On Tap: Hefeweizen

While this past week was a good one, filled with fun and adventure, it was not such a great week for beer.  I sampled a number of new brews, the majority of which ranged from just ok to down right nasty.  The worst of the worst was Troeg's Nugget Nectar.  The beer has a strange bite that is different from the usual hoppiness of beers and difficult to describe.  While the aftertaste isn't bad, the initial bite is just too much to endure to make it worth it.

Another loser for the week was Dogfish Head Tweason'ale.  This was my first experience with Dogfish Head, and while I'd heard good things, this was definitely underwhelming at best.  The label says it is infused with strawberry and honey flavors, which are definitely present, but seem to conflict with the malty flavor of the beer, not add to it.  Though I was slightly disappointed, I am definitely willing to give Dogfish Head a chance to redeem themselves, after all, they can't all be winners.

Rounding out the list of losers for the week is Corona Extra.  This is one of the more widely popular beers in the US and I can see why.  It has a mild flavor and is extremely carbonated; it kind of feels like you're drinking alcoholic soda (minus the sugar).  That being said, it just wasn't for me.  Perhaps it was because I was drinking mine sans lime, but the beer just seemed kind of bland and didn't really do anything for me.

The only winner of the week came while I was in Philadelphia.  While eating a delicious (albeit expensive) burger I also enjoyed Schlafly Brand's Hefeweizen Ale.  Hefeweizen is a German-style wheat beer that traces its origins back to the 16th century.  Wheat beers are by far my favorite type of beer and this one was fantastic.  It was light and smooth, with a very good bready-malt flavor.

Well, that's it for this week.  I have a brand new Wegman's six-pack waiting for me at home and this week is also the Scranton Brew Fest, so I should have plenty to write about in my next On Tap segment.  Until next week, stay thirsty my friends!

Easter Weekend

My Easter weekend was pretty damn awesome.  When I got home from work on Friday, I was just sitting around thinking about what to do with my impending weekend when the desire to drive took over.  I didn’t go anywhere new or unfamiliar; I hopped in my car and headed to my dad’s house.  I did this for two reasons, 1) I can almost never get enough of my family (they are hilarious) and 2) My little sister is game for anything.  She is currently unemployed and single so she is literally attachment free, and she will pretty much say yes to whatever crazy idea I throw out there (one of the many reasons why I love her).  So we sat down with a map (ok, Google map) and tried to decide where to go, keeping in mind that I had work on Monday.  We eventually settled on Atlantic City.

“Why Atlantic City?” you may ask.  Well, recently I’ve had the strangest desire to see the ocean.  I try to make it a point to get to the beach at least once a year and have always loved trips to the shore.  One of my many dreams is to own a piece of property on or near the beach.  Also, Atlantic City was attractive because we figured if we got tired of walking on the beach/board walk that we could always find something else to do. 

So the next morning we got up, hopped in my car and drove to the ocean; it was very Little Miss Sunshine, ya know, minus the heroin-addicted grandpa, beauty pageant, and VW bus.  We got there in no time and had a blast.  We walked along the beach, I took some pictures, trolled the boardwalk, did some gambling (I won $2!), and got my fortune told by some creepy machine outside the Ripley’s museum (the gist of which was, “seize the day”).  Once we had pretty much exhausted AC, we hopped in the car and headed back north and decided to stop in Philly.   We visited the new Xfinity Live entertainment complex and had some ($16) burgers and watched the Flyers game.  After that, we decided to go see my college buddy Mike, who was in Philly visiting family.  We had some drinks, played some games, and I got to meet his new boyfriend.  Indeed, the only crappy part about our adventure was that, due to a little mix-up, we ended up having to drive back from Philly at 2:00am.  But even that wasn’t so bad; in fact, it was kind of a fitting end to a crazy day.

Well, that was my weekend.  Here’s to hoping for many more just like it!

Drive

Lately I’ve had this feeling like I need to go somewhere, somewhere new, somewhere strange and unfamiliar.  I don’t know where exactly but part of me is tempted to just get in my car, pick a direction and drive.  It doesn’t need to be a long vacation type deal, just a weekend getaway.  The past couple weekends I’ve pretty much just hung around the apartment trying to find ways to entertain myself.  Let me tell you, I get bored of myself pretty damn quick.  Don’t get me wrong, I could watch reruns of my favorite TV shows or movies or read a book, but as much as I enjoy them, it can sometimes feel like I’m just wasting my life sitting on the couch.  Sometimes I’m watching a show or reading a book and wishing so bad that my life were as interesting as the characters in them.  I need to stop wishing and start doing!

It might be easier to go on one of these weekend adventures if I had some friends in the area to drag along.  Ok, maybe not easier, but definitely more fun.  I wonder if any of my friends are as secretly adventurous as I am.  This is so sad, I need an escape.  The REALLY sad part is that in a couple hours this feeling will subside and I will slip back into the comfortable confines of the familiar. 

Happy Friday, I guess.

New Poem: Men are not...

I've been working on this poem for a few days now.  The subject matter is a little heavy, but I like to think it's still accessible.  Maybe not.  Whatever.  Enjoy!


Men are not by own ideas made

Men are not by own ideas made
Into molds of other men or wrought,
Beaten and shaped into a garden spade
From flames of self-originating thought.

Ingrained within you is the subtle fact:
Nothing from nothingness shall ever spring
A dream, an instinct, an impulse act,
A thought as thoughtless as a borrowed thing.

A hand pulled back the reflex hammer
And set the prehistoric dominos,
Designed intelligence amid the clamor,
Who built an argument that shows

God as a man with an empty hat
In which breeds countless white rabbits.

Pen Pal

Today I wrote a letter to Pulitzer Prize winning poet Ted Kooser asking him to critique a small sample of my work and give me advice on getting published.  I fully expect it to go unanswered; I knew that before I started the letter, but that didn't stop me from doing it.  If I get a reply I will post it here on the blog.  For your enjoyment, I have posted one of my favorites poems by him.

Daddy Longlegs

BY TED KOOSER

Here, on fine long legs springy as steel,

a life rides, sealed in a small brown pill

that skims along over the basement floor

wrapped up in a simple obsession.

Eight legs reach out like the master ribs

of a web in which some thought is caught

dead center in its own small world,

a thought so far from the touch of things

that we can only guess at it. If mine,

it would be the secret dream

of walking alone across the floor of my life

with an easy grace, and with love enough

to live on at the center of myself.

On Tap: Elder Betty

Oh.  My.  God.  The elderberries taste like elderberries!  Ok, so maybe I should explain.  Rather than beat around the bush, I’ve decided to get right to this week’s big winner.  And when I say big, I mean BIG.  The beer I am about to describe is almost beyond description.  It was so delicious I could hardly put it down.  The beer I am referring to is Magic Hat Elder Betty, which is their summer seasonal beer.  And let me just say, they nailed it.  Much like Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy makes me want to chill poolside, soaking up the warm summer sun, so too does Magic Hat Elder Betty evoke thoughts of summer.  I want to go sit in the grass, on a hill with this beer in my hand and just watch the clouds pass.

Elder Betty has a bready malt flavor that is bite-free and complimented nicely by just the right infusion of elderberry flavors.  A case of this beer would be both a blessing and a curse, because I’m sure I’d be drunk in a matter of hours.   If you have never tried this beer, you simply must.  And if you don’t like it, I don’t think we can be friends.   

As good as my recent Magic Hat experience was, it may have been made even better by the mediocre beer that preceded it: Long Trail Brewing Company’s Long Trail Ale.  This beer was just blah, totally uninspiring and forgettable.   It had moderate hoppiness and a flavor that, while robust, just wasn’t that good.  But it didn’t matter, Magic Hat came to the rescue and the night was saved.

As for the week ahead, I still have my Dogfish Head Tweason’ale waiting for me at home and I may venture out into humanity and sample another beer or two over the weekend.   The world is my oyster and I plan to shuck it. 

Getting Serious

If you haven’t figured out by now, I’m pretty big into poetry.  I started writing when I was 16 and have penned about 50 poems that I’m willing to stake my name to (and another dozen or so, early works that will never see the light of day).  Although I’ve been writing for almost ten years, it has recently occurred to me that I haven’t really been taking my work seriously.  By that I mean, poetry has always been more of a hobby for me than a career.  Making it as a writer is hard enough, making it as a professional poet is damn near impossible.  That being said, I have resolved myself to give more to my craft, to expend every effort I can think of to further myself creatively and professionally.

To this end, my approach has two facets: 1) I have to write more.  I need to constantly be jotting down, ideas, lines, anything that inspires me.  I need to read more, experience more, expose myself to anything that could help me grow as a writer.  2) I have to get published; this is by far the more difficult aspect.  I have begun compiling a list of literary contests in which amateur poets can gain national acclaim and have their poetry published.   There are both contests for individual poems and for manuscripts of varying length.  Make no mistake, these are not so-called “vanity” poetry contests, these are legitimate, nationally recognized contests entered by professional writers.

Now I know that the likelihood of winning any of these contests is slim at best, and that’s ok.  In all seriousness, I don’t expect to win.  But even if I go my whole life without ever being a published author, at least it won’t be because I was too afraid or lazy to try.  I have begun revising my current manuscript that I started in college and I plan on adding new poems, removing works I feel are less than my best effort, playing around with the arrangement, etc.  The idea is to do this every year, submitting a copy of my manuscript to the aforementioned contests until I get published.  By doing this, at least I’ll be able to feel like I tried.