LOST MAPS

My life has been pretty crazy the past two weeks.  My writing group, Les sardines, has been working hard to get issue number five, "Lost Maps," of our literary journal Les Sar'Zine published.  Tonight was the canning of the issue, which includes the work of nine writers and one artist.  Two days from now, the members of Les sardines host a release and reading party.

YO CHALKA CHALKA!

My piece for the Frost Park Chalk Off 5:5 began as a colored pencil sketch.


Normally, I prefer my sketches to what actually appears on the sidewalk, but felt the opposite this time around.  The only thing I would do different on this one is switch the positions of Foofa and Toodee, so that the pink of Foofa's outline was diagonal to Muno's red outline.  But that is minor.

I'm really happy with my rendition of Brobee, with his super elongated arms.

---

Yo Gabba Gabba!

JALAPEÑO: GOOD AND BAD

Jalapeño Weed Ale, a Spice/Vegetable/Herb Ale by Mt. Shasta Brewing Company.

22 ounce bottle served in shaker glass

?% abv

---

I love jalapeños.  I love their flavor.  I love their spiciness.  I love their heat.

---

Not every food item needs to have a "bacon" version or "chili" version or "jalapeño" version.

---

But, back to Jalapeño Weed Ale...

The pour is a clear yellow body, so much so that it resembles a macrobrew.  There is no head.  It is lightly bubbly.

The nose is jalapeño peppers, so much so that I am simultaneously salivating and a bit scared to taste it.  The smell reminds me of opening up a jar of jalapeños.  Exactly.

The flavor has a spicy heat to it, but less than I expected.  The initial taste is of licking newspaper, followed by a bit of dirty ashtray.  Then the jalapeño flavor kicks in, with a bit of nettles for good measure.  The heat continues on the finish, along with light jalapeño flavor.

This ale is a bit watery, especially considering the peppers and "smokiness."

---

The jalapeño flavor in this ale is too harsh on the front end, and not because of the peppers; it's just a bit too grossly smoky.

---

Not too many beers meet the dump bucket at TWT, but this one did.  I can't even recommend it to someone who likes jalapeños.

---

On the other hand, I was given a sample of a jalapeño pepperoni stick from a booth at the Puyallup Farmer's Market.  It tasted like a "regular" pepperoni stick for about two seconds and then the jalapeño flavor made its self known and a slight spicy heat appeared.  The jalapeño was a welcome presence here, primarily because it was understated.  I purchased a package and enjoyed a stick each night as a snack before bedtime.

---

The guy working the Linds Custom Meats booth explained that they only use the skins of the jalapeño peppers in their meat, which provides flavor and a bit of heat, but not the intensity that the seeds deliver.  My guess is that if similar restraint was shown in the brewing of Jalapeño Weed Ale that it might be a beer I could enjoy.

WILD RUMORS OF REALITY: IN HIS DREAMS

"The galley slave stayed between his sea and sky.  In his dreams.  The dreams parted for just that long, then they resumed their course.  He watched and he saw sea monsters, storms, moonlight, the bustle of port towns, markets, and fairs; walnuts as fat as a man's head, ivory and eels.  No, this couldn't be real."

—page 272, The Galley Slave by Drago Jančar.

PINK PEPPERCORN IPA

Pink Peppercorn IPA (Trip XII), an India Pale Ale by New Belgium Brewing and Elysian Brewing.

22 ounce bottle served in shaker glass.

7.5% alcohol by volume.

---

The pour is clear orange.  The head is a finger's worth of white.  There is almost no carbonation.

The nose is of pepper and Fruity Pebbles, which is rather enticing.

Each sip is peppery spiciness on the front, followed by citrus peel bitterness and caramel maltiness, and then finishing with a faint echo of the opening pepper.

Medium mouthfeel.

---

I like this for its mystery and subtlety.  It could have been overdone but it isn’t.  Rather, it is nicely restrained.

I’m not thinking IPA when I’m drinking it, though.

In fact, this is sort of the flavor profile I was hoping for in Elysian’s Fallout Cardamom Ale.  If it had been, then Fallout wouldn’t have made the dump bucket.

---

If I close my eyes and dream a bit, then I can imagine some A-1 steak sauce on a nice hunk of meat, and that, my friend, is a damn fine thing.

As it warms, I am reminded more of A-1 and begin to hunger for a juicy steak and another pint of ale!

SUNRISE OPA

Sunrise Oatmeal Pale Ale, an American Pale Ale by Fort George Brewery.

16 ounce can served in a shaker glass.

5.2% alcohol by volume.

---

The can looks like an energy drink.  The word SUNRISE makes me think morning.  I'm imagining some kind of dawn kick-in-the-butt to get me out of bed before I even open the can.

---

The pour is a hazy yellow-orange body that says, "Perhaps I'm a hefeweizen."  The head is a finger's worth of thickness.

The nose is orange citrus and flower petals.

The flavors are orange and lemon citrus bitterness, with a floral background.  It's bitter, but less so than I expected, which is likely due to the oatmeal included in the brewing process.

A smooth, medium mouthfeel transforms into a long, long bitter (yet pleasing) finish.

---

This is excellent.  If I had a stable of beers,* then this would be one of my anchor beers.  It's that good.

---

*I think I need to "build" a stable of good sessionable beers.

---

As to the idea of morning, I think this is one of those beers that transcends season and time of day.  I can imagine myself drinking it morning, noon, and night.  This is a sitting around with friends ale, a mowing the lawn ale, a accompanying dinner ale.  In other words, this is an anytime ale.

ECS NO EQUAL AMBER LAGER

ECS No Equal Amber Lager, an American Amber/Red Lager by Redhook Brewing.

22 ounce bottle served in Samuel Adams glass.

5.2% abv

---

It probably seemed as through TWT retired from public beer reviews and/or tasting notes, since nothing "taphandle" has been posted since The Twelfth Beer of Christmas.  It surely appeared as such to reader (and TWT friend) B.  In fact, he decided to do something about it.  He purchased a bottle of Redhook's latest addition to their Blueline Series, which was bottled in collaboration with Emerald City Supporters  (a fan club of the Seattle Sounders Football Club), and delivered the same to TWT for tasting and review.

---

It's amber!  The pour delivers a red-orange body with an orange-yellow aura.  It's capped with a thin white head and is very lightly bubbly.

The nose is what I think of as "classic lager" and therefore hard to explain.  The primary aromas I catch are vines and cardboard and a bit of broth.  Perhaps that cardboard note is better described as "cereal box grains," whatever that means!

The flavor is a bit better than "classic lager."  I detect broth, a hint of white raisins, caramel, and cereal box grains.  There is a bit of nuttiness on the finish.

The mouthfeel is a bit light, being just a smidgen on the watery side, but nothing to complain about.

It's better than I expected and very drinkable.

---

I tend to drink more ales than lagers, so I don't have a lot to compare this to.  It was a bit like a Märzen/Oktoberfest, only with more caramel than I associate with that style.

---

ECS No Equal Amber Lager isn't going to win any awards, but it's a sessionable and solid beer.

---

Thanks again to B. for the bottle and the push.

BOOK BUDDIES

Atticus, one of two bookstore cats at King's Books of Tacoma, decided to jump onto my shoulders today and ride around while I perused the shelves.

It surprised me, even though I watched him walk up to me, crouch, and ready himself to spring onto me.  He did it with the agility of the greatest acrobats.  He stayed perched up there until I removed him, which he wasn't too happy about.  I believe he was hoping to take a nap.

Anyway, it was a unique experience in many ways.  I even ended up purchasing the book I was pulling off the shelf when he joined me.  I considered it quite the omen that I needed the book—Birds of America: Stories by Lorrie Moore—since Atticus showed as much interest in it as I did.

PIYP, PART 2

---

Poem In Your Pocket Day wasn't a complete bust for TWT.

[1]
The Child carried a copy of "Three Field Poems" around all day and has prominently displayed it upon The Child's headboard.

[2]
The Child gave a copies to two teachers at The Child's school.  Both teachers were disappointed that they didn't know about Poem in Your Pocket Day and planned on observing it next year.

[3]
Troy's Work Table was able to hand out poems to people throughout the day, mostly to friends and acquaintances.  It counts!

[4]
Troy's Work Table built a small display stand out of card stock and left FREE POETRY in Frost Park while he chalked today.  A few fellow chalkers took copies.  One wrote "I was also pretty impressed by this citizen-initiative FREE POETRY kiosk" and "Let's see more of this kind of thing!"

All of the above made Poem In Your Pocket Day (and the day after) worth it.

FROST PARK: AMERICAN PASTIMES

Blank canvas.


Outlines.


Almost there.


"Pursue, Consume, Illumine" by Troy's Work Table.

---

This week's theme for the Frost Park Chalk Off (5:4) was "American Pastimes." Where many chalkers headed down the road of baseball, TWT could only see whales. So that is where he went—from harpoon to whale to oil lamp.

---

View all of the Frost Park Chalk Off 5:4 entries HERE.