WombatNation

As previously promised, here’s the review of the most expensive beer, by nearly an order of magnitude, that I’ve ever tasted. It’s very important when trying something like this not to get your expectations up too high. It’s a bit much to expect any beer to be 10 times better than any other beer you’ve tasted.

From a realistic point of view, Samuel Adams Utopias didn’t disappoint. The initial scent from the bottle made it clear that they weren’t kidding about it being 27% alcohol by volume. The liquid had a slightly syrupy consistency and individual drops with high surface tension formed on the rim of the bottle like with maple syrup. The aroma from the glass was rich with caramel and maple overtones, and perhaps a hint of jasmine. I was amazed that those scents could be coming from a beverage primarily made from malted barley and hops.

In the mouth, the initial taste was very much like a cognac, but with little to no fruit flavor from grapes (it was aged in sherry and Madeira casks). The maple flavor was clear, but definitely not overly sweet. I also picked up a toffee taste, but not so much the coffee and honey that others have mentioned. The taste was very, very smooth, despite the high alcohol content. The after taste lingered for not quite as long as with a great port, but it remained smooth and delicious.

So, my verdict is that this was the best beer, or at least beer-like, beverage I’ve ever tasted. The caveat is that even if it were inexpensive, it would still be a niche choice for me. I enjoy having a beer with a meal, but I can’t imagine too many meals where Utopias would be my first choice during the meal. However, I think it would make a great after dessert choice.

What kind of lunatic would pay $160 for a bottle of beer? Apparently, me, since I just bought a bottle of 2007 Samuel Adams Utopias, which my wife and I will be splitting with my sister-in-law and her husband. A bottle of the 2003 release recently went for nearly $250 on eBay. The highest bid for a 2007 on eBay is currently $182.

I wish I could link to the Utopias page on their website, but unfortunately their website is mostly a bunch of Flash animations. You can wade through a Flash animation here to learn about it, or just read the press release for the 2007 Samuel Adams Utopias. Reviews can be found at RateBeer and Beer Advocate.

The 2007 release is 27% alcohol by volume, which is the highest ever recorded for a beer. The initial taste is supposedly similar to a cognac, with the finish being closer to a port. Of course, I will post a review after we open it on Thanksgiving Day.

And for a better sense of scale, here’s our gigantic twenty pound cat queued up to get his swig from the bottle. Even a 24 ounce bottle looks small compared to him.

I picked up a pair of Shure E2C earphones recently because I had read good reviews about them and they were super cheap during a sale at Amazon. I think I paid only about $40. So far, I’m very happy with them. Shure discontinued the E2C and E3C after coming out with a new line of earphones, so if you find them, they should be discounted.

If you do pick up a pair, be sure to set aside at least 15 minutes to try out many of the foam and flexible sleeves that come with the fit kit. The first 5 or so I tried fit terribly. Then I tried one that didn’t look too different from the others, but the fit was great. In order to take advantage of the excellent sound isolation and bass response of these types of earphones, you need the tips of the earphones to fit snugly in your ear canal, but not too snugly that it hurts.

I enjoed using them around the house, but the E2Cs made their biggest difference when I used them on an airplane flight. They eliminated most of the background noise and allowed me to listen to my audio player as a reasonable volume. With my previous earbuds, I had to crank up the volume really high to overcome the engine and other people noise. They do such a good job of filtering out external sounds that I almost missed the announcement to turn off personal electronic devices.

I’m in the middle of a trip to Austin and San Antonio to visit relatives and get up close and personal with some BBQ. And Mexican food. And chili and chiles. A short version of all this is on my wombatnation page at Pownce.

First up was a trip to the Texas Chili Parlor for a large Double XX frito pie. Traditional Texas style chili contains no beans, and the Texas Chili Parlor is all about tradition. A longtime favorite of Texas legislators working at the nearby Capitol building, the Chili Parlor was also a regular destination for me and a couple of other chili fanatics with whom I worked at the Applied Research Labs.

That evening I headed over to Chuy’s with my family for a Chuychanga. Picture a femur sized burrito constructed from a fried tortilla wrapped around lots of chicken and melted cheese, with a healthy dose of green chile sauce on the side. Enough calories for a family of four. For two days.

BBQ made its first appearance in my esophagus during a trip to The Salt Lick down around Driftwood. The brisket was great, although I thought they drowned it in sauce. The sauce was very good, but it almost overpowered the delicious brisket. I wasn’t a big fan of the beans (too bland), but everyone else liked them. I did like the potato salad (my favorite German style of slightly warm with big, firm chunks of potato and a simple mustardy coating and no pickles), though no one else was a big fan of it. The sausage was more of a bratwurst style than what I normally find at a BBQ restaurant.

The next day I had a yummy BBQ chicken sandwich at Ruby’s BBQ. Technically speaking, you don’t BBQ chicken - you either smoke it or grill it. Maybe you then put some BBQ sauce on it. Ruby’s is notable for serving natural (i.e., no antibiotics or hormones, etc.) meats from Coleman Ranches. I would normally get the brisket, but I knew we were headed to Iron Works for dinner. The chicken sandwich is still a great choice, especially if you prefer moist chicken breast meat.

Just as at The Salt Lick, I ordered the combination/sampler plate at Iron Works. Overall, I would give the Iron Works a slight edge over The Salt Lick based solely on the quality of the BBQ. I liked the brisket and sausage a little better at Iron Works and the ribs a little better at The Salt Lick.

Are you surprised that a company in Texas offers a gun rack for a bike? While advertised as a “favorite of outdoorsmen and hunters”, I wonder how many bicyclists buy these to deter the drivers that might otherwise harass them. While I generally didn’t have too much trouble when I lived and biked in Austin, I did have a beer can thrown at me once and more than a few people drove close and yelled at me as they went past.

Of course, I’ve been subject to the latter in California, as well. I even had an unmarked police car swerve toward me as it passed by (or so said the biker behind me who then caught up and told me so) while riding in a rural area in the East Bay. When the police car went by, I knew that it missed me by only about a foot, but I didn’t realize the cop had gone out of his way to get that close to me.