Beer of the week 6
O’Hara’s Irish Red
The facts: O’Hara’s Irish Red has 4.3% ABV and is brewed by the Carlow Brewing Company. This is also the company that brews the wonderful stout that I reviewed earlier. That review can be found here. Information about the beer and brewery can be found here, at their website.
What they say: The beer has an average rating of 3.59 out of 5 at BeerAdvocate.com, for an overall grade of B. The beer has not been reviewed by the brothers who run the site, just users. It has an overall rating of 3.03 out of 5 at RateBeer.com, placing in the 46th percentile.
What I say: I poured from a 12 ounce bottle into a pint glass. It has a nice full head that dissipates slowly. The first thing I noticed is the great aroma. It has a bit of spiciness. I asked my wife to smell it too, just to make sure I wasn’t crazy. It has a nice bold bitter flavor that you expect from a good red. When served ice cold it is a bit sharp, but once the beer warms to a cool temperature it becomes complex and flavorful. Overall, it is a little better than the average red, but nothing to get too excited about.
Final Rating: 3.25 pints
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Beer of the Week 4 and 5
Beer of the Week 4 and 5
I have been lax recently, so this entry is a two-fer. In the interest of variety I will be reviewing two beers, one dark and one light, one bad and one good.
Here we go. First the bad:
R.J. Rockers Bald Eagle Brown
Some Facts: The R.J. Rockers brewery is located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. They were the first micro-brewery located Spartanburg. The company brews six different beers. The Bald Eagle Brown has 5.6% ABV. More information about the company and their beers can be found at their website.
What they say: A 2.78 rating out of 5.0 at ratebeer.com, putting it in their 27th percentile overall. It has a 3.58 rating out of 5.0 at BeerAdvocate.com, giving it an overall B grade.
What I say: I poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass. The beer has a murky brown color and a head that is gone before you know it. It is not appealing. It has a nice sweet aroma. The flavor is initially bold and sweet. It has a very hoppy finish and aftertaste. It does have a complex and full flavor, but that is not necessarily a good thing. I would not recommend this beer. There are many other better brown ales out there.
I found this beer at my favorite little country store full of craft beer, so it should be widely available.
Final Rating: 2.5 out of 6 pints.
Now the good, really good:
Delirium Tremens.
Some Facts: Delirium is brewed by Brouwerij Huyghe in Belgium. It is 8.5% to 9% ABV. It is an award winning beer that has been brewed since 1989. It was named the “Greatest Beer in the World” at the 1998 World Beer Championships in Chicago, Illinois. More information about this beer can be found at their website.
What they say: A 4.04 rating out of 5.0 at BeerAdvocate.com for a grade of A-.
What I say: First, I am not a big fan of Belgian ales. That being said, Delirium Tremens is amazing. The first thing one notices about this beer is how it pours. I poured from a 25.4 ounce bottle into a snifter. It is very pretty. It has a nice golden yellow color and a full head. The aroma is mild, sweet, and has a little citrus character. The taste is wonderful. It is very similar to the aroma, sweet and citrus. It is full without over powering. There is virtually no aftertaste. I thoroughly enjoyed drinking this beer and will definitely drink it again.
I found this beer at my local Harris Teeter, so it is widely available.
Final Rating: 5 out of 6 points.
I have been lax recently, so this entry is a two-fer. In the interest of variety I will be reviewing two beers, one dark and one light, one bad and one good.
Here we go. First the bad:
R.J. Rockers Bald Eagle Brown
Some Facts: The R.J. Rockers brewery is located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. They were the first micro-brewery located Spartanburg. The company brews six different beers. The Bald Eagle Brown has 5.6% ABV. More information about the company and their beers can be found at their website.
What they say: A 2.78 rating out of 5.0 at ratebeer.com, putting it in their 27th percentile overall. It has a 3.58 rating out of 5.0 at BeerAdvocate.com, giving it an overall B grade.
What I say: I poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass. The beer has a murky brown color and a head that is gone before you know it. It is not appealing. It has a nice sweet aroma. The flavor is initially bold and sweet. It has a very hoppy finish and aftertaste. It does have a complex and full flavor, but that is not necessarily a good thing. I would not recommend this beer. There are many other better brown ales out there.
I found this beer at my favorite little country store full of craft beer, so it should be widely available.
Final Rating: 2.5 out of 6 pints.
Now the good, really good:
Delirium Tremens.
Some Facts: Delirium is brewed by Brouwerij Huyghe in Belgium. It is 8.5% to 9% ABV. It is an award winning beer that has been brewed since 1989. It was named the “Greatest Beer in the World” at the 1998 World Beer Championships in Chicago, Illinois. More information about this beer can be found at their website.
What they say: A 4.04 rating out of 5.0 at BeerAdvocate.com for a grade of A-.
What I say: First, I am not a big fan of Belgian ales. That being said, Delirium Tremens is amazing. The first thing one notices about this beer is how it pours. I poured from a 25.4 ounce bottle into a snifter. It is very pretty. It has a nice golden yellow color and a full head. The aroma is mild, sweet, and has a little citrus character. The taste is wonderful. It is very similar to the aroma, sweet and citrus. It is full without over powering. There is virtually no aftertaste. I thoroughly enjoyed drinking this beer and will definitely drink it again.
I found this beer at my local Harris Teeter, so it is widely available.
Final Rating: 5 out of 6 points.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Movie Review - Watchmen
So, I've just gotten back from seeing Watchmen. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a comic book fan and I am big fan of the Watchmen book.
The movie faithfully follows the story in the comic as much as it can. Filming every part of the story would have made the movie way too long. In fact, the sub-plot involving the "comic-in-a-comic" Tales of the Black Freighter has been made into it's own animated full length feature that will be released on DVD later in March. The sub-plot of the street corner with the newsstand is also mostly cut out. The newsstand is shown near the end. Those who didn't read the book would not understand the significance of this shot. It is one of many examples in the movie of there being a small piece that enhances the movie, only if you have read the book. Lastly, the catastrophic event near the end is different. Again this is because the sub-plot involving this in the book is too long to film.
I must say though, sticking so closely to the source material makes portions of the dialogue seem a little cheesy and heavy-handed. This is because the book and movie try to be very dark and real. Most comics that are turned into movies still maintain a sense of fantasy so the dialogue is allowed to be a little over the top. Watchmen tries to be too real so some of the words seem corny.
The movie is visually stunning. It is slick and stylized and sexy (especially Malin Ackerman, and especially during her sex scene aboard Archimedes in which she was naked except for thigh high black leather boots, fulfilling many a fan boy's fantasy.) The action was a lot of fun to watch, the fight scenes especially. Of course, the stunning visuals are to be expected from director Zach Snyder, the man behind the beautifully bloody 300. He definitely maintained the visual aesthetic of the book.
The actors that were cast maintain this visual. Each of the principal actors looks strikingly similar to their character, with the exception of Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias. The book portrays him as a tall, broad chested, blond, athletic, All-American male-type. Like he is a Navy pilot from La Jolla, CA who paid his way through college playing quarterback. The actor, Matthew Goode, is blond, but shorter, thinner, and British (the accent comes out every now and then.) At first it bothered me, but by the end of the movie I understood why they used him. He was great. None of the actors were big name A-listers so their fame did not take away from their performance or their look. (Billy Crudup is the most famous, but his character is blue, glowing, and naked, i.e. made using a green screen.)
Most of the reviews I have read said that if you have not read the graphic novel there will be some things that are confusing. They also said that if you read the graphic novel you will probably understand the movie much better than someone who had not. As someone who has read Watchmen, I totally agree. There are characters, signs on the street, restaurants, and advertising that appear that have significance, but are lost on and could confuse those who didn't read the book. The example that struck me the most was the music. As Nite Owl and Rorschach approach Ozymandias' Antarctic headquarters Jimi Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower" is playing. At the end of that portion of the book there is a quote ("Outside in the cold distance/A wild cat did it growl/Two riders were approaching/And the wind began to howl") from the song printed (attributed to Bob Dylan because he wrote the song, but Hendrix's version is more famous.) I am a big fan of Hendrix, but I don't think I would have gotten the significance of the lyric without seeing it printed.
I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I loved the little nods to the comic book and other things throughout. (Look at the combination of the briefcase Rorschach's analyst carries. Spoiler: it's "0300".) I liked the style. It is fast paced, action packed, and sexy. It is not as deep or poignant as the comic was. This is because it is no longer 1986 and the paranoia of communism no longer exists. But some of the themes do apply, like terrorism and cowboy presidents.
So, if you've read the book, go out, see the movie, and enjoy. If you haven't read the book, go out, get the book, read it, then see the movie and enjoy.
The movie faithfully follows the story in the comic as much as it can. Filming every part of the story would have made the movie way too long. In fact, the sub-plot involving the "comic-in-a-comic" Tales of the Black Freighter has been made into it's own animated full length feature that will be released on DVD later in March. The sub-plot of the street corner with the newsstand is also mostly cut out. The newsstand is shown near the end. Those who didn't read the book would not understand the significance of this shot. It is one of many examples in the movie of there being a small piece that enhances the movie, only if you have read the book. Lastly, the catastrophic event near the end is different. Again this is because the sub-plot involving this in the book is too long to film.
I must say though, sticking so closely to the source material makes portions of the dialogue seem a little cheesy and heavy-handed. This is because the book and movie try to be very dark and real. Most comics that are turned into movies still maintain a sense of fantasy so the dialogue is allowed to be a little over the top. Watchmen tries to be too real so some of the words seem corny.
The movie is visually stunning. It is slick and stylized and sexy (especially Malin Ackerman, and especially during her sex scene aboard Archimedes in which she was naked except for thigh high black leather boots, fulfilling many a fan boy's fantasy.) The action was a lot of fun to watch, the fight scenes especially. Of course, the stunning visuals are to be expected from director Zach Snyder, the man behind the beautifully bloody 300. He definitely maintained the visual aesthetic of the book.
The actors that were cast maintain this visual. Each of the principal actors looks strikingly similar to their character, with the exception of Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias. The book portrays him as a tall, broad chested, blond, athletic, All-American male-type. Like he is a Navy pilot from La Jolla, CA who paid his way through college playing quarterback. The actor, Matthew Goode, is blond, but shorter, thinner, and British (the accent comes out every now and then.) At first it bothered me, but by the end of the movie I understood why they used him. He was great. None of the actors were big name A-listers so their fame did not take away from their performance or their look. (Billy Crudup is the most famous, but his character is blue, glowing, and naked, i.e. made using a green screen.)
Most of the reviews I have read said that if you have not read the graphic novel there will be some things that are confusing. They also said that if you read the graphic novel you will probably understand the movie much better than someone who had not. As someone who has read Watchmen, I totally agree. There are characters, signs on the street, restaurants, and advertising that appear that have significance, but are lost on and could confuse those who didn't read the book. The example that struck me the most was the music. As Nite Owl and Rorschach approach Ozymandias' Antarctic headquarters Jimi Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower" is playing. At the end of that portion of the book there is a quote ("Outside in the cold distance/A wild cat did it growl/Two riders were approaching/And the wind began to howl") from the song printed (attributed to Bob Dylan because he wrote the song, but Hendrix's version is more famous.) I am a big fan of Hendrix, but I don't think I would have gotten the significance of the lyric without seeing it printed.
I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I loved the little nods to the comic book and other things throughout. (Look at the combination of the briefcase Rorschach's analyst carries. Spoiler: it's "0300".) I liked the style. It is fast paced, action packed, and sexy. It is not as deep or poignant as the comic was. This is because it is no longer 1986 and the paranoia of communism no longer exists. But some of the themes do apply, like terrorism and cowboy presidents.
So, if you've read the book, go out, see the movie, and enjoy. If you haven't read the book, go out, get the book, read it, then see the movie and enjoy.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale - Beer of the Week 3
Beer of the Week 3
Monty Python’s Holy Grail Ale
The Facts: Monty Python’s Holy Grail Ale is brewed by the Black Sheep Brewery in Masham, North Yorkshire, England. They started brewing the beer in 1999 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. It has 4.7% ABV. More information about the beer and the brewery can be found at www.blacksheepbrewery.co.uk
What They Say: Average rating of 2.93 out of 5 at RateBeer.com. Average rating of 3.49 out of 5 at BeerAdvocate.com
What I Say: When I first saw this beer on the shelf I thought it was a bit of a gimmick. Well, it turns out it kind of is a gimmick. The beer is ok. It has a honey yellow color and very little head. One of the first things that hit me was the beer’s aroma. It has a strong, floral, hoppy, smell. That translates into the flavor as well. The flavor has some floral notes. At first I was drinking it ice cold out of the fridge. As the beer warmed up the flavor became fuller and more complex. The bottle says “serve cool.” I would definitely recommend doing so. It makes the beer more enjoyable.
Final Rating: 3 out of 6 pints.
Monty Python’s Holy Grail Ale
The Facts: Monty Python’s Holy Grail Ale is brewed by the Black Sheep Brewery in Masham, North Yorkshire, England. They started brewing the beer in 1999 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. It has 4.7% ABV. More information about the beer and the brewery can be found at www.blacksheepbrewery.co.uk
What They Say: Average rating of 2.93 out of 5 at RateBeer.com. Average rating of 3.49 out of 5 at BeerAdvocate.com
What I Say: When I first saw this beer on the shelf I thought it was a bit of a gimmick. Well, it turns out it kind of is a gimmick. The beer is ok. It has a honey yellow color and very little head. One of the first things that hit me was the beer’s aroma. It has a strong, floral, hoppy, smell. That translates into the flavor as well. The flavor has some floral notes. At first I was drinking it ice cold out of the fridge. As the beer warmed up the flavor became fuller and more complex. The bottle says “serve cool.” I would definitely recommend doing so. It makes the beer more enjoyable.
Final Rating: 3 out of 6 pints.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Show Review: Brad Doggett, Tim Be Told, and Six Chasing Seven at the Gravity Lounge
So last night on a whim my wife and I decided to head to the Gravity Lounge here in C'Ville to check out the show.
The line-up was Brad Doggett, a solo artist from Richmond, Tim Be Told, a local band comprised of mostly UVA students, and Six Chasing Seven a funky rock band from Lynchburg.
First up was Brad Doggett. He played solo with an acoustic guitar. He played five songs, three originals and two covers. His covers were No Such Thing by John Mayer and I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. I'm not suprised at all that a guy who goes on stage with just a guitar is influenced by Mayer and Mraz. However, he was much more interesting when he played his own songs. His personality really came out. He played the covers adequately and did put his own spin on them, but he was still operating within someone else's songwriting. When he played his originals he shone.
Next up was Tim Be Told, who had the best performance of the night. They rock. They are soulful. They are talented and literate. They play a piano and guitar driven style of soulful pop-rock. Their singer, Tim Ouyang, has a look that betrays his voice and vocal style. He is a small Asian guy who has soul that some famous R&B singers wish they had. My only complaint is with their lead guitarist. He was a little too fond of the wah pedal. Other than that they were great. I am thoroughly impressed. Their website, www.timbetold.com, is coming soon, so until then check them out here. They also have an EP available on ITunes.
The headliner was Six Chasing Seven. They put on a great show. Their style is a soulful pop-rock also, with a reggae influence. It was easy to see why they were paired with Tim Be Told. They were at their best when they were playing in that reggae influenced style. When they tried to play it straight they suffered a little. Their singer, Dickie Redding, is much better when is vocalizing in more of a rapping style than straight singing. Their rhythm section is very good, despite the problems with bass guitar mix for 90% of the show. Check them at their Myspace page here for more info on the band. They have an EP available on ITunes as well.
My wife and I had a great time at the show and enjoyed each band. The Gravity Lounge continues to be one of the best rooms in C'Ville and one of my favorite venues.
The line-up was Brad Doggett, a solo artist from Richmond, Tim Be Told, a local band comprised of mostly UVA students, and Six Chasing Seven a funky rock band from Lynchburg.
First up was Brad Doggett. He played solo with an acoustic guitar. He played five songs, three originals and two covers. His covers were No Such Thing by John Mayer and I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. I'm not suprised at all that a guy who goes on stage with just a guitar is influenced by Mayer and Mraz. However, he was much more interesting when he played his own songs. His personality really came out. He played the covers adequately and did put his own spin on them, but he was still operating within someone else's songwriting. When he played his originals he shone.
Next up was Tim Be Told, who had the best performance of the night. They rock. They are soulful. They are talented and literate. They play a piano and guitar driven style of soulful pop-rock. Their singer, Tim Ouyang, has a look that betrays his voice and vocal style. He is a small Asian guy who has soul that some famous R&B singers wish they had. My only complaint is with their lead guitarist. He was a little too fond of the wah pedal. Other than that they were great. I am thoroughly impressed. Their website, www.timbetold.com, is coming soon, so until then check them out here. They also have an EP available on ITunes.
The headliner was Six Chasing Seven. They put on a great show. Their style is a soulful pop-rock also, with a reggae influence. It was easy to see why they were paired with Tim Be Told. They were at their best when they were playing in that reggae influenced style. When they tried to play it straight they suffered a little. Their singer, Dickie Redding, is much better when is vocalizing in more of a rapping style than straight singing. Their rhythm section is very good, despite the problems with bass guitar mix for 90% of the show. Check them at their Myspace page here for more info on the band. They have an EP available on ITunes as well.
My wife and I had a great time at the show and enjoyed each band. The Gravity Lounge continues to be one of the best rooms in C'Ville and one of my favorite venues.
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