Beer of the Week: Ayinger Brauweisse

Beer score: 6.3

Company: Ayinger
ABV: 5.1
IBU: 13

Pours a slight golden color with a bit of cloudiness. Has a nice frothy head.

Has a bit of lemon zest and possibly banana in the smell, and there's some of that in the taste as well. Also has a soured fruity flavor that is tolerable, but it builds the more you drink until, after a few tastes, that sourness is really too much. Still, not a bad beer. Very smooth and light, making these easy to drink more than one.

Books read in 2024: No. 52 -- Like Love

by Ed McBain

Started: Dec 26

Finished: Dec. 28

Notes: I'm in need of what I think of as "popcorn" fiction, so I'm returning to one of my old favorites, Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series.

Mini review: When is a suicide not a suicide? When it's a homicide, or course! Or is it? Those are the questions the gang of the 87th Precinct has to focus on in this novel. Another great read from McBain, perhaps even one of my favorites.

Books read in 2024: No. 51 -- The Kite Runner

by Khaled Hosseini

Started: Dec. 16

Finished: Dec. 26

Notes: I'm need of some fiction, so I thought I'd check out this novel. To tell the truth, I know little about this book, book it seems to have been calling to me as I run into it every time I visit a book store. Maybe marketing works, or maybe the universe is telling me I should read this one. I hope the universe didn't make a mistake.

Mini review: An Afghani boy in the 1970s experiences some awful events and eventually is forced to flee his homeland to America. Years later, in the early 2000s, the boy is now a man and finds himself having to return to Afghanistan to go on a quest of sorts. I'm barely touching the plot of this novel because I don't want to give too much away in case you reading this decide to read the book. I will say, I did not care much for the first half of this novel. It is written well enough, but a tale of a non-American youth who lives through terrible times and then comes to America and does well has been written enough times to practically be cliche. I know I've read it, or something similar, in plenty of other novels. That being said, a little more than halfway through this novel there is a single, short scene that suddenly changes everything for the protagonist, and the rest of the novel is worth taking the time to read. So, yes, I can recommend, but I would suggest some patience.

Beer of the Week: Saranac Nut Brown Ale

Beer score: 5.4

Company: Saranac Brewery
ABV: 5.7
IBU: NA

I decided to skip drinking any Christmas beer this year because I don't care for most of them, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy a decent beer. Such as this one from Saranac. Not a great beer, but not bad.

Pours a medium brown color while giving off smells of roasted nuts and maybe caramel.

A weak-tasting beer with subtle hints of those nuts and caramel. However, the flavor grows the more you drink, but even then the taste leaves your mouth fairly quick. A little sweet going down.

Would make a good ballpark or baseball party beer. Again, not great, but not bad.

Beer of the Week: Highland Brewing Gaelic Ale

Beer score: 7.7

Company: Highland Brewing
ABV: 5.8
IBU: 32

A pretty sturdy amber ale. Nice, clean, smooth with a touch of sweetness early on that gives away quickly to a strong burnt bitterness that is not overpowering (though it does come close to crossing that line). Very wet. Perhaps a little orange or lemon in the scent and flavor.

Visually, I've heard this one described as looking like bourbon when you pour it into a clear glass, and I can't say I disagree with that assessment.

Books read in 2024: No. 50 -- The Faithful Executioner

by Joel F. Harrington

Started: Dec. 7

Finished: Dec. 15

Notes: As the year is winding to a close and I've been reading a fair number of biographies these past 12 months, I thought I'd delve into another one. This one is based upon a journal of a Renaissance-era executioner. Sounds interesting to me.

Mini review: This turned out to not only be a well written book, but quite the intriguing one as well. The Nuremberg executioner who left behind his journal, plus other historical documents, reveal that at least this executioner was not the cruel, evil, unthinking creature such figures are often personified as. Also, this book suggests that the supposed cruelty of earlier eras isn't perhaps as cruel as our modern minds might think, and that our modern day might prove quite cruel and even evil to those of earlier generations. Worth a read.

Beer of the Week: Moosehead Lager

Beer score: 4.0

Company: Moosehead
ABV: 5.0
IBU: 13

Back in the day, this was just called "Moosehead," but nowadays we have all kinds of varieties and flavors, etc. It is what it is.

For what it's worth, this is a very American tasting beer. Take that however you want.

The flavor is weak and there is more carbonation than is needed. Still, this Canadian brew goes down pretty easy and makes a good thirst quencher.

Not a great beer, but there are plenty of worse options.

Books read in 2024: No. 49 -- Country Hardball: The Autobiography of Enos "Country" Slaughter

by Enos Slaughter with Kevin Reid

Started: Dec. 1

Finished: Dec. 7

Notes: I've been on something of a biography kick this year, so I thought I'd wind down the year with some more biographies. This one is about a Hall-of-Fame baseball player who is from the region I have called home for nearly two decades now, so it should be interesting to see local and historical connections. Also, I actually met Mr. Slaughter at his house years and years ago before he passed.

Mini review: If you enjoy reading about baseball from about 1938 to 1960, this book could be for you. Seasons are mostly broken down into chapters with Enos Slaughter telling of plenty of games he played with the Cardinals, the Yankees, and other teams. Most of this book is just that, about the games, with some minor talk of personalities. Towards the end the book gets a little grumpy, but at this point Slaughter was an older man, and he had his opinions like anyone else.

Beer of the Week: Olde English 800 Malt Liquor

Beer score: 2.4

Company: Miller Brewing Co.
ABV: 7.5
IBU: NA

Pours a pale yellow color while giving off a slightly bready smell.

This monstrosity goes down wet, but it has lots of fizz. The flavor is sweet with a little malt. Some bitterness stays on the tongue after you swallow. Also, there's some kind of strange taste in the background here, maybe metal or medicine.

Not the worst beer in the world (and yes, malt liquors are beer), but also not far from it.

Books read in 2024: No. 48 -- Blood Meridian

by Cormac McCarthy

Started: Nov. 19

Finished: Dec. 1

Notes: I've been in the mood to read Westerns of late, and since this is a Western and it's by the late, oft highly-regarded McCarthy, I thought I'd give it a go. Also, I've had more than one individual express to me that this is their favorite of McCarthy's works, so that also intrigues me. Personally, I have something of a love-hate relationship with this author's writing. Some of his work I've found to be near masterpieces, while others I've found dreadful. I'm hoping this will be one of the masterpieces.

Mini review: In the mid-19th Century, a teen boy hires on with a group of mercenaries (of a sort) who are hired to kill Apaches. There is some beautiful prose here, and some interesting dialogue, plus a number of great characters, but over all ... I didn't care for it, which might seem blasphemy to some because this is supposed to be McCarthy's magnum opus. Why didn't I care for it? For a few reasons. One, it's supposed to be dark and violent, and I didn't find it to be either. Oh, sure, there is some extreme violence that occurs, but much of it happens off screen (so to speak) or is mentioned with little to no description, which I felt was strange considering this is a novel with lengthy descriptions of just about everything else. Secondly, I felt this novel was overly literary, that it was just literary for its own sake, which felt fake to me, it felt false. And then there is the ending, or at least the protagonist's ending; it's left unexplained, obviously intentionally so, and this also felt fake to me, like a trick the author was doing simply to be performing a trick.