Thursday, November 24, 2005

MMM Old Rasputin

So my dad picked up some beers for Thanksgiving.

One was absolutely excellent .. the others were mediocre/old/not so good ...

First I went to Rookies and tried some of the Shipyard Prelude Ale (ME) ... It was pretty yummy stuff and a very solid winter ale ... 85 ... My dad would give it an 82

My dad had some Shipyard Old Thumper Special Ale .... Which is one of the better Shipyard brews .. I would give it a 87 and my dad special guest reviewer an 85 ...

The real star of the weekend so far has been Old Rasputin: Russian Imperial Stout from North Coast Brewing in Fort Bragg, CA ... This is one of the yummier beers you will find anywhere.. It is full rich and quite yummy ... It is very strong at 9% alcohol by volume... and very very good ... I would give it a 95 and my dad would rate it similarly ...

Really, really good .. .I also had some Cole Porter by Atlantic Brewing in Bar Harbor, ME yesterdy which was very good but not as rich as the Old Rasputin .. 92

My dad also picked up some DeGroen's beers by the Baltimore Brewing Company in Baltimore, MD. ... I couldn't tell if this variety pack was old or just not very good ... The Marzen tasted not terribly fresh and a little flat .. It was OK but I would expect a lot more from a micro .. 71 ...

I also had some Pils which was quite mediocre today .. 75 ... It was OK and I would drink some more ... I am wondering again if the case was a little old .... Its possible the turnover was not very high in Allentown, PA where I picked the stuff up.

I passed 50,000 words yesterday and am now in the 51,200 range ... The novel is going very, very well.

Thanksgiving was great and I really enjoyed having the family come up, my parents from Allentown, PA and my sister and brother-in-law from Stony Brook, Long Island, NY ...

Its great to spend time with family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

edmund davis-quinn

p.s. In really bizarre news there was an Edmund Davis (no relation) who shot his brother today in Portland, ME ...

http://wcsh6.com/home/article.asp?id=28938

This is beyond weird .. I wish the Davis family well for this tragedy on Thansgiving.

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Wednesday, November 23, 2005

I passed 50,000 words!!

I'm a Winner!!!

I am at 50,813 words right now....

Right now I am enjoying a Cole Porter from Atlantic Brewing Company in Bar Harbor, Maine...

This is one of the better breweries in Maine. Its a thick porter full of coffee notes and richness.

I quite like it ... 92

Yesterday I had a ....

drinking some Smuttynose IPA (NH) ..
its pretty good but not as good as was hoping for . hoppy .. pretty nice .. 84 ...
I would expect more from Smuttynose

I really like both of these breweries and would try anything from each .. If your curious a section of the book follows...

check out my other blogs at:

http://nofilterbook.blogspot.com (the book blog)

and my main blog ... http://edmundcquinn.blogspot.com

Cheers!

edmund quinn . a maine beer guy ...

50,300 words With a 1,000 words today I am well past 50,000 words. I will even cross it on the Microsoft Word, Word count in 300 words ...

Of course I have been cheating with Author's notes but that doesn't add up to too much.

Lord Edmund, Mathilda and Timothy Higgins have now met. Here is my most recent excerpt ... Chapter 13, where I passed 50,000!!

Chapter 132:45 pm, The Fitzgerald Group, London

Wow, Tim thought, I am actually going to meet the head of the multi-billion dollar firm, Lord Edmund Fitzgerald.

Even stranger I was invited by my current girlfriend, and his second wife.

He called Mathilda on the phone 45 mins ago, and she said to meet her in the lobby about right now. It was nice to be able to talk to her on his cel phone and be in reach. He wasn’t sure if this was an interview or just a discussion, he had a feeling it was both. Tim didn’t always interview well, he was sure this was going to go much better then Birmingham.

The morning had gone pretty well, the Mirror had a page 40 story saying that Math’s new love was an American, basically a repeat of the Sun story. Other news with David Beckham, George W. Bush, Tony Blair and Julia Roberts had trumped the Math Fitz story. He had a feeling this wouldn’t hold forever.

“Hi Math, nice to see you here. How do I look today.”

“Tim, you look great, give yourself two long breaths and we will go upstairs. How is your morning going so far? Nice to not be the cover story in the tabloids.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t make lunch with you, I had to eat at my desk so we could spend this time with Lord Edmund. I had more work then I thought I would, what have you been up to.”

“Well, I made it over to the British Museum for a few hours and looked at all the things the British Empire stole from the world. That place is wild. Its too bad the British Library is in that boring building though.”

“How are your feet doing?”

“Pretty good, I have been soaking them a lot. Thanks for letting me sleep in at your place for a few hours. Its nice that the tabloids are less interested too.”

Mathilda then gave Tim a kiss and said, “Well, Sir Edmund is waiting for us. He always thought the title of Prince was too much anyway.”

Tim and Mathilda went up the elevator to the 35th floor. They needed a key to get up to the executive offices, which Mathilda already had. “Tim, I love you. Be calm and you will be fine.”

When they reached the top, they saw Lord Edmund was waiting for them. It was 2:55. “Wow, Mathilda, you are a little early. This must be Timothy’s doing. You were never on time with me.”

“I assume you are Timothy Thomas Higgins… I quite like your suit. Mathilda has told me a lot about you, so try to be calm. I am Lord Edmund Fitzgerald, the Duke of Edinburgh, and ex-Prince when I was married to the Lady Quinne. The Queen didn’t like it very much when I divorced his niece.”

“Shall we go into my office.”

Mathilda whispered to Timothy, “You are doing fine so far, just keep your composure. I love you, keep smiling, and laughing and you will do great.”

Lord Edmund Fitzgerald’s office had an absolutely commanding view of the Thames and the City of London. “So what do you think of the top of this old building. When you have been in business as long as the Fairchilds and DeBeers, and other such holding companies, you accumulate some things.”

Tim thought it was like going to the British Museum again. So many amazing antiquities and early stock certificates. “Sir, I must say this is a beautiful office. And a most amazing view of the city.”

“I agree Mr. Higgins. I especially like viewing over St. Peters and the City of London. People thought we were crazy to make a 35 story building in 1890, but there are many higher buildings since.” Lord Edmund pointed to the Docklands and all the cranes building even more throughout the Eastern end of London to Greenwich. “Its quite amazing how London has grown as a banking center.”

“When I was a young lad, this was one of the higher buildings of London, and most of the financial district was near the walled City of London. Its amazing how much the financial district has grown eastward. And how much the Fitzgerald Group has made providing those loans.”

Tim couldn’t help but be impressed. Everything was immaculate, everything was perfect.

So there it is Edmund Charles Davis-Quinn ...

Novelist!

ecq
I passed it around 11:55 today here in snowy Maine.

This is quite amazing ... I am at around 50,700 now ...

Its been a blast and I still have a bit to do .. I do have around 2,282 words in author's notes ...

Check out my book blog at http://nofilterbook.blogspot.com

ecq

mmm beer

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Monday, November 21, 2005

2 more very nice beers

2 nights ago I tried ...

Having a lovely beer tonight ...
Smuttynose Winter Ale (Nh) .. quite spicy and yummy ...

I really like it 92 .. It is a slow drinking beer though .. wouldn't surprise me if its higher in alcohol ...


Right now I am trying one of my more favorite beers, Butte Creek Organic Porter (Chico, CA) ...

Its very rich and very yummy ....

There are some strong coffee notes and a strong taste.

This one is not as good as some others I remember though .. 90 .. I would have given it 94 in the past.

Maybe not a great bottle this time.

Always fun to try more beer.

edmund



http://mainebeerguy.blogspot.com

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Thursday, November 17, 2005

Fisherman's Brew

This is a beer from Cape Ann Brewing Company in Gloucester, Mass, an amber ale.

Yummy stuff ... very good .. very clean ... 88

There is a number of good New England brews.

Up to 41,000 in my book ....

http://nofilterbook.blogspot.com

edmund

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Wednesday, November 16, 2005

I like lots of beer...

You know what I like lots of beer ...

Schlitz is quite OK .. 75 ...

PBR is nice .. 78

I like Schafer ... 80 .. its nice and clean ...

Coors is yummy .. Western coors .. 81 .. eastern coors .. 77

Coors Light .. incomplete... barely any beer there...

Right now I am drinking St. Gootz Ale in the Bottle. This Magic Hat Beer (VT) tastes just as good in bottle then on tap ... have it as an 87 again ....
Bought 6 interesting beers on the bottle at the Portland Public Market ... I will review them as I drink them ...

Favorite beers....

Guinness ... 92 . .. I just like Guinness .. Its Good

Long Trail Double Bag Ale .. 7.2% alcohol ... very yummy, very rich ... my favorite easily attainable beer in Maine ... 94 ... Maybe not as great as the Allagash belgian yesterday but really good ... Long Trail is out of Vermont ...

Drink on...

ed davis

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Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Beware the Beer Snob

I wrote this grading beers at the Great Lost Bear.

Let me know what you think.

Beer Notes:

Great Lost Bear . November, 15, 2005 … 3:30 pm

Trying the Allagash Curieux …

Its very distinctive … very much a Belgian ale … its only available in small glasses .. alcohol is prob in the 7% range … It turns out its closer to the 12% range

Very rich, interesting, disctinive .. It wont appeal to everyone .. 95

Scale is thus: .. from an excerpt of the book No Filter: A Travelogue of Madness …

http://nofilterbook.blogspot.com

Tim thanked the gentleman and kept going. He gave the Porter a 90 and the IPA a 92, on the Wine Specatator/Cigar Afficiando scale, 90-95 being excellent, 95-100 superb, 85-89 very good, 80-85 good, 76-80 above average, 70-75 average, 65-69 fair, 61-65 not good, under 60 horrible…. He didn’t think there would be too much under the 80 range today… for Tim a bud might be a 72, a coors a 76, a Guinness a 92, 95 in Britain, he hoped to find some beers he would be happy to get in the 94+ range, such beers were rare and wonderful.

This is a very different beer.

I am really not sure what food it would meld with. Chocolate and candy would seem a possibility.

You would need a strong taste to balance with it.

Very good though….

Although it is terrible with Chili.

No Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA (Delaware) … The stuff is so yummy.. One of the best IPAs you can find anywhere, rich, hoppy, wonderful .. 96 … One of the best beers I have had in the last year.

Geary’s London Style Porter .. not bad .. nothing spectacular .. 83

Camp Ann Fisherman’s Brew … an amber ale … yummy, nice flavor … the chili might influence this….

Good stuff - 87

Rocky Bay Katie’s Celtic Red Ale --- Also simply yummy … dark for a red ale, with a nice bit of bitterness .. 88

Sheepscot Damriscotta Brown Ale -- 84 -- interesting, cask-conditioned … a little sour …

Feel like I really should be writing my book … perhaps beer and writing don’t get along …

Sheepscot Pemaquid Ale - 86 .. .also yummy … 4 very good beer choices .. all quite yummy very good beers .. .any beer guy would like these …

The winner so far is the extremely distinctive and yummy, Allagash Curieux -- I wasn’t able to get a small sample but the stuff is an absolute knockout … MMMMM

Its no nice to have a beer with 50 taps in the area, where nearly all are quite distinctive.

The Great Lost Bear is a great beer bar, the only one I know possibly better is the Old Bay in New Brunswick, NJ … That is a very different place though and this bar area is much more comfortable… I do think Old Bay has better beers but I do prefer the Delaware Valley Brewers to the Maine ones as a whole ….

Word Count … 491 … none of which are in my book J)

Casco Bay Old Port Winter Ale … too cinnamony … had odd nutmegy tastes … 79 .. wouldn’t go back for this one … oh well …

Magic Hat St. Gootz (Vermont) … pretty yummy … a nice yuletide ale .. lots of spices but much better balance .. 87

Allagash Double Brown … Quite nice … not the knockout of the Curieux … 86 .. A good beer … Quite solid, not the powerhouse of the Grand Cru and the fantastic Curieux …
Mmmm Allagash J)

Tried some great beers today .. .many were quite good …

The only real star was the Allagash Curieux .. although its not available in tasting size it’s a very yummy $4.00 for 2 deciliters … around 8 oz ….

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