Now for part 2 of the Vintage beer tasting. When last we left our heroes they had just made it through 4 vintage Belgian beers…
While Belgian beers are interesting and tend to age well, the really good stuff for aging are dark beers. Darker beers tend to cover a wider range of the taste spectrum and lend themselves to the addition of additive flavors (spices, herbs, oak aging) that the Belgians do not. So without further delay, I give you the darks:
2007 Anchor Christmas Ale
This beer is best described as a liquid Christmas tree almost every year it is brewed and the 4+ years of aging on this beer were no exception. Pouring up dark and frothy, with lots of malt on the nose and hints of evergreen. The initial taste yielded notes of sweet cinnamon and nutmeg with more evergreen fragrance rather than taste. It was like having a spice cookie sitting next to the Christmas tree around the holidays. The finish was long with some resin and evergreen but mostly just a fading spice character that was pleasant. A sweet and spicy beer with Christmas tree notes that got better with age as it tamed the evergreen from being the predominant player to being a supporting cast member. A great beer on a chilly winter day.
4 Tannenbaums out of 5.
2009 Alaskan Baltic Porter
I originally bought 6 bottles of this beer when it was released, it was drinking extremely well when it was young and I drank 4 of the 6 bottles. Sadly, this particular Baltic porter recipe was retired with the 2009 batch.
An inky black pour with notes of roasted malt, vanilla and oak on the nose. The palate provided a wonderful booziness from the vanilla and a restrained sweetness from the brown sugar with a hint of cherry teasing your palate, making you wonder if it is really there. The finish yields slight hints of oak and vanilla, fading quickly into a milk chocolate covered cherry that lingers for a while. This was probably the only beer we tasted where the taste profile did not change as the beer warmed. Personally, I thought this was the best beer of the group, one of the 10 best beers I have ever had, and I am really sad that I don’t have anymore. This is one that I would fly to Juneau for and beg and plead with the brewer to either make again or tell me where they are hiding their stash.
5 Cossacks out of 5 (I would have given this beer a 6 out of 5 if my rating score allowed)
!!!!! ALERT!!!!!– I just checked the Alaskan Beer website and they are bringing the recipe back in September 2012. Seriously, when this comes out, buy a case of it and lay at least 6 bottles down.
2007 Dogfish Head World Wide Stout
The highest alcohol beer in the tasting, coming in at a whopping 20% on the 2007 vintage. This beer pours like a black hole – no light will escape its inky depths. Slight hints of oak on the nose with plenty of malt and booziness, smells more like a subtile malt whiskey than a beer. Surprisingly sweet on the palate with chocolate and brandy notes on the front fading into milk chocolate sweetness on the long finish, providing a slight alcohol burn, just to remind you this beer has some legs to it. The brewer recommends serving at 50-55 degrees, and the chocolate and brandy notes are joined with more pronounced vanilla flavors as the beer warms. I really think this beer could go for another 5 years easily and still be great. There are at least 2 more bottles of this vintage in the Iron Chef cellar with bottles from 2008-2012. One of these days there will be a vertical tasting on the WW Stout, until then…
First off, a fun animated look at Doc Ellis’ “chemically altered” no-hitter. Thanks to M for the link.
Next, we have a guy who gets *very* upset on day one of the Diablo 3 launch. So upset, that he tries to jam his collectors item Soulstone into his head at the end. Almost 700,000 views in 3 days! The language is NSFW.
I’m not buying D3. It has DRM, which for me is a nonstarter. And you have to be connected at all times to Blizzard’s server to play — if you get disconnected, tough nuts, you’re redoing the content. Part of the reason for the “online only” is because they’re doing a real-money auction house and keeping a significant part of the sale price. (Like 30% in some instances from what I’ve heard.) In theory the “online only” will allow them to avoid dupes (which would make all in-game items worthless from a money standpoint, can’t have that). Of course, I’m not one of those people, so to my mind they completely missed the mark. The best part of D2 was hooking a couple (or more) computers together and playing with friends. Not. An. Option. The other “best part” was the random loot drops. Every kill had the potential to be “Christmas”. The auction house (the “gold-you-get-from-drops” one, not the “real money” one) has made it so that players can use in-game gold to buy better gear than they might find as drops, completely negating that aspect of the gameplay. Keeping my money, thanks.
Finally, a bonus animal picture!
Female in the foreground. Male in the background. I like the composition. It also pretty well nailed her "don't mess with me" face. She gets that way sometimes. He's keeping a healthy distance.
Recently, Coltrane, Annie S. and I got together with a group of friends and had a rather unique beer tasting, one that involved a number of vintage beers. With the exception of one of these beers, it was a one shot deal: I had only one bottle of everything that we tasted from the particular vintage.
Cellaring beer is not like cellaring wine, even under the best circumstances you don’t really have a great idea how long a beer is going to last; will it get better with age? Will it even be drinkable? At least with wine, there is some indication from a reviewer or wine maker that a bottle will be best consumed in x years. I have never seen that in a beer review so I made a best guess based on my experiences with these beers.
Interestingly, beer bottles can also get that weird "leaning tall buildings" perspective issue. I'm sure it wasn't because *I* was leaning after all those beers. (Coltrane)
The cast for the evening (in order of appearance):
2006 Ommegang Three Philosophers
2010 Ommegang Three Philosophers
Batch 68256 Boulevard Brewing Sixth Glass (I believe this was a 2008 vintage)
2007 Panil Barrque
2007 Anchor Christmas Ale
2009 Alaska Baltic Porter
2007 Dogfish Head World Wide Stout
There were a couple of backup beers in case none of the bottles that I opened were undrinkable. Fortunately, all of the beers were at least drinkable and some were outstanding, making me sad that I may never get to consume that particular beer/vintage again.
Since I took pretty extensive notes on each of these beers, I am able to provide a review for each and hopefully make a few beer drinkers jealous in the process. The reviews will be presented in 2 parts, the Belgian Style beers (which oddly none of them are actually from Belgium) and the dark beers.
Without further delay, I present to you the Vintage Beer Tasting (Part 1).
Ommegang Three Philosophers
Three Philosophers in general is a Belgian quad brewed in Cooperstown, NY with 2% added cherry beer from Duvel in Belgium.
2006 Ommegang Three Philosophers Cave Aged Beer
This beer was stored for a year in bottles after brewing in Howe Caverns, a cave system near the brewery at a constant 50 degrees and I picked up a single bottle from the brewery when I was there in 2008. The nose presents with aromas of malt and subtle cherries. Initial sips indicate a touch of wood (I don’t believe this beer was ever aged in oak though), giving way to sweet cherries and sugar fading with a slight sweetness on the back of the palate. As it warmed, the malt and cherry became more pronounced and the finish became reminiscent of drinking a fine sherry or Madeira; flavors that were completely unexpected and left me wanting another bottle of this beer. This beer was phenomenal and may have been the best beer in the tasting and was certainly a favorite among the tasters.
5 Monks out of 5.
2010 Ommegang Three Philosophers
What a difference 4 years of aging made. The 2010 was restrained compared to the 2006, with some malt on the nose and no indication of cherries. Greater carbonation than the 2006, with the initial taste yielding great maltiness and sweetness with just a hint of tart cherries. The finish was overwhelming with alcohol and sugar but that gave way to a more classic Belgian finish of nutmeg and bananas as the beer warmed to 55 degrees, but the cherry was almost non-existent in the beer. It probably could have stood another couple of years of aging, and, if I could do it again, I would pour the 2010 before the 2006. It was good, but disappointing compared to the 2006.
3 Friars out of 5.
Overall, my experience with Ommegang Three Philosophers is age at least 3-4 years before you drink it. It is worth it.
Boulevard Brewing Sixth Glass Batch 68256
Another Belgian style quad, this one out of Kansas City, and I believe a 2008 vintage. The nose is very malt forward and smelled slightly astringent to me right after I opened it, which lead me to wonder if the beer might have gone bad (it hadn’t). Overly sweet with lots of malt, to the point of being overpowering. Some fruitiness on the finish, but it would fade and then return. The malt becomes a little more balanced as the beer warms, but is still very prominent and we started to get a hint of a sherry like finish when the beer warmed to about 55 degrees. I like the beer when it is fresh, but I am not sure if I liked the aged variety of this beer. One taster made the comment that this beer was trying to be the 2006 Ommegang, but it wasn’t successful at it. With Sixth Glass, I would not recommend laying it down.
3 Gregorian Chants out of 5
On a side note with this beer – it actually paired well with the chili the Coltrane and Annie served; it brought out hints of banana and spice that I did not find just drinking the beer on its own.
Panil Barrque 2007
This beer is an Italian Saison aged in oak barrels.
The nose had hints of oak and vanilla with some light smoke. Sweet pickles and sauerkraut on the initial taste fade into a sour oak finish that lingers with hints of stone fruit (cherry possibly?). Reminded me more of a homemade wine – grapey and slightly sour as it warmed. This beer was definitely not a crowd favorite but the sourness is much more restrained in the aged version than the fresh version. It aged well and was probably a little past it best drinking, but I wouldn’t mind laying down another bottle for 3 years or so and giving it another shot. The only drawback, this beer runs $25 for a 750 ml bottle, so I think you are better off with taking that money and buying a nice wine. If the bottle was less expensive, it would have scored higher.
From SI.com. A story about Seahawks’ first-round draft pick and pass-rush specialist Bruce Irvin.
6'-3", 248 lbs and he runs a 4.46 second 40-yard dash. What's not to like??
Reading it, I don’t think it’s really a surprise that most of the “experts” felt that the Seahawks drafted him with too high a pick. Who really knows, though — Aaron Curry was supposed to be a “can’t miss” prospect at the time…
The St Louis Rams apparently have one of the more bizarre leases I have seen, as a result, they are “in negotiations” with the city of St Louis to renovate the Edward Jones Dome. The city is proposing $124 million in improvements and the Rams are asking for…wait for it…$700 million in improvements, or what amounts to a new stadium.
The Jones Dome is less than 20 years old, not an old building by any means, but old by greedy millionaire sports owner’s standards. The Rams have a 30 year lease for the stadium, but can break it because of the following:
The 30-year lease signed when the Rams arrived in St. Louis from Los Angeles prior to the 1995 season requires that the dome remain among the top eight of the 31 NFL stadiums or the team can break the lease at certain junctures, the next being after the 2014 season. Owner Stan Kroenke has been non-committal about the team’s future if the dome isn’t improved.
I love the use of the “give us what we want or we will leave” gambit. The stadium opened in 1995, was completely publicly funded and won’t be paid off until 2025. The construction costs were $280 million, but with improvements made over the years and interest on the bonds, the stadium will end up costing the taxpayers around $720 million dollars.
The Rams want a retractable roof, among other things, which would require the stadium and adjoining convention center to be closed for 3 years. Additionally, the Rams want the entire thing funded by public money. The estimate is that will cost $500 in revenue. Based on that, the cost of the stadium would be somewhere around $2 billion dollars when all is said and done. Somehow I think that the city, county and state would all be better off if they told the Rams to take a hike and spent their money elsewhere rather than give a bunch of really rich people a place to socialize on 10 Sundays a year.
I was reading an article on a high school pitcher, who could potentially be the #1 overall pick in the 2012 draft. The article pointed out that there has never been a high school right handed pitcher taken #1 overall – there have been left handed high schoolers and right handed college pitcher taken in that spot.
I went over to baseball-reference.com to look at the #1 overall picks through the 47 drafts and learned some interesting stuff:
Only 2 high school pitchers have been taken #1 overall – David Clyde in 1973 an Brien Taylor in 1991. Clyde was rushed to the majors, hurt his arm and ended up with a career 18-33 record. Brien Taylor got into a bar fight in the minors, hurt his arm and never played in the majors.
No second baseman has ever been taken #1 overall – the only position that has never been selected in that spot. Heck, of all the guys taken at #1, the leader in appearances at 2B is Jeff King who appeared at 2B in 121 of his 1201 career games.
There have been more SS drafted #1 overall (8) than the other infield positions combined (7 – 4 at 3b at 3 at 1B)
There have also been more catchers drafted #1 overall (5) than 1B or 3B.
Note: The catcher and shortstop thing make sense – the majority of guys drafted at those 2 positions were high school players, and those tend to be the positions where the best athletes play in high school.
As of writing this post, there are no members of the Baseball Hall of Fame that were drafted #1 overall. There are only 3 players who were drafted #1 overall that look like sure-fire hall of famers, and two of them drafted by the same team – Ken Griffey Jr and Alex Rodriguez (Chipper Jones being the third).
There are 6 players drafted #1 overall that have never played in a MLB game, 4 of whom are still active. Granted 3 of them were drafted in the last 4 years, but all but one of the six (Gerrit Cole) was drafted out of high school.
The Mets and Padres have had the most #1 overall selections with 5. There are 8 teams that have never had the #1 overall selection – Red Sox, Blue Jays, Rockies, Cardinals, Giants, Dodgers, Indians and Reds. In case you were wondering, the Yankees have had the number #1 overall twice.
Arizona State University has produced 3 top picks – Rick Monday in 1965, Floyd Bannister in 1976 and Bob Horner in 1978. No other college has ever produced more than 1 overall #1 pick.
Danny Goodwin managed to get taken #1 overall twice – in 1971 by the White Sox out of high school (he didn’t sign and went to college instead) and in 1975 by the Angels out of college. Despite that distinction, he is tied for the worst career WAR for the top pick in the draft at -1.4 with Matt Anderson (for players who appeared in a MLB game).
The white guy shoots. The black guy jumps. I didn't think anything of it at the time, I'm not sure I should think anything of it now. It *does* highlight what each of them was known for.
The ad ran on the back of comic books in 1977. It probably dates to the summer after the ABA folded. I don’t remember seeing the Dr. on TV prior to that. I don’t remember Rick Barry as an active player at all. For that matter, I don’t remember our family watching any NBA when I was young — my first NBA memory was the Sonics championship series that they lost to the Bullets. (Of course, with only one TV in the house that got three channels plus PBS, it was Wide World of Sports or nothing… A least it was a *color* TV.)
I think the ad above and the video below share some DNA. To put it another way, I think they’re sort of spiritually connected somehow…
I Want To Say a Little Something That’s Long Overdue
The Disrespect To Women Has Got To Be Through
To All The Mothers And Sisters And The Wives And Friends
I Want To Offer My Love And Respect To The End
My favorite (and the inspiration for the title of the post), the beatdown of 3rd Bass:
So many wack M.C.’s You get the T.V. bozack
Ain’t even gonna call out your names ‘Cause you’re so wack
But one big oaf whose faker than plastic
A dictionary definition of the word spastic
You should have never started something That you couldn’t finish
‘Cause writin’ rhymes to me Is like Popeye to spinach
I’m bad ass move your fat ass ‘Cause you’re wack son
Dancin’ around like you think you’re Janet Jackson
Thought you could walk on me To get some ground to walk on
I’ll put the rug out under your ass As I talk on
I’ll take you out like a sniper on a roof
Like an M.C. at the fever in the D.J. booth
With your headphones strapped You’re rockin’ rewind pause
Tryin’ to figure out what you can do to go for yours
But like the pencil to the paper I got more to come
One after another you can all get some
ESPN has a list of the 100 greatest Fenway Park moments to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the park. I have managed to only be at one of them #99, Springsteen plays Fenway. How disappointing is that? It isn’t even baseball related. It is memorable since it was one of the last times I went to Fenway before moving to Seattle.
The interesting one is #46 – Derek Lowe’s No-No. In 2002, I was still living in Boston and my company still had tickets that they actually let employees use, and that weekend, I was given the opportunity to go to the Saturday or Sunday game. I chose the Sunday game.
The Saturday game was a warm, Saturday afternoon affair between the Sox and Rays and it was the game that Derek Lowe started. I remember watching it and calling up one of my friends who was supposed to go with me the next day and getting a world of shit for my selection of games.
The real kicker though – the next day it was cold, windy and rainy, and the Sox and Rays did not even play the game. Oh, to have a do-over on that one!
It is difficult to find a great BBQ place in Seattle – there are a lot of them, but they generally range from mediocre to bad (and yes, I have gone to see the man, and I was underwhelmed). I am usually cautiously optimistic when a new place opens, and then usually disappointed because the quality is not up to snuff. There are 3 food items that any BBQ competition judges on – pulled pork, brisket and ribs. Those are the BBQ staples (although I long for burnt ends) and, like a cheese pizza, any place that can’t do those well is probably not worth going to.
A couple of months ago, a new BBQ place opened in Ballard – The Boar’s Nest. I decided to give it a shot. The place is small, seating about 30, with a minimal décor, rolls of paper towels on the tables and a nice selection of sauces – 6 in all, ranging from vinegar based, to mustard, to “classic” BBQ to spicy, so there is a little of something for everyone. The menu is small – 4 sandwich options (pulled pork, brisket, sausage and chicken), 2 sizes of ribs and a smattering of your classic sides. They also have a veggie option on the sausage. It is a pretty basic BBQ menu, but one that is generally perfectly acceptable.
The sandwiches are excellent, easily at the top in Seattle, and on par with some of the best BBQ that I have had. The pulled pork is tender and smoky, with the right amount of fat mixed in with the meat. My biggest complaint about most of the pulled pork I have had in Seattle is that it tends to be very dry or overly fatty, and the only way to save it is to drown it in sauce, which then eliminates the flavor of the meat. I would highly recommend the sandwich with the coleslaw on it and a small squeeze of the vinegar based North Carolina Sauce, to add just a bit of tang and sloppiness to the sandwich and really allows the pork to shine.
The brisket is another well prepared sandwich, served on Texas toast. You could see the classic smoke ring, which is essential to good BBQ and the meat itself was tender with nice amounts of char and smoke without being fatty or stringy, the sandwich stands up well to a dash of the Texas sauce to bring a bit of heat to the party. My only complaint – save me the burnt ends and put them on a sandwich for me!!
The sides are pretty standard BBQ fare offerings, and I highly recommend the fried mac+cheese, 4 crunchy, gooey, cheesy balls of happiness, the slaw, a nice balance of vinegar and sweet with a pleasant crunch, and the cornbread, moist and tender, but if you get it to go, have them give you the butter on the side – if you put it in the bag, you will end up with melted butter. Both of these sandwiches would have held their own to anything I have tried in BBQ competitions.
Since I was 2 for 2 at The Boar’s Nest, I got adventurous and decided to try the ribs. Ribs are classically the downfall of just about every BBQ place in Seattle – they are either too dry or mushy or just not really well smoked. A perfectly done BBQ rib should be very tender and not stringy, have a slight resistance to coming off the bone (it should NOT just fall apart when you bite into it), a smoky flavor and a visible smoke ring. It should also hold its shape when the rack is cut into individual ribs. If you ask BBQ lovers if the ribs should be wet or dry (sauce or no sauce), you will get very different answers, but either way, the meat should hold up to what I just described.
The ribs are where the Boar’s Nest fell down. First, they used baby back ribs, instead of the full ribs, which is a no-no as far as I am concerned with BBQ. Baby back ribs tend to cook more quickly and don’t absorb the smoke as a result, which is one of the problems The Boar’s Nest ribs suffered from. The meat was too tender – the ribs fell apart as I was trying to cut the slab into individual ribs, leaving me essentially with a pile of pulled pork. The meat was bland, despite being bathed in the Kansas City sauce (opted for the ribs wet), it lacked any real hit of smokiness and I actually had to add salt to the meat as I was eating it, which is not a good sign. I probably could have just added more sauce, but I wanted to try the ribs naked, just to make sure I got the full effect. This was really the only disappointing thing I have had off their menu. On the plus side, a half rack could probably feed 2 people easily.
While The Boar’s Nest isn’t perfect, it is still better than just about any BBQ place in Seattle. I would recommend without hesitation the sandwiches and any of the sides, but stay away from the ribs unless you like fall-apart tender baby back ribs. I would highly recommend trying all of their wonderful house made sauces to find your favorite.
Overall The Boar’s Nest scores 4 smoke rings out of 5.
The Dirt: Sandwiches run $7-8 without sides or $12 with 2 sides and cornbread and the ribs are $15 for a half slab and $25 for a full with 2 sides and cornbread. The sides are $2-3 each. They do have a couple local beers on tap and small bottles of wine available. Located at 2008 NW 56th St in Ballard.
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