Most beer is bought to be drunk, quickly. There are very few beers which are brewed to be aged like red wine. Thomas Hardy's Ale is one of them. The stuff has had a convoluted history with production ceasing, starting up again, bottle sizes changes, closing again, starting, and currently ceased. I've got a number of bottles (15) from 2004-2008, but I managed to get two bottles from 1979 on ebay. Here's my tasting notes:
Thomas Hardy's Ale
Bottle H 7561
1 Jan 1979
Brewed and bottled by: Eldridge Pope and Co. Ltd.
180ml (6.34 fl.ozs)
poured smooth and clear, no fizz, cloudy but no obvious sediment, quite thick
Nose:
marmite, vegemite, red wine, sweet - marshmallows
Palate:
very strong, tangy, bitter, complex, slightly musty, quite similar to an old complex red wine,
hint of fizz, coffee - but percolated coffee, not espresso and not filter, lots of malt (like drinking maltexo?)
Finish:
warm, honey, long, more old red wine, not a fresh NZ red, more an old vine aftertaste, and later on, an odd musty note (which I've had with younger TH ales)
Overall, very similar to other Hardy's Ales I've had, but more so, less fight in it than the younger ones I've had. I don't know if it's improved over a 10 and 12 year old I've had, so it might be worth trying my 2004 brew shortly.
It seemed quite high in alcohol content too.
Here's some pictures of the event, apparently that rarity - a sunny day.
This blog is not known for its how-to guides, nor its swashbuckling descriptions of Hemingway-esque manliness. The sole attempt consists of booze reviews, and even then, although in some quantity, there is a prerequisite of quality. My man card could be in danger. My plums replaced with raisins. Etc. etc.
So when the washing machine died, I stripped down to a loincloth, oiled myself up, and went into battle.
I say died, it was more gradual expiration, the spin sounded laboured, then slowly gave up going around in full circles, deciding a range of 270degrees was enough for it, a full 360 was just us being so goddamn unreasonable. Only then did it decide that 270 was too much, and no spinning would be even easier for it. Damn you sirius cybernetics corporation.
I found my tools, switched off the machine (I'm not that manly), upended it and promptly would have had entered a wet t-shirt competition - if I hadn't been thoroughly oiled, a displaced kiwi Adonis.
Hmm. I guess that'll count as hydrating the raisins.
I pulled the filter / drain apart, it was kinda clogged, so cleaned that. I say filter, it's more of a ball at the end of a tube. That's not a euphemism, get your mind out of the gutter, pervert.
That didn't fix things either. So I replaced the brushes, yes, that's how old school washing machines are, they use brushes. I figured a £15 outlay to see if it fixed things was reasonable. It turned out to be pretty easy to replace, and they were warn and looking quite soot covered. I was hopeful.
Sadly, no zombie washing machine action for me. That meant it had to be the motor itself, which would cost me around £100. A new machine was about £240.
Discretion being the better part of valour, we have a new washing machine being delivered next weekend to celebrate the Jubilee. I know, I bet Liz and Phil are doing the same.
If you'd told me at the beginning of the year that two of the best concerts I'd go to would be from artists who started in the late 1960s, I'd have called you an idiot.
However if you had said that, I'd now owe you an apology.
A month ago I saw Jethro Tull/Ian Anderson touring Thick as a Brick 2, which is all sorts of excellent. In fact it's got that highly annoying problem of good Tull albums that it seeps under the skin and you find yourself reaching for it time and time again.
Last night I went to see Focus at the Musician in Leicester. I went in only knowing that one track, and was blown away by a masterclass in jazz-rock-metal. Yes I suppose you could call it prog, but I'm not sure that really explains them, there's far more jazz in there than most prog, although the hardrock/metal bits fit well within the prog-metal genre.
Led by the hammond organ / flutist Thijs van Leer the band is very tight, and rocks hard. It's quite hard to describe their style, since it's all over the place - without being annoyingly so. Everything seems very organic, the sign of a good band, and the musicianship is great. The guitarist, Menno, in particular, was cranking of disgustingly good solos - and without the histronics of some guitarists - win! I liked the lack of vocals (in a classical sense), made for an interesting change.
Really pleased I went, and I they've got a new album out soon - I picked up a live in europe CD, which I was going to link to from their website, but its pretty crap selection. And I can't find it on amazon.
Focus are doing a reasonably extensive UK tour at the moment - definitely worth going.
Last week I went down to London for the Steven Wilson gig. I'll admit, I love the new album (grace for drowning) but this gig. Bloody hell. Definitely something else. And likely to hit best gig of the year. I also have utmost respect for SW for dumping Porcupine Tree after their most successful album and releasing something completely different and utterly engaging. Even non-prog people are liking this - i've inflicted it on a number of people now and the odd combination of very tune based, jazz, pop, rock seems a winner.
Ok, probably of limited interest to 90-95% of readers, but:
Problem:
My iTunes artwork isn't displaying when I use aMSN. This obviously upsets me, hugely.
Lion is a 64bit OS, aMSN (both SVN and standard release) appears to be 32bit. And that's why the two don't play nicely.
But there's a quick fix.
Solution
Close iTunes. Go to the Applications folder, do a Get Info, and select Open in 32-bit mode.
This seems to work. Although I've noticed that you need to start aMSN before iTunes - especially if you use a remote storage location (NAS) for your iTunes library.
Well ok, two of the three are metal, and the third won a metal award.
Meshuggah
Are as brutal live as they are on record. I've only got one album, Obzen, but I like it. Very dry, exact, and immensely heavy. Brilliant stuff.
However, as a live act, it became monotonous. Sure the crowd were really into it, but I felt songs weren't distinct, and a large element of blandness pervaded the second half in particular. Stage presence was low too, I guess there's only so much you can do with chugging guitars...
I'm pleased I went, but I doubt I'll go again.
What really stood out for me were the support band, Animals as Leaders. Think of a heavy version of King Crimson, so heavy take on jazz - 'Red' era KC perhaps? Anyway, I really liked them. No vocals either which made a nice change.
Here's the title track from Obzen
and some Animals as Leaders
Ian Anderson / Jethro Tull
It's been ages since I saw Tull, admittedly Tull without most of the band. But really, Tull is Anderson. I went in with quite low expectations, after all he's been performing for years. Although the quality of the new album, Thick as a Brick 2, was a good sign.
The gig was a double header of TaaB and TaaB2. Which was brilliant. There's always a good dose of humour at Tull gigs, and although the audience was getting on a bit, they seemed right in to it. I was quite surprised that he'd sold out the Derby Assembly Rooms, but it's a good venue (unless you are buying beer) with excellent sound.
Really enjoyed this, likely to be one of my top gigs of the year - and I'd recommend picking up TaaB2 - Tull at their very best.
Paradise Lost
I'm not a huge fan, but they were playing in N'ham, so nice and close. And I do really like a couple of the albums, One Second and Host.
This was in the Rescue Rooms, which is a smallish venue, with expensive beer, although they have Harvest Pale on, so it's good beer.
I had been warned that live, the band wasn't great. Or rather the lead singer didn't always seem to be into it. This appeared to be the case here. I thought he was mixed a bit far down too, and that didn't change wherever I stood, which didn't help. Good band, and I enjoyed the new stuff, whcih seems to have gone back to their earlier metal roots (compared to one second and host). Probably enough that I'll pick up the new album, at some stage.
It's all very doom and goth, but it's good stuff. Some excellent work by the guitarists, but the gig did seem rather short, I counted it as less than 90 mins which for a band with an extensive back catalogue seems a little cheap.
Countryfile was on, and somehow that inspired me to taste some whiskies - or rather drink the miniatures I had lying around.
Oh for regular readers, Loch Fyne Whiskies have a new website, mmm pretty booze.
Nose: fresh cut grass, hint of salt, manuka honey Body: warm, manuka honey, full mouth feel, hint of salt, lemon Finish: med-long
7/10, ok so 5ml isn't a lot to do a decent taste with, but on sample i'd say it's worth checking this whisky out. sweet but with a hint of bitterness, quite full in flavour for a 46%. Seemed damn good to me.
Nose: salt, turps, Body: warm, tangy, liquorice, honey, full, Finish: tangy, but short
6/10 Clynelish frustrate me. So close to Brora, and yet so far away. Why?! Admittedly this one seemed quite interesting, and the 5ml didn't give me enough to really judge, I suspect I'd like this one if I bought it - so maybe the older Clynelish get, the better they'll be? They're certainly getting up to the age of some Brora's so fingers crossed.
Glengoyne Single Cask 21yo Sherry Butt cask: 1391; 52.2% miniature
Nose: sherry, lemonade, light Body: sherry, almost over-powering, honey, tang, pepper Finish: very warm, but oddly light,
7.5/10 Ok, so it's a sherry monster, but it's also a lot lighter than expected. I've got a bottle of 21yo SC, which I may taste after this, but his is too much sherry, too little complexity. If you want a sherry monster, which had wonderful flavour, go for the Glengoyne TeaPot Dram (see review - search for scotch on my blog).
and in the spirit of research, I've dug up my 21yo Glengoyne for comparison.
Glengoyne Single Cask 20yo Spanish Oak Sherry Butt; Cask 1384; Bottle 426/592. 54.2%
Nose: sherry, smooth, polished wood Body: smooth, sherry, honey (bitter), complex, warm, hint of musty [in a good way], Finish: long, very long, warmth which grows, honey, lovely.
9.5-10 /10 Incredible the difference between the two really, more evidence of the variety between casks. And why you want to bottle at the right time, was that one year too long?
This could become a much longer post, if I go hunting for some references and think about it, but since I'm on a train you can have the abbreviated version.
Bacteria and stuff are known to be able to do very little for a long time. Think of them as road workers/Ministry of Works etc (as an aside, I saw 9 of them the other day, two were working, the other 7 were doing valuable work holding up shovels and their obviously exhusted bodies). But even for bacteria new research concerning melting Antartic glaciers is pushing it. Read the summary here.
One of my biggest annoyances when doing comparative DNA work between tuatara populations was the inability to use ancient DNA sequences to see how island isolation had affected the populations. Admittedly using turtle/croc DNA was an OK substitute in some cases, but it didn't give much info on recent (1-2million year) evolution of the species.
Potentially the DNA from these glaciers will allow just that. How F'ing cool is that?!
It's not exactly the same as what I wanted to do, as bacteria evolve much quicker - they can tolerate sequence change better - and have much shorter lifetimes, and so more generations in which to evolve change.
Been awhile since I blogged about stuff, and as usual there's been a fair number of gigs/exhibitions involved. This is unlikely to be all of them, but briefly:
The main exhibition I've seen in this period was the Hockney at the RA. I really did not like this. I couldn't manage to engage with any of his pictures, they struck me as boring. Sure, strong colours, but they suffered, for me, from the problem painting of scenes often does - take a f'ing picture instead. I want paintings to challenge perception, stretch things.
This was the first time I've had such a feeling of almost physical revulsion to paintings.
I did love what he did in the multimedia section, I thought that was quite clever. Although a more mixed approach could have been better, for example different screens showing differing seasons, which in a composite display would have been quite cool.
I think what really struck me was the lack of creativity, it's all very samey, very mass produced. Or at least, it felt like it to me. Soulless.
I know there's a couple of artists who read this who've been, what did you think?
SeYes - The Musician, Leicester
A Yes tribute band, weren't too bad, vocalist was excellent. Seemed a bit rough in places, but enjoyable - and I can't complain at £7 entrance... I can complain about the fucktard who stole my bike tho'...
Tinderbox and Little Johnny England
I don't know if I should admit this, but I appear to be going through quite an English folk phase. In some ways, Paul T is to blame for reawakening my interest in Fairport Convention. Viewers of my last.fm page may have noticed repeat plays of John Babbacomb Lee. Frank Turner's most recent, from last year, has strong folk elements, at least lyrically so blame can be pushed at him too. Obviuosly I'm too weak to resist these two strong influences. Tinderbox are a duo from Bournemouth (according to their website) on guitar and vocals. Very delicate, and very very good. The superlatives in the reviews on their site keep using the word 'gorgeous' and that's about right. There's sound samples on the site...
Little Johnny England I really enjoyed them. I'd had some beer, but as I'm writing this to the sound of the most recent CD, and enjoying that too, I think my beerview was still right. Electric folk? story based lyrics, and more importantly melodeon solos. They all seemed very good at what they do, and seemed to be having fun - which seems a good sign for a band... English folk seems a bit more subdued than Irish, less bitter, for some reason ! Oh and they even had reels and hornpipes, which didn't me angry, so they must be good!
Here ,have a video
Polar Bear described as avant-garde jazz worried me slightly, as I've been to a couple of those and hated them. Especially as this was led by two saxophonists. I shouldn't have worried, I thought it was all pretty safe - obviously those years of listening to King Crimson etc have made my avante-garde antenna a bit stronger. Very musical, lyrical jazz. And their album is out on vinyl, which I didn't pick up. But may yet...
Here, another video;
Arena
Ssshhhh don't say it too loud, but the new album is rather good. I went along to the gig for the cheesy prog factor, and came away a teensy wee bit impressed. The new (again?!) vocalist has a rather impressive set of pipes on him. And any band with the John's (Jowitt and Mitchell) will always get my vote (yes Jowitt is back in). All seemed to be having fun and the sound was superb.
As mentioned, for those of you who have slipped from the Arena fold, I know I had. It's worth picking up the new album, typically OTT subject matter, but musically very enjoyable.
here's a teaser video for the album.
The Watch - Genesis cover band
Fantastic. Want to hear Gabriel era Genesis? The Watch deliver.
I frequently dispair over the crap on the radio, frequently may be stretching it since this involves having the TV on a music channel, or the radio on commercial station. Neither can be called frequent.
But then my faith is restored by BBC 6Music.
And more importantly, by the fact that in this world, a band as brilliant as Elbow are both cool, and popular. No matter how much SiCo is in the world, this balances everything. I'm sitting here watching the bonus DVD to the reissue of Cast of Thousands, and rejoicing in all things Elbow. A bunch of blokes, who obviously like their ale, smoking, and in a superb piece of video making, fishing. yes, a video of an Elbow song while the boys go fishing. Bet that's never occurred to MDNA or Lady Gaga [see how hip I am].
This post may have been brought to you by some (vagueness ensues!) Belgian ales [geuze boon; rochefort 11 at least - i can see those bottles]
