Beer of the Week: Michelob Ultra

Beer score: 3.0

Company: Anheuser-Busch
ABV: 4.2
IBU: 10

This is a low-carbohydrate light beer for that market.

As with most light beers, there's lots of carbonation here.

It's a light golden color when poured into a clear glass while giving off scents of corn.

Going down it's vaguely sweet with more of that light sweet of corn.

Really, this is a fairly bland beer. "Boring" might be the right word to use. There are worse light beers available, but there are also better.

Beer of the Week: Samuel Smith Taddy Porter

Beer score: 9.0

Company: Samuel Smith Brewery
ABV: 5.0
IBU: 32

In a clear glass this one is a sort of reddish-brown with tan foam. It smells a bit like chocolate and coffee, though the scent isn't overly strong.

It does, however, have an extremely strong burnt maple flavor that lingers in the mouth long after you've swallowed. There are also more hints of that chocolate and coffee. It also goes back very smooth, almost as easy as water.

Has quite the creamy texture in the mouth.

This isn't everyone's favorite beer, but I think it's top quality, one of the better porters around. But then I tend to love all the beers from the folks at the Samuel Smith Brewery.

Beer of the Week: UFO Hefewizen

Beer score: 7.0

Company: Harpoon Brewery
ABV: 4.8
IBU: 18

Kind of a cloudy mustard color when poured. Definitely has some citrus and perhaps clove on the nose.

Has a great, smooth taste and texture, and light enough you could drink this regularly. The taste has more hints of that citrus, definitely some orange and maybe a little lemon, and there's a soft sweetness that's never overpowering. There's a bit of a bready taste, and there's a little creamy texture.

Goes well with lemon or lime, in my opinion.

A pretty solid beer, all around, especially if you prefer or are in the mood for something lighter.

Books read in 2024: No. 20 -- The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy

published by Zondervan

Started: April 10
Finished: April 10

Notes: Having just finished Paul's first letter to Timothy, I thought I should go ahead and read this second letter.

Mini review: Here Paul talks a little about what to expect at the end of times, but for the most part he advises Timothy to remain strong in the Christian faith. Unusual for most of Paul's letters, Paul here also provides a short list of people to whom he has had disagreements or whom have done him evil, in his opinion, yet he does not curse these folks.

Books read in 2024: No. 19 -- The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy

published by Zondervan

Started: April 10
Finished: April 10

Notes: Now we get to the first of Paul's letters written to an individual instead of to a church, so it'll be interesting to note if there are any differences.

Mini review: In this letter to Timothy, Paul outlines some basic leadership for the church and the type of men who should be such leaders. Paul also provides some notions of what Christians should try to be in this world while looking ahead to the next world.

Books read in 2024: No. 18 --The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians

published by Zondervan

Started: April 10
Finished: April 10

Notes: Since I just finished reading Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, I thought I should read this second one.

Mini review: This book I found intriguing because Paul talks somewhat about the "man of sin" and how Jesus will deal with him in the end times, basically a warning about the individual commonly referred to today as the anti-Christ.

Books read in 2024: No. 17 -- The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians

published by Zondervan

Started: April 9
Finished: April 10

Notes: It might seem silly for me to count each of these books from the Bible as a book read, especially these shorter letters toward the latter part of the New Testament, but it helps me in keeping track of my reading. Plus, not to sound snobby about it, but this little blog is for me, not so much for others. Not that I'm not glad when others read this blog, but that's not my main occupation here, at least not at this time.

Mini review: This one I found interesting because Paul goes into some detail about what Protestants refer to as the Rapture. Now whether or not Paul meant his words literally, I cannot be sure, but from the text he seemed to mean it quite literally that Jesus will return from the heavens and Christians will float up from the ground to meet him.

Books read in 2024: No. 16 -- The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Colossians

published by Zondervan

Started: April 9
Finished: April 9

Notes: I'm working my way through Paul's letters in the New Testament, and I'll be thankful when I'm done with them. Not that I don't appreciate Paul's importance and influence, but I'm looking forward to getting to the letters written by other than Paul, to see their writings, opinions, thoughts, etc. Over the years I've read nearly all this material before, but it's almost always been in piecemeal fashion with a verse here, a verse there, and so on. So I'm glad to be reading this books as a whole, and the whole Bible, for that matter.

Mini review: Here Paul is mainly laying out some basic doctrines for a church while mentioning names of other Christian leaders who might be visiting or writing.

Books read in 2024: No. 15 -- How to Talk Dirty and Influence People

by Lenny Bruce

Started: March 31

Finished: April 9

Notes: Between my Bible readings of late, I've been reading biographies, so I decided to grab another one from my to-be-read shelves. This one is an autobiography by the late, great comedian Lenny Bruce. I've long had an armchair interest in the artform of comedy, and I'm interested in Lenny Bruce, so hopefully I'll learn a few things here.

Mini review: I've oft heard something along these said by one person or another: Madness and genius go hand in hand, or are closely related. Something like that. And I believe it's the case for Lenny Bruce. He was obviously a man, a comedian, ahead of his time, though perhaps he was just right for his time. He was smart in many ways, but he allowed his own pain and inner demons to warp him, leading to his drug use and eventual early death. Of course, this book being an autobiography, it doesn't end with Bruce's death, but this book is made up of several lengthy articles published in Playboy magazine not long before Bruce died. There is humor to be found here, but there's also a fair amount of sadness knowing what is to come, not that Bruce's writing in this book is maudlin. No, Lenny Bruce writes like he speaks in his comedy routines, quick and snappy and to the point, usually with the point or three being made while also being funny. However, much of the writing and comedy here is quite dated, so a modern audience might not find it as appropriate or as funny. That being said, I think a lot of what Bruce said and wrote and joked about is still relevant to our world today.

Beer of the Week: Michelob Golden Draft

Beer score: 3.6

Company: Anheuser-Busch
ABV: 4.6
IBU: NA

You would think Anheuser-Busch wouldn't need to add one more watery, tasteless drink they call beer to their lineup, but here it is. Then again, Michelob sales have been dropping the last couple of decades, and this beer is one reason why.

As one could expect from the name, this one pours a light golden color. It gives off very little smell, and what there is basically consists of a cheap beer scent, corn, rice, etc.

The taste is slightly sweet, slightly bitter, but nothing special at all. This beer is so weak it makes Coronoa look strong. Still, it is smooth enough and wet enough that it makes a good thirst quencher for days when you're out working in the yard.

The smoothness and wetness raise this beer's score for me, because there sure isn't enough taste to do it.

Beer of the Week: Grolsch Premium Lager

Beer score: 3.8

Company: Grolsch
ABV: 5.0
IBU: 28

This one pours a light brown color, almost golden, while giving off smells of corn and a little sweetness.

On the tongue it's weak but wet, with a slight bitterness but less sweet than is in the smell.

Over all, this seems more like a pilsner than a lager for me, and I hate to say it, but this is basically a Heineken-wannabe beer, a mass produced product for mass produced tastes. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that, just that it's nothing special for the beer connoisseur.

It'll get you tipsy and it's probably quite refreshing on a hot day, and it's not the worst beer on the market, but there are better options available for the price.