure out, but it is not a "sit and tune yourself up" brew.  As always though, ENJOY!

"Beer, it's the best damn drink in the world." - Jack Nicholson 

You might think me racist

Ok, here is the deal, I have been sitting here for the past few days debating on whether I would want to write this blog or not due to the sensitive nature of the subject.  That being said I have also thought that it is a direct injustice to not voice an opinion in a nation where freedom to do so is paramount.  So here goes nothing, or everything depending on where you are standing.

Trayvon Martin has been on the lips, minds and hearts of every person from every walk of life for a moment now.  And I do not disagree with this.  My thoughts and prayers go to  his family in this certainly horrible time.  I pray that truth and justice are served in this incident, and I have to have faith that it will.  As I sit here drinking my coffee, writing this blog, I cannot begin to wrap my head around losing one of my children.  I like mostly everyone else who isn't currently dwelling under a rock have read at least a portion of the story or timeline, or saw the news blips.  I am not writing this to talk about gun control, the Castle doctrine, or anything involving the "right" or "left" way of thinking.  I consider myself a conservative, but for the direction of this blog that should have no bearing on what I want to say.

I suppose we can really start the meat and potatoes of this blog with a question.  Why is Trayvon Martin important?   Or better phrased, why is the case of Trayvon Martin important or relevant?  Quick everybody look! Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton just lost their minds at those last two questions!

What I am really getting at is this specifically.  Since reading about this incident, social and traditional media has exploded in theories and opinions.  None of them particularly bright or even helpful for that matter.  I took to the world wide web in search of information about the incident.  Then quickly became disgusted with myself.  I wanted to look up and become more educated on a tragedy.  I didn't necessarily want to try and help in the matter, more to the end that I had a macabre and insatiable appetite for the information.  About one child.  Then I began to feel heavily the truth of what I was experiencing.  I felt awful for this kid and his family, which I still do, but not because it was right to feel that way, but rather because the media MADE me feel that way.  I saw a black kid murdered, and the race baiters and popular opinion told me to feel badly about it.  Told you that you might think I was racist.

But here is the rub.  Upon further thinking of the matter I AM sad.  I DO feel terrible about this incident.  But unlike before, I don't feel bad because it was a black kid killed, I feel badly because it was a KID killed.  The senseless loss of a life is tragic enough let alone a life cut so short because it belonged to a young person.  So it got me thinking, why Trayvon Martin?  I agree completely his name should be out there, and his story told, but there are COUNTLESS others whose stories we have never heard, nor will we ever hear.  Not unless we go looking for them ourselves.  Is it because he is black?  I thought we were a more forward thinking society than that, so that can't be the issue.  Is it his age? 17 if I am not mistaken right?  No I see nothing their either.  WHAT MAKES HIM SO DAMNED IMPORTANT?  Why are we as society looking at this more closely than many many others that have come before him?  Jesse Jackson can you answer this?  Maybe you good Reverend Al?   I refuse to make this case important solely because Trayvon was black, or because the media who has portrayed him as an 8-12 year old through pictures, tells me to.  To me that is racist itself.

Racism is defined by Webster's as : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.  This could go either way if you ask me.  If I believe I am superior because of my color, then I fit this definition.  HOWEVER, if I place more importance on someone ELSE because of the color of their skin then there again, I fit this definition!  

I am not claiming to have the answers, I am not some hyper intelligent Liberal, or for that matter Conservative.  What I am saying is that our values are askew.  We have come to accept what the media feeds us as fact, letting our own values and beliefs fall by the wayside.  We give into what we are told, not what we have learned for ourselves.  That inherently leaves us prey to the pitfalls of being mindless drones,  blindly following a media, or Government to that end, into whatever the "others" see fit.  Be it what we give a damn about socially, or mainstream media attempting to ignite a race war.  


"If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values - that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control."  Martin Luther King Jr.

Beer Review

Once in a while you can really hit a jack pot!  Take this beer for example.  It is as offering from a brewery that I have never heard of, with a ingredient combination that I never would have thought of.  And I love it

Kona Brewing Co. offers us this beer called Koko Brown Ale.   It is a Medium colored ale (think of bronzed beauties soaking up sun on a beach for the color) with a sweet aroma with a heavy creamy head that laces well in a glass.  Almost pours like a lighter Guinness. 

But on to the important part.  The taste!  I should tell you first that this beer says very plainly on the label that it is made with toasted coconut.  I have never seen this, and obviously not ever having seen it have never tried brew with toasted coconut in it.  I must admit, when I put the bottle to my lips I almost feared that I was going to be drinking watery Hawaiian Tropic lotion, however the balance of the malty and nutty flavor was a pleasant surprise.   Even with it's dark mahogany color the beer is decidedly smooth and easy to drink.  With a slight hint of molasses and a strong coconut flavor it is not at all what I thought it would be.

This beer puts me in a good spot.  It's like a deserted beach in a bottle!  I can almost picture the sand, blue water, girls with coconut tops.  I just close my eyes and I am there.  The sea, the briny breeze.  The warm sun.  Ah hell who am I kidding?  Although this beer does a damn good job of getting me there, it is done all too soon, and I am back in my drafty house, with my noisy dogs and of course it is raining outside.  And no matter how many times I tell my wife to wear some coconuts over her hoo hoos.  She just won't do it.  I guess some Koko Brown Ale will have to do for now!

And remember:  "Good people drink good beer."  Hunter S. Thompson

Beer Review

Here we go again!  Time for the second review from a master idiot on beer.  I am writing this as I sit and drink the beer I am talking about.  The Leinenkugel 1888 Bock.  It is also a beer in the Spring Sampler pack so you don't think that I am just drinking and talking about Leinenkugel.  I promise, that after this blog, I will give my lame opinion on something else entirely. 

As that is now out of the way, lets continue.  It takes a special beer drinker to drink a bock.  I have just recently discovered that I actually like bocks.  I have tried to drink them in the past and haven't had much luck in enjoying them.  It wasn't until I slowed down, and savored beer, enjoying the different tastes and complexities that I found myself really liking the darker heavy beer.

Leinenkugel comes to the table with a bock that is no different from others really.  It is a malty heady beer that to me tastes like liquid bread.  It is certainly not a "all day drink to get drunk" beer, but definitely has a place in the fridge for one of those easy going moments when you really just want to sit and enjoy a great beer.  The 1888 Bock is smooth and malty.  It has a great smoky aroma and is dark like it should be.  This does not drink like water, as you will feel like you are drinking a beer on this one.  The flavors of caramel and barley seem to start and finish this beer, and the after taste is clean but still noticeable on the palate. 

To me personally this, like most bocks I have tried is a "sippin" beer.  Not one that I would sit and drink all night to have a plastered good time.  But never the less I would not turn it down if I were at your house and you offered it to me.  For people that truly enjoy the Bock this is a good steady go to beer for you.  I also believe that it is also a good one to try if you have never really had a bock before, as it is what a one should be, but not over powering in its flavors.  As always, ideas on what to try are appreciated, and feedback is always good too.   

GIRL RUMOR going on BLAST!

"Girls mature faster than boys."  You've heard that right?  We have all heard it.  Hell it was taught to me in school!  Girls are inherently going to mature faster than boys.  Physically, emotionally, spiritually, you name it, they do it faster.  It is accepted as FACT.

I couldn't disagree more with the statement that girls mature faster than boys.  Basis of my disagreement you ask?  Simple, I have science on my side.  The statement itself is flawed.  Think about it.  "Girls mature faster than boys" implies that boys eventually mature.  Yes I said it.  And I absolutely mean it.  Boys never really grow up.  I know that women reading this are all thinking the same thing.  "I KNEW IT!"  Don't get yourselves ahead of the apple cart yet ladies.  This isn't a man bash.  It is a factual observation and a celebration of the absurd.

 Sure we put on a great veneer of "responsibility" and "maturity", but think about it.  When was the last time you ladies laughed hysterically at a fart?  Been a while?  Guys?  I giggled my ass off yesterday at a gassy incident.  This type of humor is a staple for the proverbial Pan.  Think about it gentlemen, seeing someone slip on the ice or trip and fall on uneven sidewalk, you have a smile right now reading this don't you?  And it starts young.  My four year old son has the same humor as I do as well as a natural propensity for boobs.  And it never goes away, my father in law still laughs at farts, oogles boobies, and makes fun of everyone and everything.

It's not even in behavior that we remain forever young.  It is in what holds our interest.  Big trucks, fast cars, sick bikes, tattoos, sports, you name it.  If a kid likes it, chances are a guy likes it too.  Sure we have adult interests, but name one time fellas you didn't rubber neck passing a construction sight to see the crane or big wheeled earth mover.  Would you pass up a chance to ride a quad through a mud puddle?  I know I sure as hell wouldn't, that shit is FUN!  We do grow up, no doubt about it, but we never mature.  I wouldn't have it any other way either.  To hell with growing old and not finding stuff funny or exciting.  I don't want to leave Neverland.  The adult world sucks anyway.  But if you disagree with me that is fine, I'll just crop dust you when I walk past with my buddies.  Then we will laugh about it as you look around trying to figure out where the "phantom smell" came from.

A brief exploration of men (taken from my fb notes)

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What happened to men?  Socially speaking of course.  Underwear ads of hairless men, perfectly chiseled with a stone gaze and soft eyes.  Where did we lose our way I wonder?  Where did all these smells for men come from?  And why do they all smell floral and fruity?  Long gone is the creature that we as boys grew up aspiring to be.  Those hard men, strong in their views and vast in their knowledge.  Men who worked with their hands.  Men whose scars read like road maps of experience.  Calloused in skin and pugnacious in spirit.  We now live in a world of compromise and less than forward thinking.  Adventure and imagination are replaced by the proverbial dipping the toe in the waters.  Testing before leaping.  Making sure we offend no one with our masculinity.  God forbid my facial hair doesn't meet your standards.  Do you really think that GQ, or Vogue for men or whatever the hell is published now for the alpha, told our Grandfathers how to dress, act, or speak?  Let's be honest, do you think John Wayne smelled of Dior Noir, or Kenneth Cole, or DKNY?  NO! He smelled like old spice and cigarettes.  What about James Dean?  Think he ever needed help to do something?  Or did he take out his pocket knife and man up and do it his God Damned self?  When was the last time you saw your pap drink anything but beer and bourbon/scotch on the rocks?  These were men.  Interesting men, strong and smart.  Men who could DO things.  Not pay other men to do things.  Men who could change their own oil, fix their sinks, tie knots, shoot guns and drink you under the table.  These were men we wanted to learn from. We wanted to hear their stories.  Understand their past so we could be the same.  So what have we learned?  What are we doing now that the torch is officially passed?   We are going to salons not barber shops, we are concerned with our underwear tags, and our hairy chests.  We are what they would call sissys, pansies and nancies.  And we call that Metro sexual.  We call it stylish, and refined.  I propose a reawakening of the male of this species.  Get a tattoo, carry a case knife.  Get involved in your own masculinity.  Stop pussy footing around!  Be a man of your word after you speak your mind.  Stand on the principles and values that made us men to begin with!  I am as guilty as the next.  But no more.  It is time to start acting like a man again.  So we can show our boys what they should be when they become men.  And if you are a guy reading this, you either embody what I admire, or are the antithesis of it.  I will leave it up to you to decide which you are....you nancy

Beer Review

Leinenkugel's Honey Weis

Let me start off by saying that I am in no way credentialed to talk about beer, which makes me a perfect critic.  I do love the suds though, and enjoy sampling anything new that I can get my hands on.  I have become enamored with the different tastes, the light flavors, the heavy feels, even the specific ways to drink beer.  The search is even half the fun.  Learning about beer has become a bit of a hobby for me, and I am excited to share what I can in opinions about the different beers that I sample.  This is also a way to keep in check my alcoholic ways, and really see what I drink on a week to week, even yearly basis. 
HA!  Now that that is out of the way I am starting off with the Leinenkugel Spring sampler pack, which is always one of my go to purchases in the spring.  Most of my friends know that I am a Leinie fan, and the usual stock in the fridge is the Sunset Wheat.  But I have tried every beer that Leinenkugel has to offer, and haven't found one that I dislike.  There are some that I prefer, but can't say that there are any that are out in the cold for me. 
To the left is an empty bottle of Honey Weiss (which my wife says is pronounced Vise, and as she is German...I cannot argue, but do simply as a point).  This is my favorite beer in the Leinie line.  It is perfect on a  spring day when you are outside, doing work that you would rather be drunk doing!  The Honey Weiss has a great finish that is clean and crisp, while the honey in the beer is not overwhelming.  There is a slight after taste to it that I can only describe as dew off of green grass in a bottle.  As for food pairings, I would personally recommend this with everything from fish, to burgers and dogs.  But this beer stands well on it's own, and is a "drink all dayer".  The only thing that I can honestly find to complain about this beer is that to my knowledge it is a seasonal beer.  That makes me a sad panda.  But who knows, maybe if I could soak myself in it year round, perhaps it would lose its appeal.  At any rate Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss is a great beer in my humble, inebriated opinion.  I would say that I recommend it to you, but let's be honest, I would advise consuming any brew that you wish.  Lord knows that is what I am doing. 

Also as a brief side note, any input good or bad is appreciated.  Try not to be a prick though, but if there is no way around it, so be it.  If you have any beers you want to suggest and have me sample, please post that as well.  Thanks for reading my ramble.