Friday, April 20, 2012

New tires and moar beer!

Here is proof that I do actually ride my bike.  I just wanted you all to know that I'm not just an E-rider.  But I'm an actual to the bones rider.  I do work.  basically I'm a big deal.  Well, I do work.   

Gus(left) and Helga.  When I work in the office, this is most often the view I see below the desk.  I guess my intellectual processes scare them.  Duly noted, and I kind of wish my students were like this too...  

Eel River Amber(Organic): I got this one night when we were out having persian food.  It was a nice smooth organic, it lacked the bite that draws me to a beer.  But it was a beer, as my first adventure into the world of Organic brew, I must say preservatives are my friend.  I found this one palatable, but unexciting.  It didn't make me want to search harder for organic beers either.  Especially with the inside knowledge that one of the top organic brewers is a facet of Busch...  D.




Sneaky Pete Imperial IPA: First off, I saw the Boston Terrier, and my wife's Mother has a boston, so I thought i'd give this beer a try.  I hadn't frankly read what it was until I got to the register.  I knew that me holding a beer that had a likeness to Debbie's best friend would be a good thing.  Well, it turned out extremely well.  This is a delicious beer that certainly deserved a spot in my roster.  It's not the hoppiest Imperial, but it's got a malty finish that is certainly unique.  Almost touching the lines of an Imperial Robust Porter.  It's darker than the average IIPA, but it's most definitely delicious... Not amazing, but different enough to bring it up in scale, it gets an A-.  
So my Specialized S-works MTB shoes tore a seam the other day, and I went into the LBS and they were able to warranty them on the spot.  Luckily they had my size.  Plus they are super snazzy in black and how have two boas.  Thus far they are awesome, and feel much much stiffer and definitely offer more bike feel.  

New Rubber!   Michelin Wild Race'r 2.3-they run a little narrow for their claimed size (between 2.1-2.2 on a 26mm internal width rim), but overall an excellent tire.  I've had thesetires since last may, waiting to run them.  They are a very fast rolling tire similar to the Fast trak but with much better side knob traction.  There is a little bit of a disconcerting lack of traction.  But that's coming from the 2.4 Purgatory...  So anything will feel like less traction. The previous time I used these was in Montana which had more tightly packed sediment, and also less sharp rock/sand.  They were great there, very fast, that's the key word for these tires.  Just fast as all get out.



Sierra Nevada Hoptimum: At first thought, I hoped I was buying a new car part, or some sort of time travel machine.  But the Hoptimum is a Full Cone Imperial IPA, which means that it's been hopped, dry hopped, and torpedoed to have basically 5 pounds of hope per bottle.  Not really, but almost.  I actually have no factual data about how much hops are in this beer.  But it's delicious.  This is one of the smoothest Hoppiest beers I've had.  It's almost true love, it's a near perfect brew. If you see this, buy all the 4 packs your eyes stumble upon. A+.


Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron:  Basically It's a giant brown Ale that's been aged in a huge-ass Oak tank by Dogfish Head.  Dogfish is the king in larger scale awesome brew's in america.  It's brewed in the largest Palo brewing vessel in North America.  It's a big bold Malty Brown that really doesn't taste like all the alcohol it has.  It's a sleeper in that respect, a delicious sleeper.  One of the smoothest beers I can recall, it's malty, dark and great for a cool night.  It's a hard beer to slam, but one of the best damned browns I've had.  A+.