Saturday, December 31, 2011
Stockpile
Keeping The Cold At Bay
Testing
Breaking Early
Moving Day For The Stumps
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Another Fun Night @ The Belly!
Bad Week For Wheels
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
Plan B
Stumped!
Stamp & Go
Landscaping
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Sleep? How?!?
Trouble In The Making
Friday, December 23, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Time For Food!
Stupid Taste Test
Guinness Taste Tests!
Thinning Timetable
I've been trying to be a patient man. I dropped the bike off a little over two weeks ago. Actually, I'd called the dealership first, to see what kind of timeframe I'd be looking at if I brought my bike in for service. I was told that things were slow, due to the time of year, and that no appointment was necessary, just bring it on in. Fantastic! See you soon.
When I arrived, I was told there would be a bit of delay in getting it worked on, due to the dealership having "Customer Appreciation" days (starting the following day), which meant the Service dept would be closed for the rest of the week. Add to that, the dealership (and therefore, the Service dept) would also be closed for the two days after that (Sunday and Monday). That's a pretty long delay, for having been told things were slow and to just bring it in. (Hey, I'm a customer, and I'm not feeling the "Customer Appreciation"!)
Anyway, the Service dept said they'd be able to get to my bike by late last week. Well here it is, a full week after that, and still no word. So, patience having run its course, it was time to give them a call. And what news do I receive? My bike hasn't even been looked at yet.
(Pause, while a littany of screamed obscenities is heard in the background.)
The Service guy assured me that my bike would be started this afternoon, so we'll see how things go from here. My work's shutdown week starts tomorrow night - I'm off for a full week. Sure would have been nice to have had my wheels back in the garage, waiting to be rolled out and revved up over some long roadways. Maybe some vestige of hope lingers, and I'll have it before the week is over. The Calendar is running thin if I'm going to get any more 2012 miles on, though. But, positive thoughts, right?
Now then, about this forecast that's calling for a bit of snow in the next few days...
When I arrived, I was told there would be a bit of delay in getting it worked on, due to the dealership having "Customer Appreciation" days (starting the following day), which meant the Service dept would be closed for the rest of the week. Add to that, the dealership (and therefore, the Service dept) would also be closed for the two days after that (Sunday and Monday). That's a pretty long delay, for having been told things were slow and to just bring it in. (Hey, I'm a customer, and I'm not feeling the "Customer Appreciation"!)
Anyway, the Service dept said they'd be able to get to my bike by late last week. Well here it is, a full week after that, and still no word. So, patience having run its course, it was time to give them a call. And what news do I receive? My bike hasn't even been looked at yet.
(Pause, while a littany of screamed obscenities is heard in the background.)
The Service guy assured me that my bike would be started this afternoon, so we'll see how things go from here. My work's shutdown week starts tomorrow night - I'm off for a full week. Sure would have been nice to have had my wheels back in the garage, waiting to be rolled out and revved up over some long roadways. Maybe some vestige of hope lingers, and I'll have it before the week is over. The Calendar is running thin if I'm going to get any more 2012 miles on, though. But, positive thoughts, right?
Now then, about this forecast that's calling for a bit of snow in the next few days...
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Winter Solstice 2011
Today sees the Fall season wind down to an end, and as of 12:30am tonight, the dreaded Winter season is officially upon us. We've been getting quite a break on the weather - here we are, almost to the end of December, and the roads are still free and clear. How much longer can this last? (Probably only as long as it takes me to get my bike back...)
Anyway, the other good news for today is that even though tonight marks the start of Winter, it also signals the end of the shortening-daytimes. Once tomorrow arrives, the days will begin to get longer again. Oh sure, there will be many a cold night and nasty day ahead of us for a while, but the Sun has stretched it's arms as far southward as it's going to this year. Even as I'm writing this, it's packing it's bags and making travel arrangements to come visit us again.
It's unfortunate that the Sun likes to dawdle on its journey, though. We're all the way up here, begging for it to hurry up, but it's doing the touristy thing and will make us wait about 4.5 months before it settles in over our heads again.
I think we should all pitch in and buy it a plane ticket.
Anyway, the other good news for today is that even though tonight marks the start of Winter, it also signals the end of the shortening-daytimes. Once tomorrow arrives, the days will begin to get longer again. Oh sure, there will be many a cold night and nasty day ahead of us for a while, but the Sun has stretched it's arms as far southward as it's going to this year. Even as I'm writing this, it's packing it's bags and making travel arrangements to come visit us again.
It's unfortunate that the Sun likes to dawdle on its journey, though. We're all the way up here, begging for it to hurry up, but it's doing the touristy thing and will make us wait about 4.5 months before it settles in over our heads again.
I think we should all pitch in and buy it a plane ticket.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Idle Hands
The old adage claims that Idle Hands are the Devil's Playthings. That seems a bit severe, given the time of year and all, but I will say this; I need to find something for my hands to do (leave that alone, it's too easy!). What I'm implying, is that I need some handlebars to wrap my hands around. This down time is killing me. It's bad enough when the weather prohibits me from enjoying the hiways and biways, but the season has been slow to bring in the snow and salt. We're almost to the end of the year, and the roads are still crystal clear and beckoning! Argggh, it leaves me searching for other things to do to occupy my time. Things I'm not used to. Things...festive! What the hell is going on? Look what I did to an unsuspecting little tree out in the otherwise darkened wooded area by my house? Now folks driving by will think I'm going soft or something.
And as bad as that is, look what I did to my poor Jeep!
Ok, in all honesty, I did these things on my own. I've always liked it when I saw some random tree, out in the middle of nowhere, all lit up. And, I thought running Christmas lights inside my Jeep would be pretty cool. Although, it does kind of run against my normal driving demeanor...which makes for a great way to screw with people! Now, when I pull up beside some Ahole that's been driving like a Dbag, I can snarl at them out my window. They see my angry face, but they also see all the festive lights adorned about me - leaving them at a complete loss.
What kind of deranged lunatic would adorn his vehicle with pretty lights, only to then disparage folks for their lack of driving courtesy toward other drivers??
Ahh, the holidays. So much fun, so little time.
I do with I'd get my bike back soon, though. Just think; all this wasted energy would be refocused to entertaining myself on the roadways again. (And, you'd start getting posts of a less-retarded nature.)
(Wishing I were able to) Ride Hard, Take Chances
And as bad as that is, look what I did to my poor Jeep!
Ok, in all honesty, I did these things on my own. I've always liked it when I saw some random tree, out in the middle of nowhere, all lit up. And, I thought running Christmas lights inside my Jeep would be pretty cool. Although, it does kind of run against my normal driving demeanor...which makes for a great way to screw with people! Now, when I pull up beside some Ahole that's been driving like a Dbag, I can snarl at them out my window. They see my angry face, but they also see all the festive lights adorned about me - leaving them at a complete loss.
What kind of deranged lunatic would adorn his vehicle with pretty lights, only to then disparage folks for their lack of driving courtesy toward other drivers??
Ahh, the holidays. So much fun, so little time.
I do with I'd get my bike back soon, though. Just think; all this wasted energy would be refocused to entertaining myself on the roadways again. (And, you'd start getting posts of a less-retarded nature.)
(Wishing I were able to) Ride Hard, Take Chances
Monday, December 19, 2011
RIP Dana
Ride Free, Dana. I hope the roads are treating you well. Scout out some great rides for the rest of us when we catch up with you.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Engrish!
December Riding!
Ahhh, it's a rare treat when you walk out your door, first thing on a December morning, and the air wraps its arms around you, embracing you in 50 degree warmth. Judging from the wet pavement of my driveway, there'd been a passing bit of precipitation overnight, but the skies were clearing, a gentle breeze was blowing...and, it's Friday! A warm Friday, in the middle of December! Today was nothing less than an amazing gift from the Riding Gods!
I envisioned the roads, beckoning to me as I eased through the curves, aiming for some of the fantastic straightaways that lie along my commute. Traffic would be light this early, and I would make great, great time. Hell - I was caught up at work - there'd be nothing to stop me from just adding a few roads to the ride, racking up some extra miles. Two wheels on a morning like this would truly be wondrous way to begin the day!
(These were the thoughts that rolled through my head as I climbed into my Jeep, and hoped that my bike would be finished at the dealership soon...)
(Not yet) Riding Hard, Taking Chances
I envisioned the roads, beckoning to me as I eased through the curves, aiming for some of the fantastic straightaways that lie along my commute. Traffic would be light this early, and I would make great, great time. Hell - I was caught up at work - there'd be nothing to stop me from just adding a few roads to the ride, racking up some extra miles. Two wheels on a morning like this would truly be wondrous way to begin the day!
(These were the thoughts that rolled through my head as I climbed into my Jeep, and hoped that my bike would be finished at the dealership soon...)
(Not yet) Riding Hard, Taking Chances
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Work sucks!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Whatever happened to 'simple'?
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Bad Timing
First, the good news; we wound up with no snow from yesterday's storm. The bad news is that my bike is in the shop and I apparently timed things poorly. They have 'customer appreciation' days this Friday and Saturday - which means their Service dept is closed - which means my bike doesn't get worked on. Add to that the fact the dealership is closed on Monday... The guy at the desk said he thought they "might" be able to start working on it by late next week. Arrgghhh....I can feel my seasonal tensions rising...
The ride down last night was actually rather enjoyable. The conditions were miserable (40's and pouring rain), and traffic was ungodly. My 33 mile ride took almost an hour and a half. Did you just do the math in your head? Yeah; I averaged 10mph the entire time. And this is on 495 and 95; major interstate highways! But all that aside, I actually did enjoy the ride (except for one point when there was a grand fender-bender that happened right next to me. The exploding sound of metal ramming metal right beside me caused more than a bit of butt puckerage, but aside from that, it was a great chance to practice my slow riding skills.)
When I finally arrived at the dealership and was waiting at the service desk, one of the old-timer techs chuckled and asked me if I'd just had the worst ride of the year. I laughed and said no, not at all, it was actually rather nice. He didn't seem at all convinced, and with a confused look at the puddle spreading at my feet, he ambled off.
After signing off and leaving the bike behind, the only thing to do was to find a pub and have a drink. Fortunately, we found a nice Irish joint and settled in for a bit.
And that's that; I'm officially bike-less and not at all crazy about it...especially as I gaze out the window and the sunny skies... Oh well, with any luck I'll get it back in time for my work's shutdown week (between Christmas and New Year's) and will be able to get some last-ditch miles on.
So now what? Well, until I'm back on two wheels, I guess you'll just have to bear with me as I revert to posting random nonsense.
(*Sigh* Wishing I was) Riding Hard, Taking Chances
The ride down last night was actually rather enjoyable. The conditions were miserable (40's and pouring rain), and traffic was ungodly. My 33 mile ride took almost an hour and a half. Did you just do the math in your head? Yeah; I averaged 10mph the entire time. And this is on 495 and 95; major interstate highways! But all that aside, I actually did enjoy the ride (except for one point when there was a grand fender-bender that happened right next to me. The exploding sound of metal ramming metal right beside me caused more than a bit of butt puckerage, but aside from that, it was a great chance to practice my slow riding skills.)
When I finally arrived at the dealership and was waiting at the service desk, one of the old-timer techs chuckled and asked me if I'd just had the worst ride of the year. I laughed and said no, not at all, it was actually rather nice. He didn't seem at all convinced, and with a confused look at the puddle spreading at my feet, he ambled off.
After signing off and leaving the bike behind, the only thing to do was to find a pub and have a drink. Fortunately, we found a nice Irish joint and settled in for a bit.
And that's that; I'm officially bike-less and not at all crazy about it...especially as I gaze out the window and the sunny skies... Oh well, with any luck I'll get it back in time for my work's shutdown week (between Christmas and New Year's) and will be able to get some last-ditch miles on.
So now what? Well, until I'm back on two wheels, I guess you'll just have to bear with me as I revert to posting random nonsense.
(*Sigh* Wishing I was) Riding Hard, Taking Chances
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Timing Is Everything
Gotta put the bike into the shop tonight - it's exhibiting the same tell-tale sounds from the Tranny that the last bike did; a high-pitched whining sound that remains constant at speed (regardless of shifting), as well as a click-click-click sound whenever I'm pushing the bike backward (even in Neutral). Kinda sucks that the mirror-image bike I bought wound up having the same tranny probs as the original bike.
When the tranny sounds began making themselves known, I decided to try and ride right into the pit of Winter. Once we had a huge snowfall and the roads were going to be junk for a while, then I'd bring it in. Alas, the noises are getting much louder, and given the possible scenario that was outlined by the dealership in Jamestown (the tranny grenades, the rear tire locks up...), I figure it's better to be safe than sorry (I must be getting old).
So anyway, the plan for about a week now, has been to drop the bike off tonight. And here we are; there's snow forecast for tonight. Did I wind up timing things perfectly? Well, if it were a real heavy storm coming, then I'd say yes, that I'd achieved my original goal of riding as long as I could. Tough to say at this point how much we're going to get, but watching the weather this morning, the accumulation totals began to creep higher. What was originally going to be slushy rain has now changed to over an inch, and may even climb higher. It definitely feels cold enough out there to snow, but the stuff coming out of the sky is still liquid, so we'll see when it turns.
Should make for a fun ride to the dealership later!
Hopefully this dealership will be able to turn the bike around as quickly as Jamestown did (three days!) and I'll be able to get some more miles on before the calendar's odometer clicks over to 2012. Wish me luck!
Ride Hard, Take Chances
When the tranny sounds began making themselves known, I decided to try and ride right into the pit of Winter. Once we had a huge snowfall and the roads were going to be junk for a while, then I'd bring it in. Alas, the noises are getting much louder, and given the possible scenario that was outlined by the dealership in Jamestown (the tranny grenades, the rear tire locks up...), I figure it's better to be safe than sorry (I must be getting old).
So anyway, the plan for about a week now, has been to drop the bike off tonight. And here we are; there's snow forecast for tonight. Did I wind up timing things perfectly? Well, if it were a real heavy storm coming, then I'd say yes, that I'd achieved my original goal of riding as long as I could. Tough to say at this point how much we're going to get, but watching the weather this morning, the accumulation totals began to creep higher. What was originally going to be slushy rain has now changed to over an inch, and may even climb higher. It definitely feels cold enough out there to snow, but the stuff coming out of the sky is still liquid, so we'll see when it turns.
Should make for a fun ride to the dealership later!
Hopefully this dealership will be able to turn the bike around as quickly as Jamestown did (three days!) and I'll be able to get some more miles on before the calendar's odometer clicks over to 2012. Wish me luck!
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Monday, December 5, 2011
Blizzard!
57 degrees in Dec is awesome, but these winter moths are out of control. On some of the wooded back roads, it's like riding through a living, flapping blizzard!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Temp Check!
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Obesity in America?
Stage II
Cherry Stout!
American Pride?
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Flaming 'Buca Shots!
Thanksgiving!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Swedish Fish Vodka!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
McCarthy's Turkey Day
Saturday, November 19, 2011
9th Annual Butterball Run
Great Day For Riding!
Friday, November 18, 2011
RIP Russell
How can it be 5 years already? Doesn't seem possible that you've been gone that long. Ride Free, Brother. Give Rosie a pat for me, too.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Senior Skip Day
Fall threw a damned Nor’easter at us a couple of weeks ago, but apparently now feels remorseful about it. Ever since that nasty surprise, we’ve been blessed with mild, rain-free days. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I’m stuck inside, working, while much of this good weather passes by outside my window. I do what I can, though; sometimes a quick putt during lunch, or, if I’m able to get out a little early, a few scenic miles before daylight-savings-deprived duskfall occurs. But overall; never as much riding as I’d like.
And that’s exactly why I love to hear of others that are getting out there and squeezing out as many miles as they can, while the weather is holding for us. Case in point; I received an email today from TEP. Seems he and a number of his coworkers pulled a ‘skip day’ last Friday and set out upon what I’m sure was a grand day. Dan Lowe did a write up on the day, and there was even a pic included with the article. Sweet! (In looking closely at the pic, TEP and King are just to the left of center, and their bikes can be seen over to the far left.)
Here’s TEP’s outline of the day;
"Beautiful day for riding ( 70's ) after it warmed up from 39.
Hit it right when the leaves were about perfect-------the rain knocked them all off the following weekend.
Had forty bikes from work------we all took Friday off-------about a 200 mile loop.
The Senior thing is the average age was over 55."
Now that sounds like a great day! Need I say that I’m jealous? Oh well, it’s nice to live vicariously through others from time to time, right?
So without further ado, here is Dan’s pic and write up (you'll have to click on the pic to expand/read it)…
Very nice!!
And that’s exactly why I love to hear of others that are getting out there and squeezing out as many miles as they can, while the weather is holding for us. Case in point; I received an email today from TEP. Seems he and a number of his coworkers pulled a ‘skip day’ last Friday and set out upon what I’m sure was a grand day. Dan Lowe did a write up on the day, and there was even a pic included with the article. Sweet! (In looking closely at the pic, TEP and King are just to the left of center, and their bikes can be seen over to the far left.)
Here’s TEP’s outline of the day;
"Beautiful day for riding ( 70's ) after it warmed up from 39.
Hit it right when the leaves were about perfect-------the rain knocked them all off the following weekend.
Had forty bikes from work------we all took Friday off-------about a 200 mile loop.
The Senior thing is the average age was over 55."
Now that sounds like a great day! Need I say that I’m jealous? Oh well, it’s nice to live vicariously through others from time to time, right?
So without further ado, here is Dan’s pic and write up (you'll have to click on the pic to expand/read it)…
Very nice!!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Pre-Game Part II
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Gearing Up
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Tasting Room Tuesday
Yes, this is supposed to be a riding blog, but with the weather winding down, I need to fill this space with other things from time to time. This latest post covers my trip to the Sam Adams brewery on Tuesday. Wait…Tuesday? But ‘Tuesday’ was a work day, Dave!” You are correct, which means I played hookey from work! (It’s already sounding like a good day, right?
Let’s back up a bit, though. Remember that certificate I won at the Shayne’s Run raffles, from Sam Adams? The one that entitled me to 12 cases of their beer? Well I’d called ahead and schedule a pickup of 3 cases for Tuesday, figuring that we could also do the tour while there. Kill two liver cells birds with one stone, right? Tours began @ 10am, meaning we had to be up early. And by “early”, I mean the ass-crack of 8am or so. (I love playing hookey!) Anywho, we were up and on the road with plenty of time to enjoy the tail end of rush hour traffic. Between the stops and starts of the heavy traffic, I occupied myself with looking at (hugging, staring at, and basically loving) the free beer certificate.
(Cindy was very patient and understanding toward my man-love of the certificate.) Before long, we arrived at the parking lot of the aforementioned brewery. Ta Da!
Inside the building, there’s a bit of a welcome center, where you can mill around and check out some history on the company and admire the numerous awards the beers have won. When it was time for the tour to start, our guide (Tom) called us together and introduced himself. Now Tom looked (and sounded) like he’d just rolled out of bed from a long stretch of tastings on the night before. He was glassy-eyed, seemed a bit out of focus with what was going on around him, and was nursing a large cup of coffee. However, all that aside, Tom was hysterical. He was extremely personable, joked incessantly, and had us all in stitches by the end of the tour.
The tour began with an overview of the safety topics (careful of slippery floors, etc.) and then we were off. The tour itself was rather small, limited of course by the confines of the building we were in – also quite small. They explained that this location is actually the smallest brewery location, but that there are several much larger ones spread around the country. One thing I found interesting is that, since the company boasts that they use Boston water in the brewing process, they have to come up with a method of getting that water to these other brewing locations. However, since it would be quite cost prohibitive to transport the water, they actually do periodic water sampling to determine the chemical content of the water (ph balance, etc.) and then send this info to their breweries, who then use the data to replicate the water used out here. A very interesting workaround to the water aspect.
The next step was to check out the various hops and barleys used for their various beers. We were allowed to take some of each, to smell, or even eat if we liked.
Some of them tasted very familiar to me, but I couldn’t place it, until someone else tossed out; Grape Nuts. That’s it! Grape Nuts! Tom explained that the reason for this is that Grape Nuts actually contain malted barley as one of it’s ingredients. (It was at this point that I made a mental note to pick up some Grape Nuts on my way home.)
After this, it was back to the large brewing chamber, full of the fermenting and filling tanks. Stacked alongside one wall, were these kegs of specialty beers. It turns out they sell bottles of this stuff for $130, make no profit on them at all, and then folks either collect them or sell them - sometimes for thousands per bottle!! What!?!?!? I love beer as much as (or more than) the next guy, but that kind of pricing is just nutty. Let's move on, shall we?
Here’s Tom, standing amongst said tanks.
Not entirely sure what these tanks contained, but they were actively being used, as we saw one of the master brewers taking some samples from one of them.
All this was well and good, but next up was the best part; the tasting! We followed Tom into this fantastic bar-like setup which any proud homeowner would love to have in their basement. The walls were adorned with various pictures of Sam Adams-related topicality, but the forefront of the room contained a mini bar setup, compete with taps and everything!
Tom proceeded to hand us small sampling glasses for us to use. I glanced despairingly at the miniature size of the glass, thinking “This is bad”…but my displeasure was short lived, as Tom began filling two full-sized pitchers for us. Yay for Tom!!
One pitcher went to the far end of the table, and the other pitcher went to me…er…I mean; my end of the table. The first thing I did was to fill my glass and take a big healthy quaff from it, savoring the delightful taste as it eased past my palate and on down to my eagerly awaiting stomach. Mmmm, that is good stuff! A second healthy sampling and my glass was fully depleted of its contents – hey, it’s a small glass, remember?
As I’m gazing at the bottom of the glass I now hold in front of me, Tom declared to the still-patiently-waiting group; “The first step in sampling the beer is to examine the color and shade of the beer.”
Whoops.
Can’t really make out much color or shading from an empty glass…only one thing to do; refill! Hey, this is taking too long…but I have a solution… (Who can blame me for wanting to trade my small glass for a nice full pitcher!?)
Ok, so moving on; after we’d sampled the regular Sam, we then received two more full pitchers, this time of Sam Light. Another fine offering, and again, the pitchers at our end of the table fared much worse than the pitchers at the other end of the table.
During all of this, Tom was tossing out informative bits about beer, the company, etc., as well as prodding us with beer-knowledge questions and tasting pointers. Many times, after offering guidance or suggestions on different tasting techniques (which involved taking a drink), Tom would say “I’ll now do this with you.” and then imbibe again with us. He was enjoying himself immensely, and who wouldn’t? At one point, after doing another taste, one of the people commented “It’s really good”, to which Tom took a large gulp, savored it while gazing longingly into the glass, and then slowly said (while still staring into the depths of the amber fluid) “It..is..good.” Also funny; a couple of times after Tom had taken a sip and savored it, he looked back at us blankly, paused and said “I completely lost my train of thought”. I’m not sure if some (all?) of this was an act, but it was very funny, and added to the whole jocularity of the event.
At one point, I commented that he seemed to like his job, and how good of a mood he was in. He replied; “Yep, it’s a great job, and I’m in a good mood! And (now staring at his glass again), by the end of the day, I’m in a GREAT mood!” (How could you not like this guy, he was a riot!)
Now it was time for our third beer. Wheee, more beer!! Tom announced our options, which included (I think) something like 4 or 5 other choices - the only one I remember was a pumpkin spiced one. The group was silent as folks mulled things over, so I said if it was going to be a vote, then I’d toss my chip in for the pumpkin spice. A few others voiced their agreement, so pumpkin spice it was. (Yay, more beer!!)
Now I like both Sam regular and Sam Light, but I’ll tell ya; this pumpkin spice stuff was excellent! I even had some competition from someone I never dreamed I’d have to worry about liking beer; Cindy! See how she’s smiling innocently here? Yeah, we almost got into a wrestling match when she wouldn’t let go of the pitcher. :-D
Overall; 6 pitchers for 9 people. Normally, I wouldn’t be so happy about those odds, but this group was well behaved and adhered to the tasting process guidelines (small sips, slow and deliberate sampling). Of course, this all meant more beer for the thirsty guy at the end of the table!! Yeah, more beer!!
After about 40 minutes or so, another guide came in and said that while she wasn’t kicking us out, there was another tour group on their way in (we were welcome to finish our beer out in the welcome center). Tom, ever the consummate host, got us laughing again with some more joking, as well as offering us directions to local liquor stores, as well as their phone numbers “In case you want to call them ahead of time and let them know you’re coming.”
And that was the tour. I highly recommend this to anyone that is looking for a great start to a fun day. (The tours run until 5:30, but I imagine the later you go, the more people you’ll have to fight over the beer with.)
Oh yeah, let’s not forget the beer certificate. Not only was the tour a blast and a half, but I also walked away with some awesome parting gifts; three cases of fresh, chilled Sam Adams; one case of Regular, one case of Light, and one case of Winter (seasonal).
Thanks for the laughs, Tom!
Let’s back up a bit, though. Remember that certificate I won at the Shayne’s Run raffles, from Sam Adams? The one that entitled me to 12 cases of their beer? Well I’d called ahead and schedule a pickup of 3 cases for Tuesday, figuring that we could also do the tour while there. Kill two liver cells birds with one stone, right? Tours began @ 10am, meaning we had to be up early. And by “early”, I mean the ass-crack of 8am or so. (I love playing hookey!) Anywho, we were up and on the road with plenty of time to enjoy the tail end of rush hour traffic. Between the stops and starts of the heavy traffic, I occupied myself with looking at (hugging, staring at, and basically loving) the free beer certificate.
(Cindy was very patient and understanding toward my man-love of the certificate.) Before long, we arrived at the parking lot of the aforementioned brewery. Ta Da!
Inside the building, there’s a bit of a welcome center, where you can mill around and check out some history on the company and admire the numerous awards the beers have won. When it was time for the tour to start, our guide (Tom) called us together and introduced himself. Now Tom looked (and sounded) like he’d just rolled out of bed from a long stretch of tastings on the night before. He was glassy-eyed, seemed a bit out of focus with what was going on around him, and was nursing a large cup of coffee. However, all that aside, Tom was hysterical. He was extremely personable, joked incessantly, and had us all in stitches by the end of the tour.
The tour began with an overview of the safety topics (careful of slippery floors, etc.) and then we were off. The tour itself was rather small, limited of course by the confines of the building we were in – also quite small. They explained that this location is actually the smallest brewery location, but that there are several much larger ones spread around the country. One thing I found interesting is that, since the company boasts that they use Boston water in the brewing process, they have to come up with a method of getting that water to these other brewing locations. However, since it would be quite cost prohibitive to transport the water, they actually do periodic water sampling to determine the chemical content of the water (ph balance, etc.) and then send this info to their breweries, who then use the data to replicate the water used out here. A very interesting workaround to the water aspect.
The next step was to check out the various hops and barleys used for their various beers. We were allowed to take some of each, to smell, or even eat if we liked.
Some of them tasted very familiar to me, but I couldn’t place it, until someone else tossed out; Grape Nuts. That’s it! Grape Nuts! Tom explained that the reason for this is that Grape Nuts actually contain malted barley as one of it’s ingredients. (It was at this point that I made a mental note to pick up some Grape Nuts on my way home.)
After this, it was back to the large brewing chamber, full of the fermenting and filling tanks. Stacked alongside one wall, were these kegs of specialty beers. It turns out they sell bottles of this stuff for $130, make no profit on them at all, and then folks either collect them or sell them - sometimes for thousands per bottle!! What!?!?!? I love beer as much as (or more than) the next guy, but that kind of pricing is just nutty. Let's move on, shall we?
Here’s Tom, standing amongst said tanks.
Not entirely sure what these tanks contained, but they were actively being used, as we saw one of the master brewers taking some samples from one of them.
All this was well and good, but next up was the best part; the tasting! We followed Tom into this fantastic bar-like setup which any proud homeowner would love to have in their basement. The walls were adorned with various pictures of Sam Adams-related topicality, but the forefront of the room contained a mini bar setup, compete with taps and everything!
Tom proceeded to hand us small sampling glasses for us to use. I glanced despairingly at the miniature size of the glass, thinking “This is bad”…but my displeasure was short lived, as Tom began filling two full-sized pitchers for us. Yay for Tom!!
One pitcher went to the far end of the table, and the other pitcher went to me…er…I mean; my end of the table. The first thing I did was to fill my glass and take a big healthy quaff from it, savoring the delightful taste as it eased past my palate and on down to my eagerly awaiting stomach. Mmmm, that is good stuff! A second healthy sampling and my glass was fully depleted of its contents – hey, it’s a small glass, remember?
As I’m gazing at the bottom of the glass I now hold in front of me, Tom declared to the still-patiently-waiting group; “The first step in sampling the beer is to examine the color and shade of the beer.”
Whoops.
Can’t really make out much color or shading from an empty glass…only one thing to do; refill! Hey, this is taking too long…but I have a solution… (Who can blame me for wanting to trade my small glass for a nice full pitcher!?)
Ok, so moving on; after we’d sampled the regular Sam, we then received two more full pitchers, this time of Sam Light. Another fine offering, and again, the pitchers at our end of the table fared much worse than the pitchers at the other end of the table.
During all of this, Tom was tossing out informative bits about beer, the company, etc., as well as prodding us with beer-knowledge questions and tasting pointers. Many times, after offering guidance or suggestions on different tasting techniques (which involved taking a drink), Tom would say “I’ll now do this with you.” and then imbibe again with us. He was enjoying himself immensely, and who wouldn’t? At one point, after doing another taste, one of the people commented “It’s really good”, to which Tom took a large gulp, savored it while gazing longingly into the glass, and then slowly said (while still staring into the depths of the amber fluid) “It..is..good.” Also funny; a couple of times after Tom had taken a sip and savored it, he looked back at us blankly, paused and said “I completely lost my train of thought”. I’m not sure if some (all?) of this was an act, but it was very funny, and added to the whole jocularity of the event.
At one point, I commented that he seemed to like his job, and how good of a mood he was in. He replied; “Yep, it’s a great job, and I’m in a good mood! And (now staring at his glass again), by the end of the day, I’m in a GREAT mood!” (How could you not like this guy, he was a riot!)
Now it was time for our third beer. Wheee, more beer!! Tom announced our options, which included (I think) something like 4 or 5 other choices - the only one I remember was a pumpkin spiced one. The group was silent as folks mulled things over, so I said if it was going to be a vote, then I’d toss my chip in for the pumpkin spice. A few others voiced their agreement, so pumpkin spice it was. (Yay, more beer!!)
Now I like both Sam regular and Sam Light, but I’ll tell ya; this pumpkin spice stuff was excellent! I even had some competition from someone I never dreamed I’d have to worry about liking beer; Cindy! See how she’s smiling innocently here? Yeah, we almost got into a wrestling match when she wouldn’t let go of the pitcher. :-D
Overall; 6 pitchers for 9 people. Normally, I wouldn’t be so happy about those odds, but this group was well behaved and adhered to the tasting process guidelines (small sips, slow and deliberate sampling). Of course, this all meant more beer for the thirsty guy at the end of the table!! Yeah, more beer!!
After about 40 minutes or so, another guide came in and said that while she wasn’t kicking us out, there was another tour group on their way in (we were welcome to finish our beer out in the welcome center). Tom, ever the consummate host, got us laughing again with some more joking, as well as offering us directions to local liquor stores, as well as their phone numbers “In case you want to call them ahead of time and let them know you’re coming.”
And that was the tour. I highly recommend this to anyone that is looking for a great start to a fun day. (The tours run until 5:30, but I imagine the later you go, the more people you’ll have to fight over the beer with.)
Oh yeah, let’s not forget the beer certificate. Not only was the tour a blast and a half, but I also walked away with some awesome parting gifts; three cases of fresh, chilled Sam Adams; one case of Regular, one case of Light, and one case of Winter (seasonal).
Thanks for the laughs, Tom!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
