Books and Beers

Russian River: Beatification

2008-08-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

This is possibly the most expensive beer that I have ever bought. $13 for a bottle of 375ml, i.e equivalent of a $26 per a wine bottle, but taking into account the poshness premium on wine, it is more like a $100 wine bottle. Anyway, it is a mixture of two spontaneously fermented beers, which are in turn fermented again in the bottle. Spontaneous fermentation is my favourite, it is a true art of Belgians that make beer rot and acquire random bugs from the air in a semi controlled manner - this makes each batch unique (my was batch #2). It is extremely sour, like a lemonade and quite fizzy due to secondary fermentation. Not complex, but with a beuatifuly simple vision instead. A truly acquired taste that I wish I could afford to sample more often.

Green Flash: Trippel

2008-07-30T21:29:00.000-07:00

"Rich pale malt flavors provide a solid base for zesty Styrian Golding and Czech Saaz hopping. Trappist ale yeast contributes the fruity, spicy profile of classic, monk-brewed, Belgian ales. Our Trippel is luscious, fiery, golden brew and a contemporary rendition of traditional Belgian Trippel." I am drinking this beer for the second day in a row. Yesterday it was my pick and today's it was Maya's. Her claim is that it is "definitelly too sweet". Off record she would also say that it is "too dense". I concur.
Note however, that it uses famous Slovenian Styrian Golding hops - that was my main motivation for buying it in the first place. Plus, green flash is an astronomical event...

Sierra Nevada: Harvest

2008-07-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

I am suspicious of Sierra Nevada. I have yet to drink a good Sierra Nevada beer. But this time, they convinced me with claim of fusion of "fresh New Zeland hops with the finest North American malts". Fusion my arse, the beer, while expectedly very hoppy, misses a clear vision or balance and ends up just about drinkable, without excess in any one direction... Another disappointment by Sierra...

Best American Short Stories of 2007

2008-07-06T21:20:00.000-07:00

I am, in general, not too keen on short stories - to me it always seems to be a cockout for a writer to write a bunch of short stories rather than one proper novel. However, this book is different, because it is a compilation of short stories and even more than that, it is a selection of the best short stories. I am intrigued by the selection of Stephen King as the editor, as I have and still think of him as a pulp fiction writer. Nevertheless, the stories inside are, while not annoyingly arty-farty, still a good read (as opposed to most SK stuff). It takes one or two days to read each of them and there is a lot of variety, styles... basically one gets a taster for each writer.The overwhelming theme is plain, sad, everyday life, not even life slotted into the grand scheme of larger forces influencing us as was the case with the realism at the end of 19th century, but the real depressing stuff of pointlessness of our life. My favourite ones were Toga party by J Barth, My brother Eli by J Epstein, Where will you go when your skin cannot contain you by W Gay, Wake by B Jensen, Horseman by R Russo and maybe Sans Farine by J Shepard.

Anchor Small Beer

2008-05-18T21:55:00.000-07:00

I learn new and exciting things about beer every day. I bought this beer out of support for my local SF brewery that tends to brew an okish, but fairly non-descript beer. However, this one is a gem. The label says:

The tradition of brewing two distinct beers from one mash has existed for thousands of years, and for centuries the term "small beer" was used in English to describe the lighter and weaker second beer. By association, the term came to mean something of little importance.
We make our Old Foghorn Barleywine Style Ale from the rich first runnings of an all-malt mash, and Anchor Small Beer is our attempt to duplicate the "small beers" of old by sparging that same mash: sprinkling warm water over the Old Foghorn mash after the first wort has run off, thereby creating a second, lighter brew from the resulting thinner wort. Technically, both beers are "ales" because they are made with top-fermenting yeast.

The beer itself is very interesting. I definitely would call it bitter, more like a sparkly, not very strong, but very bitter lager. And I liked it a lot...

Walker's Firestone Reserve Porter

2008-04-29T22:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, I haven't updated this blog for a long time and I have drunk an entire slew of very good beers recently. So, if I post a lot about good beers, it is not because my standards are falling, but because that even though I've drunk lot of shit beer, there were quite a few jewels.
Walker's Reserve Porter is one such good beer. It is an excellent beer in the old sub-stout porter style. Very smooth, liquid beer that still manages to punch an incredibly smooth bitterness with strong unmistakably chocolate taste, which actually made me look at the label to see if this is a chocolate beer. Not too strong for American standards at 5.9 %, Reserver Porter makes an excellent, excellent desert beer.

Jon Lee Anderson: Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life

2008-04-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

It took me 9 months to read this book, it is 800 pages long. If there is one thing that cannot be denied about this book is that it is extremely well researched. The guy interviewed literally hundreds of people and went painstakingly through all available archives (including Russian and CIA's ones). The outcome is probably more or less as complete biography about Che as we will ever have (or need). The book is quite objective and while it is clear that the author likes Che, it steers away from an unfettered adoration that is present in so much work about Che.

The resulting image of Che remains, even after all bad things are taken into account, that of a positive historical figure. While Fidel's struggle was about power rather than personal convictions, Che was an everlasting idealist. True, he was naive, he never doubted in Fidel and he killed people. However, he did so because he saw himself as an inevitable force of history. Rather
than retire in Cuba, where he could have lived a comfortable life of a revolutionary hero, he went on and fought, first in Africa and then in Bolivia, where he was killed. And while in Cuba, he lived a manic frugal life, thinking it is a duty of revolutionaries to live exemplary anti-capitalist life. He was also incredibly creative, authoring several books on economy, he was critical of the Soviet system and had deep understanding of Marxism. His main theoretical weakness was near fatal attraction to armed struggle - armed struggle was elevated to literarly epic proportions and was in Che's view crucial for development of the "New Man". Most fascinatingly, excerpts from his letters and poems show an incredible mastering of language - he would have been a writer if not
a revolutionary.

The story goes that when his executioner came to do his job, he invited him: "Go on, you're only going to kill a man." [and not an idea]. Essential reading for both moonbats and wingbats alike...

Young's Luxury Double Chocolate Stout

2008-02-18T22:10:00.000-08:00

Young's really made a hit with this one. It drinks like a mousse desert, not much sweetness, just a balanced taste of dark, bitter chocolate accompanied by an appropriate chocolate malts and with a yummy thick head. I am not really keen of flavoured beers, but this one just shows that you can make a really good one if you try hard enough. Strongly recommended.
And btw, while British drinkers will inevitably get the violet label reference - it is better than the original...

Butte Creek: Train Wreck

2008-02-12T22:45:00.001-08:00

I bought this beer tonight and started drinking it before the dinner. By the time I managed to get my dinner on the table, I was already fairly wasted. Then I read "You'll be lucky to walk away from this one!" on the bottle. Hummm, good to know! Train wreck indeed.
This beer is at10.6%, which is 2% more than the infamous Skull Splitter!! Anyway, this beer belongs to the Barley Wine class, very strong kind of beers, bitter, hoppy and one can actually taste the high alcohol content. Characterized by long periods of fermentation and maturation. Some American brewers actually use wine yeasts which are capable of producing higher alcohol content. Definitely a style to consider for my future Slovene brewery...

Vielle Provision: Saison Dupont

2008-02-10T21:35:00.001-08:00

Another beer that got 96th percentile at ratebeer. Very dense, unfiltered beer that tastes a bit like a wheat beer, but considerably more bitter with a cider-like texture. The back blurb says that it is a classic example of "Saison" style. Ultimate beer book informs that the "saison" is inevitably summer. And that Belgians like strong beers. What a surprise, haha...

Lagunitas' Lumpy Gravy

2008-02-04T21:46:00.001-08:00

Lagunitas did it again. This is the new beer in the Zappa anniversary line (see my previous post about Kill Ugly Radio). A standard brown ale this time, goes well with well cooked pork or lamb. Released in celebration of "the 40th anniversary of the release of the second part of FZ's 3-Phaze masterwork". Lagunitas is probably the only brewer that has a 420 section on their website. When I grow up, I'll be a brewer as well!

Widmer Hefeweizen

2008-02-03T23:43:00.001-08:00

A half-baked hefeweizen. Americans obviously did a lot to IPA, but hefeweizen leaves them somewhat confused and they never quite get the silky taste of the originals.
What is more interesting is how every hefeweizen boasts about being unfiltered. Surely, this gives them the cloudy appearance and typical taste and is the right thing to do; but if unfiltered beer is better, why don't everybody leave them unfiltered? I agree that lagers must be filtered and hefeweizens must not, but it is nevertheless stupid to be bragging about something that you didn't do...

Jennings' Crossed Buttock

2008-01-24T21:03:00.001-08:00

That's it. That is the largest image that I could find. I drank this beer in an lovely Oxford pub "The Anchor". Made the South African bar-maid smile when I referred to it as Crossed Buttocks. Good, fresh ale with fruity overtones, a very inaggressive beer. Named after a wrestling move or something like that.

Koshihikari Echigo Beer

2007-12-03T21:42:00.000-08:00

A typical Japanese lager, a bit like Asahi. According to wikipedia, Japanese got their beer with Dutch sailors in 18th or 19th century. Since then they have been brewing these silky lagers. Nothing to be really proud of, but goes well with some fusion noodles!

St Peter's Old-Style Porter

2007-12-01T21:52:00.000-08:00

After really not liking them for a couple of years, I have recently fallen in love with porters. Not sure why, maybe because they are 19th century London invention and I love this the era, maybe because all microbreweries in the states are trying hard on them or maybe I just wanted a change from overly hopped IPA's. Either way, this is actually a British recreation of old-style porter. The back says: "This beer is blend of old mature ale and a younger light beer just like true porter should be." Fair enough, always new things to learn. Incidentally I also learned that stout it is really just a short for stout porter - a really strong porter. Dublin, I am coming...

Orval Trappist Ale

2007-11-21T22:05:00.001-08:00

I have never drank anything like that. Tasted as if some port was poured into the brew. Very bitter. A truly acquired taste. Hated it to start with and then it slowly became more and more tanglible. "Semi-wild Brettanomyces yeasts give the beer a distinct subtle body and a refreshing tartness as an after effect. It is suitable for genuine connoisseurs and experts." says one website.
I fully agree. I also admit that I am not quite the expert yet...

Marin Brewing: Hoppy Holidaze

2007-11-13T22:41:00.001-08:00

The name is just terrible. Infinitely terrible. The beer is actually a flavoured ale, a drink very much popular in the states. All in all it is an ale with plenty of hop (Sterling and Styrian Golding varieties) and spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, orange peel and pure vanilla extract. It is effectively a beer equivalent of mould wine. Stuff to drink on Christmas. Nice, but maybe a bit over the top...

Farmhouse: oasthouse IPA

2007-11-04T20:22:00.000-08:00

IPA stands for Indian Pale Ale, a beer designed by British to survive the scorching climate of India so that they could enjoy ale even while there. Americans have created their unique version of it which has nothing to do with India. Oasthouse's IPA is a typical example, a much stronger beer compared to British IPA with much more flavour, lots of hops and stronger colour. And the label design just clicks. A good beer to finish off the weekend!

St Feuillien

2007-10-22T22:19:00.000-07:00

Belgians are just one bunch of dirty bastards. Basically, it seems to me that they get some barley and water and let it rot. Out comes this "natural ale", a double fermented mushy drink with strong flavour. (Ok, ok, I know that is more complicated than that). Beautiful, I love it.

Rogue Ales: Morimoto Soba Ale

2007-10-10T22:26:00.000-07:00

"It better be good..." I grundged to myself while buying this beer - it was devilishly expensive for a beer imported from Oregon (no, it is not Japanese!). Morimoto is a Japanese surname and soba are, as far as I can tell, Japanese noodles. The blurb on the back says "The delicate flavor of our roasted Soba brings a nutty finish to this light and refreshing ale." The taste is very strange, but good. If you ask me, it reminds me of apples, rather than nuts. Like Hoegaarden mixed with a bit of water and apple juice and some groovy after-taste. All in all a balanced taste, but not sure if I wouldn't get bored of it after a while. Might try it again!

Stone Brewing: Arogant Bastard Ale

2007-10-09T20:42:00.000-07:00

"This is an agressive beer. You probably won't like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth." This is the arrogant bastard statement on the back. It carries on with the usual crap about small breweries and large corporations producing shit. This is a common theme in the states - I don't see why beer from large corporations should be bad (take Fullers for example), but in the states this seems to be indeed the case.
It has reached 98th percentile on ratebeer. It is indeed quite good, though I wouldn't rate it above 1845 which managed to reach "only" 95th percentile...

Lagunitas: Kill Ugly Radio

2007-10-07T19:55:00.001-07:00

This is my first post from the States. And this is actually the first beer I bought in the States, while still in the hotel. I just bought and drank it again, this time in my own flat and the beer is still excellent. A small edition Frank Zappa themed beer, hoppy, balanced taste. Strong beer at 7.8%. Some serious beer can be had in the States if someone can be bothered to look for it!

Adnams Explorer

2007-09-08T14:46:00.000-07:00

This is a very interesting beer. It is heavily hopped with hops from what they call "the New World". And this New World stuff makes a very refreshing beer with some fruity-peach taste to it. It was the last beer I tried in UK and I am updating this post from a cafe in SF. It was a sign of good things to come. :)

Sierra Nevada Summerfest

2007-09-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

Shit, shit, shit beer. Watery lager reminiscent of home. Even Maja confirmed this. Regardless of how much I like Slovenia, beer is something we can't do.

Fuller's 1845

2007-08-21T13:12:00.001-07:00

In 1995 Fuller's dusted off the recipe of their original beer to mark the 150th anniversary. The resulting beer became an instant classic. Reached 97 percentile on ratebeer. This is an excellent English strong ale, strong earthly flavour, one can just about smell the dirty pubs of industrial era England. This is stuff Dicken's characters are made of. Great beer.