Beer of the Month: Hopfest

Yes, it's a wine glass

Summer calls for crisp, refreshing beers: the less malt-heavy, the better. Which is why I decided to pick up a few bottles of Hopfest by Josephs Brau, a brewey in San Jose, California.  Hoppy beers, done well, are as crisp as they come.

Having no pint glasses available I tossed the entire bottleful into a red wine glass.  Like a fine wine, a decent beer will always have a bouquet that can enhance its flavor, and drinking some beers from wine glasses can actually improve them.  In fact most Belgian beers are consumed from custom bowl-shaped glasses for this very reason.

This turns out to be a good move with Hopfest, because despite its hoppy start (and it's really hoppy, more so than even most IPAs) its finish is very much like that of a lightly spicy Belgian blond ale.  You have to wait a few seconds for it, but its very present, very unexpected, and thoroughly enjoyable.

If you don't favor hoppy beers, this isn't for you.  But if you enjoy the kick of a strongly-hopped brew, this one has some unexpected surprises.

posted on 2008-08-29 13:15:00 :: permanent link

Deep dish pizza and all that jazz

After several months of recovering from our trip through Europe (and by that I mean recovering from posting the resulting photos, not from the trip itself) I've finally got around to putting together some of the better photos from the trip Andrea and I took to Chicago in June.

Chicago's a great city.  It's one I've meant to visit for a very long time, and we found an excuse when we returned from London and our newlywed friends Padmini and Apurva settled there.

I'd still like to put together some shots from around Boston, from up in the Adirondacks and from my walk of the River Thames last year, but we just bought a house and we're expecting a baby in December, so who knows when I'll bother with all that.

posted on 2008-08-21 23:50:00 :: permanent link

Remote control

Superman lives

I just got a new gadget.  The cheap little Canon Wireless Remote Controller RC-1 goes with my camera (and probably other Canon DSLRs), and it's already pretty fun.

The main thing most people are likely do with such a remote is appear in their own photos without having to use the pesky timer, and admittedly that is convenient under some curcumstances and it's the only thing I've managed to do with it so far.  However, the impetus for buying the RC-1 was actually to take night shots.  I found it a pain to use my Canon's bulb feature (that's the mode wherein the camera keeps its shutter open until the user releases the button) when I tried to take photos of the stars in July.  The camera inevitably moves as a result of its contact with me, and the blurs were a bit of a letdown.

Plus it's no fun waiting two minutes for a shot with your finger on a button, trying not to move.

The RC-1 is infrared, so it needs line of sight, but it's otherwise a neat remote.  It will make experimenting with night sky shots a lot easier.  I'm thinking some night traffic shots are also in order.

posted on 2008-08-20 19:30:00 :: permanent link

Beer of the Month: Shipyard Summer

I like beers that play with the tongue, flavors popping up in unpredictable but (with the repetition of the raising of the wrist) repeatable ways. Shipyard Summer meets this criteria. An easy sipping beer ideal for the season, Shipyard Summer feels smooth on the swallow, hits you with soft orangy citrus and then finishes hoppy and lemony.

Andrea and I toured the brewery in Portland, Maine, a few years ago. It's a nice place, and it's in a great port city that's well worth visiting. This particular selection is one Shipyard should seriously consider brewing year-round.

I found this on draught at the Coolidge Corner Clubhouse in Brookline, Massachusetts, where I hadn't been since I lived in the neighborhood years ago.

posted on 2008-07-29 21:15:00 :: permanent link