Beer makers sure do love to crank out "limited edition" bottlings these days, huh? It used to be they'd peg these releases to the four seasons, but when that didn't sate beer drinkers thirst for variety they started tying them into just about anything and everything on the calendar -- solstices, equinoxes, full moons, half moons, spring break, tax day... you name it! That's all well and good, particularly for booze-hounds with ADD, but in my experience rarely has a seasonal beer rated as highly or surpassed the original.
That said, Newcastle's new spring seasonal is one hell of a tasty brew. Founders' Ale, which is available nationwide now through April, is a classic, medium-bodied bitter ale -- dry, hoppy, a discernible caramel sweetness. It's quite crisp and earthy, thanks to the Styrian Goldings hops from Eastern Europe (similar to the mild Fuggles hops from England, for you hopheads out there). Founders' Ale is not as nut-flavored or foamy as Newcastle Brown, nor as filling. Indeed, it is eminently drinkable. Hell, it's almost scary how easily this beer goes down. And at 4.8% ABV, let's just say the six-pack I "sampled" left a lasting impression.
Founders' Ale 6-pack retails for around $9. For more info visit http://newcastlebrown.com/
The universe doesn't eat your soul in one gulp. It savors every morsel. I know exactly where I was when it last took a bite out of me. It was last September, in the cookware section of the Bed, Bath & Beyond in Culver City, California.
At first I didn't even know I was wounded. My girlfriend and I needed frying pans. In the past, this particular task had required a bare minimum amount of thought and effort on my part. Indeed, up until that day, I’d spent roughly the same amount of time pondering frying pan design as I had writing out thank you cards to aggressive student loan officers.
My girlfriend, on the other hand, appears to have minored in Skillet Science in college.
“Are you crazy?” she shouted, practically swatting me over the head with a Teflon pan I’d indiscriminately plucked from a shelf. “We’re not buying that!”
She then offered up an impassioned indictment of the non-stick coating used in Teflon pans, claiming it releases toxic gases and has been linked to cancer and all sorts of other gross health problems. Oh, and it also inexplicably kills cute little birds… and not just when frying them.
I countered weakly with, “Yeah, but Teflon’s, like, easy to clean and stuff.” She looked at me with a mix of disgust and pity that has become strangely comforting to me, especially after sex.
Listen in as Stretch and Dan visit the 3rd Annual Pinot Days festival at the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport. While there they chat with reps from some of their favorite California wineries, including Rodney Strong, La Fenetre and Big Basin.
The Grand Tasting showcased over 80 phenomenal producers of pinot noir. The boys were able to sample up to 300 pinots from every important pinot noir region, from the Russian River Valley to the Santa Rita Hills, Oregon to the Anderson Valley, Burgundy to New Zealand to the Sonoma Coast.
Additional Info
- Date February 1st, 2012
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Mackinlay's Rare Old Highland Malt Rises Again
The legendary Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton once said, "if I had not some strength of will I would make a first class drunkard." His storied adventures in the South Pole speak to the scope of the man's willpower but, make no mistake, Shackleton also enjoyed his whisky.
In 1909, severe weather conditions and dwindling supplies forced Shackleton and the crew from the Nimrod to abandon their two-year quest to be the first to reach the South Pole. In their haste to get the hell out of there with unfrosty nads, they left behind a few provisions including -- and we can only assume this was inadvertent -- three crates of fine Scottish whisky. One hundred years later, the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust found the abandoned booze, perfectly preserved in the ice beneath Shackleton's hut. It was later identified to be whisky from Chas Mackinlay & Co., produced at the Glen Mhor distillery in Inverness.
And since we live in an age when no good marketing opportunity goes unexploited, the Mackinlay's Rare Old Highland Malt has been reborn. Of course! Now, there's an interesting story surrounding the Mackinlay's brand, the company that has owned it since 1995, and the palingenesis of the Shackleton whisky. Rather than recap all that here, I'll direct you to Tim F's blog at TheWhiskeyExchange.com, in which he lays it all out quite succinctly.
I'm here to tell you how the stuff tastes: Really, really good. So good, in fact, that I am prepared to bestow the coveted Imbiber Imprimatur© upon it DESPITE what I would normally consider a prohibitive suggested retail price of 200 bones. It's a blend of whiskies ranging in age from 8- to 30-years-old, and the most seductive aspect of the finished product is the sweetness. Not cloyingly sweet, mind you, but smooth and delicious -- certainly as dessert-like as fine whisky comes. Caramel. Apple. Nutmeg. I tasted all of that right up front, with some pear and lemon on the finish. All of it balanced perfectly, a credit to master blender Richard Paterson, who hailed the discovery of the whisky under the ice as “a gift from the heavens.” Indeed it is.
Oh, and you're going to need a cigar to accompany this spirit, as I'm sure old Shackleton would have wanted it that way.
For more visit http://www.enduringspirit.com
