Over a week absence explained PLUS MORE

For the last week or so, I've been a bit under the weather. Not totally, horribly sick mind you, but I've had some sinus congestion that moved into my throat, then back into my head, and is now finally pretty much gone. So for the first time in over a week, I feel like doing something other than sit around and watch tv. I've still been commuting, and having the occasional beer, but mostly, nothing's tasted good, food or beer wise, and I've been pretty "bleh" about life. Now I'm pretty much back to normal, so here goes nothing.

On the homebrewing front I'm waiting for my coffee stout to bottle condition, and I added my oak cubes to my porter. I soaked them in bourbon for a couple days, then added the whole thing my carboy.

You forgot one thing chief, I used a funnel.

You'll have to enlarge this to see it, but the cubes are floating in there. Check out the square dark spots in that cluster of bubbles. Oak cubes soaked in bourbon.

The weather here has been a bit rough. Commuting temps have been in the single digits and below, especially with the wind chill. There's been a little snow and ice too. Kinda crummy.

See?

Anyway, I've (of course) had a few new beers. Here they are:

Lucky Bucket IPA

Pretty standard IPA. Not particularly special, but not bad either. Not a ton to say about this thing other than if you're after an IPA and there isn't something fancier/more familiar/you wanna try something new, go for it.

Harpoon UFO

Not a terrible Hefeweizen. Not great either, it's got a solid and traditional flavor, and is mildly refreshing, and smoothly flavored, and a pretty good example of the style. That said, I've certainly had better, but this is probably super refreshing on a hot summer day, which I've been lacking a bit.

Bell's Hopslam

Highly touted, highly prized, and highly priced, this is the fanciest beer I've talked about in a while. At $18/six pack it isn't cheap, and if Beer Advocate is to be believed, this is one amazing beer. I'll say that it is very good, with a crazy grapefruit and pine nose, with a touch of honey, and it tastes just like it smells. The mouth feel is solid, but not as dense or as complex as other "big" IPAs. The honey is the big x factor in this thing, and supports a lighter, sweeter malt body, that works well with the fruity/piney hop flavors. This beer lacks most of the bitterness that even "average" IPAs have, and I'm not sure how I feel about this. That bitterness is a nice flavor and a standard, if not crucial, component to an IPA. In fact, I think I like the smell more than the rest of the beer. I'll have to do more research, but given the hefty price tag, I'm not sure I'm in love.