Monthly Archives: June 2014

Are You Ready for Some Futbol?

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Where Will I Be on Tuesday Afternoon?

That’s right.  Watching Team USA play in the World Cup Round of 16.  Way to make it out of the group of death, gentleman.

 

30 for 30: Hillsborough

ESPN’s wonderful 30 for 30 documentary series released a soccer-themed edition for the World Cup.  It leads off with a documentary by David Gordon about the Hillsborough tragedy, in which 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death at a 1989 football match.  The film explains how spectators were herded into the stadium through a crowed control snafu by police and the subsequent cover-up by police and attempt to turn the tragic deaths of 96 fans back on the fans’ themselves by saying they had broken through the gates in a drunken mob.  Most of the film is about survivors and families’ two decade long quest for justice and a fair telling of what actually happened that day.

It was appalling to learn than the coroner ran blood alcohol tests on all the victims, even the children, and then published their blood alcohol levels in the paper.

Apparently, the documentary won’t be aired in the UK for more than a year because there is a new inquest into the incident, but for those of us in the U.S., you have got to see this.  It’s on Netflix and Amazon.

 

 

Brews and Books

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Less Moving, More Brewing

So, last few weeks have not been so good with the running.  The most I ran this weekend was around the block, because it was 10 pm on a Sunday and I had been in my running clothes all day and still had not gone for a run.  This was definitely one of those “you have to make exercise a priority” kind of days and it just never happened.  First, we had a friend stay over, and while I tried to convince him to go for a run (since he’s doing a 5K in a couple of weeks) he said no because he didn’t bring his running shoes.  Then, we had to go get groceries and run errands.  Then, we started brewing a saison, which for all-grain takes several hours, allowing me time to do yard work and entertain neighborhood kids who came over to play with our dog.

Once we’d extracted our wort, we took a break to go watch the USA/Portugal game — tied, flipping tied — which didn’t exactly lift my spirits as much as watching us beat Portugal would have, though was better than a loss.  Finally, at about 9:00 we got down to boiling our beer, which took 90 minutes and then another hour or so for the cool down and racking into a carboy for fermentation.  A busy, full day, none of which involved my running…at least until I took approximately seven and a half minutes to run around the block.

Good weekend on the BREWS side, less good on the MOVES side.

I finally made it out Wednesday afternoon for a sweaty 3-miler.  Our 4-year-old neighbor is insanely in love with our dog and craves constant attention, so she decided to engage in an attention-seeking blitzkrieg yesterday while I tried to work from home.  She began ringing/knocking on the front and back doors and tapping the downstairs windows about every 10-15 minutes, which drives my dog crazy.  Even after I opened the door, explained I was trying to work and that she was bothering our dog and that I would no longer be answering the door, she continued to do it.  I stopped answering the door and decided to go for a run.  Was she sitting on my door step when I left? Yes.  Did she start up again about 20 minutes after I got back from my run?  Yes.  Did she start ringing the bell within 5 minutes of Josh getting home from work?  Yes.  At least I was less stressed after going for a run.

The Oatmeal is Doing a Running Book

Thought everyone could use some humor after the laugh-fest of the above, so check out some of the new Oatmeal running book here.

 

 

IPAs, Founders, Among America’s Top Beers in AHA Poll

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From the most recent issue of Zymurgy magazine, as voted on by the membership, America’s top beers are:

1. Russian River Pliny the Elder

2. Bell’s Two Hearted Ale

3. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

4. Bell’s Hopslam

5. The Alchemist Heady Topper

6. Lagunitas Sucks

7. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA

8. Stone Enjoy By IPA

9. Founders Breakfast Stout

10. Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout

Seems to reinforce the perception of Americans as a bunch of hop-heads, no?  Only three of the top 10 are not IPAs.  Numbers 2 and 3 on the list are two of my favorite IPAs with wide distribution and Josh and I were just talking last night over dinner (and a bottle of Enjoy By) about how much we like that particular IPA.  So, good job America.

Other notable Midwestern additions to the top 50:

11. Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout

14. Three Floyds Zombie Dust

32. Surly Furious

T34. Founders All Day IPA

45. Surly Abrasive IPA

T47. Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

T49. Founders Backwoods Bastard

Not as much Ohio representation as I’d like to see, but I don’t think a lot of the local breweries have the capacity for much interstate distribution yet.  On the other hand, Founders occupies nearly 10% of the top 50 spots, which is well-deserved recognition for an excellent brewery.

Humidity

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Traveling in the South for an academic conference and struck by how noticeable the difference in humidity is down here. While I love seeing rolling hills again, I’m looking forward to returning to (slightly less humid) Columbus.  On Friday, I took a jog along the Tennessee River in downtown Knoxville and it was sticky, but it feels worse down here in Atlanta.  I used my friends’ elliptical this morning because I didn’t think I could brave a run outdoors and I still was sweating buckets in their air conditioned house.  It feels like the ambient air is damper.

On the fermentation front, I tried a Yazoo Spring Ale on my way through Tennessee.  It was light, but had nice body and some hop crispness on the back end. Here’s their description of the beer:

A Helles bock style brewed with lager yeast, using a mixture of traditional german malts – Pilsner, Munich and Cara Helles – hopped using German Perle, Hallertau and Hersbucker hops. Flavor: A nice deep tan color with a slight bready sweet aroma, with a light mouth feel that finishes with a smooth maltiness and clean hop flavor.