Thu 21 Aug 2008
The weekend past was very relaxing and our first without plans for like, two months! Crazy!
I got the bug Saturday and cooked up some chili, with cornbread, and cookie bars at becca’s request. Mmmm cookie bars….
A lot of videogames were played, and cookies eaten, and yes.
This weekend, there will be MORE games and probably I’ll actually look into caulking some stuff in the bathroom. (shh! It’s a secret!)
E
Mon 11 Aug 2008
So this weekend past, Becca and I went to the Stan Hwyet Blues & Brews Festival. Here’s the concept in a nutshell: 80ish breweries bring kegs and bottles of their product to Stan Hwyet. You pay $30, for which you receive a commemorative sampling glass (with a line marked for 3 fluid ounces) and twenty (20) tickets. Go up to any brewer and fork over a ticket, and you can pick whichever ale they have to sample. At each table there are also disposal buckets for pouring the remainder of your previous ale, and water jugs with which to rinse your glass.
The event runs from 2-6 p.m. so theoretically, you have four hours to consume (potentially) 60 ounces of ale. This is not how it actually works. We got there at 2 and stood in line and walked for a total of probably 20 minutes. It was about 80°F out and sunny, so it was pretty good weather for the event, but (and this might just be me) direct sunlight enhances the alcoholic effects of ale, so unless you are a pretty stalwart drinker, there’s no way in hell you’re going to run out of tickets. To exacerbate things, most of the stewards see no difference between 3 fl. oz. and 5-6 fl. oz. so if one is not careful, one may consume rather more than one intended at a given booth.
Also available are snacks/meals (kettle corn or food from the Winking Lizard) and music (not really a blues band, exactly, but they were an entertaining enough combo group).
At any rate, we took notes and rated the ales we tried.
A summary can be found here. Values in pale green are above average, bright green are way above average, and pale red are way below average.
The best performer overall was the Raspberry Ale by Thirsty Dog Brewing Company. I generally hate fruity beers, but this was not at all sweet, and very tasty. Refreshing, even. Really good for a sunny festival day.
The worst (by FAR) that I tried was call “Rejewvination” by He’brew (actually Shmaltz Brewing Company). It tasted of beer and raisins, and had FIG CONCENTRATE in it! It was truly uniquely bad, and really, the Jewish people should be suing this company for damages.
I might post more on the experience later, but all in all it was a terrific time, and there was kettle corn, which Becca had never tried (it turns out that she is Not an alien, and does indeed enjoy kettle corn).
E