Ok, Ok, its been a while since we've made an update. Shoot us. Feel better now? Good.
We're not sure if any of you have heard about this new movie that came out, but supposedly there's a film about a chick who gets caught in this weird vampire love triangle. While the appeal of this teeny-bopper-Dracula stuff confuses us worse than Calculus, one thing in particular has not gone unnoticed amongst all of this hullabaloo: a kick-ass soundtrack that features a star-studied roster of quality music acts. Here are a few of our favorites:
Why yes, its everybody's favorite Wisconsin winter wood whisperer! Take a listen to this haunting song while you try and get over that awesome alliteration.
The first single from the album, many of you have probably seen/heard this already. Classic over-dramatic/I'm really emo and I love it type Death Cab, but a guilty pleasure nonetheless.
OK Go comes in with a quality song here...for an even better song by them check out their new (and absurd) video for WTF. An amazing video, if you get past the fact that the lead singer ISN'T actually Scarecrow from Batman Begins/Dark Knight.
Ah yes, our favorite of the soundtrack, as well as an awkward closeup of the movie poster. A huge Radiohead bias here, but its our blog, and we can do whatever we want. Good talk, see you out there!
True Story.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Beer and Loathing In Portland
So it has taken me about a week to dry out from last weekend and be able to file this report. As it was observed on our trip, if you can’t complete a sentence until you start drinking, then you might be an alcoholic.
The weekend of November 6-7 brought four men into the city of Portland, Maine in order to taste the finest that the Pine State has to offer. And the 2009 Maine Brewers Festival not only brought out the finest, but also some of Maine’s dirty little secrets.
On the night before the festival Charlie “Smooth as Sandpaper” Boyle, Ian “Baked in Vermont” Boyle, Brady “Hot Dog Muffin” Hollingsworth and myself arrived in the outer-limits of the city. Fortified by food and drink we called on our trusty steed (Charlie the Cab Driver) to deliver us to one of Portland’s finer drinking establishments. Thanks to the management and lovely bartender at Novare Res, I was able to expose my drinking buddies to a wide spectrum of great beer. The goal of this session was to set their pallets and strengthen their livers for the beer festival that followed. While in the midst of the second round, our good friend and Portland resident Kim “Dark Lord of the Low End” Bird was able to join us. Here is a list (from what I can remember) from that night at the bar:
Monchshof Festbier
Schnieder Aventinus Eisbock
North Coast Old Rasputin
Teras Boulba
Ridgeway Bitter
La Rulles Triple
Ayinger Octoberfest
De Ranke XX Bitter
Schlenkerla Maerzen
Saison Dupont
Unibroue 16
Bluebird Bitter
I think we were able to appreciate a worldwide scope of the brewing arts while at Novare Res. Countries represented included Canada, England, Belgium, Germany and the United States. Styles ranged from maerzens, bocks, stouts, pale ales, saisons, triples, and English bitters. Flavors were from sweet to bitter, malty to smoky, meaty to bready. After such a long period of imbibition, it was time to eat and sleep. Thanks to Kim, it was off to Flatbread Company for pizza and then back to the HoJos…
Not worse for the wear, Saturday morning was time to pile in the carbs and build a nice beer-drinking base. After breakfast, the countdown had begun and the drinking commenced at 1:30pm. There was something oddly satisfying about drinking in a high school gym. Even though advertised as the Portland Expo Center, the Portland High School Basketball banners said otherwise.
The night before, we experienced flavors of the world. Saturday afternoon, it was all Maine and only Maine. The usual suspects were there: Allagash, Shipyard, Sea Dog, Geary’s, and Gritty McDuff’s. But the breweries that called our attention were Bar Harbor, Federal Jack’s/Kennebunkport, Kennebec River, Sebago, and Sheepscot Valley. A great beer (not necessarily a surprise since Kim made me promise to try it) was Sheepscot Valley’s Pemaquid Ale. I would have never guessed that it was a Scottish ale. There was no heavy-handed alcohol taste, much like Geary’s Wee Heavy; instead the Pemaquid Ale had a nutty-taste, more in line with a rich brown ale.
However, a couple of samplings did fall short. One really can’t say that they were surprisingly bad, at a beer festival when deciding whether or not to try a beer you should consider:
1. The name of the beer.
2. The length of the line of people waiting for the beer.
For the first bad beer, we should have considered both criteria. The beer in question was Kennebec River’s Magic Hole IPA. First (cue Europe’s The Final Countdown), magic isn’t always a good thing. Second, there was NO line for this beer! The representatives from Kennebec even seemed to realize the poor quality of their beer, giggling at the joke that they were dispensing. At best, perhaps it was just a keg that had been left out in the sun all summer long. At worst, they actually try to brew a beer that combines a one-two punch of bitter and sour with a hint of skunk.
When in line for the next bad beer, we should have been tipped-off by the name. There must be a lot of masochists in the state of Maine because there was a large line for this beer. But how could something called Taint Town be good? Besides stating the obvious, Taint Town Pale Ale just had a nasty funk. Soon after downing the Taint, Charlie and I needed something strong to wash away the taste. The only thing that we thought could do the job was Shipyard’s XXXX IPA.
India pale ale’s have a reputation of being bitter and palate cleansing. So even if a quadruple X beverage may have the potential of bringing in the pain, hopefully it would wash out the funk.
The XXXX IPA was the answer to our prayers. Strong enough to slap the Taint out of our mouths, there was enough flavor to go for seconds. A knock on a lot of hop monster ales is that the mouth-feel of the beer is reminiscent of syrup. However, the XXXX IPA was a clean and crisp beer with enough bite that would hold up next to some of the hoppiest West Coast IPAs.
But the Best In Show at the 2009 Maine Brewers Festival was Allagash’s Hugh Mallone Ale. A clean, refreshing Belgian IPA that reminds you of how GREAT beer can be. Take your favorite IPA, and combine with the classic Belgian taste found in whites and triples, you would then have Hugh Mallone. We should have guessed from the long line, the Hugh Mallone was certainly the jewel of the Portland High basketball court.
Even though we were done at the festival, our time in Portland did not end. Our pub crawl took us from the Expo Center to Rivalries Sports Bar, Gritty McDuff’s, J’s Oyster, and finally $3 Deweys. Closing out with a combination of Guinness, Pabst Blue Ribbon, J’s Lobster Stew, and Victory Hop Wallop, it was time to call a cab, sip a Heinie and go to sleep.
All in all it was a very successful venture into the northern edge of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Many thanks to Kim and our cabbies, without them, we probably would still be held in Portland without bail. Lesson’s learned? Well, stay away from magic holes and anything taint.
-Bill
The weekend of November 6-7 brought four men into the city of Portland, Maine in order to taste the finest that the Pine State has to offer. And the 2009 Maine Brewers Festival not only brought out the finest, but also some of Maine’s dirty little secrets.
On the night before the festival Charlie “Smooth as Sandpaper” Boyle, Ian “Baked in Vermont” Boyle, Brady “Hot Dog Muffin” Hollingsworth and myself arrived in the outer-limits of the city. Fortified by food and drink we called on our trusty steed (Charlie the Cab Driver) to deliver us to one of Portland’s finer drinking establishments. Thanks to the management and lovely bartender at Novare Res, I was able to expose my drinking buddies to a wide spectrum of great beer. The goal of this session was to set their pallets and strengthen their livers for the beer festival that followed. While in the midst of the second round, our good friend and Portland resident Kim “Dark Lord of the Low End” Bird was able to join us. Here is a list (from what I can remember) from that night at the bar:
Monchshof Festbier
Schnieder Aventinus Eisbock
North Coast Old Rasputin
Teras Boulba
Ridgeway Bitter
La Rulles Triple
Ayinger Octoberfest
De Ranke XX Bitter
Schlenkerla Maerzen
Saison Dupont
Unibroue 16
Bluebird Bitter
I think we were able to appreciate a worldwide scope of the brewing arts while at Novare Res. Countries represented included Canada, England, Belgium, Germany and the United States. Styles ranged from maerzens, bocks, stouts, pale ales, saisons, triples, and English bitters. Flavors were from sweet to bitter, malty to smoky, meaty to bready. After such a long period of imbibition, it was time to eat and sleep. Thanks to Kim, it was off to Flatbread Company for pizza and then back to the HoJos…
Not worse for the wear, Saturday morning was time to pile in the carbs and build a nice beer-drinking base. After breakfast, the countdown had begun and the drinking commenced at 1:30pm. There was something oddly satisfying about drinking in a high school gym. Even though advertised as the Portland Expo Center, the Portland High School Basketball banners said otherwise.
The night before, we experienced flavors of the world. Saturday afternoon, it was all Maine and only Maine. The usual suspects were there: Allagash, Shipyard, Sea Dog, Geary’s, and Gritty McDuff’s. But the breweries that called our attention were Bar Harbor, Federal Jack’s/Kennebunkport, Kennebec River, Sebago, and Sheepscot Valley. A great beer (not necessarily a surprise since Kim made me promise to try it) was Sheepscot Valley’s Pemaquid Ale. I would have never guessed that it was a Scottish ale. There was no heavy-handed alcohol taste, much like Geary’s Wee Heavy; instead the Pemaquid Ale had a nutty-taste, more in line with a rich brown ale.
However, a couple of samplings did fall short. One really can’t say that they were surprisingly bad, at a beer festival when deciding whether or not to try a beer you should consider:
1. The name of the beer.
2. The length of the line of people waiting for the beer.
For the first bad beer, we should have considered both criteria. The beer in question was Kennebec River’s Magic Hole IPA. First (cue Europe’s The Final Countdown), magic isn’t always a good thing. Second, there was NO line for this beer! The representatives from Kennebec even seemed to realize the poor quality of their beer, giggling at the joke that they were dispensing. At best, perhaps it was just a keg that had been left out in the sun all summer long. At worst, they actually try to brew a beer that combines a one-two punch of bitter and sour with a hint of skunk.
When in line for the next bad beer, we should have been tipped-off by the name. There must be a lot of masochists in the state of Maine because there was a large line for this beer. But how could something called Taint Town be good? Besides stating the obvious, Taint Town Pale Ale just had a nasty funk. Soon after downing the Taint, Charlie and I needed something strong to wash away the taste. The only thing that we thought could do the job was Shipyard’s XXXX IPA.
India pale ale’s have a reputation of being bitter and palate cleansing. So even if a quadruple X beverage may have the potential of bringing in the pain, hopefully it would wash out the funk.
The XXXX IPA was the answer to our prayers. Strong enough to slap the Taint out of our mouths, there was enough flavor to go for seconds. A knock on a lot of hop monster ales is that the mouth-feel of the beer is reminiscent of syrup. However, the XXXX IPA was a clean and crisp beer with enough bite that would hold up next to some of the hoppiest West Coast IPAs.
But the Best In Show at the 2009 Maine Brewers Festival was Allagash’s Hugh Mallone Ale. A clean, refreshing Belgian IPA that reminds you of how GREAT beer can be. Take your favorite IPA, and combine with the classic Belgian taste found in whites and triples, you would then have Hugh Mallone. We should have guessed from the long line, the Hugh Mallone was certainly the jewel of the Portland High basketball court.
Even though we were done at the festival, our time in Portland did not end. Our pub crawl took us from the Expo Center to Rivalries Sports Bar, Gritty McDuff’s, J’s Oyster, and finally $3 Deweys. Closing out with a combination of Guinness, Pabst Blue Ribbon, J’s Lobster Stew, and Victory Hop Wallop, it was time to call a cab, sip a Heinie and go to sleep.
All in all it was a very successful venture into the northern edge of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Many thanks to Kim and our cabbies, without them, we probably would still be held in Portland without bail. Lesson’s learned? Well, stay away from magic holes and anything taint.
-Bill
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