Sam Adams Winter Classics: Coastal Wheat.

Sam Adams Winter Classics is here! As always, Boston Lager; Old Fezziwig's Ale, Holiday Porter, Winter Lager & Cranberry Lambic make a return appearance and new this year, Coastal Wheat.

I thought that Coastal Wheat was an odd choice for a winter brew, but I'm kind of on the fence after drinking it. I don't taste too much of a difference between Coastal and the old Hefeweizen, which it supposedly relaces, the lemon doesn't come on very strong, in fact I could barely taste it. Perhaps a winter variety pack needs a lighter ale to counteract the heavier fare that usually heralds the beginning of winter. All that being said...I really like the Coastal Wheat and will definitely drink more!

Harvest Collection Wrap Up

The Harvest Collection by Sam Adams was truly a good set of fall beers. They're always going to include the Boston Lager, but the rest of them were really appropriate for the cooling weather. I haven't tried it yet, but I have my doubts about the Coastal Wheat being in the Winter Classics variety pack. I've heard that it's replacing the Hefeweizen, which was a great summer beer (and by the way Sam Adams, how 'bout updating your website?)

Sam Adams Irish Red

The first part of this review is an old review from September, 2009; the second section is new

We're finally at the last of the Harvest Collection - Irish Red. Not surprisingly, The Irish Red is...red, well, more of a copper color anyway. Fast dissipating head. A slight bite to it, but not much in the hops department, despite their claim to balance the maltiness with he hoppiness. No overwhelming tastes, but a hint of bread & toffee. Compares favorably to other Irish Reds. I haven't checked the food pairings, but I would recommend with barbecue.

Sam's Irish Red has grown on me over the last couple of years. I would say that it is one of my favorite year-round brews. I really enjoy having Red as part of the Harvest Collection - it has a deep maltiness that approaches the complexity of a good Oktoberfest.

Beer Review: Sam Adams Brown Ale

Simplicity describes this offering from Sam Adams; simple name: Brown Ale; simple label too!

It pours into a big head, the color is a medium brown. The initial taste is kind of nutty, but subtly so. As you continue drinking, the flavor is more of a "roasted" feel. The food apiring on the Sam Adams website suggested spicy food, so I cooked up some hot Italian sausage to have with it. Perfect! The full-bodied brown complemented the spice of the sausage & peppers very well. This is definitely a "drink anytime" ale.

Beer Review: Sam Adams Octoberfest

Since October is almost done, now might be a good time to review the Sam Adams Octoberfest and finish up the Harvest Collections reviews, since the Winter Classics variety pack is out too.

As you pour it, you get a nice head, not too thick or deep, but frothy enough. The color is a warm caramel brown, the head is a light brown. At first taste, it has a kind of nutty flavor, with overtones (or is it undertones?) of caramel and toffee. Very malty. Not very sweet and just the right amount of hops.

This is definitely a sittin' around on a cool night kinda beer.

Beer Review: Bud Light Golden Wheat

Budweiser likes to say that its beer has "drinkability", well so does water. Golden Wheat isn't a bad brew for someone wanting to try wheat beer for the first time, but it didn't taste very "wheaty" to me, kind of bland and watery...I mean drinkable!

Did You Know That Not Everybody Is The Same Religion As You?

It's easy to assume that everybody thinks like you do when everybody around you does think like you. When it comes to religion, a vast majority of people in the United States are Christians of one flavor or another. Nebraska is even more homogenous in its religious leanings, a small Nebraska town might have a Presbyterian Church on one side of town and a United Church of Christ on the other side of town...and people think that they're different! Christianity is so much the default position for spirituality that even people who don't attend church, don't pray, don't have any spiritual tendencies at all, would be appalled and insulted if you suggested that they weren't Christian. But the truth is that there are a varity of different faiths and people who lack faith as well. There are Hindu temples, mosques, Buddhists, Baha'is, Wiccans and (gasp) atheists...in Lincoln they're all over! Yet many of these "others" are viewed as abberations, somehow spiritually wrong.

Now if Christianity, or for that matter Islam or any other religion had objective proof, or even a hint that their faith was the correct one, that would be one thing, but there isn't a religion out there that can present any kind of proof, however small, that what they believe is right. Now some folks will say that there is proof, that, for example they prayed for something and it happened! Well, people from other religions pray and claim the same results, so we're deadlocked there. Another thing that most people don't consider, even when they claim to have "talked with God" (i.e. that is God talking back!) or "experienced God's love", when pressed to recount in detail exactly what they experienced, usually describe a very subjective feeling, that may, if you take their word for it, indicate the existance of some deity of some kind, but doesn't all all indicate that the warm, fuzzy feeling comes from the god who ordered all the Amalekites killed, knocked down the walls of Jericho and wrote on then tablets. In other words, it is a subjective spiritual experience that the recipient chooses to label in a familiar manner.

But we have A BOOK that was given to us by GOD! Really? What you have is a collection of books that someone claims was given by God. So why should the subjective religious experiences written down thousands of years ago and copied and recopied and translated and mistranslated, in a culture very unlike our own, trump our own religious experience today?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against Christianity or even religion in general, and I'm by no means an atheist (although I sometimes act like one and often take their side in an argument) but the position that any one faith is THE one true way to look at things is arrogant and msiguided.

So get off your high horse and stop condescending to those who are different, stop thinking that they're going to a hell that they don't believe in and that you need to convert them!

Happy Halloween!

Health Care

Do the people who are against health care reform ever think about how messed up it is now? They cry about socialism, but 1) is that necessarily bad? and 2) isn't what we have now kind of socialism anyway?

Let's address #2 first:

Anyone who has insurance pays a premium; if they're in a group plan, their employer pays a portion of the premium. If these hypothetical people never get sick, then they still have to pay premiums and don't get any benefits from it. On the other hand, some of us get sick, contract diseases, have genetic defects or chronic illnesses and make a lot of insurance claims. These folks often receive benefits far in excess of what they paid in premiums. part of the rationale behind insurance and how insurance companies make their money is that the healthy people subsize the unhealthy people. If everyone used up every cent of what they paid in, the insurance companies would never turn a profit.

Looked at from a certain angle, it already is socialism, the only difference being that some people cannot afford to pay insurance premiums, even in a group plan. I make a decent salary and I don't know if I could afford the premiums if I had to buy my own insurance outside of a group plan.

One of the proposals floating around is that everyone be required to have health insurance. At first glance this appears to be government coercian and interference in our personal freedoms, but as it stands now, everyone who owns a car is required to have car insurance, and you don't hear too much of an outcry about that.

Now to whether socialism is a bad thing:

If every person in the country had health insurance, the pool would then include the millions of young people who can afford insurance, but choose not to purchase it, gambling that they won't need it. Many of these people don't need insurance, but then the large amount of premiums being paid in by these folks would help subsidize the group who do make claims, possibly, even probably, lowering premiums for everyone.

There are several competing proposals inching their ways through Congress, hopefully we'll have something by the end of the year.

Some things I'd like to see:

• While I'm not opposed to insurers incentivizing people to go to their family doctor versus the emergency room or paying a higher perecntage for preventitive care or other ways to keep costs down, life-saving measures should be paid for...period. No more stories of people dying because insurance wouldn't pay for a transplant.
• One of the more insidious side affects of the recent economic downturn has been people losing their insurance due to job loss or cutbacks in hours. Sure, you can always go with a COBRA plan when changing jobs, but paying the higher COBRA premiums just when your income is reduced or eliminated doesn't really seem like a solution. Portability and a continuing coverage safety net are crucial.
• Speaking of job-related insurance, I don't imagine I'll ever be able to truly retire, since the way things are going I'll always need some kind of group insurance. How about group insurance rates being extended to retirees?

Frankly I believe that the opponents of health care reform are against the President rather than the ideas themselves, using pejorative terms like 'socialism', comparing Obama to Hitler and the b.s. about the mythical death panels do nothing to advance the debate and only demonize the opposition.

Does the right wing really think that there are no problems with our helath care system?

Beer Review: Boulevard Single Wide IPA

Alright, I'm down to the last variety of the Boulevard variety pack: Single Wide, IPA (India Pale Ale). IPA's in general are about the hoppiest and most bitter of your widely available brews in contrast to regular Pale Ales which are lighter and crisper. Single Wide is only a little higher in alcohol content than standard

brew, but should be imbibed slowly, savoring the taste. There's a lot of citrus in the aftertaste, as well as a flowery aroma. About a 6 of 10 on the IPA scale.

Beer Review: Boulevard Pale Ale

Pale Ale is definitely becoming one of my favorite non-dark, beers; my heart will always be with the stouts and porters, but pale ale is without a doubt a great light, refreshing brew.

Boulevard Pale Ale is brewed with caramel malts, giving it a dark amber color and a full-bodied flavor, probably the best pale ale I've tasted lately. Thumbs up!