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