Feast of St. Gabriel Possenti

Today we celebrate the Feast Day of the Patron Saint of Handgunners, St. Gabriel Possenti. We have a fondness for the Saint around here, and have even organized the occasional range trip in his honor. Our "sister blog" Gabriel Possenti Shooters, is devoted to building fellowship among Catholic shooting enthusiasts and to promote awareness among the faithful of the natural right self defense.

Today would be a good day to hit the range. Here's hoping...

See this post from February 27, 2013 for more on our affinity for this Saint.

St. Gabriel Possenti ora pro nobis!

The ISIS Shooting Drill

I got a chuckle over this picture making the rounds on Facebook recently.

The target on the right is a popular design, and one we use often. I found the picture below, taken during a range trip last fall.

With just a few more props we could run an "ISIS Drill." You never know when it might come in handy. 

Stay Holy With Drink

Some Lenten advice.

Translation:

Who drinks, sleeps
Who is sleeping, do not sin
Whoever does not sin, is holy
Therefore, he who drinks is holy.

H/T St. Peter's List

Drink More Coffee

The report of the government's 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is good news for caffeine addicts. Coffee, and lots of it, might be good for you.

Not only can people stop worrying about whether drinking coffee is bad for them, according to the panel, they might even want to consider drinking a bit more. 

The panel cited minimal health risks associated with drinking between three and five cups per day. It also said that consuming as many as five cups of coffee each day (400 mg) is tied to several health benefits, including a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. 

"We saw that coffee has a lot of health benefits," said Miriam Nelson, a professor at Tufts University and one of the committee’s members. "Specifically when you're drinking more than a couple cups per day."

The emphasis is mine. The committee's report concludes that three to five cups of coffee a day is considered "moderate" consumption. Reports indicate most American probably drink much less than that. My own intake might be a bit above average some days.

Combined with the reported health benefits of beer, I'll happily continue to take my medicine. You might want to drink your coffee while sitting though.

A Polish Porter, Popcorn and a Movie

Saturday evening, as the day-long snowfall transitioned into freezing rain and sleet, we settled in for a family movie night. Searching the beer fridge for a suitable, cold evening ale, I selected a bottle of Black Boss Porter. The beer from Browar Witnica in Poland, was a Christmas gift from a friend.

The porter pours a deep black color with a thin beige head. Coming direct from the fridge, we let the beer warm a bit before sipping. The aroma of caramel, molasses and chocolate was surprisingly strong and quite pleasant. The flavor was mildly sweet with rich notes of dark chocolate and coffee, with a hint of smokiness. The 9.4% ABV is noticeable, providing a semblance of bourbon barrel aging to the flavor. Drinking the Black Boss Porter made me realize that it's been a while since I opened a Baltic Porter style ale. I enjoyed this one very much.

Not surprisingly, the Porter went quite well with a bowl of buttery popcorn enjoyed with the movie.

This Says It All

He's doing exactly what he said he'd do.

H/T to Ballseye's Boomers.

A Bell's Brewing Break From Cabin Fever

Friday Night was the "Bell's Dirty Dozen" tap takeover at Capital Ale House, so Colleen and I headed downtown for some good beers and a meatless dinner. The roads were clear from this week's snowstorm, and with more snowfall headed our way Saturday, this was likely to be the only break from the Winter doldrums we'd have this weekend.

Before we got to the beer menu, we needed to order food. We struggled a bit with the menu during this Friday in Lent. Perusing the appetizer menu we paused at the tasty Fried Pierogies; Fried potato and onion pierogies topped with applewood smoked bacon bits. And the soup special on Fridays is Scallop Chowder, with bacon. We finally settled on the Spinach, Crab & Artichoke Dip appetizer and Fish & Chips as our main course. Now on to the beer.

Twelve Bell's Brewing beers were offered, some new, some we've enjoyed before. We selected a few that we planned share during the evening. I had already decided I would start with the seasonal Hopslam Double IPA. This is an intensely hoppy beer, one whose popularity I believe is enhanced by its limited availability. I refuse to pay $20-$30 for a six pack, but do try to enjoy it on draft each year. Colleen ordered the Third Coast Old Ale Barleywine. This one has some nice dark fruit and is mildly flavored, as Barleywines go, but quite enjoyable. 

Also on tap this evening were some interesting beers from Perennial Artisan Ales of St. Louis, Missouri. When we were handed that menu, our decision making was thrown for a loop, since we now had more options to process. (A good problem to have.) Colleen ordered Perennial's Vermilion Barleywine. This one was a little more robustly flavored than the Bell's version, with rich, dark fruit and molasses notes. After much thought, and a recommendation from a friend, I opted to stick with Bell's and ordered Roundhouse IRA, an "India Red Ale." Slightly sweet and resinous, the flavor of the hoppy red ale was at first hidden by the lingering flavors of the barleywines. After a few sips my palate "reset" and I enjoyed the full flavors of the beer.

There were still many interesting beers to try, from both menus, but one can only do so much in a sitting. I decided to wind down with a Bell's Kal-Haven Ale. This Rye Ale is fermented with Brettanomyces yeast giving it a funky, sour flavor. The sourness worked well with the breadiness of the rye. It was certainly a switch from the evening's previous beers. I lingered on this glass for quite a while, sipping slowly and enjoying the interesting flavor of the sour ale.

It was an extremely pleasant evening, and a great relief from being cooped up by work and weather. As I write this post on Saturday morning, the snow is falling steadily. (And another planned trip to the range cancelled.) I guess as ProudHillbilly noted, February is hibernation time. But hey, I don't have to like it!

Is This Thing On?

Hello? Tap. Tap. I figured I'd stop in to say we’re still alive. Blogging has been sparse lately, I know. To those who actually stop by everyday, I apologize. There just hasn’t been much to write about recently — no interesting beers to share, no trips to the range. Just every day life and work. It’s not even interesting to me, and much less to you all I’m sure. 

Soon, the weather will warm, and we’ll be out more trying new beers and enjoying making noise outside. Standby.