Much That Is Hidden

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I gotta admire those Germans. It is a testament to their efficiency and foresight to start a beer festival called Oktoberfest in the month of September. Beer lovers from around the world will be Prost-ing for the 185th annual festival in Munich through October 7.

Oktoberfest also marks the beginning of my favorite season. The Indigo Girls do make a great case for spring (as does Mel Brooks, in a twisted sorta way), but alas the milder weather, campfires and hearty brew awaiting me in the coming weeks, never too soon on the heals of the oppressive summer, win hands down.

The forecast for autumn colors in the south is bleak, however. With rainfall deficits for the region well into the double digits there may be brief flashes of color but most all the leaves will likely turn to brown quickly just before they fall.



Pictured here is one of the gifts that my Sweet Babou procured for my birthday (Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!). Why yes, there are just two left. Better hurry - I’ll share one on the back porch with the first person who gets here.







Zum Wohl!
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Labels: "I Likes", Beers, Bier, Go Beers, seasons, wildlife

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Fairly accurate, I'd say:

You Are Samuel Adams

You're fairly easy to please when it comes to beer - as long as it's not too cheap. You tend to change favorite beers frequently, and you're the type most likely to take a "beers of the world" tour. When you get drunk, you're fearless. You lose all your inhibitions. You're just as likely to party with a group of strangers as you are to wake up in a very foreign place.

And on that note, I am quite excited about Boston Beer Company's decision to once again brew Samuel Adams Honey Porter, one of my favorites that for some still unexplained reason they discontinued a few years back. Bearing witness to their fine decision to reintroduce it is the fact that HP took top honors in Boston Beer's Beer Lover's Choice contest, which means HP is now available in their Samuel Adams Brewmasters Collection, a twelve-pack of six varieties available year-round. I have heard rumor of HP returning to full six-pack production sometime this year, which is great because two of these delights out of twelve just isn't fair.

Don't get me wrong - I love just about every Sam Adams variety, but my Honey Porter deserves her own slot in the fridge case. She's an English-style porter beer - deepest opaque brown with a large roasted malt character and a very smooth, rounded finish. The beer is brewed with traditional English Ale hops such as English Goldings, which give it a spicy flavor. Scottish heather honey is also used in the brew to balance the spice. Honey Porter won a gold medal from the 2003 Australian International Beer Awards and a gold medal at the Monde Selection in 2002.

Honey Porter joins five other Samuel Adams beers in the Brewmasters Collection - Boston Lager, a full-bodied brew containing Noble hops from Bavaria; Boston Ale, a traditional stock ale with citrus aromas and full-bodied flavor; Scotch Ale, a beer brewed with peat-smoked malt, which is used in Scotch to give it the smoky flavor; Samuel Adams Black Lager, a style of traditional beer from Eastern Germany; and Samuel Adams Brown Ale, the 2005 winner of the Beer Lover's Choice contest.

Labels: Beers, Bier

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Congrats to Da Bears on their NFC title and first Super Bowl appearance in 21 seasons. Over the years I've drifted from any great desire to follow pro sports, but I grew up with the Chicago Bears, and their success this season has drawn me back. Yes, that makes me a fair-weather fan but hey, I've got a bit of a legacy to back up my admittedly shallow fandom. You see, my dad had a season ticket with the Bears since before he was married (1948). Yes, just one - heck, he was single and just wanted to go see his favorite football team.

Several times when he couldn't make a game (or when it was too butt-ass cold) he would pass on the ticket to one of his four sons, and after I came of age to get to Soldier Field on my own I sometimes attended. His seat, being a 30+ year legacy, was on the south 42-yard line about a third of the way up. In other words, perfect.

In my "Bears years" we suffered through the lean seasons between championships - 1963-1985. I was living in California when they won Super Bowl XX in January 1986, and boy did the phone lines between family members light up like there had been a new birth after that game.

So now Coach Lovie Smith has us back, and I say we're due. I actually appreciate being 7-point underdogs to the Indianapolis Colts - as my sister astutely noted, it's when the Bears are doubted that they do best. I think this is going to be an uncharacteristically close and exciting Super Bowl. Heck I'll take the Bears plus 7 (of course I hope I don't need the spread). Any takers?




Here's something funny(?) that caught my eye. You just can't beat those Chicago fans:

Thanks, honey
Wife induces labor so husband can go to Bears game

PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) -- Nine months pregnant and married to a fervent Bears fan with tickets to Sunday's NFC Championship game, Colleen Pavelka didn't want to risk going into labor during the game against the New Orleans Saints.

Due to give birth on Monday, Pavelka's doctor told her Friday she could induce labor early. She opted for the Friday delivery.

"I thought, how could [Mark] miss this one opportunity that he might never have again in his life?" said Pavelka, 28, from the southwestern Chicago suburb of Homer Glen.
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Labels: Bears, Beers, Chicago, Chicago Bears, Da Bears, Go Beers