Marah: Serge Bielanko’s House Burns Down And He Could Use Some Help

The whole story can be found here, but in a nutshell, the house where Serge Bielanko lived with his wife, two children and two dogs, recently burned to the ground. Everyone escaped without injury, but it appears that they lost almost all of their possessions, other than the clothes on their back.

Those of you who read my blog regularly know that I am a huge fan of Marah, and those of you who know me personally probably wish I would just shut the hell up about how awesome I think Marah is. In my more intoxicated moments I have claimed that Marah is better than the Rolling Stones, and further that I would kick the shit out of Keith Richards if he objected to that assertion. In my sober moments, I know that Keith Richards could kick my ass. I drag friends to shows whenever I can, and I even have my young nieces sporting Marah T-Shirts to their elementary school in Texas.  They have no idea who or what a Marah is, but they like the T-Shirts.

I do not know Serge personally. I have spoken to him very briefly after some shows and did contact him via Facebook a few years back to tell him how The Dishwasher’s Dream was helping me through a difficult time in my life. He was kind enough to reply back and give me some encouragement, for which I was grateful. That is the extent of any personal contact we have had, but Serge strikes me as a good guy, and this is certainly a shitty situation.  If you can spare a few bucks to help Serge and his family, you can find donation information at the link above.* In lieu of donating to the Bielanko family fund, Monica Bielanko suggests a donation to the Red Cross in the names of her kids (Info here).

The Twelve Days of Christmas may be over, but surely there is some leftover generosity among my readers. Yeah, I am looking at both of you skulking in the corner over there.   * More beer reviews soon, I promise.

*Naturally, I am too late with this post as they already have closed direct donations to Serge and his family, but you two skulking bastards can still donate to the Red Cross as Monica Bielanko suggested.

Best Beers of 2011

I had a good 2011 when it came to beer. I probably drank less beer by volume than any year in recent memory, but the quality of the beer I did  drink was much better than in years past. I decided this year to not drink beer just for the sake of drinking beer, but to drink only if the choices were genuinely appealing. No more knocking back a Shiner Bock just because that was the best beer available at the taqueria; I went with water (or sometimes soda) if that was the case.

Drinking only good beer meant less time spent like this

My 2011 Best Beer list is Texas-centric. There are two reasons for that: First, I live here now, and these beers are readily available to me. Second, Texas is home to some damn fine brewers, although most are relatively unknown outside the state. Texas is the best kept secret of the craft brewing world, but the better brewers are starting to get some attention elsewhere.

Here are the best beers I had in 2011:

8.5 Scores:

1. Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

2. Deschuttes Black Butte XXIII

3. Super Des Fagnes Brune

4. Dogfish Head Burton Baton

9.0 Scores:

1. Real Ale 15th Anniversary Russian Imperial Stout

2. Ithaca Excelsior Thirteen Anniversary Ale

3. Saint Arnold Divine Reserve No. 11

4. Mikeller Chipotle Porter

9.5 Scores:

1. Jester King Wytchmaker Rye IPA

2. Real Ale Barrel Aged Empire IPA

3. Real Ale Sisyphus 2009

If forced to choose one beer as the best of 2011, I’d go with Jester King’s Wytchmaker Rye IPA. That is one tasty beer. Jester King has a busy and creative 2012 planned, so much so that it would not shock me if one of their new beers knocked out the Wytchmaker to take the title in 2012. On the other hand, at the beginning of 2011, I had not even heard of Jester King, so there may be some as yet unknown brewer who will take the crown. We will have to see how 2012 plays out.

*Photo courtesy of Aaron Goldfarb, Author of How To Fail

Special Post-Boxing Day Edition of the Twelve Days of Christmas: Jester King Black Metal Stout Aged in an Oak Whiskey Barrel

Mr. JK is quite the generous soul. Mr. JK was being his usual generous and jolly self during Christmas 2010 when he gave Tilting Suds an oak whiskey barrel and some ‘raw’ spirits to age in the barrel. I barreled the whiskey just before Christmas, 2010. The liquor was clear when I poured it in the barrel; It was also as smooth as jet fuel. On New Year’s Eve, 2010, I poured off a bit to sample it. It had taken on some color but was still harsh firewater, nearly undrinkable. I sampled it again on Saint Patrick’s Day and Independence Day. Each successive sample took on more color and flavor, but the firewater aspect hardly mellowed at all. I decided that I would leave the whiskey in the barrel until after Thanksgiving to give it time to cool off, so to speak. This was a tactical error on my part. While my plan to mellow the whiskey was a sound one, what I did not count on was the Angels being so parched that their share would drain nearly the entire barrel.  After just under a year in the barrel, between evaporation and the oak absorbing the liquid, what started as 1500 ml of whiskey* was reduced to this:

The Twelfth Day of Christmas: A Christmas Carol

Of the many film versions of a Christmas Carol, the version starring Alastair Sim is easily the best. (Watch the whole film here)* His mixture of humor and pathos, along with classical acting chops, makes his the best Scrooge of all the film versions. When I read A Christmas Carol, I see Alastair Sim. When I see Alastair Sim in other movies, I think “what is Ebeneezer Scrooge doing in this film?” His is the definitive version, the standard against which all others are measured, and all others are found lacking.

I just saw the 1938 version with Reginald Owen. It was good, but he was not as natural playing Scrooge as Sim was.  There was too much ‘acting’ going on for me to get lost in the movie. I have the same complaint with the version that starred Patrick Stewart a few years ago.  I like Patrick Stewart, but his portrayal of Scrooge is just a showcase for his acting skills, almost as if he figures there is no way he will ever be allowed to play King Lear on American television, so he might as well stretch out with the role of Scrooge.

How long before Kenneth Branagh does a version? Ewan MacGregor is too young and too Scottish, and Hugh Grant is too much of whoopsie to pull it off, but Branagh could do it, and do it well.  Gary Oldman would just scare the kiddies shitless, so he is out as Scrooge, although he could play Marley’s Ghost in the Branagh version. Add Alan Rickman as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Brian Blessed  as the Ghost of Christmas Present, Hugo Weaving as the Ghost of Christmas Future (He did just fine hiding his face in V for Vendetta, so he could do this Ghost) Alan Cummings as Bob Cratchit, with as special appearance by  Stephen Hawking as Tiny Tim, and we have ourselves one hell of a film. This needs to happen.

The Eleventh Day of Christmas: Stone Vertical Epic 11.11.11

For the Eleventh Day of Christmas, I cracked open a bottle of Stone Brewing’s 11.11.11 Vertical Epic.* This ale is brewed with Belgian Yeast, which gives it a funky aroma and some banana flavors.  Cinnamon and New Mexico Green Chilies were added to the boil, with the heat from the cinnamon noticeable on the front end, and the mildest heat from chiles in the aftertaste.  The cinnamon and the chilies complement each other, and neither overpowers this beer, as is often the case with chili  pepper or cinnamon infused beers.  There are plenty of hops here as well, adding layers of flavor.  This is another wonderful beer from Stone, 8/10.

*Do you see what I did there? Eleventh Day of Christmas paired with 11.11.11? I am on a roll!

The Tenth Day of Christmas: A Tilting Suds Christmas Playlist, Vol. 2.

After the first Tilting Suds Christmas Playlist got rave reviews (JPE: EXCELLENT! THIS IS JUST WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR! Diane: BEAUTIFULLY ECLECTIC! President Barack Obama: THE TILTING SUDS CHRISTMAS PLAYLIST IS WHAT THE COUNTRY NEEDS TO RENEW THE AMERICAN DREAM!), I could not hold back from putting together a second volume.  Let’s jump right in:

The Ninth Day of Christmas: Shiner Holiday Cheer

I am not posting a photo of this beer, because I am afraid that some of you will see a Shiner Holiday Cheer display in a store someplace, recognize it from the blog, not remember what I said about it, and buy some of this bottled shit.  Flavored with pecans and Texas peaches, this manages to taste like chemicals, with a metallic aftertaste. It is sickly sweet and medicinal, almost as if a cough drop was dissolved in it, and that is the best part of this beer. Shiner is very much hit or miss, with more misses than hits, but this is a new level of crappiness.  I would not even use this shit for cooking, which is my preferred method of getting rid of lousy beer.  I am not going to grade this, but please avoid it at all costs.

On a more cheerful note, check out Marah covering A Fairytale of New York.  It is only a fragment, but I like it:

This is the Pogues performing the song on Saint Patrick’s Day, 1988 in London. I was at this show, and can pick myself out of the crowd in the shot at the end of this clip. I would point out which one was me, but then you’d all ask, “How’d you get so fucking fat since then?”:

The Eighth Day of Christmas: Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

I am a huge fan of Sierra Nevada. Their beers are consistently good to great, with one notable exception, giving them a Hall of Fame batting average. The Celebration Ale is one of their better beers.  There is nothing especially Christmassy about this beer as there are no spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, or cardamon; it is not particularly heavy; nor is the 6.5 % ABV is all that high. In fact, the only signifiers that this is a Christmas beer is the end of the year release date, and the poinsettias, pine trees and snowbound cabin on the label.  I am not complaining as this malty and hoppy IPA is one of my favorite harbingers of the Holiday Season, along with Advent Calendars, the Alastair Sim version of A Christmas Carol, and Christmas cookies, loads and loads of Christmas cookies.  My only gripe with this beer is the limited availability as I would drink this all year long. It is that good, 8.5/10.

The First Day of Christmas

The Second Day of Christmas

The Third Day of Christmas

The Fourth Day of Christmas

The Fifth Day of Christmas

The Sixth Day of Christmas

 The Seventh Day of Christmas

The Seventh Day of Christmas: Santo from Saint Arnold

Clearly not a Christmas beer, just based on the Day of the Dead label design, but I am including it here because I have only recently tried it, and if you look closely at the photo, there is a small Christmas tree visible in the background. The Santo is Saint Arnold’s version of a German Kolsch, and hews quite close to that traditional style. Saint Arnold says it is darker than a traditional kolsch and I suppose that is true, but the profile (malty, light bodied, mild floral hops) is 100% Kolsch. While I liked it, I am not a huge fan of German style beers, but if you are, you will probably enjoy it more than I did, 6.5/10.

The First Day of Christmas

The Second Day of Christmas

The Third Day of Christmas

The Fourth Day of Christmas

The Fifth Day of Christmas

The Sixth Day of Christmas

The Sixth Day of Christmas: Lost Coast Winterbraun

I have never had a brown ale that I loved. I have never had a brown ale that I hated. Brown ales are the mediocre middle children of the craft beer world. Damn near every brewer makes one, and whenever I have one, I am always slightly disappointed. Not because whatever brown ale I am drinking is bad, but because I could have had something better.

Winterbraun by Lost Coast Brewing is a chocolatey smooth brown ale, with some notes of coffee and dark fruit.  It pours a rich, velvety blackish brown with ruby highlights, and a cappuccino colored head. It has a nutty aftertaste and and there is the mildest of nutmeg flavors here. Do I love this brown ale? No I do not, but I do like it more than most brown ales, and would gladly drink this again, 7/10.

The First Day of Christmas

The Second Day of Christmas

The Third Day of Christmas

The Fourth Day of Christmas

The Fifth Day of Christmas