Beer of the Week: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Beer score: 7.3

Company: Sierra Nevada

ABV: 5.6
IBU: 38

I used to think this beer was rather strong for a pale ale, but American pale ales (especially) have come a long way in the last couple of decades. Today I wouldn't call this an overly strong pale ale, definitely not an overly strong beer, but that doesn't mean it's weak in flavor or text.

Pours a lightish golden color with perhaps hints of scarlet. Has something of a pine-like smell, though not overpowering, combined with citrus and maybe a little caramel.

Tastes much like it smells, with those memories of citrus, pine, and caramel, along with some yeasty, bready aftertaste.

Worth drinking more than once.

More on RPGs at Rogue Blades

My weekly article over at Rogue Blades points out that tabletop RPG players can't always be winners.

Books read in 2021: No. 30 -- The Book of Ezra

published by Zondervan

Started: August 26
Finished: August 26

Notes: I've been enjoying my fiction reading so much these past handful of months that I've let my Bible reading slip. Now I'll get back to it.

Mini review: This book mainly deals with the priest Ezra and how he helped lead his people back to Israel after the king of Persia allowed them to do so. Then came work on building the second temple after the first was destroyed. After that, Ezra and other religious leaders came down heavy upon their own people who had married into foreign families.

Books read in 2021: No. 29 -- The White Tree (The Cycle of Arawn #1)

by Edward W. Robertson

Started: August 16

Finished: August 25

Notes: Upon my shelves are tons of books I've been meaning to read, and on my Kindles are long lists of e-books I've been meaning to get to. This is one such e-book, and I've never read this author before. Hopefully this'll be interesting and fun.

Mini review: This was actually a pretty good book. The plot involves a teen boy who discovers a book which teaches him magic. Meanwhile, cultists are trying to hunt him down and kill him. It all ends up involving war, gods, wizards, enemies, and friends. While the plot was mainly that of heroic fantasy, a good number of the characters leaned more toward Sword-and-Sorcery types; even the main character isn't always likeable, sometimes tending toward the dark side and even uncaring of the fates of others. The only quibble I had was that there were a few times when I felt the main character's motivations and following actions seemed unrealistic, but then again the character is quite young, so perhaps that explains some of it.

Beer of the Week: Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

Beer score: 8.0

Company: Sierra Nevada

ABV: 7.2
IBU: 65

In the glass this one appears a bit cloudy with a slightly-below-medium amber color. Has a frothy head to it that's nice, and smells slightly of citrus and caramel with fairly strong hop notes.

Often I'm not a big IPA fan, but this one has won me over. It doesn't have the sourness common in some IPAs, but has the smooth bitter quality of a pale ale. Quite smooth going down with only a hint of carbonation. The flavors here are rather complex with a mixture of orange, pine, bitter hops and malts, and even perhaps bread. There's very little sweetness here, mostly a fine bitterness, but it's all good, without an overly strong bitterness.

Would I drink this again? Uh, hell yeah!

The first Dr. Who roleplaying game

This week over at Black Gate I take a look back at the very first Dr. Who roleplaying game.

Screwing up as a game master

When you are the game master or the Dungeon Master in a tabletop roleplaying game, sometimes you screw up. And I write about that over at Rogue Blades.