Not So Famous…

Not all words, of course.  You see me writing THESE words, and they’re alright as words go, I suppose.  Yet there are other words I would like to be writing.  I am constrained.  What about, you ask?  Well, I’m sure I’ll tell everyone what’s going on at some point.  You might not see it on here, but if you know me, you’ll probably hear about it.

Enough of the suspense.  Let’s talk about something else.  I had to work late tonight, and my wonderful wife brought me dinner.  Awful nice of her wasn’t it?  She even waited to eat with me.  I try to be a good husband, but I really don’t deserve someone as awesome as her.

I have been having conversations with a new friend about literature, and for some reason, it’s made me want to write more.  I know it seems as though I’ve been writing less, but I’ve been busy.

So I’ve been reading a great deal lately.  It doesn’t seem like I’m making any progress, however. I have been re-reading Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time.  (I believe I began this last time at The Great Hunt, which is book 2.)  These books are rather large, so it doesn’t really feel like I’m getting anywhere, though there is a lot going on.  So why re-read this now?  Well, I got book 11 for Christmas this past year, and I knew that I didn’t remember enough of what was going on to just tear into it.  So I’ve been building up.  Shoot, by the time I finish reading the series this time through, maybe Jordan will have written book 12.  :)

Also in my to-read list: Book 4 of Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, One of the Tad Williams series’ (don’t remember which one…Gabe would know), C.S. Lewis Space Trilogy (one of those series’ I’ve wanted to read for a long time but for some reason never did), this month’s issue of Modern Reformation, A Geology textbook (boring, I know, but I need the knowledge so I can pass my CLEP exam and get my Bachelor’s Degree).

I’m currently drinking: Nothing, but last night Gabe brought over some Black Butte Porter, which has been an eminently drinkable beer.  I’m not savvy enough to tell the difference between a porter and a stout by taste, I don’t think, but I do like a good porter. I would write more about this porter, but I only had one, and I don’t remember a great deal about it, except that the roasty tones were subdued, which wasn’t bad at all.

Normally I like what I term, “caricature beers”.  For those who have no clue what those are, those are beers that are DEFINTELY a certain style.  I had a Scotch Ale from a company once where it was watery, more bitter than it should have been, and just not what I would label a Scotch Ale.  This doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good beer, but when I read the label of a beer, I want to have some idea what it’s going to taste like.  You can fiddle with a style somewhat, of course.  There is definitely a difference between Kilt Lifter and McEwans’ Scotch Ale, but they’re both excellent examples of the style. However, play around with it too much, and you’ve lost me as a drinker of your beer.  :)  I like categories when it comes to beer, and if you’re going to fiddle with a recipe a lot, do the rest of the world a favor and label it something totally different.  With regards to the bad Scotch Ale, it should not have been bitter.  Add licorice flavor, cut the alcoholic taste, smoke the malt more or less, but don’t make it bitter!  The Scots would never have made a bitter Scotch Ale…the style was named after the types of ale the Scots brewed, and there should never really be a discernable hop taste in a Scotch Ale.  Scots rarely brewed with hops…hops did not grow in Scotland, and England charged an arm, leg and a firstborn child for them.  As a result, Scottish brewers gave the finger to the English and brewed ale without them, resulting in the warm malty glow of a Scotch Ale…don’t add tons of hops to a Scotch Ale and call it a Scotch Ale.

Wow…that was more than I intended to rant.  But all of it was to get to this point: When I drank the Black Butte Porter, I wasn’t in the mood for a lot of roastiness, and so the subdued tone was ok.  It also could have been too cold.  I think I’ll let the next one warm in the glass some and see if that adds at all.

To underscore my point about labeling a beer something different when you’ve created something different, let’s talk about a new beer I found, called Xingu.  What is Xingu? Technically, Xingu is a Brazilian Black Beer.  Is that a style?  Not really.  But what is it?  Well, it is exactly what it says…it’s black. However, normally when drinking a stout or porter, you’d expect bitterness, and roastiness.  This is not something you get with Xingu at all.  My friend Gabe said, “This is the lightest tasting dark beer I’ve ever had”, and he’s right.  That’s exactly it.  There’s a lot of butteriness in the nose, but the taste is almost like a flavorful Marzen or a lighter-tasting amber.  Something that should be experienced, to be sure.  But here’s to the Xingu people for not labelling their beer something that it is not.  :)