Bench sesh the other day seemed to go decently, but it was a reminder that I neglected the shit out of my rehab work for the ol' shoulder. With the recent time off of work and starting the new year soon I will be hitting it back up in earnest. I actually remembered to get some rehab in last night for the shoulders, hitting the typical band work all with the blue Thera-band I got months ago from the PT-
High row - 2x25
Mid row - 2x25
Low row - 2x25
External rotations - 3x20
Not the most difficult work, but it did get my traps lit up (held them contracted during the movements to cut them out as active movers) but it needs to get done. May need to get a new band for these as the ol' blue band seems to be getting weak.
Booyah.
Couple scoops of ON gold standard whey and on to bed.
On to the squat sesh this morning. One day I'll remember to get video on the reg for you on these squat sessions. That day will probably be the day I get my numbers back to where they need to be so chill out.
Gah.
First squat session since November, so let's see what occured:
Little warm up, worked up to 3x3x275lbs to parallel box
Wide stance good morning - 4x10x135lbs, another 10x155 as some of the brosefs came in and I let them get there warm ups in on my rack
Isolated upper back extension - 5x10 w/two chains over my shoulders (40lbs?)
Leg press - 10x315lbs, 10x405lbs, 3x10x495lbs
Will admit that I had more in me as far as poundage in the squat went, but I could feel my upper back fatiguing and starting to round. Going to attack that with accessory work and keep rolling.
Hips felt pretty good overall, a little tight in the widest stance so I brought my feet in about an inch or so each from widest to get my parallel. Also got to see a bunch of the team guys and hang out a little bit.
Jim putting in the hard work.
In other news, this happened.
Okay, so it was a different spider.
Turn away now if you're squeamish.
No seriously.
It's pretty gnarly.
UFC 168 last night. Anderson Silva versus Chris Weidman.
If you hadn't already heard.
It was this.
So I'm not a huge Silva fan anyway, but it's a bummer to see him have to retire for this wicked of an injury.
Hope y'all had a lovely Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Festivus/Saturnalia/Yule/etc.
Ended up being off work 12/24 and continuing to be off through 1/6. Hu-freakin-zah.
Good times were had by all here for the anniversary of the birth of the Christ child, had some family in town and got to spend a couple of mornings and dinners with the group and I think everyone was reasonably happy with what Santa brought around. Cuddle times, a little sleep, too much food, and some bourbon and egg nog.
So I guess strength hasn't gone to utter and complete shit, but it is still complete shit. Definitely down with the time off recently and I can feel the need to get more band rehab in, only really did it a few times during the holiday peak season and this was first time even setting foot in the gym since November.
Boo, hiss, but back at it. With peak behind me, the plan is to get back into it in earnest and work them numbahs back up.
Y'all that have been following along probably know that I am currently working a night shift with work as we are in what we call "peak season" for a line of products - namely photo books, cards, calendars, etc that we produce as a vendor for several different partner companies. Being the holidays, this is the busiest time of year as folks order up gifts for people on their list. For this business segment, almost half of the entire year's work comes in during the month or so between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
That's a whole lotta work, bro.
This picture would be more appropriate if these same dudes were out doing this at, say, 2:00AM
I am sure this is great for business and all, but I have to say that it annoys the crap out of me. First world problems and all, but every holiday for the past five years this has been my lot- managing at least one shift of 30-50 folks, most of whom are temporary workers with no previous skills in the print field. This shift happens to usually occur during hours that are not conducive to seeing my family during, you know, the most family- and tradition-centric time of the year.
Not that I am bitter or anything, but it would be awesome if one of these holidays I could be home most nights before everyone else went to bed and be able to see them for more than 20 minutes a day six days out of a week.
I actually kind of like Christmas. Like a lot.
Santa Claus is coming to town, y'all.
Managed to get a little money out of the totaling of Ol' Red and there was a little bonus with work. Of course, it all went into down payment for the new car so we wouldn't have a completely outrageous note. Would have been nice to have been able to get a few more things for the family.
Thanks, bad Memphis driver.
That said, things are merely things and are not what is important. I survived the accident unscathed and wasn't upside down on the vehicle that I would rather not have had demolished, both of which are good things and things I am thankful for.
Thankful to be alive and working. A lot of folks don't have those two things going for them.
BUT
Again.
Would have been nice.
Just sayin'.
Least there's always egg nog.
Let me know when you find the anomaly. I found it quite amusing.
Speaking of, I need to try my hand at making some ho made egg nog. Because after January it's a nogless time, and that is sad. A buddy has said Alton Brown's recipe is quite good. This stands to reason because, really, does Alton Brown have bad recipes?
But that is for when I have more time.
Soon.
Four more days.
One of which is my wife and my anniversary.
Eleven years, eh.
Wowsers bowsers.
About to get mauled by a bear. Also, there's a polar bear back there.
Light plans- go out and have a feast and a few beverages, have a relaxing time, and love each other and not be hurried by the world for just a minute..
Because it's all about the love, folks. That is what is important.
Not tinsel and trees.
Not presents and wrapping and bows and all that.
Love.
In case we don't speak again before, y'all have a merry Christmas.
So when we last visited Hans's Wide World of Cars, we saw this...
Boo hiss, right? Indeed, November 8, 2013 was a sad day for all involved.
Now that the whole matter is resolved, I will give a little detail on the wreck. On said sunny afternoon, yours truly was returning to work from a dentist appointment like a good citizen, having just purchased a bag of Taco Bell to masticate upon my arrival at said workplace, when the accident happened. I was traveling southbound on >street name here<, in the right lane with no traffic restrictions and driving the speed limit, when >other driver< pulled out from a >side street name here<, where they had a stop sign. I don't know if they couldn't see me and decided they were clear (the road was lined with cars that time of day as school was letting out on said side street) or if they ran the sign, but I hit them squaw in the middle of the driver's side of their vehicle. I think I tried to swerve to avoid them, as the damage to my poor little Legacy was all on the driver's side, but I do remember two things:
1) the pulsation of the antilock brakes
2) being filled with rage the split second before impact because I knew that impact was imminent. I think that as I braced for impact, my words were something along the lines of, "ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!"
Boom.
Wicked pissa, brah.
Note the near perfect interior of the vehicle. Nothing mashed up, all glass intact. Good engineering.
Immediately after the impact and as soon as I was done contemplating my mortality and in some sort of state of shock realized I was pissed because the windshield wipers had come on and I couldn't shut them off, I forced the door of my trusty Legacy open and departed the vehicle. Did a quick 360 scan of the area to survey the damage, and spotted the other vehicle. Driver of the vehicle hysterical, child on the ground.
Shit.
A bystander was trying to calm the child who, understandably quite angry at the fate which had just been thrust upon him (which appeared to be his face thrust into the seat back in front of him), was crying and bleeding from the face. I talked with the bystander to assess the child's injuries, which appeared to be superficial, albeit ugly, and ran to one of the neighbor's houses to grab a bag of ice for said child's face.
God bless little old folk. A nice old lady answered the door, and upon hearing of our plight, set about hurriedly fumbling about what I presume was her husband, who was only mildly concerned, and managed to get together a gallon Ziploc type bag half full of ice and some paper towels.
Ran back to the scene, gave bag o' ice to bystander guy, and seeing as hysterical driver lady was seemingly okay but rolling about crying and being attended to by several other bystanders, I proceeded to have a breather. By this point several folks had gathered about, most of whom were either picking kids up from the school or worked for the school.
The other car, Hyundai Sonata, I believe? Apparently also decent crash engineering.
At any rate, there was a Shelby County deputy immediately on the scene to call in Memphis PD (Shelby County deputies don't have jurisdiction in Memphis city. Makes sense, right?) and Memphis FD and keep us updated on progress.
Funny side note: Sara and I toured the school a few days later as a prospective school for our daughter for next year. Turns out that one of the bystanders was the counselor for the school that gave us the tour. Slightly embarrassing, but she did tell us that everyone in the other vehicle was fine. This was good and welcome news as I knew that the driver was okay but I was worried about the little boy. Unfair for the lad to have to suffer because of the actions of his caretaker.
Memphis Fire Rescue was on scene in a very loooooooooooooooooooooong fifteen minutes. They attended and subsequently removed the wounded - what turned out to be grandma, busted face grandchild, and unbusted face grandchild, who was apparently riding in a car seat and made it through the ordeal with only a sore shoulder- via ground transport.
Thanks to the aforementioned wonders of Subaru engineering and a little powerlifting, I was not among the wounded or worse being carted off to the nearest emergency medical center.
You can tell this is at least an hour after the accident because of the glow of a Memphis Police squad car's lights.
Can't fault MPD too much for showing up late to the party- apparently I picked right about the same time as a seven or eight car pile up on the interstate nearby to be involved in a seemingly horrendous accident.
With some time to kill, I did what any man in my position would do.
Retrieved my Taco Bell from the car, found a nice spot on the curb to sit, and had my now luke warm dinner and flat Dr Pepper while I waited on the po-lice.
Several bystanders checked in on me, including one witness who got tired of waiting and left me her phone number, and I ended up talking with one of the neighbors and his grandchild for a bit.
Memphis PD showed up about an hour after the accident occurred, took my statement, assessed the scene, and called in the tow trucks. Ol' Red wasn't coming home this ill fated night.
A musical interlude...
Because metal.
So flash forward some time (like a freaking month), two rental cars, a potential uninsured faulted driver, a crumby experience with their insurance (at least they had it), and we find out...
The Subaru Legacy is totaled.
She shall ride no more.
Sigh...
By the by, I would not recommend dealing with The General insurance company. The people I dealt with there were for the most part okay, but you can tell they are not a customer service based organization. Despite averaging three attempts to call them a day during some of the more sticky logistical phases of the experience, they threatened multiple times to force me to pay for tow storage, rental fees, etc.- one of them even started talking over me as I explained to them that I was not going to turn the vehicle over to them until we had settled on the total loss claim. You can tell that they are trying, for the most part, but that their reps are understaffed with barely manageable case loads and they are pressed to try to rush people into doing things so that they aren't paying more than they have to in fees, etc.
My insurance company, State Farm, on the other hand, was great- even before we were able to determine that the other driver did have insurance and we were proceeding as if it was going to be a claim against my account. The accident happened late on a Friday afternoon, naturally, so I was not able to get a hold of my local agent until Monday, but the folks in claims over the weekend and through the experience were great, almost always available by phone, and were generally on top of their game.
No thank YOU, nice Memphis PD lady.
Even had a pleasurable experience dealing with Memphis Police Central Records, who will apparently lovingly send you a copy of your police report via email for a small fee, though they reportedly take weeks to get it to the insurance companies. The person I spoke to there was polite, helpful, and acted quickly once the request was made.
But I digress...
So boom wreck, holy crap I hope they have insurance, maybe they do, good they do, rental car, bunch of phone calls and stress, and five weeks later I have a check in hand for the difference of the total versus what I owed Subaru (remember kids, make a sizable down payment and/or get the gap insurance). This was good, because while I was saddened by the loss of the Legacy, it was time to replace her.
Though no one could replace her. From September 13, 2012 to November 8, 2013, she was a fine beast. A faithful steed. More than a mode of transportation, but a four wheeled steel and plastic safe haven for myself and my family.
And stuff.
And really, when it came down to it, there was really no question about what to get. The Ford F150 XLT SuperCrew that served as my rental chariot was a fine vehicle, but pricey, VERY expensive to feed, and two wheel drive.
Still love Google image search.
Remember that stuff about good engineering and saving my ass from the difficult decision of the flames of the Infernal Pits or the Page/Plant fueled trip up to the Pearly Gates?
Yeah, it was Subaru time.
Luckily, we knew just the place to go. Looked through a few used things online, but nothing really struck our fancy, and in Memphis if you want a new Subaru, there's really only one thing to do.
Dave sold us both my wife's Impreza and the Legacy, and entertained us previously when we had not yet jumped on board the Subaru bandwagon. He and I would run into each other periodically at Dunkin Donuts when Ilse was going to a different daycare in one of the Memphis burbs and we would share random shenanigans, life stories, etc. Dave's a pretty good guy.
We went and saw him on Black Friday first to test drive a few things, but did not yet have money in hand. We were pretty sure we were going with either the Forester or the XV Crosstrek. We had looked at the Forester previously and while it is definitely a good vehicle, has the room you want, reliable, fuel efficient, etc, it just didn't have the same "zing" as the Crosstrek. The Crosstrek is a bit smaller, but for this guy it was more fun to drive, outfitted more to my liking at the same price point, and honestly just cooler.
So there you have it.
Boom, Crosstrek.
And with that, our stable is full of Subies again.
Booyah.
The Crosstrek and the Impreza in the frozen tundra of Memphis.
Stay tuned, I'll get a right up on the Crosstrek in the coming month or so.
This song is fucking awful, but it has... been... a while...
So yeah... Some of you may be wondering to yourselves, "Hans, I love reading about your life and exploits but I have been a little worried lately and, frankly, wondering where the hell you've been?"
It's simple, really.
Work.
A whole lotta work. Six days a week... 12-16 hours days... Work.
I checked back in on the blog the other day and realized I was working on a draft for my last squat sesh, which was on 11/25.
Two.
Fucking.
Weeks.
Ago.
I love Google image search. Don't even ask.
One day I will be able to get back to the gym.
One day.
In the meantime I have worked a lot, not seen my ladies much, and made a little progress towards a new car. The other driver's insurance (thankful they even had insurance in this town) totaled the Legacy out, and after much prying of information and gnashing teeth, wailing, etc. it looks like I will be moving into a new Crosstrek.
Seriously. Only. It's not mine yet. It's still theirs.
I do get the privilege of spending a day a week with the family yesterday, which is really more like a half day once you factor in the fact that if I don't sleep till noon or so I am reasonably useless. There have been some tough ones- I go home for "lunch" typically, which has brought some intermittent boo-hoos from the littlest lady when it comes time for daddy to go back to work. My sainted wife is exhausted as she is the focus of all our daughter's energy a lot of nights. She doesn't get much rest between the daughter and the house.
We did get to run by the Brooks Museum for their winter artists' market today, which was fun. Picked up a few things for folks, got to talk to my buddy Shannon at shove●It Designs and talk with him about some cool projects he has coming up. Need to commission a set of eyelets from him - he makes some reaaly cool stuff but only had bigger gauges with him at the market.
Eyelets by shove●It. Pic from their site.
Good times.
Goods having been gotten and the time running short, we headed back to the house whereupon I went to nap whilst the ladies hung out and did... lady... things.
One of the other thing with this work schedule is that I get to miss out on a lot of "events" and things one might normally get to do if one were part of normal society. Today was some friends of ours daughter's birthday party. Wife and baby went, I painfully awoke from my nap (I don't nap well) and headed to work.
Work, home for lunch to talk to the ladies and distribute hugs and kisses, back to work. Joy.
But only two weeks left, or thereabouts. Must think happy thoughts.
Soon I will be back to my ladies.
Soon I will be back with the barbell.
Soon I will be able to sleep like a regular person again.
Soon I will be able to update this hurr blog with more happenings, training seshes, and tomfoolery.
For the second installment of Biergartenopolis, I am proud to turn an eye a few miles down the road to a Memphis brewery, Wiseacre Brewing. As they are a Memphis original, you'll have to forgive me as I laud them and pour my affections over them and their product.
Wiseacre is a newer craft brewery in Memphis, not open long but years in the making. Run by brothers Davin and Kellan Bartosch, two beer knowing em effers. Davin, the brew master, is, in fact a brew master proper- trained all over the world, damn near top of his class at the World Brewing Academy, runs a frikkin brewery, etc. Kellan is a published beer expert, a level 2 certified Cicerone, and has also worked with a bunch of folks in the industry, including good ol' Sierra Nevada. Both guys are also frequent featured speakers at various beer events and push beer education. There are links on their site to some of articles from Kellan- read 'em and start down the rabbit hole, good stuff there.
die Biere
I had originally wanted to make it down to their tap room as my first Wiseacre experience, but the fates had plotted differently and I discovered that the Superlo Foods near my house stocked their cans (for more on why cans, get the four one one here). Check out them thar nifty cans and their holders. The holders are cool, but not exactly user friendly. Once you get the hang of using them, they are a snap (pun intended), but there is a learning curve there- they require some downward force and a little torque to free the can from them, most easily achieved with two hands. Not a big deal as I am a man, so science says I possess manly strength. Mmmmmmmmmmmm... man strength. The strength to free cans of beer from their politely colored plastic shackles and provide said cans of beer to my woman. Mmmmmmmmmmm... woman.
But I digress.
Sooooooooooooooo... On to the beers. I will start by saying that I am VERY happy with these beers.
die Tiny Bomb
First up, the aptly named Tiny Bomb, a pilsner. Been a while since I've had a really good pilsner and having read about it before I tried it, I was excited to get my mitts on it. Pilsners often get a bad rap because
of the various shitty mass produced options out there. This one should help
change your mind on them if you are either on the fence or averse because
of said shitty factory production line brewed
products.
I deride the factory big name beers, but some of those big names are actually quite remarkable from a manufacturing standpoint- consistently made, adhering to exacting standards without faltering, and able to be made so in large scales. They should be lauded for that.
But again, I digress.
The Tiny Bomb is a little hoppier than I expect a pilsner to be (which is awesome), it is much milder than an IPA and crisp as expected from a pilsner. It has an herbaceous aroma with a bright start. Almost creamy in the middle. Brighter than your average kolsch, though, and with a similar weight, but still a very easy
drinker.
Fuck your mass market swill. This would be a bad ass regular drinker or
summer by the grill beer. Take it to parties and share it. I did.
Yum.
Next...
Behold the Ananda.
The Ananda. Oh, how I heart the Ananda. The Sanskrit word for "bliss", the Ananda is an excellent IPA. It's a smooth one- not as heavy as some IPAs, but enough body to remind you that it is awesome. That IPA hoppy
bitterness is up front but refined and not overly sharp, well tempered by the malt but with no real sweetness from it. There's an ever so slightly fruity middle with a hint of citrus, and a little bit of a dry
finish. Not overly dry, but enough to clean the pallet and leave you ready for
your next draw. It's got a nice punch without beating you over the head.
You'll note that there are some "soft" adjectives in that description, but that is not to say that this one is pussy footing about. All of that should go to say that this is a very well balanced IPA and you can tell that blood, sweat, and tears have been shed in its development. I'm definitely more of an IPA guy of late than anything in my beer preferences, and this one is up there. I would have to have this one next to the Valhalla I briefly reviewed here to firmly establish which of the two wears the mantle of my favorite IPA, but it might very well be this one.
All of that said, I had the opportunity to go grab a few growlers from their taproom this past weekend to take to some friends' house for a potluck. Should have gotten more pictures while I was there, but...
Da brewery and taproom off of Broad. Memphis, yo.
They have a cool set up going. Tap room with dining/reception room, rentable space, etc. No food served there, but there has been a food truck parked out in the lot the last few times I have gone.
The taproom, pic from their site.
The couple of times I have been in, the above space and quite a bit of the patio outside was pretty much full.
Merches. Scads of shirts, maybe some hats, glasses, growlers.
Busy at the counter.
The ever busy taproom is fed by a steady stream of Ananda and Tiny Bomb in constant rotation with their "seasonals" and experimentals backing them up. I had the chance to meet brother Kellan and speak with him briefly about beer, their operations and aspirations, and get a little beer geekery going. The man described himself as a beer snob, of which I have no doubt, but he was nothing but friendly and gracious.
The gang there had an event earlier that day, and brought back with them one of their special brews, a coffee milk stout dubbed "Gotta Get Up to Get Down". I sipped on a taster of it while talking to Kellan and it was... marvelous. Brewed with a Columbian coffee from Chicago's Metropolis Coffee, served by Tamp and Tap and with whom the Bartosch gents are pals, it's one of the smoother yet more flavorful stouts I've ever had. Striking a near perfect balance betwixt the coffee and the stout with a creamy finish (but surprisingly little head- the beer itself did all the talking), it's one of the few beers I have had I can honestly say I wouldn't mind having over a plate of eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns.
Vurry good stuff.
So at any rate, I gathered up my growlers, remembered I need a few pint glasses...
And drove off into the sunset, to share the bounties of Wiseacre with friends over dinner.
Yes, I still do occasionally make it into the gym. I recently switched up to a night shift for the next six weeks or so - 3:30PM to 12:00AM.
Yay.
This is absolute shit for being able to see my family, but it just might work out to let me get into the jamesnasium a little more often.
With so few training sessions recently, it is hard to adhere to a program or be able to chart if my bench is getting any better or not. At any rate, here is tonight's work:
I won't post any details as to what happened, but I would highly suggest you buy a Subaru for your next car. Or maybe just go buy one even if you're not looking for a new car.
From Friday-
A friend commented that the interior looked "almost disturbingly clean". Yup.
All I will say about it at this point is that I was the only one in my car and I walked away with only a minor abrasion on my wrist from where the airbag caught a bracelet and a slight abrasion and bruise from my seat belt.
I actually should credit my powerlifting with some of my good condition coming out of the wreck, especially my lack of whiplash, but that car did everything it was designed to do.
I was a fan of Subaru before, I am a believer now.
Amongst the activities and to dos in my recent trip to Portland, my buddy Brian reminded me that I do, in fact, enjoy beer. That said I feel it is my duty to, on occasion, drink beer and upon completion of drinking said beer report back to you, dear reader, with my findings.
So without further ado...
BEHOLD!
You will have to forgive my gravitation towards the IPAs, I enjoy them muchly and they were plentiful up in the area. Most of this has been already written in the previous chapters of the Portland saga, but here we will gather them up in one place, add a few, and check out an oddity. A freak of nature, if you will.
But first...
Pic from Ninkasi's site
Ninkasi's Believer Double Red Ale. Ninkasi is a brewery out of Eugene, Oregon. Check the link for their notes on the beer, which I found to be pretty representative of the beer. A little lighter of a beer than I really like, but still very good stuff overall.
Maybe the best IPA ever.
The second beer of the night, which honestly may one of my favorite beers ever, was Elysian Brewing's Valhalla Red IPA. Not representative of Oregon, sadly, as Elysian is located in Seattle, but holy shit was this an awesome IPA. Powerful, but not overly bitter, with just the right amount of citrus and floral notes and a bedroom stare that makes you want to drink it all night. And it's called Valhalla Red IPA. If it's good enough for Odin, it's good enough for me.
Eugene, Oregon's Oakshire Brewing's Overcast Espresso Stout. While Brian didn't like this one (he's not a fan of stouts) I found it rather good. A little bitter, as expected with a stout, without quite the creaminess in the finish of, say, a Guinness or similar. More of a straight up stout, the coffee flavor is well incorporated and not overbearing. A good coffee oatmeal stout.
Silver Moon Pumpkin Ale. This one was almost a dare. Brian and I were talking about silly peoples and there pumpkin infatuation come the autumn and decided to grab this on the condition that we split it three ways. Fair enough. I have to say that it wasn't awful. Brian couldn't finish his portion and while I didn't mind it, definitely decided I would never drink it of my own volition. We agreed that it wasn't the fault of the pumpkin flavor, really, but more of the spice that used. It has a crisp autumn flavor, like mulled wine and dry leaves, but I don't know that that is really what I want in a beer. In a pie, maybe. In a beer, don't think so.
Ninkasi Brewing's Tricerahops. If it weren't for the Valhalla previously mentioned, this one would probably have been my favorite beer of the trip. It's a big, bold IPA with just about everything ready to beat your face in without going over the edge. Not as bright as the Valhalla but with the citrus of the hops in good balance with the "bigness" to make a very good beer. Note the 8.8% ABV - it's getting into "big beer" territory but you would barely know it from the flavor. Hell of an IPA.
Ninkasi Brewing's Radiant Ale. Not sure why the difference on the site- on Ninkasi's site they refer to this one as a pale ale and the badging is different on the bottle on the site. If this is considered a pale ale (Ninkasi's site calls it a "Northwest Pale Ale"), it is a light one. Don't get me wrong, it's a good beer, but it doesn't have that punch of a strong IPA. Plenty flavorful with more of the floral and citrus of the hops with the smoothness of the malt making a bigger showing than in an average IPA.
Portland's own Burnside Brewing Company'sSweet Heat. Pretty sure this beer started off somewhere as a bet that someone lost. It's a wheat ale that is brewed with apricot and finished with Scotch Bonnet peppers.
Scotch Bonnets, bro.
It's not a bad beer, but I couldn't get over the juxtaposition of heat and beer. It had a decent rich ale flavor, but for me the pepper and heat complete killed anything having to do with apricot. I made a "This is fucking weird" comment after almost literally every sip of my pint.
Didn't help that I was also eating my blueberry cake donut between sips.
Good donut, weird beer.
Portland can keep this one.
Bend, Oregon's 10 Barrel Brewing's Apocalypse IPA. This was a fun one, and the more I think back on it, the more fond I become of it. The first sip was kind of a punch in the mouth. It has all the hoppy bitterness you want out of an IPA but really kicked up the citrus and fruit notes of the hops. Plenty smooth and still very drinkable. Bravo to 10 Barrel for hitting a good balance on this beer. If you don't expect an IPA to be "bright" and alive this one will change your mind.
Good ol' Ninkasi, back for another round with their Maiden The Shade. The bottle calls it a "specialty ale", and indeed, it is one of their specialty line, and the site refers to it as a "summer IPA", which I guess I can acknowledge. I wasn't a huge fan of this one- it didn't quite stand up like a lot of the beers we had over the weekend did. Not a bad beer by any means- it is just a lighter IPA. No real stand out notes to my uneducated palate, but it definitely did not taste like a watered down IPA- just a kinder, gentler IPA.
As mentioned in the third chapter of the Portland Saga, I stopped in at the Made In Oregon store after passing through security at PDX and picked up a couple bombers to take home.
But first...
What's all this, then?
Oh... my... god...
In case you can't read it from my laser precise photography...
Beard Beer is brewed with a yeast created from John Maier's beard. No need to freak out, brewers have used wild yeasts in beer making for centuries. John has had the same old growth beard since 1978 and for over 15,000 brews, so it is no great surprise that a natural yeast ideal for brewing was discovered in his beard.
What does Beard Beer taste like? Try it, we think you'll be surprised...
No, god damn it. I will not try it.
I am the owner of my own beard, not as old a growth as Old John's...
Damn, I'm fine...
but that might make me even more reluctant to drink a beer made from beard fungus. It may very well be a lovely concoction, but eff that noise.
Pic from Ninkasi's site. I hate when I forget to get pictures.
The first of the two purchases was the Ninkasi Total Domination. So I feel bad because I am pretty sure that we had one of these up in Portland while I was visiting, but I forgot to put it in the blog. At any rate, this is a really good IPA. Powerful enough without being overbearing, balanced, a little citrus but not a ton, not too floral or fruity. If I could place any one IPA as the standard or baseline of what an IPA should aspire to, this is pretty damned close. I will say that I enjoy an IPA with a little more punch, but this is a damn fine one that could be sipped or swigged in almost any circumstance. Vurry nice.
The last from the trip was Hellion from Portland's Gigantic Brewing. This is essentially an IPA influenced Belgian style ale. I have to say that I am not generally a fan of Belgians as I find them too sweet, but this one is not bad at all. It has more the body of an IPA or heavy ale, with the sweetness of a Belgian and a dryer finish. If you are on the fence about Belgians, give this one a shot if you have the opportunity.
So there you have it. If you find yourself in the PNW, give any of these a nod. That Elysian is an experience any love of hops should totes treat themselves to at some point, with the Ninkasis providing a solid and reliable back up. A few oddities in there, but all in all I have to say I like what they are doing up in them there woods.
Now where were we... ah, yes... Voodoo Doughnut. How conflicted I am with thee.
Voodoo is one if those local things that everyone in Portland knows of, takes part in at least once, and then tells their friends and relatives, coworkers, and passers by about. Located on SW 3rd Ave in what is referred to as "Old Town" Portland
Voodoo is the brain child of two Portland natives who actually conceptualized it before they knew how to make it. Long story short, they thought it up, realized they actually had to know how to make doughnuts, traveled and learned how to make doughnuts, then brought the skills back to town and set about opening up shop. They must have started out doing something right, because Voodoo is one of those places that forms a line reportedly pretty much at any point in the day and keeps on rolling pretty steady.
That was the line at about 3:00PM or so when we went by. Apparently there was a...
wait for it...
wedding going on inside, so we waited about 30 or 45min for our turn to order. An excessive waste of time for donuts (or doughnuts)? Maybe. BUT it did afford us more time to share dick and fart jokes, get into some social commentary, talk about kids, work, and life in general, and get some people watching in.
Slogan courtesy of Austin, Texas.The walking tour guy that passed by even said so.
What's going on here, then?
This guy (note the bag)...
is flying this kite. Pinnacle of human achievement.
Inside the shop, pic from their website.
Coffin full of donuts. Kind of awesome.
Da loot.
So here's the master list of do(ugh)nuts. Brian got himself the Rapper's Delight combo, a blueberry cake and lemon chiffon for Lyndsay. I ordered the Memphis Mafia (natch), the Diablos Rex (durr), the Voodoo Doll (kinda had to), and a blueberry cake.
Because blueberry cake. Blueberry cake is bossome. I like to use it as a litmus test for any donut shop. If a shop's blueberry cake donut is shite, might as well hang it up.
Do(ugh)nuts procured, hipsters and hippies rock free, we rolled back to the Links' place for some excellent smoked burgers, beer, and fight night.
First, a grocery trip, then dinner and some pumpkin carving, then a
Silver Moon Pumpkin Ale. This one was almost a dare. Brian and I were talking about silly peoples and there pumpkin infatuation come the autumn and decided to grab this on the condition that we split it three ways. Fair enough. I have to say that it wasn't awful. Brian couldn't finish his portion and while I didn't mind it, definitely decided I would never drink it of my own volition. We agreed that it wasn't the fault of the pumpkin flavor, really, but more of the spice that used. It has a crisp autumn flavor, like mulled wine and dry leaves, but I don't know that that is really what I want in a beer. In a pie, maybe. In a beer, don't think so.
On to Fight Night.
Fight Night, when the Links were in Memphis, was a hallowed institution of man gathering and has sadly not taken place for the majority of the two years and change the Links have been in Oregon. This trip was, of course, the perfect opportunity to fire it back up, at least in spirit. It was a good card, UFC on FoxSports2, with Lyoto Machida v Mark Munoz as the main card. That fight was excellent- short, but intense- and most of the undercards were very entertaining. We also watched the Jones v Gustafsson fight that Brian had recorded from September- Gustafsson was cheated in the decision. Few other random fights, and several episodes of Eastbound and Down.
And more beers.
In no particular order-
Ninkasi Brewing's Tricerahops. If it weren't for the Valhalla previously mentioned, this one would probably have been my favorite beer of the trip. It's a big, bold IPA with just about everything ready to beat your face in without going over the edge. Not as bright as the Valhalla but with the citrus of the hops in good balance with the "bigness" to make a very good beer. Note the 8.8% ABV - it's getting into "big beer" territory but you would barely know it from the flavor. Hell of an IPA.
Ninkasi Brewing's Radiant Ale. Not sure why the difference on the site- on Ninkasi's site they refer to this one as a pale ale and the badging is different on the bottle on the site. If this is considered a pale ale (Ninkasi's site calls it a "Northwest Pale Ale"), it is a light one. Don't get me wrong, it's a good beer, but it doesn't have that punch of an IPA. Plenty flavorful with more of the floral and citrus of the hops with the smoothness of the malt making a bigger showing than in an IPA.
Portland's own Burnside Brewing Company'sSweet Heat. Pretty sure this beer started off somewhere as a bet that someone lost. It's a wheat ale that is brewed with apricot and finished with Scotch Bonnet peppers.
Scotch Bonnets, bro.
It's not a bad beer, but I couldn't get over the juxtaposition of heat and beer. It had a decent rich ale flavor, but for me the pepper and heat complete killed anything having to do with apricot. I made a "This is fucking weird" comment after almost literally every sip of my pint.
Didn't help that I was also eating my blueberry cake donut between sips.
Good donut, weird beer.
Portland can keep this one.
Also about this time, found that the metal cashier at Voodoo left my Diablos Rex out of the order. Bastards.
Bend, Oregon's 10 Barrel Brewing's Apocalypse IPA. This was a fun one- the first sip was kind of a punch in the mouth. It has all the hoppy bitterness you want out of an IPA but really kicked up the citrus and fruit notes of the hops. Plenty smooth and still very drinkable. Bravo to 10 Barrel for hitting a good balance on this beer. If you don't expect an IPA to be "bright" this one will change your mind.
Somewhere in there this happened-
The Voodoo Doll donut. Yeah, it's pretty much just a big éclair with raspberry filling instead of cream, but it is pretty darned good.
And the last one for the trip...
Good ol' Ninkasi, back for another round with their Maiden The Shade. The bottle calls it a "specialty ale", and indeed, it is one of their specialty line, and the site refers to it as a "summer IPA", which I guess I can acknowledge. I wasn't a huge fan of this one- it didn't quite stand up like a lot of the beers we had over the weekend did. Not a bad beer by any means- it is just a lighter IPA. No real stand out notes to my uneducated palate, but it definitely did not taste like a watered down IPA, just a kinder, gentler IPA.
Beers done, Kenny Fucking Powers watched, we headed to bed.
SUNDAY
A little later start to this morning, and much the same ritualistically as the others. Still sad that I feel compelled to check work email first thing.
Shower, "good morning", coffee, one of these
Behold! The Memphis Mafia do(ugh)nut. Decent, but could have been more awesomer. It's essentially a big ass banana fritter with chocolate frosting, peanut butter sauce, peanuts, chocolate chips. In my humblest of humble opinions, the banana and peanut butter were absolutely drowned out by the choco frosting and the chocolate chips. I actually ended up scraping off some of the chocolate chips and wishing for more banana.
C'est la vie, it was good enough and went well with a cup of coffee.
More dick and fart jokes, more online flight check in, and a Mexican lunch later and Brian and I were on our way back to the airport. I bid my hetero life mate from the other side of the country a short adieu (good byes are never awesome when friends part), and I was in the belly of PDX.
Which is kind of cool, because the belly of PDX contains, amongst other things, the Made In Oregon store, where one has a last chance to purchase Oregon things to take home. Prime place to purchase a bottle of the Total Domination and another beer, Portland's own Gigantic Brewing Company's Hellion. More on that one later.
PDX's security, by the by, might be the nicest security ever. Even got a, "Oh, so you're a powerlifter, eh?" out of one of them upon seeing my EliteFTS shirt. Short conversation, but good to see they're operating with some level of decency and life experience.
Long flight, not awful, hit SLC, another single terminal connection. This almost got a "woot!" until they messed it all up. Instead of a 32min layover with a quick gate transition, I got two hours of this:
Which really, in the grand scheme of things, was not terrible. Got to charge my phone up and call my lovely wife lady and chat for a bit about her day and our sometimes cooperative now five year old. Always good to hear from home, even if I was almost there.
Hit the ground in Memphis at about 1:30AM, my sainted brother arrived in his Honda chariot to bring my weary self home.
And oh, how I was home.
Shenanigans had, friends visited and conversed with, 44 liter hiking pack deposited on the couch, I found a little treat, left for me by my wife.
A little taste of home.
As beautiful as Portland is, as crafty as their beers want to brew, and as weird as their do(ugh)nut shops want to be... can't fade them Gibson's, son!
Many thanks to my buddy, Brian, and his wife, Lyndsay, for enduring my presence for a few days, carting me around town, and laughing at my jokes. Looking forward to getting up there again, hopefully sooner than later.
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