Harviestoun Brewery Old Engine Oil

It's been perfect weather up here on the Ridge for getting stuck into a few dark ales - cold, windy and rainy.

So, welcome to the first winter Sunday Sesh, brought to you by Harviestoun Brewery's Old Engine Oil Porter. 

Something I drained out of the car earlier

Well, this certainly looks like engine oil, but it does have some carbonation, hence the short, creamy head. Tastes a little of burnt caramel, and sweet like a good porter should. There's a hint of chocolate, but there's a most interesting aftertaste - vegemite. I guess that's because vegemite is a yeast-based product, but it was funny being able to taste the stuff I used to eat by the bucket-load for breakfast when I was a kid.

Anything that tastes like an Aussie staple is alright in my book. I really like this beer, but would maybe stop at two or three. It's quite heavy to drink, as in thickish compared to summery lagers, so fills you up quite quickly.

A side note on this, as I mentioned in an earlier post, the Porters were named after the transportation workers (porters) who enjoyed this type of beer in 18th century London. Apparently, they used to make a meal out the beers. And I can see why, as these types of ales fill you up fast.   

A great beer to kick off the winter Sunday Sesh's.

A couple of things caught my eye this week.

The first was this news about swing bowling in cricket.

Apparently some scientists discovered that it's not moisture in the air that causes swing.

I think those scientists haven't been to a test match in Brisbane. When the humidity's high at the Gabba, that red ball is practically moving 90 degrees as can be seen by the very first ball of the 2006 first test delivered by Steve Harmison.

One commenter on this video said that maybe it was a tactic by England - to get the ball to Freddy Flintoff as soon as possible. It's a shame that tactic didn't quite work. We won that series in a white-wash.

The other thing that caught my eye was this mash-up from youtube. It's a very clever look at the goal celebrations in football (that's the round ball game), and adding in some Hollywood-style FX.

Some of the world's best players are known just as much for their celebrations as the goals they score. So I'll leave you with this little piece of brilliance to finish of the Sesh.

My favourite is the accordion playing 'keeper.

Next week, I'm trying out Monteiths Black Beer, a drop from our cousins across the ditch. The last time I had a Kiwi beer, I wasn't impressed. I have had a Monteiths before when I holidayed in Queenstown and it wasn't too bad. I'm looking forward to this one, since it promises lots of caramelly, chocolatey, nutty, and coffee goodness.


Until next Sunday's Sesh,
Cheers!

Sunday Sesh #5 - James Squire Jack of Spades

Bit late in coming this week, but here's today's Sunday Sesh, brought to you by James Squire's Jack of Spades Porter.

I've ventured into the dark ales a bit over the last couple of weeks, and this one is now one of my favourites. Next time I'm at the Bottle-o I'll be grabbing myself a carton.

Little bit of history on the porter, as it's a variety I haven't come across until now. Apparently, it was one of the first "engineered" beers, being made from a combination of old (stale or soured) ale, a new ale and a weak one. It's name came about because it was popular with transportation workers (porters) in the 1700s.

This one from James Squire is made on roasted barley and they say has "hints of malt chocolate and roasted coffee."

Well, I'm not sure about that but it poured well with a creamy head and no real bubbles. It's when you drink it that it really surprises. It's a little tingly on your tongue, like sherbert, and very refreshing. It's not as heavy as it looks and was surprisingly easy to drink.

At $17.99 for a 6-pack, it's another top-shelfer.

After last weekend's whinge-a-thon, I thought I'd go for something a little different this week and talk about writing. Nanowrimo to be exact. It's been a while since I've spoken about Nano, but since there's less than a month left before it begins, I figured I better get cracking. I decided, since my desk is where all the action will happen, I'd better give it a good clean.

My desk before...

and after the clean-up

As you can see by the before and after pictures above, it's a far cry from my usual mess. In the second photo, you can see the hat which is part of my Nano Super Writer Disguise, and the frames in the background are my Nano-cartas - the two documents which remind me what I think represents good writing, and what I hope to avoid as bad writing. I've also got my reference books ready to go - two dictionaries, a thesaurus, a baby name book and the Nano bible "No plot? No problem."

The document box under my hat contains my various notes on "Pandora's Box/Elysium". I have a habit of jotting down notes on random bits of paper, but I'm trying to kick that habit. So I don't get too lost with plotting on that WIP (not my Nano WIP) all my notes go into that box, and at the end of the week, I go through them all, transfer the best of them into a note book, turf out the bits of paper and start again. It's a slow process, but I'm getting there. I just have to teach Wifey to leave my note books alone...

A little bit off track now, but still on writing - I ordered my Christmas present last week. Yes, you read right - I ordered my own Christmas present. Not because Wifey's bad at buying presents (she's quite good as a matter of fact), but because it's a new release, and I figured I might be waiting a while to get it. What did I get? I hear you ask.

A newly-released kindle e-reader from Amazon. Amazon have just released their latest suite of readers - a basic model for $US79, two touch-screens $US99 (wi-fi) and $US149 (3G), and a colour touch-screen model called the Fire for $US199. They also still have the previous models of the Kindle Keyboard available for $US99 (wi-fi) and $139 (3G) - the basic model is the only one currently available to us here in Aus, with the rest hopefully soon to follow.

Why am I excited about this? Because Amazon have just increased my potential reader market. Cheaper e-readers means more people seeing what it's all about, and that means more people looking for e-books. I'm not sure how long it will take to get my shiny new toy, but I am sure of one thing - since it's a Christmas present, there is no way Wifey will let me have it until Christmas day, so you'll have to wait (just like me) for me to give you my verdict.

If you've been trying to decide whether or not to buy an e-reader, now is a good time to be getting one. As for me, there's only one thing left to do - finish my damn book and get it onto Amazon.


until next Sunday's Sesh,

Cheers!

PS Notice I just wrote the whole Sunday Sesh without mentioning that Manly won the NRL grand final (until now) - this was the one time I hoped the Kiwis would triumph (sorry Nat). But, kudos to the Sea Eagles - they were the most consistent team through the finals series, if not the season, so it wasn't an entirely surprising result.