FlaSoxxJim

Full Sail is quite good, so of course I have no hope of getting it here. I'm suprised you can't get the Red Hook stuff in OK, I thought their distribution was close to national (the only reason to get in bed with AB). They are doing something odd with the Red Hook distribution here too. Their flagship ESB, pretty much the beer that made them, is almost impossible to find here now. Instead the distributors are carrying their newly relabled IPA (formerly their Ballard Bitter - more to come on that) as the brewery's flagship offering. The ESB was better from the standpoint that there are enough hooy west coast pale ales in circulation, but not as many malt-accentuated ales. Their nut brown is a nice beer, compares favorably with Goose Island's Hexnut Brown and not as heavily hopped as Pete's Wicked Brown used to be. Their Winter Hook has been outstanding the last two seasons, I wish I had brought a case to tide me over 'til next year. Black Hook porter is good and Wheat Hook is better than yer average lawnmower beer. To stick with the west coast themed weekend had a new Red Hook product yesterday called Sunrye that I had not ween before. Interesting in that it is very light in color and body but does have some rye in the grain bill so there is a unique dryness in the finish that only rye gives. A little later I'll put together quick thoughts on the half-dozen or so west coast beers I sampled over the weekend, hopefully ater a Sox series win tonight.

For a holiday spin during Christmas, play 'Bob' but make it 'Who' and watch the Grinch cartoon. 'Every WHO down in WHOville...' and whatnot. You will need a designated driver after that one.

Bob Ballard IS arrogant, to be sure. In addition to finding the Titanic in 1985, he was part of the 1977 Woods Hole Alvin expedition that first discovered chemosynthetic rift vent communities in the deep sea. A huge deal since it was the first time an entire community not dependent on sunlight as the original source of energy. He was more the explorer and less the scientist in both instances, but he let it all go to his head. I think he's on the money now though. Marine archeological sites need protection from natural and man-made threats, and sometimes you have to treat gravesites more solemn than a tourist attraction.

One ran at 9 and one at 10 here, so there was no similar conflict - though I missed the top of the first inning of the game last night watching the Titanic thing.

Whoa Cheat, that is great. Thanks.

Sacks packed for Uribe...

K!!

Damn!

Line out to Lee.

PK f***s up the foul out!!! Damn

Marte in to face Ichiro

Garland has tired out. timm for the pen.

Nor do I. I want him.

Can we take him home with us?

Caballo with an RBI double extends his streak!!! Garcia gone.

Frank Ks. 2 gone. C'mon Carlos!

Good sac bunt by Uribe. Willie on second and Frank up.

Fly out to Timo!!!

No walks might be what I like best about the outing... just gave up a hit to Boone though.

He is. He retired the first 6 he faced and hit 93 on a fastball in the 3rd, and has stayed tough since. Hope they get him the win.

Ah, Tex is very efficient indeed. Alas, my easy beer stop on the way home had NO Grants beers tonight (I'll get some at another place tomorrow), so I have had to expand my evening's menu. I have kept it in the west and mostly on the west coast in honor of the hopeful turnaround in the road trip due to start tonight. I think that since there's no telling what people will be able to find locally (Chicagoans are in preyyt good shape, and there are some great beer stores there), anyone who wants to play along shoul dpick up some of their favorite west/west coast offereings, or something they've wanted to try for a while. Then we'll all compare notes. I can give some stylistic and/or brewery history as people find things they like. I think I want to wait until people chime in and say what they might have had before or are in the processe of having. That way I know I'm not talking to myself. Some west/west coast things most people should be able to find (I'll stick with those): Anchor Brewing Co., San Fran (late, to knock aout the better forgotten Oakland leg of the trip). Even though you have probably all tried it you might not know Anchor Steam is a WORLD CLASSIC. "Steam", also known as 'California common' is a distinct lager style, and Anchor produces the only widely available commercial version (they also own a trademark on the name 'Steam' and will sue anyone who tries to use it). Anchor's Liberty Ale and Christmas Ales (not available now, natch) are also very nice, and their Porter is interesting in that it uses a lager (bottom fermenting) yeast, instead of the ale yeast (top fermenting) traditional to the style. Steam is one of the beers I'll be enjoying tonight. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico CA. Sierra Pale Ale is the other bona fide WORLD CLASSIC from the west coast that is readily available. Sierra was not the first American craft micro, but it was one of the first and is the one that made real in-roads. The defunct New Albion Brewery was the first, but it didn't make it. Sierra Pale Ale is THE archetypal west coast American Pale Ale, hoppy, clean, and slightly fruity. It is based on the headbrewer's homebrew recipe circa 1978, and is still bottle conditioned (live yeast in the bottle provide carbonantion). Sierra's seasonals (Celebration, Big Foot barleywine) are classics we can hit when the season comes around. Their stout and porter are enjoyable, if unspectacular, and their American wheat is refreshing enough for what it is. Also be on the lookout for the Grants stuff, Rogue, Red Hook (now 1/2-owned by Anhauser but still making quality stuff), Pyramid, Mendecino Brewing Company. Streatching the west coast inland to include Colorado, you should be able to find Flying Dog (I'll also be drinking their pale ale tonight) and if you are licky (I'm not ), New Belgium. Fat Tire is New Belgium's flagship beer, but they don't make a bad beer. Good beer hunting.

For anyone with cable, no Friday night plans, and no FSN Sox game, the Discovery Science Channel is airing a new program on the search for useful druds from the sea. The marine research facility I work for (HBOI) is the primary focus of the show. It's pretty good, I saw tape of the show earlier in the week. Shows a lot of our at-sea ship and submersible work. Check your local listings, it's on at 9pm out here. http://science.discovery.com/convergence/s...p/medicine.html Of course, the show is running up against Bob Ballards 20/20 Return to the Titanic piece, which should also be good. Their sub goes down about 4x as deep as ours, but ours is a lot better for mid-depth (to 3,000 feet) work.

I was actually excited about doing something like that when the 'blog' feature was added to this site and I planned a weekly Flaxx Beer Blog oe something. Just as quickly, the feature died and so I never bothered. I have hosted a benefit beer tasting for my institution and it was well received. They had done wine tastings and we were looking to get people to see that the best beers can be just as complex and subtle and elegant as any wine. In that event we tasted I think 12 styles (*hic*), but they were just 2 oz servings. I was restricted in the progression of styles because of the need to conserve taste buds by going lighter/low alcohol at first, and then getting darker and/or stronger through the evening. Any time someone comes over or invites me to a party, it usually becomes a beer tasting exploration usually, too. For SoxTalk, maybe we could do a seasonal deal - hitting summer beers, festbiers, winter warmers, etc., as appropriate? Or maybe we can do it based on the Sox' road schedule while they're on road trips. For example, everyone could try to get some Bert Grant's beers to enjoy while we hopefully make short work of the M's over the weekend. Mmm, getting thirsty. I think I'll stop off and get some Grants tonight. For those playing along, they make a light wheat (the only American wheat I really like), a celtic ale (decent), a scottish ale (maltier, stronger, and better), a 'Perfect Porter' that is less stout-like and closer to a trad porter (but with west coast hops), an India pale ale (hoppy, but not as hoppy as the historic style), and a really really good russian imperial stout (rich, thick, sweet, alcoholic). If I'm lucky, I can find 2 or 3 of the above at any given time here in the beer wasteland.

Ah, Belgian beer. Belgium is the Disneyland of beer styles, DHABO, with a couple hundred recognized STYLES (not just brands) to its credit. We do get Leffe in the states, and I have had a couple of their offerings. Their brews are "Abbey Style" beers – in the tradition of the great monastic beers but not brewed by monks (There are only 6 actual brewing monastaries left in the world; all but 1 are in Belgium and the other is a short hop away in the Netherlands). As Abbey beers, they are high in alcohol (6-9% or so), use pedigreed ale yeasts that grant unique flavor profiles on the beers (fruity to earthy to sour to phenolic, etc.) and use ingredients like brown sugar, candy sugar, etc., to up the alcohol without making the beer overly heavy in body. I've had the Leffe golden and the triple (probably my favorite Belgian style after wits and gueze-lambics). I'm not aware of a Leffe "Bruges". Bruges is a historic Belgian brewing town, with over 30 breweries before WWI but, sadly, only a couple now. It sounds like what you are describing might be their 'bruin' - or brown ale. I haven't had Leffe's version but I know they make one. The style is quite different than English browns (malty-sweet) or American browns (Brit-inspired but usually with west coast hop assertiveness). It's often earthy or malty or sweet, but the sweetness is from fruity esters (fermentation products), not malt sugar. The country versions tend to have a refreshing sourness to them, often placed in their own category the "Flemmish Browns). The sourness is often due to a bit of bacterial contamination and co-fermentation. In the states, you'll lose your job in the brewery if you let in an infection like that, but in a lot of classic Belgian styles it's part of the flavor profile. Keep drinking the good stuff!

21 is a good one. I recall becoming very popular with all my friends who weren't quite there when it came time to go beverage shopping. Make sure to tack on a surcharge Have fun