Month: October 2004

US Election Pool III

Don’t forget to get some picks in for the elction pool. I know I said there was a deadline but seeing as the web is full of rightists and I am picking Kerry – and – as it looks like Kerry may actually win…well, I am just looking forward to the gnashing of teeth, the neo-con v. Tory accusations, the chicken little dire predictions.

Most of what you need to know is here at the Electoral Vote Predictor 2004. The rules once again are as follows with my picks as an illustration…

1.  Electoral college overall: 50 points for being spot on, one point lost for every electoral college vote off +/- for the winner. No points for being 50 or over off score. Total 538 so 270 needed to win.

My picks:  I say…um…285 Kerry and 253 Bush. I do not care if that combination is actually possible. Nearness is what matters.

2.  President: 30 points for naming the winner.

My pick: I obviously say Kerry…not because it is obvious he will win but because I gave him the most electoral votes.

3.  Key States: 10 points for picking the winner in the following states correctly – Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maine, Missouri, Colorado.

My picks: Kerry: Florida, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Ohio; Bush: Maine, Colorado.

4.  Senate: 20 points for for being spot on, four points lost for every senate seat off +/- for the final count of the majority.

My picks: 49 Democrats, 50 Republicans and 1 Independent.

5.  Wild card: Pick your own non-Federal race at any level down to local district attorney for an incumbant to lose. 20 points if you picked right.

My picks: hmmm…this is tricky. I think in the 49th District of the New York State Senate, the Democratic Candidate David Valesky is goin’ to Albany!!!

He’s goiing to win because the right has split the vote with both Republican incumbant and Independent Conservative candidates. Has the right learned nothing from Preston Manning???

Did I mention there are prizes? I always give out prizes. More info here and here.

Stouts: Freeminer Deep Shaft, Gloucestershire, England

dss1Who can resist when one reviewer says: ” Very possibly the darkest beer in the world.” Well…I suppose lots of people who do not like dark or black beer. But for people who understand that Guinness is actually red, this kind of line makes an ale very attractive.

Freeminer Brewery is one of the small brewers in the Wessex Craft Brewers Co-operative, a shadowy group that appears to make – or perhaps only bottle – fine traditional West Country English ales through some sort of equipment sharing. RCH Brewery, Ash Vine Brewery, Hand Brewed Beers and Freeminer Brewery all appear to have been part of the co-op. Ash Vine, makers of the excellent Hop and Glory pale ale which the LCBO carried in the spring of 2001, went under a couple of years ago. RCH started in a Hotel serving only the clientele. Small timers.

But small is good. The advocatonians rate it 4.31 out of 5 which is the only stout ahead of Guinness at 4.27. Which is all very nice but I have yet even to open the bottle, so verklempt I am over the Sox and Yanks going into the 10th inning as I type. The head is mocha and below, inky. The stout fan I married…yet did not buy a second of these for…equates a good stout with a good chocolate and that is there, fine graininess like espresso or dark chocolate. Raisins from dark crystal malt. Like Shipyard IPA, it only uses the woodsy Fuggles hop, so less minty than Guinness which uses Northern Brewer. The brewer says:

Guardian Bottle Conditioned beer of 1996. Not for wimps! Everything a BCB should be. Packed solid with malt, hops, and oats. Possibly the darkest stout of all time, a single varietal beer, made only with Fuggles hops, packed with bitterness, and brimming with aroma hopping, a deep and complex beer, worth taking some time over, and exploring the Hampton Court like maze of complex flavours. Initially, the dry, biscuit flavour of roast barley attacks the palate, soon to be replaced by the soothing Fuggles balm of rich smokiness, and then layer upon layer of malted oats, rich dark malts, and an unidentifiable eutectic¹ finish of pure stout character. The definitive stout for the discerning drinker, dive in and explore!!

Expensive at 4.99 USD for a single pint but this is pretty much the premier grand cru classé of stouts. If you were to look for a more available comparable stout you could try Royal Extra from Trinidad but you have to remove its sweetness and replace it with about 27 other layers of flavour. And that is impossible.

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¹Loverly word. “The lowest temperature at which a mix of two materials will melt. Often the temperature is an anomaly, that is, it is much lower than the melting temperatures of only slightly different mixtures. Lead-tin solder is an example. Lead melts at 327C, tin at 231C. The lowest melting combination is 67 lead, 33 tin (180C). Non-eutectic mixtures have a melting or softening range. Such mixtures do not flow well until thoroughly heated past the softening range. This softening phenomenon is what makes glazes hang onto the ware.”

Ne Drubbé Pas


The Beauty

I am getting a life-size statute of Ortiz for my living room and one for portland, too, to stand next to the illuminated full-size goose. I was all prepared for a black bordered bosox cap on the front page of this organ when I heard that in fact we won in the 12th. OK- I fell asleep listening to the game on WTIC 1080. Those waves of propagation are so soothing. Now we are on a role and…oops…Mr. Who’s your Daddy v. Mussina, whose head hovers smilingly to the right. Oh me nerves. Has Derek Lowe reconstituted himself in water? Has he added to the inevitable mid-winter trade value he will bring in?

Ship’s Blog

My interest in canals has been stoked this week with the delivery of Carol Sheriff’s book The Artificial River, about the socio-economic effects of the building and rebuilding Erie Canal from 1817 to 1862. Under a search for “canal blog” I found this wonderful site, Ship’s Blog.

There is something quite heartening knowing I can walk out the door here, get on a boat and sail to Ithaca or Burlington, Vt. I think I am going to have to undertake some canal based explorations of western New York next summer…all, of course, a blatant fraud, a front for the hunting out of micro brewers in the company of the little people but these are the skills that keep you going.

Deuchars IPA, Caledonian, Scotland

deuchIndia Pale Ale did not originate in from Scotland, though the Scots brewers were early adopters of most English styles as a matter of survival. This very light ale for an IPA has something of the Scots roast barley bite and a slight smokey yeast there as well as a very nice bright orangy flavour, likely a combination of some challenger hops and the very fruity standard Scottish pale malt, Golden Promise. As you would expect from a Scottish beer, it is soft, made of low acid water. As the brewer’s site quotes from the formidable author on ales Roger Protz: “above all a drink with enormous drinkability.” OK…sometime beer writers are a wee bit at a loss for words.

Low and behold, it was the Champion Beer of Britian in 2002. That is a pretty snazzy claim to fame. This is an award given out by the Campaign for Real Ale or CAMRA annually. CAMRA has a rather involved history well documented at its excellent web site. Deuchars IPA also has a rather involved history is terms of its name which is all explained at the brewery’s web site. This beer advocatonian review is spot on:

A golden blond color, a little pale for an IPA. The head was small and patchy like most cask ales and left excellent sheets of lace. Carbonation was sparse with two distince sizes of bubbles, enormous ones and very tiny ones that form tight beads. This combo looked awesome. The aroma was of sweet malts with some citrusy hops. I also detected a sourness, maybe the cask was a little old. The taste was of bread, honey and subtle floral hops. There was also a solid bitter base and some pleasant fruity esters. The mouthfeel was crisp and light.

As a brew from Scotland, it will not particularly introduce you to the ales of Scotland. As an IPA, it will not particularly introduce you to India Pale Ales. But is it a very nice soft pint, a leaver of very lovely laces and one that Ben can actually find in his local shop because it is at the LCBO. Well worth a look.