Highland Brewing Cold Mountain Winter Ale

Cold Mountain is Highland's perennial Winter Ale and pours a dark malty brown. The first sip tastes of dark chocolate. This is not a Hershey's chocolate but something more exotic, perhaps like a dark German chocolate. This chocolate body dominates the beer flavor to the last sip, an excellent pairing of hops and malt combinations.

I really don't know what style to call Cold Mountain? Is it a Stout, a Porter or a Brown Ale, I don't know? I estimate that this is not quite a stout but is a unique and superior brown ale style. I'm giving Cold Mountain 4.75 out of 5 pints only because all beers can't receive a perfect score.

Other beers I've been drinking this fall include New Belgium's Snow-day which is an Indian Brown Ale style, another great offering from Fort Collins. I recently had a Mendocino Oatmeal Stout which was an excellent, very flavorful creamy stout. I highly recommend that my fellow beer lovers find and enjoy these beers.

Where do I start?

I ask this because I have two unrelated issues to mention and I don't want to imply that these are categorically similar. I'll start with the good news; I was wrong, as is often the case, we did not have an S.E.C. football wrap-up. I should have titled that article; End of regular season S.E.C. Football Wrap-up. So, Roll-Tide or Geau Tigers, I really don't know who to support. Perhaps I should support Les Miles 'cause if he wins the National Championship he will have truly earn the title of Mad Hatter.

Second, I'm sad to report that, I have another photo example of cultural decline. Once again I have an example from the world in which I work everyday. The sign says, "Free holder with plant purch's." I asked the cashier if they had plant perches and he said he wasn't going there.

And one more cultural observation, Staind sucks and the band that once gave us this song is now wimp rock too.

S.E.C. Football Wrap Up

So, our reigning national champions now have four losses for the season. I thought the Tiger's might, despite the odds, maintain their time honored role as giant killers but, after their game against Georgia this weekend, I don't have high hopes that they will be able to beat Bama.

That's a wrap.

Who won that Stanford / Oregon game?

Fox Sports News

After attempting to learn the scores of SEC football games on Fox Sports News Radio this evening I would like to suggest that they change their name to Fox Sports News and Commercials! Need I say more?

Legend Lager, Legend Brewing Company, Richmond, Va.

Now here’s a good beer! Look how clear and gold it pours. It is deceiving, it appears to be a pilsner style but it is a Marzen. I don’t know how Legend did this but there’s a definite malty flavor that is leaning toward chocolate in this clear golden beer. I guess most folks don’t associate the full body of Oktoberfest beers with chocolate flavor but in the beer world, I’m tellin’ ya, that’s how we describe that rich malty flavor. This beer really surprised me right off the bat.

Legend Lager even smells malty. As the beer warms the flavors thin a bit and it takes on the subtle malt flavor of a cream soda. I only have one of these because it is the one they snuck into the Starr Hill mixed twelve- pack. Legend Lager has all the qualities that were missing in the Love Wheat Beer, rich malt body with fruity flavor elements.I will definitely buy more of these beers very soon.

The Legend Lager gets a 5.1 out of 5 pints, the highest score I have yet to award a beer.

Four Weeks of Wheat Beer on Tuesday

The last of the wheat beers for this month is In Heat Wheat from Flying Dog Brewery. It poured with plenty of carbonation and a foamy white head. The first sip is a mouthful of clean malty refreshment. There is plenty of malt sweetness to balance out any would-be hops sourness.

As the drink warms the flavor becomes more pronounced and a bit of citrus bitterness comes to the flavor foreground. This is a much better balanced wheat beer then some I have had recently and I recommend it highly.

Score: 5 out of 5 pints.

The Beer of the Day Calendar recently had a wheat beer review, it explained the three basic categories of wheat beers: Bavarian hefeweizen, Belgian Wit and American Wheat. In Heat Wheat is a great example of the American Wheat style.

The Rock n Roll shirts begin & more Deeper Thoughts

At least a small majority of my T-shirt collection are shirts for rock n roll bands. Two bands dominate this section, Widespread Panic and the Grateful Dead. I have a few Phish shirts too. Here’s one shirt for each of these bands to make the shirt count 38 with 327 shirts left to display.

Last week we had Melville, this week we have Jack Handey's take on D. H. Lawrence;

"Marta talks about sensuality, but I don't think she'd know sensuality if it bit her on the ass."

There are those contractions again and who is Marta anyway?