HBO My Sunday Night Fix

Vince, all that cash and all you get your boys is Bud?

Sunday night use to bring a feeling of dread.  The joy of the weekend was over and the weekly grind lay only hours ahead.  Now I look forward to Sunday night all because of HBO.  This past weekend brought the cable movie channel's full on power summer lineup.  From 9 to 11pm it's vampires, werewolves, pimps, prostitutes, Hollywood posses and power players.  True Blood, Hung and Entourage are successfully taking  the gloom out of the end of the weekend.  Of the three shows Entourage and True Blood are the established heavy hitters here.  Although I'm starting to believe that Vinnie Chase and the boys may have already jumped the shark. The bad ass vamps top my list however Hung might be the most compelling of the three shows.

This woman knows the way to my heart

HBO is betting that you will hang on after True Blood to watch the up and down (pun intended) life of struggling Detroit high school teacher/coach/male prostitute Ray Decker (Thomas Jane).  The pleasant surprise is Hung holds it's own (make your own joke) in the evening lineup.  Good character development, humorous interaction and quirky sexual trysts all draw in the viewer.  Even though Ray is in the business of pleasure (only for the ladies) most of us can still relate to his hard times, troubled relationships and less than perfect family life.  All  points that resonate more with the common man than the lusty sex and bloody gore of True Blood or the big time livin' in Entourage. This past Sunday's episode even managed to throw a bone to craft beer. 

Founders Double Trouble along with a couple burgers are used as a good will offering by Rhonda (Ray's pimp) to put her back in his good graces.  This is product placement I support.  It's good to see the show is true to it's Michigan base. It would of been too easy to have the characters toss back a Bud or Miller Lite.  Unfortunately something the Entourage crew does far too often. Even the patrons at Merlotte's, True Blood's local hangout, can get an Abita Turbodog.  The craft angle is a nice touch for those of us who care about such things.  Gotta wonder whats next for Ray's fridge: New Holland, Bell's, Jolly Pumpkin, Dark Horse.  Dr. Joel you may want to send a letter to the writers emphasising the wonders of New Holland. Heck, why should Founders have the TV spotlight all to themselves?

The bar owner shape shifts into a dog so of course Abita's Turbodog is on draft

Beer Congregation

This past weekend Kelleigh and I broke away from chasing down beer events to get together with a few old friends. As much as I love zipping around Philadelphia from place to place it's great to kick back and chill on a comfortable couch with a beer and a big plate of food. The problem is the older that we get the fewer opportunities there are for all of us to hang out. Life always seems to step in and alter plans. Who knew that kids, marriage, new homes and careers would interfere with friendly social gatherings? Since these congregations don't happen that often I made sure to sufficiently overeat and fill my glass as often as possible. Sorry no deep detailed discussion on food and beer pairings. This is just a quick break down of what poured through the evening.

The beer choices on Saturday covered a wide range of styles. The early part of the evening kicked off with Newbold IPA from Philadelphia Brewing Company. This was sort of the, "Hello, welcome to the party!!!” starter beer. Newbold was a good launching point. Where some IPAs lean almost into DIPA territory this one remains fairly mild in comparison. The, "bold", in the name might suggest an eventual hop assault but it never happened. However citrus, along with a nice bitterness, did come out in the finish. If we weren't headed to other beers it would be easy to toss back a few of these.

The evening really started with the opening of the big bottles. The first was Cuvée Van De Keizer Rood Belgian Strong Pale Ale from Brouwerij Het Anker. Before anyone makes comment on the picture I already know that this beer shouldn't be served in a pint glass. Don't worry we switched the glassware. This was a very carbonated beer with a huge billowy white head. The aroma was complex. Mild funk and flowers mixed with candy sugar, tropical fruit and apples. Honey and fruit came through in the taste with crisp champagne like quality. The slight warmth at the end reminds you that the abv is 10%. This was one of the best Belgian Pales I’ve tasted.

Next up we flipped open the top on Sprecher’s Doppel Bock Aged in Oak Bourbon Barrels. The bourbon aroma jumped straight from the glass along with malt and hints of vanilla. The taste is malty with caramel, oak and an earthy quality which I am guessing comes from the oak aging. I expected the overall taste to be bigger but instead it’s warm and mellow. The sweetness and warmth of the bourbon is there until the end. As the beer had a chance to warm the bourbon character became even more predominate. This is a great after dinner beer. Put this one in a snifter; find a big leather chair in front of a toasty fire and kick back for the evening.

The suburban beer trail suddenly turned explosive and pitch-black. Jolly Pumpkin’s Madruga Obscura, Dark Dawn Stout, which sounds more like the title of an old Police album than a beer, flowed wildly as soon as the cap was removed. This Imperial Stout foamed out of the bottle before we were ready with the Chimay glasses. The pour was motor oil dark with a latte brown frothy head. The aroma was an interesting blend of chocolate, coffee and sour fruit. The sourness (thank you Brett) continued with the first sip then faded to reveal a more traditional roasted chocolate stout flavor. If your not use to sour beers it may take some time to adjust to the distinct taste. To my surprise the odd sour twist worked surprisingly well.

The fifth and final beer, Unibroue 17, really deserved better treatment than I gave it. I've had this beer before so I've experienced the flavors of dark fruit, cinnamon, brown sugar and roasted malts. This is one of my favorites from Unibroue. However by the time we poured it my beer comprehension had just about reached its limit. Anytime you forget you're actually drinking a beer or don’t remember how the beer got in the glass it's a sign to find the designated driver and bring the evening to a close. So, after finishing what was in my glass I called it an evening. My memory of 17 definitely didn't come from my most recent experience. Sorry Unibroue next time we will start the evening with the 17 instead of using it as our evening's swan song.