This Past Weekend

So, this weekend I:

laughed a lot, but not as much as I hoped I would at

laughed more than I expected to and totally DID NOT cry at but there was a lot of pollen and dust in the room while I watched

celebrated her 9th birthday

got this for TLoML

tried this yummy yummy beer (Kona & Maui Brewing Companies make the best argument for relocating to the Aloha State)

spent far too much time with this guy (have just started the 5th week of P90X Doubles)

finished this good stuff

started this remember this being good in 10th Grade

watched the latest episodes of and NPH got it done on all fronts this week (tho' Segal absolutely killed, as per usual)

tried out this very, very tasty cake recipe mine didn't look quite that good. BTW, if you make it, double the KoolAid like I did (accidentally yesterday, on purpose from now on)

all in all, a good weekend. How was yours?

Boise Beer Fest 2010

Like last year, it's taken me a lot longer than planned/expected to get around to writing up anything on Boise Beer Fest 2010.

While I enjoyed 2009's festival, I thought there was room for improvement. As did many others--including the people who put on the fest :) They got a bigger space, spread out the lines more, and got in more food vendors, and a few other improvements that were all smaller than their effect. It was as close to perfect as you can ask for (the weather helped, too). While I wouldn't call the atmosphere last year as anything approaching businesslike, it seemed a lot more laid back this year (probably because we weren't herded together into such a tight group).

and finally, some thoughts on the brews I sampled:

• Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale (Stone Brewing) - Basically, it's Arrogant Bastard with a little extra zing. Pretty good way to start the day.
  
• Devastator (Wasatch Brewery) - Nice, still had the aftertaste of Self-Righteous going on, so I'm not sure how to describe it, but I liked it and fully intend to buy some as soon as I can.
  
• Summer Ale (Crescent Brewery) - from Nampa, ID's very own new brewery, so new they don't have a website. This was fruity, sweet and totally not for me. But it was well made, could tell it was good.
  
• Georgetown Porter (Georgetown Brewery) - had this last year under its old name, 9lb Porter. Still nice, a very pleasant reunion.
  
• Great Divide Claymore Scotch Ale - very flavorful, I really like this. Will be back for more.
  
• Great Divide Yeti - I've had a few bottles of this from Brewforia, and I'll have a few more. Tastes slightly better on tap (not news, there, I know)
  
• 90 Shilling Ale (Odell Brewing) - TLomL and I both couldn't think of a better way to describe the taste than "simple." But that's not bad, it's a simple, straightforward ale. Very tasty, probably worth more than 90 shillings.
  
• Crescent Brewery ESB - another entry from the local boys...very alcoholy taste, but it pulls it off. Yummy.
  
• Black Cat Porter (Mac & Jack's Brewery) - a sweet porter (what?), tasty, tasty...a very non-porter-ish porter.
  
• Oatis Oatmeal Stout (Ninkasi Brewing) - Nothing all that distinctive, but very nice, will keep my eye open for this one. The guy working the tap gave me a hard time for taking notes, but how was I supposed to remember how to spell Ninkasi when I made it back to my seat? Phonics would be no help here.
  
• Dragonstooth Stout (Elysian Brewing) - can't describe it (my palate needs more training and/or a better vocabulary), nice stout that doesn't taste like most stouts (I realize I've described the last two similarly, but best I can do)
  
• Turbodog (Abita Beer) - this is a brown? Really? Brown Ales are typically my favorite, but this one seems very atypical (whoops, there it is again). Very nice, very flavorful.

Bring on Beer Fest 2011!

Beer and More Beer

This weekend I finally got the chance to stop by Boise's new/first/only specialty Beer Market, Brewforia, something I've been meaning to do for a few months now. What a great store! The staff was incredibly friendly, and tried to be helpful (I prefer to stumble around under the power of my own whims in places like this at first), if you're a local, you really need to give it a shot (assuming you're a beer drinker).

The selection was a bit overwhelming, and man, it made me wish I'd done a better job of reading the Boise Beer Updates on TreasuredValley.com--or that I'd actually planned the trip, so I could've done some homework. I walked out with a small selection, and a few mental notes for next time--and there will be a next time, and soon. This visit, I walked out with:

• Great Divide Brewing's Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout
  
• Bison Brewing's Chocolate Stout
  
• Black Sheep Brewery's Monty Python's Holy GrAil -- I mean, you just have to try one, right?
  
• Kona's Fire Rock Pale Ale a favorite of TLomL from the Boise Beer Fest last year.

Speaking of the Beer Fest, at dinner just before we went to the store, I'd had a pleasant reunion with a couple other things we'd sampled there (Mac & Jack's African Amber and 9lb. Porter). All in all, a very nice evening.

In addition, on my weekly grocery shopping trip I stumbled upon Big Sky Brewing's Bobo's Robust Porter.

So, all in all, gonna be an interesting couple of weeks. I'll try to keep you posted.

Yeah, That Sounds Like Me...

Read an interesting article on Advertising Age's site yesterday (I was hotlinked to it, this is not normal reading material for me, as interesting as a lot of it seems).

It started off by saying something that beer snobs (like lit snobs, theology snobs, coffee snobs, music snobs...well, you get the idea) already knew:

Your choice of beer can be as telling about your personality as what kind of clothing you wear or the car that you drive. And if you don't drink suds at all, or change brands depending on your mood -- well, that says something too.

The concept of beer-as-window-to-the-soul comes from Mindset Media, the market researcher specializing in psychographics. The company started out with a theory that with so many opinions and brand loyalty around beer, the choice people make must be connected to personality.

Decent theory. Actually seems sorts self-evident when you think about it (something I noticed a lot in my undergrad days when doing psych research, the trick is coming up with the self-evident theory). I thought the findings were quite interesting... Naturally, Mindset Media's really not looking to find out interesting things about beer drinker's personalities, but are looking to find out new and more effective ways to get people to drink particular beers.

The article as a whole is worth the read, but the things I focused on included:

• BUDWEISER
  True to form, Bud drinkers are sensible, grounded and practical. They are the polar opposite of daydreamers and don't easily get carried away. These beer drinkers also don't like authority—can anyone say union?—and are emotionally steady people who live in the here and now. ... Budweiser drinkers are 42% more likely to drive a truck than the average person [duh]
  
• BUD LIGHT
  Are Bud Light drinkers just Bud guzzlers on a diet? Not a chance. Bud Light personalities actually skew quite different from their more-caloric sibling. Keep in mind, this was the beer choice for President Barack Obama during his so-called "Beer Summit" this summer when he invited police officer James Crowley and Harvard professor Henry Gates over to the White House for a beer and a make-up chat. (The cop chose Blue Moon and the professor selected Red Stripe.)
  
  Bud Light drinkers profile as lacking in carefulness. They are grounded like their Bud brethren, but respect authority. Bud Lighters can also have frat boy-like personalities, particularly when it comes to personal risk-taking. In regard to others, these good-time guys and gals are accepting of most everyone and generally easy to get along with. [I won't say anything about anyone in particular here, but I'm related to a lot of Bud Light drinkers and found great amusement in reading this]
  
• CORONA
  "Where's the party?" is probably an oft-asked question by Corona and Corona Light drinkers. They are busy and energetic people who are also extremely extroverted. They're people persons who seek out the company of others whether in a group or just one-to-one. Corona drinkers do more and see more people in one day than most people see in a week. But the life-of-the-party Corona drinkers also have an altruistic side; they care deeply about other people and see themselves as giving and warm. [I've gotta say, this one comes closer to describing the Corona drinker's I know/have known than any of the rest of the brand specific findings they listed.]
  
• HEINEKEN
  There's a slang term that could sum up Heineken drinkers: posers. [BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!] These self-assured people believe they are exceptional, get low scores on modesty and high scores on self-esteem. They love their brand badges—a role the distinctive green glass bottle may play—and in fact, this group is attracted to luxury products in general. They are also energetic and dynamic and enjoy being both the center of attention and in the middle of the action. [Okay, this might be a tad more accurate than the Corona stuff, and it has the added bonus of being really funny. I'd say no offense to Heineken readers among my readership, but I'm pretty sure I don't have any]
  
• CRAFT BEERS
  These specialty made beers get lumped into one category both because there are fewer fans (and thus less statistically significant data) of them, but also because the personalities of one type fairly well describe another. This group is more likely to spend time thinking about beer rather than work. [Ayyyymen!] They are more open-minded than most people, seek out interesting and varied experiences and are intellectually curious. Craft-beer drinkers also skew as having a lower sense of responsibility—they don't stress about missed deadlines and tend to be happy-go-lucky about life. [TLoML and I had another in a long series of conversations about my attitude towards deadlines this morning, so I found this one particularly interesting.]
  

(h/t: Treasured Valley)

Boise Beer Fest 2009

One of the greatest things about blogging is the immediacy of publishing--as soon as an event happens (or even while it's still going on)--descriptions, reviews, photos, etc. can be put out there for the world to see. Which is why I'm just now talking about a two-day event that started 17 days ago.

I am so on top of things.^*

The weather couldn't have been better for this event at Ann Morrison Park--more than warm enough, but not the swelter that August can bring. The weather was a double-blessing in that there were HUGE numbers of people that attended, and the B.O. generated under the beer tents was bad enough already--if it'd been hotter, it probably couldn't turned off more than a few appetites. But it was the perfect setting for a really great local experience. (and yes, I assure you, my underage niece only drank Monster energy drinks, pretty sure she was holding one while I snapped that picture of us)

I've read some criticism of the pricing--token system vs. admission price. I had no problem with the tokens, after buying a $5 sample mug the tokens were $1/ea. which could be traded in for roughly 1/3 of a mug (or a can of Oly...shudder)--I bought the smallest package, and couldn't use them all up, and walked away very satisfied with my intake. We gave our extra tokens to my niece who could turn in 3 for a can of Monster. I should note that I didn't have to shell out anything for my mug as I won mine from a radio station (Thanks BOB!), but The Love of my Life and my sister did, and there were similarly pleased with the value.

I was only there for a few hours, and didn't move around a whole lot so I'm not claiming any sort of exhaustive knowledge, but in the time I was there, we only saw 2 people who'd over-indulged. And the Festival volunteers and Police were quick to assist them out of the area.

We could only come up with a few needed improvements: more chairs, more food vendors (I'm sorry, a 45 min. wait after you've paid for French Fries is inexcusable, no matter how big the plate or how nummy nummy they looked), and more space--I've been in mosh pits with more breathing room--both outside the beer tents and within them. A little wiggle room goes a long way.

Let's see, I think I've covered everything in my disorganized ramble...oh, whoops, I forgot the beer! Here's what I sampled (some more than once):

Mac & Jack's African Amber: I'd had this about 3 years ago when I was in Seattle for a weekend, loved it then. Really enjoyed it now--it was hoppier than I recalled, but still yummy. My sister showed up a few hours after we did and they'd run out by that time--apparently we weren't the only ones to enjoy it.
Budweiser American Ale: based on a recommendation of a friend, I'd been tempted to try this one for a while, but really couldn't bring myself to spend money on an Anheuser-Busch product, so this was the perfect chance for me. It wasn't horrible. Pretty fruity. Can't see myself buying another one, but I probably wouldn't turn down a free one.
Perseus Porter Gave this coffee-ish porter a solid B, and will not hesitate to try it again.
Sierra Nevada's Brown Saison: blech.
Arrogant Bastard Ale I wasn't sure what to try after that disappointment, and then TLomL spotted the banner for Stone Brewing. After reaffirming my love and devotion, I hastened to this line for a couple tokens worth of one of my favorites.
Full Sail Imperial Porter This was pretty good, and I've not had great success with Full Sail beers in the past (never picked the right one), but I'll keep an eye out for this one.
Fire Rock Pale Ale From Kona Brewing Co., maker of the only other beer I've talked about on the blog. This was a pleasant surprise, and definately helped me get over my disappointment in their Porter not being available. I think both my sister and wife went back for seconds and maybe thirds (I would've too if I'd had the time).
Georgetown Brewing Company's 9lb. PorterMy notes on this one read simply, "niiiiice". Truly a shame I didn't have time to try other beers by Georgetown, they looked/sounded great. Even a greater shame that they don't bottle their beers yet so I could buy 'em here.

While I was waiting in line for the 9lb., a gentleman in his late 50's/early 60's standing next to me asked if I'd heard of a couple of the other beers from Georgetown and we chatted a bit about how nice the Fest was and how we were both surprised at how many people were there to which he added, "Yup, this makes me think there's hope for Boise yet."

Now, I don't know that I'd go quite that far, but I had a lot of fun and am looking forward to next year's.



^* I really have no idea why it's taken me this long, I sat down to write this 6-7 times before the 10th.

Banzaiiiii!

Don't think I've done this before, but it's the kind of thing I've been meaning to do for awhile. In particular, Micah, Alex, and maybe Josh, and Julie will hopefully benefit from these* (sorry, kletois, doubt I'll find anything you can sample). I tried a new beer today, and figured it deserved a Tip of the Cap: Kona Brewing Co's Pipeline Porter. Don't ask me how this one made it to the shelves around here--never heard of this brewery before.

At first taste this is a very simple, nice porter. That alone makes it worth the space in the fridge. But, and this is why I'm bothering to write about it, after the initial smooth (very smooth) taste--comes a nice little hint of the 100% Kona coffee beans it's brewed with. Not over-powering, nothing that'll make you think it's your morning cup of coffee...just a nuance you're not going to get with another porter. This isn't one of those silly beers with caffeine or anything, either--the coffee's around for it's very pleasant, subtle flavor. (if you needed more then the apostolic and Solomonic injunctions against drunkenness, you will totally miss the beauty of this porter if you've had too much).

* As always, feel free to reciprocate :)