G&T

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 14, 2009 -> 04:40 PM) What makes this worse is these are the first two girls in Shipps entire life that he had dooped into liking him. Dooped, or doped?

Finally posting in this thread again.

I think this rumor came out months ago.

Yesterday was an interesting day. My In-Laws-to-be were in town for the weekend from Chicago. We ended up taking them to Cooperstown to see the Hall of Fame. This is basically a staple of an Albany visit because there isn't much else to do. After that, I wanted to head to Ommegang to see if they had anything that wasn't readily available in stores. Turns out they were having "Harvest Fest." They had a decent lineup of their normal offerings, plus some Liefman's. They also had their Obama-gang Porter, which is VERY difficult to come by. it was only $4 for a 16 oz. cup. Here is the commercial description: This beer was pretty phenomenal. Chocolate and roasty with a graham cracker finish. Light on the palette for a porter/stout. I couldn't taste much "kriek", but I think if I had known it was there and looked for it, I might have searched out the cherry. Very smooth, nevertheless. Unfortunately they weren't selling it from their tasting room. What they were selling was their "Cave-aged" beers: Hennepin, Abbey, and 3 Philosophers which are aged in the Howe Caverns for a year. My future father-in-law demanded that he buy me something so he bought the Hennepin. I haven't cracked it yet, but I'm interested to see what changes are made, if any. Switching gears: what do people look for in a sipping liquor? Specifically, what makes a rum a sipping rum? I'm not much into hard liquor and I'd like to learn a few things about tiki drinks and the world of the hard stuff.

I don't know if this adds to the conversation, but it was interesting: On B&B last week, Boers said that "his guy" with the Sox (who is rarely wrong about anything, BTW) told him that JR is pretty pissed off about how poorly the Sox have played after being told that Rios and Peavy would be enough to make the playoffs. That's what prompted the attempted sell off on Aug. 31 and the "blame me" stuff from Ozzie. I think there is a lot riding on a playoff spot for this team.

The search never works. Try using Google. Although I couldn't find it.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Sep 12, 2009 -> 01:08 AM) If I had to define it, I'd say that I understand that it's a major tragedy & everything surrounding it. But it's not something that hurt me personally. I don't know if that sounds bad or not...and I don't mean for it to, but it's how I feel. It's not bad. It's a feeling dependent on a lot of factors. In fact, I'd say most people who didn't know anyone in NYC feel the same way. For me, there was something about being away from home for the first time and lacking that comfort zone only to see something like that which sort of stomped on my idea of safety and security. Not on a national level, but a personal one. Also, a HS history teacher of mine said something interesting to us before we graduated, only a few months before 9/11. She talked about how every generation has a national crisis and defines the generation. Be it WWII, Vietnam, etc. But nothing had happened yet to define ours. It was pretty clear that our generation would be defined by this moment. On top of that, we just registered for Selective Service, and there were fears that the draft would be instituted. Of course, that was probably the first and only time I will ever see people actually enlisting in the military out of patriotism.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Sep 11, 2009 -> 08:18 PM) maybe i'm a monster or tried to block it out or something, but i was never really heartbroken over it. interested as hell, but never deeply saddened. It was a complete tragedy and i feel bad for everyone that knew someone killed of course. QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Sep 11, 2009 -> 10:52 PM) Well same here, but I think it was still kind of heartless & greedy to say something like that. Out of curiosity, what does "never really heartbroken" mean? I'm not trying to be a dick, I just don't understand.

QUOTE (smalls2598 @ Sep 11, 2009 -> 03:26 PM) My day started off very similar as yours, instead I was listening to the Score, about to get up to get ready for a college class. The Score was talking about the first plane crash, and in my dazed state, I thought it was a smaller plane that hit the top of the tower (or like a lightning rod). I walked downstairs, and as my parents asked me if i heard what happened, the 2nd plane crashed. Fricken unreal Interestingly I was doing to the same thing. This was back when B&B were on in the morning. Bernstein broke and said "we are breaking from our normal broadcast as incidents of national importance take precedence." Or something like that. I turned on the Today show and watched. Then went to class where we all stared blankly at the prof before she let us leave after 10 minutes. What a day.

Smuttynose lasts longer than Shipyard, IMO. I've had Shipyard from Maine to New York (which should be as fresh as it gets) but it's always a crap shoot. There's a particular taste that seems to be present in their bottled offerings that I can't place, but I get in some bottles of Sam Adams as well. I don't think I've ever had a bad bottle of Smutty, but I'm caution to get the freshest possible bottles. The cool thing about being in the northeast is that Smuttynose is sold in some grocery stores. Speaking of Sam Adams, I had the first Octoberfest of the fall last night. I wasn't too impressed with the flavor in this batch. Seemed thin, not as malty as I remember. While Sam Adams should be a consistent brewery, given its size, I can generally tell the difference between the seasonal batches. Particularly this years Summer Ale was much fuller and sweeter than last year's. Oh well. Victory Moonglow will be coming out soon and all will be right in the world. Weizenbocks are the nectar of the Gods. Another thing about the Baltic Porter. The porter is part of the Smuttynose Big Beer Series which is made is small batches and generally sold locally. This was my first Baltic Porter, which is a style in itself. It evolved from, what I can tell, from the Russian Imperial Stout, but the Baltic is a lager (bottom fermented), and lacks some of the roasty flavors generally contained in the RIS. Because it is a lager rather than ale, I found it less fruity as well. Nevertheless, a very full bodied beer which was far deeper and more complex than I expected. I recommend being in the mood for something rich and dark before tackling a bomber of this one.

Most particularly to those on Flight 93 who saved hundreds, if not thousands of lives, by giving theirs. For whatever reason, I still find it weird that 9/11 is treated as any other day now. Not that it shouldn't be, but it's weird to me.

Yesterday I found myself a Smuttynose Baltic Porter at the bottle shop. Cracked it open tonight and I'm finishing off the bomber as I write. Smuttynose is a great brewery which comes out of New Hampshire. It's sold in the Northeast exclusively (I think). Some of their finery includes Old Brown Dog and Really Old Brown Dog which are English "old ales", and their Scotch Ale, which is a favorite of mine, though tough to find fresh. In any event the Baltic is supposed to be one of their finest. This is essentially a stout, if there is a real difference between porters and stouts to begin with. There's a lot going on here. Raisins and port along with coffee and chocolate. This one is really a great porter/stout. Highly recommended.

Uh...this thread seems to forget that the Sox are in fact in third place. The Twins have to suck ass too.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Sep 9, 2009 -> 05:27 PM) Where is the 50th person?

So I returned from Florida and the Cigar City choice was the Humidor Series which was, likely, the one that Flax was talking about. I split the 750ml with my brother (which is only fair I suppose). This beer was excellent. I am not a hop head, but this was really a wonderful example of balance. Plenty of floral and citrusy hops. Grapefruit and pine. This was countered by the malty sweetness, and perhaps a bit of fruit. I love to get the bottom of the bottle and get some of that yeast. While it didn't add much in the way of flavor, as would be the case in a Belgian offering, the yeast here was great and mellowing out the hops. As it warmed it turned into smooth but complex beer. The alcohol was very well hidden. It's a shame there wasn't more, but that was apparently the only Cigar City the store had in stock.

QUOTE (Tex @ Sep 4, 2009 -> 10:04 AM) Sucks to realize I am not in grad school as planned Triple sucks to realize I am still in grad school, unlike I wanted.

So you think we will play better defense with that lineup? Viciedo is not a good 3rd baseman. ARam is better defensively at short according to the numbers despite how bad he looks sometimes. Pods is bad...but I guess you can hide him if he hits so I'll leave that alone. That DH spot will be awfully important.

Oh Jim, you've got me excited. I actually talked to my brother yesterday and I'll be getting something when I head down there, but it'll be a surprise. So I'll let you know when I get the chance. Let's just say, he better not f*** it up! Nevertheless, as I said earlier in this thread, Double Simcoe from Weyerbacher is a fantastic beer. A nicely balanced hoppy brew is welcomed. From the looks of it, that's what Jai Alai is. While I can't handle it in large quantities, a nice grapefruit flavor with plenty of malt is a beautiful thing. By the way, I had an Orval the other night for the second time in my life. And I have to say, I'm starting to get it. The first time it was about the Belgian fruitiness which wasn't as forward as I was used to (St. Bernardus, Allagash, Ommegang). This time, however, I was able to begin picking up on the tart qualities and the hoppy characteristics. My fiance properly pointed out that it basically tasted like mango juice. At that point, I couldn't taste anything else. In another year I'll probably try again and see what else is present. Tonight, I've been stuck drinking 2 for 1 Buds and Shock Tops at a minor league baseball game (Valley Cats). Honestly, I can't complain. I'm kinda wasted for a Tuesday, but that's not for this thread.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Sep 1, 2009 -> 03:10 PM) I'd offer Torres, Getz and Shelby. I'd be operating under the assumption that the Nats want to dump salary to make room for having the probable #1 pick in next years draft. I'd be operating under the assumption that a lot of teams would offer better than that. I also know that whenever KW makes a move he deals a player that everyone here thinks is the second coming. So, I don't think that's going to work.

He's signed through 2010, so who are we trading?

SI Would have been better if he just crossed into the other dugout.

This all appears very symbolic. I can't even imagine KW getting decent value at this point. Of course, I'm wrong nearly all of the time.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 31, 2009 -> 05:39 PM) Not true. The players and coaches read this board religiously. There is a direct correlation with the tone of this board and the way the team plays. I wish people in here would realize this before it's too late. balls. OK, blame me.

What you do has no effect on the team so...great.

Both were pulled back per the Trib.