New Belgium Trippel.

See post below. Color is wrong.

Thanks for the ears, Sister.

New Belguim Abbey.

Look. I highly doubted anything not coming out of Belgium and calling itself Belgian-styled was going to leave an impression on me. And I was correct. But as long as you go into something with lowered expectations, you can't be too disappointed, I suppose.

Looks like an abbey. Kind of smells like an abbey. But they really mean it when they say, "...brewed in the style of a Belgian 'Double'..." Style. Of. Not "is". Nothing much to report other than a watered-down abbey knockoff with hints of apple.

Schlafly Coffee Stout.

This had a cute coffee nose to it, but there's nothing too special about it. It tastes like black, iced coffee, sugar, no cream. Kind of a strange sensation. It is brewed with actual coffee from a local roaster, Kaldi's.

New Belgium 1554.

OMG NOTHING IS AS GOOD AS I REMEMBER.

He'Brew Jewbelation Ale.

Curiously cute, obviously. Jews. 12 hops, 12 malts, 12% ABV. Very finely carbonated, which dies off quickly, drinks like a stout. The taste is wildly complex, which is both expected and surprising considering the 12 theme and the other He'Brews I tried. It's strong and dark...but not mind-blowing. This is kind of the equivalent of my morning Yuban. Sort of? But not really. Cute, nonetheless. And it comes in a 22 oz bottle.

Schlafly APA.

APA is an American Pale Ale. The hoppy aroma seemed really promising, but it lacks the bitterness of even run-of-the-mill IPAs. Oddly, it seems to have some sort of lemony or citrus-y aftertaste. Maybe it's those Bud Light Limes I tried for the first time last night (which just taste like watery, flat Sprite), but this might actually be accented well with some lime or lemon. Or both.

Schlafly Oatmeal Stout.

Not as good as I remember.

Addendum, 1159.51009: No, it's not as good as I remember, but I like it all the same, maybe because I've got tongue for nut browns lately.

He'Brew Genesis Ale.

Ale-y. Bland. Meh.

I was apparently too drunk to take a picture.

He'Brew Messiah Bold.

This is like drinking Diet Caffeine Free Coke. What the hell.

Pyramid Breweries Curve Ball.

What a shock. I've become far too accustomed to drinking doppelbocks, stouts, unfiltereds. I haven't been able to see through my beer in quite some time. That being said, it is crisp and refreshing just like the bottle says. I bet it'd be a lot more so if it wasn't 2 months past its expiration. I picked it up as part of a mix-a-six, so I guess I can't expect too much.

Fizzy but smooth, a slightly-heavier-than-lager texture with an ale-y aftertaste. Nothing out of this world but would make a great summer drinker.

Goose Island Nut Brown Ale.

Hm. Hm. I have to say that this is the first disappointing offering from Goose Island. Not up to snuff when compared to Blackstone's in Nashville.

Cabbage.

Yes, yes, another blurry picture. Guess I'm too drunk to hold the camera steady. Anyway, the whole point of this is to talk about that cabbage.

So Elise is always serving shredded lettuce or cabbage sprinkled with vinegar and salt with her Mexican meals. I like vinegar. I put it in soy sauces, corned beef and cabbage, and the like. So I finally got around to this since I've trying to feed myself without going to the grocery. I did throw this in with the potatoes for a bit since I wasn't actually planning on doing this. But I figured, "Why not?" Turns out it's awesome. Shredded cabbage, vinegar, salt. Damn.

Unibroue Trois Pistoles.

Another offering from Unibroue. Not bad, per se. But it feels like a flimsier version of Maredsous Double.

Affligem.

This is a nice blonde from Belgium. Very rich and unfiltered, the head was thick and flavorful. I get smell of root beer a little bit. I picked it up for a party and I took the last bottle home to give it a more discerning tasting. It's not too heavy and might make a nice casual beer for me.

Brooklyn Brewery Lager.

For a lager, I found this quite filling and smooth. Rather dark. But inevitably unimpressed.

Brooklyn Brewery Pennant Ale '55.

This is curiously hoppy for some generic ale. It's actually IPA-ish but only slightly and finishes rather watery. It's just filler.

Brooklyn Brewery IPA.

Hm. Hm. Hoppy. Not as hoppy as Southern Tier, which is somewhat undesireable. Not as sweet as Southern Tier which is nice. Lighter in the mouth.

Man, I just got a craving for a Goose Island IPA or Matilda.

Brooklyn Brewery Brown Ale.

Almost a decent substitute for a nut brown. Almost.

Doritos and Juice.

So, there was this one time I went to the grocery and bought a bunch of stuff I didn't really need. Like 4 bags of Doritos. They were on sale. And bottles of pomegranate and blueberry juice. They were store-brand, which is unusual. Anyway. So I broke into some of it.

My juice experience was less than stellar. Not bad. But I'd just rather have POM for just a little more. But maybe it'll be an interesting mixer?

At first, I was a little wary of these Doritos. Pizza Cravers and Ranch. Not Cool Ranch, even. Just ranch. I found it all rather mediocre until I was having the last of it. Turns out a glass of milk with it works wonders which makes sense because pizza and milk is delicious. Also, the last ingredient in rosemary. Well, ok.

Pork empanadas.

I couldn't decide which picture sucked less. They both have their minute pros. This dough, courtesy of Elise, is crazy. 1:1:3 of creme cheese, butter, and flour. The pork was some leftover from some braising and marinated in some of leftover salsa I was trying to get rid of.

The egg wash just before baking helped give it that glossy, buttery finish, as if it needed to look more buttery. The pastry ended up varied, depending on the thickness of how I rolled the dough. But 18 minutes at 375 does it about right.

I also fiddled with the pork a bit. I rarely add salt to things, so I ended up adding a bit of salt and pepper to the marinated pork to end a bit more punch. That went into the second batch, blended with some cheese.

I was out of sour cream, so I used Greek yogurt and jalapeños instead; it worked quite well.

Addendum: These freeze well.

Zen Green Tea Liquer.

This is also long overdue. I had been putting this off until I could find a supplier up here. Which I did, despite being way overpriced. It's something use scarcely anyway. It's a sweet liquer blended with matcha. FOr not being into sweet drinks, I like it quite well. It imparts a smooth, soothing finish to a lot of drinks and adds a nice color to clear drinks. I've had it with tonic, gin, both, and by itself. It's worth the money a sa novelty at the very least.

Finca El Retiro Malbec.

This was weird. Very wet for a red, almost to the point of almost being sour. Thin and grape juicy. Double meh. The most curious thing was a few sips I left in a cup over night. Instead of drying up and leaving a nice snowflake in the morning, there was still fluid, thick, and smelling strong. I did not find it appetizing.

Red Lava Syrah.

Way overdue. I remember nothing. Good thing? The list price is more than I'd pay for it.

CB Chistmas Ale.

I was originally gonig to pick up a 19th Hole if they had it. Which they did. But then I saw this. And I'm a sucker for new beers.

I found it to be quite spicy and refreshing, hearty even. It always nice when a cold brew can pull off a warm feeling. Against mulled wine and egg nog, I think it'd find good company.

CB Canandaigua Ale.

Another growler. I'll just say it wasn't as impressive at the 19th Hole.

Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout.

This one was full of surprises. Apparently, it's an Imperial Stout at 10%ABV. Now, my experience with chocolate beers has been quite mixed, but I have to say that this is quite good. I once read somewhere that as you drink a wider variety of beers, Guinness looses its appeal. This one drives the nail in the Extra Stout's coffin.

I'd comment on the color, but it's completely opaque, even held up to the light. The texture is thick but not sticky; I did feel like I was pouring chocolate milk. The head was a nice mocha color and creamy. The chocolate comes through clean and strong but overall left me with a sticky feeling in the mouth like after drinking something sweet.

It's a seasonal, if you can call October through March seasonal, so I'll stock up a bit. But I look forward to Brooklyn's other offerings.

Ommegang Three Philosophers.

Another offering from Ommegang brewery, which is apparently part of the Duvel family. It's listed as 98% ale, 2% ale with cherries added. Hm. I can't tell if it tastes like cherries or acetone. I picked this up at a friend's recommendation, but something about it doesn't suit me. Eh.

Sandwiches.

I know a lot about sandwiches. I've been eating sandwiches for a very long time. This past summer, I was spoiled by getting to have soup with my sandwich every day. And then, since I wouldn't have such unbridled access to that kind of variety of soups afterwards, I swore off those sandwiches. Listen. I hate sandwiches that involved two slices of bread, one slice of cheese, and two or three slices of deli meat depending on the brand. I've been through a lot of kinds of bread, a lot of kinds of cheese, and a lot kinds of meat. I know a lot about sandwiches.

Unsurprisingly, habits are hard to break. But at least I've tried some variety. And I don't eat them everyday.

Pizza Sub

When you get into eating sliced bread all the time, you realize it's not that great. Subs are great. Salami, pizza sauce, mozz, green pepper, onion.

Pastrami Wrap

Wraps, as it turns out, are also awesome. And lend themselves well to containing vegetables. Sun-dried tomato wrap, cucumber, roma tomato, colby jack, pastrami, chunky tapenade.

Italian Sub

Uh, same thing as a pizza sub? Except tomatoes instead of pizza sauce?

Pumpkin Dinner.

Ok. So this is just a huge novelty really. Pumpkin actually doesn't taste like anything and has a weird texture. But the innards were good. I made it with a mixture of ground beef, brown rice, lentils, onion, and a can of creme of mushroom soup.The insides were actually quite good though nondescript. It was one of those things you can just eat on its own with anything on top or with anything. I think I had some with cheese, some with Frank's, some with yogurt dill sauce. Whatevs.

I ended up using some of the pumpkin for pumpkin pancakes which I made from scratch and not ready-mix stuff. It turned out ok. Some baking soda didn't mix well in a couple cakes but the pumpkin generally lent a fluffy texture.

I also had a bunch of leftover lentil so I make an Indian style lentil soup which was pretty good but needs some work.

CB 19th Hole Ale.

I thought this was an awesome autumn drink. Pumpkin ales just don't cut it most of the time, and I don't want to drink cider all the time. 19th Hole has a creamy but clean taste, with strong overtones of apple.

The carbonation is a little low, but it comes in this sweet jug. It is a growler.

Cookies.

I'm working on committing baking to memory. Baking is weird. This is 1:1:1:1:3 of egg, brown sugar, white sugar, butter, flour, and bit of salt and baking soda. These are toffee and dark chocolate chip cookies, separate.

St. Sebastiaan Dark.

Look. I don't know what was up with this. Or if this is just the way it's supposed to be. But it was super flat. Like drinking Coke that had been left opened in the fridge for a week. But I did get this sweet jug. It's going to be my surreptitious liquor jug. Juggy.

Optimator Spaten Munich.

Ok. I was really excited to find a doppelbock at Wegmans after having Celebrator over the summer. This is brewed by Spaten-Franziskaner. And I have to say it's a little thin. It kind of tastes like iced coffee. It smells very bread-y but the taste is just not up to par, and it goes flat pretty quickly.

Salami Pizza.

I got the idea the other night when a classmate ordered a pie by phone rather than by a website or third-party website. Italian salami. Must be ordered through a live person.

Under the hood, short frenched onions, green pepper, and mushrooms. I was going to add olives, but I forgot about it until much later.

I have to say that fresh tomatoes on a pizza is one of the best toppings ever. Also, another random pizza that I've had that turns out to be really good is mushrooms and jalapeños.

And a swirl of Genoa salami. I was looking for a leaner salami, actually, but I didn't see one at the deli. But salami is far superior to pepperoni. It's bigger, thinner, less greasy, and crisps much, much better. All that trouble we used to go through to get pepperonis on top? Nothing compared to salami on top.

Ommegang Abbey Ale.

This is actually brewed in New York. As a dubbel, it's incredibly bitter. Toasty, nice carbonation, but I find it a little lacking in the flavor department compared to the Maredsous brews. Hm, meh.

I do like it, but it seems I keep thinking about Brother Thelonious. I would like to find something a bit sweeter than what I've been getting.

Koningshoeven Quadrupel.

I'll admit. I don't know much about these Belgian Trappist ales with their dubbels, tripels, and such. All I know is that they keep getting toastier and toastier. And I'll admit, this one was toastier than I'd like, but it had the sweetness and heaviness I've been looking for.

Hoegaarden.

I had some of this witbier at a picnic earlier this year, and I liked it a lot though I didn't have the time to fully enjoy it since I was trying to drink a whole lot of beer before going to do some TA stuffs. But I finally got around to picking up my own sixer and have it in a glass.

Unfiltered and deliciously cloudy, it has a really refreshing mouthfeel. The picture is rather dark and doesn't even come close to reality. The color is really nice, incredibly pale compared to what I normally drink. I also think it has a nice spicy taste that I couldn't put my finger on until last night. It reminds me of Dr. Pepper.

Eggplant Parmesan.

It's been awhile since I've actually put some effort into making something. And the last time I tried making this was in high school. I've gotten smarter and handier with a knife since then.

The rounds were slotted and stuff with minced mushrooms, mozzarella, and Parmesan. I cut garlic powder into the flour and oregano into the bread crumbs. (I've also gotten better at breading things.)

I pan-fried them for a few minutes each side to develop a crust and then baked them for another 10 or so. In retrospect, I should have baked them a bit longer. And added butter.

I used that trusty GV Green Pepper & Mushroom sauce and added some crushed red pepper which I had finally gotten around to buying. All in all, it was pretty ok, but there's a lot of tweaking to be done.

Harvest Moon.

First off, doesn't pumpkin have a really mild flavor? I can't taste anything. Whatevs.

Sam Adams Oktoberfest.

Well, I really thought I had written something down here. I can't say I really noticed much of anything here. It's a lager. But toasty? I was under the impression that it would be fuller. But it's a lager.