Snow Cap Review

I bought a sixer of Pyramid's Snow Cap Ale last week, and I am a fan. It is a winter-warmer ale, and has an ABV of 7%, so I never drank more than one at a time. The Pyramid sites says:

A rich, full-bodied winter warmer crafted in the British tradition of holiday beers. This deep mahogany colored brew balances complex fruit flavors with a refreshingly smooth texture, making Snow Cap a highly drinkable and desirable cold weather companion.

Beer Advocate members rate it as a solid "B," not amazing, but not bad. I gave it an "A-." It's smooth, malty, toffee-coffee goodness, with a tiny bit of spiciness. It is good. I dig it. I love amber, malty, yummy goodness meant for chilly evenings. And I am extremely happy that I didn't pick up the Shiner holiday brew instead. Even though Lee is a fan, I can guarantee I wouldn't have the same reaction. Me & fruity beers just are not a match.

How are you holding up?

Torn from the Times Online:

It’s official: today is the worst day of the year. Hang on – wasn’t that supposed to be last Monday? A psychologist has calculated the most depressing day with a formula that includes “lousy weather, post Christmas debt, failed new year’s resolutions and the desperate need to have something to look forward to”. Incidentally, this is also the most depressing week of 2008. We don’t care any more – we just want to go home.

So I am just checking in on my peeps. You doing ok? Getting enough sleep, not letting the zero degree weather kill your spark, are you? Work isn't TOO overwhelming, is it? We're super busy, but we can see the light. If you need something to look forward to, let me list a few positives coming up here in the middle of the middle of the middle:

1. The projected high for this Saturday is 46 degrees, and that is the same day as the SCION OPEN Snowboarding Tournament over at Snow Creek. You know you want to get out and enjoy a little of this winter weather, just not when it is below 10 degrees! It's going to be awesome, with Miles Bonny spinning, snowboards flying, and a few adult beverages and a snack waiting for you after you finish skiing, boarding or even sitting in a tube, riding down the hill. I'm definitely tubing this year!
2. One last appeal, as if you needed more – the Weston brewery O’Malleys is a hop skip & a jump away from Snow Creek. After an afternoon of skiing/tubing, what could be better than a Weston Brewery Irish Cream Ale. Uh, nothing I can think of! Ha ha ha. I will be there most of the day, so give me a shout if you’re headed out there.
3. AND, it is supposed to be 52 degrees here by Sunday!
4. Boulevard's Irish Ale should be available by now.
5. If you are in advertising in KC, and live in a cave or something, let me remind you that the Addy Awards are on Feb 16th. If you don't know, it's like an awards show & prom all rolled into one event. Hilarity ensues.

Winter warmers

It is beyond cold here, and while I typically enjoy a good winter storm, I am really only looking forward to my post-Christmas trip to Mexico at this point. I usually have an entirely too romantic viewpoint of ice storms (because I got married during the worst one KC has seen in a while) but this week I am over it. This was taken by my camera phone in my front yard this morning. Blerg.
All the cool beer bloggers are covering the holiday/winter special brews. Don't you want to be cool? Sadly, I am too busy to be cool. So I will introduce you to the cool kids.

KC Beer Blog does Schlafly, New Belgium, & Breckenridge
The Cure For What Ales You does Magic Hat
Beer Haiku Daily ponders winter brews in 5-7-5 format
Hail The Ale suffered a bottle mishap

And I bet there are a lot more that I haven't had time to read via my completely chock full RSS reader, that poor, underused receptacle of unread feeds. Have a good beer for me, k?

It's HOT outside. You need a pool!

Because I am a dork, I captured the above screen shot. Because I am an interactive media nerd, I thought it was nice to see weather-triggered messaging used for something beyond tires, collision repair and allergy med companies . And because I am a beer fanatic, it kind of made me laugh. When I see that is going to be over near 100, or feel like over 100, the last thing I want to think about is beer. Even me! And I drink a lot of it! I know it is the whole angle of Miller Chill (refreshing, tropical vacation beer) and maybe this strikes a chord with the kind of people who drink beer outside when it is over 100 degrees. All it makes me think of is dehydration. I guess it really is true - I'm not in my twenties anymore.

Sorry for the lack of Watson's references to justify the title. It just keeps popping into my head.

Storm Preparedness

Winter decided to arrive. And in this area of the country, a 50-60 degree day in the middle of January is almost always followed by a blanket of ice. Yesterday was gorgeous. I am glad that I got to enjoy it a little. Today it is 18 degrees.

In 1996, lots of people lost power. I was at college, in an apt., and managed to escape any damage. In 2002, hundreds of thousands lost power and my wedding was almost cancelled due to "dangerous weather." It wasn't, we celebrated, and promptly ran away to French Polynesia, where ice storms are as foreign as tsunamis are in Kansas. But now we live in a neighborhood with overhead lines and massive trees. I'm not sure we are going to escape this weekend with both heat and light. It seems a lot to ask.


I haven't been to the grocery store, go I guess I will be skating by there on my way home. And stopping by the beer store. Because a weekend like this requires both a porter AND a stout.

B Side

Are we on the flip side yet? I'm exhausted. One more week until we do the Vegas thing, which I am SO looking forward to, I can't even explain. Fall used to be my favorite time of year, as a kid, what with the start of school and Halloween and my birthday. In high school and college it meant crunchy walks and football games. Now it means bagging 60+ bags of leaves and wishing it wouldn't rain again so I could paint the porch. Ah, adulthood. On the plus side, our kitchen is awesome. So awesome. I think I am going to have to learn to actually cook now. Baking and fixing dinner are not the same as really knowing how to cook. When things are happier, we'll have a party of some sort. Post-Thanksgiving, pre-holiday, perhaps? Dark beverages, fattening food, and the like.

Go Inside And Get My Pickle

We had a party two weekends ago, to celebrate the new deck and The Husband's b-day. We bought volumes of beer, and some people made some comments about the state of our fridge. Primarily the fact that it contained no food, a few condiments, and lots and lots and lots of beer. We also had buckets of ice full of beer on the deck. We had a bit leftover, but it's been going quickly. Tonight will contain a trip to the liquor store. Sure, we have tequila and rum and vodka and mixers. But I am running out of beer. I am thinking about a novelty label like Black Sheep's Holy Grail, or maybe Bell's Oberon summer ale. Whatever it is, I need it to be kept really really cold. Weather.com says that at 6 pm, it will still be 93 degrees, and feel like 98. Better than yesterday - it was still 106 at 7 pm.