Mould's Beer Blog

This is the first article in a new series of posts, where I will periodically choose a section from the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) style guidelines , write about the style, and then drink and publish my tasting notes from some of the commercial examples given by the BJCP.  Now, I'm not sure if I will ever actually take the exam to become a beer judge, but I think this will be a fun exercise to learn more about beer! Fair warning, I will not be doing the sections of the BJCP style guidelines in any sort of order.  Whichever kinds of beer I am craving is what I will be writing about! Strong Scotch Ales (also known as Wee Heavy) comprise sub-category 9E in the BJCP style guidelines.  They range between 6.5% and 10.0% ABV, and have a light copper to dark brown appearance.  Obviously, strong scotch ales are all about showcasing the malt.  While studying this style, I found it quite interesting that the brewers ferment out the wort at cooler temp...

Evening everyone!  Earlier today, Kerry and I went to a dine-in movie theater for the first time (we saw that new Twilight movie).  The experience was definitely unique.  We bought our tickets on Fandango's website, where you actually get to choose which seats you want to buy tickets for (you can see which seats are available and taken, so you can try to find the most comfortable and spacious seats).  For a matinee, the tickets were $6 each, plus a Fandango "convenience charge."  When you get to the theater and find your seat, there's a menu (fairly extensive for a movie theater) you can order food from.  We got mozzarella sticks, thai chicken fingers, and 2 unsweetened iced teas, which ran us around $30.  It didn't help that the unsweetened iced teas were $4.50 each!  We should have just got tap water! The only part of the experience I really didn't enjoy was getting our food in the dark, which made it difficult to see, and therefore, share....

It was almost the middle of August, and I found myself just feeling really lazy and disappointed with myself that I had let the summer go by without upping my fitness game into gear.  I decided it was time to do something about it.  Being a sucker for GPS tracking and fitness statistics, I decided to give Runkeeper (www.runkeeper.com) a try.  I have an old smartphone, an HTC Eris, which can really slow down trying to run a lot of newer apps.  The Runkeeper app works great on the Eris.  Very simple to use, didn't slow down my phone, and it's helped keep me active, the most important thing! In August, I jogged/walked/cycled a total of 22.4 miles.  Since I only began on August 13, that's really more for half a month.  Most of my runs were for little more than a mile, but I was happy with my results.  I just tell myself that it's going to be slow going, and not to lose motivation!  If you're interested in following my Runkeeper, just go to th...