Beer Review: Bud Light (Can)

It feels a little ridiculous to review a beer like Bud Light.  I think almost everyone in American has probably had a Bud Light.  I've personally had at least a few thousand... I'm not sure even how to try to calculate how many I've had.  I'm also pretty sure I don't actually want to know.  Anyway, this eloquent intro is designed to introduce you, my audience, to a key beer concept of mine:  The Pounder. 

A couple of days ago I made some somewhat unkind implications about my cousins from Out East.  Well, it's time to make right with my blood relatives.  We, here in The Corn, had the concept of The Pounder, but we hadn't developed such a perfect term.  We representatives of The Corn were Out East visiting, and as these things come to happen we had a few beers with our kinsmen.  They were drinking a semi-local beer, brewed from somewhere in New York, from a company called Genesee. 

In the cooler, there were a couple of different Genesee brews, but some were in larger bottles.  I picked the large bottle, to which my cousin exclaimed something to the effect of, "Hey!  A Jenny Pounder!"  I inquired after this, and it was explained that the Pounder was bigger and good for heavy drinking.  Pounding, as it were.  I found this knowledge useful, and offered my own knowledge of the concepts of Cornfury and Beanlust by way of trade.  All found it good, and there was much rejoicing.

In any case, we may have modified the term a bit over the years, as a Pounder in local parlance does not need to be bigger.  A Pounder has two key attributes: low cost and drinkability.  One can enjoy the brilliance of a Guinness or the sublime flavor of a Tucher, but most do the volume of their work in the trenches with their favorite Pounder.  And that's what Bud Light is.  One of my favorite Pounders... In fact a Diet Pounder, by virtue of being "light."

Technically speaking, Bud Light is an American-style Light Lager.  American Lagers are very light in color and usually contain rice or corn.  They're characterized by an extremely light body and a flavor devoid of hoppyness or much malt.  A Light version is merely a reduced calorie content... 110 in a Bud Light vs. 145 in a regular Budweiser.  It doesn't relate much to the comparative BEERPOWER!, though there is some reduction (from 5.0% to 4.2% in Budweiser and Bud Light respectively). 

Beer - Bud Light
Company - Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
Delivery System - 12 oz. Can
Origin - USA

Flavor - 64
Aroma - 80
Packaging - 50
Value - 85
BEER POWER! - 50

Final Score - 67 (Recommended)

Book Review: Killshot

Title: Killshot
Author: Elmore Leonard
Reviewed Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 385
Rating:  3 1/2 Stars

Review: This is my first non-beer review.  I hope it does not suck, though reviewing something is fairly intimidating to me, so please bear with me.  This was my first Elmore Leonard experience.  I hadn't honestly heard of the author when the oft-mentioned Dusty was saying something about how Elmore Leonard was one of his favorites and recommending a novel called LaBrava.  Being the agreeable sort that I am, the next time I was at the bookstore I sought out Mr. Leonard and LaBrava.  I was to be disappointed on this particular day as the bookstore in question only had three offerings from Elmore Leonard.  Two were in hardcover, and I was feeling cheap I guess, so I picked up Killshot.

I would describe Killshot as a crime thriller.  It's set mostly in Michigan and Canada and just reeks of setting.  Some research confirms that Me. Leonard resides around the area so I'd suspect a fair amount of the details in the setting were researched primarily.  A bit of the story occurs in Cape Girardeau, MO, and the author painted such an interesting picture (and since it's reasonably in-range for me) that I'd like to visit that small city and take and compare the details of the novel with the reality.  The story itself revolves around a married couple that accidentally gets caught up in a scam being run by a couple of criminals.  Leonard adroitly keeps you on your toes as the plot unfolds.  The plot is tight and the characters are, if not particularly dynamic, interesting enough to allow Leonard's captivating style to take center stage.

Dusty mentioned that with Leonard the style is the thing... And the man was right.  Leonard writes excellent and realistic dialogue you can hear in your head as if it were in the same room.  It's not just the dialogue, though, Leonard's prose comes at you like a train.  It's quick to read and leaves a deep impression on you.  I checked up on the author on wikipedia and found that he believes things like grammar can't get in the way of the prose, and that if "it sounds like writing," then the author should "rewrite it." It's clear he believes it as the novel practically reads itself and I never found myself rereading a paragraph because I didn't get it.

Killshot was an enjoying read-- in fact the last 100 pages or so entered into can't put it down territory.  There were no notable flaws, and it turned me into an Elmore Leonard fan.  Leonard kept me guessing, and I couldn't tell until the very end which of the main characters would survive.  The style was the drive behind my enjoyment, though, while the plot and characters were just okay, and that's what knocks a star and half off the final rating.  In any case, I'm excited to read another Elmore story because the style was just that good.  If the next one mixes excellent style with a more interesting story or set of characters, I would be completely satisfied.  (3 1/2 stars)

Bachtown5000

Yeah, here it is.  I'm Bachtown5000 for the first time since last November.  The wife went a-jaunting to warm mountainy Arizona.  Rang it in, alright, though.  Brother and buddy came a-callin' and we had the best Chicago-style deep dish a man can get this side of Chicago and/or her suburbs at a little sports bar in Washington called Gracie's.  Took 'em a good 70 minutes to serve us the damn thing, but it was worthwhile when it came. 

We discussed things such as basketball, Tractor Supply Company, woman's basketball, how to buy a 'lectric guitar, and so on and so forth.  Then we retired to the homestead and watched episodes two and three of HBO's The Pacific.  That'll sober ya.  Except for the part that we had our way with some Cockburn's Tawny Port and some knockoff not-quite-Bailey's Irish Creme on the rocks.  It was still rough, and these kinds of things never fail to illustrate all the things I'm unlikely to be ever be able to accomplish for my country as some of those who came before, as well as those who are serving now or recently returned to us. 

Beer Review: Sam Adams Irish Red (Bottle)

Okay, first real post... And it being that I just got home from work, it's a beer review.  In the fridge are two bottles of Sam Adams Irish Red that my brother left behind after a St. Patty's Day party.  Lucky me.

This beer comes in a 12 oz. brown bottle and has a fairly respectable label with details about the method and ingredients printed on the neck label.  The labels follow the format of all Sam Adams beers, so nothing special there.  Sam Adams Irish red is apparently part of the Brewmaster's Collection, whatever that is.  The neck label claims that this beer "originated in Ireland in 1710."  I'm not buying that.  There is no note of ABV, so this beer will be getting a 50 BEER POWER! score. 

I believe Smithwick's is an Irish red, but I'm not sure.  A quick jaunt out to our buddies at Wikipedia confirms that Smithwick's is indeed an Irish red and that an Irish red is produced by the use of some roasted barley in the brewing of an ale.  This beer in particular makes no mention roast barley, but does prominently discuss the use of caramel malt.  And that's just what I'm tasting as I drink it. 

This beer is alright.  I'm not a fan of caramelly beers, and while this one does carry that flavor it's not as heavy as lot of other similar beers.  The aroma also does not carry a great deal caramel to it, and that's good as far as I'm concerned.  About 3/4 of the way through the beer it started to get a little heavy on me... But to my relief it seemed to lighten up a bit as I finished while a lot of these caramelly beers stay heavy.  I guess the question I have to ask myself is: Will I have the 2nd one.  Mayhaps.  Somebody has to drink it sometime.


Beer - Sam Adams Irish Red
Company - Boston Beer Company
Delivery System - 12 oz. Brown Bottle
Origin - USA

Flavor - 56
Aroma - 75
Packaging - 62
Value - 40
BEER POWER! - 50

Final Score - 59 (Workmanlike)

Beer Rating System v2.0

I forgot something, yesterday... Good thing, I thought of it today at work.  Revised model below.

Categories:
Flavor - Sabor in Spanish, according to the radio.
Aroma - How it smells. Usually, but not always, gives an indication that this beer may suck.
Packaging - Good things come in classy packages. Or something.
Value - Did I pay a lot for that beer? This may tell you.
BEER POWER! - This is to give a nod to that beer that may not be that great, but some crazy dude managed to get it to 11% alcohol by volume.

Scale:
0-40 - Ich. That's not German for "I," but rather the sound one makes after a sip.
41-60 - Decent, workmanlike beer
61-75 - This is a beer I'd easily recommend and be happy to drink any old time.
76-90 - An excellent beer.
91-100 - All-world. A 2006 Bradley Sweet 16 Run Beer.

Beer Rating System

I could have used the same star system for beer as I did for other stuff on here... But I decided not to. Instead I will rate beers on four different categories from 1-10 and then weight those ratings using my own secret and highly proprietary formula to result in a final rating. Finally, I've made a rule for myself: I will rate a beer only if I've had it in the last couple of hours. No historical, as-I-remember-it ratings.

Categories:
Flavor - Sabor in Spanish, according to the radio.
Aroma - How it smells. Usually, but not always, gives an indication that this beer may suck.
Packaging - Good things come in classy packages. Or something.
Value - Did I pay a lot for that beer? This may tell you.

Scale:
0-40 - Ich. That's not German for "I," but rather the sound one makes after a sip.
41-60 - Decent, workmanlike beer
61-75 - This is a beer I'd easily recommend and be happy to drink any old time.
76-90 - An excellent beer.
91-100 - All-world. A 2006 Bradley Sweet 16 Run Beer.

Rating System for Movies, Books, Games

In the general spirit of ripping Dusty off I will define a rating system here. However, because I'm superior to him in every way, he's getting one-upped, as I will be using a five-star rating system... Which has one more star than a four-star system, and is therefore better. Plus, I'm keeping open the option of a 0 star rating.

***** - 5 Stars - Bradley's 2006 Sweet 16 Run. Comfortably in the 90th percentile.
**** - 4 Stars - Excellence. Not perfect but something I really like. Best rating I give regularly.
*** - 3 Stars - Good. Like a Three Muskateers.
** - 2 Stars - Shaky. May have some merit, but probably best avoided unless you love the topic.
* - 1 Star - Outright bad. Nobody should like this... Except for maybe Megan or Amit.
0 - No stars - You just got herpes. That sucks.

Note: One day, I'll get cute and make some sort of graphical thingy and rename my stars to "graphical thingies." Be afraid.

Why I Started a Blog

Because Dusty did!

That's pretty much the basic, check-in-the-box, reason. He mentioned he started one (link here), and when I tried to follow his, it gave me an option of starting my own. Done and done. I can't honestly say I'll keep this thing up or going, but the first step in testing my resolve is creating the blog in the first place. I'm going to avoid making it public journal for the most part and focus in on posting things that at least I'm thinking about that I'd like others to read and maybe comment on. I'll warn that the topics have the potential to be a bit all-over-the-placey since I'm interested in things like books, movies, games, sports, and in depth discussion of politics and international relations.

So that's pretty much it. Hope it's good and/or fun. Or as someone once deemed something I did at work, "great/adequate."

Side note: Please excuse our dust. I'll be horsing around with the layout until I'm happy.