The Beer Run

The best thing about today’s post is that it’s about beer AND running. This past week, the 536 Run Club added a new element to its training program. We call it “The Beer Run”. The brilliance of The Beer Run lies in its simplicity, combining our love of running with Friday Happy Hour.

This past week, we started our Friday run at 4:36pm with a carefully planned route beginning on Clarendon Place and ending 3.5 miles later at Cole’s (we thrive on precision in the 536 Run Club). It was also a great day to run and test out the program with temps reaching 50 degrees. Not bad for Buffalo in early March. The first 1.5 miles along Delaware went swimmingly, but as we reached the half way point, turned onto Elmwood and set our sights on Cole’s , the hecklers came out. That’s right, heckling, mostly from young bar goers catching a cigarette while downing a pint or two at one of the many establishments along Elmwood Avenue. But there were also a fair amount of patrons at Cole’s surprised to see a couple of guys walk through the door in their running gear.

Overall the run was a success. We persevered through 3.5 miles in 31 minutes, then topped it off with a Sixpoint Bengali Tiger and Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA. Many of my running friends understand the undeniable pleasure of a beer after a run, and to you, cheers. For those who don’t, I still love you. But I also love to run and to drink beer. So, for now, I’ll take the run and the jeers. And I’ll see you next Friday at Cole’s.

Dont' Panic

There are many wise words printed on the pages of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but none more so than the words printed in large, friendly letters on the front cover, “Don’t Panic”. And these are words that I would have been wise to heed in recent months. Last week, I posted about how I was disappointed with my training for the Cherry Blossom, that I wasn’t in the weight room enough, that my times weren’t where I wanted them to be, that I wouldn’t set a PR. Don’t Panic. This week, I ran my best times yet. On Tuesday, I ran 4.5 miles at an 8:35 pace, a pace that projected over 10 miles would shatter my PR in the 10 mile. The next day, I came close again. Now, there’s still a long way to go, and a lot can happen, but the lesson is clear. Don’t Panic.

I also posted about a month ago about an English Bitter that I was brewing for a Super Bowl party. I was excited about it. It was a recipe that I had wanted to brew for a long time. I blew my Christmas gift card purchasing the ingredients. It was going to be served to a large crowd at a Super Bowl party. It was our first time entertaining many of these people. And I blew it, or so I thought. I missed the target gravity by a mile. And I panicked. I thought I was going to end up with a watered down beer, and a disappointed crowd. But I should have listened to the Hitchhiker’s Guide or at the very least, to Charlie Papazian, who coined a similarly useful phrase, “Relax. Don’t Worry. Have a homebrew.” The beer actually turned out quite well. In fact, well enough that those lucky enough to have drank it, rate it along side my Clementine Hefeweizen (best beer ever according to my wife). Not bad for a miss.

Two Good Weeks Undone

Training for a race is hard work. It’s commitment. And for two weeks, I was committed. I ran, I cross-trained, I lifted weights. And my training times showed positive results. I was running faster than I ever had before – and I felt great! But all that came undone when the little things that get in every runner’s way got in my way. For the last two weeks my training has suffered and I’m just not getting in the reps that I did for the first two weeks. Yes, my miles are up. Last week, I ran 19.8 miles, the most I’ve run in any one week since training started for this race. I also ran my farthest distance, an 8 mile run in the cold, wind and snow. But, my legs are more tired after training and I’m not running nearly as fast as I was. I haven’t lifted weights or cross-trained in two weeks and I’ve started to miss work outs. I need to rededicate myself and find ways to get in the reps. In my head, I’m still there, far ahead of where I've ever been in training and poised for another PR come April 1^st. I just hope I can sustain it for another six weeks.

Larry Downes and the Hoo Ha over Best Buy

One of the hottest stories in the business press right now is the fate of my former employer, Best Buy. Recently, a noted columnist wrote about how Best Buy is going out of business gradually, which sparked an immense outcry from people both agreeing and disagreeing with the proposition. In all, the story generated over 3 million page views at forbes.com and numerous op ed pieces appearing in Forbes and other publications. Responses to the article even included one from the Best Buy CEO himself. Now, I’m not here to pile on one way or the other. These topics have been debated for years both inside and outside the four walls of Best Buy and in my view, we won’t really know what happens until it happens (thank you, Yogi Bera). And yet, we continue to debate.

What I find most fascinating about the story is that it has generated this much response at all. It is a rather mundane story of a struggling retailer during tough economic times. Why then should we continue to debate the merits of Larry Downes’ article? Is it true or is it not? I really don’t think that matters. My best guess is that it’s because we care. At least I do. Best Buy used to be a cool brand. It was the place we all went to get the cool stuff, maybe where we got our first CD, or if you’re old like me, your first LP. It’s the place we used to go and ogle the cool new TVs and drool over the latest PCs or video games. So it’s a brand that holds a place for us, even if we never quite loved the service. It’s a brand that we’d like to see succeed, and yet it seems like now it won’t (maybe). And if you’re younger, it’s a brand that you always wanted to be as good as an Amazon, but maybe never quite was. So whatever the reason, there is a passion out there about Best Buy. It just might not be enough to help it carry on.

Beer Culture

One of the things I love most about beer is beer culture, that is, the stories of the people and places behind the beverage you’re consuming. Beer is about the coming together of communities. Throughout Europe, local beer culture is vibrant. In the US, Prohibition doused that flame, but thanks to a humble peanut farmer (Jimmy Carter) and the craft beer revolution that he sparked, local beer culture is making a comeback in the US. In some cities and regions of the country, it is more vibrant than others, but it is clearly making a resurgence wherever you go. The number of options available to the craft beer drinker in pubs and retail outlets is exploding. Some of my favorites come from breweries such as Surly, Bells, Flying Dog, Dogfish Head and New Belgium. And I can’t wait to taste the new beer from DC Brau. But here in Western New York, the local brewing revolution is still in its early stages. Sure, there are a plethora of brew pubs and tap rooms and no shortage of places to fill your growler. But most of that beer (unless it’s Flying Bison or Pearl Street) comes from somewhere else, even if it is nearby (Southern Tier). We have yet to reach the tipping point of beer culture where we have multiple new breweries opening, such as in Minneapolis or Washington, DC. And so, a small group of us gathered last Friday night at the Thirsty Buffalo to talk beer and what we can do to help promote beer culture in Buffalo, a city with a once proud brewing tradition. I’m not sure if we actually decided on anything or really accomplished anything, but one thing is clear – beer once again brought together a (small) community. And I imagine that we’ll be doing it again soon if just for the sake of good times and good beer. Cheers.

The Training Begins

Happy Monday! Today begins my training program for the Credit Union Cherry Blossom. Last week was the last week of base building and I'm pretty happy with we're I'm at. I logged 14.1 miles last week, capped by an outside run around Delaware Park of 4.6 miles completed at ~9:20/mile pace. In the five weeks leading up to training day, I averaged 12.7 miles per week with frequency and intensity building up through last week where the average pace per mile was ~9:40/mile. The most miles I ran in one week was 16.2 miles completed 2 weeks ago.

Today's run was an aerobic building run of 4 miles completed in 4o minutes on the treadmill. Tomorrow, I'm hoping the weather holds out for the 536 Run Club.

I double checked my time from last year and I completed the race in 1:28:25. I guess I'm faster in my own mind! Therefore, I am setting a more modest goal this year at 1:25:00, an average pace of 8:30/mile.

I also signed up for and am running the Penguin Run supporting Cradle Beach (www.cradlebeach.org), a camp in Western New York for children with disabilities. Join me in supporting this worthy cause!

Make it a Great Day Pale Ale - Tasting Notes

Last night, was the grand unveiling of the Make it a Great Day Pale Ale. Co-conspirator, neighbor, entrepreneur and Buffalo luminary, Tim Godzich, joined me in sampling the Make it a Great Day Pale Ale. Polly also helped critique our brew. We tasted the beer side by side with it's muse, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Overall it was a lot of fun to taste the beer and perceive the flavors of the ingredients used. Below are the scores and tasting notes for our brew (did not score Sierra Nevada) as well as a few hypotheses on how to improve the brew next time. Next time, I will also remember to take pictures so you can enjoy this brew too!

Appearance (0-3 pts): Deep reddish-copper color, darker and less clear than it's muse. A good, sudsy head and strong head retention. Did not use Irish moss in the boil and hypothesize that the slight cloudiness is a result of chill haze. Beer is much clearer in the bottle at room temperature. Darker color is a result of using malt extract rather than all-grain. Average score: 2.

Aroma (0-4 pts): Bursting with hop aroma, this is one of the strong points of this brew. Lots of grapefruit and floral aroma from the Cascade and Perle hops. Malt characteristics not as perceptible. This is a theme for this beer as hops tend to slightly over power the malt. Theory is that because we did not reach the recommended gravity (1.052) we did not extract enough sugars from the Caramel malt and that impacted the overall beer. However, the hop aroma and flavors were well liked by the judges and therefore did not cost much in terms of ratings. Average score: 3.67.

Taste (0-10 pts): Malt flavor in the front finishing with a strong pine hop flavor from the Chinook hops with a slightly sharp, bitter bite at the end. Overall, the Chinook hops slightly over powered the malt sweetness and we had a harder time perceiving the flavor characteristics of the caramel malt. If anything, this beer was also slightly over-carbonated. This helped with the thick, creamy head but also made it difficult to pour. Overall, the flavor was good and enjoyed by the judges, so did not cost the beer much in ratings. I expect that some of the hop character will mellow with age and that the beer will come more into balance. Average score: 7.67.

Overall Impressions (1-3 pts): Great aroma, lots of hops, good sudsy head. Exploding with grapefruit and pine. Recommended for fans of American pale ale, particularly Sierra Nevada. Average score: 2.67.

Total average score (1-20 pts): 16.

Thoughts for improvement next time:
1. rinse the caramel malt to ensure we are getting all the sugars from the grain
2. add Irish moss to the boil
3. more carefully strain the hops from the wort
4. use slightly less priming sugar