Kudos, Jolly Roger

On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:32:27 -0600, Jolly Roger wrote
(in article <jollyroger-4419C6.18322622122008.RemoveThis@news.individual.net>):

[responding to my recommendation of BB Rovers, an Austin pub, as a great
place to enjoy beer--they have over 350 different brands available]

> Hey that's really close to where I live, just North of 620 in the Avery
> Ranch area. Maybe I'll swing by sometime and check it out. : )

I should also mention that BB Rovers has excellent wifi, the equipment being
donated to them by Apple.

--
James Leo Ryan ..... Austin, Texas ..... taliesinsoft.RemoveThis@me.com

In article <0001HW.C57595C0000DD74CB01AD9AF DeleteThis @News.Individual.NET>,
TaliesinSoft <taliesinsoft DeleteThis @me.com> wrote:

> On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:32:27 -0600, Jolly Roger wrote
> (in article <jollyroger-4419C6.18322622122008 DeleteThis @news.individual.net>):
>
> [responding to my recommendation of BB Rovers, an Austin pub, as a great
> place to enjoy beer--they have over 350 different brands available]
>
> > Hey that's really close to where I live, just North of 620 in the Avery
> > Ranch area. Maybe I'll swing by sometime and check it out. : )
>
> I should also mention that BB Rovers has excellent wifi, the equipment being
> donated to them by Apple.

Great! Thanks. Maybe we'll bump into each other there sometime. : )

--
Send responses to the relevant news group rather than email to me.
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my very hungry SPAM
filter. Due to Google's refusal to prevent spammers from posting
messages through their servers, I often ignore posts from Google
Groups. Use a real news client if you want me to see your posts.

JR

In article jollyroger-4419C6.18322622122008.TakeThisOut@news.individual.net, Jolly Roger
at jollyroger.TakeThisOut@pobox.com wrote on 12/22/08 7:32 PM:

> In article <0001HW.C57588CC000ACE1AB01AD9AF.TakeThisOut@News.Individual.NET>,
> TaliesinSoft <taliesinsoft.TakeThisOut@me.com> wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:22:00 -0600, Jolly Roger wrote
>> (in article <jollyroger-58A95D.17220022122008.TakeThisOut@news.individual.net>):
>>
>>> Now-a-days, I'm looking for the best *tasting* beer I can find.
>>
>> There is a small brewery here in Austin, Live Oak,
>> <http://www.liveoakbrewing.com/beer/>, which produces a number of quite good
>> tasting beers. They are only available in some pubs as draughts as they are
>> only delivered in kegs and not bottles.
>>
>> Another brewery that produces beers I like is Sierra Nevada
>> <http://www.sierranevada.com/>. Their Celebration Ale, available only during
>> the Christmas season is one of my favorites.
>>
>> And, as I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, there is no better place in my
>> opinion to enjoy beer than B. B. Rovers <http://www.bbrovers.com/> in
>> northwest Austin.
>
> Hey that's really close to where I live, just North of 620 in the Avery
> Ranch area. Maybe I'll swing by sometime and check it out. : )


Since this whole beer tangent is your fault , I thought I'd pass on a new
(for me, at least) "find" I recently discovered.

While trolling the beer aisle at my local BJ's, I spotted a 24-bottle case
of "Dundee" beer sitting among the usual Horse Piss brands. The box,
referred to as a "Craft Case," contained 4 bottles of each of 6 different
styles, which the ad copy on the box claimed covered a full spectrum from
from very malty to very hoppy. Ordinarily, I wouldn't have paid it much
attention. However, at $17.50 for the case, I figured how much worse than
the $24-per-case Horse Piss brands sitting next to it could it be? So I
bought it.

I wasn't disappointed. In fact, I was very pleasantly surprised. I won't say
it's the best brew I've ever had, but it was good enough for me to be
convinced that it did deserve the "craft beer" moniker. And enjoyable enough
for me to buy it again.

I don't know what they use to brew the different brews; the website
(<http://www.dundeebeer.com>) talks about wheat, malt, hops, etc., and
points to awards a couple of the brews have won. But since it doesn't
specifically rule out rice and corn, I'm sure they use those grains as well.
However, my palate tells me that they use a helluva lot less of those
"adjuncts" than Anheuser-Busch, et al. At $17.50 for the case, it's a
bargain.








--
iMac (24", 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 320 GB HDD) € OS X (10.5.4)

In article <0001HW.C5750DC100173F20B01AD9AF RemoveThis @News.Individual.NET>,
TaliesinSoft <taliesinsoft RemoveThis @me.com> wrote:

> On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:43:23 -0600, Jolly Roger wrote (in article
> <jollyroger-D7ED2E.03432222122008 RemoveThis @news.individual.net>):
>
> [in response to the following assertion]
>
> >> Au contraire. Most American beer -- at least from the major breweries,
> >> including Anheuser-Busch -- are made with 30-40% rice or corn instead of
> >> the 100% malted barley/wheat/rye grains used by most of the "craft"
> >> microbreweries.
> >
> > Citation please?
>
> I found the following at
> <http://supportyourlocalbrewery.com/CraftBeerFactSheet_9_06.pdf>.

Germans make some of the finest wheat beers you can imagine. For years I
made a wheat beer with some very special yeast (a combo yeast) recovered
from some bottles of yeast beer sent over from Germany (you can also buy
a similar (but not quite as good) 'wheat' yeast in home brew shops.
Many wheat beers so called are not made with pure wheat grain. Very good
and rich is to make it with barley:wheat as 3:1. For years I made it
with cracked wheat (bought in Lebanese supply shops) - sourcing wheat
grain in brew shops was hard at one stage.

The yeast I used was from a beer called "Schneider Weisse". The beer has
a tangy, sour-mash taste and would be an acquired taste for some (I
acquired the taste after the first few sips!)

Adding a bit of boiled rice to some brews can increase body feel - not
so 'thin' - as well as a tiny bit of flavour (if you have the nose of
bloodhound)

--
dorayme

In article <doraymeRidThis-42A147.06435823122008.DeleteThis@albasani.net>,
dorayme <doraymeRidThis.DeleteThis@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

> Germans make some of the finest wheat beers you can imagine. For years I
> made a wheat beer with some very special yeast (a combo yeast) recovered
> from some bottles of yeast beer sent over from Germany (you can also buy
> a similar (but not quite as good) 'wheat' yeast in home brew shops.
> Many wheat beers so called are not made with pure wheat grain. Very good
> and rich is to make it with barley:wheat as 3:1. For years I made it
> with cracked wheat (bought in Lebanese supply shops) - sourcing wheat
> grain in brew shops was hard at one stage.

I think that's what the Belgians and French call a white beer, like a
"blanche de Bruges" -- it certainly is an acquired taste, but not bad
with some decent frites on a summer day.
--
W. Oates

In article <0001HW.C5756F3300064E56B01AD9AF.RemoveThis@News.Individual.NET>,
TaliesinSoft <taliesinsoft.RemoveThis@me.com> wrote:

> On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:45:23 -0600, gtr wrote (in article
> <2008122213452316807-xxx@yyyzzz>):
>
> > As a general (and undoubtedly unfair) description of American tastes; we
> > look for volume over quality. Very generally we drink beer to get a buzz,
> > not for the flavor.
>
> I guess I fall into the "exception" group in that I drink beer for the
> enjoyment of flavor and not to get buzzed. Enjoyment to me is a pint or two
> of a good, usually darkish in color, draught.

Me too, except the quantities I drink are a bit smaller these days. (I
know, a bit pathetic! I like the European stubbies, just 330 ml instead
of 375 for Oz beers).

--
dorayme

On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:36:08 -0600, dorayme wrote (in article
<doraymeRidThis-F54E5D.09360823122008.DeleteThis@albasani.net>):

> In article <0001HW.C5756F3300064E56B01AD9AF.DeleteThis@News.Individual.NET>,
> TaliesinSoft <taliesinsoft.DeleteThis@me.com> wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:45:23 -0600, gtr wrote (in article
>> <2008122213452316807-xxx@yyyzzz>):
>>
>>> As a general (and undoubtedly unfair) description of American tastes; we
>>> look for volume over quality. Very generally we drink beer to get a
>>> buzz, not for the flavor.
>>
>> I guess I fall into the "exception" group in that I drink beer for the
>> enjoyment of flavor and not to get buzzed. Enjoyment to me is a pint or
>> two of a good, usually darkish in color, draught.
>
> Me too, except the quantities I drink are a bit smaller these days. (I
> know, a bit pathetic! I like the European stubbies, just 330 ml instead of
> 375 for Oz beers).

If I did my arithmetic properly 330 ml comes out to be about 2/3 of an
American pint.


--
James Leo Ryan ..... Austin, Texas ..... taliesinsoft.DeleteThis@me.com

In article <2008122221040616807-xxx@yyyzzz>, gtr <xxx.RemoveThis@yyy.zzz> wrote:

> On 2008-12-22 15:12:05 -0800, Jolly Roger <jollyroger.RemoveThis@pobox.com> said:


> > I'm definitely not in that category. Then again, I find I don't fit the
> > typical "American" mold in many ways...
>
> Of course you don't. Most of us don't. For chrissake--we're MAC
> USERS! Think about it!

Maybe that's why, when I was thinking about buying my own computer the
first time, my daughter said, " oh, YOU want a Mac", even though she has
that other kind herself. . . .

--
Mary Loomer Oliver (aka Erilar)

You can't reason with someone whose first line of argument is
that reason doesn't count. --Isaac Asimov

Erilar's Cave Annex: http://www.chibardun.net/~erilarlo 

In article <C575E5A2.28EDD%nicknaym@[remove_this].gmail.com>,
Nick Naym <nicknaym@[remove_this].gmail.com> wrote:

> I don't know what they use to brew the different brews; the website
> (<http://www.dundeebeer.com>) talks about wheat, malt, hops, etc., and
> points to awards a couple of the brews have won. But since it doesn't
> specifically rule out rice and corn, I'm sure they use those grains as well.

In fact, you can make really good beer from just good barley grain,
water, a good yeast and quality hops, a bit like a good website page
with a plain text editor like BBEdit, no javascript, Flash or
animations. A lot of people are mighty surprised by what beer can taste
like when nothing else is added, especially sugar.

--
dorayme

In article <doraymeRidThis-5F5D05.17345723122008.RemoveThis@albasani.net>,
dorayme <doraymeRidThis.RemoveThis@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

> In fact, you can make really good beer from just good barley grain,
> water, a good yeast and quality hops, a bit like a good website page
> with a plain text editor like BBEdit, no javascript, Flash or
> animations. A lot of people are mighty surprised by what beer can taste
> like when nothing else is added, especially sugar.

The oul' Woman used to grow hops, because she liked the viny look and
the smell of the ripe hops and so forth, and I made a straight "hops
beer" (what Mrs Grieve F.R.H.S. called it in her "A Modern Herbal") and
it was just hops and some sugar and not even yeast, if I recall. It
didn't taste like beer, had no alc content to speak of, but it was fizzy
and quite refreshing, like spruce beer a bit.

Stopped growing hops when we moved to the more tropical climes of the
Ontario Panhandle, stuff just goes nuts. Apparently, if you dry them and
put them in a bag under your pillow, they help you sleep.
--
W. Oates

Jamie Kahn Genet <jamiekg.DeleteThis@wizardling.geek.nz> wrote:

> Jolly Roger <jollyroger.DeleteThis@pobox.com> wrote:
>
> > In article <DrJamesSidbury-D78121.14451519122008.DeleteThis@news.individual.net>,
> > James Sidbury <DrJamesSidbury.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > In article <jollyroger-A3A429.09195819122008.DeleteThis@news.individual.net>,
> > > Jolly Roger <jollyroger.DeleteThis@pobox.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > > I think my snarly style might have something to do with my choice of
> > > > ale.
> > >
> > > try old peculier
> >
> > I'll look for it! Thanks.
>
> Ever tried New Zealand beer? Speight's Old Dark is a favourite in winter
> and Montieth's Black runs a close second. But you still can't beat a
> pint of Guinness on a cold day!

I thought you guys might find this beer-related email of mine to the
Mozilla plugin team amusing:

Subject: Flash no longer tolerable, plugin sandboxing?
Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:18:48 +1300

G'day.

Even on my 2007 24" 2.8GHz iMac which was the fastest iMac money could
buy a year ago, Flash runs poorly, Flash video stutters, and Flash
gobbles CPU cycles at an increasing even when no Flash content is
loaded. Even with FlashBlock I still need to load flash content
occasionally due to certain frustrating sites requiring Flash for
basic functionality. In short: Flash has become the most annoying part
of using Camino and FF, and a constant source of bugs. My bug reports
concerning Flash outnumber all other types of bug reports by a factor
100 to 1. It's _that_ bad.

Now - none of the above is your fault. It is clearly Adobe's for
producing such shite software. However, my one request for 2009 would
be sandboxing of plugins so misbehaving plugins can be quit when not
in use and restarted when they crash without taking down the browser.

As the above would be a major undertaking and I understand programming
is thirsty work, I make this promise: NZD$100 worth of New Zealand
beer (assuming commercial availability in the person's location. If
not, then some other quality beer. Just no weak-as-piss mass produced
American beer, i.e. no Bud - urk!) for the team that takes the lead
and implements workable and effective plugin sandboxing for mozilla
browsers in 2009.

Regards,
Jamie Kahn Genet
--
Frog blast the vent core!

gtr <xxx.RemoveThis@yyy.zzz> wrote:
[snip]
> But these don't have as "absent" a taste. Buzz-only folk don't want to
> deal with a more acrid or more demanding taste, thicker texture, etc.
> I'm a real gin aficionado from study over the past 2 years or so. I
> proselytize among my friends. Some won't' turn at all. They are
> *vodka* drinkers. They say they don't like the "taste" of gin, but I
> think they don't like *taste*. They want a tasteless buzz operator.
> Fruit juice or other simple sweet tastes that aren't muddied by
> complexity will do fine. Then put a buzz operator in it that doesn't
> change the taste profile; they're happy.

Sadly I find dark spirits make me quite ill (but oddly enough not dark
beers) so I prefer vodka based drinks like Harvey Wallbangers (my
all-time favourite cocktail! Shame it's out of fashion) which taste
great
But straight vodka IS extremely boring. Back when I was a student I used
to order a voka shot or vodka straight up, no ice which I'd down in one
go just to get me buzzed and start the night off right, then I'd stay
with beer and the odd vodka cocktail for the rest of the night and be
fine... unless someone challenged me to vodka shots. I used to be able
to drink most of my friends under the table, but now I'd be plastered
after just a couple Used to be I could hold off falling down drunk
_just_ long enough to win.

Nowadays I hardly ever touch straight vodka as I want to drink to enjoy
the act of drinking in good company, not just to get drunk. Harvey
Wallbangers are just so much more fun - yum!
--
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

In article <4950db8c$0$26576$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com>,
Warren Oates <warren.oates.DeleteThis@gmail.com> wrote:

> In article <doraymeRidThis-42A147.06435823122008.DeleteThis@albasani.net>,
> dorayme <doraymeRidThis.DeleteThis@optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>
> > Germans make some of the finest wheat beers you can imagine. For years I
> > made a wheat beer with some very special yeast (a combo yeast) recovered
> > from some bottles of yeast beer sent over from Germany (you can also buy
> > a similar (but not quite as good) 'wheat' yeast in home brew shops.
> > Many wheat beers so called are not made with pure wheat grain. Very good
> > and rich is to make it with barley:wheat as 3:1. For years I made it
> > with cracked wheat (bought in Lebanese supply shops) - sourcing wheat
> > grain in brew shops was hard at one stage.
>
> I think that's what the Belgians and French call a white beer, like a
> "blanche de Bruges" -- it certainly is an acquired taste, but not bad
> with some decent frites on a summer day.

Yes, beer brew folk here also used to refer to them as Weis Beer
(pronounced 'Vice')

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_beer>

--
dorayme