Archives for October, 2004
Way to Go Red Sox!
Posted on October 20th, 2004 @ 11:56 PM EST
I am by no means a baseball fan, but I figured since hockey season has been cancelled this year and I’m really missing watching sports, that I’d watch the Red Sox game tonight. I thought it would be a great game since they tied up the ALCS series after being down 3-0 to the Yankees.
After David Ortiz hit a grand slam, which was the second one in Red Sox post-season history, it brought the score of the game to 6-0. It seemed like they were definitely going to win until they pulled their pitcher in the 7th inning. The new pitcher, allowed two runs after three people had batted and things weren’t looking too good. They decided to pull him after the one inning and ended up winning 10-3.
This game set several post-season records; it was the greatest comeback in baseball history (where a team has won the series after a 3-0 deficit), it was the worst game a team had ever lost (after losing four straight games), and it was the first time the Red Sox had beaten the Yankees in a series.
I’m looking forward to watching the World Series and hope the Red Sox keep up their lucky streak. They’re definitely due for a win since they haven’t won the World Series since 1918.
Link to this entry • Posted in Miscellaneous •
Say Hello to My Little Friend
Posted on October 18th, 2004 @ 10:58 AM EST
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My iPod from FreeiPods.com finally came this morning! Not a bad deal considering it’s worth $299 and it took less than an hour of my time to get. Gratis had emailed the tracking number to me last Wednesday and I’ve been anxiously awaiting it’s arrival the past week! It was delivered via FedEx and made it’s way from Shanghai, China -> Anchorage, AL -> Indianapolis, IN -> Greensboro, NC -> Wilmington, NC then finally to Carolina Beach, NC.
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As usual, Apple did a superb job with their packaging: a cube that lifted out of a square cover (as you can see in the above photos) which had little compartments for each piece that was included. It’s brand spankin’ new and is a 20 GB (4th generation) model that can hold up to 5,000 songs. Now I just need to get Griffin’s iTrip so I can listen to all of my music in my Xterra directly off my iPod. No more burning CDs and having to change them while driving!
Link to this entry • Posted in Technology •
2004 Lighthouse Beer & Wine Microbrewery Festival
Posted on October 17th, 2004 @ 1:05 PM EST
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Yesterday, my wife and I went to the Lighthouse Beer & Wine Microbrewery Festival that took place at Hugh MacRae Park in Wilmington. It was a great day for the event. The weather was perfect; it was mostly sunny and the temperatures were in the low-70s. Over 35 microbreweries were there including one from Canada and another from Germany, along with a few live-bands and local restaurants. We arrived about 15 minutes before the festival started so we could get there before it got crowded.
The first brewery we went to was Dogfish Head. I hoped that they would have had more of a selection of their beers, but they only had their Shelter Pale Ale and 60 Minute IPA. One beer I was looking forward to trying was Highland Brewing Company’s Gaelic Ale. It poured a dark, amber color and had a nice caramel flavor in the malt then finished with a hoppy taste. All-in-all it was pretty good and I gave it a 4/5 rating. We learned of a new microbrewery that is opening here in Wilmington next month called the Azalea Coast Brewing Company. It’s good to know there’s another microbrewery that’s going to be in town!
Since it’s Fall, many of the breweries had their seasonal pumpkin ales which I really like. The Carolina Beer Company’s Cottonwood Pumpkin Spiced Ale was my favorite with Brooklyn Brewery’s Post Road Pumpkin Ale being a close second. I still like Dogfish Head Brewery’s Punkin’ Ale the most, but unfortunately they didn’t have it available since it’s over North Carolina’s lame 6% law that states that no beer can contain over 6% ABV (alcohol by volume).
After about three hours, the alcohol was really starting to kick in and the lines to the port-a-jons were getting long so we decided to leave. We had a great time and discovered a lot of new beers that we really liked.
Listed below are all of the beers that I sampled at the festival along with my rating for each beer on a scale of 1-5.
| Microbrewery | Beer | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Apex Brewing Company | Sir Walter Raleigh Lager | 3 |
| Azalea Coast Brewing | Helles Lager | 3.5 |
| India Pale Ale | 4 | |
| Blue Moon Brewing Company | Harvest Pumpkin | 3.5 |
| Brooklyn Brewery | East India Pale Ale | 4 |
| Post Road Pumpkin Ale | 4 | |
| Carolina Beer Company | Cottonwood Pumpkin Spiced Ale | 4.5 |
| Dogfish Head Brewery | 60 Minute IPA | 4 |
| Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery | Amber Ale | 4 |
| Edenton Brewing Company | Joseph Hewes Revolutionary Ale | 4 |
| Pumpkinhead Ale | 4 | |
| Flying Dog Brewery | Road Dog Ale | 3 |
| Front Street Brewery | River City Raspberry Wheat Ale | 4.5 |
| Green Mountain Cidery | Woodchuck Draft Cider | 3.5 |
| Highland Brewing | Gaelic Ale | 4.5 |
| Pyramid Alehouse | Hefeweizen | 4 |
| Red Oak Brewery | Red Oak | 4 |
| Redhook Brewing Company | India Pale Ale | 4.5 |
| Winterhook | 4 | |
| Samuel Adams | Boston Lager | 4.5 |
| Sierra Nevada Brewing Company | Pale Ale | 4 |
| Spaten Brewery | Franziskaner Hefe Weiss | 4 |
Link to this entry • Posted in Beer •
Dogfish Head Brewery
Posted on October 11th, 2004 @ 10:03 PM EST
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Last week I went up to visit my parents and sister in Maryland for a five-day trip. On Friday we drove out to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to have dinner at Dogfish Head Brewery. On the way there we stopped at their brewing facility, which is roughly 25 minutes northwest of Rehoboth Beach. About 35 people had shown up for the tour which was a lot more than I had expected since it’s out in the boonies. During the sampling, they let us try their Lawnmower Ale, Shelter Pale Ale, 60 Minute IPA, 90 Minute IPA, and Punkin’ Ale which didn’t really have a beer taste but tasted just like spiced pumpkin.
At the restaurant, I couldn’t decide which beer I wanted (they were all really good on the tour) so i ended up getting a sampler that had their 60 Minute IPA, 90 Minute IPA, Punkin’ Ale, Raison D’Etre, and Chicory Stout. I then ordered their 120 Minute IPA, which they call the Holy Grail for Hopheads. It had a whopping 20% ABV (alcohol by volume) and it was served in a snifter glass. It was definitely one of the best beers I’ve ever had.
Dogfish Head is without a doubt my favorite microbrewery. They’re very original and have a creative approach with their beers and promotional materials. I like how they have a “let’s make whatever the heck we want” mindset because they’ll just toss in whatever ingredients they want such as raisins, currants, apricots, muscat grapes, pumpkins, etc. They also brew their own spirits which is the only microbrewery that I know of who does this.
I bought a four-pack of the 90 Minute IPA and took it home so my wife could give it a try. The beer was surprisingly very good and tasted just like the beer at the brewery, even though it was out of a bottle. It turns out that Lighthouse Beer & Wine, which is located in Wrightsville Beach (30 minutes away), carries some of their beer! Unfortunately, they cannot carry the 90 Minute IPA, 120 Minute IPA, or Punkin’ Ale because of North Carolina’s 6% law but I’ll gladly settle for what I can get.
I’ve posted some photos that I took of the brewery in the photographs section. I’ve also added a new page so I can keep track of all the different microbreweries I’ve visited.
Link to this entry • Posted in Beer, Travel •
Letting Off Some Steam
Posted on October 1st, 2004 @ 7:36 PM EST
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Mount St. Helens erupted today for the first time in 18 years. A plume of steam and white ash was sent nearly 10,000 feet into the clear blue sky. Once the smoke had dissipated, a 100-foot-wide crater was revealed. I can’t believe it had gone for so long without any activity, then a little over a month after I was there, it erupted.
Link to this entry • Posted in News •
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