Really Long Overdue Disneyland Recap

 Entertainment, Family, Food and Drink  No Responses »
Nov 032020
 

Side note: this has been sitting in my Drafts folder since 2007 so I’m just posting it as is.

I just read this post over on The Disney Blog. Like many things over the past 10 months, it’s reminded me of my family’s trip to Disneyland in March. We only spent a couple of hours in the Grand Californian, but it was one of the most relaxing times of the trip. Whit captures the feeling of being there as an adult. It’s time to finally post a recap of our trip before I forget it all.

Before last March, I’d visited Disneyland once with my family in the summer of 1987. I’d also visited Disneyworld in March of 1982 with my mother, sister, and another family from school. My dad sat that one out.

We stayed at the Disneyland hotel or “on property” to use the proper lingo in the Bonita tower. Staying at the Disneyland Hotel means that you have to walk through Downtown Disney to get to the park entrance. We had breakfast with the characters in Goofy’s Kitchen. We ate dinner at Hooke’s Point. Also ate at House of Blues the first day. Ate at Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen and Catal as well. In addition to having lunch at the Blue Bayou, Golden Horseshoe and Bengal Barbecue. We had brunch at Granville’s (which I think has since changed names to Steakhouse 55) on the last day with an excruciating van ride to the airport.

I was underwhelmed by Fantasmic and think we were just too wiped the night that we stayed for the parade and fireworks. The three-year-old balked at the Matterhorn and Snow White’s ride was too scary for her as well, but we got through it. I’m still partial to Space Mountain and Peter Pan, myself.

I think California Adventure gets a bad wrap. The food over there is certainly nothing of note. We ate lunch at the wharf / pier area one day and the only thing I remember was the microbrew stand where I was able to grab a welcome beer during all of the saccharin-y goodness. We did the princess dinner one night at Ariel’s Grotto, purely for my 3-year-old daughter. She loved it. The rest of us endured it. The two biggest thrill rides, in my opinion, are at California Adventure: Tower of Terror and California Screaming. I found the Redwood Creek challenge trail oddly relaxing. I was able to sit while my 7-year-old did the zip lines and treehouse. I was amazed that we got him on both Tower of Terror and California Screaming. He made repeat trips to the roller coaster, but once was enough for the Tower of Terror. The more recent movie tie-ins tend to fall short of the traditional rides. Monsters Inc. was impressive only for its set design and the Indiana Jones ride was also underwhelming. Unfortunately, the Haunted Mansion was closed while we were there, but at least we got to do Pirates of the Carribean before its revamp to coincide with the release of the movie. The Tiki Room was another pleasant respite from the heat and the crazy crowds. I agree wholeheartedly with Wil’s assessment during a visit the month before we went.

 Posted by on November 3, 2020 at 4:42 pm

Craft Beer and Social Media

 Austin, Food and Drink  No Responses »
Nov 122017
 

I thought about this earlier this week, googled for something about it to see if it had already been covered, didn’t immediately see anything as obvious as what I was thinking and decided to go ahead and post about it.

I’m clearly not very good at regularly posting. The last one was a decent one, I think, but that was 10 months ago.

Unrelated old beer photo from a pre-Untappd world

Unrelated old beer photo from a pre-Untappd world

Here’s what I was thinking: the explosion of craft beer and social media at roughly the same time has culminated in me being able to relatively easily find any beer that I’d like to try if it’s available locally. Untappd makes this possible. I’ve been a member since the summer of 2012. It’s pretty great. I also recently passed 1000 different beers. So it took me five and a half years to remember to check-in with each beer that I’ve tried. I’m sure I’ve missed some but I’ve been pretty good about recording them. I’m typically too lazy to write any comments unless the beer is particularly good or bad. I think my ratings are relatively consistent.

As far as finding a beer (or two) that I want to try, here’s what happened this week. I know that Celis had the first release of Grand Cru last weekend and that’s one of the recipes from the original brewery that I’ve been wanting to see return. I had Friday off for Veteran’s Day. I had also seen via Easy Tiger’s Instagram feed that they’d tapped an intriguing barleywine from Dogfish Head called Puddin’ Wine. A quick couple of searches on Untappd showed that I could probably get both at Bangers. Sure enough, I was able to sit down outside on Friday afternoon and order both, one right after the other.

While I was there, I requested an Untappd API key so I can show check-ins as a feed, similar to the Twitter and Flickr posts. So there it is over there on the right as well.

I mentioned the ratings on Untappd earlier, that’s the other benefit: remembering that I’ve already tried something and that maybe I wasn’t a huge fan.

I was at Lazarus a while back and ordered the Amandus. About two sips in, I thought, “Wow, I really don’t like this. It’s way too heavy on the banana esters.” If you look at their description, it says “Strong Belgian Golden Ale”. I do not expect banana esters with that description. I think something more along the lines of Duvel or the Grand Cru that I mention below. However, if you read the full description, it says:

St. Amandus was a Belgian monk famous for his hospitality: he became the patron saint of brewers, bartenders, and innkeepers. With hints of banana, pear, and cloves, this beer is our toast to a great man in a great beer-making region!

Hints? It’s more than hints. Here’s what I said back in January. Clearly, I should’ve paid attention to that last bit. As an aside, beware of the descriptions at Lazarus. They tend to add a flavor that you don’t expect to a beer style that you think you know. I’m not saying is good or bad, it just means that you end up with something you don’t expect.

Since the Lazarus visit, I was at WhichCraft Mueller where I had the Founders Nitro Oatmeal Stout. Again, I should’ve paid attention to my past self. It wasn’t following the Bible Belt that made it forgettable. It’s just weaker than I generally want in my stouts. That disappointment was more than made up for by the Black Butte XXIX that I had after it.

 Posted by on November 12, 2017 at 2:36 pm

Fourteen Days of Anchor Christmas: Day 14 – Anchor Christmas 2014 and Recap

 Food and Drink  2 Responses »
Dec 272014
 

Welcome to day fourteen of fourteen days of Anchor Christmas spanning 14 years of the beer. You can view the back story and the tasting for 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Anchor Christmas 2014

Anchor Christmas 2014

Day 14: Anchor Christmas 2014

Tree: Giant Sequoia, Sequoiadendron giganteum

Anchor Label 

Neck Label Text: This is the fortieth “Our Special Ale” from the brewers at Anchor. It is sold only from early November to mid-January. The Ale’s recipe is different every year, but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. In ancient times trees symbolized the winter solstice when the earth with its seasons appears born anew.

Tasting Notes: Founders Brewing Tulip glass. We’re up to the current year. All of the qualities of the annual Our Special Ale are present. The caramel, malty, raisin taste along with the spice / piney taste from the added spices and hops. This is a great winter beer whether you’ve aged it or not. I always look forward to a six pack each November / December as a part of my holiday tradition.

Recap: Overall, I think my vertical fourteen year tasting has kept in line with what I read from others. This beer holds up really well for the first three or four years and generally goes down from there.

  • 2011-2014 : Generally great. Exactly what you expect and aging does change the flavor a bit
  • 2009-2010: These didn’t hold up well.
  • 2007-2008: These were oddly good although 2007 had something going on with its smell.
  • 2001-2006: It’s a real mixed bag but generally these didn’t hold up very well

Other Observations:

  • The text on the neck label changed subtly over the years including expanding the production period in 2003.
  • They added a label on the back in 2002.
  • They didn’t give the scientific name (Ginko Biloba) on the 2010 label for some reason.

Cheers!

 Posted by on December 27, 2014 at 12:04 pm

Fourteen Days of Anchor Christmas: Day 13 – Anchor Christmas 2013

 Food and Drink  No Responses »
Dec 252014
 

Welcome to day thirteen of fourteen days of Anchor Christmas spanning 14 years of the beer. You can view the back story and the tasting for 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Anchor Christmas 2013

Anchor Christmas 2013

Day 13: Anchor Christmas 2013

Tree: California White Fir, Abies Concolor

Anchor Label 

Neck Label Text: This is the thirty-ninth “Our Special Ale” from the brewers at Anchor. It is sold only from early November to mid-January. The Ale’s recipe is different every year, but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. In ancient times trees symbolized the winter solstice when the earth with its seasons appears born anew.

Tasting Notes: Founders Brewing Tulip glass. As with yesterday, we’re in the sweet spot for aging on Anchor Christmas at just 1-3 years. It’s still pretty much what you expect. It may have changed a bit, but it’s still the same. Same spruce / evergreen taste along with the other flavors like chocolate, a bit of molasses and that light “leathery” taste. It’s all “brighter” in taste than those that have aged past three years. It’s good stuff. We’ll close this out with 2014 next.

Cheers!

 

 

 Posted by on December 25, 2014 at 4:04 pm

Fourteen Days of Anchor Christmas: Day 12 – Anchor Christmas 2012

 Food and Drink  1 Response »
Dec 232014
 

Welcome to day twelve of fourteen days of Anchor Christmas spanning 14 years of the beer. You can view the back story and the tasting for 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Anchor Christmas 2012

Anchor Christmas 2012

Day 12: Anchor Christmas 2012

Tree: Norfolk Island Pine, Araucaria heterophylla

Anchor Label 

Neck Label Text: This is the thirty-eighth “Our Special Ale” from the brewers at Anchor. It is sold only from early November to mid-January. The Ale’s recipe is different every year, but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. In ancient times trees symbolized the winter solstice when the earth with its seasons appears born anew.

Tasting Notes: Founders Brewing Tulip glass. 2012 tastes pretty much like I expect a current version of Anchor Christmas to taste. There’s not much remarkable about this one compared to the standard of Anchor Christmas that I have in my head. It’s funny because Anchor recently posted about aging the annual brew on its Twitter feed, Ask Bob Brewer Aging Anchor Christmas Ale. He recommends that the first three years out are good, the next two, not bad and then anything past is unremarkable and not good. I’d say that my experience has varied a bit from that but it’s pretty close. Two to go!

Cheers!

 

 Posted by on December 23, 2014 at 10:31 pm

Fourteen Days of Anchor Christmas: Day 11 – Anchor Christmas 2011

 Food and Drink  No Responses »
Dec 222014
 

Welcome to day eleven of fourteen days of Anchor Christmas spanning 14 years of the beer. You can view the back story and the tasting for 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Anchor Christmas 2011

Anchor Christmas 2011

Day 11: Anchor Christmas 2011

Tree: Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, Pinus longaeva

Anchor Label 

Neck Label Text: This is the thirty-seventh “Our Special Ale” from the brewers at Anchor. It is sold only from early November to mid-January. The Ale’s recipe is different every year, but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. In ancient times trees symbolized the winter solstice when the earth with its seasons appears born anew.

Tasting Notes: Founders Brewing Tulip glass. 2011 is an improvement over 2009 and 2010. Decent nose. Good flavor on the front end and still good carbonation. This is what I typically think of when I remember the flavor of Anchor Christmas and I think all of the flavors have aged well. We’ll reserve judgement until the end, but four years may be the ideal age for this beer. There’s a bit of the spruce / evergreen spice. The flavors are well balanced. If you have a 2011 around the house, drink it now….or wait another four years and hope the 2007 that I had wasn’t a fluke.

Cheers!

 Posted by on December 22, 2014 at 9:15 pm

Fourteen Days of Anchor Christmas: Day 10 – Anchor Christmas 2010

 Food and Drink  2 Responses »
Dec 212014
 

Welcome to day ten of fourteen days of Anchor Christmas spanning 14 years of the beer. You can view the back story and the tasting for 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Anchor Christmas 2010

Anchor Christmas 2010

Day 10: Anchor Christmas 2010

Tree: Maidenhair Tree, Ginko Biloba

Anchor Label - An interesting note on the main label. It doesn’t actually give the tree name. Typically, the scientific name is somewhere on the label, but not this year.

Neck Label Text: This is the thirty-sixth “Our Special Ale” from the brewers at Anchor. It is sold only from early November to mid-January. The Ale’s recipe is different every year, but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. In ancient times trees symbolized the winter solstice when the earth with its seasons appears born anew.

Tasting Notes: Founders Brewing Tulip glass. 2010 has some tastes in common with 2009. It also seems kind of thin and lifeless. There’s a small hint of some of the things on the nose that I got much stronger in the years that sat longer, but it’s just barely there. It does have more of the evergreen / spruce flavor to it than 2009, but it’s still not as good as some of the earlier years. The carbonation is steadily improving as we get closer to the present year.

Cheers!

 Posted by on December 21, 2014 at 9:29 pm

Fourteen Days of Anchor Christmas: Day 9 – Anchor Christmas 2009

 Food and Drink  1 Response »
Dec 212014
 

Welcome to day nine of fourteen days of Anchor Christmas spanning 14 years of the beer. You can view the back story and the tasting for 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Anchor Christmas 2009

Anchor Christmas 2009

Day 9: Anchor Christmas 2009

Tree: Monterey Cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa

Anchor Label

Neck Label Text: This is the thirty-fifth “Our Special Ale” from the brewers at Anchor. It is sold only from early November to mid-January. The Ale’s recipe is different every year, but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. In ancient times trees symbolized the winter solstice when the earth with its seasons appears born anew.

Tasting Notes: Tulip glass. I’ve got one word for 2009. Yuck. I’m not sure what happened here. Both the nose and the flavor are flat. The beer seems very thin compared to other years. I’m not sure if something went wrong here or if this was a bad year. I’ll check out the reviews at the time of release when I do the recap. This is the worst of the nine so far. I may not even finish the bottle.

Cheers!

 Posted by on December 21, 2014 at 4:23 pm

Fourteen Days of Anchor Christmas: Day 8 – Anchor Christmas 2008

 Food and Drink  No Responses »
Dec 192014
 

Welcome to day eight of fourteen days of Anchor Christmas spanning 14 years of the beer. You can view the back story and the tasting for 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Anchor Christmas 2008

Anchor Christmas 2008

Day 8: Anchor Christmas 2008

Tree: Jeffrey Pine, Pinus jeffreyi

Anchor Label

Neck Label Text: This is the thirty-fourth “Our Special Ale” from the brewers at Anchor. It is sold only from early November to mid-January. The Ale’s recipe is different every year, but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. In ancient times trees symbolized the winter solstice when the earth with its seasons appears born anew.

Tasting Notes: Tulip glass. You know the one. Coffee is the first thing that comes to mind. A little orange on the nose. Some chocolate on the finish. This one also has a bit of that leather, tobacco, cherry, raisin, fig flavor to it. Things are definitely improving as we move closer to the present year. Six years out is pretty good. Not much spice on this one or much of the spruce/evergreen taste. The carbonation is definitely holding up better as well.

Cheers!

 

 Posted by on December 19, 2014 at 10:15 pm

Fourteen Days of Anchor Christmas: Day 7 – Anchor Christmas 2007

 Food and Drink  No Responses »
Dec 182014
 

Welcome to day seven of fourteen days of Anchor Christmas spanning 14 years of the beer. You can view the back story and the tasting for 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Anchor Christmas 2007

Anchor Christmas 2007

Day 7: Anchor Christmas 2007

Tree: Valley Oak, Quercus lobata

Anchor Label

Neck Label Text: This is the thirty-third “Our Special Ale” from the brewers at Anchor. It is sold only from early November to mid-January. The Ale’s recipe is different every year, but the intent with which we offer it remains the same: joy and celebration of the newness of life. In ancient times trees symbolized the winter solstice when the earth with its seasons appears born anew.

This one has the worst water damage to the label from condensation on the bottle (see photo).

Tasting Notes: Guess which glass? I had some Jester King / Live Oak Kollaborationsbier before this one so hopefully that won’t taint my palate. Maybe I should try some water first. Ok, so this one has something off about the smell. It’s a lighter brown than the previous years. The taste is actually not bad, but I’m going to stop smelling this one. Since it had the most label damage, it might’ve been the most affected by the warm up when one of my lovely offspring left the garage refrigerator door open. I’m actually enjoying the taste though. It’s different and reminds me of something that I can’t quite place. I’m thinking leather. And tobacco. It’s really growing on me. The previous years had a harshness at the end. That’s completely missing from this one. I’d love to be able to find another 2007 to compare. Again, I’m going to go back and look at people’s notes when it was released in my recap at the end. This one might be the nicest so far.

Cheers!

 

 Posted by on December 18, 2014 at 7:53 pm
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