tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84958413281280559072024-03-13T20:53:04.759-07:00The Art of Pairing Video Games with BoozeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.comBlogger100125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-86331156104093361642013-10-22T11:08:00.000-07:002013-10-22T17:13:47.190-07:00Atlas Beer Pairings at Emporium Arcade Bar: Things Come Full Circle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A year and a half ago, I pretty much stopped updating this blog, as my time and mental capacity became consumed by the founding of Atlas Brewing Company. However, I've never stopped wanting to come up with more pairings. On Thursday, October 24th, a bunch of pairings are going to be happening in the most awesome way possible. Emporium Arcade Bar (1366 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago) is bringing in 8 of my beers for a night of beer and arcade game pairings. The menu will be:<br />
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Golden Axe with Glasgow Kiss Scotch Ale<br />
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Super Mario Bros. with Ramsgate Belgian Bitter (Collaboration with Lake Effect Brewing)<br />
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Super Off-Road with Atlas Golden Ale<br />
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Terminator 2: Judgement Day with Baskerville Cocoa Milk Stout (Collaboration with Letherbee Distillers)<br />
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Arkanoid with Hyperion Double IPA<br />
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The Simpsons with Diversey Pale Ale<br />
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Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition with Rongo Rye IPA<br />
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Adams Family Pinball with Phantasmagourdia Pumpkin Ale<br />
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The fun starts at 7pm. Hope you can make it out!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-11838698291565372282012-08-26T14:40:00.000-07:002012-08-26T14:40:02.746-07:00Portal 2 with Delicious Collaboration BeersMy good buddy Paul has been recommending that we play Portal 2 for a long time, and a few nights ago, we finally got around to it. Portal 2 involves guiding a robot through various courses, having only the ability to move around and create portals in order to get around obstacles. It is a game of logic, and its two-player cooperative mode forces players to plan carefully in order to successfully navigate each level.<br />
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Paul had the wonderful idea of pairing a game that hinges on collaboration with a couple of beers that are collaborative efforts between breweries. As of recently, the craft beer industry has been cranking out beers like this, where two or more breweries get together and combine their skills to make special one-off products. The first we opened was Brux, a collaboration between two of California's most influential breweries.<br />
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Brewed by Sierra Nevada and Russian River Brewing, Brux is a Belgian-style farmhouse ale. It is pale in color and effervescent, with a funky, subtly fruity nose. It tastes of pepper and citrus fruit, with a hint of peach. It finishes dry, with lingering grassy notes.<br />
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The second beer Paul brought was Shewolf India Pale Ale, a collaboration between Half Acre and Three Floyds. Shewolf features fruity hoppiness in abundance. It tastes strongly of grapefruit with some tropical fruit notes in the background. Both Shewolf and Brux made great companions for Portal 2. While the breweries' collaborations had much better results than Paul's and mine did when it came to advancing quickly through the game together, the reasonably strong beers made it more fun for us to yell at each other. <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-32965096024321432032012-07-18T12:30:00.001-07:002012-07-18T12:30:19.742-07:00Atlas Brewing Company and Other UpdatesI haven't posted for nearly two months, but I have a reasonably awesome excuse. About three weeks ago, along with my brother and our business partner, I opened a brewpub in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago.<br />
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Atlas Brewing Company is located at 2747 N. Lincoln Ave. While we're still awaiting our federal brewing license and don't yet have our own beers available for purchase, we do have some awesome <a href="http://www.beermenus.com/places/5103-atlas-brewing-company" target="_blank">guest drafts</a>, a killer cocktail list and an extensive and delicious dinner menu. We open daily at 5pm.<br />
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While I haven't had much of a chance to play video games lately, I am going to make an effort to get to <a href="http://emporiumchicago.com/" target="_blank">Emporium Arcade Bar</a>, which recently opened at 1366 N. Milwaukee Ave. It's a bar with old school arcade games. I'm excited that I can now conduct my nerdy experiments in a more public setting. I'm thinking that a double Malort will be just the thing for Frogger.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-70593550242575937682012-05-25T16:06:00.001-07:002012-05-25T16:06:57.660-07:00Diablo 3 with Russian River Damnation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After many long years of agonizing speculation and anticipation, Diablo 3 finally went live last week. Needless to say, I've been playing as much as possible ever since. While I've already tried out quite a few booze combinations with it, I saved something special for its release that I thought might go particularly well.<br />
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Russian River Brewing Company does not distribute to Chicago, but I try to pick up their beers (if I can find them) whenever I am in California. Though I try not to base my pairings on the names of boozes, I couldn't help but save a bottle of Damnation for this moment in video game history. Damnation is probably my least favorite beer from Russian River. Which is to say, it's a really fantastic beer in every way, but I find the brewery's other beers to be even more fantastic. When I visited their brewpub last year, I tried 15 beers, and every one of them was incredibly delicious and well-made.<br />
Damnation is a Belgian-style golden ale. It has a beautiful creamy head, and features wonderful notes of pear and banana along with a subtle spiciness. It is strong enough to help embolden a mighty barbarian (I'm a sucker for warrior classes in Diablo games. I like to smash stuff), but not overpowering enough to hinder my reflexes. It made for a good companion to Diablo 3. But that's enough blogging. I have demons to slay.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-25353560572414446222012-05-15T15:21:00.002-07:002012-05-15T15:21:46.093-07:00Diablo 3Tonight I'm hoping to try out one of the inevitable hundreds of pairings that I will come up with for Diablo 3. However, Blizzard's servers are down for maintenance. This is hardly surprising, since half the world is trying to log on right now. It's taking every ounce of willpower that I have to stop myself from repeatedly attempting to log in, even though Blizzard has stated that the servers will be down for approximately 11 more minutes. At least it gives me a chance to write this post. But now I must go, just in case they got the servers back online 10 minutes early.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-76292367068664316392012-05-09T11:31:00.001-07:002012-05-09T11:31:44.328-07:00Angry Birds with Ninkasi Brewing Company's Oatis Oatmeal StoutDuring a recent trip out to see my dad in California, I took the opportunity to try some beers that are not available in Chicago. Some of the best that I tried were from Ninkasi Brewing Company, located in Eugene, Oregon. One night after my dad had turned in, I found myself sitting in his kitchen with a bottle of Ninkasi's Oatis Oatmeal Stout and not a whole lot to do. I had no video game consoles, and my newly-reformatted laptop did not offer much in the way of entertainment. Fortunately, I did have my iPhone, and Angry Birds.<br />
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I surely don't need to go into detail describing Angry Birds. Unless you've been living under a rock for the past two years, you already know about this delightful game that involves shooting birds from a slingshot in order to kill evil pigs and the ramshackle structures they build to defend themselves. I really enjoy Angry Birds, and not too surprisingly, I really enjoyed playing it while drinking Oatis.</div>
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Like the heart of an Angry Bird, Oatis is dark. And like an Angry Bird, the beer is robust. It's not overly strong, but it is packed with delicious roasty, chocolatey flavor. Oatis is rich, but balanced. While damn near anything would go well with Angry Birds, Oatis was a particularly good choice.<br />
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Diablo III is being released next Tuesday. I have an epic pairing planned for it, but I'm not sure when exactly I'll get to try it out. Pretty much only one thing in the world could stop me from playing Diablo III the moment that it's released, and that would be getting to brew the first batch of beer for the brewpub that I'm helping to start up. Atlas Brewing Company will be located at 2747 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago, and will hopefully open in June.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-8953493777930862602012-04-29T14:45:00.000-07:002012-04-29T14:45:02.298-07:00Diablo III is on my computerHoly shit. I wish I didn't have to wait until May 15th to play it.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-27606488082362586502012-04-01T19:17:00.000-07:002012-04-10T16:25:50.953-07:00Diablo 3 Skill Calculator with Homemade Smoked PorterI'm excited about Diablo 3. I noticed that blizzard has posted a <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian" target="_blank">skill calculator</a> for the yet-to-be-released game, and tonight I sat down and check it out. Given the success of my previous pairing of <a href="http://videogamesandbooze.blogspot.com/2010/04/diablo-ii-with-stone-smoked-porter.html" target="_blank">Diablo 2 with Stone Smoked Porter</a>, I thought I'd enjoy a mug of my homebrewed smoked porter while I explored the different character classes that Diablo 3 will offer.<br />
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Without going into too much detail, using the skill calculator made me look forward to the game more than ever. I still don't really understand how character development will work, but the descriptions of various skills enticed me. A few of the more awesome ability descriptions were:<br />
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"Ichor erupts from the corpses of the Zombie Dogs and Slows enemies by 60% for 8 seconds."<br />
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"Throw a jar with 4 spiders that attacked nearby enemies for 16% weapon damage as Physical before dying."<br />
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"Increases Hatred generation to 6 Hatred." <br />
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If you are an extremely nerdy Diablo devotee and like booze, I highly recommend drinking and checking out the skill calculator. My smoked porter was a nice match, but I'm sure anything else would also work just fine.<br />
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<br />UPDATE: I just realized that this post could maybe be construed as an April Fool's Day joke. I assure you that this was not the case, and that this was all written in complete seriousness.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-25573990397073453712012-03-16T06:48:00.002-07:002012-03-16T06:48:40.080-07:00Diablo III Release Date AnnouncedBlizzard has finally <a href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4612389/Diablo_III_Launching_May_15_%E2%80%93_Digital_Pre-Sales_NOW_OPEN-3_15_2012" target="_blank">announced</a> a release date for the long-awaited Diablo III. Come May 15th, you will no longer find me going "out" or doing "things." No, I'll have pulled out my old, trusty "mouse" and a carefully-chosen stash of booze, and I will excuse myself from society for the following months. As for what my pairing will be, I'm not yet sure. My <a href="http://videogamesandbooze.blogspot.com/2010/04/diablo-ii-with-stone-smoked-porter.html" target="_blank">very first post</a> on this blog recommended playing Diablo II with Stone Smoked Porter. In a <a href="http://videogamesandbooze.blogspot.com/2010/05/terrible-truth.html" target="_blank">later post</a> I discussed a few other options for Diablo II, including red wine and bourbon. I'll have to think it over. Whatever I choose will most certainly be epic.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-56077545134989390732012-03-12T21:53:00.001-07:002012-03-12T22:33:36.767-07:00Saints Row: The Third with an Appleton Estate Reserve Daiquiri In my last post I said that I would be reviewing a pairing with Angry Birds before too long, but so far the opportunity to try out this pairing on the bus has not presented itself. Tonight I wanted to try out a pairing for Saints Row: The Third. I've been playing the game for a couple of weeks, and not really enjoying it all that much. As a teenager, I probably would have loved this GTA-influenced sandbox game's enthusiasm for scantily-clad women and the word "fuck," but as a quasi-adult, I find it tiresome.<br />
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Tonight I wanted to get a pairing with Saints Row out of the way. I didn't have a particularly stunning array of boozes at my disposal, but I did have a couple fingers of Appleton Estate Reserve rum, three fifths of a lime and a container of homemade demerara simple syrup. I googled these ingredients to see what I should call the cocktail I was about to make, and my ignorance was exposed. I was not aware that these are the only ingredients required for a daiquiri. I thought you had to put some crazy fruit or at least some juice in there to make it so. Pleased with my discovery, I mixed myself a stiff daiquiri with the rum I had on hand.<br />
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The combination of a rich, tasty, molasses-y, fruity rum with molasses-y demerara simple syrup and fresh lime juice was pretty damn tasty. It was also conducive to the enjoyment of Saints Row. The game embraces mayhem, and I was finally won over to some extent when, halfway through my daiquiri, I was given a mission to throw myself in front of speeding cars in order to commit insurance fraud. Getting knocked 30 feet through the air by oncoming traffic while sipping my cocktail felt just right. Saints Row and rum-based cocktails may not be my favorite things in the world, but tonight they were yin and yang in a debauched yin-yang of tipsy gaming.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-53829510404583488982012-03-07T09:30:00.000-08:002012-03-07T09:30:01.854-08:00Next Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've finally stopped playing Skyrim. I'm sure I could have gotten many more hours of gameplay out of it, but I only had so much beer. I've started up Saints Row: The Third, though it has yet to really grab my attention. I've been putting more time into Angry Birds, having recently acquired an iPhone. I think I'm going to pair it with canned craft beer with colorful labels. It will be perfect for the bus ride home after work.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-57503968268449694282012-02-18T10:47:00.000-08:002012-02-18T10:47:37.067-08:00The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim with a Giant Mug of the Beer that I Brewed Specifically to Drink with The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimI've never had a harder time writing a blog post. I have no lack of inspiration when it comes to writing about the pairing described in the lengthy title above, but I don't want to write it. I want to play The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Those of you who have played the game surely understand, but you're probably not reading this right now, as you have yet another dragon to kill, or another lord to assassinate, or perhaps another mischievous demi-god to have a drinking contest with. These are the joys of Skyrim that I could be experiencing right now if I weren't blogging. But enough whining. As is most obvious by now, I like Skyrim. It is a huge, engrossing game, along the lines of Fallout 3 crossed with Baldur's gate. After about 30 hours of gameplay, I feel like I have only just scratched its surface.<br />
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I've often said that fantasy games are among the easiest games to find booze pairings for. Any number of British bitters or barleywines would work well enough with Skyrim. Mead would be another very obvious pairing. But I felt compelled to take things a step further. The game is all about letting players tailor their own experience, and I wanted to similarly tailor a booze to pair with it. I wanted something appropriate for Skyrim's fantasy setting, and also mild enough that it would not stop me from playing the game for many, many consecutive hours. I opted to try out a recipe that my brother and I have been working on for our soon-to-be brewpub. </div>
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The beer that I brewed for Skyrim was inspired by two classic European styles: The English mild ale and the Belgian Trappist abbey dubbel. You can find the recipe <a href="http://videogamesandbooze.blogspot.com/2012/01/brewing-up-delicious-pairing-for-skyrim.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Dark caramel malts and dark Belgian candi sugar gave the beer a deep reddish-brown color and a smooth, bittersweet flavor with subtle notes of plum. At about 4% alcohol by volume, it was eminently chuggable, particularly when served in the large tankard shown above. When I sat down to try out this pairing, I had just concluded a long day of brewing (unrelated to video games), and I was very full from eating a large amount of cake. For some reason my blood sugar always seems to plummet when I brew, but this time I was prepared. Fortunately, the lightness of my mild dubbel allowed for me to drink plenty of it, despite having eaten about half of a cake in the preceding hours. Anyway, I had a great time slaying things and smithing things and drinking my ale. I highly recommend this pairing to anyone who is a big enough nerd to brew a beer specifically to drink with a video game.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-12620584575617871222012-02-16T06:27:00.000-08:002012-02-16T06:27:20.241-08:00Coming Soon: Skyrim and HomebrewI finally got to sit down with Skyrim and a giant mug of the beer that I brewed specifically to pair with the game. I should be able to post on it in the next couple of days. I may have to spend several dozen more hours doing further research, however.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-44870269094499337662012-01-25T14:32:00.000-08:002012-01-25T14:32:38.979-08:00E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Night TrainWARNING: The following experiment was conducted by professionals who have developed a strong tolerance for horrible video games and atrocious boozes. Attempting to replicate our actions in your own home will most likely result in the destruction of property and countless years of hopeless therapy sessions.<br />
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"Loaded like a freight train</div>
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Flying like an aeroplay-ane</div>
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Feelin' like a space brain</div>
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One more time tonigh-hee-ight."</div>
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- Axl Rose </div>
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A while back, my good friends Sarah and Gilad gave me an Atari 2600 along with a good number of games. These included classics such as "Ms. Pac Man" and "Skiing," all-in-all a veritable catalog of established arcade hits. But one cartridge stood out as I rifled through them. "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial!" I thought to myself "Isn't that supposed to be one of the worst games of all time?" At that very moment, I could feel a tiny gear beginning to turn in the dark compartment of my brain that is normally responsible for such things as self-loathing and my love of Shark Attack 3: Megalodon. I did a little research, and it turns out that E.T. was a failure so spectacular that it makes Duke Nukem' Forever feel better about itself (well, that might be a stretch).<br />
E.T. was released in 1982, the same year as the wildly-successful film upon which it is based. The development of the game cost Atari an unheard-of $125 million, over 10 times the amount spent to make the film. Basing a video game on a movie was a novel idea at the time, and Atari expected to ride the film's coattails. Unfortunately, one minor problem got in their way.<br />
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E.T., the video game, really, really sucks. It involves running around, falling down holes (I think) and evading guys in trench coats and lab coats (I think). I cannot be particularly confident that I am correct in my description, as the game's graphics are poorly-designed, even for the standards of 1982. Perhaps the game originally included a manual or some sort of hint as to what the hell one is supposed to try to accomplish. Unfortunately, I do not have any such instructions. When I realized that I had E.T. in my possession, I knew that I must concoct a booze pairing of epic proportions. A booze pairing that would help me and my faithful companions plumb depths of stupidity and masochism hitherto unknown to man.</div>
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To paraphrase a wiser man than I, "If Mad Dog 20/20 is what you drink to get into a rowdy, fighting furor, Night Train is what you drink when you need to spend a cold night sleeping on a park bench." Night Train is often considered to be the king of the hobo wines (no, I'm not going to cite my source here. It's common knowledge). When I bought 4 bottles from my local liquor store, the cashier commented "Oh, you're about to ride the train <i>good</i> tonight!" She was right. Joined by Gilad, Sarah, and several other morbidly-curious friends (some had just come over to watch the State of the Union address, but we roped them in), we started drinking our Night Train and trading off attempts to crack the age-old riddle that is E.T. About 30 seconds into anyone's turn, one would begin to hear frustrated exclamations of "I keep falling down these goddamn holes!" and "What the fuck am I supposed to do?!" Fortunately, sweet lady Night Train was there for us, and reminded us that E.T. is not the only horrendously-shitty thing that one can experience. Night Train contains a whopping 17.5% alcohol. It describes itself as "Citrus wine and natural flavors." My crew described it as having "Big League chew and Fun Dip on the nose," "Medicinal tannins," and "Notes of cranberry, Jolly Ranchers, powdered sugar, and Robitussin DM."<br />
We only got through 3 bottles before we couldn't bear it any longer. We quit, but it had been a beautiful ride. And now that it's over, every other video game and booze, along with dead leaves dangling on trees and the scent of the wintry Chicago air all seem that much more beautiful. If you need a life-affirming experience, or if you hate yourself, I highly recommend this pairing.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-64704549320781893282012-01-24T20:53:00.001-08:002012-01-24T20:53:39.209-08:00It Done HappenedWe played our E.T. tonight. We drank our Night Train. While I would love to elaborate, at this particular moment I feel slightly less than eloquent. Tomorrow, God willing, I will regale you all with the epic tale of this tragicomical pairing.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-27609493472861634212012-01-18T19:07:00.000-08:002012-01-18T19:07:49.212-08:00Brewing Up a Delicious Pairing for Skyrim<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hmITRJ6B60Q/TxeIOwHmQAI/AAAAAAAAAYE/oPWRpZ4bAKY/s1600/MildDubbel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hmITRJ6B60Q/TxeIOwHmQAI/AAAAAAAAAYE/oPWRpZ4bAKY/s320/MildDubbel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Not just any pairing will do for a game like Skyrim. Today I brewed five gallons of an ale inspired by English Milds and Belgian Abbey Dubbels. It should be ready to drink in a couple weeks. If anyone out there cares, here's the recipe:<br />
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<br />For 5.5 gallons:<br />
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6 lbs. Briess Pale Ale Malt<br />
1 lb. Vienna Malt<br />
1 lb. Special B<br />
1/2 lb. Aromatic Malt<br />
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Mashed at 153 degrees for 60 minutes<br />
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1 oz. Hallertauer hops (3.2% AA) @ 60 minutes<br />
1 oz. Hallertauer hops (3.2% AA ) @ 20 minutes<br />
1/2 lb. Belgian Soft Brown Candi Sugar @ 10 minutes<br />
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Original Gravity = 1.040<br />
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It should come out to about 4% abv. Perfect for playing hours and hours of Skyrim.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-72406450505832327932012-01-11T12:42:00.000-08:002012-01-11T12:42:16.291-08:00Skyrim<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The USPS finally found the goodness in their heart to deliver Skyrim to me. I've been playing it quite a bit, though I feel like I've only begun to scratch its surface. I don't really like playing video games for more than a couple hours straight. It makes me tired and cranky. Suffice to say, I've been pretty tired and cranky over the last few days.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j7ZFzZLUkPs/Tw3x4Be1I1I/AAAAAAAAAX8/VvvAPFgAyLs/s1600/Skyrim+Cote-Rotie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j7ZFzZLUkPs/Tw3x4Be1I1I/AAAAAAAAAX8/VvvAPFgAyLs/s320/Skyrim+Cote-Rotie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I've drank various booze with Skyrim without really attempting to come up with a perfect pairing. The most exciting was a 2001 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde. Old world red wines are usually decent companions for fantasy games, and I did enjoy playing Skyrim while sipping this tasty Northern Rhone Syrah. But for my ultimate pairing, I have something more ambitious in mind. I'm going to brew a mild ale inspired by both British milds and Belgian abbey dubbels to drink with this game. I may serve it out of an oak cask, although I might be too lazy to clean my oak cask (I do have an oak cask, in case that's not clear). It will take a couple of weeks for the beer to be ready, but I'm pretty sure Skyrim will keep me occupied until well past that point in time.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-27368400319508318942012-01-06T17:46:00.000-08:002012-01-06T17:46:45.960-08:00Uncharted 3 with Anchor Porter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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While waiting impatiently for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to arrive, I took it upon myself to play through Uncharted 3. I paired Uncharted 2 with Sierra Nevada's Ovila Saison <a href="http://tech.li/2011/08/uncharted-2-and-sierra-nevada-ovila-saison/" target="_blank">back in August</a>, and it worked nicely. Before deciding on a booze for the third game in the series, I played it for a few hours to get a feel for it.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NmIEdrVUkGU/TwecNXmuMFI/AAAAAAAAAXs/6A8kalihAnE/s1600/uncharted+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NmIEdrVUkGU/TwecNXmuMFI/AAAAAAAAAXs/6A8kalihAnE/s400/uncharted+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Uncharted 3 is quite similar to Uncharted 2. It features a combination of parkour and gun-battles, somewhat witty dialogue, and a predictable plot-line reminiscent of Indiana Jones movies. It is consistently entertaining, if not revolutionary. It also can be quite challenging at times. I tried pairing a delicious 2007 Col dei Venti Barbaresco with the game, and even though it made me feel classy as I rode on a horse while firing off rocket-propelled grenades, it dulled my reflexes and distracted me with its sensual flavors of baked plum, earth, and spice. No, it's dried cherry-cinnamon aroma and long, complex finish could not help Nathan Drake save the day. I needed something more sensible, so I turned to one of my favorite beers of all-time.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1zQRA86Te9A/TwecNDsTvDI/AAAAAAAAAXk/rXvJYgLEJGg/s1600/anchor+porter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1zQRA86Te9A/TwecNDsTvDI/AAAAAAAAAXk/rXvJYgLEJGg/s320/anchor+porter.jpg" width="233" /></a></div>
Anchor Brewing, and Anchor Porter in particular, have strongly influenced my own approach to brewing beer. I love the occasional Bourbon barrel-aged IPA-Tripel, but I find more artistry in down-to-earth beers that harmoniously showcase the subtle nuances of their ingredients. Anchor Porter would fall into this category. It has a roasty aroma of coffee and cocoa. It is dry, with robust malt character, well-integrated bitterness and a slight hoppy twang. It's long, bittersweet finish is not something that jumps out at you, but when reflected upon, it is a thing of beauty.<br />
When I finally got around to trying out this pairing, I was near the end of the game. I was determined to complete it in one last sitting. I poured my beer, and with my delicious companion on the table in front of me, proceeded to take care of business. Like fine wine matched successfully with great food, Anchor Porter did not overpower Uncharted 3, but enhanced it. I recommend this pairing to anyone who likes things that are good.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-49875767391304650242012-01-05T07:44:00.000-08:002012-01-05T07:44:29.972-08:00Salt-Peter SausagesI want to bring to everyone's attention <a href="http://salt-peter.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Salt-Peter Sausages</a>, a wonderful blog written by my good friend Peter. Peter shares inventive sausage recipes on a regular basis, illustrated with beautiful photographs of his savory creations. Check it out!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-90863063817831949002011-12-30T22:19:00.000-08:002011-12-30T22:25:27.155-08:002012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">The new year approaches, and though I am not one to believe in any non-nuclear visions of the apocalypse, I find my very being vibrating with a sense of impending doom. Today I received an email from Gamefly entitled "</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="hP" id=":16b">We've Shipped: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim." Thanks to the efficiency of the USPS, I still have two to three business days before my life is stolen from me. When I was fifteen years old, my life was taken for a summer by a beast known as Final Fantasy VII. When I was 22, I became enraptured with another devil known as World of Warcraft for six solid months. I'm 28 now, and I fear that a new game will steal my life for a period of time longer than is respectable. Skyrim approaches. My question is not which booze to pair with it, but whether there is enough booze to last its duration. And also how I'm gonna pay for it after I get fired for playing Skyrim instead of going to work.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-84449280262080166702011-12-21T14:44:00.000-08:002011-12-21T22:35:43.091-08:00My Friends Are AwesomeLast night my wonderful friends Carl and Ann Marie gave me this t-shirt that they picked up at Wormhole Coffee on Milwaukee Ave. Given my blog's logo and my last pairing, I thought it would be appropriate to post a picture of it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awesome.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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Thanks Carl and Ann Marie!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-75990911654209959722011-12-14T14:54:00.000-08:002011-12-14T14:54:36.665-08:00Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn with Metropolis Coffee Company's Falstaff Winter Blend I was excited when I received Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn in the mail a few weeks ago. Several years ago, I played through its predecessor, Path of Radiance, and had a great time doing it. The original Fire Emblem dates back to 1990, and was released only in Japan for the Famicom. Among the most revered turn-based strategy games ever created for consoles, the Fire Emblem series is known for its high difficulty level. Radiant Dawn has you leading an ever-evolving party into battle after battle. If a character dies, they die, and that's that. The enemy AI is ruthless, and making the simplest mistake often times means losing a battle. I remember Path of Radiance as being challenging, but it did not prepare me for the frustrations that Radiant Dawn delivers. The game requires a great amount of concentration.<br />
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I beat the first level of Radiant Dawn after failing only once or twice. Then playtime was over. I probably died 12-15 times on the second stage, and things only got worse after that. I was at a loss for what to pair with it, but I happened to come into possession of a bottle of Orin Swift's The Prisoner, a red blend from Napa that lovers of Californian wine seem to go nuts over. The Prisoner is little more jammy, oaky and boozy than I care for, although it did go nicely with a wedge of Colston Bassett Stilton. Well over 15% ABV, The Prisoner failed to help me focus on strategy, and I don't think I beat a single level while drinking it.<br />
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Following this frustrating experience, I shelved Radiant Dawn for a while. However, I ended up feeling guilty, and being stuck at home sick this morning, I decided to give it one last chance. Because I was sick and it was before noon, drinking booze was not an option. It occurred to me that (dare I say it?) delicious coffee might actually be a better pairing for the game anyway. So I brewed up a French press of Metropolis Coffee Company's Falstaff Winter Blend, and with fear in my heart, I fired up Radiant Dawn.<br />
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Falstaff Winter Blend is a nicely balanced, medium-roast blend. Metropolis does not divulge the origin of Falstaff's beans on their website, unfortunately. It is full-bodied with a subtle chocolatey, nutty aroma and delicious notes of mature plum (that's what those of us in the booze industry call prune). After a few sips of the coffee, I felt reasonably alert and proceeded to vanquish my enemy with relative ease. The level I beat had given me some trouble in the past, and my spirits were greatly heightened after finishing it. I immediately took on the next stage, which proved to be extremely difficult. On my fourth try, I lost the battle because some NPC's on the other side of the map from my party failed to fight off the enemy. This very large and heavy straw broke the camel's back, possibly in several places. The fraction of Radiant Dawn that I played through was a humbling experience, but unfortunately, I don't come close to having the patience to play through it. Some might call me a quitter for drinking stuff that's not booze with this game. Some might call me a quitter for quitting. But at least I'm a caffeinated quitter.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-81629957015367626802011-12-10T09:51:00.001-08:002011-12-10T11:09:55.254-08:00Sky Kid with Rum and Cokes<br />
My brother, John, came up from Normal, Illinois the other day to look for an
apartment closer to civilization. But finding a place to live was not
his only mission. No, he suggested that we find a pairing for Sky Kid,
everybody's favorite backwards-side-scrolling biplane shooter for the
NES. Sky Kid has you flying right-to-left, which is strange, but one
gets used to it. The game involves dodging the bullets and shells of
planes, boats, and artillery while picking up bombs and dropping them on
enemy fortresses.<br />
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Oh, but how Sky Kid takes me back! Back to the day after Christmas in 1988. The day before, John and I had struck gold. Santa had dropped off a small television and an I.O.U. for a Nintendo Entertainment System. Apparently even Mr. Claus himself couldn't track down the ragingly popular video game system. It was a rough 24 hours, but the next day my father (acting as an agent for Santa, of course) tracked one down. From my own experiences tracking down a Wii, I can only imagine the relief that he felt. This relief was short-lived, as I recall, because upon bringing the Nintendo home and opening its box, we discovered that unlike every other system that we had heard tales of, this one did not include a Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt cartridge or a light gun. It did not include any games at all. I'm sure that the prospect of going back to the crowded shopping mall to shell out another $100 did not thrill my dad, but he did just that, and a couple hours later John and I were the proud owners of The Legend of Zelda AND Sky Kid.</div>
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In the years to come, we played both games for incalculable hours. Since Sky Kid allowed for two players to play simultaneously and was utterly impossible to beat, we probably played it much more than we played Zelda. Back then we were ignorant, and we paired Sky Kid with things like candy because we didn't know how awesome booze was. Because of John's fond memories of trying to stay up past our bedtime to eat candy and play Sky Kid, he suggested we pair it with rum and cokes.</div>
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I haven't enjoyed a rum and coke since I was a freshman in college. Not to say I haven't drank a few here and there, I just don't like drinking sugary, vanilla-y mixed drinks as much as I used to. John picked up a bottle of Kozi Bay Gold Rum from the grocery store. Upon tasting it, he readily admitted that he had made a mistake, as it was straight up nasty. Fortunately, combined with a little coke, a good amount of lime and a lot of ice, it was vaguely tolerable. So we sat down with our drinks and, courtesy of Wii's virtual console, took a boozy trip back in time.<br />
I maintain that little kids are stupid. They don't even know how to walk straight, let alone pilot biplanes properly. However, the sheer amount of time that we put into Sky Kid back in the day must have given us a level of skill that did not come back to us instantaneously. We kind of sucked at the game. The rum and cokes help a little bit at first. The caffeine and sugar eased the tiredness I felt after a busy day at work, and the rum obviously honed my ability to fly a fighter plane. Starting over repeatedly, at first we got better. Then, a couple drinks into it, we started getting worse and not caring any more. This pairing made for a great nostalgic experience, although it might not work out that way for people who didn't spend hundreds of hours playing Sky Kid in their youth.<br />
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Thanks to my mother, father, and brother for sharing their Christmas memories.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-20036820378697337982011-11-30T13:49:00.001-08:002011-11-30T13:50:42.892-08:00Batman: Arkham City with a Vertical Tasting of Goose Island Bourbon County StoutMy most epic pairing ever has been posted on Tech.li. <a href="http://tech.li/2011/11/batman-arkham-city-with-a-vertical-tasting-of-goose-island-bourbon-county-stout/">Check it out</a>!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8495841328128055907.post-11533227332601039992011-11-27T22:29:00.000-08:002011-11-27T22:35:13.693-08:00Coming Soon: Bourbon County Stout and Batman: Arkham CityEvery so often, a pairing comes along that is so extremely successful (or sometimes so terrible) that it leaves me without the time and/or wherewithal to write a post about it. It happens to be my birthday today, and the stars aligned for a magnificent tasting of three vintages of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, along with some Bourbon County Rare. Naturally, I drank this epic vertical alongside a nice session of Batman: Arkham City. I'll write a full post on it soon.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15262281509273820203noreply@blogger.com0