North Coast brewing Company's Blue Star Wheat Beer
From the label:
Choice American barley and wheat malts are combined with a blend of noble hops to create this lighthearted, refreshing beer. Blue Star is unfiltered, the yeast adding a complex note to the flavor profile. Water, malt, hops, yeast & that’s all.
From my notes:
Beautiful, cloudy, straw color. Thick, fine bubbled, bone colored head, lasts a moderate amount of time, minimal lacing. High carbonation. Smells of citrus (oranges), and potpourri spices. Tastes of wheat with the hint of citrus, spice, and yeast. Delicate. Clean and crisp finish.
As I said beautiful star coloring and a nice thick head
Blue Star is a prefect beer for Spring and Summer. Clear, crisp and refreshing Blue Star would be a great choice for outdoor and indoor grilling, a afternoon at the beach or an evening spent around the campfire, great for session drinking as well. Almost as good as their Scrimshaw, one of my favorite beers.
I used to love first person shooters (FPSs). I think there was a stretch of a few years in my life where there were the only type of game I was playing: Qauke 2, Unreal, Half-life, Unreal Tournament , Quake 3. Even before FPSs went 3d I routinely played through DOOM, DOOM 2, and Heretic. At some point though FPSs started changing, they started taking themselves too seriously, perhaps? This is probably Half-Life’s fault, with the the Call of Duty and Halo franchises being responsible for carrying it forward, poorly. Too much focus on (a crappy) story line and attempting to portray a real world-setting didn’t set well with me. Neither did all the limitations designers started putting on the player: two weapons only, generic ammo, a non-numeric life-bar now accompanied by a non-numeric recharging energy or shield bar. The move towards recharging health and limits on weapons also meant that managing health and ammo was no longer part of the game. Ammo was picked up from fallen enemies and levels changed so that ammo dumps and arsenals were no longer part of the game, some how this also translated into the removal of secret areas on the map as well. Levels were no longer part of the puzzle to be solved merely the background canvas on which the player painted murder. As these changes were implemented and the focus moved increasingly from single player to on-line multi-player I found myself wandering away from the genre… *rant off*
I don’t quite recall how Borderlands caught my attention in 2009. Perhaps, it was the touted ‘loot’ system so similar to how Diablo and Diablo 2 distributed weapons and armor? Or maybe I picked it up on the recommendation of friends over at Talking Time (I’m sure it was the latter.) I picked the game up hopeful that my fondness for the genre could be rekindled but prepared to be disappointed. As I had been with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (a franchise that now embodies everything I’m not looking for in an FPS.) Borderlands is a delightfully dark and playful FPS, much as its early progenitors were, in which you explore an alien planet with a Western ethic. This world is large populated by monsters, thugs, bandits, frontiersmen and contains a surprising number of secrets. Tasked with finding and unlocking a legendary treasure trove, players will have at their disposal an near infinite variety of small and large arms. There are seven types of guns one can use but they all have modifiers of quality and elemental damage, as well as stat and to-hit bonuses. I’ve been playing for 20+ hours and I don’t think I’ve seen the same gun twice.
The game succeeds by successfully marrying fast-paced FPS game-play with an inventory/loot system that kept me opening every crate, chest, and locker in the game looking for the next amazing gun. The game does keep many of the now “standard” elements of FPSs, despite them I find myself smiling and looking forward to the sequel that is coming later this year.
Goose Island's Matilda (Yeah, I know there is too much flash...)
From their site:
Wild in character, with a slightly fruity aroma and a spicy yeast flavor that is as unique as it is satisfying – Matilda is an intriguing choice for beer and wine lovers alike. Dry and quenching, it’s the perfect accompaniment at the dining table or for casually socializing at the bar.
From my notes:
Beautiful blonde color with a medium ivory head, very fine bubbles that quickly dissipated. spices and lemons in the nose. bready on the tongue with some sourness. A nice floral hop finish. Leaves an acidic aftertaste. yeasty
It only looks strawberry blonde in this picture it isn't nearly that dark
This is styled as a Belgian Strong Pale Ale but its one of the most mild pale ales I’ve ever had. I was also surprised at how yeasty this beer tasted considering it was a pale ale. The spiced aspect was perhaps the nicest thing about Matilda, coriander, clove and the 7% ABV make for a nice spicy beer without knocking you out.
Paradise is stumbling upon our whole flower hop room and inhaling. Inversion is as close as you can get without knowing somebody. Enter, if you will, all the glorious aromatic complexity of the hop. This big, bold IPA’s intense multi-hop kick gets a subtle dose of restraint from select crystal and Carastan malts. For discriminating hopheads.
From my notes:
clear, copper color. Thin tannish head with very fine bubbles. Smells of hops, citrusy, grains and grasses, and some yeast. Delicious citrusy taste with some pine for back up hops kick on the way down. Very smooth. Unlike other IPAs the hops are not overwhelming here and as soon as the yeast comes in to play they mellow out. Not easy to brew, I’m guessing…
If you’ve been reading this blog you know how I feel about IPAs and hops, and the hopheads who insist on overwhelming their beers with hops… I don’t know what is so compelling about beer that tastes like you’re chocking down asphalt, but to each their own. Inversion delivers the taste of hops without overwhelming those other important ingredients that go into a beer. This would probably have ended up a five star beer if I hadn’t already had Deschutes Red Chair NWPA…
