New Feature! Beer Reviews!
Today no political ads! Yippeee!
This morning I awoke with a mix of hope and fear. Hope for my country, perhaps it can pull itself from the brink. This election shows that we are starting to get past our history of discrimination and finally open our eyes to the truth- that racial diversity is like hair color diversity, it does not mean anything when it comes to one's abilities. But tempering that is an overwhelming fear that this experiment MUST succeed. Failure means something too terrible to ponder. This is the ultimate test. Obama has promised much and hopefully he can deliver it. Too many Americans have placed their "last best hope" in him for him not to do so. As I have said before, when he first started talking I took note and thought that perhaps here was finally the candidate I wanted. Then came a series of things that cast a mighty doubt over him. Do not get me wrong- I never supported McCain and when he named Palin (who the hell vetted her?!?!?!) as his running mate the slimmest of chances he had at my vote was reduced to zero. In our country where there can be no real third party candidate (don't get me started on the bankrupt morality of the two party system) I guess the candidate who will do best by the country won. I still have worries about the "spread the wealth" commentary which is a bit too socialist for my tastes. But in the end this is probably the best we could hope for as a nation.
Back a few months ago I told people our next president would have to be contrite and love the taste of crow. I am not sure this is what we got but in truth with the current economic crisis it is probably better our president have a spine. There are going to be some tough decisions that have to be made. What little savings the baby-boomers had was pretty much wiped out by the market plunge. This means the burden of paying for them in their old age has fallen squarely on the shoulders of the subsequent generations. This coming administration is going to have that to deal with in addition to the more "glamorous" topics like the war in Iraq, taxes, and the economy as a whole. Even if suddenly the stocks rebounded to their August levels it will not restore the lost value to many retirement funds as they have moved their money to "safer" harbors, albeit ones that do not pay as well in returns. Any rebound will be lost to them now. President Obama inherits this issue and I look forward to seeing his suggestions for a solution- as long as they are not "raise my taxes to pay for people who did not plan for this"- which seems to be his detractors' suggestions. I hope, as usual, that they are wrong.
A new feature starts today. I am going to start reviewing all of the beers that I drink as I drink a wide variety and feel that I can approach each beer as an individual beer with an open mind. I like many of them and have found that some I did not expect to like, I actually did. So without further adieu, we present to you Dogfish Head Punkin Ale.
It is one of the new rage of "fall" beers to show up in the last couple of years. These beers typically are brewed with spices and many add pumpkin to the mix. This one sports all the bells and whistles. At its core it is an American brown ale. The addition of pumpkin and spices does little to tame the hoppiness but that is not a bad thing. As with most American beers, I started the tasting with it at US refrigerator temperature, as that is how most will probably drink it. I found it to have a disturbingly strong astringent flavor that set the bitterness too high in the profile for my tastes. After letting it warm up to about 50F I tasted it again and found the flavors to be much better balanced. The pumpkin and spices created a nice synergy that also gave it a strong brown sugar taste. The hoppiness was more subdued and served as a nice counterpoint to the sweetness. As with most Dogfish Head products it is expensive as they spare no expense to use the best ingredients in their brews. This is not a beer for everyone and I will bet many will find the Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale more to their liking. However, this beer deserves a look if you can find it in a single or on tap (not sure if that is available) at a local watering hole. On the 100 point scale I will give it an 86/100.
Tomorrow: Shiner Holiday Cheer
This morning I awoke with a mix of hope and fear. Hope for my country, perhaps it can pull itself from the brink. This election shows that we are starting to get past our history of discrimination and finally open our eyes to the truth- that racial diversity is like hair color diversity, it does not mean anything when it comes to one's abilities. But tempering that is an overwhelming fear that this experiment MUST succeed. Failure means something too terrible to ponder. This is the ultimate test. Obama has promised much and hopefully he can deliver it. Too many Americans have placed their "last best hope" in him for him not to do so. As I have said before, when he first started talking I took note and thought that perhaps here was finally the candidate I wanted. Then came a series of things that cast a mighty doubt over him. Do not get me wrong- I never supported McCain and when he named Palin (who the hell vetted her?!?!?!) as his running mate the slimmest of chances he had at my vote was reduced to zero. In our country where there can be no real third party candidate (don't get me started on the bankrupt morality of the two party system) I guess the candidate who will do best by the country won. I still have worries about the "spread the wealth" commentary which is a bit too socialist for my tastes. But in the end this is probably the best we could hope for as a nation.
Back a few months ago I told people our next president would have to be contrite and love the taste of crow. I am not sure this is what we got but in truth with the current economic crisis it is probably better our president have a spine. There are going to be some tough decisions that have to be made. What little savings the baby-boomers had was pretty much wiped out by the market plunge. This means the burden of paying for them in their old age has fallen squarely on the shoulders of the subsequent generations. This coming administration is going to have that to deal with in addition to the more "glamorous" topics like the war in Iraq, taxes, and the economy as a whole. Even if suddenly the stocks rebounded to their August levels it will not restore the lost value to many retirement funds as they have moved their money to "safer" harbors, albeit ones that do not pay as well in returns. Any rebound will be lost to them now. President Obama inherits this issue and I look forward to seeing his suggestions for a solution- as long as they are not "raise my taxes to pay for people who did not plan for this"- which seems to be his detractors' suggestions. I hope, as usual, that they are wrong.
A new feature starts today. I am going to start reviewing all of the beers that I drink as I drink a wide variety and feel that I can approach each beer as an individual beer with an open mind. I like many of them and have found that some I did not expect to like, I actually did. So without further adieu, we present to you Dogfish Head Punkin Ale.
It is one of the new rage of "fall" beers to show up in the last couple of years. These beers typically are brewed with spices and many add pumpkin to the mix. This one sports all the bells and whistles. At its core it is an American brown ale. The addition of pumpkin and spices does little to tame the hoppiness but that is not a bad thing. As with most American beers, I started the tasting with it at US refrigerator temperature, as that is how most will probably drink it. I found it to have a disturbingly strong astringent flavor that set the bitterness too high in the profile for my tastes. After letting it warm up to about 50F I tasted it again and found the flavors to be much better balanced. The pumpkin and spices created a nice synergy that also gave it a strong brown sugar taste. The hoppiness was more subdued and served as a nice counterpoint to the sweetness. As with most Dogfish Head products it is expensive as they spare no expense to use the best ingredients in their brews. This is not a beer for everyone and I will bet many will find the Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale more to their liking. However, this beer deserves a look if you can find it in a single or on tap (not sure if that is available) at a local watering hole. On the 100 point scale I will give it an 86/100.
Tomorrow: Shiner Holiday Cheer