I am really looking forward to ice fishing. In NJ I never really had much chance to do it. The season is a bit short and life would always seem to get in the way. Now with my job change and a December through March season. I will actually have a chance to really get into it. I have studied the rules and reconnoitered a few water bodies in the area. I find myself stopping at any standing water to check to see how much ice is on it. Mother nature is almost ready.
I pride myself on being a beer snob. I pretty much like all beer, but I have a problem with what the industry has done with the label IPA. Don’t get me wrong I like IPAs. The original style is quite good. A bitter, piney, resiny taste. An old style from the days of the British Empire. A pale ale with added hops for its preservative properties was shipped around the Empire, namely India. That history is how the name came about “India Pale Ale”. Early in the craft movement IPAs were measured in IBU, International Bitters Units. The more hops the higher the IBU measurement. Normally a pale ale over 65 IPUs was labeled IPAs.
As time went on this style of beer was Americanized. The style became very popular. People would go into a pub and ask what IPAs do you have on tap, instead of what beers do you have on tap. The industry must have thought the more the better. Double and triple IPAs became popular. The terms dry hopped, wet-hopped, double hopped, and triple hopped became label standard catchphrases. IBUs went off the charts and hop hybrids began to replace the standard old-world hops. The taste change from bitter and earthy to a Citrusy fruity taste. How do you measure that in IBUs? I believe that the industry realizes that if you call a beer an IPA people would buy it. One of my favorite beers Lake Front Breweries’ “Fixed Grear Red ale” was relabeled as “Fixed Gear red IPA” and suddenly it was everyone’s favorite IPA. Guess what it is not an IPA. The company changed the name to sell more beer.
Then came new IPAs. West Coast IPA, New England IPA, Hazey IPA, etc. Just remember to add IPA. These are all good beers. Most are citrus flavored. Unfiltered, dank, and cloudy. Some of them feel thick enough to filter with your teeth. They are nothing like a true IPA. Why not west Coast Citus and New England Haze. Let us get creative with the new style names. Oh, that’s right as per the industry if it’s not labeled IPA it will not sell. I had a young friend say to me “Tim I hear you’re into IPAs” I said I’m into craft beer. His reply was “Yea IPAs.”
What happened to the choices we have at our local beer store. I like to pair my beer with the food I am eating. I went to my local store to buy a blonde ale that I like to pair with a light fish dish that Marylynn and I were making for dinner. They carried three or four IPAs from the same company, but not the blonde ale. An IPA would overpower the flavor of the fish. As I looked around I took noticed that most of the craft beer on the selves were IPAs. No amber ale, blonde ale, cream ale, or brown ale. Maybe a porter or a stout but just maybe.
I am now done with my rant. My message to all is to try something else. Don’t let the industry experts tell you what to drink. If you think that you don’t like IPAs try a different one. It is probably not an IPA.
Marylynn and I spent the morning moving some firewood from the stacked cord piles in the yard to a holder on the deck. We might get a few inches of snow at the end of the week. We started a fire out back in the firepit with cuttings of evergreen brush we had laying around the yard. The smell of evergreen was everywhere. So I thought I would pair my evening beer choice with what I was smelling.
I had been shopping for a backpacking stove. I just wanted something to carry to make coffee or soup or whatever. I thought about the old brass stove my parents bought me back in 1976 for my Appalachian trail hike. I did not think I still had it. I dug around in a bin labeled “assorted camping stuff” and there it was. I could not imagine that it would still work, but after a little cleaning up it worked fine and boiled a cup of water in about 3 minutes. It is a Svea 123r still made. No need to spend $100 bucks. This thing is so simple that it might last another 45 years.
Unless there is beer involved!
This brew is one of my yearly favorites cinnamon and nutmeg. What could be more festive?
We went to a little farm in town to get our Christmas tree. A cool little dairy farm on West Side Rd North Conway. They are part of Cabot’s Creamery Co-Op. Naughtaveel Farm. The story behind the name is funny. Look it up. Here is a hint. They don’t sell Veal.
I just love living in the Mount Washington Valley! Every day the beautiful views around me are different.
Marylynn and I took advantage of a warm November day and got the Christmas lights up. Certainly better than other years when we could not feel our fingers. Cleaned the garage so that we could fit a car in. Then took a run to the dump before the rain. Then spent the afternoon and evening sorting and cataloging fly-tying material. Of course, I enjoyed a local beer. All in all, not a bad day, but I would rather be fishing.
I would really like to update my ice fishing game this year. I bought some used tip-ups when I first got up here to supplement the meager supply I had from NJ. I guess you might say I am chomping at the bit. I don’t think Mother Nature is quite ready yet.
Tap 'n' Trout 