Transitioning From Beer Douche to Beer Geek
You know the type. That guy who is somewhat new to craft beer, and always is talking about it. He asks the waiter “What microbrews due you have?” and often orders the trendiest one. He (or she) berates your choice of beverage, and seems to bask in the superiority of having ‘discovered’ beer.
The problem is; he doesn’t really like it. He thinks he’s supposed to like an IPA so he drinks it, but his palate isn’t used to the bitterness. He’ll hear about some new super double IPA and have to have it, not prepared for the intense taste. This guy actually is a disservice to beer, as anyone that is trying to follow him into the world of beer may be turned off by the intense flavors. Real beer is not about intensity, it’s about flavor. There is nothing wrong with enjoying a good wheat beer, or a simple pilsner that’s well crafted. Just like some people will never enjoy 100,000 scoville unit hot wings, some people will never enjoy 100 IBU beers.
That’s the transition stage from beer douche to beer geek. But It’s also a good way to figure out what you like. Some people rave about Imperial Stouts. I tend not to like them too much so I don’t order them, even if they’re somewhat trendy. IPAs are acquired tastes, and many people don’t want that much bitterness in their beer.
Another problem is that there are a lot of mediocre breweries out there. They’re usually still better than the Bud stuff, but just because a beer is micro doesn’t mean it’s good. So as someone breaking into beer (and I can see it being pretty daunting these days) just trying new things, it’s easy to find stuff that’s not very pleasant. But as you learn what’s delicious, both in general and to yourself, it’s a world of difference. Sixpoint, Troegs, Brooklyn, and Flying Fish are some of the breweries I trust to make high quality beer ‘around’ NYC.
Tags: beer, beer douche, beer geek, breweries, brooklyn brewery, favorite beers, flying fish, hopfish, sixpoint, trendy beer, troegs
My Internal Google Map
I spent 26 years on Long Island but the last three in New Jersey. Someone mentioned Smithtown to me recently and I immediately knew it was on Long Island, but I was drawing a blank as to exactly where on the island. My internal Google map and sense of direction has faded without regular use.
The problem is my body hasn’t downloaded the New Jersey versions yet. I’ve started to get a feel for the roads and areas I travel on regularly, but the ways to get from here to there, or where a town I’ve never been to like East Hanover is, still elude me.
While driving around Long Island, if I encountered traffic on the Meadowbrook Parkway I might know where to get off and how to get around it, or cut over to the Wantagh Parkway. If I’m stuck on route 4 in New Jersey, a road I travel pretty regularly, I’m still sketchy on how best to bypass it. A couple of weeks ago I tried to get off and head south towards 46/80 knowing that it would lead me to the same George Washington Bridge that I wanted to cross, but I ended up getting crossed up and it took me longer than it would’ve to just sit in the traffic.
I suspect that in time I’ll learn more as I live here longer, but I’ve crossed the threshhold where I can say “Hey, I just moved here give me a break!” when I don’t know where Haledon is even though it lies directly between the town I live in and the town I work in.
Tags: directions, garden variety new yorker, google maps, internal google map, long island, lost in new jersey, new jersey, new jersey maps, new york, sense of direction
O Christmas Tree
I bought my first Christmas tree on my own, and my first in
hem up to see if they looked nice. I’d do things like rotate the tree, and lift it up and drop it on it’s trunk to see if the bristles held up, or were dry and fell off.
In all the places in
Gassing Up in New Jersey
Election Process
Voting is the same in
For one, I don’t understand why Election Day wasn’t Super Tuesday. Let us all go in, and pick from at least the 6-7 legitimate candidates running around at the time. This isn’t a tournament bracket where you slowly eliminate people until it’s only two.
My biggest issue is with the process. Why are any states still using scantron style sheets?
Quieter
New Jersey Giants
Why I’d make a good Giants Fan.
I’m not a big football fan, although I’m a sports fan in general and I do enjoy watching football occasionally, I just don’t have a network of friends nearby to go watch football with on Sundays. It’s much more of a social spectator sport than baseball. So I don’t ‘have’ a team yet. I’m a Mets fan first, an Islanders fan second, but that’s really where it ends. I dislike the Dolphins, and the Eagles(In fact, I’m beginning to despise all sports related Philadelphia events.). I kind of like Roethisburger and Peyton Manning, but not necessarily a big fan of their teams. I dislike the Cowboys when they try to play as ‘America’s Team’. I went to school in Buffalo, so I do sorta like the Bills, and prior to moving out of New York, I was one of the fans that used to joke about them being New York’s only team.
Now that I live in New Jersey, I can take the same approach. The Jets and the Giants both play here, despite the ‘New York’ title. I take the train past Giant Stadium on my way to work. I can’t see myself rooting for the Jets, despite their Mets ties, them previously playing at Shea, or being named for the planes at Laguardia airport. Could I be a Giants fan? It’s possible, I was definitely rooting for them in the Super Bowl, despite half-wishing that the Patriots _would_ go undefeated and the Dolphins who get whiny whenever anyone comes close could be silenced. I don’t envision me going to any Giants games this year, and I’ve been listening to WFAN a little less so I’m not even fully entrenched in the week to week Giants banter and storylines. Still, I do kind of like the team, and I like Eli Manning. It’d be nice to be rooting for a team with a legitimate shot, and defending champs at that. Sure would be different than watching the Mets choke success away, or the Islanders continue to be pathetic. The most exciting thing about the Islanders is that Howie Rose calls the games, and that reminds me of the Mets, and baseball.
I don’t follow basketball, so I don’t have any delusions about being ‘converted’ to being a Nets fan. Besides, they’re moving to Brooklyn. Maybe anyway.
Excitement in the Little Things
I’m also a big fan of variety. I was feeling stuck and bored with Long Island in general, having grown up there, and spent most of my life there except for the three years in Buffalo for college. Even though I’ve only moved to the other side of the city, a mere 35-40 minutes away, the differences make me feel good.
It’s the little things, going to a different mall, trying out the different local pizza places, not knowing my town well enough to walk through with my eyes closed. It can be fun just driving around, getting a feel for the neighborhood, and the surrounding area. Yesterday I was driving and was in nearby Ridgewood when I suddenly realized how and where two streets connected, and it was like a whole area of the map in my head unclouded. Sort of like how when you explore the map in games like Warcraft or Civilizations, you gradually get to see more and more of the map as you go to new areas. Whereas back home, even trying to get lost or go for a drive, I’d think to myself,
“Oh, It’s Old Country Road again. How boring.”
I knew how to get places, I knew what was at those places, and It ceased to be exciting. Even things like “Wow, it’s dark here.”, or “Hey, look at that cool house.” are new and interesting, because I haven’t seen them before. Even if they’re similar, it’s the variety that excites me.
Eating out has gotten easier too. We’ve got a whole list of places that we want to try. The Gotham Diner, that diner that’s in a barn, that sub shop around the corner.. the list goes on as we discover new places. On Long Island, we’d eaten at so many places that it’d lost it’s excitement.
“Hibachi place? Nah, we were just there.”,
“Fridays?…nah, too long a line.”,
“Diner? Eh..”
It’s even nice to have a different view out of the windows in our apartment.
Taylor Ham
Variety.
Even if most people are content to get into a daily rhythm with vary little change, everyone still usually enjoys a little difference. They don’t say “Variety is the spice of life” for nothing. It’s the reason we can be content visiting cities or towns that are much like the cities and towns we are used to, with a few minor changes. Maybe they have different climates, different trees, or different fast food chains. It’s why we desire to go to France and other countries that are actually very similar to ours. This discussion came up once in college in a class I took on UFOs.
The professor asked us a question. “What do we/can we really get out of finding life on other planets?” This is hard to say; maybe we’re hoping the aliens will be close enough to us that it’ll be like going to France. But more likely they would be so different that we wouldn’t be able to relate or even communicate at all. This class was actually about U.F.Os, not aliens. Most people think they’re related, but not this professor. The class was very interesting, and way to complex to go into now.
This brings me to Taylor Ham. Taylor ham, also known as pork roll, is merely a sausage like pork product created in Trenton, NJ. I see it as an option in a lot of deli and meat counters around New Jersey, but had never heard about it in New York. I don’t like ham or pork, so there will be no taste test type comparisons here. It’s merely an observation. Another one being Black Russian bagels. Apparently New Jersey is too good for plain old pumpernickel bagels. They have to add sesame seeds to them to make them black Russians. These I have tried and they taste exactly like you’d expect. A pumpernickel bagel with sesame seeds. (I know, you’re shocked.)
Garden Variety New Yorker
Living in
It’s a little quieter at night, but not noticeably. In general though, things don’t stay open as late in
I still think of myself as a New Yorker, despite now living in