Good Beer and Good Books

The first-generation Surly Darkness, brewed in early 2006, was rated the third-best beer in the world on RateBeer.com. It seems that last-year's production slipped a bit, as Darkness is now rated #5 among the world's beers. Regardless of its current rank, it remains the highest-rated beer that can be purchased in Minnesota and by far the highest-rated beer brewed in Minnesota.

So, when I heard that the Acadia Cafe, over in Minneapolis, would be tapping a keg of 2006 Darkness for their grand opening, I figured I ought to taste what all the craze was about. After failing to rouse Andy from his "other plans" (which seemed to involve a girl and some potential romance), I gobbled down an overly large dish of Malaysian curry chicken and squeezed into the standing-room-only confines of the cafe, only to learn that I would have to wait another 40 minutes for them to tap the keg. Under normal circumstances, having extra time in a place eager to serve me very good beer of many varieties would be a good thing, but given my present need to drive home after consuming beer, I had to watch and wait as more and more people crammed in, eager to pay $5 for a little glass of Darkness. Eventually, Todd from Surly brewery arrived, tapped his keg, and started pouring as the throng of people ceased their alcohol-enhanced milling about and pushed toward the bar as one, eyes on Todd, imagining the taste of his award-winning hop-filled concoction. I got in a slow line and waited about a half-hour, all the time wondering exactly when that little keg would run dry. But the keg held out, and I got my Darkness.

I am not a great beer critic, but I can say that Darkness is one of the best--perhaps the very best--beer I have tasted. By style, it is an Imperial Stout, the "king of beers" made with thick, roasted malts and extra sugars, fermented to a high alcohol concentration, and aged to allow the flavor to develop. But Surly made the bold step of adding plenty of high-alpha hops--about the same amount as in an IPA--with the result being a pitch-black, well-balanced, almost syrupy beer well deserving of its reputation. I probably wouldn't wait in line for a half hour again, but if I ever find Surly Darkness for sale, you can bet I will be stocking up.

Aside from drinking beer, transcribing, and attempting to find a job, I have been reading the extremely-absorbing Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix--so absorbing in fact that I finished the entire 1500+ pages in about three days. Now I either need to find some more good fantasy or go back to meatier, more realistic books about social ills, the environment, or consciousness.

Getting somewhere...

I e-mailed some folks at OSU today and learned that the Bioengineering department accepted me back on March 4. My acceptance now hinges on the general admissions committee, which is apparently working with a three-week backlog. It sounds like this is pretty much a rubber-stamp process, so I am about 95% sure I'm in at this point.

Wait and see....

Spring cometh not

To be fair, it is 40 degrees today, not 10 below, so it IS more than a wee bit warmer than a month ago. That said, we just got 10 inches of snow last weekend and another half foot is in the forecast. We have only hit the 50-degree mark twice. Last year, we hit 80 degrees this week amid a number of beautiful 70-degree days. El Nino kicks ass. La Nina sucks. I'm sure all those who get flooded or fail to catch any fish in El Nino years would disagree, but in Minnesota La Nina means frigid and El Nino means we get our share of global warming times two.

Easter brought no eggs or fake pink bunnies but plenty of tasty food in the form of apple cake, quiche, pumpkin pie, maple salmon, and herb bread. We all wished it was warmer but went out walking anyway and discussed our current spiritual and practical goals in life. Cottontail rabbits were unusually abundant, perhaps aware that on this one day the human race develops a sudden unconditional love for lagomorphs.

I am still waiting to hear from Oregon State, and in the meantime I am applying to work as a prairie burn tech for the DNR this spring. Can't beat getting paid to burn stuff...

Massive website update

I am back from Oregon--certainly the best week I have had since graduating from Carleton. I have many stories, most of which you can read here. There are four photo pages in total, but you can find links to the others on the first page. I also added a photo essay with winter pictures taken in the Cities, which you can find here.

Additionally, I changed my homepage, updated my contact information, and added some photos from my New York trip to my photos of the day page. If these pages don't appear different than when you last saw them, try the refresh button.