Stuff about Things

Genesee Cream Ale

When I was a little boy I remember my family jumping in the Ford LTD wagon and traveling for what seemed like days to get to my zitzi’s (it means aunt in italian) house in upstate NY from our place in Jersey. The long ride, and the snow aside, one of the things i remember most is my grandfather being excited over the fact that he would be able to buy cheap Genesee by the case. He loved the Cream Ale and always let me take a few sips while he and my uncles played pool together downstairs in the den.

Since I recently started homebrewing again I was looking for recipes and ran across a cream ale clone which prompted me to pick up a 6-pack of the original. The memories came flooding back almost instantly although my palette is now much more sophisticated than it was when i was 9

Here’s my review:

Genesee Cream Ale — 5.1% ABV
Appearance: Light Golden Straw, thin white head, minimal lacing
Smell: Malt, corn, slightly sweet, almost no hop aroma
Taste: Clean, Crisp
Mouthfeel: Watery but slightly creamy with a dry finish
Drinkability: A perfect lawnmower beer, could easily have 3-4 with no effort.

In memory of my grandfather I’m going to attempt to brew a clone of this, if it comes out ok i’ll drink one on the dock where he used to fish every summer.

River Horse Night at Hemingway’s Review

Thanks to the wonderful people from NJCraftBeer, my Wife and I were lucky enough to visit Hemingway’s Cafe in Seaside Heights, NJ when a rep from River Horse Brewing Co. was there giving away free samples of four craft beers, they were all amazing!

I scribbled down some info during each sampling (after conferring with the Wife of course!) and talked with the River Horse rep at length about each beer. Here are my notes about each:

River Horse Lager – 5% abv
Appearance: Light golden hue, hazy turning to clear, head dissipated quickly
Smell: Malty, bread, toasted biscuit, slight hop aroma
Taste: Crisp, clean, great carbonation, refreshing, slightly grassy
Mouthfeel: Light and watery but well-carbonated
Drinkability: An excellent session beer, perfect for a day at the beach!

Notes: I really enjoy this beer and pick it up whenever I see it at the local liquor store. I regularly rotate between this and Newcastle as my “let’s have a beer with dinner” choice.

River Horse Special Ale – 4.5% abv
Appearance: Amber, red, deeper than the lager, slightly hazy, minimal head
Smell: Caramel, malt, slight brown sugar
Taste: Sweet caramel, slight citrus and pine, slightly hoppier than the lager, dry finish
Mouthfeel: Light, slightly less watery than the lager, nicely carbonated
Drinkability: Very enjoyable, went back for a second taste

Notes: Very drinkable with a noticeably hoppier finish than the lager and a slightly deeper color.

River Horse Hop Hazard – 6.5% abv
Appearance: Deep Amber to brown with some copper, much thicker head than lager/special
Smell: Noticeably hoppy with sweet overtones, some pine and slight citrus
Taste: Fantastic start, roasted caramel malts, hoppy dry finish
Mouthfeel: Medium body, a tad under-carbonated yet very crisp
Drinkability: Not a session beer but would be a great start to any backyard BBQ

Notes: Really enjoyed this! I had always been meaning to give this a go, wish I had sooner, on the verge of being an IPA but not so in-your-face about it. I could definitely see myself drinking this on the patio while woofing down dogs and burgers.

River Horse Tripel Horse – 10% abv
Appearance: Cloudy golden yellow, very nice head retention
Smell: A blast of aromas! Herbal, caramels, sweet, citrus and coriander, spices
Taste: Immediate sweetness followed by a blast of citrus,spice and herbs
Mouthfeel: Deep, full-body, sugary, creamy, faint yet evident carbonation
Drinkability: Dangerously drinkable, appearance doesn’t match the taste, fools you into thinking its a lager then punches you in the mouth with flavor and aromas.

Notes: Wow! I mean WOW! When you first pour this Tripel you kind of look at it and go…ummm what? Then you get that first whiff of spices and herbs and when you take that first sip…BAM! Your eyes go wide, you hold the glass up again and go ummm WHAT?! Delicious, creamy, smooth as silk with huge flavors. I did get a slight alcohol taste near the finish but it wasn’t terribly overpowering. My Wife called out the coriander instantly and was pleased with herself when the rep confirmed it. Bavarian yeast is something special, I can’t wait to try to brew with it myself.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Tripel, its appearance doesn’t do its taste justice. What looks to be a light mild beer really blasts you with multi-layered flavors the instant it hits your mouth. My wife and I both really enjoyed it. I’ve been a River Horse fan for quite some time but never really ventured past the Lager and some seasonals, but after trying the Hop Hazard I think I can say with all honesty that it’s my new favorite among the bunch.

Thanks again to River Horse for supplying the brews, Hemingway’s for hosting and NJCraftBeer for the heads up! All beer info scribbled on Field Notes.

Google Opens Voice to Public

From Google:

A little over a year ago, we released an early preview of Google Voice, our web-based platform for managing your communications. We introduced one number to ring all your phones, voicemail that works like email, free calls and text messages to the U.S. and Canada, low-priced international calls and more—the only catch was you had to request and receive an invite to try it out. Today, after lots of testing and tweaking, we’re excited to open up Google Voice to the public, no invitation required.

via Google Voice Blog

WWDC 2010 Session Videos Available

Videos of the WWDC 2010 Sessions are now available for free to all registered developers. There are over 100 videos in both standard and HD and also include PDF slides, sample code and english subtitles. This is huge people!

via Apple Developer Site

Apple sells 3 million iPads in 80 days

Really impressive start.

CUPERTINO, California-June 22, 2010-Apple® today announced that it sold its three millionth iPad™ yesterday, just 80 days after its introduction in the US. iPad is a revolutionary and magical product that allows users to connect with their apps, content and the Internet in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.

Read the official press release here.

via Apple

Change Safari 5′s Reader text justification

Safari 5′s new Reader feature has one extremely annoying attribute, all text is rendered with full justification leading to unsightly gaps in addition to annoying all typography buffs in the process. Here’s how to rectify this situation:

Right-click on the Safari application icon and choose Show Package Contents.

Open the file /Contents/Resources/Reader.html in your favorite html/css editor, I use excellent Coda by Panic, and change this:

to this:

and enjoy the refreshing ragged-right goodness just like the typography gods intended.

iPhone OS triples Android marketshare

Remember all those years of PC zealots crying “Marketshare! Marketshare! Its all about the marketshare!”? Well I do!

Marketshare by OS:

Apple iPhone OS – 28%
Google Android – 9%

via Nielsen

How the Canon 5D MK II was used on [H]ouse finale

Gale Tattersal, Director of Photography:

We spent four days initially on our hands and knees, and after the secondary collapse, on our bellies shooting with 3 5Ds… in a set with hard ceilings… ANY film camera in that situation would have meant that the entire dialogue would have to have been looped… and for such emotionally gut wrenching scenes, out of the question.

Interesting stuff.

via ProVideoCoalition

Wired Magazine’s Epic iPad Fail

Each full page is a giant image – there are actually two images for each page: one for landscape and one for portrait mode. Yes, I’m laughing on the inside too. There is no text or HTML, just one gigantic image. The “interactive” pieces where you can slide your finger to animate it are just a series of JPG files. When you press play on the audio file and see the progress meter animate? A series of PNG files.

Something is wrong with this picture. Something wrong and something very lazy and/or desperate.

He goes on to talk about how the app is over 500MB of XML and JPG files, over 4000 of them!
Sounds like someone made the mistake of using Flash instead of web standards, and this is the result. GG Conde Naste!

via InterfaceLab via @alanhietala

Apple Market Cap Surpasses Microsoft

Suck it, ballmer.

As of yesterday’s stock market close, Apple had a market capitalization of $223 billion. Apple has $23 billion of cash and no debt*. Apple’s enterprise value, therefore, is $200 billion (per Yahoo Finance–see clarifying note below*).

Microsoft, meanwhile, had a market capitalization of $228 billion. Microsoft has $37 billion of cash and $6 billion of debt (per Yahoo Finance). Microsoft’s enterprise value, therefore, is $197 billion.

So, it’s official: Apple is now worth more than Microsoft.

via Silicon Alley Insider