Rum? Beer? Thanks, I'll have both.

Life is too short for cheap beer. I'm sure we've all done this  and many of still do because they either actually like it (not sure how) or just don't know any better. I'm talking about drinking bad beer.

Well, I've gotten over that affliction. Long gone are they days of drinking "Natty Ice" because, "hey after the sixth one they don't taste so bad". I've moved on and this is the kind of thing I've move on to.

Innis & Gunn oak barrel aged beer is a delightful change from the usual. Don't get me wrong, I like a good IPA and I will gladly drink a hoppy beer, nice amber or good stout. The Innis & Gunn Rum Cask aged beer is unlike anything I have ever had before.

It's hard to describe. It really is one of the roundest beers I have ever had and the rum cask aging gives it a touch of sweetness that is seldom experienced. The flavor has the slight sugary aspect of the rum while being distinctly a beer. It hardly carries any after taste but what little after taste is does have is pleasant and almost vanilla. Also, at 6.6% 7.4% alcohol it is fairly strong. At twelve dollars for a four pack it is definitely a treat, not a staple.

So, I like the Innis & Gunn rum cask beer and I recommend that if you are a beer drinker you give it try. It is not an every day beer but it is nice to treat yourself to something a little out of the ordinary once in a while.

On another note, a couple of friends introduced me to an App that is on both Droid and iPhone called Beerby. It is fun, it combines my love of beer with gaming. I can earn accomplishments for drinking beer. Aside from that, it is a great way track the beers that you have tried and to remember the ones you like. I started from scratch last night so I look like a beer noob but don't let my current ranking fool you. I am a pro.

On Manhhod pt. 1 of ?

Out on my back porch, with a good cigar and and glass of scotch, I got to thinking about my life and about what makes me feel alive. As the cherry on the cigar started to burn my fingers and the 34 degree temperature bit at my face and hands I reminisced about the hard times when I have been tested. I remembered that being a man is dichotomy between the times when it is necessary to be steel and when is is necessary to be caring.

Many of the times when I have felt most alive have been when the odds are against me or when I could (maybe should) have been in danger for some reason. The thing about being a man in today's world is that so much of society wants us to not be what we are. Society tells us that all that we are is wrong, so much of what comes natural to us is seen by the current social order to be destructive and uncivilized. Men live in world where we walk the fine line between being creators and destroyers.

So begins a topic that I hope to explore at different points throughout the year. It should be an interesting ride.

Squirrel Carnage or Pumpkin Zombies

Myrrh promised that once the pumpkins were starting to rot I could take them out in the backyard and shoot them with my airsoft guns. The wildlife around my house thought differently about this proposition. The squirrel (big gray king that threatened to shoot more than once) beat me to it. I rather enjoyed the carnage though. I think he made a bigger mess than I intended to.