I’m always excited to see something new come out of Anchor Brewing. Their steam beer is fantastic, and I just love the small beer. They are extraordinary at putting out varieties other American breweries don’t. While you’ll see some bocks around (Shiner? Go back to Texas 😉 Anchor’s bock pours dark, with a light head, colored with a hint of chocolate. Its body is full in the mouth, and is warming me up wonderfully on this happy equinox eve after running the dog in the chill air.

Went with some friends to Bend this weekend for some sweet skiing and casual times. We stayed at the Holiday Inn (express?) Thursday night, checked into our place at the 7th Mountain Friday morning, and hit the slopes for an absolutely gorgeous day. The snow was pleasant but well-worn. The day was gorgeous, I started off with a sweatshirt, T-shirt, and windbreaker, but dumped the sweatshirt after sweating down two runs.

This is not a session beer. It’s not that it’s heavy or dark. It is a bit spendy. But really, it’s not a session beer because it tastes quite a bit like vinegar. But I love this beer. It is totally unique. It doesn’t taste like any beer I know of brewed in the States. Or any other beer at all. But somehow it satisfies like a beer. The Duchesse is Flemish.

This is genious geek humor. Props anners.

I got a bottle of Trappistes Rochefort 8 tonite down at New Season on a lark. I’ve been drinking more Belgians lately, and this one was grubbin. Pretty potent at 9.2%, it’s fruity and full-flavored. The aroma is fantastic, a bit sweet and malty, it’s got something that many winter ales strive for but do not achieve. Try not to serve it too cold, and sip at it because the flavors change significantly over the course of a glass, though I’m finding that it’s flattening out just a bit towards the end.

My next batch of beer will be a honey wheat beer. Consequently, I picked up a 6-pack of Mac’s Honeybeer to get warmed up. The ale is colored a very light gold, nearly tranparent hue, with a light head. I do not detect any honey in the nose as a take a sip, and only the slightest hint of it on tasting. Something seems amiss so I jam my nose into the now empty bottle and there I do detect a hint of the honey I expected.

God’s writing checks.

I went to see the Iranian film Offside last week at the Portland International Film Festival (henceforth it will be PIFF). It was showing at the Broadway, which while of a much lower brow than the Portland Art Museum where I saw Hear and Now, it is a far better venue for watching movies. Especially ones with subtitles, which is one way to evolve them from movie to film. Sometime ago, I saw a soccer matchinvolving Saudi Arabia getting somewhat pummeled by the Ukrainian side.

Alright, so I got LASIK two weeks ago. The next day I caught a miserable cold and have been exhausted ever since. But I’m finally about over it. And my eyes feel great! I can now see really well. I wake up and can read the clock. That’s a big thing. I think I can see now better than I’ve ever seen in my life. My fun new game is to challenge “sighted” people to see who can read smaller things further.