Thursday, November 18, 2010
Mr. T's BBQ
Big Rock Grasshopper Wheat
Big Rock Traditional Ale along with Pork BBQ, Burgoo, baked beans
So we finally leave the rink after a quick warmup/get a feel for the ice, we find our hotel realize that there is a BBQ place right around the corner from our hotel, so we can walk instead of getting back into the Suzuki Slip and Slide.
Mr T's BBQ smells good when we walk in, friendly waitress and a place to sit. We ordered brisket and pulled pork sandwiches with mashed potatoes and gravy, burgoo, root beer and a couple of Big Rock beers from Alberta. Grasshopper which is a wheat beer and Traditional Ale which is a brown ale, both are non offensive and drinkable and went well with the food. Both the food and beer were alright and would probably not eat/drink them again.
After dinner, i got some type of Canadian lottery, so i guess i will be rich before we leave this town. Walked back to the hotel and pretty much crashed.
Tomorrow skating 500m & 1000m
Wednesday Afternoon
It is cold, snowy and windy, -degrees. Who gives a crap if it is C or F, it is still negative degrees.
They don't plow or salt the roads and think of nothing if there are 176 accidents, as reported by the news, i have a shitbox of a Suzuki that slips and slides all over the place.
Traffic sucks, think rush hour on the West Side Highway with an accident on the entrance ramp to the George Washington Bridge. It took us over an hour to go less than 20 miles and then 25 minutes to go 2-3 miles from the rink to the parking lot, but don't despair, to quote Eric Clapton "It's Got To Get Better In a Little While" because skating and eating will begin soon.
Did somebody say food, we're starving...
They don't plow or salt the roads and think of nothing if there are 176 accidents, as reported by the news, i have a shitbox of a Suzuki that slips and slides all over the place.
Traffic sucks, think rush hour on the West Side Highway with an accident on the entrance ramp to the George Washington Bridge. It took us over an hour to go less than 20 miles and then 25 minutes to go 2-3 miles from the rink to the parking lot, but don't despair, to quote Eric Clapton "It's Got To Get Better In a Little While" because skating and eating will begin soon.
Did somebody say food, we're starving...
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
5 AM
It's 5AM, do you know where children are? I know at least the whereabouts of my little guy, he is crashed out next to me in Terminal A of Newark International Airport. Once again we are on the road in pursuit of ice and good times, both on the ice and in father/son time.
This time it is Calgary, home of the fastest ice in Canada, as told to me by a Canadian beer drinker, someone told me that Salt Lake City is the fastest ice in the world and my little guy's coach one told me tht some place in Russia, with a name i can't remember and probably couldn't pronounce, told me that that was the fastest ice in the world. This evening he recanted by letting me know that the Russia place was during it's time but know Calgary might be the fastest. Only times will tell.
This time it is Calgary, home of the fastest ice in Canada, as told to me by a Canadian beer drinker, someone told me that Salt Lake City is the fastest ice in the world and my little guy's coach one told me tht some place in Russia, with a name i can't remember and probably couldn't pronounce, told me that that was the fastest ice in the world. This evening he recanted by letting me know that the Russia place was during it's time but know Calgary might be the fastest. Only times will tell.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Schoolteacher
So i am looking at Beer Advocate Friday afternoon and the cask guy posts about a new brewery from MA called Wandering Star and they will have one of the first casks of the Summer Ale and it is a benefit for Schoolteacher being held in a bar called The Diamond. When i opened the post i saw my friends name, who is Schoolteacher from BA. At that point i realized that i need to investigate this event. I beermailed an old beer friend and he stated that he was the organizer and Schoolteacher is wont be there because he is in LA and he will talk to me when i get there.
Since Schoolteacher was not going to be there i kind of did not want to go but i figured that i would run into a few old beer friends that i don't see anymore and check out a part of Brooklyn that i have never been before. I then made plans with some people from work to meet up in later that evening since i only planned to be at The Diamond for only a little bit.
When i got off the train i realized that i was out here on a bar crawl with Lisa and a couple of friends a few years back. I stopped at Brouwerij Lane which is a beer store/growler fill station but sice the owner is an importer of some German beers, he is allowed to sell beer by the glass from the growler beers. They have a pretty amazing selection and at $3 a 8oz glass, you can try a whole buch plus they serve the beers i very cool german cylindrical glasses. I had the Bear Republic Mach 10. I walked to The Diamond met a couple of people i haven't seen in a while, ordered the Wandering Star, then walked in Schoolteacher.
I know Schoolteacher from the very old days of The Blind Tiger Ale House when it was on 10th St. and Hudson St. back in the early days of craft beer. We would run into each other at the Wednesday beer events at the Tiger and on the occasion that i ventured into Brooklyn for a beer event. He is one of the few very genuine people that i have met, we always didn't talk beer, we talked about other stuff also, if you can believe that. I haven't seen him i about 5 years because he is very sick, this was a kind of going away party, he is off to the east because western medicine is not working. He plans on traveling and eventually settle down in a country with socialized health care, never to come home again. As soon as we started talking, he asked about my oldest so by name and about college because the last time we talked my so was in HS. Shit, sometimes i can't remember my kids names and i live with them. For me, it was a very emotional night, and if you know me, i don't get emotional. It was very sad for me to know that a friend can't find help here and has to leave the country to find some and knowing that you will never see a person again. I knew i had to leave and meet my other friends from work but i really did not want to leave. I probably said goodbye like 4 times before i walked out of the bar. It was a very sad moment for me.
I had the Wandering Star and a Kelso Satisfaction which is a 3.2% beer which was very good.
Onto Barcade where i met some work friends, the place was crowded, had the Sierra Nevada Celebration and a McNeil's Old Ringworm before i left to go home. The place was crowded on this Friday night and i realized how old i am. I was definitely the oldest dude in the place. Caught the 11:06 train at 11:02 and made it home.
Beer store in Greenpoint, Brooklyn Since Schoolteacher was not going to be there i kind of did not want to go but i figured that i would run into a few old beer friends that i don't see anymore and check out a part of Brooklyn that i have never been before. I then made plans with some people from work to meet up in later that evening since i only planned to be at The Diamond for only a little bit.
When i got off the train i realized that i was out here on a bar crawl with Lisa and a couple of friends a few years back. I stopped at Brouwerij Lane which is a beer store/growler fill station but sice the owner is an importer of some German beers, he is allowed to sell beer by the glass from the growler beers. They have a pretty amazing selection and at $3 a 8oz glass, you can try a whole buch plus they serve the beers i very cool german cylindrical glasses. I had the Bear Republic Mach 10. I walked to The Diamond met a couple of people i haven't seen in a while, ordered the Wandering Star, then walked in Schoolteacher.
I know Schoolteacher from the very old days of The Blind Tiger Ale House when it was on 10th St. and Hudson St. back in the early days of craft beer. We would run into each other at the Wednesday beer events at the Tiger and on the occasion that i ventured into Brooklyn for a beer event. He is one of the few very genuine people that i have met, we always didn't talk beer, we talked about other stuff also, if you can believe that. I haven't seen him i about 5 years because he is very sick, this was a kind of going away party, he is off to the east because western medicine is not working. He plans on traveling and eventually settle down in a country with socialized health care, never to come home again. As soon as we started talking, he asked about my oldest so by name and about college because the last time we talked my so was in HS. Shit, sometimes i can't remember my kids names and i live with them. For me, it was a very emotional night, and if you know me, i don't get emotional. It was very sad for me to know that a friend can't find help here and has to leave the country to find some and knowing that you will never see a person again. I knew i had to leave and meet my other friends from work but i really did not want to leave. I probably said goodbye like 4 times before i walked out of the bar. It was a very sad moment for me.
I had the Wandering Star and a Kelso Satisfaction which is a 3.2% beer which was very good.
Wall adornment in The Diamond's bathroom Onto Barcade where i met some work friends, the place was crowded, had the Sierra Nevada Celebration and a McNeil's Old Ringworm before i left to go home. The place was crowded on this Friday night and i realized how old i am. I was definitely the oldest dude in the place. Caught the 11:06 train at 11:02 and made it home.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Veterans Day
Thanks to New York State I have today off so I spent a portion of today enjoying a nice cigar while raking some leaves, damn, I hate raking leaves, my little brokedown palace doesn't have that many trees so where do all of these freakin' leaves come from.
Today is Veterans Day, a day where we give thanks to all of the men and women who served and continue to serve our great country to keep it free and allow me the privilege to rake these leaves.
All of Lisa's uncles who served during the WW II and Korean War era, i have traveled to Pennsylvania too many times over the past 7-10 years to bury another family member and hear a 21 gun salute, a couple of Lisa's cousin's who just retired after 25-30 years of service, Hollywood, a couple of people who that I work with Tony V, Vince and the rest of the veterans from downtown, and all of the veterans from Day 1 of the formation of the United States of America to today, thank you.
Today is Veterans Day, a day where we give thanks to all of the men and women who served and continue to serve our great country to keep it free and allow me the privilege to rake these leaves.
All of Lisa's uncles who served during the WW II and Korean War era, i have traveled to Pennsylvania too many times over the past 7-10 years to bury another family member and hear a 21 gun salute, a couple of Lisa's cousin's who just retired after 25-30 years of service, Hollywood, a couple of people who that I work with Tony V, Vince and the rest of the veterans from downtown, and all of the veterans from Day 1 of the formation of the United States of America to today, thank you.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Homebrewing Again
about 3 months ago, son #1 wanted to learn how to homebrew so he asked me to show him how. I started homebrewing about 23 years ago, a probably the last time that i did it was 15 yrs ago. I bought my original equipment from Milan(?) on Spring Street in NYC, they are closed know but the store has not been leased so the sign is still up.
Back in the days, i did not make anything that i was impressed with, my friends thought that the beer was good but i kind of knew better and it wasn't what i was aiming for. I probably brewed only once or twice a year because i hated bottling. It is time consuming, boring, and very easy to procrastinate from. I did not have space or money to buy a kegging system and a kegerator, and today, i still don't have a system. With this request, i started checking out home brew shop websites, the blood started flowing and my interest was piqued once again. I figured that we can make a half batch, 2.5 gallon as opposed to the standard 5 gallon batch, because if we screw up, it is only a half batch that we would need to drain pour. I started to save and clean bottles and I probably have a case of bottles which ='s 2.5 gallons.
I decided on a wheat beer because it is pretty easy to make. I don't even know if son #1 even likes the style but hey, you have start with something simple. Since you can make a wheat beer with just extract, hops and yeast, we are going to make a dunkleweizen because i want to include grains to the mix so that he get the full extract brewing experience.
When me and my little guy were in Milwaukee, he was showing me a shortcut that he learned from being out there so much, we passed Northern Brewer, a huge home brew store. We stopped and checked it out. I was only going to buy some of the stuff, the light stuff since we were flying, but he talked me into buying everything needed and since he is an expert on how much your luggage weighs even without a scale, i listened. So I bought the extract, specialty grains, siphon hose (which i misplaced and had to go buy some more), and yeast. I wanted to buy liquid yeast and show #1 how to grow a starter but HB Dude told me that since i was flying, the yeast vial might explode so i had to settle on dry yeast. I guess thru time and technology, dry yeasts are getting better.
Today i ran to Maltose Brewing in Monroe, CT to get a fermentation bucket and some more of that missing siphon hose. So tomorrow is the big brew day, at least for us. Question, do we do it indoors on the stove or outside on my Cajun Cooker that i bought 15 yrs ago and never used.
I would like to thank Capt Lawrence for unofficially sponsoring this post, without their many samples today's post could not have happened.
Back in the days, i did not make anything that i was impressed with, my friends thought that the beer was good but i kind of knew better and it wasn't what i was aiming for. I probably brewed only once or twice a year because i hated bottling. It is time consuming, boring, and very easy to procrastinate from. I did not have space or money to buy a kegging system and a kegerator, and today, i still don't have a system. With this request, i started checking out home brew shop websites, the blood started flowing and my interest was piqued once again. I figured that we can make a half batch, 2.5 gallon as opposed to the standard 5 gallon batch, because if we screw up, it is only a half batch that we would need to drain pour. I started to save and clean bottles and I probably have a case of bottles which ='s 2.5 gallons.
I decided on a wheat beer because it is pretty easy to make. I don't even know if son #1 even likes the style but hey, you have start with something simple. Since you can make a wheat beer with just extract, hops and yeast, we are going to make a dunkleweizen because i want to include grains to the mix so that he get the full extract brewing experience.
When me and my little guy were in Milwaukee, he was showing me a shortcut that he learned from being out there so much, we passed Northern Brewer, a huge home brew store. We stopped and checked it out. I was only going to buy some of the stuff, the light stuff since we were flying, but he talked me into buying everything needed and since he is an expert on how much your luggage weighs even without a scale, i listened. So I bought the extract, specialty grains, siphon hose (which i misplaced and had to go buy some more), and yeast. I wanted to buy liquid yeast and show #1 how to grow a starter but HB Dude told me that since i was flying, the yeast vial might explode so i had to settle on dry yeast. I guess thru time and technology, dry yeasts are getting better.
Today i ran to Maltose Brewing in Monroe, CT to get a fermentation bucket and some more of that missing siphon hose. So tomorrow is the big brew day, at least for us. Question, do we do it indoors on the stove or outside on my Cajun Cooker that i bought 15 yrs ago and never used.
I would like to thank Capt Lawrence for unofficially sponsoring this post, without their many samples today's post could not have happened.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)