99 Bottles of Beer . . . #27

This thread has been on going and open for some time. At last count, Sleeman and A. Keith Ales were #25 and # 26 on the list of beers I've taste tested.

Tonight, in Savage, Maryland - I purchased a six pack of McEwan's Scotch Ale to celebrate the end of a long, hot, but very successful work day. What I like about my work assignments in Maryland and Virginia is the ability to stop by a package store or grocery store on the way to the motel and purchase beer by the six pack. Makes for some great opportunities to try out some new brews. McEwan's is one of them!

A very distinct brew. An unusual tasting brown ale. The head is light with virtually no trace of foam (kind of disappointing) inside the drinking glass. Rich initial favor, kind of fruity, a bit strong, and a raw finish. Definately a "with dinner" brew (this stuff has some kick, even with the first bottle, but that's to be expected with a Scottish Ale - 8% alcohol by volume pushes the limits a bit). On a scale of 1 to 5 . . . it rates a solid 3. Buy it again? I don't think so . . . by the end of bottle number 2 (I'll give most beers 3 chances), I decided this stuff had lost most of it's initial taste appeal. Bottle # 2 took over an hour to finish . . . I detected a hint of raw "cheap whiskey" flavor beginning to develop with each subsequent sip. Bottles 3, 4, 5, and 6 will remain capped. I like a good ale, but this stuff ain't for me!

Perfect Smoked Beef Roast

Feeling guilty about allowing my smoker grill being left idle for a few weekends, I decided to prepare a round roast yesterday. That proved to be the best decision I've made on a weekend in quite some time! The roast turned out absolutely perfect!

Yesterday was a "catch up on everything that's been put off" kind of day, so there was only time late in the day to "putz and fuss" with the smoker. I elected to pre-cook the roast in the over and then finish it off on the smoker for the lastt 3 hours. That just might be the trick to this whole smoker thing . . . hard to argue with the results obtained this way.

I covered the beef roast with some cooking oil, applied a dry rub (garlic powder, onion powder, Old Bay "blackened" spice, and a few sprinkles of celery seed), set the roast "fat side down" in a disposable brownie pan, covered the pan with foil, and baked it in the oven at 200 degrees for 6 hours.

I fired up the sidebox of the smoker (charcoal and oak chucks) and got the smoker's main chamber up to 180 degrees before introducing the roast. I removed the foil cover on the pan and put the pan and roast on main chamber's bottom grill near the mouth of the side box. I turned the roast several times to insure the smoke flavor was evenly distributed over the surface of the roast. I used cherry wood chips for the smoke. At the one hour-to-go mark, I added 1/2 stick of butter and raw onion rings to the pan.

My wife and her family aren't big smoked-anything fans . . . but this roast was a huge hit! When my father-in-law says: "this is really good", a fellow knows he's found the right combination of spices and smoke flavor. I suppose what impressed me most was the fact that this roast could be carved down in very thin slices yet was moist and tender enough to break with the edge of a fork . . . now, that's a damn near perfect beef roast. One other tweak I tried for the first time - after removing the roast from the grill, I tented it with foil for about 10 minutes before carving it. My sister-in-law arrived late, so I did this out of necessity, but am convinced that there really is something to the notion of tenting meet prior to carving.

Borrowed from other Bloggers

"Next Season" is almost here!

Another funny one . . .

Funny . . .

Campfire Photos

Hi Tech Weekend with the Harleys

Well it's a camping weekend and two things crossed my mind this afternoon. For the first time ever, I'm able to access the Internet with my laptop from our campsite. That's totally cool and the result of having a Sprint wireless card. This correspondence is a result of that capability.

We're surrounded by Harleys! It's biker weekend in Gettysburg and the campground is filled with bikers. It's kind of neat to see this niche of humanity close up . . . everyone I've met are "good people".

Pleasant weather and great food! Who could ask for anything more?

God Bless America

Madison

Abby

Tee Shirts

4th of July . . . every heart beats true

Toronto images . . .

A taste of Toronto's pub fare . . .

It's been a while since I've visited pubs in Canada. Four excellent brews recently sample while in Toronto - Sleeman Honey Brown, Sleeman Dark, A. Keith's India Pale Ale and A. Keith's Honey Brown. It's all good!!! Pick a favorite . . . the nod goes to Sleeman Honey Brown in the bottle!

Toronto Bus Operations

Toronoto Bus Operations