Brewery: Stone Brewing Company, Escondido, CA

Brewery Description: Our flagship ale, Stone Pale Ale is our Southern California interpretation of the classic British pale ale style.  Deep amber in color, Stone Pale Ale is robust and full flavored.  A delicate hop aroma is complimented by a rich maltiness.  This is an ale for those who have learned to appreciate distinctive flavor.  Stone Pale Ale is great by itself, or with food that requires a beer of character.

Brew Style: American Pale Ale, 5.4% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Pint, Mug or Stein

The Ugly Truth: This whole review is going to be filled with the usual Stone Brewery love-fest ramblings you should all pretty much expect by now if you have been keeping up.  I’ve gone on record as saying that I love these guys and their beer, and frankly if you don’t enjoy their offerings than don’t even talk to me cause I’m liable to go off on you faster than Glenn Close in “Fatal Attraction”.

As usual, Stone Pale Ale doesn’t disappoint. The beer pours a dark amber in color with a hazy look to it possibly due to some dry hopping.  The head was an off-white, pretty lacy and with a strong retention to it.  The aroma was freakin’ solid.  I could smell it off the pour and even when the glass was a good foot or so away from me.  It had a noticeable citrus hops profile, with a bit of malt in there to balance.  The majority of the nose was hops however.

The taste was smooth as all get out.  Moderate hops profile which really kicked in towards the end with the citrus hop flavors coming through clean through the malt.  Not overly bitter in the finish, but lingers at a nice intensity that should appeal to even the weakest of hops palettes.  Mouthfeel is light medium to medium I would say with a clean finish to it, on the dry side.

Overall, just damn good.  I could drop a six pack of this without blinking and for an aging man such as myself that’s easier said than done.  Perfect amount of hops so that you get the flavor without it making the mistake of some Pale Ales and start pushing the boundaries of being an India Pale Ale.  Very, very smooth and a great Pale Ale for those who don’t want a lot of hops.

The Verdict: I was gonna go 9, but after writing the review I don’t see how I can go less than a 10 bottlecap rating.

Brewery: Samuel Adams (Boston Beer Company), Boston, MA

Commercial Description: This rich and malty ale originated in Ireland in 1710. It has a deep red color and distinctive caramel flavor from its Pale and Caramel malts. The malt sweetness is balanced by the earthy notes of East Kent Goldings hops. Cheers!

Brew Style: Irish Red Ale, 5.5% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Engligh Pint, Dimpled Mug, Stein

The Ugly Truth: You know what, people can say what they want about Sam Adams but I love their beer.  I’ve rarely ever had a Sam A’s I haven’t liked.  And sadly down in the lower reaches of civilization, I can’t get access to their full range of small market brews available in Boston but fortunately they decided to open up the Irish Red to a wider market.

Sam Adams Irish Red is a solid Irish Red.  Nothing that will knock out you of the park, but certainly not something bottom of the barrel for taste and craftsmanship.  The beer pours a beautiful deep amber color with ruby highlights when help up the light.  It presents with a foamy tan head with low retention which reduced quickly after the pour.  The aroma churned up by the pour was great and strong enough that I could smell it without even having to get my nose into the glass.  Hefty caramel malt sweetness to the aroma, with no true hops profile present.  There was a hint of toffee in there as well, which rounded out the whole aroma nicely.

The taste was equally good. It had a very smooth and rich flavor to it, with a slightly slick mouthfeel and medium light to medium body. The caramel promised in the aroma comes through in the flavor, with the added hint of a buttery texture to it. No hops present, which is typically for the brew style. Solid finish, pretty dry and not overly sweet and had a slight alcohol warmness that lingered through.

Overall, a solid Irish Red style beer. I did think it could have been a little drier, but that didn’t detract from the experience. Its the typical offering from Sam Adams: a well brewed and crafted beer that was enjoyable.

Verdict: SA’s Irish Red scores an 8 out of 10 bottlecaps.

The Realtouch Virtual Sex system (USB compatible).

found via warrenellis

Brewery: McSorley’s Brewery, Wilkes-Barre, PA (who just happens to be owned by Pabst Brewing Company / G. Heileman Brewing Co.)

Brewery Description: We brew McSorley’s Ale with carefully malted barley and European style hops to create a light bodied, aromatic, Irish style specialty Ale.  Craft brewed with the same care and attention to detail that has made McSorley’s a regional favorite since John McSorley’s 1854 arrival in the United States.

Brew Style: American Pale Ale/Irish specialty Ale (please note, BA has it listed as APA.  Ratebeer has it as an Irish ale.  From my taste of it, its some bastidization of the two), 5.93% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Pint glass or Mug

The Ugly Truth: sigh…I had hopes.  I really and truly did.  The label said Irish specialty Ale, which made me go “Hey, that might be some good stuff”.  Then I started writing the review and drank it.  Then I looked up who makes it.

Its PBR with a leprachuan hat thrown on to confuse you.

Bastids.

The appearence at least was good, with a strong amber color and an off white head with decent retention to it.  Slightly hazy, unfiltered look but this was pretty minimal.  Aroma was probably the best part of it.  Hops aroma, thought not very strong, and a bit of a buscuity malt presence that worked well.  Wasn’t anything remarkable about, but it wasn’t horrible.

Taste.  The TASTE.  First thoughts into my head “Oh Jesus, what the hell is that?!”.  Its just tasted…wrong somehow.  It has no hops flavor to it, but presents with this strange fruity/sweet flavor that doesn’t so much carress as rapes your taste buds.  Just not really that pleasent of a taste.  It almost tastes like they started brewing PBR, then threw something in there to try and make it an Irish Ale or whatever its supposed to be.  It just wasn’t good, whatever it was.  The finish is lingering, and just is massively sticky sweet.  Again, it was just freakin’ wierd tasting.

Overall, I’m in no rush to try it again.  Hell, it took some effort to finish the bottle I had.  I’ll chuck it a few points for the aroma and appearance but Lord it wasn’t good.

Verdict: 4 bottlecaps out of 10, like the clover I’m going to chew to scrape my taste buds clean.

The next year I carved out the insides of books and hid the real presents in there. It was fun to hear “Thank you so much!” from a sibling who thught I had actually given her Our Friend the Nematode.

This year I’ve got way more presents than family members. But none of the presents have names on them, just a number. Everyone gets a copy of a short story I’ve written and a question, the correct answer to which is a number that corresponds to the correct present. If you get the wrong answer though - and they’re trick questions so there’s a good chance you will - you’ll be unwrapping coal (and of course I went to special lengths to make sure you can’t tell before you open it).

Next year? Hmmm. I dunno yet, but I’ve got 12 months to figure it out.

Majel Barrett-Roddenberry died of leukemia last thursday, December 18th. She portrayed the characters Nurse Christine Chapel in Star Trek TOS, and Lwaxana Troi in Star Trek TNG. She also provided the computer’s voice in all Trek movies and series, except Enterprise. She was the widow of Gene Roddenberry, creator of the Star Trek franchise.

More here.

First up is Arisia,  January 16-19 at the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge.
Boskone is up next at the Westin Waterfront, Frebruary 13-15.
AnimeBoston will be late this year - not til May 22-24 - at the Hynes. BTW, my inside source at AB assures me that the registration issues that resulted in intolerably long lines at AB2008 have been given the highest priority and will not be a problem for AB2009. (so if you have a long wait to get in, let me know and I’ll tell you who to beat up)

NESFA has a big list of northeast area conventions here.

Brewery Description: “This classic premium lager brew is crafted with a healthy infusion of 6-row barley, plus a unique combination of Pacific domestic and Yugoslavian hops.  Aged at high gravity, PBR is then cellared and then finished to the smooth, robust likeness of a fine Pilsner.  There’s no finer way to drink.”

Brew Style: American Lager/Macrobrew, 4.74% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Pint, Pilsner, or Brown paper bag wrapped around the can to hide your freakin’ shame you poor bastid.

The Ugly Truth: You know, I think its poetic that I chose PBR as the first beer I’ve reviewed in a little over 4 months.  Its considered a classic by some, loved and revered by the Hipster crowd and generally considered to be one of the giants of the cheap beer kingdom.

I now find myself here, typing at my computer in the late hours of the evening to bring you the truth, the Law even.  Laws and Truths more profound than those delivered by Moses as he descended Mount Sinai to confront the worshipers of false idols.  I am here to reveal what that brewery description seeks to obscure, to burn away the fog created by pop culture and advertising men.  My people, read that description.  Read it close and then bend your ears and hearken to the words that now flow from my tongue like luxurious streams of Guinness:

THEY ARE F*CKING LYING TO YOU!

Whoever wrote that description is in league with the Devil.  That has got to be one of the most inaccurate, misleading and blatantly false brewery descriptions ever posted here.  If PBR actually tasted like that, there would be a plethora of virgins singing its praises and bringing its healing powers to the unwashed, thirsty masses.  As it stands in its stark reality, drinking PBR is akin to having someone pour some corn syrup cut with water and a shot of alcohol into your mouth and telling you should be glad, THANKFUL even, that you are lucky to have that.

The appearance is the only thing its got going, since it accurately reflects that of the American Lager.  A pale yellow straw color, that if it went any lighter would be indistinguishable from the color of Larry Bird’s skin.  A frothy white head that disappeared faster than a Ho-ho at a Overeater’s Anonymous meeting, and light carbonation rising to the top.  The aroma was that of an Indiana cornfield in late fall, not something that should be present in a beer.  No where, and I mean no where my friends, was there a hint of Pacific domestic and Yugoslavian hops.

The taste…I wanted to scrape my tongue afterward.  I might as well have been drinking water for all the flavor that was there.  Just nothing appealing to it.  I know what some are thinking: “But…but that’s the American Lager style.”.  Well, my response to that is this:  there is a reason why PBR and the like are heavily marketed to college kids and the bar crowd, because those are the people who care the least about flavor.  There is a bit of dryness, not much, and the flavor is dominated my malt and a corn sweetness to it.  No aftertaste to speak of, just a lingering feeling of despair and disappointment with the experience that will cling to you more than the stink of the bar you were drinking in.

So I beg you my people, turn a deaf ear to the Hipsters and ad executives who wish to lead you down the false path.  Have faith and be strong.  Order something else, something with flavor, and say to the PBR: “I know you for what you are, and I cast you out demon-swill!”.

Verdict: 2 out of 10 bottlecaps, to represent the twin horns of Deciet and Malice that PBR wears.

Cafe Press is a great source for unique gifts for just about anyone. You can choose from thousands of items that other people have already designed or upload your own designs for a more personal touch. Be sure to consult the product templates page so your gifts don’t wind up looking stupid by accident.

Archie McPhee is a longtime favorite of mine for silly and kitchy stuff. Bacon flavored dental floss, Jesus air freshener, pickle band-aids, the boxing nun puppet, pirate lunch box….

Along similar lines are Baron Bob, Stupid.com and Wicked Cool Stuff.

American Science and Surplus has a lot of random items including robot parts, lab equipment, magnets and toys.

The Onion Store has a lot of… well pretty much the kind of stuff you’d expect from The Onion.

Entertainment Earth has a huge selection of action figures.

Despair.com puts a downer twist on the inspirational posters around your office.

ThinkGeek has lots of unique, cool, techy stuff.

X-treme Geek has more of the stuff that ThinkGeek’s got, but on a web page that’s somewhere between annoying and miserable to navigate.

Session3: Why is there a boulder flying at my head?

Session 4: RUN AWAY!! RUN AWAY!!!

On a different note, there is a very strong chance that you will see a return of Big Remy’s Beer Review either Friday or Monday.  So take heart True Believers, I will return!

Video Games Live concert at the Citi Center on Friday 11/21. Features orchestral and choral arrangements of music from video games.

Benefit for Greyhound Friends in Waltham on Saturday, 11/22. Buy some crafts and help out the doggies we put out of work with question 3.

Bazaar Bizarre at the Castle at Park Plaza on Sunday 12/7. Unique crafts from local artists.

1) I’ve started a Descent: Road to Legends campaign with some friends and will be posting a running journal of the game at the BostonGeek alt site for boardgame reviews, Big Remy’s Board Game Blog.  Here’s the report from the first session.

2) I apologize for the fact that there hasn’t been a beer review in over a month.  Between the price of gas and the state of the economy right now, money has been tight on a combined teacher (the wife) and student’s (mine) salary and beer money is the first thing to go.  Things are looking to be on an upswing moneywise so hopefully soon I’ll be able to get back on track.  Thanks for the patience and emails with suggestions of beer.

That’s all for now.

Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
Skype: bostongeek
Voice: 1.617.418.4113

Production Engineer: Carl “Crazylegs” Reyes
Post-production/Editing: Colin “Rock N’ Roll” Rego
All music composed and recorded by Karl “Captain Damage” Kornfeld.

From everything I’ve seen and read, I was pretty on the fence about ever wanting to play 4E.  I really, really like 3E/3.5E.  Everything I’ve seen about 4E screams “This is for first time RPGers who only experience is WoW”.  Which, in and of itself, is fine, I really don’t have a problem with it.  My problem has come with people trying to convince me that 4E is in some way better than 3E/3.5E for people who like “realistic” mechanics in their RPGs.  I’ve listened to the arguements, but haven’t heard anything convincing.

But now something has come along that has pushed me over the edge into the territory of having no desire to play it.  DnD 4E is available as an application on Facebook.

I’ll say it again….FACEBOOK!

Any RPG system that can be distilled down to a minor application for a social networking program like Facebook is not something I would call worth playing.  Will I never try it…probably not I’m sure at some point my Will save will fail and I’ll try it out to be fair, but I’m not encouraged by this discovery.

Arrogant Bastard and Stone Brewery have come to North Carolina and Chapel Hill finally.  This place immediately became less of a hell for me to live in.

THANK YOU JESUS!

Catch a glimpse of what GM has in-store, as they celebrate their 100th by hitting the embedded video at about 8:30 am EDT (pre-recorded, introductory video begins at about 7:50 am EDT).

Drove down. Drove back. Atlanta.

Now let us never speak of the shortcut again.

Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
Skype: bostongeek
Voice: 1.617.418.4113

Production Engineer: Carl “Crazylegs” Reyes
Post-production/Editing: Colin “Rock N’ Roll” Rego
All music composed and recorded by Karl “Captain Damage” Kornfeld.

Come and take a look!

The-other-Carl, Colin and I were were there to witness the incredible spectacle that is Dragon*con. I’m trying to figure out how to describe how amazing it is and find myself coming up short. It isn’t just a science fiction convention, it isn’t just a big sf/fantasy/gaming convention, it’s freaking huge. It spans four large hotels turning Atlanta, Georgia into a writhing sea of geekness for four days. You must attend this convention before you die!

Probably the most notable aspect of DC is the number of fans in costume. The evenings in the hotel lounges and bars are giant costume parties. We hung out for hours, people watching and mingling with other fans in costume - oh, didn’t I mention that one of us was in costume? Yeah, I was a klingon. A blonde klingon. In a business suit. That’s me in the picture above…But I digress…The costume parade is wave after wave of characters from movies, tv and comics that takes more than half an hour to pass.

Here’s a Photo Gallery, I’ve got videos also, but It’ll need some editing. I’ll put links in the comments to this post.

There were dozens of fan and celebrity pannels. So many that it was often hard to choose between concurrent events. Fortunately, most of the most popular ones were repeated. A few of the pannels we attended included open Q&As with the stars of Star Wars, Farscape, DS9, SG1/Atlantis and Firefly/Serenity. We also attended smaller pannels with George Takei, Erin Gray, James Marsters and Cliff Simon.

Dragon*con is host to the official Miss Klingon Empire beauty pageant. Judgeing this year were Michael Dorn (Worf), Ethan Philips (Neelix), James Cawley (Peter Kirk in fanfilms), Domenic Keating (Malcolm Reed), and beauty pageant agent and veteran contestant Autumn-Sky Boothe. As I’ve mentioned here before, the winner of last year’s MKE, VarkNa B’traughH, is a very good friend of mine. She was in attendance as was MKE 1999, Gunner H’nter, the very first Miss Klingon Empire. And of course as  klingon myself, I was not about to miss this event. It was great fun, as expected, with one of the contestants, Lady Vik, reciting  a love poem to Michael Dorn, who climbed onstage to deliver her a long passionate kiss. I’ll put a link to video in the comments so you can find out who won.

Merchandise booths filled three ballrooms on two floors of the Marriott. There was lots of gaming; a large artists room; many guest authors and writer’s pannels; and the celebrity Walk of Fame where fans wait in line to pay $20 to meet a star and have them sign a picture (ok, it not really my thing, but lots of people like it).

It would be remiss of me not to give recognition to the Atlanta Police and other security personnel. The crowds were unbelievable - and everyone was there to party. Yet I heard of no police/security incidents, nor even any antagonism between police and attendees

twitter.com/bostongeek

My Dash GPS will be sending regular updates as we start our journey tomorrow evening.  You can live the experience without all the bickering, bathroom breaks, and body odor.

Don’t forget to go visit the BostonGeek store at Cafe Press!

Quick! Go to http://www.cafepress.com/bostongeek and buy a BostonGeek t-shirt or thong; a Remy is Right beer stein; a Science is Like Sex spaghetti tank and much more! All the other fashion plates are doing it, what are you waiting for?

Brewery Description: “A hop lover’s delight. In the India Pale Ale tradition this brew is very hoppy in both aroma and flavor from the generous amounts of cascade hops used in brewing. Look for a medium to full body and golden straw color.”

Brew Style: American India Pale Ale, 5.8% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Shaker, English pint, Tulip

The Ugly Truth: The Saranacs are done…FINALLY.  I have to apologize for dragging my ass on these, I’ve just been out straight lately and haven’t had time for reviews.

Alright, Saranac India Pale Ale.  Not awesome, but not horrible either.  The beer poured a medium gold in color, with a bit of a copper tinge to it.  It sported a persistant head, with a creamy texture to it.  Very clear, with lots of carbonation bubbles rising from the bottom at the start but died down after awhile.  The aroma was probably the best part of the experience.  Very statisfying dry citrus hop profile to it that wasn’t overly strong.  No heavy malt overtones to it.

The flavor was where I found the beer lacking.  There was only a light to medium hops profile at the start, with a touch of malt sweetness to the test.  There is a definite citrus hops flavor that comes forwards and lingers into the aftertaste.  It has almost this grapefruit quality to the citrus, but its thankfully not strong enough to dominate the taste.  The taste isn’t overly harsh, but I found it to have a real mild hops profile for an IPA.  The body was light to medium, which was nice since it made the beer more drinkable.

Overall, it was an alright beer but nothing that blew me away.  Decent hops, but I would have expected more from an IPA than this gave.  If you are just looking for something to drink and want a tiny bit of hops, then try it.  Otherwise, I wouldn’t go out of my way for it.

Verdict:Giving it a 6 out of 10.

Only one problem. Emily isn’t real. She’s an animation. Not motion-capture, mind you. Animation. As in, the face is photorealistically built from scratch by software that uses an actor’s performance and builds the face to go over the original. You can see some of the effects possible towards the end of the vid, and the final shot (the ‘Plate’) shows the real Emily.

In my opinion, they should have made artificial Emily completely different from the model, in order to better highlight the power of the imaging process. Because, frankly, they started out with an attractive woman. Who I would plow anyway until next July.

Eh… screw it. Get me true VR and some sort of artificial vagina and hook me up.

Emily, the artificial spokesperson. [via Gawker]

Image-Metrics Site

First off, let me say that I saw The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor when I was hanging with some friends and we needed to kill a couple of hours. And it wasn’t like “Oh man we gotta see this movie!” It was more like “Well, this is going to have to cook for a few hours. Let’s go see a movie or something.”

Man this movie sucked! Call it cgfx porn in the purest sense. In the same way that porn uses the thinnest plots and weakest dialog to justify extended sex scenes (um, I mean, so I’ve heard)…

…this movie uses thin plot and lame dialog to justify the special effects. But the thing is, the effects aren’t even that good! But the medocre effects aren’t even the beginning of why the movie is so bad. Let’s start with the over-use of telegraphed cliches: watch as our hero tries to run away from someone who can magically throw fire by hijacking a truck full of fireworks; then let’s have an immortal guardian; next we’ll have a young couple who obviously share an attraction but are in denial because they’re from different worlds. The list goes on.

More stuff that sucked: Rachel Weisz was replaced as Evie by Maria Bello. Like we wouldn’t notice. She doesn’t look, talk or act at all like Weisz. She doesn’t even have the same kind of accent. Luke Ford plays Rick and Evie’s now-full-grown son Alex. Similar to the way Christian Slater channeled Jack Nicholson for his role in Heathers, Ford choses for his role in Mummy3 to channel… Iron Chef Bobby Flay?

The antagonist, the resurrected Emperor Han, has the ability to morph himself into a dragon - not a snaky Chinese style dragon, which would make sense cause they are in China after all, but a fat fire breathing european style dragon with huge leather wings. And dont get me started on the Yetis… just don’t, okay?

Probably the biggest crime of this movie was the complete waste of Michelle Yeoh. Whether it’s kung fu movies or James Bond, Yeoh normally moves with a grace that is a delight to watch. (Yeah, I’m refering to fights and action sequences.) But in Mummy3 she’s got only one short fight and it’s all slow motion closeups. It’s like director Rob Cohen wanted to make sure there was nothing redemable about this movie. Well if that was his goal, it’s almost perfect in that respect.

Almost. Isabella Leong is really cute.

From xkcd

Brewery:

Brewery Description:“Our classic German lager has a perfect balance of caramel malt sweetness. Look for a rich, amber color and medium body.”

Brew Style:German Amber/Vienna, 5.5% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Lager, Flute, Pilsner, Dimpled mug, Stein

The Ugly Truth: Well, back again with the 2nd to last bottle of Saranac.  Almost done with it, then I can get back to some better beer.  But all is not lost, as the Adirondack Lager turned out to be a pretty decent beer.  The brewer has it down as a German Amber or Vienna, but other places has it as a German Pilsner.  Based on the style guide I consult on a regular basis, I’m going with the brewer and calling this a Vienna.

The AL poured a fairly deep golden color with a light head on it with low retention.  The head wasn’t very characteristic of the style, which typically sports a stonger and longer lasting one.  Color was fairly clear with some mild carbonation rising from the bottom of the glass.  Moderate to strong malt aroma, with a toasted character to it without a discernable hops aroma.

As for the taste, I actually really enjoyed it.  It was probably the best of the mix pack I’ve had so far.  Overall the flavor was crisp and really refreshing.  The taste didn’t blow me away, but its was pretty striaghtforward and a pleasent surprise.  There was some moderate malt flavor to start with, not too storng.  Body was medium to medium-light, with the carbonation coming through in the taste.  The lager finishes clean and crisp with a dry hops flavor to the aftertaste that balances the malt out nicely.

Overall, pretty good beer.  Its the first of the Saranac that I’d go pick up a six pack of to keep in the fridge for a light drinking beer with dinner.  I haven’t had too many Viennas but if this is an indicator of the style I’d like to grab some more.  The Saranac Adirondack Lager is definitely worth trying out in my opinon.  Nice, uncomplicated taste that is refreshing to the end.

Verdict: 8 out of 10 bottlecaps.

But just when you thought things couldn’t get any better, they are.  Pabst Brewing Company, owners of Schlitz, are going back to the original forumula.  The current Schlitz, while good, is a poor malt liquor version in the eyes of many of the faithful drinkers out there.

So in an effort to attract new customers and answer the pleads of the older customers, Pabst is going back to the original formula.  I am exicited to say the least.  I mean I like the current Schlitz but if the original is as good as people claim I can’t wait to try it.  It may prompt the first ever side by side comparison of a beer on Boston Geek, the current Schlitz versus the original formula Schlitz.

Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
Skype: bostongeek
Voice: 1.617.418.4113

Production Engineer: Carl “Crazylegs” Reyes
Post-production/Editing: Colin “Rock N’ Roll” Rego
All music composed and recorded by Karl “Captain Damage” Kornfeld.

Brewery Description: “A beer that would make the English jealous! This true English Pale Ale is rich and fruity, yet finishes crisp. You’ll love the copper amber color and medium body.”

Brew Style: English Pale Ale, 5.50% ABV

Recommended Glassware: English pint

The Ugly Truth: Alright, four beers down and two more to go for Saranac.  Thank god.  I don’t mind Saranac, but I’m looking forward to getting to the end of this six pack and buying something different.

Saranac Pale Ale poured a deep copper in color, with some light carbonation rising from the bottom.  Finished with an off white foamy head that had decent retention to it but ended up being low.  Which is all fine, right about where a English pale ale should be.

Aroma-wise, really good.  Moderately strong hops aroma, with a little bit of caramel tone to it from some balancing malt.  It had a really balanced mix of the two, with the light malt caramel balancing the hops perfectly.

However, I’m not sure where those things went when it came to the taste.  They completely disappeared on me.  Don’t get me wrong, the taste is pretty good but it didn’t live up to the aroma.  Low hops flavor that didn’t reflect what I found in the aroma, same thing with the malt.  The taste was smooth, though not even remotely bitter.  The hops flavor that was present had a slight citrus tinge to it that worked pretty well.  The low carbonation level lead to a light mouthfeel and body.  The taste was straightforward, with no secondary flavors creeping in to ruin it.  Finish was clean with no strong aftertaste to it.

Overall, its not a bad English pale ale.  It could definitely be stronger in the hops flavor and the malt to make it a better beer.  I personally found it kind of weak for a pale ale even though I liked the taste.  It was an easy drinking beer with nothing crazy to it so it gets a bonus point for simplicity and ease of drinking.

The Verdict: I’m giving it a 7 out of 10 bottlecaps.  Not a bad beer, but not an awesome one either.

My first experience with owning Descent: Journeys in the Dark

How’s that site upgrade coming?

This is also known as the Greater Internet Fetish Theory, and was made hilarious by an XKCD comic.

In simplest terms, if you can think of it, the internet has it. Not sure I buy that, but it got me thinking about some of the more insane things I can think of. This made me realize two things: I am about as screwed up as any person could possibly be, give or take and; There are some truly bizarre things out there on the internet if this is true. For example:

- Sex with jars of peanut butter.
- Sex with jars of chocolate sauce.
- Sex with peanut butter cups for those who cannot decide between the above two.
- Sex with people in ‘bubbles’ who are not allowed contact with the outside world so there is a permanent penis holster installed like the gloves on an incubator.
- Sex with car headrests.
- Sex with television remote controls.
- Sex with the battery slots on power tools.
- Sex with (unloaded) grenade launchers.
- Sex with homemade versions of Cousin It from the Addams Family.

… and so on.

These are the great gifts man has bequeathed upon history. We look at the past and see pyramids. Our descendants will look at us, see the infancy of the global net, and see dudes humping toasters. Awesome.

(This may not be new news to some of you. I just found out about it today because my friends were sheltering me.)

Don S. Davis who portrayed General George Hammond on Stargate SG1, died June 29th of a heart attack.

There are many “geeky” titles among his extensive list of film and TV credits, including The X Files, Twin Peaks, The 6th Day, Highlander (TV), Flash Gordon (TV) and many others. After eight seasons on Stargate SG1, his character was replaced with General Hank Landry, played by Beau Bridges who sucked. Hard.

The Premise: The Red Dragon Inn, published by Slugfest Games, can best be described this way: Imagine you were playing Dungeons and Dragons and you just killed the McGuffin Beast. This would be the drinking party that would ensue once you got back to town to rejoice at The Red Dragon Inn.

Read more of the review for The Red Dragon Inn here.

Brewery:

Brewery Description: “A beer lover’s dream! This classic irish stout and amber lager blend is malty, yet pleasantly bitter with many complex flavor notes. Look for a deep brown-black color and full-body”

Brew Style: Black and Tan (in this case, a stout and an amber), 5.40% ABV

Recommended Glassware: English Pint, Tumbler, Dimpled Mug, Stein

The Ugly Truth: Is so goddamn ugly, I don’t even know where to begin really.  Holy eff’ing sh*t, this stuff sucked donkey balls.  If you don’t know what that experience would be like, ask Carl cause he can tell you (kidding buddy).  I’m not even sure how much of review I feel like writing for this.  Right off the bat though: a prebottled Black and Tan is a god forsaken, incestious crime against beer.  If you want a black and tan, buy the damn beers and make one yourself you freakin’ f*cktard!  They are not that hard to make and probably won’t taste like moose piss.  Let’s give it the usual shakedown just for sh*ts and giggles though, shall we?

Appearence:  The best damn thing about the beer.  A nice dark chestnut brown with some red highlights.  Fairly opaque with moderate carbonation rising from the bottom of the glass.  The head was creamy, fairly large with solid rententaion to it and light tan in nature.

Now, here is where things start to go into the sh*tter.  The aroma.  I’ve got two words for you…DRIED VOMIT.  I kid you not, its the first thing that came into my mind when I smelled it.  Dried vomit.  If I took only a short whiff, I could get it to go as good as stale biscuit/toasted 5 day old bread.  The second I took a nose full of aroma…BAM!!!1  Dried vomit comes right back.  I actually had to make myself take a drink of it, so afraid of the taste I was from the aroma.

The taste, thank god, was a hell of a lot better than the aroma.  Of course, since the aroma was so bad this is the equivalent of saying that a kick in the nuts is preferable to the jumper cables to the balls that you received earlier (wait…can’t resist…South Park moment…I had to kill him.  He shocked Santa’s balls!!).  Still, all told the taste still sucked and was completely unimpressive.  I found the body to be medium at best, with a near complete lack of carbonation to it.  I got some coffee/roasted flavors at the very start, but they died fast.  There was some faint sweetness at the end, but that also died quick.   The finish was nothing impressive, but at least there was some lingering hops aftertaste.  Except that also sucked, because it had a nasty resinous character.  Other than that, I would have rather been drinking water.

Saranac Black and Tan is just flat out not worth the money in my opinion.  The stout and the amber are probably quality beers by themselves, but mixed together they evidently undergo a chemical reaction that produces suckdom.  Like I said before, if you really want one, man up and go buy a six pack of Bass and a four pack of Guinness cans and make one yourself.  Or if you want something different, I used to make something called a Courageous Irish Apple.  Take some Woodpecker hard cider and layer John Courage Amber on top of it.  Damn tasty.

Verdict: It gets a 2 out of 10 bottlecaps, solely because the comment that goes with 2 bottlecaps fits it better.

While I don’t want to give the impression that he gets a pass with such a lame excuse, I do have to give him credit for one of the geekiest excuses I’ve ever heard! Why drink beer and eat barbecue when there’s Orcs to be stuffed in your Bag of Holding?

1) I’ve been playing a lot of new board games since joining a gaming group at a local gaming store down here.

2) We actually appear to have left this part out of the BostonGeek equation

I think that second reason was an oversight on our part.  I’ve played a number of games with both Carl and Colin, so I found it surprising that we didn’t have a secton for it.

EDIT: I’ve been corrected by Dave.  At one point, we did cover board games some.  I’m going to try to get it going again and will probably stick to it unlike my ill fated attempt at book reviews.  I’ve got three guys in my Descent group who, between the three of them, own around 600 games.  Two of them are run demo nights, one for Rio Grande and the other for Slugfest Games.  Gonna be playing a lot of new games.

So while the reviews will be posted on a separate blog, it is really under the BostonGeek umbrella until the site is upgraded.  The first post is up, with a short summary of my first experience with playing Descent: Road to Legends.

So, not only were PS3 owners subjected to a firmware update disaster, but early Dash Express adopters who recently downloaded and installed the JUN08 system update might experience constant rebooting after applying the update.  The kicker:  the only way to fix it is to have your device replaced.  Thankfully, the folks at Dash have consistently treated their customers very well.  This should mean an easy (and free) replacement.

We are writing to let you know that your Dash Express needs to be replaced in order to take advantage of all of our new features.  As one of the very first customers your device has some older hardware and software that has been updated in the final production devices.  If you attempt to install the June08 Update, your Dash Express may completely reboot every time you turn on the device.

Please call Dash Customer Service at (877) 500-3274 Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm PT and we will process a no cost exchange for you.  Please ignore this email if you have already have contacted Dash Customer Service and had your device replaced since June 30, 2008.

We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience, and we thank you for being one of Dash’s first customers!

1) Descent: Journey into the Dark and possibly the Road to Legends expansion

2) Guitar Hero III for PS2

3) Rock Band for PS2

I’m currently playing Descent and its probably the best dungeon crawler board game I’ve ever played in my life.  However with my limited free time, I’m not sure how much use my own copy would see.  For GH3 and RB, a similiar situation in that I would have time to play at night, but due to the setup of our house I wouldn’t be able to play at night until we get a new TV and I’m not sure when that is happening.  I’ve heard good and bad things for GH3 and RB for PS2, but not enough to turn me off from either.

I hate having to make tough decisions about my toys.

(2:23:19 PM) Carl Reyes: saw ‘Wanted’… good flick
(2:23:28 PM) Carl Reyes: very loosely based on the comic (which I have yet to read)
(2:25:14 PM) Dave @ GTalk: yeah, apparently the only thing that they brought over was the name
(2:25:27 PM) Dave @ GTalk: i thought it was decent. ass-shot of jolie didn’t hurt
(2:27:14 PM) Carl Reyes: basically it’s a confused wanna-be Fight Club successor…
(2:28:29 PM) Carl Reyes: jolie needed a sammich
(2:29:35 PM) Carl Reyes: I’m more into Kiera Knightly anyway. Saw Domino not too long ago…
(2:29:39 PM) Carl Reyes: movie was kinda dumb
(2:29:48 PM) Carl Reyes: lapdance… made it watchable
(2:30:22 PM) Dave @ GTalk: yeah, i saw that in the theater
(2:31:08 PM) Carl Reyes: lapdance… and she looks really good with short hair.
(2:31:35 PM) Carl Reyes: I mean… wow.
(2:31:40 PM) Carl Reyes: she’s only 23, too.
(2:33:48 PM) Carl Reyes: *groan*

(2:33:50 PM) Carl Reyes: Oh no
(2:34:02 PM) Carl Reyes: oh Jesus. Tittyfucking. Christ.
(2:34:16 PM) Carl Reyes: Terminator… Salvation.
(2:34:28 PM) Carl Reyes: Christian Bale as John Connor
(2:34:33 PM) Carl Reyes: Josh Brolin as Terminator
(2:35:00 PM) Carl Reyes: with… Helena Bonham Carter?
(2:35:01 PM) Dave @ GTalk: heh
(2:35:03 PM) Carl Reyes: really?
(2:35:05 PM) Carl Reyes: jesus
(2:35:14 PM) Dave @ GTalk: did i ever get you to watch ‘The Hole’? knightley flashed in that one
(2:35:24 PM) Carl Reyes: hmm
(2:35:30 PM) Carl Reyes: must put in netflix queue
(2:35:42 PM) Dave @ GTalk: also, seriously, fuck the terminator series
(2:35:44 PM) Dave @ GTalk:
(2:36:00 PM) Carl Reyes: it was fucked pretty much at the end of T:2
(2:37:25 PM) Carl Reyes: “I know now why you cry… but it is something I can never do.”
(2:37:31 PM) Carl Reyes: My bowels watered a little bit
(2:37:44 PM) Carl Reyes: Bowel Disruptor ray, right there
(2:38:54 PM) Carl Reyes: also, T-800 can apparently set off a nuclear blast simply by overloading its battery core (according to T:3). Seems like the fucking series could have been 3 fucking movies and a TV series shorter if Arnie had let that shit fly in the first Terminator movie.
(2:39:28 PM) Carl Reyes: continuity notwithstanding, though… it’s given the very cute Summer Glau another show to be sexy and dangerous in.
(2:39:53 PM) Carl Reyes: and after last season’s miniskirts and panties lesson, this season there is supposed to be ‘jealousy’.
(2:40:06 PM) Carl Reyes: and fuck me if I don’t likes me some crazy jealous hot robot chick
(2:41:57 PM) Dave @ GTalk: i couldn’t bring myself to keep watching the series
(2:42:01 PM) Dave @ GTalk: even with summer glau in it

This is why Dave and I need our own review show.

Terrorists, your game is through,
cause now you have to answer to
America! FUCK YEAH!
So lick my butt and suck on my balls!
America! FUCK YEAH!

What you going to do when we come for you now!
It’s the dream that we all share; it’s the hope for tomorrow,
FUCK YEAH!

McDonalds, FUCK YEAH!
Wal-Mart, FUCK YEAH!
The Gap, FUCK YEAH!
Baseball, FUCK YEAH!
NFL, FUCK, YEAH!
Rock and roll, FUCK YEAH!
The Internet, FUCK YEAH!
Slavery, FUCK YEAH!

FUCK YEAH!

Starbucks, FUCK YEAH!
Disney world, FUCK YEAH!
Porno, FUCK YEAH!
Valium, FUCK YEAH!
Reeboks, FUCK YEAH!
Fake Tits, FUCK YEAH!
Sushi, FUCK YEAH!
Taco Bell, FUCK YEAH!
Rodeos, FUCK YEAH!
Bed bath and beyond (Fuck yeah, Fuck yeah)

Liberty, FUCK YEAH!
White Slips, FUCK YEAH!
The Alamo, FUCK YEAH!
Band-aids, FUCK YEAH!
Las Vegas, FUCK YEAH!
Christmas, FUCK YEAH!
Immigrants, FUCK YEAH!
Popeye, FUCK YEAH!
Democrats, FUCK YEAH!
Republicans (republicans)
(fuck yeah, fuck yeah)
Sportsmanship
Books

Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
Skype: bostongeek
Voice: 1.617.418.4113

Production Engineer: Carl “Crazylegs” Reyes
Post-production/Editing: Colin “Rock N’ Roll” Rego
All music composed and recorded by Karl “Captain Damage” Kornfeld.

Brewery Description: (from site) “A Bavarian black beer with distinctive carmel malt sweetness and rich creamy trademark head. Flavorful, yet smooth; it is very drinkable!”

Brew Style:Schwarzbier, 5.3% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Flute, pilsner glass

The Ugly Truth: Alright, slowly getting back on track with writing reviews.  Saranac Black Forest.  Not an awesome beer, especially as far as Schwarzbiers go for me, but not a bad beer.  Black Forest pours a deep ruby in color, with a fairly dense blackish/ruby red core to it.  Good color, clean with a moderate carbonation to it.  The head was an light tan in color of moderate size and texture, initially with low rentention but once it settled a bit it lasted much longer.

The aroma was really good, nice and clean with a moderate malt presence and no strong hops contribution.  There was a light sweetness to it, with some of the caramel tones coming through.  I found Black Forest to be a bit on the light side for mouthfeel for a schwarzbier, with moderate carbonation.  The most distinct flavor for me was one not mentioned in the brewery description: bitter chocolate.  Pretty strong flavor actually, but worked for this beer.  The flavor was actually fairly rich for what I felt was a lighter body on the beer than expected.  The flavor wasn’t complex, but what was there was good.  It also sported a fairly prominent malt character to it with a bit of sweetness coming out in the finish and some hops bitterness in the aftertaste.

Overall, pretty good stuff but definitely not the best Schwarzbier I’ve ever had.  The bitter chocolate flavor got balanced out some, but was still the majority of the taste.  Give it a shot, but I’ve reviewed a few other black beers that I think are much better.

Verdcit: I’ll go with a 7 out of 10 bottlecaps on this one.

In (just) two short/long weeks, we will get our first taste of the latest Joss Whedon Joint.  I am not really sure what to make of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog.  But, I will certainly have my computer all gassed up and ready to go on July 15th when the first episode of this mini-mini-web-only-series is set free on the internets.  If you haven’t seen it yet, there is a teaser out for it.

“You spoke, and we listened. We are keeping Profiles. Thank you for all the calls and emails telling us how important Profiles are.

We are sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused. We hope the next time you hear from us we will delight, and not disappoint, you.

-Your friends at Netflix”

Kudos Netflix.

“Me? I’m scared of everything. I’m scared of what I saw, I’m scared of what I did, of who I am, and most of all I’m scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life… the way I feel when I’m with you.”

Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
Skype: bostongeek
Voice: 1.617.418.4113

Production Engineer: Carl “Crazylegs” Reyes
Post-production/Editing: Colin “Rock N’ Roll” Rego
All music composed and recorded by Karl “Captain Damage” Kornfeld.

Brewery Description: (from site) This Brown Ale is brewed with American malt and hops, and traditional ale yeast. Look for a sweet, chocolaty taste, with balanced bitterness resulting in a full flavored but smoothly drinkable beer.

Brew Style: American Brown Ale, 6.0% ABV

Recommended Glassware: English pint, Stein, Mug

The Ugly Truth: Yay, a beer review finally.  Sorry once again its been so long in between, I’m going to try and make sure I get back to the at least weekly schedule.  I recently picked up the Adirondack Trail Mix from Saranac, so the next six reviews will all be from that brewery, and I’m going to try and do two a week to get through it and on to other beers.

Alright, Saranac Brown Ale.  I like brown ales.  Sadly, this one, not so much.  I would call this one the hops lover’s brown ale.  I mean I love hops, but not in my brown ales.  So while having hops in there is still in line with the style, I found this to be borderline in its degree of hops and it killed the rest of the flavors for me.

The Brown Ale poured a solid medium to dark brown in color, with a creamy head on it sporting decent retention.   The head was a light tan in color and overall the beer looked really good, strong color and clear.  The aroma had a moderate hops profile, but to me lacked the malt to balance it out especially any chocolate or toasty notes.  The hops profile was lightly citrus in tone, so it did have some of the sweetness expected from a brown ale.

The taste was fairly dry, but not at all sweet or toasty like I’ve had from other brown ales and was distinctly lacking in the expected chocolate flavors the brewery description implies.  Maybe I just missed it or something.  There was this god awful strong citrus hops flavor that seemed to just dry out my mouth and pucker it up.  It wasn’t that pleasant strong hops flavor I like, it was like someone twisted a lemon over my tongue while drinking it.  Very acidic in characters, and completely dominated any of the malt flavors that may have been there.  Fortunately, the finish was crisp and the brown ale didn’t produce a lingering aftertaste.  I think that would have really destroyed any enjoyment I had, little that I did have.

I really didn’t like this beer overall.  It has some good qualities to it, if you like citrus hops flavor then this is one for you.  I found the described sweet and chocolate/toasty malt flavors to be completely lacking, or at least strongly out of balance with the hops profile.  I like most Saranac beers I’ve had, but this one was frankly disappointing for a brown ale in my opinion.  As always, try it for yourself to see.

Verdict: 5 out of 10 bottlecaps.

George Carlin

May 12, 1937 - June 22, 2008

That is so _not_ Tit.

He purchased it, ostensibly, as a way to acquire a supposedly ‘future-proofed’ Blu-Ray player at a reasonable price. I say he’s full of it.

Of course, he had incentive. Thanks to a promotion from everyone’s most-loathed big-box retailer, his final cost ended up being $299 (plus tax and shipping, presumably). This requires a bit of fuzzy math, but that’s the gist of it.

Am I angry or unhappy with his choice? Not particularly. Not being his conjoined… screw it- his siamese- twin, what Colin does in his free time (be it play PS3 or have masturbatory fantasies about his groundhog) is none of my business. But I feel a certain sense of disapproval, disappointment, if you will. Colin is, to his very core, a geek like me. He is as aware of the excesses of Sony’s corporate strategies as I am. And he doesn’t care.

Rootkits, the RIAA, the MPAA, ludicrous copyright claims… take your pick of Sony antics. They are the robber-barons of the electronics age. But their slick packaging and quiet Blu-Ray and built in DVD upscaling and their interface are apparently a lure too sweet to resist.

Well, not to me. I will never buy a Playstation 3. In fact, Colin will have to watch his PS3 carefully to make sure I don’t carry out my desire to place my testicles into it’s blue-lasered maw for a gentle suckling.

*DISCLAIMER: I own a Sony-Ericsson phone. The w810i. I purchased it through Amazon and MADE $100 on the deal. Every man has his price.

Actually it’s our wisdom. No, really! Look for it, it’s in there. We’ll wait…

No? Hrm. Well then ask yourself this, Neo… is the wisdom lacking, or are you just not ready to hear it?

Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
Skype: bostongeek
Voice: 1.617.418.4113

Production Engineer: Carl “Crazylegs” Reyes
Post-production/Editing: Colin “Rock N’ Roll” Rego
All music composed and recorded by Karl “Captain Damage” Kornfeld.

No really. This is all my fault. Unconscionable, really. Inexcusible.

I mean it. As I sit here, flaggelating myself with an actual cat-o-nine-tails, I am reminded of just how incredibly painful a cat-o-nine-tails actually is.

Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
Skype: bostongeek
Voice: 1.617.418.4113

Production Engineer: Carl “Crazylegs” Reyes
Post-production/Editing: Colin “Rock N’ Roll” Rego
All music composed and recorded by Karl “Captain Damage” Kornfeld.

Roman Glass Gaming Die

Dated circa 2nd century A.D. I love this part:

Lot Notes: Several polyhedra in various materials with similar symbols are known from the Roman period. Modern scholarship has not yet established the game for which these dice were used.

Several polyhedra? A d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, maybe? You know they were slaying dragons back in the day.

(via BoingBoing)

Brewery Description: “A deep, mahogany ale brewed with beet sugar, green raisins, and Belgian-style yeast. As complex as a fine, red wine. Voted “American Beer of the Year” in January 2000 by Malt Advocate Magazine.”

Brew Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale, 8.0% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Goblet, Snifter

The Ugly Truth: First off, sorry its taken me so long to get a new review out.  Been real busy at work lately so just haven’t has the time to do it.

Alright, Dogfish Head Raison D’Etre (reason for being in French) is this session’s offering.  The beer presented with a beautiful warm amber/mahogany color with some ruby highlights when held up to the light.  Minimal head, which I think is off the norm for the style but I could be wrong there.  This is the same style as Chimay Blue, which I’ve had but not in a long time.  There were a lot of bottom rising carbonation bubbles in the beer, at lot more than the taste reflected later on.

Aroma wise, very good nose on it.  Mostly alcohol and malt sweetness, with what I felt were  strong hints of raisin/dried cherry to it.  Overall a good aroma on the beer, aided by the carbonation bubbles.  No hint of hops in the aroma, pretty much all malt.

The body of the beer was medium to medium heavy and felt slick in the mouthfeel for me.  It has a sweet taste to it overall, with the dried cherry notes coming out in the end.  There was very little bitterness in the flavor, primarily consisting of malt sweetness balanced by strong alcohol flavors.  The alcohol gave it a bit of a sharp bite at the end that was pleasant.  I didn’t find it to have what I would call a lingering aftertaste.  I did find that even though I enjoyed the beer at the start, the taste started to lose its appeal about three quarters of the way through.

Overall, I liked this beer.  Not an awesome brew, but definitely solid and one I would recommend for people to try.  It didn’t blow me away, but it was good.  This would probably make a good after dinner beer or late fall/early winter offering.  Its not the best beer I’ve ever had from Dogfish, but its certainly not bad.  My experience with Belgian Strong Ales is somewhat limited so I’m interested to try some more to see what I think in comparison.

Verdict: Good stuff, but not great.  7 out of 10 bottlecaps.

Of course… 112 is 1, 1, and 2… and 2-1-1=0… so maybe this podcast will disappear into nullspace. Or something.

Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
Skype: bostongeek
Voice: 1.617.418.4113

Production Engineer: Carl “Crazylegs” Reyes
Post-production/Editing: Colin “Rock N’ Roll” Rego
All music composed and recorded by Karl “Captain Damage” Kornfeld.

But you’ll get three castaways you wouldn’t mind being alone on an island with, I tell you that much.

Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
Skype: bostongeek
Voice: 1.617.418.4113

Production Engineer: Carl “Crazylegs” Reyes
Post-production/Editing: Colin “Rock N’ Roll” Rego
All music composed and recorded by Karl “King Kong” Kornfeld.

You might ask what happened to Episodes 108-110, or what happened to the video. You might ask that.

maybe you get into an ‘accident’. Oops, you fell… several times… Maybe then you don’t ask so many questions.

Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
Skype: bostongeek
Voice: 1.617.418.4113

Production Engineer: Carl “Crazylegs” Reyes
Post-production/Editing: Colin “Rock N’ Roll” Rego
All music composed and recorded by Karl “King Kong” Kornfeld.

Brewery:

Brewery Description: An opaque, full-bodied black lager with mild bitterness. Extravagant treacle and anise aromas. Rich and creamy, well balanced sweet notes and hints of tartness with exceptional mouthfeel, in two words: Black Silk.

Brew Style: Schwarzbier, 4.70% ABV

Recommended Glassware:Flute, Pilsner glass

The Ugly Truth: I picked this up at a Total Wine store down here, just looking for something different.  Xingu Black Beer is classified as a Schwarzbier, which is one of my favorite styles.  The beer poured fairly dark in color, as it should have, with some deep ruby highlights when held up to the light.  Strong dark tan head to it, with some fairly long retention to it leaving lace on the glass as it went down.  The aroma was good, with a faint rich Munich malt nose that gave it some sweetness, but otherwise the aroma wasn’t anything overbearing.  Overall, apart from the sweetness, it has a fairly neutral aroma with no hops aroma.  The taste was interesting.  It had a medium to medium light body to it, with some moderate carbonation to it.  The mouthfeel was almost creamy in texture.  The flavor was dominated by the malt taste, and had a slightly sweet character to it.  Its was pretty tasty stuff overall.  The flavor didn’t blow me away, and its not the best schwarzbier I’ve ever had, but its a solid beer in its own right.  Something I would definitely drink again.

Verdict: I’ll give Xingu a 7 out of 10 bottlecaps.

Yeah, that’s me. The first guy.

Brewery Description: Named Cinq Cents in 75 cl (25.4 fl.oz.) bottles, this beer with its typical golden colour, its slightly hazy appearance and its fine head is especially characterised by its aroma which results from an agreeable combination of fresh hops and yeast.  The beer’s flavour, as sensed in the mouth, comes from the smell of hops: above all it is the fruity notes of muscat and raisins that give this beer a particularly attractive aroma.  The aroma complements the touch of bitterness. There is no acidity, but an after-bitterness which melts in the mouth.  This top fermented Trappist beer, refermented in the bottle, is not pasteurised.

Brew Style: Tripel, 8.0% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Snifter, Chalice.

The Ugly Truth: Chimay is great.  The basically make three beers: the Red, White and Blue.  And all are great beers.  Chimay White is probably the middle one for me taste wise since I prefer the Blue over the other two, but it is still good.  Poured a hazy golden/orange color, perhaps a bit more than it should have since I think I got some sediment off the bottom.  Chimay White displayed a strong, long lasting lacy head on it indicative of the style.  I found the aroma to somewhat spicy, with pungent citrus tones and little to no trace of floral hops.  There was a hint of malt, but overall it was very light compared to the other aromas present.  The body was light to medium light, with some moderate carbonation to it.  I found the flavor to have what I felt to be a slight peppery taste to it, but that also could have been sharp citrus.  A slight hops bitterness in the dry finish and aftertaste, which was fairly long lasting and melded well with the original flavors.  The moderately high alcohol taste was present, though very light in character in the overall experience.  Chimay White is a very good beer, one I highly recommend trying out for yourself if you’ve never had it.

Verdict: Chimay White grabs an 8 out 10 bottlecaps.

Well, two-and-a-half, really. My brain is mostly non-functioning due to the alternating scenes of cute furry animals dancing and hot women… dancing… in my head.

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Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
Skype: bostongeek
Voice: 1.617.418.4113

Production Engineer: Carl “Crazylegs” Reyes
Post-production/Editing: Colin “Rock N’ Roll” Rego
All music composed and recorded by Karl “King Kong” Kornfeld.

Brewery Description: “San Francisco’s famous Anchor Steam^®, the classic of American brewing tradition since 1896, is virtually handmade, with an exceptional respect for the ancient art of brewing. The deep amber color, thick creamy head, and rich flavor all testify to our traditional brewing methods. Anchor Steam is unique, for our brewing process has evolved over many decades and is like no other in the world.

Anchor Steam derives its unusual name from the 19th century when “steam” seems to have been a nickname for beer brewed on the West Coast of America under primitive conditions and without ice. The brewing methods of those days are a mystery and, although there are many theories, no one can say with certainty why the word “steam” came to be associated with beer. For many decades Anchor alone has used this quaint name for its unique beer. In modern times, “Steam” has become a trademark of Anchor Brewing.” (via http://www.anchorbrewing.com/)

Brew Style: California Common/Steam Beer, 4.9% ABV

Recommended Glassware: English pint, Stein, Dimpled mug, Pilsener

The Ugly Truth: Back again with another review, late as usual. But since that’s nothing new around this place, I figure its not a big deal. Alright, Anchor Steam Beer. I had it for the first time at Sunset Bar and Grill in Allston, MA. I liked it then, still like it now. Its just a really good beer for sitting around and drinking. Anchor Steam Beer presents with a nice hop aroma, leaning towards the earthy/woodsy end of things with some hint of minty qualities when breathed in deeply. The appearance is a nice amber color that is near crystal clear, with a beautiful off white head on it with long retention. Moderate carbonation rising from the bottom of the glass.

The overall taste is a malty flavor in the beginning that is faintly toasty. The taste is nothing strong, so it makes drinking it smooth. The body is medium light to medium with a mouthfeel that to me is larger than the aroma and taste would imply. The finish is pretty crisp and dry. Its around that point that a fairly strong hops profile begins to emerge, leaving a resinous sensation in the mouth with some lingering malt flavors. Its not overly bitter and it rounds out the beer nicely.

I personally really like Anchor Steam. It’s a bit different than the average pale or amber ale out there on the market. Not sure exactly what makes a steam ale a steam ale other than it supposed to feature northern brewer hops, but I’m a fan of the style. Good, solid drinking beer to have with friends, as is most of Anchor’s offerings. A definite one to try to see how you like it.

Verdict: Giving Anchor an 9 out of 10 bottlecaps.

Brewery Description: “The Dortmunder-Export style of beer was developed in Westfalen, Germany, and is a classic light lager with great character. This style boasts a light golden blonde color and exhibits a moderate hop palate. The finish of our Mountain Lager is rich yet mellow.
Our brewers have developed this beer as a tribute to the Appalachian Mountains where we live and play.”

Brew Style: Dortmunder/Export Lager, 4.5% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Flute, Pilsner, Lager

The Ugly Truth: So I’m finally getting around to reviewing this beer. I’ve been dragging my feet on it since I didn’t like the first two bottles of it I had, so I wasn’t in a rush to drink the third and do the review. This is the second Dortmunder I’ve reviewed, the first being Baltika #7, so I’m not sure if this was really a bad beer or that I just don’t like the style. We’ll assume its a bad beer.

ABC Mountain Lager was just plain forgettable in every aspect for me. The aroma was rather undistinctive, with a low hops aroma, a bit of malty sweetness and overall a bit grainy to me. Good color though, displaying a clear burnished gold with a long lasting white head on it. I found the flavor to be bland. Neither the hops or the malt flavors dominate, which is according to the style, but even those flavors present were anything enjoyable. The mouthfeel was light-medium to medium with a moderate level of carbonation. To me the flavor seemed weak and slick overall. It was smooth, only because no strong flavors presented themselves throughout the taste. There was a touch of sweetness to the finish, that lingered a bit into the aftertaste. Overall, I think this beer lack pronounced flavor and crispness. I’m not a fan of this beer, though other sites have it rated fairly well (a B- on BeerAdvocate). Its possible that it may be the style isn’t to my liking, so again people should go give it a shot if they want to know for themselves.

Verdict: I’m going with a 5 out of 10 bottlecaps, with a 2 bottlecap error either way.

Looks like BostonGeek is headed to DragonCon this year.  Registrations have been made, postcards received, hotel rooms booked (the Sheraton, so invite us to the _good_ parties).  Unless there is an act of God (or other such omnipotent being), we’ll be seeing you in, as the young kids say, Hot-lanta.  

Actor Charlton Heston died Saturday night. Though often thought of as strongly conservative, he starred in a number of science fiction classics that were at the time considered rather edgy and were critical of conservative ideologies, most notably Planet of the Apes (1968), Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), The Omega Man (1971) and Soylent Green (1973).

He was 84. More here.

Brewery Description: “Subtlety in a bottle. Refreshing as an aperitif And just as fuli of flavour and rich in aroma as a beer from heaven. That’s DeuS. A magnificent symbiosis of brewing a beer and creating a sparkling wine. Ideal for delighting your guests sometime as an unusual choice with the before-dinner nibbles and amuse-geules. And perfect if you have got something to celebrate. DeuS - truly the sparkling divine drink based on barley.”

Brew Style: Biere de Champagne/Biere Brut, 11.5% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Flute, Chalice

The Ugly Truth: I said it in an earlier post, but I’ll reiterate it here: I paid $28 for a pint 9oz bottle of this libation and it was worth every bloody penny. First off the bottle is more akin to a champagne bottle than a beer bottle. It is insanely thick and heavy for a pint 9oz bottle, foil top with wire cap over the cork and the dimple in the bottom. The little book you see in the picture is both a miniature brewing description and history of DeuS, as well as having instructions for proper serving. I’ve never has a beer that has had such detailed instructions, and in three languages. Here’s some close ups of the book (Side One, Side Two, Close Up). Instructions for proper drinking went as follows.

Step 1: Refrigerate 12 hours or more at 4 degrees Celsius.

Step 2: Chill in either an ice water bath for 15 minutes, or place in a freezer for 10 minutes. I went with the ice water bath.

Step 3: Pour into a chilled flute glass and enjoy.

And enjoy I did. Actually, by the end I had enjoyed it a bit too much. I’ve had beers around the same ABV before, but I have never had one sneak up on my and hit me in the head like this stuff did. I think it may have been the fact that you couldn’t pour the whole bottle at once, so you had to re-cork it and place back on ice. By doing that, you ended up drinking 6 glasses of it to go through the whole bottle and it really comes up on you towards the end.

The beer itself poured an intensely gorgeous gold in color with a champagne like head on it that dissipated rapidly. The head was pure white in color and very airy, reminiscent of champagne. There was a literal geyser of carbonation bubbles rising from the bottom of the flute glass, that left ripples on the surface as they rose. This made DeuS a fantastic aromatic experience since it the character of it was constantly being exposed through the bubbles. DeuS has a very light floral aroma to it with a touch of fruit, especially apples, mixed with honey. It was probably one of the most aromatic beers I’ve ever had in its intensity. I found the taste to be absolutely astounding. It was sharp on the tongue at first, and then quickly smooths out into this light bodied taste with a evanescent mouthfeel. The flavor is a bit sweet and somewhat dry in character, with a fruit and honey undertone coming through. The finish was lingering and dynamic, almost like the beer never found its way out of your mouth and just evaporated on the palate.

I found it nearly impossible to detect that this was 11.5% ABV when I tasted it. The alcohol is incredibly subtle and masked perfectly by the character of the beer. The only time I could notice it was in the aftertaste, which just reverberated the tastes. The flavors stay on the palette enough that when you breathe in and then out the nose, you get a retro-olfaction of the flavors involved. It reminds me a little of a saison in character but that’s only an approximation as its really quite different than anything I’ve ever had. The best frame of reference example I could provide is that DeuS is the polar opposite of Arrogant Bastard Ale in both appearance and character, while still tasting as incredible and unique as AB. If you can find this, I highly highly recommend that you go pick up a bottle. Try and enjoy it with a few friends, since its really not a good idea to try and down this by yourself. In reality, doing so would be a disservice to the beer and sharing the experience with others will only make this wonderful beer experience better. My wife had some with me, and while not a big beer drinker, she thoroughly enjoyed it. Well worth the money for this beer.

Verdict: No question about it, 10 out of 10 bottlecaps.

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Worth…every…bloody…freakin’…penny.

Review will be up Thursday or Friday

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Brewery Description: “Ingredients: Water, malt, rice, hops, corn, brewers yeast.
From the glass lined tanks of Old Latrobe we tender this premium beer for your enjoyment, as a tribute to your good taste. It comes from the mountain springs to you.”

Brew Style: American Macro Lager, 4.6% ABV

Recommended Glassware: English pint, Lager, Shaker, Stein, Dimpled mug

The Ugly Truth: Yet again, another beer that is being reviewed solely because it was left in my fridge by a relative, this time my brother.  That being said, I probably drank several hundred cases of this stuff throughout college since even then I hated Bud/Miller/Busch/Natural Light/Keystone/etc etc.  So I was very interested to see what I thought of it now since my tastes in beer has changed so much.

It doesn’t horribly suck, but I don’t like it nearly as much as I used to.

Color is a straw yellow, with a white head on it that is substantial and on the airy side.  Looks to have lots of carbonation from the number of bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass to the top.  It had the typical macro lager smell to it: a bit of hops, some biscuit malt and a hint of sweetness.  This also marks one of the few beers that I’ve had (that I know of) that actually has corn in it.  Bad enough its got rice as an adjunct, but corn?  The taste is a little on the sweet side for your typical lager, I’m guessing from the corn and rice.  It wins a point there because that helps make it moderately drinkable.  The body is light, but had a very flat mouthfeel which was surprising given the amount of carbonation coming off the bottom of the glass.  Finish is your typical clean lager one, helped along by the rice.  Aftertaste is pretty nonexistent.  The taste turned a bit acidic for me the further along I got and dulled any minor amount of enjoyment.  Overall, a bit different than the typical macrolager but not something I’d go for anymore personally.  Not a bad beer, but just not one I’m interested in anymore.

Verdict: Ol’ 33 falls short and only gets 5 out of 10 bottlecaps.

Side Note: I promise from here on out to get back to the typical micro/craft beers.  Up next is hopefully DeuS, which rang up at $28 for the 1 pint 9 oz bottle.  Supposed to be damn good stuff, and for that price I hope it is.

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Here’s a tip: Anime Boston is freaking HUGE! Register online ahead of time or you’ll be waiting five - yeah, five, maybe six - hours to register at the door. I was kinda on the fence about waiting that long to get in myself - I was expecting to spend all day and much of the night there anyway, but there was no way I was going to listen to [names deleted] complain for that long about how it was too long to wait and their feet hurt and they have sooo many things to do at home… And unfortunately, I’m way to shy to attend an event like that alone. So we had lunch across the street, where the Guiness was served too cold, and went back to the Hynes to hang in the common areas and take pictures of some truly impressive costumes.

You can see the pictures here: Anime Boston 2008 Album

I definitely recommend checking out Anime Boston next year. There’s no way I’m going to miss it! But again, register online ahead of time. There’s more to it than just the costumes.

More info at: AnimeBoston.com

Brewery Description:  “Our flavorful non-alcoholic beer for those moments when you want the taste of America’ best tasting beer without the alcohol content.”

Brew Style: Low Alcohol Beer, 0.5% ABV

Recommended Glassware: English pint, Shaker, Pilsner

The Ugly Truth: This one will be short and sweet again.   This beer was left in my fridge by my father, who for medical reasons isn’t allowed to drink beer again.  There’s a fantastic story behind it that some people know, but I’m not about to broadcast it.  Let’s just say its a feat of drinking prowess that I have no desire to try and top and leave it there.  Alright, Old Milwaukee NA.  First, its non-alcoholic beer so it has that against it.  Second its a macro-lager, which I’ve never been overly friendly to.  It poured a pale gold in color, actually had a nice color to it reminiscent of a pale lager or pilsner.  Large white head on it from the pour that dissipated slowly.  The aroma was typical of your mass produced lager: a little bit of hops and some cheap malt and not much else.  The taste wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great either.  I’ve had better non-alcoholics before.  The taste was just average, with a light body and the faintest touch of hops.  When it was ice cold it tasted kind of refreshing, but got sour as it warmed.  The finish was clean, with minimal aftertaste.  Overall, its not horrible and the taste is pretty darn close to a macro-brewed American lager so I’ll give it points for that.  Overall, its not something I would buy on a regular basis, even if I was looking for a non-alcoholic beer.  There are better ones out there on the market such as Kingsbury Non-Alcoholic.

Verdict: I’ll give it an extra point for the replication of a beer flavor, which takes it up to a 5 out of 10

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It isn’t all that often that I write to you. I hope you aren’t offended. But, you see, when things are going pretty well for me… well, you know.

The thing is, I need to ask you for a favor. Please Mr. Buddha, do not let Troy Brown sign with Manginai and the Jets. Troy is a Patriot. Not just any Patriot, but possibly more Patriot than anyone that has come before him. In this age of free-agency, salary caps, and prima-donnas mugging for the camera, Troy Brown has been unique. He has signified everything that is right with pro sports, and none that is wrong. He is selfless, hard working, and humble.

He is a Patriot.

For him to end his career as a New York Jet would be … well, would be just plain wrong.

Please, Buddha, don’t let this happen. Talk some sense into Troy.

Oh, and I am still waiting for my pony and plastic rocket ship.

Thanks,
Colin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZN3weW1udE

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So, go home and eat Pi(e).

Brewery Description: “Chocolate malt and roasted barley provide the dark color and fully body of chocolate stout. A phenomenal taste with unmistakable toasty accents, a luxurious mouthfeel and a seductive finish. A classic you should never be without.”

Brew Style: American Stout, 5.3% ABV

Recommended Glassware: English pint, Stein, Dimpled mug

The Ugly Truth: Alright, in all honesty this review is probably going to be somewhat lighter than normal since I just really didn’t find anything distinctive about this beer. It poured heavy and slick, with a thin brown head on it. Solid midnight black in color, with heavy chocolate notes in the aroma. The taste was pretty smooth, with a definite flavor of roasted grains and chocolate malt. The taste doesn’t really do a lot for me really. I found the chocolate to be on the bitter side, so it didn’t sit quite well. The beer had a medium body, and had a bit too much carbonation in it for my tastes as a stout. The finish had this indescribable…offness to it that I really just didn’t like. Same thing for the aftertaste, as I found it somewhat on the acidic side. It’s not the best chocolate stout I’ve ever had, but it wasn’t horrible. I just didn’t like it for some reason, though I think a lot of people will. So, definitely go try it yourself.

Verdict: An ambivalent 6 out of 10 bottlecaps

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Brewery Description: “As you pour this rich golden ale into your glass, consider your surroundings. Are you in a restaurant? Outside on the deck? Is it hot and humid? Cold and brisk? Take a drink. Feel the way Hennepin is bright and lively in your mouth with a warming mix of spicy gingersnap and citrusy hops. Refreshing. Relaxing. It’s true: no matter where you are, Hennepin is the perfect ale for all seasons.”

Brew Style: Saison, 7.7% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Pint glass, Tulip, Oversized wine glass

The Ugly Truth: First off, serious thanks to whatever person at Boston.com threw the Jolly Scot up on the front page.  That was pretty damn cool.  Alright, on to this installment of the beer roster: Hennepin Saison sytle ale.  For those not familiar with the style, myself being one up until a year ago here’s the description via BeerAdvocate:

“Saisons are sturdy farmhouse ale that was traditionally brewed in the winter, to be consumed throughout the summer months. Not so long ago it was close to being an endangered style, but over recent years there’s been a massive revival; especially in the US.  This is a very complex style, many are very fruit in the aroma and flavor. Look for earthy yeast tones, mild to moderate tartness. Lot of spice and with a medium bitterness. They tend to be semi-dry with many only having touch of sweetness.”

Quite different than your typical stouts, golden ales and lagers.  A really excellent brew style in my opinion, and no one has really done it better than Brewery Ommegang on this one.  Pours a straw gold in color with a frothy, almost meringue -like, head on it that leaves a good amount of lace on the glass at it goes down.  Presentation is clear with some mild carbonation bubbles rising to the top.  The aroma is light, with strong floral and spice notes in it.  The taste is really quite interesting, especially if you’ve never had a saison or strong floral beer before.  The body and mouthfeel are light, which makes this not only a great year round brew but also a fantastic summer drink.  The taste is light on the bitterness, with a mild hop overtones to it.  There’s a heavy floral and spice taste on the palette with notes of honey, fruity tones and cloves readily apparent.  The finish is clean with a lingering aftertaste to it that I found to be tart and quite enjoyable.  This beer reminds me a little of Froach Heather Ale in that it shares similiar floral tones.  However, Hennepin differs in its incorporation of malt and hops flavors into the overall experience.  Overall, Hennepin is a very unique beer and a fantastic taste experience if you’ve never had it before.  I highly recommend it.

Verdict: Hennepin grabs a rare 10 out of 10 bottlecaps.

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Brewery Description: This flavorful sweet ale has a smooth malt finish balanced against a light hop flavor. This beer is very quaffable and has become a brewpub favorite throughout the United States.
“Jolly Scot” was a famed local beer produced by R.H. Graupners Brewery that was located at 10th and Market – one block from our brewery.

Brew Style: Scotch Ale, 5.2% ABV

Recommended Glassware: English pint, Tumbler, Stein, Dimpled mug

The Ugly Truth:  Alright, first off I apologize for the lack of reviews the last few weeks. I’ve been trading colds with my children and working like a bastid.  Jolly Scot Scottish Ale has been hovering in my fridge for a few weeks now.  Pours a deep amber in color, with a thin tan head on it that went away pretty rapidly.  The aroma was full of sweet malt aroma, a bit different than the typical Scotch Ale.  The taste was really smooth, with not a lot of bitterness to it.  I found the taste to be a bit on the sweet side, with what I thought were some toffee or caramel notes to it.  The body was pretty light, which again was different from what I was use to in a Scotch Ale.  The finish was light, without a strong aftertaste to it.  Overall, its not a bad beer.  I think it probably falls in the lighter end of the Scotch Ale spectrum.  For me, I like heavier Scotch Ales the best so this one doesn’t do a lot for me.  That being said, I think this beer will probably have strong appeal for someone who wants the character of a Scotch Ale without the sometimes overbearing tastes involved.  Definitely one to go out and try for yourselves, but for me not something I would drink on a regular basis.

Verdict: For the mass appeal, I’ll give it a 7 out of 10 bottelcaps.

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More here.

It’s a great time to be alive.

On an additional note, just from the trailers Robert Downey Jr’s take of Tony Stark may be the best and most accurate portrayal to date of a comic book character in my opinion.

I can not wait for this movie to hit.

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Big Remy’s Guinness Bread

• 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (really, any white flour will do).
• 2 cups whole wheat flour.
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar.
• 1 tablespoon white granulated sugar.
• 4 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional, I’ve made it with and without. If you leave it out, the bread just ends up tasting sweeter).
• 1 can of Guinness.

Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, add Guinness to it. Mix until all ingredients are combined. Bake at 350 F for 50-65 minutes in a greased loaf pan. Test with a tooth pick or knife to make sure its cooked all the way through. Tastes great with some butter on it, toasted, or with beef stew.

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I had fun at Arisia last month, when I also attended the Sunday, and was hoping that Boskone would be at least a good. But no. The programs weren’t even folded correctly, so until we figured it out it looked like the schedule was randomly skipping back and forth between saturday and sunday.

Anime Boston is next month (3/21-3/23). We’re planning on the saturday for that one. It’ll be better. It has to be.

Brewery Description: “Stone Smoked Porter is dark, rich and complicated. A porter is substantially darker than a pale ale, but not as black or opaque as a stout. Our Stone Smoked Porter has a captivatingly deep mahogany color, complimented by silky dark tan head. Rich, full bodied and robust. Smooth, with chocolate and coffee-like flavors balanced by the subtle “smoky” character of just the right amount of peat-smoked specialty malt. Terrific with meats and desserts!”

Brew Style: American Porter, 5.9% ABV

Recommended Glassware: English pint, Stem, Mug, Stein

The Ugly Truth: For me personally, Stone Brewery is one of the best breweries in the country hands down. They may actually be my favorite brewery now that I think about it. I think my top three are probably: Stone Brewery, Brewery Ommegang and I would have to say Samuel Adams/Boston Beer Company. And sadly, living in exile in North Carolina as I currently do, I can’t buy their fine products in any local stores. I’m hoping that changes soon. Now that I have that out of the way, on to the beer.

Smoked Porter poured a strong black in color, with a substantial thick head to it that was light brown in color. The aroma had a light smoked nose to it, with noticeable hints of chocolate and coffee present. Very nice aroma, gave a nice preview of the tastes to come. I found the beer to be very smooth, light on the bitterness in the beginning but increases towards the finish. Strong chocolate and coffee tastes to it, which blended very well with the smoky flavor that was prevailing throughout the overall experience. I thought the body was medium, with a texture to it that almost reminded me of Guinness to a degree. Really great flavor, very deep range to it. There’s hints of subtle flavors coming in at the finish. If you let it in your mouth for a bit, they really start to come forward. Some subtle caramel/toffee flavor starts coming in. There is another flavor that I can’t quite pin down. I know this will sound completely weird but as I was drinking this I started craving this really good venison mince meat pie that my mother makes that is typically soaked in bourbon. Definitely a beer that would go well with red meat or game. Again, Stone Brewery doesn’t disappoint.

Verdict: I’ll go with a 9 out of 10 bottlecaps for this one.

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The site seems to be back to normal.

Brewery Description: “Strong roasted malt and coffee flavors build the foundation of this classic cream stout.  The addition of milk sugar mellows the intense roastiness and gives this beer the most incredibly creamy mouth feel.”

Brew Style: Milk Stout, 5.2% ABV

Recommended Glassware: English pint, Stein, Dimpled Mug

The Ugly Truth: This beer comes at the suggestion of my friend Dave, and gets me one step closer to completing the Beer Quest by being the first Milk Stout I’ve reviewed.  Left Hand Brewing Company has been sliding around the edges of my radar for awhile now.  I’ve known about them, but I never got around to having anything from them.  Turns out that may have been an error, since the Milk Stout was darn good.  Poured a deep amber/black in color depending on the light with a strong gray/brown head on it.  The aroma did a great job of conveying the creaminess that was waiting for me.  Good nose of hearty grains and roasted malt, with the coffee notes coming out lightly.  The taste is interesting if you’ve never had a milk stout before.  To me it tastes like you took a typical stout, and mixed it with cream.  Its that easy really.  Bitterness is very mild, which work very nicely for this beer.  The body was in the medium range, with a strong and creamy mouthfeel to it and loads of flavor.  Good hits of roasted malt, with a lingering finish that had a very nutty taste to it, almost a hazelnut flavor.  Overall, a very good beer that is definitely geared towards sitting and sipping.  Highly recommend giving it a shot.

Verdict: Throwing it an 8 out of 10 bottlecaps

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Brewery Description: “Merry Monks’ Ale is a Belgian style Abby Trippel without limitation. This style was created by Trappist Monks in Belgium over 500 years ago. To be true to the style, Merry Monks’ Ale is bottle conditioned. This means we add a bit of sugar and yeast just prior to bottling. This imparts a special effervescence to the beer, a creamier carbonation, and also extends the shelf life. The on-going fermentation inside the bottle will change the character of the beer as it ages, and you’ll find it becomes dryer with age. When you try this beer you’re in for a unique treat. The special effervescence and creaminess are immediately apparent when pouring. The Pilsner malts combined with the Belgian yeast strains yield a remarkable and complex flavor- perhaps you’ll note subtle hints of fruit or spice. The flavor is nicely balanced and the finish moderate to dry , begging for the next sip.”

Brew Style: Tripel, 9.3% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Trappist glass, Tulip, Snifter

The Ugly Truth: So I’ve only had a few Tripels, and its been awhile since I’ve had one so I had kind of forgotten what they tasted like. I didn’t really go in for this one that much. Poured a cloudy copper orange in color, with a rapidly disappearing fizzy head on it. The aroma was strong, with a heavy alcohol nose mixed with spices and citrus notes. The taste was interesting. For me, it started off sharp and then rapidly dissipated with not a lot in the way of a finish or aftertaste to it. The flavors present were very strong to me, with an almost banana and bubblegum flavor to it. The mouthfeel was very light with heavy carbonation to it. The whole taste was over too fast for my liking. Even if I let it sit in my mouth, the taste still seemed to be over very quickly. I had high hopes for this beer, but I really didn’t like it much. Had too much of an alcohol sweetness to it for me, but again its one of those one that I recommend people try for themselves.

Verdict: Probably not getting the score it deserves, I’m going to give it a 6 out of 10

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Ah, screw it. We’re back. Back like a motherf$&%er . Until we run out of cake.

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Brewery Description: Named after a Brussels bar made famous as the starting point for bicycle and pigeon races, our Rare Vos Amber Ale is also a great place to begin your virtual taste test. As you pour, you’ll notice the beautiful coppery-amber color and the rich creamy head. Lift the glass to your mouth and enjoy the aroma of spicy orange blossoms. Taste, and the pleasant mellow flavor of caramel malt glides easily into a dry, hop finish. Once you’ve finished, start again (after all, this isn’t a race). Intended for the café as well as the dinner table, Rare Vos is an amber ale of medium color and strength. It sports aromas and flavors of caramel, orange, hops, plus an elusive fruity-yeasty flavor which will have you tasting in circles.

Brew Style: Belgian Dark Ale, 6.5% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Trappist, Tulip, Tumbler, Snifter

The Ugly Truth: Another great offering from the Brewery Ommengang, NY’s own small chunk of Belgium sitting in Cooperstown. Poured a beautiful rich and luminescent amber color in the glass. Topped with an off white, almost faint amber/peach color head that left a fair amount of lace on the glass as it went down. The aroma was fruity, with traces of sweetness and malt that blended quite well. The taste was incredibly smooth, with some very delicate flavors coming together to create a truly enjoyable experience. There’s a subtle taste of citrus to it, and the sweetness of the taste just lingers for a long time and spreads across the tongue. I found the body to be in the light to medium range, with a very dry finish that was great. The tastes seem to linger into the finish. There are definitely a bunch of subtle flavors that I’m just not quite getting. The more of it I drink, the more the hop finish comes out. Rare Vos is a really good beer, definitely one to be savored and not just pounded down like Macro swill.  I definitely recommend it, especially if you are already a fan of the Brewery Ommegang.

Verdict: Giving it a rare 9 out of 10 bottlecaps.

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Brewery:

Brewery Description: “The Duck-Rabbit Baltic Porter is deep, rich and velvety soft. A full blooded roasty character is balanced by complex alcohol notes. Strong (9% alcohol by volume) yet unfailingly subtle, this special brew warrants sipping and savoring.”

Brew Style: Baltic Porter, 9.0% ABV

Recommended Glassware: English pint, Tulip, Stein

The Ugly Truth: Duck Rabbit is a local microbrewery in North Carolina, so you may not be able to get in the Boston area. So…Baltic Porter. I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t even aware of this brew stlye until I started researching how many styles there were. Its defined as (via BeerAvocate.com):

“Porters of the late 1700’s were quite strong compared to today’s standards, easily surpassing 7% alcohol by volume. Some brewers made a stronger, more robust version, to be shipped across the North Sea, dubbed a Baltic Porter. In general, the style’s dark brown colour covered up cloudiness and the smoky/roasted brown malts and bitter tastes masked brewing imperfections. The addition of stale ale also lent a pleasant acidic flavour to the style, which made it quite popular. These issues were quite important given that most breweries were getting away from pub brewing and opening up breweries that could ship beer across the world.”

So essentially a really strong porter with some extras kick added to mask brewing screwups. Fortunately, it doesn’t taste that way. Its taste can best be summed as wicked f’ing strong. I’ve had beers with much higher ABV’s before and they didn’t taste this strong. Color was an oily block, with a thin brown head on it. The aroma to me gave hints of coffee, some roasted hints and bread to be quite honest. The mouthfeel was heavy, with a bit of carbonation to it. The taste was bittersweet at first, and then it all of a sudden just assualts you. It seriously suddenly becomes chewy, but it still tasted damn good. The heavy alcohol flavors melded well. The aftertaste was almost stronger than the main body of the beer. It tasted like…Jesus, it honestly tasted like someone melted a bar of unsweetened chocolate into a pot of double strength coffee, used that to clean the inside of a half empty porter cask and decided to bottle it and sell it. Even with the possible horrible image that may have given you, this was still a really good beer. Not for the most people I think, but if you like porters with a higher ABV percentage, see if you can find some of this or if that fails a Baltic Porter from another brewery. Well worth it.

Verdict: I liked it, but I don’t think it would an all the time beer for me. I’ll be conservative and give it a 7 out of 10 bottlecaps.
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Now playing: The Ducky Boys - Alone Tonight
via FoxyTunes .

Number of beers reviewed: 110

Number of Styles Obtained: 55/101

Number of beers receiving a 1 Bottle Cap Rating: 3

Number of beers receiving a 10 Bottle Cap Rating: 10

Brewery Description: “Yes, we’re a little obsessed with hops. Every autumn for over twenty years, Jim Koch has traveled to one of the oldest hop-growing regions in the world, the Hallertau region of Bavaria in Germany, to hand-select Noble Bavarian hops, including the Hallertau Mittelfrueh variety. This special variety is considered to be one of the best in the world, prized for its unique taste and aroma. Samuel Adams® Hallertau Imperial Pilsner is a celebration of these extraordinary hops. This beer is one of the hoppiest in the world, without being overly bitter. With the first sip, you will experience an explosion of some of the world’s finest hops. And we mean “explosion” in a good way. Brewed as a showcase for the hops, this bold brew highlights the spicy, citrus flavors and aromas of the Hallertau Mittelfrueh hops that are abundant in the recipe. The intense hops flavor is balanced with the slight sweetness from the malt. The brew remains pleasantly well-balanced from beginning to end, due to the quality of the hops, and continues to always be, well, “hoppy,” providing hop lovers with an amazing beer drinking experience.”

Brew Style: American Double/Imperial Pilsner, 8.8% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Lager, Pilsner

The Ugly Truth: Alright, I’m going to do something I normally don’t like to and try not to do. I’m going to direct the opening portion of this review to one person. That person is Carl. So anyone else, you’re wlecome to read it, but this is mostly directed at him.

Carl, I know we don’t agree on beer for the most part and I frankly enjoy your suffering when you try beers that I feel are mild, and describe them as “eating a pine tree”. However, for your own safety I’m going to give that up this time. Please, please do not try this beer. You will not like it, you will hate it. Hate actually may be too weak a word, I think you may actually actively loathe it. So do yourself, and me, a favor and don’t drink this.

Alright, back to the general populace. If you like pilsners, you will love this beer. As a matter of fact, anyone who likes a bit of hops period will love this beer. I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t like this stuff. Pours a cloudy, burnt orange color with a slight white head that didn’t leave much trace on the glass as it went down initially but did as you were drinking. The aroma is hops plain and simple with a faint, faint touch of citrus/floral notes. The taste is just intense and completely dominated by hops. The mouthfeel tastes like…well like someone poured a bunch of hops into your mouth. In truth its in the medium range, and light on carbonation. The taste is uncomplicated, it is full of hops but still remains fairly smooth and manages to not become bitter. The finish and aftertaste blended nicely, the finish being pretty subtle. The aftertaste kicks in with some strong, almost Sam Adams Boston Lager signiture, hops bite.

Overall, not for the weak of heart. If you don’t like hops, do not drink this because you will hate it. It suffers some in mass appeal in that manner, but since I like hoppy beers I’m fine with it. Might be the hoppiest beer I’ve had to date.

Verdict: I’m going to go with an 8/10. I would give it a 9, but I think it does suffer some in the mass appeal category so I docked it a point.

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Star Trek: The Tour. A chance to go and see a ton of Trek sets, information, gear and interactive exhibits. Even if I have to battle a Gorn with nothing but a spork as a weapon to get tickets, I’m going to it. Its coming to Boston at some point, so keep checking the site for tour dates. There is even supposedly an exhibit where you get to star in a mini-episode where they cut you into a scence with Kirk and Spock.

This will be the coolest damn thing since Scotty started a bar fight against some Klingons in “The Trouble with Tribbles”

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Now playing: The Bouncing Souls - Apartment 5F
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Next month there’s Boskone at the Wesitn Waterfront on February 15-17. And looking ahead to March 21-23 there’s Anime Boston at the Hynes.

Find the BostonGeeks at all of these and introduce yourself and you’ll get a free handshake!

For more info on northeast-area cons check the New England SciFi Association.

Brewery Description: “High, white, fluffy summer clouds. A soft breeze through a citrus grove. A heavenly bite of orange chiffon cake. All of these come to your mind as you lift our pale golden wheat ale to your lips. It’s so soft, so light on your tongue, you think, as the tart lemon, bitter orange, and subtle spiciness of coriander arrive to round out the intriguing delicacy of this delicious ale. You smile, knowing there are five more of them in the fridge.  Crafted for summer session drinking, is a traditional white ale, or witbier; pale in color, with a high, white frothy head and refreshing flavors of orange, lemon, coriander, and wheat. Witte is also Brewery Ommegang’s first ale to be offered on draft.”

Brew Style: Witbier, 5.10%

Recommended Glassware: Pint, Tumbler, Weizen, Stein

The Ugly Truth: First off, I love the Brewery Ommegang.  These are the same guys behind Three Philosophers, one of the best beers I’ve ever had.  Ommegang Witte poured a clean staw yellow in color, with a frothy white head that left some slight lacey traces on the glass.  I thought it had a pretty clean aroma, with some of the spices and citrus coming out in the nose.  The taste was clean and crisp, with a light mouthfeel to it.  I thought the carbonation was kinda weak for a witbier actually.  The taste, while good, didn’t really impress me much.  There wasn’t much depth to it, and it seemed to be missing the spices that were present in the aroma.  There was some slight citrus tartness in the aftertaste, but again it wasn’t very strong.  I had this both cold from the fridge and warmed to the recommended temperature and I definitely liked it better cold from the fridge.  Overall, a decent witbier just not the best I’ve ever had but worth trying.

Verdict: I’m going with a 6 out of 10, since it didn’t inspire me much.

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Now playing: Korpiklaani - Wooden Pints
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Giving it the day with my tech support guy at work, then I’m crashing the damn system.

1)  I don’t know Jack Shit, and Jack just left town. Had to borrow the Bruce Campbell line because its so appropriate.  In the grand scheme, I don’t know a damn thing.  I know more than I did when I started this whole thing, but I’m honest enough to know I still have a lot to learn.  So if you’re coming to me to be the end all, be all source of beer knowledge you are in for some trouble because I’m not it.  I’m working on it though.

2) Its all relative. If I’ve come to truly appreciate one thing, its that all beer reviews should be viewed with a mental disclaimer that reads “This is my opinion.  Go drink it yourself if you really want to know what the beer is like.”.  I’ve had beers that I find incredibly good but that just about every major beer review source has given a bad score to, and vice versa.  Don’t confuse this with some “I’ve become enlightened and I’ll now treat all opinions as mental gold”.  I’m still going to be my pugnacious self in the reviews, but I do at least recognize this now.

3) Respect and Honesty. I’m not talking about giving out respect because someone has told you that you should, or that you should always respect a beer because its someone’s hard work.  I’m talking about giving out respect because after having done this for near two years, I feel I understand things better now.  If I think a beer is at best below standard and at worst horrible, I’m going to say it is in all honesty because to do less wouldn’t be right to me.  Yes, I respect the fact that the brewers have worked hard crafting their beer, but what about respecting the rights of the person drinking it and not serving them up horrible beer?   The respect road goes both ways.  In light of that, I have to say I have gained an entirely new respect for the Alstrom Brothers of BeerAdvocate.com.  Those guys have put together an operation I could only dream of, and are worthy of more respect that I’m able to give out because of it.  I’m not trying to be a kiss-ass, that’s the God honest truth.

4) My writing is at a 5th grade level. Well, this isn’t exactly a revelation to anyone.  Hey, I’m a neurobiologist not an English major.  People can deal with it while I expand my beer vocabulary.

5)  People are actually listening to me.  Over the last year especially, I’ve become more aware of the fact that something that started two years ago as random blog entries on borrowed space at a friend’s webpage has grown into its own monster.  People actually appear to listen to me, which is horribly frightening.  I mean, I’ve had breweries send me beer to review for the love of God.  My reviews actually come up on the first page of a Google search for some beers.  There has been talk thrown around the “office” of merchadise and a book of the first hundred reviews.  Absolutely astounding.

Those are five of the things I’ve learned after the past two years.  I’m sure there is more that I’m not conciously aware of.  That being said, I have two choices available to me it seems.  On one hand, I can just keep going the way I’ve been going since it appears to be working fine.  On the other hand, I can take the Beer Roster and make it evolve.  Since I’m a biologist and I dig on evolution, I’m going that route.  Starting after the New Year, the driving force of the Beer Roster will be changing.  I’m going to be moving from the general “A new beer a week” motif to a more focused one.  On BeerAdvocate and RateBeer.com, there are 100 different styles of beer listed.  The new goal of the Beer Roster is to have me try at least one beer from each style.  Sounds like a lot of work?  Well, if you take into account all the beer I’ve had so far I’m only 48 brew styles away from reaching that goal.  Should be doable.   The big problem will be finding beers in some of the more obscure types, like Kvass and Sahti.

One last thing.  If the Beer Roster is going to evolve, it needs a new name.  Currently the spreadsheet tracking the beers and their styles has been named “Remy’s Beer Quest” by my friend Dave.  I’m throwing a challenge out there for someone to come up with something better and geekier than that.  We’ll discuss a possible reward.

Alright kids, I’m done rambling.  Now go get a beer.

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Now playing: Dropkick Murphys - The State Of Massachusetts
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I guess some of this is my fault. I should have known better than leave all that stuff in my car. But, it was like the perfect storm of circumstances, and at this point I am left with a car full of broken glass, the memory of the stinging chill of driving more than an hour (in freezing temperatures) without a driver’s side window, and the task of dealing with my insurance company, the police, and an auto-glass repair company.

Ho ho ho.

Brewery Description (put together from the Ringwood site): “Ringwood’s strongest beer was first brewed in late 1979 without a name, but a competition in the local press inspired Joe Leedham from Broadstone, Dorset to come up with a suitable zany suggestion! Although by no means our biggest seller because of its strength and high duty cost Old Thumper is our best known beer. Luscious balance of grain and hop in the mouth, bitter sweet finish with delicate fruit notes. Warm, rounded yet surprisingly delicate pale strong beer.”

Brew Style: A Premium Bitter/ESB, 5.9% ABV

Recommended Glassware: English pint

The Ugly Truth: So if people haven’t figured it out yet, the whole “I’ll post beers on Friday” thing has gone out the window. Its now pretty much “I’ll post one when I actually have the time to drink a beer”. Downside is that you never know when one is going to go up, upside is if I’m having a good week you could get like 2 or 3 reviews easy. Alright, Ringwood Old Thumper. Good stuff, very good ESB (so in other words, 2/3 of the BostonGeek staff won’t like it). Copper amber color with a thick white head to it. Very hearty and pleasent aroma, with a hint of sweetness to it that was interesting. I found the taste to be strong and flavorful, while maintaining a light to medium body. There was a decent kick of hops in the taste with what I found to be a crisp, dry finish. Some good bittersweet tones to the aftertaste. At first I thought that the aftertaste wasn’t very long lasting, but when I had finished drinking it and I could still taste the hops 10 minutes after I was done I changed my mind. Good, solid drinking beer especially if you like Premium Bitters. I think it would go quite well with some sausage or burgers.

Verdict: Old Thumper pounds out a 8 out of 10 bottelcaps.

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Now playing: Carbon Leaf - Big Strong Man (live)
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Its called MyMiniCity, and its basically a web based lite version of Sim City where it grows by having people visit it.  So do me a favor and visit RemY Town, where the primary industry will be the brewing of beer with the potential to expand to making sausage.   Right now that link is for growing the population, if it hits a certain point I can add industry.

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Now playing: The Business - Anarchy In The Streets
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One of those areas is Fantasy and SciFi literature.  I will soon start doing reviews of something I am either currently reading or have read, either individual books or series depending on the novel in question.  The reviews won’t be massively indepth, so that if you haven’t read it already it won’t be spoiled for you like some individuals on this site like to do with the Harry Potter novels.  The hope is that these reviews may lead you to some new books to enjoy.  As always, feel free to suggest books to me.  Fortunately, I have a pretty good size number of books I’ve already read so that I have plenty of time to read others while writing reviews of those.  Some of the books may be series that have been around for a long time, some may be fairly new.  Up first might be “The Wizard Knight” by Gene Wolfee, which is what I’m currently reading, unless I decide to write about one I have already read.

As for suggestions, I know I will undoubtably catch all kinds of hell for this but please no one recommend the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.  I got 8 books in and couldn’t deal with it anymore because it was so incredibly boring.  He concieved a great fantasy world, it just ran way to slow for me and some of the character’s were one dimensional at best.  I know people loved the man and continue to love him even though he has shuffled off the mortal coil, but it shouldn’t take 500 pages to make 3 minor plot advances in the series, nor should you stop to write a prequel to the series in the middle of writing the series.  Maybe once all the books are done I’ll give it a shot again.

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And, as usual, Boston In Brief is filled with all things Boston.

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No, seriously. Our ‘one week off’ turned into like… three… all because we are in the middle of ‘enhancing’ your experience. Enhancing like a mofo.

This is Episode 100. It’s audio, but there’s a link to the video. It’s big, so, you know, download it to your PC or something.

On the Geek Top Three, we discuss Google’s jump onto the 700MHz bandwagon, the XBOX 360 Fall Dashboard Update, and the band covering The Romantics in Rock Band apparently sounds too much like the original. On Boston in Brief, Dropkick Murphys appear on the latest song pack for Guitar Hero II, Web Design World returns to Boston in 2007, and Aresia comes to the Hyatt regency in Cambridge in January.

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Brewery:

Brewery Description: Looking forward to a depressing holiday? Here is liquid consolation. This 8% bittersweet chocolate stout is the best you could hope for in these dark times. Come to think of it, considering how bad you’ve been this year, this little coal-black gem is more than you deserve for Christmas. Concocted by the vastly talented — though, frankly, a little too cheery — Peter Scholey, Lump of Coal will be hitting shelves and better pubs in November 2004.

Brew Style: A Foreign Stout (somewhere between a basic and imperial stout), 8% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Snifter, Tulip

The Ugly Truth: This review is probably going to be disjointed, since I was taking notes in between watching the Pats game last night and eating a chicken.  I also noticed this morning, since it was in teh description that this beer was probably brewed in 2004 since its been in my old man’s fridge for a loooooong time.  It was keep at a cool temp and on its side, so it should have kept well but just bear that in mind for this review.  So Lump of Coal poured a midnight black in color, with about a finger width of head on it.  The aroma was pretty light.  For a beer that had probably been sitting for 2 years, it seems to have held up really well because I really enjoyed the taste.  It has a little of a roasted/smokey taste to it with the hint of chocolate coming through late.  The bitterness was interlaced with the chocolate flavor nicelyand it worked well.  The bitterness was pretty light as well.  Overall a pretty good stout and I would have been interested to see what it tasted like fresher.

Verdcit: Santa is leaving me 8 out of 10 bottlecaps since I’ve been a good boy this year.

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Now playing: Flogging Molly - The Likes Of You Again (Live)
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Brewery Description: “Sam Adams Light® is not just a lighter version of our Samuel Adams Boston Lager® but rather the culmination of over two years of tireless research and brewing trials to create a flavorful Light beer. And it has proved to be worth the wait. Brewed using only the finest two row malt and German Noble hops it has a smooth, complex roasted malt character that is superbly balanced with the subtle orange fruit notes of the Noble hops. Sam Adams Light® finishes crisp and smooth without any lingering bitterness, leaving you yearning for more.”

Brew Style: Premium Lager, 4.0% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Lager glass

The Ugly Truth: I was feeling good about this review until I actually read the brewery description. I love Sam Adams, I think Jim Koch is a Boston hero for his brewery but I can’t agree with the description. Sam Adams Light is pretty much a lighter version of the Boston Lager. And sadly for this reason I’ll end comparing it to the Boston Lager for pretty much this whole review. Might be unfair, but so is life Jimmy boy. SA Light poured a light brown in color, roughly the same as the Boston Lager, with a frothy white head to it. Aroma isn’t very strong, but was similar to the Boston Lager with a decent nose of hops to it. The body is very light, so light that to me it takes away from the taste some. The taste is basically a toned down version of the Boston Lager, less hops bite and a greatly dimished aftertaste. The finish is smooth but I wouldn’t necessarily call it crisp. To me it just kind of ended, so it was clean. SA Light is missing some of the hearty robust flavor that I love about the Boston Lager. All this being said, it is hands down the best light beer on the market today, or at least that I’ve had. I will gladly drink SA Light over anything other light beer out there, so it gets a bonus point because of that.

Verdict: I’ll go with a 7 out of 10 bottlecaps on this one.

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Brewery Description: The first thing one notices in a Samuel Adams® Winter Lager is its color: the deep brown of winter. Then comes the magical aroma which promises something special on the tongue. The warm aroma of cinnamon and ginger which blends with the roasty sweetness of the malted barley and hint of citrus from the orange peel. And after that first sip the promise is fulfilled. On the palate Samuel Adams® Winter Lager is rich and full bodied, robust and warming, a wonderful way to enjoy the cold evenings that come with this season.

Brew Style:Weizen Bock, 5.8% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Dimpled mug, Stein, Weizen

The Ugly Truth: Finally, I am back.  Alright, Sam Adam’s Winter.  I drink it every year when it comes out and this year is no exception.  Inviting chestnut brown/amber in color, not sure if that actually qualifies for”the color of winter” that the description implies.  If I had to pick a color for winter, I’d go with…let’s see…oh yeah freakin’ WHITE since it snows.  The head was white, so I’ll let them slide some.  The aroma had a hearty nose of spice and malted barley that was enjoyable.  The body was medium to heavy to me, right in the range I like for winter lagers.  The taste was good, not great for me.  I tasted the spice, but it wasn’t overly heavy and probably could have been stronger.   There was a little bit of bite at the end, and then a rather enjoyable warming after taste that rises up.  Overall, solid beer.  I’m sure its probably better on tap then in the bottle like a lot of Sam Adam’s products.  Not the best winter lager I’ve ever had, but still enjoyable.

Verdict: Old Man Winter is rolling in and blowing at a 7 out of 10 bottlecaps strength.

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Now playing: The Tragically Hip - My Music At Work
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Sam Adam’s Winter Lager

Sam Adam’s Light (go screw Miller)

Stone Imperial Stout

ABC Mountain Lager

ABC Jolly Scot Scottish Ale

Ridgeway Lump of Coal

Ringwood Old Thumper

I’m going to try and get myself caught up, but life has been busy and the beer drinking has suffered.

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It’s episode 99, and it’s posted late. I’ve been busy, so busy. Also, Episode 100 will be delayed until next weekend, so that we have time to finish our re-tooling and bring the usual quality you expect from us.

On the Geek Top Three, domo arigato, Google Android; the Bushies want immunity for dirty telecoms and their violations of federal law; and super-fun times with illegal cell-phone jammers.

On Boston-in-Brief, Live Action Anime 2007 brought to you by MIT on November 29th and December 1st; a bunch of sub-standard bars closing in Massachusetts because of fire hazards; and on Friday November 16th, see a wonderful flute (flaut) player from the Lowell Philharmonic plays.

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Brewery Description: “Saranac Octoberfest is a med-bodied, copper colored lager. It’s rich, malty taste is subtly balanced by Saaz and Tettnang hops. The beer is aged slowly in the tradition of the Octoberfest beers of Munich.”

Brew Style: Oktoberfest/Marzen, 5.4% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Lager glass

The Ugly Truth: Just because its November now, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy an Oktoberfest. Sadly, I haven’t been enjoying as many as I would like. Here comes Saranac Octoberfest. Pours a copper amber in color, with a foamy white head on it. I found the aroma to be a bit heavy and somewhat on the spiced/flowery side. Taste was fairly mild with a medium to heavy body to it. I personally didn’t catch much malt flavor, and I found the bitterness of the hops to be very light. I suppose the balance of the two was in such harmony as to eliminate the taste of both. I’d rather have one be more eivdent than the other, or at least a different mix of hops and malts that may compliment each other better. I found the finish to be on the dry side, not a lot of noticable flavor to it. All in all, not a bad Oktoberfest but not the best on the market. Personally, I’ve always liked Sam Adams but I know there are many other fine ones out there. It seems like a brrewery reputation can live or die by their Oktoberfest. In conclusion, definitely worth trying but not my favorite on the market.

Verdcit: I’m going with a 7 out of 10.

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On Boston in Brief, enjoy a beer with Jim CookKoch, Comics Come Home, and Shaolin Monks will KICK YOUR ASS!!! — at the Orpheum on November 17th.

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Brewery Description: “This beer’s looks are deceiving! It may look like a stout, but your first sip will tell you otherwise. Brewed in the German easy-drinking tradition, our Black Lager may look dark, but it tastes clean, crisp and smooth. This beer has quickly become a staff favorite!”

Brew Style: Schwarzbier, 5.1% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Lager glass, Stein

The Ugly Truth: Is that I’ve been so busy between work and family, its been two weeks since I’ve posted a review. Just sad. Alright here we go. First off, I really enjoy schwarzbiers and this one was really good in my opinion. Poured a solid black with a light brown head to it that, like the description says, looks much like a stout. The aroma for me had notes of chocolate to it, also a hearty malt aroma. I really enjoyed the taste, which I found to be medium to heavy in body and really refreshing. I found some hints of roasted flavor, probably the malt and also some coffee. Overall, really enjoyable taste with a good clean finish. Very solid black lager. I recommend trying it out.

Verdict: I’ll go with an 8 out of 10 bottlecaps.

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On Boston-in-Brief, MIA at the Palladium November 28th, Tinariwen at the MFA on November 25th, and Acidic Painting at the Museum of Science on November 10th.

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Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
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Voice: 1.617.418.4113

All music composed and recorded by Karl Kornfeld.

Brewery Description: “Saranac Pumpkin Ale is brewed with Pumpkin, Cinnamon, Allspice, Cloves, Ginger and Vanilla. Look for a full-body and amber color. We’re sure you’ll enjoy this special brew!”

Brew Style: Herb Beer, 5.4% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Lager glass, Tumbler

The Ugly Truth: New work schedule is kicking my ass, that’s what the ugly truth is.  Alright, Saranac Pumpkin Ale.  Didn’t like it, end of story.  Wish I could get more verbose, but that’s the frank truth.  Didn’t like it, wouldn’t get it again.  Poured a deep chestnut brown in color, with an off white head.  Aroma smelled heavily of allspice and cloves.  And by heavily I mean it smelled like someone showed a canister of the stuff up my nose.  The taste I found was weak.  I got not a single hint of pumpkin.  It basically tasted like I was eating a piece of pumpkin pie without the pumpkin.  Nothing but spices and some vanilla.  Which sucks, because I really like the taste of pumpkin.  The body was fairly medium in weight and it does drink relatively easy, just doesn’t do anything for me tastewise.  This is definitely going to be one of those “buy it yourself, see what you think” beers.  I personally just didn’t like it.

Verdict: yeah let’s see….hell 5 out of 10.

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On Boston-in-Brief, a shockingly good time at the Chevy Volt press event; sweet, sweet chocolate at the Langham Hotel in Boston; and have some Cake with your chocolate.

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My ass was barely off the plane, and we recorded. We love you that much. This week on the Geek Top Three, we discuss artificial life
, brain-eating amoebae and toxoplasmosis, and California’s own government websites get shut down.

On Boston in Brief, there’s a Strides Against Breast Cancer event, Isis comes to Cambridge, and Spooky World returns!

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It will probably be boring and pointless.

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Geek out.

Brewery Description: The Buzzard Pilsner is brewed with Pale and Vienna malts and is generously hopped with both Hallertauer and Saaz hops to produce a crisp, hoppy beer. Our Pilsner is an ideal compliment to oysters, a seafood dinner, backyard bar-b-que or for cooling down after a day at the beach.

Brew Style: Bohemian Pilsner, 5.1% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Flute, Footed Pilsner

The Ugly Truth: Buzzards Bay Brewery in Westport MA. I went to undergrad like 10 minutes from this place but sadly they actually didn’t start producing beer until I had graduated from UMass Dartmouth. By the way, if you’ve never been to that school, easily the ugliest campus on the face of the planet. An entire campus designed by a this guy named Paul Rudolph, and if you went to that school you soon learned to appreciate that the man was bat shit insane. Pressurized concrete does not make an attractive campus. I swear there were doors that went to no where, and there was rumored to be a pentagram carved into the floor of the room at the top of the radio tower. But I digress.

BB Pilsner was good stuff. I’m admittedly still trying to get a good handle on the world of pilsners, but I liked this one. Straw gold in color, foamy white head and a definite aroma of hops. The body I found to be light, with a good strong glavor and a clean finish. There was enjoyabe level of hops, and I was surprised because I honestly thought the IBU was higher than the claimed 41. There was some tangy citrus at the end, but it was pretty sublte and I personally don’t think it contributed hugely to the taste. It was a good pilsner, well suited to my tastes because of the hops so I recommend trying it out.

Verdict: I’ll go with 8 out of 10 bottlecaps of circling buzzards.

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Now playing: The Dropkick Murphys - The Fields Of Athenry
via FoxyTunes

My fellow beer drinkers, we have arrived at a momentous time in our history and the history of Boston Geek. Beer Review #100 has finally been achieved. It has taken many hard and grueling sacrifices to reach this end, but we finally have. I would first like to thank my patrons, Colin and Carl, for their foresight to know that this would be the best things to ever happen to their site. Addtionally, I would like to thank Captain Damage who has more than once forced me to recognize that my tastes are not universal. So here are the top 5 best and worst beers of the last 50.

Top 5 Beers of 51-100:

5) Julius Echter Hefeweiss Dunkel: A really great tasting Dunkel, I highly recommend it.
4) Weyerbacher Heresy: An absolutely fantastic Imperial Stout. Aged in bourban barrels, it has this incredibly infused taste to it.
3) Ruddles County: If you like bitter, this one is probably one of the best you’ll ever have.
2) Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout: Don’t need to say much about this one, its classic.
1) Arrogant Bastard: One of the greatest beers ever made. End of story. The CEO of the company came and said so.

Now..the Worst 5 Beers of 51-100:
5) Miller Lite: King of the mass produced light beers. Kind of like being King of the Sewer.
4) Leinenkugels Sunset Wheat: The most controversial review evah. You either love it, or you hated it. I hated it.
3) Dock Street Illuminator: The inconsistant taste killed it for me.
2) Zlaty Bazant 12% - Golden Pheasant: My personal battle with pilsners really began here I think.
1) Yanjing 11 Premium Extra: Ahh, the infamous post. Evidently if you say that you think brewing rice in beer is a horrible idea and companies that do should their breweries destroyed, it makes you a racist against the Chinese according to a Canadian. Whatever, it was an attempt to be funny and it came out wrong. I still think we should blow up Anhauser Busch.

Cheers, and here’s to hoping I make it through 50 more.

Brewery Description: Originally a drink for lactating mothers, oatmeal stout was described as nutritional on early labels. Oats are in the same family as barley, and a small addition yields great flavor. Popular in the late 1800’s, the last oatmeal stout was brewed before the First World War until Samuel Smith reintroduced this style in 1980. Almost opaque, with an unusually silky texture and complex, medium-dry velvet palate. Bittersweet finish.

Brew Style: Stout, 5% ABV

Recommended Glassware: English Pint

The Ugly Truth: That’s right. We’ve done it folks, we have finally hit beer#100. To think this whole thing started as a New Year’s Resolution to try a different beer every week. Frankly, I just needed someplace to store all the reviews, Colin had the webspace, and hence the Beer Roster was born. Alright, onto beer #100, which is brought to you in part by Karl who asked I review a Samuel Smith a few podcasts ago. Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout is probably one of the top 5 stouts out there in my opinion. It pours a rich black in color with a solid thick brown head on it. The aroma has notes of barley and malt to it that ones finds in really good stouts. The taste is very rich, and actually reminds me more of a really good whiskey or scotch than anything else. Body is medium to heavy and goes down quite easily making it one of the better easy drinking stouts. There is a strong hint of what seems like coffee in the aftertaste, but it is more likely the combination of the roasted barley and cane sugar giving rise to that. There is no strong hint of bitterness, which makes the whole experience even more pleasurable. In general, Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout is pretty much a classic and you really couldn’t go wrong with picking it up to drink.

Verdict: Its the 100th review, so how could I go any less than a 10 out of 10 bottlecaps for it?

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Now playing: Dropkick Murphys - Good Rats
via FoxyTunes

Saranac Pumpkin Ale (Saranac)

Saranac Octoberfest (Saranac)

Jolly Scot Scottish Ale (Appalachian Brewing Company)

Mountain Lager (Appalachian Brewing Company)

Going to try and get the Pumpkin and Octoberfest out quick since I do believe those are both seasonals, so best to cover them as soon as possible.

Brewery Description: “In the words of our President and founding father, Russ Klisch, “Klisch Pilsner is a meat and potatoes beer,” meaning that though there are no darker specialty grains used to influence the color or texture of this beer, it is nonetheless a full-bodied satisfying all-malt brew. The recipe is simple, but how it is put together is what gives this beer its complexity. The deep golden color and malty flavor come from an ample amount of domestic malted barley and imported hops. The addition of Saaz hops added at the end of a two-hour boil gives the beer a wonderful balance with the accent on the hops.”

Brew Style: German Pilsner,  5.4% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Flute, Footed Pilsner

The Ugly Truth: I’ve come to realize lately that if there is one style of beer I haven’t really been able to get a handle on what a good offering should taste like, its the pilsners.  I frankly have almost no idea when it comes to pilsners what I’m supposed to be looking for.  According to Ratebeer.com, a good beer source,  a German Pilsner is:

“German pilsners typically come in two varieties, the northern and the southern. Southern examples are akin to a Bohemian pilsner with German hops and less malt. Northern examples are very well-attenuated (leaner in body) and dry.”

If I had to choose, I’d say this one falls into the Southern style.  The color was straw gold, with a solid white head to it on the pour.  I had drank two of these already out of the bottle and I didn’t like it very much.  This time I made sure I was good beer drinker and poured it into a glass and let it warm up a little before drinking.  It absolutely made a world of difference in the taste.  To me, and after I had it I looked around and some people agreed with me, this tasted much more like a hefeweizen than anything else.  It had that same light, slightly carbonated quality you find in some weizens.  The taste was pretty smooth, with some citrus in the finish.  No where at all did I detect the hops accent that was mentioned in the description.  There wasn’t much in the way of a hops taste in this when I poured it, I did get some of that when I drank it from the bottle.  I think this is definitely a good drinking beer, especially when poured, on a hot summer day.  Other than that, it wasn’t anything outstanding for me.  Definitely give it a try though.

Verdict: I think its a weizen dressed up as a pilsner, but I’ll still give it a 7 out of 10 bottlecaps.

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Now playing: The Real McKenzies - Best Day Tomorrow
via FoxyTunes

This week, the Geek Lords discuss South-American alien illness (not Mexicans), rumors of Woz and the D-List, and MediaDefender gets pwned.

On Boston in Brief, a real Fluff story, a colossally stupid bitch walks into Logan Airport with a blinking circuit board and a pile of play-doh, the Ipswich Ale Harvestfest, and Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus!

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Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
Skype: bostongeek
Voice: 1.617.418.4113

All music composed and recorded by Karl Kornfeld.

We got console sales numbers galore!
We offer you Apple antics and fanboy madness, and paraplegic bees threaten our honey supply. Also an update to mega-mega spiderweb in Texas.

On Boston in Brief, CollegeFest 2007, Nikki Sixx is coming to Boston (so call out the Hazmat teams), and Harpoon Oktoberfest.

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Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
Skype: bostongeek
Voice: 1.617.418.4113

All music composed and recorded by Karl Kornfeld.

Brewery Description: “The rich amber color and caramel flavor of this beer are derived from the generous amount of caramel malt in our recipe, with just a dash of roasted unmalted barley for a subtle toasted flavor in the background. The sweetness, body, and mouth feel tell you that this is an all-malt beer. The finish has a balanced edge of Willamen and Casade hoppiness which cuts through the malty character, leaving a clean palate which beckons for more. Note: the terminology of “stein” refers to the appropriate drinking vessel and not to a type of beer made with hot rocks.”

Brew Style: Vienna, 6.0% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Stein, Lager

The Ugly Truth: I’m actually not entirely sure what to say about this beer. On one hand, it didn’t jump out and grab me when I drank it. On the other hand, it was probably one of the most solid beers I’ve ever had. Color was a deep brown/amber, with a rich foamy head on it. Decent malt/hops aroma to it. The taste was pretty mild, nothing overbearing and seemed well balanced. There was a dash of hops in the taste, a bit of malt as well. The finish was very clean, with the caramel sweetness just peaking its head out at the end. Overall it was a really good solid beer. If you are looking for something with a bunch of complex flavors, I don’t think this is your best bet. If you want a solidly crafted amber lager that will satisfy without having to worry about random flavors that the brewer decided to throw in there, I think this will fit the bill for you. I would definitely give this beer a shot, and if anyone has I’d love to hear what you think of it.

Verdict: I’m a bit torn between giving it a 7 and an 8. I’ll go with the 8 out of 10 bottlecaps because I think it has wide appeal to it.

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Now playing: The Dropkick Murphys - Finnegan’s Wake (Live)
via FoxyTunes

Anyway, I did want to mention the couple upcoming Boston events that were discussed on the episode that wasn’t meant to be.

First is the Dillinger Escape Plan playing at the Middle East on October 25th just ahead of their next studio album Ire Works. For all you mathcore fans, this is sure to be one of the best shows of the year. Hopefully, I can wrangle up a ticket.

Also, for all you (as Carl puts it) Pet geeks, there is Barktoberfest (I wish I were kidding) at the 4H Fairgrounds on Sunday September 16th.

That does it. Save space on your iPod for this week’s episode…

I never threw away the old iPod. I stuffed it in a drawer, as I have done with so many other bits of tech over the years. And there it has languished for over a year. I occasionally ran across it while looking for something else, and I kept telling myself I would one day fix it or get rid of it, or something.

I finally got around to being motivated enough to look for a replacement battery. Imagine my surprise. A company called Laptops for Less sells replacement battery kits for several iPod and iPod Nano models. The kits include instructions, a 4-way screwdriver tool, and the battery, all for a reasonable price. In my case, a 4th-gen battery was $15.95 plus shipping, bringing my total up to about $22. Not too shabby. I’m not endorsing this specific retailer, though I had no problems at all with my order. I’m just pointing out how simple it was to find what I needed at a surprisingly low price.

Once I got the padded envelope with the blister-pack kit inside, I set to work. I followed the instructions exactly, and although a very minor scratch at the seam where the plastic meets the metal back was unavoidable, it went pretty smoothly. Again, following the instructions. I very nearly tore off a ribbon cable at one point because I misunderstood something, and that would have sucked.

Batteries in iPods (gens 1-4) were plugged in, rather than soldered. This made removal and installation a breeze. Apparently the iPod Video (a.k.a. 5th-gen and 5.5-gen) is not only harder to open, but also has the battery soldered in for that extra kick in the ass. Replacing it might be better through Apple at this point, as not many people have the soldering skills necessary to not fry or otherwise destroy the delicate connections.

Total work time, from start to finish was about 10 minutes.

EDIT: Regarding the aforementioned ‘wonkiness’. The iPod wasn’t syncing, was showing disk errors, and would freeze up. Replacing the battery and performing a complete restore seems to have solved all the problems. Huzzah!

Brewery Description: “Dock Street Illuminator Double Bock is Brewed from the finest barley malts, German Tettnang and Hallertau hops, brewers yeast and pure water. It is distinguished by its round malty palate, complimented by tangy hop overtones. Be sure to admire the dense rocky head and to savour the fresh spicy hop ’nose’.”

Brew Style: Doppelbock, ABV not listed

Recommended Glassware: Stein, Dimpled mug, Stem glass

The Ugly Truth:  Alright, I’m really damn tired so this is gonna be short.  This beer…I did not like.  This was the last offering in my first beer of month club shipment and it was definitely the worst.  I originally started pouring it into a snifter for some reason, and then changed over to the dimpled mug so I don’t know what effect that may have had.  Probably not alot.  So deep, deep red color which was probably the best part of this whole beer.  The head was strong but went away very quickly, so not sure where the dense comment comes from.  The aroma was wierd.  One minute it was tangy sweet, the next it was roasted malt, then it was caramel.  So that messed it up for me a bit.  The taste was lacking from the start.  The body was pratically nonexistant, the flavor was thin and the aftertaste was so unpredictable that it made the overall experience unsatisfying.  I had drank one out of the bottle when the shipment first arrived, and I thought it was alright then but I’ve changed my mind since.  I actually had trouble finishing it because I found the taste less than pleasurable.  Try it for yourself, but I’m glad I didn’t spend money on it.

Verdict: Too tired for wittiness.  Illuminator gets a low score, coming in with a 3 out of 10 bottlecaps.

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Now playing: Street Dogs - Tobe’s Got A Drinking Problem
via FoxyTunes

On Boston-in-Brief, Freezepop comes back to Boston and is featured in Rock Band, Boston PD is going to start cracking skulls during curfew on the Common, and King Richard’s Faire returns with buxom wenches and axe-wielding psychopaths.

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Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
Skype: bostongeek
Voice: 1.617.418.4113

All music composed and recorded by Karl Kornfeld.

I think I need to listen to Finnegan’s Wake.

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Now playing: Dropkick Murphys - Finnegan’s Wake
via FoxyTunes

Brewery Description: “This light copper single hop India Pale Ale is brewed only with the Fuggles hops. It has a smooth, dry, and crisp flavor with floral aroma and apple plum palate.”

Brew Style: India Pale Ale, 5.8% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Shaker, Tulip

The Ugly Truth: “Oh my god! Its an India Pale Ale! Its got hops in it! Oh the unmerciful slaughter of my taste buds. Where is my bland, tasteless beer? Someone bring me my bottle of Blue Moon Belgian White.” For some reason, given recent conversation, this popped into my head when drinking this beer.

Fuggles IPA pours a nice copper color with a strong white head to it. Good deal of carbonation coming to the surface after the pour. The aroma wasn’t really strong, but what was there was clean and dry smelling. The beer itself had a light body and was easily drinkable for an IPA. The taste was relatively mild, with a taste of hops only coming through really at the end as it went into the finish. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since it makes Fuggles the perfect IPA for someone who doesn’t really like hops all that much but still wants some IPA flavor. I honestly didn’t really catch the foral aroma or the apple plum palate really, but there was some tangy flavors at the end that might have been it. On occassion, you would get this long lasting, resinous aftertaste that reminded you that there were, in fact, hops in this beer. In the overall, while certainly not the strongest IPA I’ve ever had it was a good beer. Easily drinkable, light on the palate and with a decent hops flavor make Fuggles IPA a good choice for a beer to just sit around and drink with friends.

Verdict: F-u-g-g-l-e-s. Seven letters, 7 out of 10 bottlecaps.

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Now playing: The Misfits - Only Make Believe
via FoxyTunes

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Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
Skype: bostongeek
Voice: 1.617.418.4113

All music composed and recorded by Karl Kornfeld.

Brewery Description: “The Shipyard Brewing Company’s flagship beer, is a full bodied ale, with a hint of sweetness up front, a subtle and distinctive hope taste, and a very clean and traditional finish.”

Brew Style: Golden Ale, 5.1% ABV

Recommended Glassware: English pint, Shaker

The Ugly Truth: Man, 8:59am on a Monday and I’m already ready to kill one of my coworkers.  Such is life.  Alright, Shipyard Export Ale.  Export Ale pours a nice golden brown color with an off white foamy head to it that went down fairly rapidly.  There was a decent amount of carbonation rising to the surface from the bottom of the glass as well.  The aroma was fairly clean, with a nose of hops to it and I thought maybe some roasted malt smell but that could have just been me.  The taste was really enjoyable in my opinion.  I found it to have a good range of flavors, with the hops coming through just enough without being overbearing to the taste.  The finish was definitely very clean and didn’t leave a lot of aftertaste to it.  The whole experience was very smooth with a medium body to it.  In the overall, a very enjoyable beer to drink, one of those “I’m going to go grab a six pack to share with my friends” kind of beers.  I looked a round a little and it seems like you either like this beer or you don’t.  It isn’t the greatest golden ale I’ve had to date, but I thought it was rather good.

Verdict: Our amount of export has risen, with us now shipping 8 out of 10 bottlecaps across the Pond.

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Now playing: Carbon Leaf - Toy Soldiers (live)
via FoxyTunes

1. Since the database issue, I’ve noticed a few beers had seemed to be missing.  I have gone through all the posts starting from when the Beer Roster began (March 30, 2006) and found all the orphan ones.  They are now back where they should be.
2. I’ve added a number to the end of the title for each beer.  There was some question as to exactly how many reviews I had done, so it was the easiest way to figure that out.  I’m actually a bit further along than I thought with the present count at 94.
3. For the purpose of looking for beers by rating, I’ve added a tag to all the beers to help with that.  If you want to find all the beers that were rated 9 bottlecaps, simply type in “9-bottlecaps” into the search box and you should get them.  Remember to put the hyphen between the number and bottlecaps for it to work correctly.

That’s all for now, I should be posting the beer review for this week either tomorrow or Sunday.  Its Shipyard Export Ale, which was pretty damn good stuff.

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Now playing: Filthy Thieving Bastards - Drug Lords Of The Avenues
via FoxyTunes

Brewery Description: “Dock Street Amber is a classic, top fermented ale and is the company flagship beer. It is brewed with American Cascade hops and two row imported pale and caramel malts and then dry hopped. Our traditional brewing process gives this beer its subtle, complex and fruity character and its distinctive hop “nose.” The result is an exceptionally balanced premium full bodied ale that finishes clean and smooth on the palate. It appeals to gourmets and beer aficionados.”

Brew Style: Amber Ale, 6.0% ABV

Recommended Glassware: Shaker, English pint

The Ugly Truth: I’m finally getting the overdue beer review done. The 2 week old son and the 2 year old daughter have been keeping me and the lady moving so I’ve been slacking off on writing the review. This is the first of the beers that came in the mail from the Beer of the Month Club and after trying a bottle of each it is probably my favorite. This is a really damn good beer. Dock Street Amber pours a nice cooper/amber color with a fairly minimal head. The head rapidly goes down, leaving some foam islands on the top of the beer. There is a fairly high level of carbonation in the beer from the streams of bubbles coming up from the bottom. The aroma is strong, with a really good nose of hops to it and the fruity character mentioned in the description is definitely there. The taste is just flat out great. The beer is hearty, while maintaining a light to medium body and a really smooth taste. The taste is very smooth and the finish is crisp and clean with no hoppy aftertaste or orphan flavors floating about. Overall, this is a very refreshing beer that would be perfect with BBQ or just to pick up a six pack to have with friends after work. On the grand scale, it might not be the greatest amber I’ve ever had, but it is definitely one of the most easily drinkable.

Verdict: “Am I on Dock Street?”…”No, you’re on 8 out of 10 bottlecaps boulevard.”…“That is a really strange street name”…”That it is lad, that it is.”

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Now playing: Dropkick Murphys - The Dirty Glass
via FoxyTunes

Correction: SCO’s original claim alleged “millions of lines of Unix code in Linux”. To date, they have only been able to point to a bare handful of “similar” code. This is moot, of course, as they don’t own the code.

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Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
Skype: bostongeek
Voice: 1.617.418.4113

All music composed and recorded by Karl Kornfeld.

$29 buys you entrance to the show. This should make for fun watching.

Photo courtesy Flickr user Tracy O

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Any comments or suggestions?
Email: Colin, Carl, Captain Damage
Skype: bostongeek
Voice: 1.617.418.4113

All music composed and recorded by Karl Kornfeld.

Brewery Description: Fuller’s London Porter captures the flavours of those brews perfectly, although you won’t find a cloudy pint these days! Smooth, rich, and strong (5.4% a.b.v.), our London Porter is brewed from a blend of brown, crystal and chocolate malts for a creamy delivery balanced by traditional Fuggles hops.

Brew Style: Porter, 5.4% ABV

Recommended Glassware: English Pint, Stem glass

The Ugly Truth: First off, I am really freakin’ tired. The wife and I just had baby number two, and he decided to come early so I wasn’t nearly as ready as I had wanted to be. Ah well, nothing that could have been controlled. Alright, Fuller’s Porter. In short, Fuller’s is not bad, but not the greatest porter I’ve ever had. The color is either a very deep amber or black, since my eyes are evidently not as good as they used to be. The pour had a minimal head to it, tan in color with a decent amount of carbonation. The aroma was good, with notes of chocolate and coffee in it. The taste was fairly mild and creamy. It actually kind of reminded me of Guinness a bit in the way the mild and creamy taste came through, though sadly not in the quality of the flavor. This to me seems to be the porter version of Killian’s Irish Red: it tastes good, but its just not the best porter out there. The taste is mild, and frankly left me with a feeling that there should have been more to it even though it was somewhat statisfying. The body was medium, with some creaminess to it and not a lot of carbonation. The notes of chocolate and coffee that were present in the aroma didn’t make much of an appearence in the flavor. The only time I did notice them was in the aftertaste, which tended to linger. In the overall, Fuller’s is easily drinkable and would statisfy an immediate need for the taste of a porter, but I found the whole experience not as deep as I would like.

Verdict: Porter! Carry 6 of those 10 bottlecaps up to the 5th floor and stack them in the corner.

If you pre-order an Ooma before August 10th, you will be guaranteed delivery of it on September 10th. Yes, YOU could be the first on your block to own one.

To place, an order… you actually have to pick up your phone and call. Ya, kinda funny.

If you want to be on the bleeding edge and can’t resist the lure of free phone calls 4-eva:

Remember, by purchasing the ooma home system you’ll get:

• Unlimited domestic local and long distance calling
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This offer is only extended to early enthusiasts who were the first to register on our site to be notified when ooma was available for purchase. If you’re email address is not already registered in our system, you will not be eligible for this very limited offer.

Thanks for supporting ooma. Call us at 866-452-OOMA and be the first to receive your ooma home system! www.ooma.com

*Use of the ooma system is subject to the terms set forth in the ooma agreement, which will be provided prior to completion of your order.