Westmalle's Tripel

It was sweetness. It was in my opinion, the best tripel/strong pale ale I have ever had. You can tell from the taste that the malt is light, and the sugar is not of your grocer variety. I also won't hesitate to mention the greatness of the idea to top off the bottle with a bit of yeast and MORE sugar...it does not go unnoticed. I'm going to keep this in mind with my own brewing endeavors.

Unlike many of your other Trappist beers that tend to be a rich, less-is-more treat, Westmalle's Tripel was so clean and savoury that I found myself realizing that I could enjoy several. No spiky aftertaste follows your drink and the smell is slightly citrus-like. I want one now. I want a few now. Too bad I couldn't afford to keep up with the $9 a bottle at the bar I went to. The fact that I was seeking more still surprises me, it's not every day you find a Trappist that is so strong and delicious at 9.5%, and you find yourself unquenched with one. Go Catholic Monks go.

Dogfish Head's Raison D'Etre

I've read some other people's reviews of this beer, and it's been complimented to the tune of "like no other beer" or "sour but yet sweet to make you think you are chewing raisins" and "take to a dinner instead of wine".  Well well.

I get it, a craft beer that is intended to be enjoyed with a steak.  A compilation of a light burnt sugar and raisins with a Belgian-style yeast that resembles a dry, sweet flavour.  "Let's make a beer that tastes like wine" ...they must have said.  I'll take the wine please.  Raison D'Etre for me was a borderline fail. I suppose it may succeed in that you ONLY drink it as a substitution for a Bordeaux or the like with a meal, but it is not worth going to the store to buy a six-pack on a Friday evening like I did.

I shall still drink it all anyway!  But the sweet flavour that comes with it clashes with almost what I feel like is a metallic aftertaste that makes it hard to finish the beer...whether it is in a glass or the bottle itself.  I'm not so sure it is a good idea to make a beer taste like another genre of alcohol.  Well, maybe it isn't a bad idea, but this experiment...though 13 years running now, screams of "Try again".  Or at least from my perspective, "No thank you, wine is much better."

It's Real: Why you should listen be listening to Real Estate

It hit me the other day. I wish I was on the beach. Not the primal beaches of the Jersey Shore or some mythical spring break, but the real beach. The one where there is a breeze blowing off the water and its not quite warm enough to jump in. The one where a steady flow of cars pass by on the way to work yet no one pulls over to drag their toes in the sand. The one from my childhood, strewn with litter, dead fish, and leaves, yet still magically appealing. That beach. When I listened to the new Real Estate record, I was there. The flowing guitar lines, the openings, the spaces, it was all new and yet all familiar at the same time. From the opening track "easy", where lead singer Martin Courtney recalls floating on an inner tube in the sun, to everyone's end of the year favorite, "its real" where Courtney reminisces about carving a lovers name on a tree and walking on "decomposing leaves" I was transported back to the days spent on the sand staring into the sediment filled waters of the Gulf of Mexico straining my eyes to pick up the next ship coming over the horizon. Listen, close your eyes and listen, and if you really try, you may end up there too.

après-midi

I have came to the conclusion in 2005 that anything by Writer/Director Terrence Malick was worth seeing for me.  He creates such a deep, emotional trance in me that it becomes hard for me to come back to earth and not remain careless, almost in a state of perpetual melancholy.  Here are a few of his recent works:

 

The Tree of Life

The New World

The Thin Red Line