Rambling – a blog.

I’ve long struggled with fitness goals. It’s been a constant roller coaster for me. Up and down. Big and small. I know whats right, eat well, and exercise. Create a calorie deficit. Simple enough, right? Sure, but temptations are out there – and I’m a weak guy. I get caught up in ridiculous ideas. My latest one caused me to get really off my train.

I’m talking about the plate challenge here folks, 200 beers in a year will do a number on you. It’s not only the beer though. It’s the bar food. That wouldn’t have been the end of the world if I would have kept active at the gym, but who does that?

So what does one do? How do you get started again? I could get back on the train cold turkey, sure. Thats easier said than done, alas I’m not that motivated. So I found the Up. It’s a $100 wristband that keeps track of your daily movements. It monitors your sleep cycle, your steps, and if your inclined you meals. That last part is too hard for me.

For the most part it is effortless. You wear it and go about your day. It monitors you and you sync it with your phone to get your results and results you get. So far with two weeks of wearing it I’ve dropped about 6 pounds. Is there room for improvement with the device? Sure! Mine has already broken within my first two weeks. The vibration motor has given out, but the support team has been attentive. It’s given the motivation and the reminders I need to keep track of what I am doing through out the day to make better choices. To park further away. To walk in between periods of the game and to not drink that extra beer.

Heres to health!

My plan for blog domination isn’t going exactly as planned. As a matter of fact none of my resolutions are. The good news – it isn’t too late.

I’ve fallen off some bandwagons and need to rejuvinate myself.

New goals, budgets, plans and schemes.

I now have three successful batches of beer under my belt. My first, a big brown I lovingly call Pacer finally carbonated after being brewed way back in August. My IPA went off without a hitch, seriously. the worst thing about it was bottling – and thats just a plain pain in the rear. I think there were some serious lessons to be learned during racking. My winter Saison is bottled and will be drinkable in a matter of days, you can read about it over here was a quick fun beer that proves practice makes perfect. Thats not to say I won’t have issues, it’s all par for the course. After my first carbonation fiasco I still hold my breath from the moment the bottles are cleaned til the first cap is pried off the bottle.

This year, like everyone else I have a few resolutions. Naturally I have a few, perhaps after 26 years of trying to succeed at them 2011 will be my year.

• Blog more. Plain and simple. Not necessarily text, not necessarily photo. They won’t be separate anymore. The disasterisimminent experiment is dead. I just need to continue to write and create.
• Convert my brewery from extract to all grain. Extract brewing is simple, it’s simplicity is also it’s biggest weakness in my opinion. I want more control over the grains I use. I don’t want to just say “Two cans of Amber please”
• Organization. I have a moleskine, a smartphone and wunderlist. I just need to de-junkify my room, and life will be good.
• Get in shape. Wow. That’s predictable, but really. It’s high time I take care of myself.
• Save money. I used to be so much better at this, and lately I have gotten off this train. It’s not hard. It just takes focus, and the use of the word No.

That should wrap it up, at least for now. 2011 needs to be a real year of growth for me. I’m excited.

I’ve been spending a lot of time working on a project, and growing it. It’s been doing better than anything I could have ever imagined. The sad thing is, my Vespa I was gushing about a few posts ago, is in literal pieces. I’m hoping it will finally be back together really soon.

As usual, I have a lot of other grand ideas and I can bet this blog will be seeing a ton more attention.

Grand ideas. We all have them. We all have hopes, dreams, aspirations. Sometimes we get to realize those dreams. More often than not we don’t. Even when we do get to realize a dream it isn’t always exactly how we imagined.

I think thats half the fun.

For as long as  I can remember I had wanted a vintage scooter. You know, one of those italian made, smoke making noisy hunks of steel. I finally got a chance to buy one in November. After driving with a buddy for a few hours to pick the bike up, I got it home and got a crash course on how to drive a shifting motorcycle. It was awesome. Then the little quirks of the bike started to show. It liked to mark it’s territory with oil. Sure that’s semi-normal, but this bike was agressive on it. The headlight was dim, the vibration on the glovebox and other parts of the bike was intense, the centerstand was bent way out of shape. The bike was certainly starting to show it’s age.

That brings us back to the warnings I’d had from multiple people. “Don’t buy unless you plan to work on it yourself.” Honestly, I shrugged those off. It can’t be that bad. I somehow thought my experience would be different. I wouldn’t have to worry about finicky wiring, or a seat that doesn’t fully lock or a leaky oil tank. The funny thing about that – it is that bad, but not in a bad way. I wanted a whole new experience. I wanted a bike that took more to drive and sure it will take more to maintain, but that means I get more connected with it.

When something goes wrong it really is frustrating. Hunting down electrical issues is a pain. Trying to figure out why fuses are blowing isn’t exactly fun, but when you do find the cause it is rewarding. Even getting a simple idea and trying it out is awesome.

If anything it is an incredible learning experience. Less than a month ago I had no idea exactly how the electrical system on the bike works, now I know. I still haven’t opened it up to see for myself, but I can’t wait to.

That is exactly why buying a 30 year old scooter that I’d wanted since I was a kid and selling my ‘reliable’ three year old scooter may have been one of the best decisions I have made in a long time.

The past few days I have been keeping a simple list of basic goals to accomplish. They could be as simple as ship an item, or as complicated as tackle my closet. So far, it’s been a mental list.

I know you should write goals down, it helps to see them. Makes it concrete, and more like a promise, and thats my next step. I promise. The thing is, just picking out one or two things to accomplish per night has helped a ton.

I can’t remember the last time I had gotten anywhere close to the productivity I have had over the last week.

The real question is, whats next, and how much more productive can I get? I can say for sure, keeping my lists on paper will help me find out.

The past few weeks have been insanely busy. I’ve freed up a lot of time by limiting my beer tastings, but more and more projects keep coming.

For once I have managed to actually scratch things off my mental list. From basic web design, to year long adventures with beer. It feels amazing, but I feel like I could be doing better. I’ve been reading up on organization tools, and I keep coming back to GTD and the 43folders implementations, especially the hipster pda. I feel like this is the time to run a new test on myself and get some organization on.

Now, if only I could find that pen…

You’ve seen the good list. Here is the bad. I present this knowing that everyone’s tastes are different. Mine may be narrow minded, but these beers all had something just plain off in them. Could be the after taste or just plain too much alcohol. Read on, discuss just enjoy.

1. Avery Mestopholies Stout – Clocking in at 16% ABV this is the strongest beer I had during my crash course in beer knowledge. I have also had a 20% and what I am about to type rings true in my heart. There is such a thing as too much alcohol. I think for me that sweet spot is about 9-11% but anything over is plain too much. I haven’t found a beer higher than 11% that I have enjoyed, but I digress. This first and foremost is a stout, and imperial one and it is extremely devilish as the name implies. Tread with caution, this beer has  a knack for making people nauseous.
2. Samichlaus – Once touted as the worlds strongest beer at a beefy 14% what I mentioned earlier holds true yet again. It’s dark, alcoholic and almost too sweet. My reaction after drinking “It tastes like burning.” Drink for the novelty factor only.
3. Stone Smoked Porter – On my good list Stone gets high marks for brewing what they want and not caring what I or you really think about it. Thats true here. In this case, this beer was hell. Probably the worst I had tried. It tastes like fermented barbecue sauce that had been left in the sun for a month. Not my taste, maybe it it okay for you.
4. Dogfish Head Red and White – The opposite of the Black and Blue on my like list, this is a Belgian Wit beer fermented with Pinot Nior grapes. It clocks a healthy 10% ABV, the problem with this beer and me was the burning. I can’t say it was bad, just near impossible to drink.
5. Kasteel Rogue – Cherries can be a hard to thing to make into an alcoholic beverage. This for me is a prime example as to why we should stick to the raspberries and peaches. At 8% its not a ridiculous beer, but tastes like cough syrup to me.
6. Guinness Draught – That’s right. I went there. Guinness plain sucks. It tastes horrible. Yeah it supposedly is healthy, its low in alcohol and thick as can be. Sadly all these benefits just can’t justify the taste. I keep hearing it’s better from the brewery, and if that’s the case it just isn’t worth a trip to get it from Ireland or Jamaica. Actually after reading up on the Jamaican version its an 8.5% beer, I can’t imagine more alcohol being the answer here.
7. Fosters – The night I tried Fosters I was unknowingly sitting next to an Austrailian, and underneath a beat up metal sign reminding me this is Austrailian for beer. The Austrailian fellow next to me reminded it wasn’t. I’m glad he did. It would have ruined my impression of his homeland. Fosters offers their beer in a 750mL “oil can” it’s huge. I drank every bit of it and looked angry about it the whole time. Friends tried to pry the can out of my hands. I reminded them, “I paid for it, it’s going in my body.” At best I can tell you to imagine a kitschy version of Budweiser. The Outback Steakhouse of beers if you will. Something that just ain’t worth the price of admission.
8. Flying Dog Doggie Style Pale Ale – You guys get the sex joke there? Beer and sex just go together, and instead of a seedy ad campaign the folks at Flying Dog would rather try to be clever. I would imagine the name sells a fair amount of the beer. It’s kinda gross. Unfortunately I haven’t come across a Flying Dog beer I can call palatable. There is always something off. It may be with the hops they use or the water or something. Who knows. I did order this during my I really love IPA phase, and this one almost made me go back. Go for a Dogfish Head beer instead.
9. HeBrew Origin Pomegranate – This guy brewed by Schmaltz Brewing sounded good, but I was probably expecting the sweetened pomegranate taste. That isn’t here. It came in a big but not quite 750mL size bottle. Again, this is more certainly my taste and not the beer itself, but I can’t imagine a lot of people liking it.
10. Unibroue La Fin Du Monde – This beer, for me was a flavor explosion. Sadly those flavors just weren’t the best. I’ve only had one bottle and will be trying it again. Hopefully it will be a better bottle and I can come back to this list and remove it. Until then it will live here. I felt the bottle was too expensive and too harsh.
11. Stella Artois – I never did like Stella, I felt like I would give it a fair shot though and I did. It’s on this list, and you can bet that I still don’t quite enjoy it. The beer is definitely the same after they merged with Annheiser Busch, its far too light and dainty. It’s considered a premium beer and commands a price that I have hard time paying. That said, if at a party and I had to pick from all the other beers on this list and a Stella, I’d be drinking that Belgian-American beer.
12. Sam Adams Summer – I love Sam Adams, a majority of their beers are fantastic, and as we know they win TONS of awards. They are a huge advocate to homebrewers having said that, this beer tasted like dishwater to me. Dishwater with lemon scented soap. Having said that, there are a few redeeming qualities here. Its a lighter beer, and it probably is refreshing after mowing an acre of land. I still think there are better choices out there.
13. Coors Light – Oh yes. Coors Light, and the cold activated bottle. If the mountains are blue its ready to drink. I’m not so sure that’s true. To be honest this one isn’t even fit to shotgun or chug.
14. Schneider Aventinus – This beer has been brewed for a long time. A real real real long time. I’m sure the yeast strand is sacred, the recipe is guarded and all that jazz. The beer is a weizenbock style. It’s well respected, I just tried the beer on three different occasions and just can’t find the taste for it.
15. Rochefort 10 – At 11.3% this was the strongest Trappist ale I tried. I love the Trappists, really I do, but I feel like this one was simply unbalanced. The alcohol stood out more than anything. Though knowing about Trappist ales it could have had to do with storage of the bottle or any number of conditioning factors. I just know I am not inclined to try again.
16. Miller Lite – The ads want you to believe that it’s “triple hops brewed and great pilsner taste.” I however cannot taste a bit of hops in this one. A step above carbonated water this beer has fail all over it. Granted I’m not the target audience, but I dont think you can officially drink this beer for the taste. For me, I’d rather spend twice or three times the cost of admission for a better, drinkable beer.
17. Pabst Blue Ribbon – This beer has gained the “hipster” seal of approval. The brewery was owned by a charity, though I am not sure a majority of people knew this, they pump out gallon after gallon of cheap beer swill. Good in a pinch I suppose, but I’m not sure I could pick this one out from Miller Lite in a blind taste.
18. Corona – Lime or no, lite or full bodied, this beer is just BLAH. It’s a Cinco de Mayo fixture, and maybe it should stay that way. Focus on a better recipe year after year knowing you only have to impress us once. Just don’t turn into that Samichlaus crap.
19. Kronenbourg 1664 – Clocking in at a deceptively high 5.9% this beer is just wrong. It won a gold medal back in 2004, and now I am questioning these beer competitions. Ultra light in color and full of funky both taste and smell, leave this one in the store.
20. Dogfish Head 120min IPA – Dogfish heads ode to hop heads as they would want you to believe. A 20% imperial IPA this beer is just too much. I couldn’t finish but a quarter of a glass, and it’s a shame, it was expensive. I wonder if they just wanted to have a crazy amount of alcohol in this guy. Of course it’s hard to say and really I am sure there are people that are in love with this beer, I just couldnt do it.

And that folks wraps it up. 20 to avoid. Shouldn’t be too hard to never see these guys. All in all I know my tastes have evolved during this beer business and I am sure they will change again soon, but as of today, these are my “Avoid like the plague” beers.

About a year ago I started a journey. Taste 200 different beers, there was no set time frame by the bar, but I had a personal goal of two years. I wrapped it up in under 1. They say taste, but my official motto became “I paid for it, it’s going in my body.” For better or worse I lived by that minus the occasional shared sip amongst friends or roommates. No matter how awful I thought the beer was.

Having said that the following list is based on my taste and that alone. I appreciated every beer I tasted, however I didn’t enjoy them all. That of course brings us to the good! In no particular order.

1. Chimay Grand Reserve – This guy has the blue label. It clocks in at 9% ABV and is plain delicious. A definite sipping beer you can really appreciate the sugar, subtle flavors and the alcohol present. It’s a true Trappist Ale, and goes extremely well with the Chimay cheese.
2. Dogfish Head Black and Blue – A 10% ABV Fruit ale it does a few things right. Balances high alcohol and fruit without tasting like cough syrup, I’m looking at you Kasteel Rogue but we will get back to that later. It’s a definite sipping beer again, it’s one to savor, beware the alcohol will sneak up on you.
3. Rogue Juniper Pale – When I started I hated hops. Seriously, they pissed me off. I had to drink with my nose pinched shut like I was taking robitussin. This one, helped change my opinion. Comes in a big bottle, you can share or be greedy and keep it to yourself. It’s light, refreshing, and a little hint of Christmas.
4. De Glazen Toren Saison d’Erpe-Mere – Despite the ridiculous name and a price tag that almost matches the number of letters this one was a pleasant treat. Mine came wrapped in a green and yellow wrapper, I assume to keep light out to preserve the beer and held 750mL of peppery light summer awesome saison. Perfect for the hot days, and not too high on the ABV sitting at a comfortable 7.5%
5. Rogue Chatoe Dirtoir Black Lager – Here is a secret, I hate dark beers. Well, almost. I thought I would hate it. My description told me to expect licorice (really, who enjoys that?!) and some coffee amongst other flavors. I figured why not? Rogue hadn’t done me wrong yet. I’m glad I jumped in. This beer is made with hops and malt grown by Rogue themselves and honestly the beer shows the pride they have in everything they produce. It’s supposedly a one off brew, so find it and cherish it.
6. Abita Strawberry Harvest Lager – More fruit beer? Really? Can you even consider it a beer? You bet I can. Abita makes an awesome strawberry lager. The strawberry is very subtle, but delicious. Another lighter beer that people wait around for. Seriously, when the weather turns almost everyone I know gets excited because these 6 packs will be on store shelves.
7. Left Hand Sawtooth ESB – The ESB means extra special bitter. This was my third beer on the journey and I remember it being the first truly ‘different’ beer I had tried. I was expecting something literally bitter, and I didn’t have that at all. It was my first real experience on this trip with a hoppy beer.
8. Weihenstephaner Kristall – I love wheat beers. Really, I was disappointed that there were only 15 or so for me to try on the menu. It was the first time I realized that this challenge may be uh… challenging. This beer comes from the oldest operating brewery in the world. It’s a filtered wheat beer that is a bit lighter than your average wheat beer. My favorite part of this beer is the aftertaste. If you close your eyes it tastes like cream soda. Really, its a great beer.
9. Blanche De Bruxelles – Another light wheat beer. Perfect for a patio or back deck. Easy to get down, though you’ll want to make sure you get it on draft.
10. Monty Pythons Holy Grail – Wait. That’s the name to a movie. This is a beer list, right? Right, on both. It’s a novelty beer, but not like Billy Beer. This one is actually good. A nice dark ale, easily drinkable, though I couldn’t ever see myself drinking more than one at a time. Even after they reduced the bottle from a full 16oz pint to the standard 12oz, one is enough.
11. Boulevard Smokestack Sixth Glass – Part of the Smokestack series these beers come in 750mL bottles and are STRONG. This particular example is a quad, it’s inspired by Trappist ales this one is darker and a bit more well… acloholic. You can definitely taste all 10.5% of it. A good beer for a winter night, and split between some friends. Sip this one.
12. Fruli – This is a light fruit ale. It’s a strawberry wheat beer, and a world apart from the Abita listed above. You really can’t tell this is a beer, and it almost isn’t. It’s a lightweight clocking in at 4%, but its a beer, it’s delicious and you can bet someone that you know a beer they will like. You can’t lose with it.
13. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA – As I mentioned earlier, I was not a fan of the hops. That changed around halfway through. I could appreciate the flavor. At first I didn’t “love” it, but I would almost crave the taste. The 90 minute is a great example of a stronger IPA that knows balance. It’s a 9% full of alcohol, but it isn’t too much which is easy to do in the high gravity beers.
14. Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale – This beer isn’t for everyone. Stone mentions it right on the label. I’m almost not even sure it’s for me, but that’s the thing. Stone doesn’t care. They make what they want when they want, and if you want it good. If not, that’s okay too. It’s strong and makes no excuses. It’s different though, and that’s why it is on this list.
15. Kona Pipeline Porter – This beer tastes like coffee. Seriously. Slightly carbonated coffee. The funny thing is, I hate coffee more than I hate stouts and porters. For some reason though mix them together, and I love it. Terrapin’s Depth Charge, The Schflay Coffee Stout and Highland Black Mocha all are beer perfection, so close to each other I am only listing one. Try one of them, you won’t be disappointed.
16. North Coast Old Stock – Deceptively strong. You can’t tell it is a beefy 11.5% ABV but it is. Sip this beer and savor every second. It’s an Old Ale and the guys at North Coast have yet to pump out something I did not like.
17. Boulevard Smokestack Double Wide IPA – Another IPA? Man, I must be a hop head. Boulevard goes big on this one again, and it’s a real treat. Lots of hops. Lots of alcohol it’s probably one to share if you can find a buddy who enjoys beers like this. Otherwise your night may get very very interesting.
18. Victory Golden Monkey – At first I was drawn in by the price, about $5 a pint, it was in the Belgian section where beers can easily creep to $20 or hit $60 if you aren’t careful. I pretty much fell in love. Complex, light, fairly high in alcohol this honestly has to be one of my favorites. It helped me branch out from my norm and understand where other beers can go in flavors and style. The bottled versions are good, but really should be enjoyed on draft. Find this beer. You won’t hate it.
19. New Belgium Biere de Mars – New Belgium. The guys who like bikes and wind power, the ones who gave us Mothership Wit and Fat Tire went in a whole new direction here. Or at least for me. It’s a spicy dark beer and definitely one for the winter, or if you want you can drink in a deep freeze or turn your air conditioners up full blast. Great if you want something different.
20. Blue Moon – This is where it all started. Yes I know Coors brews it. I almost cried when I found out, this was one of the first beers I truly enjoyed. It’s filling, refreshing, delicious and no, I don’t need an orange. I waited until I had 50 different beers before I had one I knew I liked. I’m glad I did, and I can’t turn my back on it now. I think I will always like this brew.

And that wraps up the good. I have an official list of 202 different beers to pull from, I know I left out a lot that I enjoyed, but this is a standout list of 20. Stay tuned for the 20 most vile brews I encountered on my journey.

So far in June I’ve managed to crank out two projects. Officially launching scootnashville.com and 138recycling.com

One is basic, the other is a wordpress install with buddypress over it. I still feel like I am getting better with this web jazz and understanding CSS.

I gotta admit. It feels kinda good.