Author: AJ

Hmmmm…

By Blaidd Drwg

I saw this in the transactions on espn.com this morning:

Twins: Placed 1B Justin Morneau on revocable waivers.

Generally, once you get past the trading deadline, teams do not announce when they have put a player on revocable waivers (and will usually put their entire team on waivers just to see who gets claimed). Basically, the way it works is that you put a player on revocable waivers for 48 hours. If anyone claims him, you have 3 options:

1) Work out a trade with that team

2) Let him go to that team for nothing in return. (The other team assumes the entire remaining contract for that player)

3) Pull him back off waivers. (You then can’t trade him until the season is over)

If there is more than one team that makes a claim, the only team you get to negotiate with is the one with the worst record at the time of the claim. If no one claims the player during the waiver period, you can then trade him to any team you would like, just like you could before the trade deadline.

Seeing this makes me think there is a deal in place for Morneau and he might be on the move. We shall see.

Beer of the Week: Populuxe Brewing Populuxe IPA

imagesCAAR87MMBy Iron Chef Leftovers

It is the Northwest, so it is almost suicide for a brewery to not have an IPA on their tap list. The list at Populuxe, the Ballard nano-brewery, is no different. At any given point, you will find some combination of their IPA, Double IPA or CDA on tap. Since I have already reviewed the CDA (here) and the Double IPA (here), I should complete the trifecta and finally write my review of the Populuxe IPA.

 The beer is orange in color with a white head. There is lots of citrus on the nose with some grain and green hop notes. When you first take a sip, you first notice the grain, which a bit of a surprise since most northwest IPA’s tend to be very hop forward., before getting to the major burst of hoppy citrus and then finally settling into a slightly sweet, slightly bitter finale. The beer is hoppy enough to keep a hop-head like me happy if I am looking for an IPA, but not so hoppy as it is a one and done hop monster that will blow out your palate for the rest of the evening and kill your ability to taste anything. The beer is really pleasant to drink and goes down easily – a smooth and consistent brew with lots of distinct character and no alcohol burn, and could easily make for a 2-3 beer night. The beer is 6.4% abv.

On a side note – Populuxe recently released a cask version of the IPA, dry hopped with Crystal and Sterling. I didn’t take notes, but it was a something that I would have had no problem spending all day drinking. They are doing a cask on most Thursdays, so check out their Facebook Page for details.

The Populuxe IPA pays off on the trifecta with a strong 3 betting slips out of 5.

Schwingfest 2013 at Swiss Sportsmen's Club In Bonney Lake

by A.J. Coltrane

Link to the 2011 (brief) post on the same subject. It includes a video of the wrestling. Schwingfest is wrestling meets alchohol meets dancing. In no particular order. And a day-long playlist of polka-ish music.

081013 swiss band

I find the Swiss music to be fairly monochromatic to the point where it becomes almost hypnotic after a few hours. It’s just there because it always is, and always will be.

Continue reading “Schwingfest 2013 at Swiss Sportsmen's Club In Bonney Lake” →

Schwingfest 2013 at Swiss Sportsmen’s Club In Bonney Lake

by A.J. Coltrane

Link to the 2011 (brief) post on the same subject. It includes a video of the wrestling. Schwingfest is wrestling meets alchohol meets dancing. In no particular order. And a day-long playlist of polka-ish music.

081013 swiss band

I find the Swiss music to be fairly monochromatic to the point where it becomes almost hypnotic after a few hours. It’s just there because it always is, and always will be.

Continue reading “Schwingfest 2013 at Swiss Sportsmen’s Club In Bonney Lake” →

Beer of the Week: Stone Collaboration Cherry Chocolate Stout

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Finally the last of the Stone Collaboration Beer reviews. This one had been hiding in my notebook, so that is why I missed it. I love stout, I love cherries and I love chocolate and when you put them together well, it can be an out of body experience. Stone got together with Troegs brewing out of Pennsylvania and a couple of San Diego home brewers, Jason Fields and Kevin Sheppard, to produce this beer. From the Stone website:

 The rich, smooth stout was brewed in late April, with a blend of dark-roasted specialty malts, Callebaut chocolate liquor, vanilla beans, and 9000 pounds of dark and tart cherries. “Seeing how much the recipe was blown up to brew it on this system is amazing,” Jason chimes in. “And getting to work with everybody… it’s been so cool.”

 Single 12-oz bottles
Available in: AK AZ CA CO DE FL IL KY MA MD MN NC NJ NM NY OH OR PA SC TX VA VT WA
7.3% abv, 37 IBUs
2448 cases producedccs

I paid $4.99 for my 12oz. bottle.

The beer pours jet black with a mahogany head. Copious amounts of roasted malt on the nose with hints of cocoa nibs and a very small amount of cherries if you go looking for them. The beer starts out slightly sweet before quickly transitioning to the roasted malt and finishes long with hints of cherries during the fade. As you make it further into the beer, the cherries become more pronounced and the roast is replaced by a pleasant milk chocolate finish – it reminded me of a Theo Chocolates cherries and almond bar and I was looking for the roasted almonds when I was drinking it.

This beer was fantastic and I really wish that they would brew it again.

I cannot tell a lie, the Stone Collaboration Cherry Chocolate Stout coms in swinging a 5 Cherry Trees out of 5.

The Best QB in the NFL is…

By Blaidd Drwg

In a league where you have Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers, would you consider Alex Smith the best QB in the league?

Well apparently Chief’s Offensive Coordinator Doug Pederson does:

“Ultimately, every team has to have a quarterback,” Pederson told The Kansas City Star. “I think we have the best in the league.”
…
“There are a lot of great ones, but over time, Alex has proven he can get it done,” Pederson told the newspaper. “He’s a sharp guy, he brings a wealth of knowledge, he’s experienced, he’s a proven winner the last couple of years, and he needs a team to embrace him.”

Alex Smith has proven he can “get it done”? Really? The same Alex Smith who has only two seasons in 8 years in the league where he started more than 10 games? The same Alex Smith who proved so inept at running an offense earlier in his career that he has managed to compile a 38-36-1 career record? The same Alex Smith who last season couldn’t win back his job after he got hurt from a guy whom, up until that point had thrown 14 passes in the NFL?

Must be a different Alex Smith we are talking about.

The whole story is here on ESPN.com.

Grilled Flatbread with Basil, Tomato, and Chevre

by A.J. Coltrane

At least I think it was chevre. I didn’t look that closely at the package.

Basil, chevre, salt, and olive oil got buzzed in the food processor while the Glacier tomatoes roasted.

080613 pesto

and

Roasted and mashed up with tongs.
Roasted and mashed up with tongs.

The basil and tomatoes were taken from the Earthboxes. The dough was the standard “pizza dough” recipe. I didn’t milk the goat or anything, but it’s about as close as I can get to totally homemade.

Continue reading “Grilled Flatbread with Basil, Tomato, and Chevre” →