Beer, Bikes and Butts

A Tribute to Beer, Motorcycles and Cigars

Super Fuerte means super strong, and this Maduro stick from the Indian Tabac Cigar Co. has a kick, although I would not classify it as “super” strong.  This box pressed cigar is handmade in Honduras, and contains a blend of tobaccos from Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras.

I was immediately impressed with the taste – a blend of spice and leather — but not so much the construction.  The draw was restricted and the burn inconsistent, which was a distraction.  Still, if I chalk the problems up to the recent high humidity and limit my focus to the taste, this was a pretty good smoke.  I would definitely try another.  I give it an 88.

Posted on December 27th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Cigars, Reviews | 1 Comment »

Whoever wrote “it never rains in Southern California” hadn’t seen our weather of late.  (Actually it was Albert Hammond, and he was being intentionally ironic.)  But in any event, it’s been awhile since I’ve been able to head out to the Lido deck for a tasting.  Tonight I finally got to try my own home brew, along with a Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Maduro.

Mr. Beer West Coast Pale Ale

I’ve only attempted making a home brew once, many years ago, and it was terrible.  But I recently came across the Mr. Beer kit which appeared to make the process pretty painless.  You just mix the ingredients in the plastic barrel, give it a week or so, then put the brew in plastic bottles with screw on caps for the in-bottle fermenting.  The company offers many different types of beer, but the kit comes with West Coast Pale Ale.

The fledgling brew sits in the barrel for a week, and according to the instructions is ready for bottling once it tastes like flat beer.  I transferred it to the bottles, added some sugar as required, and opened a bottle a week later to see how it was coming.  It still tasted like flat beer.  I waited an additional week and the result was the same.  But here is where I should have been taking advantage of the plastic bottles.  When the plastic bottle becomes rock hard, it means the beer has become carbonated.  I could tell from squeezing the bottles that the beer was ready to go tonight, three weeks after the original bottling and four weeks after I first started the process.

This is some tasty brew!  As you can see from the photo, the carbonation finally arrived, yielding a nice foamy head.  The beer is akin to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but better.  Think of homemade bread versus store-bought bread.  Both may contain the same basic ingredients, but homemade just tastes better.  The beer was nice and hoppy with a very creamy mouthfeel and nice aftertaste. 

The kit comes with eight, 1-liter bottles, and a single batch fills them all.  I went through three until I figured out the carbonation situation.  Today’s beer was still a little less carbonated than I would have preferred – like an open beer you’ve left unattended too long – but I think with another week in the bottles it will be perfect.  But even as is, I give this home brew an 86 on The Morris Scale.

[Update]  I was right.  I let the beer sit for another week and the carbonation was perfect.  I can now give it a score of 92.  I shared some with friends and they were blown away that this was a home brew.  Good stuff.

Perdomo Reserve Maduro Robusto

Perdomo Reserve 10 Year Anniversary cigars were created to celebrate the next generation of the cigar company’s original La Tradicion Perdomo Reserve line, according to their site. The cigars are made with Cuban-seed Nicaraguan Maduro wrappers.

I was not impressed with the construction.  The draw was too loose, and the smoke was hot as a result.  The burn was ragged, but did even up toward the end.  The cigar was a strong maduro, but it was harsh without any flavorful reward.  Not a terrible smoke, and another batch might not suffer from the same rolling problem, but as presented I can only give it an 82.

Posted on December 19th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Beer, Beer Facts, Cigars, Micro-Breweries, Reviews | 1 Comment »

Siboney (SEE-bow-Nay) is an in-house brand for Famous Smoke Shop, made by Alec Bradley. (Not to be confused with the Siboney Reserve cigars from Famous Smoke Shop, which are made by Don Pepin Garcia.) The Siboney consists of a blend of Nicaraguan Corojo ’99 & Honduran Criollo ’98 longfillers, Honduran binder, and a Honduran Trojes wrapper leaf.

I’m not sure if I got this in a sampler or if it was sent to me for review, but the bright gold and red label caught my eye while I was perusing my humidor, so I decided to give it a try.  (Yes my iPhone flash washed out the label in the photo, but c’est la vie.)

The construction was good; burn and draw were perfect. The initial taste is mild spice and oak. The taste begins at mild to medium and progresses to medium-full. The taste was never particularly complex, but it was a very pleasant smoke. I rate this unassuming stick an 88 on The Morris Scale.

As is my practice, I waited until after the review to check out the particulars of the cigar, such as price and cigar maker, so as not to be biased. I was pleasantly surprised to see that these are priced at less that $3 a stick. A very good cigar indeed for the price.

Posted on December 14th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Cigars, Reviews | No Comments »

It’s always good to have a health study or two up your sleeve in case some teetotaler tries to give you grief about ordering a second beer.

According to a new study published in the journal “Circulation,” moderate drinking lowers the risk of heart disease in adults, and the positive effects may be the greatest among older people. One would expect to see the heart benefits in older individuals, but this study discovered that even in younger adults, having one or two drinks per day could promote a healthy heart.

To find how alcohol consumption affects heart disease in younger adults, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston collected data from eight North American and European studies. They analyzed information on more than 192,000 women and about 75,000 men, who reported their drinking habits. None of the participants had a history of cardiovascular disease.

The study’s authors found that drinking about 30 grams of alcohol per day, or about 2 to 3 standard-size drinks, decreased women’s risk of developing heart disease by 42 percent and decreased men’s risk by 31 percent. The researchers noted the same risk reduction when they split the participants into three groups: 50 years old and younger, 50 to 60 years old and 60 or older.

Here’s to your health!

Posted on November 1st, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Beer, Beer Facts | 1 Comment »

Saison Rue Belgian-Style Ale, made with Rye and Brettanomyces

What a find in my own backyard.  Just a month ago I discovered and wrote about the wonders of a yeast called Brettanomyces, or “Brett” for short, that is normally viewed as a contaminant.  As the Orval beer I was drinking demonstrated, this “contaminant” can be used to add distinctive flavors to beer.  I sadly reported, however, that few breweries are courageous enough to take on the Brett challenge and that Orval is the last Trappist monastery that uses Brett in its the beer making process.

But tonight I selected a beer I have never tried from The Bruery, which is located right here in So Cal, in the City of Placentia.  Right there in black and white (actually more of a maroon and yellow), the label says it is made with brettanomyces and rye.  I feel like such a noob for not knowing a local brewery offered a Brett beer, but in my defense the label also says that it is offered only occasionally.  (Pretty brilliant actually.  When a vat gets contaminated with Brett, you bottle the stuff and call it a seasonal.)

But enough background; to the beer!  This is great stuff.  I am really becoming a fan of Brett if these two beers are illustrative.  The Brett provides a earthy taste that is unlike any beer you have likely tasted.  I didn’t like this Saison Rue as much as the Orval, but it is still very good in its own right, and the Orval is much more expensive.  You’d do well to give this one a try.  I give it an 89.

Cain F Straight Ligero (6 x 60)

I don’t often crave a specific cigar, but this one has been calling to me since I spotted it in my humidor.  It’s a dark, massive beauty, and the Ligero is the slowest burning part of the tobacco leaf, so I had to wait for sufficient time to devote to this stick.

Ligero refers to the leaves from the top section of the tobacco plant. Exposure to the sun creates a stronger, robust flavor, while producing an oily texture.  The Cain F (by Oliva) is made of three different Nicaraguan Ligeros, in a dark Nicaraguan wrapper.

The cigar presents with a perfect construction, with no soft spots and minimal veins and seams.  Upon lighting, it produces copious smoke with a strong spice/pepper and a slightly sweet taste.  Given the content, I anticipated some harshness, but it was very smooth.  Indeed, the strength can be deceiving, because the taste is medium in strength but it soon hits you right between the eyes.  By midpoint, the strength of the cigar is more evident. 

I was right about needing time for this monster; it was a two hour commitment.  But it was time well spent.  A very good cigar, earning it a 90 on The Morris Scale.

Posted on July 14th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Beer, Beer Facts, Cigar Facts, Cigars, Reviews | No Comments »

You probably never saw it, but there was a relatively short-lived series on the USA Network called Saving Grace.  It was a cop show starring Holly Hunter as Grace, with the twist that Grace is being visited by an angel, who is attempting to save Grace from her self-destructive ways.  Anyway, in one of the first shows the angel gives her a small, wooden box, presumably from God, and tells her she will know when to open it, and that when she does open it, she should burn whatever she finds inside.

So the series just ended, and in the final episode Grace finally opens the box and finds that it contains Gurkha cigars.  Then in a final battle with evil, Grace is talking to some evil guy, who may or may not be the devil but who is responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing, and he comments that Gurkha cigars are the best you can get.

There you have it.  God smokes Gurkhas.  All I could think of is how much did Gurkha pay for that bit of product placement?  I think God could do better, but I did give the Gurkha Titan a 92 back in September of 2008, so I thought I would check to see if I still like them. 

Gurkha Titan 6.2” x 56

The Gurkha Titan is a 6.2 x 56 Honduran cigar with a Maduro wrapper.  The Titan debuted at the 2005 Retail Tobacco Dealers tradeshow, and with only 1,000 boxes made, it was only available to a small number of suppliers. The cigar begins with a combination of five year old Nicaraguan, Honduran, and Columbian fillers that are secured in a five year Nicaraguan binder. It is then finished with a dark 1996 Vintage Costa Rican wrapper.

The Gurkha Titan had a perfect burn and draw and yielded a long ash. Medium to strong the entire length, with lots of flavorful smoke tasting of spice.  The 92 I gave it last time was spot on; I still really like the Titan.  A very tasty smoke.

They run around $30 a stick individually from the discounters when you can find them.  CigarsDirect has them for $24 each in quantities of 16, which is $48 less than what Cigars.com charges for the same quantity.  I don’t like to commit to 16 of any cigar, so I watch for cigar bundle specials that include a Titan.  Cigars International recently offered a Gurkha “Top-Ten Sampler” for 30 bucks that included a Titan.  [Update:  On February 18, 2011, Cigars International was offering a combo called the "Gurkha Cigarnivore III" which includes three Titan cigars and 15 others for less than $70.  That's less than you'd pay for the three Titans alone most any other time.]

Old Scratch Amber Lager

I continue to be a real fan of the Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, Maryland, and its Old Scratch Amber Lager did not disappoint.

Old Scratch pours deep golden amber with a large, off-white head.  The nose is interesting, with a smell of toasted malts; almost like oatmeal.  The taste is malt and citrus, with a hint of bread and caramel.  The mouthfeel is perfect for a lager, and not at all watery.  Outstanding drinkability.  It’s not my all time favorite from the Flying Dog Brewery, but it warrants a strong 90 on The Morris Scale.

Posted on July 4th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Bargains, Beer, Cigar Facts, Cigars, Reviews | No Comments »

Do we file this under “the things I’ll do for beer”, or perhaps, “waaay to much time on my hands”?

The Coors Light Home Draft system I reviewed a few days ago had grown pathetic in its efforts to provide me with a draft.  You start the tapper by twisting a cylindrical knob that releases the gas and pressurizes the container.  Whether due to a design defect or my wimpy grip, I couldn’t turn the knob all the way and the gas leaked out into the atmosphere, adding to global warming (which may ultimately be Coors’ plan, since higher temperatures necessitate more beer).  That yielded a tiny stream of beer from the tapper, requiring about five minutes to pour a beer.  I could have returned it to the store, but what fun would that be?  I wanted to see if I could outsmart the tapper.

Exerting the brut force necessary to break all the plastic tabs designed to prevent me from doing what I was doing, I was able to open the tapper and replace the CO2 cartridge.  Now I’m back to draft beer nirvana.

View the video for my MacGyver moment.

Posted on July 2nd, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Beer, Beer Facts, Reviews | 4 Comments »

The Ride the Coast benefit for the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Ana is one of my favorite rides every year, and it just keeps getting better.  I’ve participated for the last three or four years, and the organizers really got it together this time.

Two years ago, the ride terminated at a shopping mall, with a few booths and only Taco Bell food to eat.  The ride was great but the destination stank.  This year it was done in conjunction with the Irvine Lakes Blues Festival, so the finish was much more enjoyable since the riders had access to all the merchandise, food and beer offered in conjunction with that function, as well as the motorcycle stuff.  A great blues group called Larry Horne and Small Change was playing while I was there.

As for the ride, it followed the same route as last year, starting at the Santa Ana Auto Mall, going up the 55 to the 22, down to the Pacific Coast Highway for about a 20 mile ride along the ocean, then up Jamboree and over to Irvine Lake.  I had an epiphany and loaded an iPhone app called RunKeeper while I was waiting for the ride to start, to record the route we took.  The entire route, time and pace can be found here.  What’s really depressing, however, is that the program thinks I was riding a bicycle, and reports that for my 56.14 mile ride, at an average speed of 30.57 mph, I only burned 1500 calories.  I knew there was a reason I don’t ride a bike.

The ride is completely police escorted, and once it starts you never stop.  The Santa Ana Police Department did a great job stopping traffic at all the lights.

Posted on June 26th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Motorcycles, News, Reviews, Rides | No Comments »

Why do fundraisers come up with names like, “Bikers Against Diabetes”?  Sure, it let’s them call it a “B.A.D. Ride”, and say things like, “are you B.A.D. enough?”, but the implication is that there are riders that are for diabetes.  But I digress.

A friend invited me to join him on the 13th annual B.A.D. Ride, but it wasn’t much of a ride.   Riders started at any one of more than a dozen different motorcycle stores, and then rode to the Oak Canyon Park in Orange County in the Irvine Lake area.  For a fundraiser ride, I prefer rides like Ride the Coast, with 500 motorcycles riding as a pack for 70 miles.

But the B.A.D. Ride was a different animal.  The ride wasn’t the thing, it was the destination.  Once at the park, there were a number of vendors, a great blues band, and some pretty decent food.  I can’t comment on the lunch that came with the $40 ride donation, because it was a long line to get the food and I don’t do lines.  But there were a number of other food vendors happy to take your money with no lines. 

So, don’t do B.A.D. for the ride, but it’s a good cause and a great destination. 

Posted on June 16th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Motorcycles, Reviews, Rides | No Comments »

If you are in one of the ten states that have Total Wine & More stores, be sure to get on their mailing list for some pretty decent coupons.  Every few weeks they send out a coupon that gets you $2 off a six pack or a 22-ounce beer priced at $6.99 or more (up to four six-packs and/or 12 bottles).  That affords a great chance to try those pricier boutique beers you may have been eyeing.

Here’s six that I picked up for future reviews, saving $2 each.  Hey, 12 bucks is 12 bucks.  Total Wine takes its coupons very literally, so if the coupon says $2 off 22-ounce beers, don’t you dare show up with a 28-ounce beer and expect the discount.  No, I didn’t do that, but I did show up with a six pack assortment and the cashier fought me on it.  I won of course.

Posted on June 16th, 2010 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Bargains, Beer, Reviews | No Comments »