The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 02: A Comma (is a Restful Pause)

ishtat said:

Very distinctive complex flavour. No head. Drink coolish but not cold. Suggest no more than two bottles a session per person. If you like it, graduate to Fullers ESB - but be careful.

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Oops. Then I'll get it out of the fridge and keep it in the garage. Thanks.

Evening all, The coffee is refreshed and the kettle is hot.

I got some writing done and most of an edit done. I really should be working on the second chapter of the western but... I still haven't decided whether to do it for Lit or mainstream. I guess I could do a Lit version and then edit it for Mainstream consideration.

That would please my editor and her husband. Especially the husband. I get a thank you card from him every time I send her a piece with the Lit stuff still in it.

NotWise said:

Oops. Then I'll get it out of the fridge and keep it in the garage. Thanks.

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Well, it's beer nite tonite and a wild assortment it is in the house of Chloe's Ancestors. We have local craft beer, we have Aussie beer (Fosters, VB and 4X), we have Budweiser, we have some Labatts from Canada. We have Newcastle Brown Ale, we have Castle from South Africa, corona of course, Heineken and some Belgian stuff to blow your socks off. Vodka and Slivovitz for those like my pops that like it a little stronger. Everyone except me is knocking it back but I'm driving tomorrow so I'm passing. Told my guy to go for it. He can sleep it off tomorrow.

One large coffee for me. The war stories are gonna start any minute now...

For the next eight days it will be Murphy's Irish Stout or possibly Guinness. I'll be in Dublin for about eight days and then in Vienna for three and down the Danube for eight. What will I be drinking, besides glüwein? Who knows or cares? See y'all back about the 18th.

voluptuary_manque said:

For the next eight days it will be Murphy's Irish Stout or possibly Guinness. I'll be in Dublin for about eight days and then in Vienna for three and down the Danube for eight. What will I be drinking, besides glüwein? Who knows or cares? See y'all back about the 18th.

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I have an idea the Danube won't be very blue this time of year. Have a good time and enjoy your time away from the stormy PNW.

TxRad said:

I have an idea the Danube won't be very blue this time of year. Have a good time and enjoy your time away from the stormy PNW.

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Amen to that.
Have a good trip, Bear.

Morning HP, Yes it is still morning somewhere.

Fresh coffee all around.

Morning all,

The coffee is ready.

I forgot to get cereal yesterday when grocery shopping, so I'm having oatmeal cookies for breakfast.

ishtat said:

Very distinctive complex flavour. No head. Drink coolish but not cold. Suggest no more than two bottles a session per person. If you like it, graduate to Fullers ESB - but be careful.

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The word is "Cellar cool" (50-55 F).

Meanwhile, it's time for another coffee, before making another aerial for a pal of mine.

Handley_Page said:

The word is "Cellar cool" (50-55 F).

Meanwhile, it's time for another coffee, before making another aerial for a pal of mine.

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One cuppa coming up.

I finished off the last of the turkey for lunch.

Now for a little writing time.

Handley_Page said:

The word is "Cellar cool" (50-55 F).

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I'll be trying it tonight. The last time I checked it was a little warmer than 50-55F, but the outdoor temps have dropped since then, so maybe it'll be close.

NotWise said:

I'll be trying it tonight. The last time I checked it was a little warmer than 50-55F, but the outdoor temps have dropped since then, so maybe it'll be close.

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A lot of folk (notably visitors, the young, inexperienced or the very aged) seem to think there's something rather strange about a good English Beer, and that it is 'warm' and characterless (in that there's no head [well not one like soap, anyway]), and that Beer should be bloody freezing (there was joy in some parts when one brewery got the temperature of what was poured down to Zero degrees C).

Wrong ! Dead Wrong !!

English Beer (particularly Bitter) should be cool (a choice restorative on a hot summer afternoon). And it should have a distinct 'flavour' (usually different in each part of the country).

Pressure by organisations like CAMRA (CamPaign for Real Ale) and general opposition to a real crap 'lager' resulted in more 'craft' breweries, and main brewers getting the message and thus the Beer in their pubs.

The message is still spreading - if somewhat slowly.

Handley_Page said:

...

Pressure by organisations like CAMRA (CamPaign for Real Ale) and general opposition to a real crap 'lager' resulted in more 'craft' breweries, and main brewers getting the message and thus the Beer in their pubs.

The message is still spreading - if somewhat slowly.

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In my town we have four micro-pubs and five micro breweries. Only two of the breweries are competent so far. They're learning.

We have Shepherd Neame beer. In the past draught Shep's could be awful if the publican wasn't skilled in handling it. Now they are all well-trained by Shep's.

But I prefer draught Greene King but again the landlord has to know what he is doing.

Murkans drink flabby 'beers' like Coors ice-cold to numb taste buds so they can't tell how insipid is the weak fairy piss. Back when I was allowed beer (before a month ago) I kept bottles of ales, IPAs, Anchor Steam etc, in cartons on the floor beside the kitchen table. Room temp is right. Icy sucks.

What else sucks: My recent cardiac restart lasted just 12 days. I'm back in deep a-fib now. Tomorrow, I visit the laser-wielding retinologist. Day after, I see the cardiologist. It's time for the conversation about what's next: ablation, stent, pacemaker, or what? If I stop posting here, send contributions to the California Native Plant Society.

Enough of that. No comments are necessary.

Ah, winter has arrived here in the central Sierra Nevada range. We were dusted with snow yesterday. No bear tracks, so I didn't fear schlepping the trash can out to the dirt road for pickup. The wild turkey flocks have migrated downhill. It's rutting season for deer but only a few gangbangs in our meadow so far.

I'm rationalizing my axes i.e. deciding which 'ukuleles to buy next. Likely another concert 'uke strung linear instead of re-entrant. And a tenor 'uke restrung to emulate a mandola. My current mandola is okay but cheap and the good one I want will cost about US$1200 next time I'm in Albuquerque, so a tenor and strings for $55 seems bargain-ish.

I'll discuss my current obsession with modern steam-powered cars later. Hopefully.

PS: Oh shit, my partner just brewed a pot of fine Guatemalan. The scent is torturing me. Again. Go on, sip you mochas and pity me. I can take it...

So I got into the Fuller's London Pride. A thermometer set next to the bottles read 57 before I brought it in, so I set it in the fridge for a few minutes to bring the temp down a few degrees. I poured gently into the one-pint Mikasa crystal ale glass that my daughter gave me for Christmas last year and developed no head at all.

The beer has a beautiful reddish-amber color and a very clean nose. I thought the flavor was surprisingly mild, though the hops showed well on the back end.

I wondered a little about Ishtat's warning about servings so I checked the ABV value on the label. It was 4.7%. I think a typical US lager (not 'Lite') runs about 4.5%. I have maybe a dozen varieties of craft beers in the fridge and their ABV was all 5.2% or more (lowest being a Belgian-style White ale). The Scottish-style beer I had before dinner (brewed in Connecticut) had 8.5% ABV. So the Fuller's was the least alcoholic beer on hand.

Many US craft beers are very "in your face" when it comes to flavor. I draw a line someplace on this side of anything that Stone Brewing makes. The Fuller's was pleasantly drinkable.

oggbashan said:

In my town we have four micro-pubs and five micro breweries. Only two of the breweries are competent so far. They're learning.

We have Shepherd Neame beer. In the past draught Shep's could be awful if the publican wasn't skilled in handling it. Now they are all well-trained by Shep's.

But I prefer draught Greene King but again the landlord has to know what he is doing.

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I think that sums up the whole thing, Ogg. Too many licencees (I won't call them publicans) are merely 'ale vendors' who know little or nothing about what they are selling. Even A good German bier needs some care !

Good morning.

NotWise said:

So I got into the Fuller's London Pride. .

I wondered a little about Ishtat's warning about servings so I checked the ABV value on the label. It was 4.7%. I think a typical US lager (not 'Lite') runs about 4.5%. I have maybe a dozen varieties of craft beers in the fridge and their ABV was all 5.2% or more (lowest being a Belgian-style White ale). The Scottish-style beer I had before dinner (brewed in Connecticut) had 8.5% ABV. So the Fuller's was the least alcoholic beer on hand.
.

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The danger of London Pride isn't the alcohol level which compared with others is not that high. The danger is that it is a fairly mild flavour and it's very easy to think - oh just one more, mebbe two. And if you do pick up the ESB that is quite a bit stronger. A few years back it was about 6.2% but I think in recent times they reduced it two or three points. But as with 'London Pride', it is very 'easy' drinking.

Og's recommendation of Greene King is excellent. When I lived in UK I loved their 'Abbot Ale' - Unfortunately, it did not love me!

ishtat said:

The danger of London Pride isn't the alcohol level which compared with others is not that high. The danger is that it is a fairly mild flavour and it's very easy to think - oh just one more, mebbe two.

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I can see the risk.

ishtat said:

Og's recommendation of Greene King is excellent. When I lived in UK I loved their 'Abbot Ale' - Unfortunately, it did not love me!

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I have a limited number of English beers available. I can get Fuller's London Pride and ESB. Newcastle Brown Ale, Bass (actually brewed in New Hampshire) and one or two others. I've never seen Greene King.

I had an actual English IPA a few years ago, but I can't remember the brewer. Based on that experience I'd guess that the English would find an IPA from the US to be undrinkable and potentially toxic. Many of the US brewers are now labeling them as California Pale Ale, American Pale Ale or other variations and I think that's good.

I am partial to Scottish-style ales and can get BelHaven, but at a significant cost. Last year my local store carried a couple Innis & Gunn ales. They were excellent but I haven't seen them since.

Gazing at the discussion, I can feel slightly miffed.
I'm not permitted to do any 'real' drinking (I have a bottle of good Port for the Christmas festivites). My local supermarket has a bewildering variety of beers, from the usual cr@p to some seriously good brews, but I cannot access any of them with any degree of confidence. I really have no desire to repeat my sessions in either the Radio Therapy thing or the Drip, Drip of the cytotoxins (my particular problem had been in the throat).

Time, I think for a decent coffee.
.

Handley_Page said:

Gazing at the discussion, I can feel slightly miffed.

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You have my sympathy, HP.

Afternoon everyone.

I got wrangled into an early morning fishing trip that ended up being half the day. Lots of fun and we resupplied the freezer. 18 catfish between two and four pounds, released another dozen that were too big or too small. The small boat is great for two people.

Foggy early and cloudy and overcast the rest of the time. Enough of a breeze to drift slowly.

Now for some fresh coffee and some writing.

TxRad said:

Afternoon everyone.

I got wrangled into an early morning fishing trip that ended up being half the day. Lots of fun and we resupplied the freezer. 18 catfish between two and four pounds, released another dozen that were too big or too small. The small boat is great for two people.

Foggy early and cloudy and overcast the rest of the time. Enough of a breeze to drift slowly.

Now for some fresh coffee and some writing.

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Please tell me about HOW you fish for catfish; a lure on a spinning rod, a float and some suitable bait (what sort?) perhaps ?

Lately, it has bee far too cold to go fishing (I left that stuff behind me a good while ago). My current excuse is that I am engaged in eitherr fixing my PC (a new battery helps), or in the shed making an aerial OR TWO).
or SNOOZING IN FRONT OF THE tv WITH A COFFEE OR SOMETHING. . . .

Handley_Page said:

Please tell me about HOW you fish for catfish; a lure on a spinning rod, a float and some suitable bait (what sort?) perhaps ?

Lately, it has bee far too cold to go fishing (I left that stuff behind me a good while ago). My current excuse is that I am engaged in eitherr fixing my PC (a new battery helps), or in the shed making an aerial OR TWO).
or SNOOZING IN FRONT OF THE tv WITH A COFFEE OR SOMETHING. . . .

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HP, it is all according to whether I'm fishing from a boat or the bank. From shore, I use a tight-line setup. A weight at the end with a 2 inch circle hook on a six inch drop line about eighteen inches above the lead.

From a boat, I either use the same rig and drag it along the bottom or I use a slider cork to set the bait depth to where I want it. Usually 6 to 10 feet according to how much water I'm fishing over and how much cover is on the bottom.

The bait of choice for this lake is shad. Either 2-3 inch whole shad or one inch strips cut from larger shad. I occasionally catch white bass or strippers on the same rigs and bait.

That concludes catfish 101. Coffee is now available. If you have other questions or need clarifications please feel free to ask.

TxRad said:

HP, it is all according to whether I'm fishing from a boat or the bank. From shore, I use a tight-line setup. A weight at the end with a 2 inch circle hook on a six inch drop line about eighteen inches above the lead.

From a boat, I either use the same rig and drag it along the bottom or I use a slider cork to set the bait depth to where I want it. Usually 6 to 10 feet according to how much water I'm fishing over and how much cover is on the bottom.

The bait of choice for this lake is shad. Either 2-3 inch whole shad or one inch strips cut from larger shad. I occasionally catch white bass or strippers on the same rigs and bait.

That concludes catfish 101. Coffee is now available. If you have other questions or need clarifications please feel free to ask.

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Thank you kindly.
Should my pal & I find ourselves in a suitable spot, I'll know how it's done.

But I have an aerial to build today.
And it's bloody cold !
Coffee - PLEASE