Solstice Things

We had our Solstice Party last night and it was a very good time. We had great friends, great cheeses, and of course great beers. I will tray and remember all of the beers. Andrew brought a German Christmas Alt that was very delicious. Dave, Tom, and Gene brought two beers, a hefe and a doppelbock both very tasty though I enjoyed the doppel more as it had lots of tasty notes and mouth feel. Here is the list for the rest:
Granite City 1000th batch double IPA
Summit 90/s Scottish Ale
Summit Great Northern Porter
Summit Winter Ale
Rahr Winter Ale
St. Landelin French Christmas Ale
Golden Carolus Christmas
Duchesse de Bourgogne
Monk's Cafe Sour Red
Trader Joe's 2007
Trader Joe's 2009
Wreck the Halls
La Chouffe
Bell's Winter White Ale
Samuel Smith's Winter Ale Welcome
Samuel Adams Winter Porter
Killer Penguin Barleywine
Santa's Butt Winter Porter
Moylan's White Christmas Spiced Winter Lager
Southern Tier Chokolat
James's Double Brown ale
Barley John's Wild Brunette

Advent Season Things

On 3 Dec. I played bagpipes and talked about Scotch whisky. Aberfeldy 12, Oban 14, Bunnahabhain 12, and Laphroaig Quarter Cask. It was a fun evening and fun to share my experiences with Scotch whisky especially from Islay. We went to see Robert Robinson at the Dakota. He was with Sam Reeves on piano. Brilliant! Sam is brilliant. Robert is brilliant. Great evening. Colder than a well diggers arse.

At 3 pm we drove to St. John's in the Wilderness for Nine Lessons and Carols. Absolutely beautiful!

Friday is our party. The solstice party for 2009. I think I deserve a bottle or two of expensive Scotch whisky to celebrate my 60th birthday. Port Ellen? Caol Ila? Laphroig 30? Ardbeg?

Flu Things

I am so sick of being sick with this bloody swine flu. I have been out of work all week and I am still coughing and draining a wee bit. I am still tired and still feel lethargic about it all. It has been a royal pain in the buttocks. I was lucky to have one of my staff send me a link so I could access my email account at work and get some stuff done. I did catch up on my viewing of dvds, some painting, and some reading. I missed out on a play at the Guthrie Theatre, celebrating my friend's 40th birthday, playing bagpipes, drinking scotch, and making .... At least, I am still alive so far.

Halloween Black Beer Things

Went into an ale house to get some beer,
the publican says, " we serve no red coats here".
Went to the Blue Nile on Halloween Eve on Friday, to taste Al's wonderful selection of stouts and porters. I was not disappointed. I dressed as a doctor and put on a troll mask. When I arrived I passed out candy bars to the patrons and no one recognized me till I demasked. Great fun and I received a a pint of Great Northern Porter for my effort. James, Brent, Doug, Colleen (later), Katherine (later), Thom, Andrew and Dan (his friend)were there. It was a good night. After the Blue Nile, K and I went to james & Marthas for a Halloween party where we met Eddie and Eileen. It was a splendid evening.

Here is the list for the beers at the Blue Nile. I was able to try some of all of these beers. They are listed in order of their ratings from the Center of Porter and Stout, Mpls. Chapter. [Three stars *** indicates the best beer, two ** indicate great but with some reservations, and one star * okay.

Sinebrychoff Porter ***+, Darkness 2009 ***+, Bells Expedition Stout ***+, Lion Stout***, Goose Island Bourbon County Stout*** (This is a sipping beer).

Flat Earth Black Helicopter**, Summit Great Northern Porter**, Nogne-O Porter **, Surly Darkness 2008 ** (Sweet), Surly Bender**, Troubador Obscura**, Bell's Rye Stout**, Founder's Breakfast Stout**

Tyranena The Deil Made Me Do It *, Southern Tier Oat, Imperial Oatmeal Stout*.

These are great beers and it was ery sad that I became sick this weekend on Saturday and couln't get back there to try a few more sips of my favorites.

Fall things

I have been working on putting away the gardens at home and at DeDe's. It is sad to see the flowers all gone with the bees, hummingbirds, and finches. There is more raking to do and a bit more putting the beds away for their long winter's nap. The lavender need to be protected and some of the other flowers.

Darkness Day is tomorrow Thom and I will pipe for it and perhaps get some bottles for drinking or the chance to buy some. We are also going to the St. Paul Whisky and Scotch Fest. Wow! a long day!
The Ommegang Rouge is so delightful that given enough money I would drink it for weeks.

Renaissance Fair Drinking Things

I have been attending the Renaissance Festival since it began at its humble beginnings at Jonathan, West of Minneapolis. I have noticed for the last few years the shrinking of the Renaissance official goblet and mug. I then determined to do a small experiment with the mugs and goblets in my home and to see if my thoughts were correct. Below are my findings.

Mug 2009 with warrior and sword, looks more Medieval than Renaissance but they have always played fast and loose with history. It is more about fun and pretending than history. Mug 2009 - was 16 oz. filled to the brim. In comparison, I have a mug from 1984 which was a 20 oz. Imperial pint. It had the silhouette of a unicorn on the side in dark brown on a sandy brown base coat. The difference was not too bad for the number of years that have passed but it has declined.

Goblets are a different story. I have a 1985 Feast of Fantasy, 15th anniversary goblet white/lt. grey with fleur de lis designs stamped into the sides and blue accents. It held 160z.

The next goblet dated from 1998 bluish, purplish glaze with a natural lt. brown clay medallion with a wizard and a crumpled hat. The medallion proclaimed "Renaissance Festival 1998" and was 12 oz. to the top of the brim.

2000, Y2K, the goblet had a beautiful multi-cloured glaze of black, blue, red, gray glazes melting on the sides of the goblet. Inset was a natural lt. brown clay medallion saying "Rennaissance" and a portrait of "Elizabeth Regina". The goblet held 8 oz. if poured to the brim.

2005 goblet sported beautiful glazes over a green base. The natural lt. brown clay medallion proclaimed "Renaissance Fair" and had a dragon etched into the medallion. This size of the goblet bowl was a 7 oz pour to the brim.

Not terribly scientific but carefully done all the same. This gets me onto another pet peeve and that is bars claiming to be pouring pints when they are actually pouring 14 oz. or smaller and then pouring so as to produce a collar of foam that would be larger than that of an archbishop's cleric collar. They are already making loads of money on every keg and they are greedy, cheating honest people out of their rightful pint of beer.

Lake Superior Things

Went up to Hovland with Brent seperately. Stopped at Fitger's to pickup beer and drop off beer and have lunch. The wild rice burger is amazing. It is my ritual to stop at Fitgers on the way up for lunch and beer to start vacation. Vacation begins in Duluth when I see the delta of the St. Louis river and the Twin Ports, Duluth and Superior. Mentally I am on vacation. It has started for me. Also, When I see the Twin Ports and Superior disappear from my sight travelling 35 south it is the end of vacation. The last beer and lunch at Fitgers and it is adios for awhile.

The cabin number 4 is the cabin we are guests at in Hovland. It is a rustic little thing built for shorter people. The kitchen looks onto the lake and our own private shore/beach. A nice Duluth gabbro, igneous rock slab beach. We have several residents we share the area with i.e. a red squirrel (very crabby), chipmunks, birds (esp. sea gulls), some chickadees, and other creatures.

The weather was perfect. Summer had waited until we arrived. Actually for the week prior, the week of, and two more weeks the North Shore had a wonderful summer. The days were splendid being warm, sunny, and soft breezes. The evenings were t-shirt and shorts weather. I enjoyed the stars late at night nude. I woke up in the middle of the night and went outside to look at the sky and it was pleasantly warm. The stars were amazing with the Milky Way just fantastic.

I played bagpipes for our little community. They enjoyed it very much. I also learned how to operate and use my Victor VI Victrola. So I have been able to play my old records and enjoy them. Lots of fun as I have had my Victrola sitting for at least 10 and probably 15 years. I picked it up on Gold Rush Days with Ann one year. Noy knowing anything about Victrolas, I bought it and it proved to be a very good machine. Jon rearranged the arm so it was correct and replaced the reproducer with the correct one. Like bagpipes they have one volume and you control it by opening the doors or shutting them.

Our routine is to go to the Trail Center for dinner, Nanabijou for Sunday brunch, Grand Marais Farmer's Market, the general store in Hovland for bread and pastries, and lots of hiking the trail. This time we went to the wee little ECLA church in Hovland, Trinity. What a nice service by a pastor that was really a gift. She delivered a lovely sermon and the whole feeling of the community was really nice.

Usually we take in lots of hiking but this time no. I was forced with a sore knee to relax more which was great. I am not much for relaxing but when forced to I enjoy it immensely.

The time up on the North Shore is always magical. I love it winter , spring, summer, or fall.

Michael Jackson ScotchThings

I found the tasting notes of a Single Malt Whisky Seminar by Michael jackson held at Sherlock's Home on 11 October 1997. We tasted 8 whiskys; Invergordon 26 yr. single grain, Old Fettercairn 26 yr, Glendronach 15 yr, Dalmore 29 yr, Scapa 12 yr, Isle of Jura 30 yr, Bruichladdich 26 yr, and Laphroaig 15 yr. I piped at the event so I had a complimentary seating.

Invergordon 26 yrs, single grain, very rare, North of Inverness. Column distilling, pale in colour and aged in bourbon casks.
Old Fettercairn 26 yr. Highland, Eastern Highlands near Kirriemuir distilling since 1830's. Barley malt base like all scotch. Warm earthy, smooth, slight peatiness, good with food. It has a light body and a light colour.
Glendronach 15 yr., Highland, distilling since 1826, owned by Teacher's Scotch. This was aged in sherry, apricot and almondine notes, malty sweetness. Good for after dinner. These are direct fire stills.
Dalmore 29 yr, Highland, distilling since 1839. Aged in sherry amontillado casks giving it an orange marmalade taste and it tends to be good for blending.
Scapa 12 yr, Highland, Orkney Island. Salty tasting, aged in bourbon casks, slight peatiness with notes of chocolate and licorice.
Isle of Jura 30 yr, West Highland/Island Piney tasting and very smooth.
Bruichladdich 26 yr, Islay, Iron rock (?) and very smooth.
Laphroaig 15 yr, Islay, Peatiness, smoother than the 10 but not as smooth as the 30 yr.

It was kind of cool to find this a look back at the whole experience. I also have a signed copy of his New World Guide to Beer.

State Fair Things

Went to the State Fair with Nic, Angie, Damian, and Ava. It was loads of fun. We saw the horse, pig, sheep barns. I drank 4 glasses of milk. We saw Ann's memorial brick at the DNR building. Looked at the fish in the fish pond. Went to Heritage Square and International Square and shopped around. I almost bought one of those East African skull caps but Nic and Damian thought I should then dye my beard with henna and wear a Somali men's dress. I had thought about getting one because Phil thought I looked wise in it. He had bought an African hat like mine at the RenFest. We saw the art exhibit. It was good but not as good overall. The drawing that won was an amazing piece of art. Nic got a Marine t-shirt for doing 20 pull-ups.

It is good going with them because I can buy somehting to eat and share it with 4 other people. Otherwise, I would roll out of there and be a 200 lbs. fat blob. We ate pot roast sandwiches, pulled pork sandwiches, deep fried candy bars, corn on the cob, onion rings, garlic fries, mango green tea slushee, malts, and other things that I can't even remember.

RenFest Things

On Sunday 30 August, I poured beer, FlatEarth beer at the Renaissance Festival in Shakopee Minnesota with my friend Phil. It was Scottish weekend and FlatEarth Brewing sponsored the professional and amateur heavy games. It was a beautiful day for a games and a RenFest. The crowds were down due to the State Fair. We poured Belgian Pale, Ctygnus-X1 Porter, Element 115 (California common steam beer), and Bermuda Triangle Tripel. The tripel was nice and dry this year with very little residual sugars. The porter was very full bodied and tasty. The Belgian tasted very good. It was a beautiful day. Norm was there. He hasn't missed a beer tasting event in 16 years. Brenda (brent during the week) was there in his/her mini skirt, hot pink spandex tights and bandana. Brent the whiner was there with Jeff so it was a good time.

Ancient Wargame things

Some friends of mine came over and we played Warhammer Ancients. The Romans vs. the Viking barbarians. It was a close run thing. The Vikings winning at the very end. The scenario was a Senator from Rome was coming to relieve a garrison. On the march and not far from the castrum the barbarians attacked. Light troops had very little chance being blown away in the opening moves. The legionaries more than made up for it. They really kicked and held their own until they had no one left and another group of barbarians joined in the melee. Don brought rules, terrain, and the war dogs. He also brought some nice IPA home brew. We played quickly and remembered rules when we could. Next time will be different. SPQR

Great Taste Midwest Things

Great Taste of the Midwest was held in Olin Turnvile Park on Lake Monona in Madison Wisconsin on 8 August 2009. After sampling over 60 beers during the weekend, I picked what I thought were the best of the fest. Summit Kolsch and Oatmeal Stout (cask), Schaflys Kolsch, New Glarus Raspberry Tart, Dragonmead Belgian Wit, Surly Helles and Smoked Baltic Porter, Micky Finns Wit, Jolly Pumpkin Rioja Kriek, Mpls. Townhall Russian Imp. Stout with chocolate, and Dark Horse Stout.
The second best beers were Two Bros. Tripel & Domain du Page, Rock Bottom (chicago) Lemon Saison and Raspberry Saison (casks), Ale Asylum Tripel and Abbey, Fat Head Baltic Porter, DragonmeadScotch ale, Surly Oak Aged Bender (cask), Esser Pils, Jolly Pumpkin Maracaibo, Barley Island Single White Friar, Barley Johns Old 8 Porter, and Michigan Pierre Celis White.

I had some great beers at the Old Fashioned on Capitol Square. I don't remember the names but they were a dunkleweizen and a weiss. I also had an amazing perch fish fry dinner. WOW! It was delicious.

Clayton Things

I will write about my Scottish trip very soon but first I wish to write about a little beer fest I attended. On Saturday, I went to Clayton Wisc. to the Clayton Sportsmen's Club Beer Fest. It was a great blast. There were brewers and breweries from several places Northwoods brewpub, Leinenkugel's, Flat Earth, Mantorville, Sand Creek, Summit, Viking, and the Bud distributor. Funny Miller wasn't there. The fest was held from 12 noon to 6 pm. It was lots of fun, though it seemed that it was going to rain. The rain held off until the very end when the heavens opened up and there was a deluge.

I played bagpipes for a few times. They played horseshoes, actually there was a tournament. Viking brewery brought their cannon and fired grapefruit out over the swampy ground to the trees. I poured beer for Summit. Summit Oktober Fest won the most satisfying beer award for the day. All in all it was a great day and we had loads of fun. We met new people and made new friends but that is what it is all about. Finding the commonality in us and enjoying our differences. Clayton Beer Fest is on my list for next year.

summer beer fest things

Sunday 28 June 2009, six months to my birthday and the day of the Summer Beer Fest at Midway Stadium in St. Paul. Congratulations to Flat Earth Brewing for their Sunburst Apricot Ale voted the best of the Fest. It was very good and very refreshing. I piped at Noon for the VIP people and then at 1 pm for the brew masses. I piped with Josh.

The other beers I tasted were: Barley John's Little Rosie and Wild Brunette, Bell's Kalamazoo Stout, Fitger's Goose Island Apricot Wheat and Prince Humperdinck's Hefeweizen, Goose Island Matilda, Grand Teton Sweet Grass IPA and Bitch Creek ESB, Left Hand Milk Stout, Liftbridge Minnesota Tan (not too great), New Belgium Mothership Wit, Abbet Belgian style ale, New Holland Dragons Milk, Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence, RockBottom Bastogne Blonde & Intoxicator Rauchdopplebock, Rogue Mom Hefeweizen and Dead Guy Ale, Schell's Hefeweizen and Helles, Southern Tier Iniquity Imperial Black Ale, TownHall Belgian White Ale, Ol' Jack Frost Imperial Stout, and Konigshoeven/La Trappe Witt Beer. A few of my favorites are Kalamazoo Stout, La Trappe Witt, New Holland Drangons Milk, Left Hand Milk Stout, and Ol Jack Frost. It was a great time.

Konigshoeven Things

This Friday I went to Four Firkins, beer store, to meet Prior Father Isaac Majoor. He is in charge of brewing at the abbey. The Trappist abbey of Konigshoeven is the only abbey in the Netherlands, and it is one of seven Trappist monasteries brewing beer in Belgium and the Netherlands. The beers I tasted were the Dubbel, 7% with a deep reddish colour. It tasted of dried fruit, with amalty sweet character. The Tripel, 8% was the next in line. It had a rich golden colour. It tasted of spices, and slightly bitter with hops adding a bitter profile. Next in line and my favourite was the Quadrupel 10%, deep amber colour, rich flavour, fruit, slight sweet, slight hop bitterness. This beer has always been one of my all time faves.. It is especially good with bread, cheese, and fruit like peaches. Two new beers in the profile were very good and tasty. The Witte a traditional Belgian wheat beer with lots of spiciness, flavour, and character. Refreshing and satisfying like no other wheat you will have ever had. The last beer is St. Isid'or 125th anniversary Beer was brewed to commemorate the beginning of brewing at this abbey 125 years ago. A picture of the monk, Brother Isidorus that started the brewery is on the label and was its first brewer. The beer is a amber in colour and mildly sweet with a slightly bitter taste and a taste of fruit in the finish with a hop bitterness. This beer is a fund raiser as well. All the proceeds from the sale of this beer go to the establishment of a new monastery in Uganda. The monks came under pressure and threatened violence last year in Kenya at their monastery. So they uproot themselves and went off to Uganda to reestablish a new monastery to continue to do God's work. Donations can be made to the Monastery directly, so please do. www.konigshoeven.nl

They no longer make the refectory beer, the Enkel, this was a very light weight beer and weighed in at around 3.5 - 4%. This was a beer the monks drank for refreshment. Another note, they are trying to reclaim the name La Trappe, a name they used to market under in this country. As I said, they are one of seven Trappist monasteries brewing beer. At one time, they were denied the appellation Trappist due to their relationship with a local brewery. In 2005, when Phil and I made our pilgrimage to Belgium and the Netherlands we did not stop because they were no longer considered part of the Trappist fraternity. They are back now and selling their great beer in the USA once again. Amen.

Scotch things recent

Wed. 17 June 2009, I attended a Scotch tasting at the Muddy Pig in St. Paul. What a tasting! It was brilliant and there was a bonus to it all which I will tell later. Speyside and Scott's selection of whiskies, rare whiskies.
We started off sampling Speyside 12 yr, a nice drinking whisky and made in a new distillery in Speyside. Nose was fruit, floral, vanilla, and toffee. Taste was malty, fruit, raisiny and slight peat. Finish was long and sweetish.
King's Crest, a 25 yr old blended whisky which was a real delight. An expensive whisky but it had lots of great nose and taste notes that I liked.
Bladnoch distilled 1984 bottled 2004. Nose light and floral, Taste peppery, malty. Finish light and sweetish and fairly long and pleasant.
Inverleven distilled 1979 bottled 2004. Nose citrusy and floral. Taste toffee, chocolate, and vanilla. Finish long, sweet, and fruit with a hint of vanilla.
Glen Mhor distilled 1978 bottled 2001. Nose has vanilla, fruit, and a hint of peat. Taste is sweet with hints of pepper and toffee. Finish is long, sweet, with hints of sried fruit and toffee.
Glen Rothes distilled 1980 bottled 2005. Nose is fruity and floral. Taste hints of nuts. Finish has long great finish, with fruit and nuts. It was a great delicious finish.
Longmorn/Glenlivet distilled 1971 bottled 2004. Nose has citrus and flowers. Taste is grapefruit. Finish was citrus, puckering, and long.
Aberlour distilled 1989 bottled 2007. Nose Floral. Taste spices amd cinnamon and vanilla. Finish was long, sweet, and malty.
Highland Park distilled 1986 bottled 2007. Nose iodine and malty with a hint of smoke. taste vanilla, peat, and fruit. Finish was long, sweet and dried fruit.
Bruichladdich distilled 1990 bottled 2004. Nose was sweet. Taste of toffee and vanilla. Finish nice and creamy.
Caol Ila distilled 1984 bottled 2007. Nose was all Islay smoke, peat, and malt. Taste smoke, sweet, and salty. Finish long smokey, peaty, Islay finish. This was my favorite and I have a bottle of this that I will drink.
North of Scotland distilled 1964 bottled 2003. Nose chocolate, vanilla, and a hint of tobacco. Taste chocolate, sweet, and malty. Finish was sweet and long lingering of the palate.

This was a splendid tasting of the Scott's Selection of bottlings. I was really pleased with the tasting and will probably buy some of the other bottlings.

First few things May 29009

I had some Fettercairn 1824 and thought it very drinkble. I visited the distillery on Wed. after doing some hiking. Fin and I hiked up and saw some Pictish hill forts. We then went over to Fettercairn. The village still has its city gate which was very interesting. The whisky tasted of butterscotch and vanilla notes. The 10 yr old Jura was a wee bit harsh. Harsher than I suspected or knew.

At Loch Fyne Whiskies, I tried a few. I tasted the Living Cask. It was a bit harsh and woody. The living cask is a wooden cask of whisky that when it gets down to a certain level more whisky is added. The profile changes as new whisky is added. Next I tried was Teaninich 10 yr. This had some vanilla and berry notes. MacPhunn was tasted next. She had some sulphery notes in the aftertaste which was not pleasant. Three that I tasted and really liked were Ledaig 18 yr was the bottling of the year. Floral and sweet nose. The taste was spicy and nutty with a dry and delicate finish. Springbank 11 yr finished in a Madiera cask. Sweet delicate notes on the nose. Taste was dried fruit rich and berry like.The finish was long and sweet. The last one was the Mortlach 16 yr Flora & Fauna edition. This has a rich sweet nose like Christmas cake. The taste is just as rich and lingers a long while in the finish. The finish being rich sweet and dried fruit like.

Once on Islay, we had a welcoming dram of Arran 14 yr old. This was an easy drinking dram sweet, delicate, with vanilla and flower notes in the nose. The finish was sweet with a long finish.
It was offered by our German friends Gregor, Michael, Dagmar, Rainer, Sabine, Frank, and Kersten. They were staying at Torra cottage.

Islay 2009, Feis Ile

Scotland. The Inner Hebrides islands of Islay and Jura are destinations of an annual pilgrimage of whisky drinkers, collectors, and connoisseurs. There are 9 distilleries on the two islands; Ardbeg, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila, Jura, Kilchoman, Laphroaig, Lagavulin. For lovers of Scotch whisky with iodine, salt, peat, and smoke, this area is heaven on earth. I will be describing my experiences of drinking whisky for 16 days in May and June 2009.

May first things

It has been 8 years since my wife Ann died from cancer. I miss her very much and think about her everyday. The grandchildren are growing and Nic and DeDe are older. Nic and Angie have a wonderful family. DeDe is doing well as a wine sales person. I am doing well. I thank the Lord everyday for having known Ann and having two wonderful childrfen with her.

Arborfest was lots of fun. Thom and I played bagpipes and I had an awful lot of Surly Smoke to drink. I think I need to stay away from that beer. Both times I have had it, I have drank way too much of it. It was a good fest. Saw some people I knew, James, Martha, Adam, Carol, Cathie, Jeff, Brian, Bob & Big Frank from Fitgers, Andre, Jeremy, and Brenda from Barley John's, Damian, Bob McKenzie, Mike from Schell's (he's a sales rep). Next day I was feeling a wee bit rough.

I gamed (Guns of Liberty) at Brent's with Mike, Ron (John's dad) & John. It was loads of fun. Especially rolling so well against Brent. My Jaegers chased his rifleman battalion out of the woods. We saw the backsides of those boys a couple of times. We loaded up our left and crushed his right. He called it a draw at the end of the game, however, in any regular set of rules a brigade with most of the regiments at under 50% would be gone from the field. He had one regt. still at full strength and 3 at 25%. The flank was crushed and it was all over except for the crying.

I then went to Townhall and Thom and I played for the blessing of the Maibock. They had a regular blessing service and we piped in the padre. Afterwards, we ate and drank at the expense of the Townhall. It was a good time. Good beer, good conversation and good food all of it made for a very memorable evening.

Sunday, I worked in the yard and then K and I went to the Living Green Expo. We stayed for two hours and left. We madesome contacts and got some ideas. We bought a few plants. I bailed on the piping at the May Day parade with Doug and his group but there is only so much I can do in a day.

We went over to DeDe's where she had made a beautiful dinner for us. We had artichoke dip, crudites, another dip, bread, gnocchi, salad, lovely cucumber infused water, and tomatoes. For dessert, she made us a cheese cake with cherries in Chambord liquer, and drizzled with strawberries liquified. It was so good. Before this lovely dinner, we all pitched in to help DeDe on her yard. Usually, it is me and Damian and Ava helping DeDe but this time we enlisted everyone Nic, Angie, Katherine, Ted, and me. We did a lot of work. Some plants were damaged but the yard is in good shape.

Guinness 250th Anniversary beer thing

I found the 250th anniversary Guinness underwhelming. It does not have the good bite and full body and taste of the extra stout. It is better than the draught Guinness which is pure shite. This beer is definitely not in the same category as the Foreign Extra Stout, or the Special Extra Stout (Belgium only), or the Nigerian export. Actually, the Guinness' I had in Asia or the Caribbean are much better than this. I was really hoping for something really good. Perhaps they would have been better off resurrecting the porter. The porter is the beer that made the Guinness fortune and reputation. Now that would have been a real great idea. I guess Guinness has too many bean counters at Diageo looking at the bloody bottom line. With so many really good stouts and porters made in America and especially here in the Twin Cities, spend your money here and forget the Guinness 250th.

State Law Librarian Things

Well, I did not get the position as acting state law librarian. The search team decided to put Judy Rehak in as acting State Law Librarian. Good choice, she will be really good for the library. She is a good patron and knows everyone in the library. She will lead impartially and well. I am especially glad DL did not get the position. It seemed he thought of himself as the 'chosen one' to lead the library. A real prat who is full of complete tosh.

I had not really thought about applying at first, however, nudged by my colleagues, I went for it. In the process, I realized I did have the potential to lead the library and do a good job.

Did I really and truly want it? No and then ... yes. I wanted to lead the librarian into a new direction using some of the new web 2.0 technology. I probably will still do that. I am very excited about the Twitter account for the library. Now I need to act on the MySpace and Facebook. The extra money would have been nice. I worked hard but neglected to tell them what I really wanted. This is now all in the past and the library will survive as it has in the past.

April Vacation Things Pt. 1

Recovering still from the epic drive down to Orlando and back. It was a great trip, long but great. We had some amazing food down South. They are without a doubt the best place to go for real regional cooking. The bbq, the veggies, and the grits all are sooooo good. We had a good deal of eating Southern food with a few exceptions.

The first night we stopped in LeRoy, Illinois. The first place we stopped for real Southern cooking was at Swett's http://www.swettsrestaurant.com/ in Nashville. Chicken was the specialty and you could have it fried or rotisserie. Both were really good and the sides of cornbread, greens, squash, sweet potatoes, and mac & cheese were tasty. When we walked in some people going in, looked like a man and his mom, said it was the best place in Nashville. Rated by the tasters **** out of five. Afterwards, we stopped and saw the only full scale reproduction of the Parthenon (Athens). It was very cool.
That night we stopped in Decatur, Alabama.

The next day we stopped at the Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, Alabama. The grotto was created by a monk from the Abbey of St. Bernard's http://www.avemariagrotto.com/index.php?cPath=159&osCsid= This grotto is a must see. The amount of time and dedication to this work was amazing. He did miniatures of famous buildings from all over the world, mostly religious. He does a miniature of the city of Jerusalem. It was all very cool. We also stopped in the Cullman Flea market bought some things. I bought whoopie pies from some Amish ladies, excellent. We also grabbed a snack of tacos. They were made with pulled pork and they were rated by our panel as a ***** treat. We arrived in Orlando at 10:30 that evening and katherine was there awaiting our arrival.

The following day, Kat and I went to Winter Park http://www.ci.winter-park.fl.us/
and the Skrades went to Wet & Wild. K and I sought out Vegas Cafe home of the Cuban sandwich. It was closed. We went across the street to Chan's for dim sum and it was very good. Rated **** by our impartial panel. K and I took a boat ride for an hour. It was very relaxing and then went to the Morse Museum http://www.morsemuseum.org/home.html This for me was one of the best things on the trip. They have an incredible collection of Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass and art. They also have his Byzantine Chapel http://www.morsemuseum.org/collection/tiffany_chapel.html which is an amazingly beautiful, reverent work. It was created for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. They also have a nice painting collection and an American decorative arts collection from 1870-1920, roughly. We went to a Vietnamese restaurant Saigon not far from Chan's on Colonial Drive. We had a very tasty oriental meal. Rated *** 1/2 by our expert panel.

Nex day we went to Universal World http://www.universalorlando.com/index.html?__source=ps.yssp.tlp and spent the going on rides and walking around. I went on two rides that were completely different than what I usually do. The Revenge of the Mummy and the Simpson's Ride. I thought I was going to lose it both times. We also went to four other things Disaster (Nic was picked as an extra), Jaws, Horror Film techniques, Terminator 3D, Shrek 3d, and Universal City Walk. After a long day of walking we decided to stay close to our hotel, Best Western Universal. In the evening we went to Kobe Japanese Steak House and had a teppanaki meal which was very good. Rated **** by our non-partisan panel.

The Skrades went to the other half of the Universal Theme Park and I took Katherine to the Airport. We stopped at Vegas and split a sandwich and I drove to Winter Park to search out more museums. I stopped at the Cornell Museum in Rollins College, $5.00 and the Orlando Museum of Art, $8.00. The Orlando MOA wasn't worth the price of admission. The best things I saw were the African art mostly textiles, Aztec and Zapotec art, and a very nice collection of netsukes. Rollins had an exhibit of portraits of ladys from around the turn of the century 1900 and a small exhibit of Delftware. We are lucky to have a very strong art scene in the Twin Cities.
That evening we went for pizza. It was okay. It was rated *** by our discerning panel of judges.

To be continued....

Scotch Whisky Things

Here is the results from a tasting that happened a last year. I must confess I am particular to islay Scotches. Three stars is the highest.

** Bruichladdich 14 yrs - Islay single malt, bourbon cask and finished in a sherry cask, great nose with vanilla, dried fruit. Finish is long with beautiful legs.
*** Bruichladdich - 32 yrs (1970)- Islay single malt, 100% bourbon cask, viscous with beautiful legs, pear and vanilla notes, slight taste of salt in the front, smoky peat in the aftertaste. A superb dram!!
** Glen Moray, Serendipity - Highland single malt, smoky and lemony
** Ardbeg Uigeadail, Islay single malt, cask strength, distilled in the 1990's, Scottish edition, sherry notes, smoky, 108.4, phenolic peat characteristics, toasty
**3/4 Laphroaig 10 yr., Islay single malt, cask strength, bourbon cask sweetness (Maker's Mark bourbon casks), astringent long finish.
** Bruichladdich, Infinity, Islay single malt, caramel notes, fiery nose with smoke and peat
** Glenmorangie Ardbeg, Islay single malt, 1st fill casks, very young, sassy, peppery
*** Ardbeg 1976, Islay single malt, smooth, bottled 2004. This is a perfect whisky with all the characteristics you love in an Islay single malt. YUM YUM YUM!!!!
*** Port Ellen, Islay single malt, distillery closed in 1983, Diageo releases bottlings every now and then, this is one of the great single malts of the island of Islay. YUM YUM YUM!!!!!

There you go. My memory is slightly hazy about the tasting but somethings are never forgotten i.e. a lovely kiss, a memorable moment in ones life, and a memorable single malt.

Feis Things

Well, I am getting closer to putting all the pieces for the Islay trip together. Bowmore Distillery emailed back with the times for our tours and tastings. We are now booked on tours, tastings, lodgings, and airlines. I need to hire a car and obtain my ferry tickets from Kennecraig to Port Askaig and back. John will be handling another set off tours between 31 May and 3 June.

Here is the schedule for the Islay Feis:
http://islayfestival.org//activate.php?name=Sebastiaan69&sess=3e2dd58790c152024e55bb3e462b07f3

We will be visiting Kilchoman, Lagavulin, Bruichladdich, Caol Ila, Laphroaig, Bowmore, Jura, Bunnahabhain, Ardbeg distlleries. A distillery a day for 9 days. Perhaps a few more when we return to the mainland.

March things

I haven't posted on the blog for awhile. For those of you who are following me, I am sorry. In the intervening time, I had been busy preparing for St. patrick's Day and playing with band on all of their gigs.We did Emmetsburg which was really good but a long, long day. I even curtailed my day by 5 hours, stopping around 9pm. Some of the lads continued on till 2-3am. I was quite good as I did not drink anything till our next to last bar, the Corner Bar. Their we were able to score some Sam Adams Winter lager and Michelob Amber Bock. Okay beers, but better than all the varations of light beer you could swill and some even light green beer. YUM YUM YUM!!! I drank a whisky and some beer. At the last gig, we ate and had some more normal beer, Fat Tire, Guinness, and something else. It was a lot of time spent doing this gig, however, the people of Emmetsburg love us. We can do no wrong. The weekend was shot.

On Monday, Thom and I played at Barley John's Brewpub for their 9th anniversary. We had food and beer. I drank the Anniversary Ale (red ale with lots of hops), Wild Brunette, and a couple of the Double Oat stout (excellent). A good time was had by all and we played really well. Damian, Molly, and Doug were there as well.

St. Patrick's Day, I came to work to do time cards and left around 9:30 to catch a bus to O'Gara's. The band always meets at O'Gara's and has for years. I guess always. There we tuned up and took a band picture jumped onto the bus and went to Summit. Bill Gilchrist joined us as well to hitch a ride to the parade. At Summit Brewing, we played for the employees and their yearly St. Pat's feast provided by Rahr Maltings. We played and then went onto the bus to the St. Paul parade. We were no. 29th in line. We played a lot. It felt like it was no stop. The weather was nice not as nice as Monday but really nice. We played through the landmark center for their IMDA event hosted by Phil. After the play through, we walked to the Liffey and played there as well as having some beers. We then got on the bus and went to the Bulldog in Lowertown, St. Paul. Played in and then had some world class beers, Maredsous 8 and the Duchess de Bourgonine. We made some converts to those beers. We then went back to O'Gara's for the world's shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade. We had a couple of beers. I actually shared one with Mary.

For Mary, this was her first parade and first St. Patrick's day. She was a good sport. A woman asked her what was under her kilt and she said, "running shorts". So we instructed her on clever retorts to the silly request. In O'Gara's, I was playing behind her, when we walked through a fetching brunette slapped her on the bum as she marched through. I related this to her and other band members and we had a laugh. But Mary did not want to be fetching to anyone especially another woman so she let her hair down. In her kilt though, I could see where someone think she amy be a guy. She has an androgynous look about her. I think she looks feminine but I am one person.

Thom and I then off to Barley John's to play for the crowd there. By this time our reeds were really wet so we needed to air dry them so we could actually play them. We met John's mother in law and children Rose and Nick. We couldn't play for them because our reeds were so wet. We did get them dried out enough to play a couple of tunes. We had drinks and food here as well. I should say really good food and really, really good beer. We met Katherine, Damian, Jen, and Jen's friend Terry who took to perry cider as a duck to water. I think she drank 3 glasses full which is a lot considering the perry is at wine strength. Katherine and I shared a Pizza Laura (named after John's lovely wife Laura), a vegetarian pizza which is to die for.

Next day, I was so shagged. I hurt everywhere. I went to the Historical Society for a CALCO meeting and learned more about Twitter. We also saw an exhibit on maps curated by Pat Coleman. the map exhibition was excellent.

Grand Marais Things

We left for Grand Marais on a beautiful Saturday morning 14 February headed for up North. Our ultimate destination was the Outpost Motel in Colville, MN 8 miles east of Grand Marais. We would stay until 17 February. The journey up was uneventful save for all the bathroom stops on the way up, too much water before the trip. We had an audio book along as well 'Kalahari Typing Club for Men' by Alexander McColl Smith. We really enjoyed this book and finished it in our room when we arrived.

Our first stop on our journey was at Fitger's Brewhouse. It is the official beginning and ending of my trips to the North Shore. It has been with all the women I have been with since Ann has died. K and I had lunch and I had beer with my food. She had the best veggie burger the the world the Fitger's wild rice burger and I had the Turkey ruben with a small salad. I started out with the Champagne of the North, a Berliner weisse with raspberry syrup. I followed it with an Antwerp ale and finished it off with a Black Paddle porter. All were really tasty and hit the spot.
When we were finishing up with lunch, who should walk in but Cathy and Jeff. It was our second chance meeting with them in Fitger's. Pretty, amazing but great minds think alike or so it seems.


We headed North and to our final destination, the Outpost Motel. We stopped in Grand Marais at the Coop for some extra food stuff for our stay. We checked in and started to relax straight away. We played scrabble, read, listened to music, and ate. The book I started and read the whole time I was up ther was Shenandoah 1962 by Cozzens. Heralded as the definitive book on Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. It is a good book, easy to read and the author does well to use both sources and display everyone with all the talents and foibles. He includes Jackson as well. I am a Jackson fan and have been since I was a wee lad but there really wasn't much in the way other things to reveal. He probably is one of the most written about American commander and famous save for Washington. I am finishing up with the book now and should have it completed by the weekend . Jackson is about to give the Yankees a thrashing on the upper valley at Port Republic and Cross Keys.

On Sunday, we walked part of the Devil Track River, Superior Hiking Trail in our hiking boots. We did well until the last hill it was deep and no one had ventured it until we did. There was no use negotiating the climb as it would mean climbing on our hands and knees in 3 foot snow sinking continually. We turned back after trying for 15 minutes. On the way back, we slid down some slopes. It seemed easier to do that than risk a slip and not controlled slide. On the last slope I was going way too fast and hit a bump and strained my back. My poor back, it was the same injury or felt like it, as I had a year ago. I was in pain. When we got back to our cabin I iced it, streched it, and had K massage it. She does not know how to massage. She tries and wants to but she just doesn't have the skill. She is just rough and ready treating the muscles like they were something else. I was bouncing on the bed from her ministrations. God bless her. She tries but my god she is a not a sensualist. We went out to listen to music at the Gunflint Tavern and have some dinner. We had their veggie pizza. Excellent!!! I had a couple of Summit Oatmeal stouts, medicinally taken.

Monday, I stayed in and made a nice veggie curry stew with baked apples for dessert. K went skiing along the shore and was out for over an hour. I read my book, Shenandoah 1862 and played my chanter to nail down some tunes. We played scrabble, cards, listened to music ate. I stretched my back. K read Bill Bryson's book 'Neither Here Nor There'. I looked at it and it is the usual Bill Bryson, lots of humor and interesting facts put together in a great volume.

Tuesday, packing up and getting ready for the journay home. We stopped in at the Ben Franklin in Grand Marais and K bought some very warm mittens. I bought Bananagrams for Jeanne's b-day. It was nasty and snwoing when we left Grand Marais but not enough to call in and say we are stuck up North. I can't image K ever doing that though. We stopped in at Fitger's on the way back. K had a Smoked lake Trout wrap and I the fungus burger. We also picked up beer courtesy of the lads for our cellar at home. It was a good trip.

When I arrived home, Brent told me he was going in for surgery the next day, hip replacement surgery. So I went over to his place to hear him piss and moan about everything but mostly to allay his fears about his surgery and help him to order his place. What a fucking mess! What is it about single guys and housekeeping. They need mothers and/or a spouse but they are the biggest slobs and there is no excuse. I am wandering so time to sign off.

Lutheran Sunday Supper Things

I always have great fun at a church potluck. Lutheran church ladies make the best hot dishes. The various dishes are so nuch fun to look at and taste. What with the variety of spices, how much beef, or chicken, tomatoes, and onions. Everyone brings such great hotdishes, salads, and a potpourri of whatever. You will see 3 or 4 ramen Asian salads, some with sunflower seeds, cabbage, and other greens. There are some with lots of ramen noodles.

There are several different noodle dishes featuring tomatoes, beef, and some seasoning. Some jello dishes are on the table. We have a lovely raspberry jello surprise and then the lime jello marshmallow cottage cheese surprise. Beans are in various dishes and all of them are good tasting. There were several three bean salads. Some are bean salads with corn, peppers, and at least three different beans. Black beans, red beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans are all featured at the church dinner. Bean and beef crock pot dishes in a variety of combinations make their appearance and are quite tasty. There is fried chicken, cocktail wieners, and meatballs.

For drinks, we have church coffee a combination of half decaf and half regular coffee. Water and Countrytime powdered lemonade for the non-coffee drinkers. But the best part fo the dinner are the people and the conversations. It is a unique social gathering and should be done once a month.

Things Winterfest

Another Winterfest has come and gone. Beers were consumed and they were for the most part really good. Conversation was good. Glasses were dropped. Fun was had by all. It was held at the History Center this year and I am not sure about it. The setting was lovely but it was spread out over two floors and it was crowded. It had problems. I believe I prefer the Landmark Center. Thom and I lead off the fest with bagpipes, the traditional start of Winterfest and the Autumn Brew Review. What is fun about Winterfest is that all the brewers are Minnesota brewers. We have a great group of brewers here and they make world class beers. It is very cool to be here in Minnesota now.

Here are my notes about the beers I sampled last night in the order of the program. The grading system is three points with 3 being the best and I would buy it, 2 I would drink it, and 1 give it to a friend (just kidding) flush it.
AUGUST SCHELL: Hopfenmalz 2 1/2 pts. I really liked the malt profile in this beer, very drinkable. U bier(cask) - 2 1/2 I liked the unfiltered pils a lot. Pils is not a favorite style of mine so this is big.
BARLEY JOHN'S: Schwartzbier - 2 pts. Changed from when I had it on my birthday, not as tasty as I remember. Dark Knight Returns - 2 1/2 pts. This is a winter by the fire beer to savor for the whole evening. Winter ale - 2 1/4pts. I enjoyed it more than the Summit Winter ale, a good beer.
BRAU BROS: Sheephead ale - 2 1/4pts. They use their own home grown hops. It is a darn good beer. Vanilla Bean Cream Stout(cask)- 2 1/2pts. This is a very nice session beer, tasty, nice vanilla & choco notes.
COLD SPRING: John Henry - 1/2pt. As Thom noted, neither imperial or a stout. There was something missing from the taste. Very disappointing.
FITGER'S: Gale Force Cranberry Ale - 2pts. This is best when fresh. This had age and was totally different from the fresh product. Bourbon Barrel Aged Edmund Imperial Stout - 2 3/4pts. I love their stout and this was really, really good. Procrastinator Dopplebock - 2 1/2pts. A very good dopple, lots of malt and flavour. Collaboration Cherry Grand Cru - 2 1/2pts. I really liked this one as well, however, I really liked the Grand Cru (TownHall) by itself. Fitger's Framboise - 2 pts. Tart, sour, but very tasty and I believe with a little aging will be outstanding.
FLAT EARTH: Winter Warlock Golden Barleywine - 2 1/2pts. Really good, a very tasty and drinkable barleywine. Cygnus X-1 Xanadu - 2 3/4pts. orange infused porter, a chocolate bar with orange peel. YUM YUM!
GRANITE CITY: Oak Aged Scottish Ale - 2 3/4pts. I really liked this beer, a good session beer. Low gravity, 4.5% so it was a rare one amongst all of the big boys. I enjoy their Scottish ale.
GREAT WATERS: Brother Stiffe's - 2 1/2pts. Really good. Betelguese - 2 3/4pts. Chocolate porter really well made and tasty. Yuletide - 2 1/2pts. This wheat surprised me with how well balanced it was. King Boreas Imperial Witbeer - 2 3/4pts. Another really good and drinkable wheat beer. Three Horizons Belgian Pale Ale - 2 pts. Good beer. Pup Tent Stout(cask)- 2 3/4pts. This was a really really good stout and the passion fruit was well balanced. Mon Cheri(cask) - 3 pts. Vanilla cherry stout with good balance and taste, nothing was overwhelming.
LIFTBRIDGE: Imperial Stout(cask)- 1pt. Disappointing. Facemeltor Barley Wine(cask) - 1pt. Great name, disappointing beer. Belgian Biscotti - 1pt. I ate a biscotti with it. The biscotti was better than the beer. Farm Girl Saison - 2 1/2pts. A good tasty saison even after an evening of drinking it tasted good.
McCANN'S: Apicot Coriander Ale - 1pt. Too fruity by half.
ROCK BOTTOM: Tripel Framboise - 2 1/2pts. Good balance for the fruit and the beer. Smoked Porter - 2 1/2pts I really like smoked porters. Hop Bomb Double IPA - 2 1/2pts. This was a very drinkable IPA, well balanced with a good amount of malt to offset the hops.
SUMMIT: Winter Ale(cask) - 2 1/4pt. My favorite Summit but it tasted a bit astringent in the finish. Extra Pale Ale(cask) - 2pts. Good EPA but dry hopped with Amarillo hops, not my favorite.
SURLY:Bourbon One - 2 3/4pts. This one won the Snowshoe award. I thought the Darkness was better. TWO - 2pts. A bit tart, this was tastier when it was fresh. Three - 2pts. Darkness - 3pts. I enjoyed this beer very much. The best stout of the night. Smoke - 2 3/4pts. Really good but not like it was straight out of the tanks at the Darkness fest. Mild - 2 3/4pts. I love a good mild and Todd does a great job. Brackett - 2 1/2pts. This was a very good beer/mead.
THE HERKIMER: High Point Dunkel - 2 pts. good dunkel. Bock - 1 pt. Forgettable.
TOWN HALL: Twisted Reality Barley Wine - 2 1/2pts really good. Batch 1000 - 2 1/2pts Souped up Masala Mama, good. Chipotle Wee Heavy - 2 pts. Takes your taste buds for a ride.
Grand Cru - 3pts. Another one of my favorites of the night. Coconut Milk Stout - 2 pts. Too sweet, too much coconut. Kentucky Dessert(cask) - 2pts. Too much bourbon in my stout.
VINE PARK: Black Magic Imperial Stout - 2pts. Good stout with coffee and chocolate notes.

Stout & Imperial Stout Things

Friday 30 January was the meeting of the Orval Malt Tasting Society. The subject that was explored were stouts and imperial stouts. We had a glorious tasting and sampled a wonderful selection of beers. Lacking in the tasting was one of the best stouts made and that is Rogue's Shakespeare Stout, a truly world class beer. The winners of the evening share the top spot - New Holland Poet Stout and Mcauslan's St. Ambroise Stout with 5 votes each. Second place was also shared by Victory Storm King and Guinness Foreign Extra Stout(Dublin). Bronze medals went to Flat Earth Black Helicopter Coffee Stout, Southern Tier Imperial Choklat Stout, and Deschutes Obsidian Stout. The stinker of the night was Podge Belgian Imperial Stout it was universally thought of as undrinkable.

Here is the list of the evenings libations:
Gene's Hershey's Chocolate Quaker Oats Stout, St. Ambroise Stout, Moylan's Dragoons Dry Irish Stout, Stockyard Oatmeal Stout (Trader Joe's), Schell's Stout, Flat Earth Black Helicopter Coffee Stout 4.8%, Guinness Extra Stout (Canada), Guinness Foreign Extra Stout 7.5%(Nigeria), Guinness Foreign Extra Stout 7.5% (Dublin), Poet Stout 5%(New Holland), Surly 2 cranberry stout, Southern Tier Imperial Choklat Stout, Podge Belgian Imperial Stout 10.5 %, Boulevard Imperial Stout (smoke stack series) Avery Mephistopheles Imperial Stout 15.9%, Avery Out of Bounds Stout, Fitgers Big Boat Oatmeal Stout, Deschutes Obsidian Stout 6.4%, Titanic Stout 4.5%(Champion Bottled Beer of Britain 2004), Bell's Expedition Stout, Victory Storm King Stout, ABC Stout 8%(Cambodia), Cooper's Best Extra Stout, Sprecher Russian Imperial Stout, Weyerbacher Old Heathen Imperial Stout 8%, Stoudt's Fat Dog Imperial Oatmeal Stout, Alaskan Oatmeal Stout, Viking Big Swede Imperial Stout, Dragon Stout 7.5%, Weyerbacher Raspberry Imperial Stout. We had some nice IPA from Flat Earth for a palate cleanser after having so much malt, chocolate, and alcohol. All in all in it was a very good tasting of some of the best and most unusal stouts around. It was a successful tasting for the club. Meeting was called at 1:30 am, 31 January 2009.

Burns Nite Things

The 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns (25th January) was celebrated in Orval at Chez Skrade. A good time was had by everyone, at least that is what they said. Katherine and I provided haggis, veggie haggis, tatties, cheese, scotch, and soda bread . Our guests Colleen, Doug, Molly, Jeff, Cathy, John, Steve, Damian, Jenn, Bob, Michele brought goodies to share as well. We started off the night with a social hour and then at 7:15 pm CST. I piped in the haggis, Bob recited the customary Ode to a Haggis by Burns and we sat down to eat. We had clapshot, Guinness stew, more cheese, more scotch, beer from Flat Earth, salad, and lots of fun. Around 8:30 pm we had the customary toasts to the President, the Queen, laddies, lassies, departed friends, and whatever else we could think of in the way of toasts. All in all it was a good evening of friendship and warmth. Perhaps we will do it again next year.

The scotches on deck for sampling were Lagavulin (16), Highland Park (18), Glen Moray (10 sherry cask), Glen Farclas (12), Bunnahabhain (18), Jura, Bowmore, and a couple of others I forget.

Bagpipe things

I was in Kansas City, MO for the Winter Storm 2009 events and concert. This event is about bagpipes and drumming, Scottish drumming. The best pipers and drummers from around the world come to the bleak cold Midwest every year to give lessons, compete for prizes and money, participate in a concert, and connect with fans, friends, and colleagues from around the world. This event is sponsored by MHAF - Midwest Highland Arts Fund, a non-profit group dedicated to the promotion and support of piping and drumming. I flew down on Thursday and flew back home on Sunday. It was an incredibly amazing event. Here are the best pipers and drummers in the world playing.

Thursday, I volunteered to help sign in pipers and drummers. It was colder in that hotel than it was my garage in Minnesota. For a Marriott not to keep the lobby and 2d floor heated is just beyond belief considering what you pay for a room there. Thom and I stayed at the Holiday Inn across the street. I turned in around 2 am and Thom came in around 3am and went to sleep around 5am. We got up at 6:30 am.

Friday, I was dressed in my Highland outfit and I spent the day running the timing lights. The timing lights were timed so when the piper came out to play for the judges, he had 4 minutes to tune his pipes and then start his competition set of tunes. So I manned the lights from 8 am to 5 pm and by the end of that shift I was completely shagged. The piping was remarkably outstanding. You look at the lineup of contestants and judges and they are the top namesin North America and Scotland. At 11 pm they had the awards ceremony for all the different competitions from the whole day. I was able to figure out some and completely lost it on others. I went to bed early in the morning, 3 am.

Saturday, I helped set up the community Church for the evening's concert and then went for a wee walk. The church was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and it was a real gem. built to FLW's height requirements. The space is charming, intimate, and wonderful acoustically. I also had some Gate's BBQ brought in by the sponsors. YUM YUM!! I am glad I do not live in KC. I stumbled on the Nelson Atkins Art Museum. What a lucky break for me! I wandered in and saw the various galleries. They have a gorgeous Caravaggio - St John the Baptist in the Wilderness, a painting of such beauty and depth. They also had two Lucas Cranach the Elder paintings - Three Graces and the Last Judgment. The Three Graces was just beautiful and invoked memories of the past. I walked around and watched people looking at the art as I myself looked at the art. People watching is great fun and two great places are museums and airports.

The concert that night was so cool. The piping was world class as was the drumming. The cd will be out next year. I picked up the cd from last year and it is a real show stopper. There was an old grandma sitting in front of me. She had been brought to the concert by her grandson. She must have been in her nineties but she loved the piping and drumming. After the concert was the party - Winter Steam. Newcastle Brown Ale sponsored the event and provided a prodigious amount of beer for the festivities.The party lasted all night. I finally went to bed at 4 am so I could get up for my 8:30am shuttle to the airport.

Would I go again? Hell, yes! It was very exciting to be part of this event. A major world event in the piping and drumming world right here in the Midwest. Thank you MHAF for all your work at making this a truly great event.

Scotch things

We went to John & Deb's home last night for a scotch tasting. The gang was there Thom, Steve, Charles, Phil, Bob, Damian and myself. There were 5 scotches presented by John: Bruichladdich 20 yrs old - bourbon cask, legs close together as a virgin (good viscosity), Nose - vanilla, pear, heather, sea, iodine, grassy, peppery. Finish - woody and long. Glengoyne 16 yrs old 15 years in bourbon casks then 1 year in Scottish oak, darker colour, warming. Nose - spicy, vanilla, butterscotch. Mouth - maple syrup, butterscotch, woody. Finish - woody, astringent. Glengoyne 15 yrs. Nose - butterscocth, citris, vanilla, pepper, creme brulee. mouth: mold, old shoe, musty warehouse. Glen Grant 30 yrs., cask strength, sherry butt. Nose - strong sherry, brandy nose, dried fruit. Mouth - sherry, brandy like, dried fruit. Finish - fruity and long. LAPHROAIG 30 yrs. Nose - peat, smoke, vanilla. Mouth - astringent. H2O added less smoke. This is the best whisky I have ever tasted. Good balance and complexity, it is best without water. Lagavulin 16 yrs. just a really good whisky. Port Charlotte 5 yrs. 46% Nose - iodine, fruit prickly, smoke, charcoal. Mouth- light, vanilla, sweet. Finish - short. Gordon MacPhail Imperil 14 yrs. Sweet, slight smokey taste and nose, fruit, dry finish. Laphroaig 15 yr This is a very tasting whisky and one of my personal favorites. A good time was had by all and I especially had a very good time as I was completely comatose till 9 this morning.

Summit Things

I was the tour guide today at Summit. It is very cool talking about beer and Summit. I had a great time. It is funny, I always flog the Great Northern Porter and the Oatmeal Stout. Invariably, the people taking the cue try it and enjoy drinking it. The pouring was fast and furious. We served over 100 people three beers each. It was mad.

Porter Things

2 January 2009, I held a porter tasting or some friends. We tasted 20 porters and 6 stouts mostly of the imperial variety. The tasters were: myself, Patrick, Thom, Bob, Damian, Andrew, Mike, Brian, Phil and Tina. The porters were Fitger's Parr's porter, Olfabrikken Danish porter, Capitol Baltic porter, Bell's porter, Mudpuppy porter (Central Waters, WI), Badger porter (Black River Falls, WI), Tyranena Devil made me do it coffee porter, Summit Great Northern porter, Surly Bender, Rogue Mocha porter, Smuttynose Robust porter, Zywiec porter (Poland), Gonzo Imperial porter (Flying Dog, Denver), Baltika 6 (Russia), Nogne O (Norway), Cygnuc X-1 (Flat Earth), Cygnus X-1 cherry infused, Samuel Smith Taddy porter, Harviestoun Old Engine Oil, Okochim porter. The best of the night were Olfabrikken, Harviestoun Old Engine Oil, and Nogne O. The worst was Capitol's Baltic porter. It was terrible, thin, tasteless, no character, and no redeeming qualities.

The imperial stouts were Pozharnik Imperial stout, Speedway Stout (Alesmith), Southern Tier (NY) Creme Brulee Chocolate stout, Pizza Port Santa's Little Helper, Obovoid (Boulder), and Tenfiddy (Oskar Blues, Lyon, CO). The best were Speedway but it needed another year lying still and Tenfiddy (in a can) just excellent. The worst and almost unpalatable was the Southern Tier too sweet in the bottle. Perhaps some aging might mellow it out. The taste and smell stayed with you as well.

Tattoo things

I was tattooed by Nic onMonday 29 December. He put a picture that Ava drew of Ann in the summer 2001. I placed it on my right leg opposite of DeDe's drawing. I think it is very cool and I like it a lot. I need to get one from Damian. The number is now at 8, eight tattoos. I still want a large one on my right shoulder and arm. Thanks Nic.