If I was an artist I would try to capture the colors on canvas—the golden light from the lowering October sun filtering through the browning leaves on the walnut tree, the greenness of the freshly mowed lawn, the splashes of red, yellow and orange on the tall backyard maples, the fading purple of a few stubbornly clinging clematis and the black speck of a hawk floating high overhead against a cloudless blue sky.
But there’s no way a painting could capture the sound of the occasional ground thumps of the heavy, green-jacketed walnuts. Nor could it catch the intermittent squadrons of sparrows bursting from the thick crown of one maple and lighting in another, nor the wide, lazy circles being made by that high floating hawk.
Barb and I sat on our backyard deck sharing a bottle of homemade Noiret that paired wonderfully with the sights and sounds of that perfect October evening. Ellie May, our idiosyncratic but lovable lab/terrier, incessantly snuffled around the deck following the movement of whatever animal it was that had made its home underneath.
Every so often I would yell “squirrel” and we laughed while Ellie interrupted her snuffling to bolt out to the walnut tree. Miss Lizzie, the four-year-old golden retriever we recently adopted from the Human Society, lay heavily at our feet. Lizzie has the typical sweet face of a golden retriever but the body of a potbellied pig. It’s obvious that whoever had Miss Lizzie before us fed her a steady diet of people food.
Later there would be a bottle of homemade Foch with pasta and grilled chicken and a Tigers’ playoff game for dessert, all of it a nice way to end a perfect evening in October.
This preamble originally appeared on The Buzz on October 6, 2011. The list of this week's new beers originally appeared below, just now.
New (and Returning) Beers
- Brewery Vivant Trebuchet, $4.39/16oz - "Somewhere there is a Belgian Monk who’s head is spinning. A Belgian brewer would never put this much hop into a beer. However, we are not Belgian are we? We can do whatever we want. This is an unconventional beer. Belgian candy sugar, classic Belgian yeast, and a boat load of hops, plus some dry hopping in top of that. A very unique take on a Double IPA that will make it stand out in a crowd" (source).
- Atwater Traverse City Cherry Wheat, $1.79/12oz - "TC is the cherry capital of the world and now Montmorency Cherries from this colorful town in Michigan’s “Up North” have made their way into a wheat beer for the ages, for a taste that’s totally cherry" (source).
- Odd Side Ales Oh Me So Hoppy To Wheat You, $1.99/12oz - American pale wheat ale. 4.5% abv. No commercial description available.
- New Belgium French Aramis, $4.79/22oz - "Made with Bravo, Czech Saaz and French Aramis hops, French Aramis IPA is the latest great beer brewed up in the New Belgium Hop Kitchen. This dry IPA is perfect for refreshing afternoons of summertime drinking" (source).
- Newport Storm Summer Heffeweizen, $1.79/12oz - "In 2012, we changed the style of our summer offering from an IPA to an unfiltered Hefeweizen ale. Over 80% of the grains this brew are derived from malted wheat which lends an exceptional softness to the palate. Naturally underlying, but not overpowering, banana esters arise on the nose, providing an exceptional addition to enjoying this beer’s experience. We LOVE these flavors and they are brought out by the yeast, so we made a decision to leave this beer 100% unfiltered. Hence, there is a natural yeast sediment in the bottles that you can chose to decant off of or swirl up to be poured into your favorite tasting glass. Lastly what makes this beer truly unique is addition of hops after this beer’s fermentation: we have chosen the perfect combination to give a 100% natural citrusy lemon aroma and taste alleviating the “obligatory” orange wedge garnish" (source).
- Newport Storm Hurricane Amber, $1.79/12oz - "The first offering from the Coastal Extreme Brewing Company blends some of the world’s finest ingredients into a delightful beer. In producing our amber ale, we selected the highest quality European and American malts and hops. This ale has a malt character which is delicately balanced with its hop profile so that consumers of all levels enjoy drinking it. Hurricane Amber Ale is a full flavored beer which clearly has more taste than other domestic and imported light beers while at the same time does not overpower the drinker with heavy body or excessive bitterness. So find yourself a cold ’Hurricane’ and ENJOY! SPECS: 16 SRM, OG 1.046, FG 1.007, 5.2% abv, 24 IBUs. Malts: Pils, Munic, Crystal. Hops: Tettnanger, Magnum" (source).
- Newport Storm Rhode Island blueberry, $1.79/12oz - "Our Year round blueberry brew is a hybrid Kolsh style. Fermented at colder temperatures, but using our American Ale strain minimizes conflicting fruity esters. We feel that the addition of juice from real, hand pressed, Rhode Island Blueberries shouldn’t have to compete with the natural fruit background of the yeast. Pale Malt makes up the base of the grist bill, but this brew also calls for a large amount of malted wheat, an ingredient that lends a soft mouthfeel to the beer. Further there is enough caramalt to ensure a sweetness everyone will enjoy. Hops are chosen to compliment and balance the brew as it is bittered with a small amount of Magnum and flavored with English Pilgrim to lightly accent this truly unique Ale" (source).
- Newport Storm Will West Coast IPA, $1.79/12oz - "Newport Storm has always done things a little differently, but we like to think it’s for the better! Cyclone Will is no exception- this beer is as big and bold of a hopped-up beer as we’ve ever brewed! Following true West Coast IPA style, this latest in the Cyclone Series is nothing but pounds upon pounds of delicious hops! Named after the 4th founder of Newport Storm- Will Rafferty- who hails from the West Coast himself!" (source).
- Newport Storm IPA, $1.79/12oz - "After 13 years of brewing excellence, we deemed it time to produce a year round IPA style. Because a well made, well balanced IPA is a work of art, we took our time with this one and added our own local spin onto it. First we needed a substantial malt backbone to not only create the 6.5% abv, but to compliment later lupulin additions. Heavy doses of Munich Malt and Cara malt help to add body, mouthfeel and a touch of sweetness. Canadian wheat malt also lends to the great foam and head retention. 5 different hops are added at 7 different times in this brew, and the majority of the massive, complicated, but delightful hop profile is derived from Columbus and Cascade hops from the kettle boil (bittering, flavor, and aroma additions). The real icing on this masterpiece, however, comes from literally searching the near and far: Brewmaster Derek Luke married Annie Sherman, a Kiwi citizen in late 2011, visiting New Zealand for their honeymoon. Upon return, Derek came back raving of the legendary Motueka hop. Craving to satiate the “near and far desire,” this hop is added in conjunction with Chinook hops grown right here in RI from Ocean State Hop farms during the lengthy dry hopping process. The result: A fantastic IPA 100% produced locally with local hops, yet worldly in its own right!" (source).
- Boulder Brewing Company Hoopla Pale Ale, $1.89/12oz - "Hoopla Pale Ale is dry-hopped with generous amounts of Glacier hops for a fruity, floral hop aroma and flavor that will have your taste buds dancing! Its lively hop character is wonderfully balanced with a crisp, clean finish from the unique blend of US and German grains, making Hoopla the perfect companion to festival season" (source).
- Boulder Brewing Company Buffalo Gold, $1.89/12oz - "Buff Gold has been a Colorado favorite since 1989. A true gold ale that is an easy drinking, lively carbonated stampede of flavor. Silver medal World Beer Cup 2000. Malt: US Light Caramel and 2 Row Malted barley. Hops:Nugget,Williamette, and Cascade" (source).
- Boulder Brewing Company Sweaty Betty, $1.89/12oz - "Sweaty Betty Blonde is a refreshing, unfiltered Bavarian-style Hefeweizen. The Weinstephan yeast gives this brew subtle hints of clove and banana with an attractive, hazy blonde color. For the best flavor, rouse any settled yeast by swirling the bottom of the bottle" (source).
- Boulder Brewing Company Single Track, $1.89/12oz - "13.2P" (source).
Question of the Week
What's your best cure for a monumental hangover?
Let us know in the comments section down below—who knows,
you might just save somebody's weekend.
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment