FlaSoxxJim

QUOTE (Disco72 @ Jan 14, 2011 -> 04:00 PM) Have you seen the TV show that Dogfish has been doing? It follows a somewhat boring pattern (same plot, more or less, every episode), but there's some interesting stuff there too. I have yet to catch Brewmasters, actually, but it's on my list of things to catch up with. Several beer friends have been watching it and say it's worth a look.

Sunday. Contrary to popular belief, Loverboy was wrong and the song should have been "Everybody's Working For the Weekend And Also For the First Day of the Following Week". Doesn't really have the same lyrical flow, I agree.

Went to a beer event that featured 19(!!) Dogfish Head beers on tap. Oak aged Burton Baton and a 12% brown ale were outstanding. They also had an imperial pilsner that puts the Sam Adams attempt to shame. The Shelter Pale ale keg was supposedly the first one to ever make it down to Florida and the beer had a very good grainy malt backbone to it that I've never tasted in a Dogfish beer before. Chicory stout and a very nice barleywine as well. I also got a few sips of the Midas Touch, Red & White, Black & Blue, and Sa Tea that I hadn't tried on draft before. I did not get a chance to try an 18% dark beer that was gone in the first two hours of the event.

I have a 100 mile round-trip work drive every day so I drive cars into the ground. I managed to get 200K+ miles out of my 2000 Saturn and nearly 200K miles out of a Corolla before that, but I just bought y very first new car last month — a 2010 Prius. I really like it and it's nice to only have to gas up around once a week rather than every other day. I would love an all-electric vehicle, but I need something that can do better than 100 or so miles on a single charge.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Jan 10, 2011 -> 12:59 PM) I found another superb IPA. Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale. Very tasty. Two thumbs up on Little Sumpin' Sumpin' — another example of an American Wheat that I actually like. If you like that one, be on the lookout for their Little Sumpin' Wild which is a similar wheat ale as far as the grain bill, but fermented with a Belgian yeast strain that end up making it a totally different beer. Hop Stoopid and Hairy Eyeball are my current favorites from Lagunitas. And they got high marks from me for honoring Frank Zappa with a fine slate of beers named after his first 5 albums. I was sad when Gail decided not to do any more beers after Reuben and the Jets came out.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 9, 2011 -> 12:38 PM) Cage is only good when he plays a neurotic character, which is probably what he is in real life. Leaving Las Vegas is easily my favorite performance of his.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jan 8, 2011 -> 08:34 PM) I ended up walking back to my hotel from the bar. A mile in that cold weather feels like 5 miles on a normal night. I though you Michigan folk were tougher than that.

QUOTE (G&T @ Jan 9, 2011 -> 08:36 PM) It's not a bad batch. They are far too consistent for that. Make sure to get enough yeast out that the beer is opaque in the glass. It's very possible that you don't care for white ales. There's nothing wrong with that. Then, years from now, you can't get enough of them. Beer is wonderful. It's also very possible that the beer was manhandled and mistreated somewhere along the way, or it is past its prime. I agree Hoegarden doesn't release bad batches of beer, but there is no guarantee the beer won't be treated poorly in between the brewer and the drinker. That said, witbier flavors are subtle and sublime. I don't know the order SoxFan1 tried his beers but it would be almost pointless to drink the Hoegarden after something like Dead Guy. Next time, let the beer warm just a bit, and take small sips that you can swish to all parts of your tongue. breathe in through your mouth with some of the beer in your mouth to fully engage the olfactory aspects of taste and come back and tell us what you think. The soft wheat, coriander and other seeds, the orange peel flavors, and they very mild lactic tingle are all much more subtle flavors than the hop bitterness and aromas in something like an American pale ale.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jan 7, 2011 -> 11:57 PM) Uncle Tom's Cabin should be rewritten to not mention slavery. Then it would be called Walt Disney's Song of the South. Uncle Remus. . . the Happiest Slave on Earth!

QUOTE (G&T @ Jan 7, 2011 -> 11:54 PM) I love Jasper's Punches. I could slam those all night. I also made the Apply Toddy. I went directly against Imbibe and used Applejack since I don't have access to a better apple brandy. Suspecting that might be a problem I kept the liquor to 1.5 oz for me and 1 oz for my wife (which worked well). I was right as the alcohol was fairly apparent. However, I didn't strain the pulp from the apple and we both felt that made the drink better and it covered the booze pretty well. A smoother alcohol would work better, but some extra sugar would probably work too. Overall, definitely drinkable, and despite some overt alcohol, it was something I want to try again. Lots of variables and plenty to play with. I don't keep any calvados on hand here either, so I always have to sub Applejack when calvados is called for as well. Depending on whether it is the base spirit or the modifying agent, I might add a bit of good brandy to the mix as well to try to approach some of the depth the calvados would bring. Is your Applejack the normal 80-proof or are you lucky enough to get the high-octane Laird's Bonded up your way?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 7, 2011 -> 03:03 PM) Poor teaching isn't a reason to censor a book so as to remove its meaning. If teachers can't properly put the book into context and ensure that the students understand Twain, then they shouldn't be teaching the book at all. Neutering it so that you can have kids read a "classic" just makes the situation worse. FWIW, Twain's probably my favorite writer and I think he should be taught more than he is. I re-read Letters From Earth every couple of years.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 7, 2011 -> 02:59 PM) So, if a person who wound up with something of an advanced degree and who was in advanced-level classes throughout his time in the public education system didn't get that part...what fraction of American students do you think understand it? That just means when your parents and teaches called you their "special student" it wasn't the good kind of special.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 7, 2011 -> 11:09 PM) Season of the Witch getting 1 percent at rotten tomatoes. Don't think I have ever seen that. Wow, Nicholas Cage hasn't made a good film in a long time.

QUOTE (G&T @ Jan 7, 2011 -> 08:53 PM) First thing, those in Chicago have to get some Two Brothers beers. I had the Cane and Ebel tonight and it was excellent. The golden ale is also very good. The French Country Ale probably would be good fresh, but mine was oxidized. Second, I mixed up a Jasper's Punch but didn't want to make the a full batch of mix. I went with: 1 oz lime 1 oz turbinado syrup (I'd go with Demerara but its pricey) bitters and nutmeg to taste 2 oz Wray&Nephew The syrup may be a bone of contention but I wanted to try turbinado for a fuller flavor and I knew it wouldn't dissolve otherwise. I think it turned out very nicely and I find the mouthfeel to be pleasing and not noticeably thicker (the Jaspers is a syrup anyway). I really like the turbinado. Last, it's snowing and there will be about 6 inches by morning. I am going to try to make Apple Toddies using the Imbibe recipe if I can walk and operate an oven. Yay Wray&Nephew and Jasper's Mix! A match made in heaven.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jan 7, 2011 -> 03:10 PM) The Republican Thread? Sorry. I meant to say the other stupid thread.

I think it would make the night more interesting if you answered each other with alphabetical responses like in the stupid thread.

Have fun tonight everyone! If things get really out of hand make sure the cell phone cameras are clicking away to document and share the evidence. The party is useless without pictures.

I just stirred up a martini variant that I really like for tonight's Thursday Drink Night online forum. Tonight's theme is European ingredients, so I'm entering the fray with. . . Elders of the Gentle Race • 2.5 Hendrick’s Gin • 0.5 St. Germaine Elderflower Liqueur Stir w/ice, strain, serve up in a chilled martini glass, top w/3 drops rose flower water. Yumm!

It doesn't matter as long as you play hardball with them until they cave in and pay you in chewing gum like in the TV commercial.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jan 3, 2011 -> 11:49 PM) The Shatner Cannon failed on Mythbusters. Neither Shatner or I are interested. We don't believe in no-win situations.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 3, 2011 -> 06:24 PM) Shatner. I'd fight William Shatner. I'd BE Shatner and fight the Gorn.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 3, 2011 -> 09:39 AM) Actor Pete Postlethwaite has died at the age of 64. I thought he was way older than 64. I really liked him in just about everything he was in.

I have never owned a new car in my life until three weeks ago and I never thought I would either for the depreciation issues noted. But for the base model Prius II I was looking at, there was only a $2K difference between a new 2010 and a 2008 or 2009. That fact, along with the fact that the financing was better on the new car, the fuel efficiency was slightly better, and it came with two years of maintenance and roadside assistance convinced me that new was the way to go this time around. I absolutely am loving the new vehicle — especially the 500+ miles I'm getting out of a tank of gas.

I had pico sours at three different places in Ecuador and each one was different. I had one that was blended smooth with ice, one that was made with boring commercial sour mix, and one that was authentic with the egg white. In all cases, the sprinkling of a few drops or dashes of Ango was part of the recipe. I eagerly await the day when pico is as readily available in more American bars.