Venturing Into Trappist Beer

I'm not a huge beer drinker, but I do like to sample new things and gain appreciation for the most well respected flavors and traditions on the market. And while I still cannot drink a Guinness - it's too harsh for my palate - I have enjoyed the few beers I've had that claim to be traditionally Belgian in influence.

So if I like those, why not check out the giants in the field? That, and the encouragement of friends, led me to decide I needed to try out these Trappist beers.

A few weeks back when I made my pilgrimage to Belmont Station for Pumking they also had this:

What better way to get a feel for a classic Belgian than a sampler pack of Chimay? And hey, free glass - sold.

I started with the Red Cap, pouring into, of course, the new glass.

The red has a very rich, dark orange color with a nice head on it, pouring very smoothly. The nose is mildly sweet with some spiciness. I expected a very rich flavor from the smell and color, but I didn't get that. It wasn't bad, just a little flat, in my opinion (which, I see, doesn't match 1,400+ reviews on Beer Advocate). I also felt the alcohol showed through a tad too much, almost overpowering the flavors of the malt and the spices. It wasn't bad, really, just wasn't the greatest thing ever.

Next up was the Triple, in the bottle with yellow label.

I really liked this one. It had a slightly sweeter, more fuller flavor than the red. I was a tad surprised by that because the color was lighter in the glass (had about the same amount of head). A tiny bit of fruit in the nose. I'd have this one again.

Last up of the Chimay gift pack was the Blue Cap, predictably the one with the blue label.

This was, by far, my favorite of the group. It had a great nose, a little bit fruity and with a nice yeastiness, like rising bread. The Blue pours a rich, dark auburn/orange - almost a mahogany color. Unlike with the other two Chimays, the alcohol is almost non-existent in the flavor in favor of various fruits. Definitely the most balanced of the group.

Overall I would buy the Blue Cap again, I'd drink the Trippel if available and in the mood but I wouldn't seek it out, and the Red Cap I probably wouldn't go back to.

But wait - there's more!

Saying I'm trying Trappist ales and then only trying one brewery seems a little silly, doesn't it?

So I also picked up a Rochefort 8 at the suggestion of friend on Twitter, from the Abbey of St. Remy in Rochefort, Belgium (that link is in French, but if you use Google Chrome as a browser it will handily translate the page for you).

The 8 is the middle offering from Rochefort, and I picked it over the 6 and the 10 (John's Marketplace in Multnomah Village, just outside of Portland, carries all three) because...no reason. Just on a whim. I do intend to try the others at some point.

This beer had a very foamy head on it and poured a very rich amber color. It had only a slightly yeasty smell and little fruit. My suggestion? Let it warm up a bit and the flavors will meld very nicely. Also, don't drink it before having to do some serious writing for the night. It's less than a 12-ounce bottle, but be wary of that 9.2% - it sneaks up on you.

I did really enjoy the Rochefort 8, but of these four Trappist ales Chimay Blue was my favorite, with the 8 a clear second place over the other two Chimays. I thoroughly enjoyed this foray into Trappist ales and will at some point try the other Rocheforts as well the other breweries - Orval, Westmalle, and the like.

I don't know that I'll decide I like these better than my favorite stouts and porters, but they are a nice change of pace and just as enjoyable in their own right.

2011 Pacific-12 Football: Week 11

An upset by the UCLA Bruins last week left me at 4-2 on the week and 52-19 on the season.

This week, if you care about college football at all, you know is the red-letter game in the 2011 Pac-12 season with Oregon visiting Stanford. The winner of that game will (the world is 99% sure) win the Pac-12 North Division and host the conference championship game where they will be heavily favored to earn the conference's automatic BCS berth and perhaps be in the running for the national title game (if it's Stanford, probably not for Oregon). Whew.

I'm not much for detailed breakdowns, but seeing how the Stanford offensive line handles Oregon's fast defense to protect quarterback Andrew Luck should be entertaining. Plus, watching any team try and handle Oregon's offense is always interesting. If you read on you'll see my pick, but I went back and forth a few times before I made it.

Ted Miller, ESPN Pac-12 expert who I have linked to in this space before, has been adamant all season long Stanford would win this game. However, when it came time for him to make his own weekly picks (note his season record compared to mine) this week, he chose Oregon.

In other news, UCLA's upset win over Arizona State apparently has some thinking the Bruins could win the Pac-12 South. Yes, as of today they are in the driver's seat, but it won't happen. They will lose this week to Utah (while ASU will also win) and they are going to lose their final game at USC. Don't get excited Bruins; the Sun Devils will still play the Oregon-Stanford winner in the league championship game.

Oregon State-Cal is another interesting matchup because each week you never know which version of these teams is going to show up. I have little faith in Cal's offense and a lot in Oregon State's defense, which led to my pick.


And with that, on to this week's picks! Rankings in parentheses (AP, ESPN). All times Pacific.
(Time - Matchup - Network - Pick)

SATURDAY

11:40am - Arizona at Colorado - Fox College Sports Pacific - ARIZONA
12:45pm - Washington (30, 29) at USC (18, NR) - FX - USC
3:30pm - Oregon State at California - ROOT Sports - OREGON STATE
3:30pm - UCLA at Utah - Fox College Sports Central - UTAH
5pm - Oregon (6, 6) at Stanford (3, 2) - ABC - STANFORD
7:30pm - Arizona State (28, 26) at Washington State - Versus - ARIZONA STATE

Stanford, Washington, Arizona State and Oregon are bowl-eligible. USC has enough wins, but is not eligible for the postseason. California, UCLA and Utah each have five wins and at least one of them will become bowl-eligible this week.

Who do you pick?

Another Brunch at ISK

A while back we had a fantastic brunch at Irving Street Kitchen in Northwest Portland, so last weekend we went back for another round.

I ordered the French toast bread pudding, which came with vanilla whip cream and warm plums.

Not only was it pretty, but it was damn tasty. With the whip cream it might have been a tad on the sweet side, but those plums melted in your mouth.

Wifey ordered the "Smothered Southern" with sunny side eggs, a biscuit, grits and chili creole. Fried chicken was optional and after the waitress assured us it was a breast and not brown meat, she added that as well.

It's a pretty plate, isn't it?

We finished with their butterscotch pudding, which we were told didn't come with cookies for brunch, only at dinner (never mind the visual evidence from our last visit in the link at the top of this post - but yes, it could have changed; on the bill it's listed as a "to go" pudding...hmmm). They did bring us out a molasses cookie, which smelled fantastic but ended up being dry and bland. The taste fell way short of the smell's promises.

The meal was very good, but we have a few beefs.

1) That was not breast meat. Instead, it was a drumstick and a thigh. And yes, this is typical for fried chicken, but that's why we asked the question. There are restaurants around town - Screen Door comes to mind - that use white meat for their fried chicken. If we had simply been told no, it wasn't breast, we wouldn't have ordered it. Considering it was a $7 addition that's noteworthy. We probably should have been wary after the waitress didn't really seem too sure of her confirmation. It would have been easy enough for the waitress to say she didn't know and go ask, and we would have appreciated that extra effort. But she didn't and she didn't know the product. That's not okay.

2) Service in general was fairly slow. I'm not talking about how long it took to get the food, but at the end of the meal when it came time to bring out bill. I don't understand why any restaurant would take so damn long to bring a bill after diners are clearly finished with dessert, and then why it would take so long to process and return the receipt to be signed. It was busier than our last brunch, but the restaurant was far from "busy." Also, I should note she brought the bill without even asking if we wanted dessert, which we did.

3) Packing up the leftovers was a complete failure. In general I prefer to package my own leftovers because then I can pick and choose what I want, but many restaurants do it for you. Normally that's fine, but not for this meal. I finished my food, but Wifey only ate about half of each piece of her meal, and less than half of the chicken. Our waitress took away the plate and brought out a box which seemed small but we didn't really think much of it. After we got home and opened it up, we saw all that was in there was the leftover biscuit and just the thigh piece of chicken (the drumstick was partially eaten). No egg, no grits, and none of the chili creole. Not only did we spend an extra $7 for the chicken that wasn't what we were promised, but half of the leftovers didn't make it in the box.

And yes, my tip was less than I would normally give, but probably higher than was deserved.

Maybe our waitress was new, I don't know, but it left a bad taste in our mouths. We will probably still return at some point because the food really is very good - and we want to check out dinner - but we might be a little less patient if the same issues crop up again.

In the meantime, ISK is doing a take-out menu for Thanksgiving we are thinking about ordering from. At least then we don't have to wonder about service.

Misaki Does Not Love EzyDog

Pet owners are a little crazy, we know that. Still, after some research and hearing some recommendations on Twitter from other Shiba owners, we decided to get Misaki an EzyDog QuickFit harness. Harnesses are suppose to put less strain on the dog's neck than a regular collar and leash, especially if you have a dog with a mind of its own (meaning: a Shiba). 

Other Shibas can't be wrong, right? Check out Tokyo with her harness in San Diego, Prince Zuko wearing his in Yosemite Park, Phineas pimped out on the sidewalk in Jersey, and Kuri hiking in Hawaii. All of them proudly wear their EzyDog harnesses and their owners love them because they are, well, easy to put on and make the dog easier to control.

But ordering wasn't easy. We wanted the pink camouflage, which apparently meant a special order. We could have ordered it ourselves, but a store we stopped by to see if they had the color offered to order it for us. That saved us $5 in shipping so we said sure. They told us 1-2 weeks. Three weeks, a phone call, and an email later, it finally showed up. Rrrr.

Anyway, we brought it home, got it adjusted, and put it on Misaki in the house. She seemed okay with it.

Of course, upon further review, this is the look she gives us when we put anything on her. It's the "I can't believe I let you do this" look. By the way, anytime I see her sitting like this, Paul Wall's Sittin' Sideways pops into my head.

It was rainy that day, so we just took a couple pics and took off the harness. On Sunday it was a beautiful, chilly, clear, fall day, so we got the harness on her and took her outside. At first she didn't want to leave the house, but we didn't think anything of it. We managed to get her off the porch.

And then down a stair, where she didn't want to go any further. This is her "what the eff do you think you are doing to me?" look.

After some cajoling (and tugging) we got her all the front steps.

And there she sat, as annoyed as a dog can be.

We tried a little more cajoling and tugging, but she resisted.

And then she tried eating the leash, which doesn't bother her in the least with her regular collar.

She sat again and refused to look at us. There was no chance in hell she was going for a walk in the harness.

We have read stories about Shibas who refuse to walk on leash, throwing themselves onto the ground and whining, but they were always kind of funny in an "I'm glad that's not me" kind of way. Misaki has always loved loved loved going for walks and she gets excited every time we get out her leash.

But not with the harness. At least she doesn't whine, but that would be beneath her anyway. She'll just huff at us and give us condescending looks until we give in to her desires.

And, of course, we finally did. I took the harness back in the house and exchanged it for her collar, and she proceeded to go for a walk like everything was fine.

I'm obviously a little annoyed, after waiting all that time and dropping $29 on the harness, but what can I do?  I have a theory here. Misaki has never worn a harness of any kind, just a collar. I think she feels completely restricted with having the band of fabric now running behind her front legs. I have no idea what she thinks is going on with it, but she sure doesn't approve. What's funny is her son that we have met, Aizu, also refuses to wear a harness and when his parents make him wear it, he just mopes around.

What I think we are going to try is giving her treats when we put it on and let her wear it in the house, perhaps building up to another attempt at walking on the leash. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears (or eyes I suppose, since this is a blog and all).

Misaki may have won this round, this battle, but we'll break her yet. What? Just ignore that sound of a dog laughing in the background...

2011 Pacific-12 Football: Week 10

Another 4-2 week (seriously, what's up with Cal?) pushed me to 48-17 on the season with my Pac-12 picks.

Couple big warmup games this week for Stanford and Oregon, both going on the road before their matchup next week in Palo Alto. I believe the Beavers will play the Cardinal tougher than many expect and they will play much better than they did against Utah.

As for the Ducks, a few in the media seem to be picking the Dawgs for an upset. True, the Ducks didn't look great last week, but Darren Thomas and LaMichael James are healthy (or so they say). I don't think it will be close.

The best game of the week may be Utah and Arizona. Utah looked fantastic against the Beavers last week and the Wildcats have been very productive since firing Mike Stoops. If the same Utah team shows up this week that beat BYU, Pitt, and dominated Oregon State on both sides of the line, the Cats will have problems.

Oh, and I bet ESPN thought that SC-Colorado game would be a little more interesting when they scheduled it. Whoops.

And with that, on to this week's picks! Rankings in parentheses (AP, ESPN). All times Pacific.
(Time - Matchup - Network - Pick)

FRIDAY

6pm - USC (21, NR) at Colorado - ESPN - USC

SATURDAY

12:30pm - Stanford (4, 3) at Oregon State - ABC - STANFORD
3:30pm - Washington State at California - ROOT Sports - WASHINGTON STATE
4pm - Utah at Arizona - Fox College Sports Central - UTAH
4:30pm - Arizona State (20, 18) at UCLA - Versus - ARIZONA STATE
7:30pm - Oregon (6, 6) at Washington (28, 28) - ROOT Sports - OREGON

Stanford, Washington, Arizona State and Oregon are bowl-eligible with six wins. USC earned their sixth win, but is not eligible for the postseason. California, UCLA and Utah each have four wins.

Who do you pick?