Jeff's Top 102 Beers - #102

As a way of enticing you all (all - ha!) to come back and visit me more often, and as an easy way for me to feed content into this bloggerific empty webspace, I am going to work my through my top 100 Beers that I have ever tried. I'll provide some background, impressions (hint: I think they are all really good and taste awesome), and even info on where you might be able to find it. This should be fun, I've never really taken a look at my list before like this (all info coming from my ratebeer.com profile.

Oh, and why 102? Well, I had some ties at 100, according to my stats. And 102 seems more interesting than 100 for some reason.




#102
Church Key Riot Act Imperial Stout
Note: That's Church Key Northumberland pictured; I needed an image

Cool! I love this beer! And since it is from Church Key, I have lots of stuff I can write about. Let me explain. Church Key Brewing is a small micro brewer in Eastern Ontario, just outside of Campbellford, ON. I grew up in the Quinte area, and have tons of family back in the area and visit frequently, so when these guys opened their doors in 2000, I was pretty excited. You can read all about them at their site. They produce a number of interesting year round and seasonal brews, and can be found on tap at finer establishment in between Toronto and Ottawa. They do bottle, but you can only get them from the brewery direct or again, at finer beer establishment.

And they are really in an old church. No really. Here's a picture.





If you're ever looking for a diversion between Toronto and Ottawa (like say in the Spring, when they hold an annual open house, which I have been dragging people to for years), check it out, the place just overflows with character. And the owner, John, is a character himself.

Anyway, about this beer. This is not a usual Church Key offering. It made its first appearance at last year's open house (Spring Revival). The story is John basically homebrewed it himself in a very tiny quantity. We drank many plastic glasses of this beauty at the Revival, and again when it popped up in a couple of kegs at Volo in Toronto. And it hasn't been seen since, oooh, makes you want it more now, doesn't it?

So what is it like? Have you ever had an Imperial Stout before? I'm going to assume you have (novices: Imperial Stouts are like Stouts - think Guinness, if you have to - only kicked up way higher in flavour, alcohol, bitterness and everything else- they can be bitter, chocolaty, strong, but most often formidable - you sip a good one, believe me). This one is the finest I have tasted from an Ontario brewer. To summarize my ratebeer notes: it was pitch black, it looked oily and slick. It smelled like chocolate, molasses, and had tons of roast and coffee. These followed in the taste along with a good amount of bitterness. This was complex formidable stuff - a true after dinner treat. If you are ever fortunate enough to find this on tap somewhere, get one. And call me.

I hope you enjoyed the first of my top 102 beers! Feel free to list off some of your top beers, or impressions of this holy Church.

That's a good lad.

Je5

Perhaps This Internet Thing Can Be Useful

Sorry I haven't posted in a while - sometimes life gets in the way of things, even blogs! But I'm back with a timely discussion on my experience with online dvd rentals.

As always, some background. I've always loved movies - I like most genres (my taste can go from Hollywood Blockbuster to obscure Foreign film, usually no Horror flicks though) and I enjoy tracking movies I have seen and figuring out which were the best ones of the year (imdb is one of the first and certainly the best movie resource on the 'net - it now has some pretty cool features that let you vote and keep track of your movies with customizable categories - I divide mine by year and in which format - Watched on DVD 2007, Watched in Theatre 2007 for example - this is awesome for someone like me who cannot remember which previews I just saw at the beginning of a movie, let alone which movies I have seen in a past year). I'm probably a lot like the Cusack character in High Fidelity that way, Top 5, Top 10 lists and all.

Heck, I used to even manage movie theatres for a living (did I just say heck?)! I used to really enjoy tracking Box Office stats too, but as of late, in an Entertainment Tonight, E! Television, People magazine saturated world, I'm sick to death of celebrity culture and that has translated for me to not seeing movies as often. Not to mention I was used to seeing movies for free, and usually in a private screening(with a *cough* beverage or two as well). So I should also point out seeing movies with the masses, especially with cell phones, chatter, and everything else in between, does not appeal to me at all. So I find myself watching DVD's more and more. And that's where I finally get to my point.

When we moved last Spring, our new place did not have a name video store around the corner from it (I think our nearest such store the Rogers Video at the Skydome!). So I didn't rent over the summer and when I went back to doing so this past Fall (I found a Blockbuster near my work), I was appalled at the prices (what is it, $5, $6 for a rental?) and I found could never follow the restrictions (even without late fees, I always forgot to bring movies back on time).
Luckily, I remembered reading about online DVD rental services so I started to check them out to see if that would make things an better.

In short, it has. Tremendously. After doing some investigation (this was the first article I read) and visiting a very helpful site (go to the forums as well- weed out the extreme cult-ish like people such forums usually attract - you know - bitchin' why the service isn't faster, forgetting to mention they live in Yellowknife - and go to the informative and honest customer experiences), I settled on Zip.ca. After a two week free trial, I pay $25/month. I can have 3 DVD's out at any time, and I can rent as many as I want in a month. All DVD's ship (quickly so far 1-2 days!) prepaid in handy little envelopes and when you return them (again, prepaid envelopes supplied) more DVD's are sent. Simple, quick, and easy.

What DVD's get sent you? Well, one of the reasons I went with zip is because of their huge catalogue - you can read the site lest I start to sound like marketing material (over 20,000 titles I think). Basically, you can browse through all titles (sorted a million different ways - best of lists, genres, actors, you name it) and "zip" or pick which ones you are interested in seeing. These go on your "zip" list. From there, you can rank them in order of importance to you, so theoretically, you get sent ones higher up on your list first (you can have 2 account settings: speed over priority or priority over speed - pretty self explanatory). Then, based on availability, they get sent out to you, and then taken off your list when returned. I love this set up, as usually when I go to the video store, apart from New Releases, I can never remember those titles I always mean to see. Plus, they have tons of TV titles, which saves me buying a bunch of shows I always mean to watch but didn't find the time to watch (24 for example). They also have a ton of obscure titles I had never heard of but have interest in (I found a bunch if Irish documentaries and even that Canada : A People's History - Something I have been meaning to watch, in order). And I kind of like the surprise element of seeing random titles show up at my door. So far, I love the service and at $25/month, I am at pace to easily rent 12-15 movies this month, which is damn cheap.

Any complaints, or warnings? Well, if you are totally in to New Releases only, this may not be the service for you. Sure, I've got tons on my Zip List, but so do thousands of other customers, so do not expect them right away - there are other Online DVD rental services that specialize in that market. Zip offers "book the next available copy" service for an extra charge if your desperate I guess. But with the size of their collection, I hardly need the new David Arquette movie right away, so it is not an issue for me. I also like the feature that lets you add movies to your list currently in theatres but not available on DVD yet - when they become available, they go on your list - cool, especially around this time of year when there are so many good movies out - Oscar season anyone?)

If you like watching movies on DVD and do it frequently enough, and like a assortment of titles, then I encourage you to give Zip or one of the other services a try (and let me know how it goes - actually, if I was smarter, I'd probably find some sort of referral program or something - and no, I'm not shamelessly linking to it). Or just keep downloading the stuff like you do now you thieving bastards :)

Look Out Itchy, He's Irish!

A little Irish Pop Culture Discussion.

I mentioned in my Profile and Blog Title that I have some interest in all things Irish, mostly on the politics, history, and sporting side (all from a Canadian perspective I might add). But I think I'd like to start a little lighter by chatting about Movies and TV.

I'm not sure what got me thinking about it, likely I was watching one of the thousands of Simpsons Episodes on in Syndication last night (Snake Whacking Day episode, an episode dripping with St. Patrick references along with the Day's original purpose, to drive the Irish out of Springfield - "But it was all in good fun"), but wow, there are tons of Irish references. So I did a lot of work, Google, and found this awesome list: http://www.snpp.com/guides/irish.refs.html
It has been around for a long time, but I am glad to see they are still updating it. Every Irish reference in the series history. Crazy. But, I have to admit, I remembered just about every one when I read the list (although some they are stretching - Fionn McCool?? Don't give them too much credit). Although it struck me when reading the list that some might find the show actually anti-Irish - but context is everything, and the usual "To get rid of the Irish" references are usually more of a reflection on the idiot town folks than anything. And really, who doesn't want a fun Heaven as the one portrayed in the Liam Neeson episode? Anyway, I don't have much more to say about it other than check the list out, have a laugh, and keep the gays and Italians out of your very own St. Patrick's Day parade.



So another thing I was thinking about last night, again, not sure what brought it on, was Irish movies, or movies about Irish folks, issues, etc. Not exactly a ton of great ones. I know I know, there a lot of good Irish Actors, filmmakers, and such, but once Hollywood gets its hands on a story, yikes, the stereotypes come out as faster than you can say Timmy O'Toole. And I have to admit, I have not seen a lot of older movies that sometimes appear of those lists that come out around March 17th. But here, to start discussion - and honestly off the top of my head in no order - are "Irish" related movies that I can think of, and a brief discussion on each one:

The Quiet Man
Might as well start with the Duke! The newer DVD version of this is very good - the print looks much better. But the content has not aged really well - I squirmed with the misogyny of it all, and Bhoy oh bhoy, the Irish Stereotypes abound! But there's just something about The Duke, who seems a foot and a half taller than just about everyone in the movie (save for his sparring partner at the end, in one of the best punch ups I have ever seen on film) walking into a pub as the returned Yank, asking "Give me one of those black beers you drink here" (not an exact quote - again, off the top of my head people, cut me some slack!) that is very charming. I watched this with my Dad a couple of years ago with a few cans of Guinness and really enjoyed it. And I ran across a little plaque a few years ago when I was in and around Dingle in Ireland where they filmed it. Nice.

Michael Collins
I loved it when it first came out and still really enjoy it. It does not quite stand up on repeated viewings in some parts - Julia Roberts (shudder), Aidan Quinn - who I thought had an Irish accent in real life but seems to be doing his best impression of a fake one in this movie, the Hollywoodization of the politics behind the Easter Uprising and subsequent Civil War (hardly any mention of the North at all), but man, Liam Neeson is a powerhouse in this film. What an outstanding performance. And Alan Rickman is tremendous as well. And the sheer scope of the movie and cinematography is stunning. A good movie and recommended - the end scene and music get me every time.


The Wind That Shakes The Barley
You likely have not seen this one. It had its North American Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September after winner the Palme D'Or at Cannes in the Spring. It is due for release in a few months I believe. Easily the best and most honest Irish movie I have ever seen. Frank, honest discussions of the politics behind the Civil War from the common man perspective. It is raw, real, and thought provoking. I had never seen a Ken Loach film before, but the long takes and honest line deliveries - flubs, stutters and all - convey a sense of real and raw emotion I have never witnessed before on the screen. The only thing that lets it down are the cartoon British charactures in the film. Not an easy viewing but go see it when it comes out. And let me know what you think.

In the Name of the Father
In the Spirit of wrapping this up quicker and because I am not googling anything in my reviews here, I will not say too much about this one. I have not seen it in 10 years but I remember really enjoying it - the performances by Daniel Day Lewis and Pete Postlethwaite in particular. And actor Gabriel Byrne is a producer, neat. One I've been meaning to re-watch.

Omagh
Produced by Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday, United 93, Bourne Supremacy), this is really well done. So tense - the opening 15 minutes are so hard to sit through. Honest (the lead guy who maybe I'll link to when I am done writing, can't remember his name) is really really good and carries the film. It gets a little lost near the end when it runs out of steam, but wow, good honest viewing.

Bloody Sunday
From Greengrass and so good you will not believe it is not a documentary. Go watch this film now. Watch the extras. NOW.

The Crying Game
People forget the Stephen Rea IRA angle of this film, I have no idea why? From Irish Filmmaker Neil Jordan, who also did Michael Collins. I thought it was good, but not worth the hype and accolades it received. And I am not going to link to it, you know all about it already.

Patriot Games
Did someone say Hollywood? Completely trivializing the conflict in the North to suit a Tom Clancy mano et mano revenge fantasy with Harrison Ford - who I used to love watching by the way, this movie is still a solid action thriller if you forget the laughable politics (I don't want to sound too harsh and scolding all the time here). Look for a nice turn by Sean Bean as the Irish Terrorist and an early Sam Jackson appearance. I still watch this one when I can.

Intermission
A fun but gritty Irish Pulp fiction with a great turn by Colin Farrel and a hilarious turn by Colm Meaney. Very highly recommended.

The Boys from County Clare
Bernard Hill (the King in Lord of the Rings) and Colm Meaney and a Corr in a typical but charming Irish picture about battling brothers and a big music competition. Worth watching for the scenery and music alone. Fluff, but enjoyable.

The Devil's Own
Typing about Harrison Ford in Patriot Games made me think about his other "Irish" movie. This was savaged when it came out, as it had production delays, clashing stars (Ford's role was originally scheduled for Robert Duvall and it was simply a small supporting role - watch the plot creak as they try and make Ford's character bigger), and a truly dreadful score from James Horner (copying everything he did in Patriot Games, which he then ripped off in Braveheart, and then Titanic). And the 'Irish" sets with terrorist Brad Pitt are hilarious - but again, it is a guilty pleasure which I don't mind. I liked the warmth at the beginning when Ford welcomes Pitt in his home (with Guinness! before it was trendy!) and the story is fluffy enough (so you're going to get guns back to Ireland on your little boat Brad? Really?). Ok.

There' s more - I remembering much more now, but that's enough for now. What have I left out? What are your thoughts on the movies that I have a discussed? What is your favourite Simpson Irish Reference? Leave a comment and let me know!

Thanks for slogging through this. That's a good lad.

Je5

Some Folks O'er The Water Think Bitter Is Fine...

Ah Beer. What's not to love? So full of beery goodness. So tasty. In moderation, so many health benefits. In excess, so much inflation of self worth and importance. But wait you say, that picture is not the beer I know! Where's the clean, crisp, beachwood aged, cold filtered rocky mountain glass of lager us Canadians know and love?

North American Lager is dead. Long Live Beer.

Some background: I like good, flavourful beer, usually from but not exclusively, small craft brewers. That's right, I like flavour in my beer. My theory is simply if you're going to consume this much liquid, why shouldn't it have taste? Too many times growing up, we're bombarded with beer ads claiming "No aftertaste" "Dry" "Smooth" "Extra Cold" and so on - basically a million ways to say that the beer will go down, you won't taste a thing, and you'll be ready for more. Congratulations - you've just become a marketer's dream.

Now I'm not saying drink only Stout, or 10% Barleywines, or whatever. I am just saying wake up and realize that there are over 70 different beer styles on the planet. Lager makes up a fraction of those styles. There is so much good beer out there, but we only seem to be able to grasp the "Top Ten" high volume swill at our local foreign, Big Brewery owned Beer Stores. It is this inability to even acknowledge there might be other stuff out there that has me breathing fire on my keyboard.

But all is not lost. Craft beer is gaining. Slowly, but gaining. We're about 20 years behind our American cousins (that's right - remember growing up being told all American beer is so thin and watery compared to our hearty Canadian brewskies? All a marketer's urban legend, more on that in a future blog post. I mean, Labatt Sterling compared to border brews like Old Milwaukee would seem hearty! Not to mention we measure our alcohol differently) here in Ontario, but our micro brewers are finally starting to pull their heads out of the sand and make some interesting brews.

So my plan for my beer related posts in this blog will be to highlight some of the better and interesting breweries and brewpubs I've had the pleasure of trying. For some, it will be old news, but even to those, maybe it will turn out to be a refresher, as we tend to always look in the beer world for the newest and latest while sometimes forgetting about old favourites. I'll also chat about where to find to good beer in Toronto and abroad (I love traveling and sampling what local areas have to offer). But I'll also point out the crap - not just the obvious targets like BudCoorsLightDryIceMaximumNoCarbShot, but also the craft breweries who give craft beer a bad name, or those beer places and events who are simply fronts for corporate swill. What's the worse that can happen, no one will read this blog anyway, right? (This is incentive for you to spread the word and get me in trouble).

Finally, a little more background on beer and me. I actually didn't start to drink the stuff until I was in my 4th year of University. More on that later. Sure, the first beer I ever had was when I was 12, after bringing in hay with my brother for 8 hours. Local farmer pulled a couple of Molson Canadians right out of a deep well, were he had them chilling at the end of a long rope. Hated it. Still do. But thankfully I moved on from good old Canadian.

I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about beer, although like anything, there are those out there with tons more to offer on the subject. A few years ago I joined a site called ratebeer.com to keep track of everything I've tried. I've long maintained, and still do, that my main motivation to join the site was not to tick numbers, as some do in this little cult, racing to see how many beers they can sample while they're livers are still in tact, but simply to keep track of what I have tried, as I have a horrible memory for such a thing. So now I know, for example, when I have a beer and a bite at a cool place like the Granite, I'll know which beers I love, and which ones I do not care for. Neat, eh? The site also lets me keep track of countries I've sampled (48! Wow!), Provinces, states, styles, etc. I think that stuff is pretty cool without taking it too seriously. I know some friends of mine take great pleasure in playing "Stump the Jeff" when traveling, as they try and find beers I have not rated (for the record, I'm at 1600 and counting so it is getting a little difficult for them! But I so appreciate their efforts!).

Let me know what are some of your favourites, fire off any questions you might have, or just use this post as inspiration to go and have a chilled tasty one. It is 11am and I am at work and I just made myself thirsty as hell.

Je5

Welcome Pt 2

Ok, so I'm still playing with the colour scheme, and it'll be a while before I have a fancy banner graphic, but so far so good. I can post the odd picture and do the link thing (my goodness blogger makes things so easy) so I should be able to actually put some content up here now.

Except I'm pretty busy right now, and the World junior Final is about to start (yay TSN online feed! Boo choppy buffering!), so content will have to wait for the weekend. I'm also going to start those neat list thingys over on the side with other blogs and sites of interest.

There are probably two ways I can approach this blog: 1) Just post random stuff on all the subjects I have sort of outlined already or 2) make certain themed days, i.e Beer Mondays, Celtic (let's all laugh at manager-less Rangers!) Tuesdays, Leaf Wednesdays (10-2!!! My goodness...), Lost (please come back) Thursdays, etc. That second one sounds far too organized for me, so maybe I'll just compromise with random postings tagged under specific headings for easy of searching later. So many possibilities.

Please post any comments or suggestions to make this blog a warmer, fuzzier, and happy place. Or at least one not so hard on the eyes if something offends / angers / does not look good.

Ok, I don't get overly excited about, well, much of anything, but c'mon Canada! This junior stuff is a joy to watch. Plus, I'm scouting for next year's hockey pool.

BTW, this blog has nothing to do with accordions. I don't have a clue about them; I don't think I've even seen one in real life besides on tv or something. I was just trying to be clever damn it. So if you googled your way here looking for accordions, you'll be disappointed. But, while you're here, why not take this handy beer suggestion and have a sip or two while you put in your countless accordion practicing hours of training? That's a good lad.

Je5

Welcome!

Hello!

I'm just getting this little project up and running (well, walking anyway), so bear with me while I figure out all of this blogging stuff out.

Over the next little while I'll start posting about all of the stuff I described above and then some. I may even figure out how to add pictures and change the colour around here, but I guess baby steps, right?

A big thanks in advance to GregClow who has no idea how much help I am going to be asking of him. Greg, you'll be my first link I promise.

For now, as we ponder a world in which the Leafs actually have a good coach and one of the world's greatest players but little else, and in which Celtic sit 17 points on top of the SPL and are in the knockout stages of the Champions League (generation of domination indeed), I leave you with this to ponder: Why are you still drinking yellow fizzy beer? Do you not like taste in your beer? Are you happy with simply being a urine producing factory? At least take some pride in your area and drink something local, even if it is fizzy and yellow; we will at least have a starting point for discussion! Now I realize that this rant will not apply to most of the folks I pay to visit this blog at first, and it sounds simple, crude, and well, uninspired, but really, next time you're talking with someone about beer, especially with what us beer geek folks like to call MolBatt drinkers, please try and dig out a few nuggets of info pertaining to this. My theory is that people really don't think about what they're drinking and that, well, bothers me. But it also presents lots of opportunity for change - there is no greater feeling than getting a Molbatter over to the dark, or at least, amber side.

Ok, sleep needed. I'll finish with saying how much I genuinely appreciate you stopping by here and I encourage all comments - otherwise I'm just talking to myself, and I can do that all on my own without a computer! Plus, the internet echoes. Good night.

Je5

(stay tuned for a riveting explanation for my cryptic sign off name Je5! Like Lost, I am going to string you along for weeks while only releasing tiny mouse like parcels of info while proposing 50 odd more questions, in an attempt to say something profound and to keep you coming back!)