My beloved Great Lakes Brewing Co. is making its introduction into the North Carolina market. O! The joy! (I'll see you in Winston-Salem on March 9th. All the Greensboro locations are sketch.)
Per their Facebook post:
Friday, 19 February 2010
Thursday, 18 February 2010
The homebrew bug hit yet again, mainly to get through these final extract-based recipes to start to dive head first into "all-grain" brewing. Basically, as a metaphor, instead of making brownies from a boxed mix, I would add the flour, cocoa, etc. myself. All-grain is a more "from scratch" version of brewing and one where you have more control over every aspect of the recipe and final product. So anyway, next on the docket was a California Common, alternately known in the beer world by Anchor Brewing's trademarked flagship Steam Beer: basically, a lager yeast strain used at a warmer ale yeast temperature to bring about more fruitiness. So, being from Cleveland, and as a childish play on words, I titled my homebrew "Common Cleveland Steamer". Insert your eye-rolling and groaning [here].
Here's the recipe I had:
8oz. Munton's Dark Crystal6.6 lb. Light liquid malt extract (LME)2 oz. UK Pilgrim Gold hops 11% alpha acid @ 60 minutes1 oz. UK First Gold hops 7% AA @ 1 minuteSaflager S-23 dry lager yeast
And now it rests in the kitchen sink next to the British Bitter with my markedly non-electronic temperature control method: wet t-shirt in water bath. Time to rinse dirty dishes in the half-bath sink for a few more days!
What a fun Mardi Gras I just had! For whatever reason, instead of partying in his home of New Orleans, Harry Connick, Jr. was on tour and in Durham! Worked 8-4, let the dogs out, then headed over for dinner at Tyler's and then the show at the Durham Performing Arts Center. It was a LOT of fun! Between the Saints winning the Super Bowl recently and Mardi Gras happening, he was in a REALLY good mood. Some of the lovey dovey songs (which he mentioned might make those not in love "a little awkward") were a little awkward for me. But other than those two songs out of the 2-hour show, it was FUN!!!
Sadly, I don't have any video or photos from the show. I was too close to the aisle and the DPAC camera gestapo. But here's a fun toe-tapping number I found online that brings me right back to Durham and last Tuesday's show:
Sunday, 14 February 2010
Time to brew again. On Valentine's Day. I swear it was an act of coincidence, but the style brewed on this day of romance and love was a....bitter. Rather appropriate.The recipe:
1/2 lb. Simpsons Caramalt1 lb. Golden Light Dry Malt Extract (DME)3.15 lb. Gold Liquid Malt Extract (LME)1 oz. Kent Goldings hops, 5.0% alpha acid @ 60 min1 oz. Kent Goldings hops 5.0% AA @ 1 minDanstar Windsor Ale dry yeast
Easy to brew, should be easy to drink. Session pub ale.
Bitter on Valentine's Day....go figure.
In a fit of local music appreciation, I hit up two local bands in two local venues: Amelia's Mechanics on Friday at The Blind Tiger, and Holy Ghost Tent Revival at the Green Bean on Saturday. Both bands were a little out of my "element", but I quickly became fans of both.
Appears my iPhone video microphone is a touch sensitive. Sorry for the boisterous audio.
Amelia's Mechanics, one my own video and one not:
Holy Ghost Tent Revival, again one video my own and one not:
Fun nights.
Holy Ghost Tent Revival, again one video my own and one not:
Fun nights.
There is nothing I can really say here that would make sense unless you had consumed a frankly voluminous amount of hallucinogens. Wow.
The inevitable HofG trailer has a glitch in that the powers-that-be do not want anyone to embed the trailer, so here's the best I can do: a link to the trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khizyk3Y5lo
Just a visually stunning feature. Terry Gilliam strikes again with a film of such grandiose visuals and mind-bending scenarios. Sideshow artist Dr. Parnassus has a magic mirror, one where your dreams become reality when you step through it. Where did this mystic come from? Just how old is he? What's to become of the wayward vagrant (the outstanding Heath Ledger in his final role) that joins them? Ledger died during shooting, so his character behind the mirror is played with various quirks by Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law. Mesmerizing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khizyk3Y5lo
Just a visually stunning feature. Terry Gilliam strikes again with a film of such grandiose visuals and mind-bending scenarios. Sideshow artist Dr. Parnassus has a magic mirror, one where your dreams become reality when you step through it. Where did this mystic come from? Just how old is he? What's to become of the wayward vagrant (the outstanding Heath Ledger in his final role) that joins them? Ledger died during shooting, so his character behind the mirror is played with various quirks by Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law. Mesmerizing.
Stream of consciousness Monty Python animation meets Alice in Wonderland meets LSD. Confounding.
If you're into this sort of thing, it's easily worth the Full Price I'll give it. It makes it so just for the fact that Tom Waits plays the Devil. Tom Fucking Waits!
Monday, 8 February 2010
Movies at a/perture cinema in downtown Winston-Salem do not hang around long. There are just two theaters and so many independent films out there that most last for just one week, Friday through Thursday. Between the snow accumulation we received and a stretch of 2-10 workdays, this past Thursday was my final opportunity to see an all-star cast in The Private Lives of Pippa Lee.The trailer:
Pippa had a checkered past of dangerous habits and wayward journeys...until she met a publisher 30 years her senior. Now, freshly released of most material possessions, they begin the final chapter in their marriage in a retirement community. Flashbacks and zig-zags in Pippa's story continue throughout, giving you the glimpse that the down-to-earth Pippa who dotes on her elderly husband was once a hellbent girl with touches of counter-culture danger. Which Pippa is the real Pippa? Can she handle holding up the airs of humble wife or will her past come back to retake its proper place?
Pippa had a checkered past of dangerous habits and wayward journeys...until she met a publisher 30 years her senior. Now, freshly released of most material possessions, they begin the final chapter in their marriage in a retirement community. Flashbacks and zig-zags in Pippa's story continue throughout, giving you the glimpse that the down-to-earth Pippa who dotes on her elderly husband was once a hellbent girl with touches of counter-culture danger. Which Pippa is the real Pippa? Can she handle holding up the airs of humble wife or will her past come back to retake its proper place?
A great cast that kept me in awe. However, the final movie product fell a smidge below Full Price for me.
Matinee.
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