Feast of St. Brigid of Ireland

Today is the Feast Day of St. Brigid of Ireland, one of our family's favorite Saints. The quote below has long been attributed to St. Brigid.

"I'd Like A Great Lake Of Beer For The King Of Kings. I Would Like To Be Watching Heaven's Family Drinking It Through All Eternity."

Our family has long had an affection for this great Saint. During our trip to Ireland a few years ago, I came to realize just how popular she is in that country, second only to St. Patrick it seems. Her legendary association with miracles involving beer often overshadows her deeds of charity and compassion.

Beyond her prayer for a "great lake of beer" this revered Saint had other interesting connections with beer. According to tradition, Brigid was working in a leper colony when they ran out of beer. Since beer was an important source of safe liquid refreshment and nourishment, this was indeed a serious issue. Brigid is said to have changed her bath water into beer to nourish the lepers and visiting clerics. In another miracle attributed to St. Brigid, she provided beer to 18 churches for an entire Easter season, all from a single barrel of beer in her convent.

St. Brigid Statue, Knock Shrine, County Mayo, Ireland

St. Brigid, ora pro nobis! And cheers!

BadWolf AK-47 Kölsch

Sunday afternoon is one of our favorite times to head out for a relaxing late lunch, and a good beer or two. This past Sunday, as I perused the beer menu at Sedona Taphouse, a listing for BadWolf Brewing AK-47 caught my eye, for obvious reasons. It was listed in the "Pale Ale" section of the menu, which made it even more interesting to me.

When my beer arrived, my first comment to Colleen was noting how bright and clear the beer was. Taking a sip I tasted a nice balance of citrus and fruit hops, along with a crisp, bready malt base. It seemed a nicely done, mild Pale Ale. 

As I did my beer-geek thing and checked into Untappd I saw the beer was listed as a Kölsch. "Interesting," I thought, "that explains the notable clarity of the beer." Arriving home I checked online and found BadWolf's description of the beer,

Our American bastardization of the beloved Kolsch style is brewed with a traditional grain bill and Kolsch yeast and that’s where the similarities end. Our love for hops drove us to add copious amounts of Simcoe for an American hop bite. This Ameri-Kolsch clocks in at a formidable (by Kolsch standards) 47 IBUs, is light refreshing and tastes like freedom!

Well done BadWolf! You've taken the clarity and crispness of a Kölsch and added a pleasing citrus hop twist. AK-47 is a nice, refreshing, crisp, and flavorful beer, one that went quite well with a light, Sunday afternoon lunch. 

Virginia vs. Alaska

Prior to the start of the snow from winter storm Jonas last weekend, we received a notice from the range where we shoot...

A reminder for all that the Chapter grounds are to be closed to member access at noon today.  This will coincide with the arrival of the forecasted snowfall that is to continue through Sunday morning. This closing might have to continue thru several days into next week until temperatures & melting snow allow safe use of the grounds in any way.

A post-storm update noted...

The front entrance road to the Chapter is solidly blocked by about a 3 foot ridge of snow left by the snow plow. The Chapter has no means to remove this block in order to access the property so we know it will be there for another week at least.

This evening I was reading the Way Up North blog where Rev. Paul was describing a recent trip to his local range. He commented on the winter requirements imposed there...

The range had sent an e-mail to all its members, warning that ice cleats on footwear is mandatory. When we arrived, we could see why: all the precip had melted and refrozen several times, so that the entire grounds - roads, walkways, and ranges - was covered under two inches of nearly-transparent ice.

Hopefully we'll be able to use the local ranges in the coming weeks.

Flying Dog Tropical Stout

After last weekend's historic snow, and spending a week driving and walking through dirty slush, I was ready for a beer with "Tropical" in its name. While the aroma of barbecued ribs wafted from the oven, I sat down with a glass of Flying Dog Tropical Stout. The beer is the first in the 2016 Brewhouse Rarities series. It's brewed with coconut flakes and fresh pineapple.

A hard pour built a moderate, but very short lived mocha head over the pitch black beer. The initial aroma was that of tropical fruit and a dark mocha roast. As the beer warmed, I had fleeting hints of coconut as I raised the glass to my lips. The flavor brought juicy pineapple and hop notes, along with a strong roasted malt. The flavor combination was somewhat reminiscent of some Black IPAs I've had. Tropical Stout has a creamy and moderately thick mouthfeel. The combination of roasted malt and citrus hops was joined by hints of coconut in the finish. The coconut flavor is mild throughout, but makes its strongest appearance in the finish.

I nursed my beer long enough to enjoy some of it with the ribs at dinner. The mild hoppiness and roasted flavors did pair well with the spicy barbecue. I enjoyed the roasted and mocha flavors of the stout, but the hints of the coconut and pineapple were fleeting. As I downed the last sip from my glass, I paused and looked at the glass, wishing I had just another sip or two to try and catch the ephemeral tropical flavors.

The beer reviewed here was a promotional sample from the brewery. My impressions are provided of my own free will.

Five O'Clock Friday: Bud Light Clothing Drive

I wouldn't drink the beer, but I'll laugh at the commercial. An oldie but a goodie.

Have a great weekend. Drink good beer.
And if you are going to do charity work...

McAuliffe Sees the Writing on the Wall

A month after Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring announced he was rescinding Concealed Handgun Permit reciprocity with 25 other states, and just days before the change was to take effect, our anti-gun governor has struck a deal with law makers to rescind that rescinding. The Washington Post reports...

Gov. Terry McAuliffe plans to announce Friday that Virginia will restore handgun reciprocity agreements with nearly all states, in a stunning reversal of firearms policy that angered Republicans and gun rights advocates across the nation.

The about-face is part of a deal that McAuliffe (D) struck with Republican leaders one month after Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) severed the right for gun owners in 25 states to have their concealed carry permits recognized in Virginia.

The devil is in the details, and we must wait to see what they are. There are a few concessions already known that the governor pushed as part of his capitulation. The state police will be on hand at gun shows to do voluntary background checks for private sellers. Private sellers have always had the option to participate in the background check process, so that's little change from the current situation. A person subject to a domestic protective order will not be eligible for a concealed handgun permit while under the order. The protective order system does carry the possibility of abuse, but still there's not much room to argue with this in my opinion. Finally, people who have had their VA permit revoked cannot use a permit from another state in Virginia. Ignoring that we shouldn't need a permit to exercise a right in the first place, these so-called "concessions" already exist for all intents and purposes.

So what brought about the change in the governor's stance that saw him gain so little? At this point one can only speculate. It could be that Herring's order was just a trial balloon, one that failed miserably. There's no doubt that McAuliffe and Herring are of like-mind when it comes to restricting the rights of law-abiding citizens. I've heard it suggested that the governor was not happy with Herring's move. While McAuliffe may agree in principle, he could not have been pleased with the instant, and national, political fallout. Upsetting 420,000 Virginia permit holders on both sides of the aisle was not a wise move. I suspect McAuliffe was seeing the writing on the wall in the form of the overwhelming pro-rights support in legislative committees this session. Nearly every pro-gun bill was moving forward, while bills from the antis were dropping regularly. It's easy to argue that McAuliffe was in for an embarrassing political shellacking, and he is hoping to avoid even more pro-gun legislation coming across his desk. The governor stood to lose his "perfect" veto-proof record to date. (And he could still see that record fall.) One does have to wonder what Michael Bloomberg is thinking about his investment now.

This story is still unfolding and there's been no comment yet from the Attorney General. There's always the chance that there are more "concession" requests to come, but on the surface this is more of a win for freedom than a loss. There's been nothing said about dropping any other pro-gun legislation currently under consideration. We will still be watching the legislature closely as the battle goes on to fully defend the 2nd Amendment.

See "Va. will once again recognize concealed carry permits from other states" for more on McAuliffe's reversal of the Attorney General's actions.

Still Here

I realized that my last entry here was the First Beer of the Blizzard post. Hopefully no one thought we were lost to the storm. After digging out and getting back into the work routine, I've not had a chance to do any blog-related stuff — no interesting beer, and no fun shooting outings. Frankly, I've simply been too dog-tired when I get home in the evening to grab the laptop and muse. Winter doldrums kicking in I reckon.

There are a couple of new beers in the fridge waiting to be reviewed. I've opted to relax with other beers instead, just because I haven't felt like "working." I'll get to those soon, likely this weekend. (Or maybe tonight, now that I'm thinking about them.)

It's quite frustrating that there's not been any opportunity to get to the range. Unfortunately, the foul weather caused the cancellation of an IDPA match I had planned to attend last Sunday. Plans for a lunch time trip to the indoor range this week were disrupted by an unscheduled meeting. And most disappointing, the range we shoot at has been deemed "closed until further notice" due to snow, and subsequently, melting snow. We used to shoot in the snow and rain regularly but the club leadership has ruled bad weather shooting as unsafe. Colleen and I, along with a friend, did get out to the range before the snow. That was a good time, but leaves me itching to go again.

On the bright side, there's less than eight weeks until the start of Spring!

First Beer of the Blizzard

Is fitting...

Let's do this.