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Here’s a good article on how to rate a beer based on appearance, aroma, mouthfeel and flavor.
Even if you don’t go full on and take written notes, doing this as a mental excersize will help you know more about the beer you’re drinking and learn what kinds of beers you enjoy most.
I was at Costco a few days back and saw these in the freezer case. Now I will admit I generally avoid the frozen pre-packaged anythings (with the exception of the quick and cheapo burgers since some days you just want a BBQ burger with no prep time) but these Salmon burgers caught my eye.
Costco – Trident® Wild Alaskan Salmon Burgers
I picked up a bag for $12 I believe, and I put two on the grill last night. They were…interesting. I like salmon, but I have never had a salmon burger. I was confused on even how to eat it becuase salmon generally is not served on a bun…ever? So I put the burger on a bun because thats what burger means to me…”put on bun to eat”. With a hamburger you put cheese on it, do you put cheese on a salmon burger? With a fish filet you put tartar sauce on it and a burger you put ketchup…what do you put on a salmon burger? All these questions led me to just put it on a bun plain and dig in. It tasted like salmon, but on bread. I will say that it was kind of confusing for my palate, that whole salmon on a bun thing.
I ate it but it wasn’t very satisfying…I can imagine it would be great if I had a condiment to put on top or if I had used my coal BBQ and given it some smoke instead of my gas grill (it was raining and I was tired).
So my review on these is if you are adventurous with condiments try them out and tell me what I should or shouldn’t put on the rest of these when I cook them…otherwise I think I will just cook them and eat them on a plate like a salmon pattie.
Does this sound good or horrible? I’m tempted to try making some myself. They don’t mention what kind of hops are used (maybe they don’t use any?)
Scott sent me this. Some of the tips are pretty good, like buttering the burgers and cook the ribs low and slow. Definitely use real wood too…
My Uncle Paul recently came from the Boston area to the midwest to pay a visit to my family and grandparents (his parents). While here I told him of my homebrewing and he told me of Scotch Whiskey. I believe he said it was his father-in-law who got him started on the stuff, and while it’s something of an aquired taste he has grown to love it.
After his visit I made a visit to Binny’s Beverage Depot, a Chicago area liquor store chain where they have more liquor and beer in one place than most people have ever seen. I asked who their scotch guy was and the directed me to one of the assistant managers. I told him that I was planning on hosting a scotch tasting with my friends and that I was a newbie when it came to scotch and asked what he could tell me that would help. He went on for a while and gave me a lesson in the different regions and different styles of scotch, and he spoke of it the way I would speak of wine. I asked him how many bottles of scotch he has at home and he said probably around 40 and they are all open and he drinks them all.
He showed me lots of different bottles, but when he got to the Balvenie Doublewood he said that was his favorite best value all round scotch they sold. It is aged in oak for the first 11 years of its life and then moved to sherry casks for the last year to soften and sweeten. I didn’t go in there with the intention of buying anything but this guy talked me into it and out I walked with a bottle of Balvenie Doublewood 12 yr. ($40)
It occurred to me that you can have a glass of whatever scotch suits your mood without having any waste whereas with wine when you uncork the bottle the clock starts ticking. I don’t ever keep more than a bottle or two of my favorite wines around anyways because I like to explore wine and sticking to my 2-3 favorites is boring. Scotch is made in one region of one country in the world by a handful of distilleries. Its highbrown and small enough in production that you could easily become expert at it.
We took the scotch home and my friend Zac and I uncorked it after watching a youtube video on “how to drink scotch” (we ARE newbies as I said). We poured a shot glass of it into a tulip shaped highball glass and each added some water and one ice cube. Let me just say that what I drank was not what I was expecting. It was smooth and soft, with notes of vanilla and caramel (I am not good talking to the whiskey, but I could talk to the wine all day..I hope I will get better). It was not like any Jack Daniels or Jim Beam or Makers Mark or Woodford Reserve or Johnnie Walker I have ever had. All were much more harsh and all were a chore to drink, but not this Balvenie.
If you want to explore the land of scotch but are not a big whiskey fan I would say this is the place to start.