from the twisted minds of snm
Another of the non-normal brews from Kizakura. Pours a cloudy medium amber, medium head. Definite aroma and taste of the roasted black bean. Crisp brightness middle to a mild bitter finish. Light mouthfeel.
Aside from the black bean, there isn’t a whole lot else going on with this beer, I’ll give it barely 3 out of 4 mame monkeys.
well, looks like the FRS is out of commission, probably for weeks. The clutch/throw out bearing went out. I’m sitting at Toyota service having dropped it off. They’re also saying prob not covered under warranty. Sucks. And the other issues it has suffered since almost new ill have to make some stink if I want done. I hate dealing with that. I’d take care of it myself except one needs a reflash of the ECU. I guess this is one of the hazards of owning first production new vehicle, but the clutch failure is kinda disappointing.
So the service dude called, throwout bearing is not covered under drivetrain warranty. 
So I put a call into Ken at Pacific Automotive, my go to mechanic for stuff I don’t want to deal with myself. Turns out he is out due to health problems, oh no! So now I need to figure out what to do.
I’ve been staying away from their less traditional varieties, decided to try this one which is probably the least unusual saying it uses rice but still yeast. Pours medium yellow, slightly cloudy especially if you swirl the last bit. Medium head. Mild hops aroma, mild bitter. Touch of citrus note, grain notes in finish. Pretty light mouthfeel.
A little undecided how to rate this beer, I guess I’ll give it 3 out 4 ricey monkeys, although I don’t think itquite rates it.
Last variety in the pack, Hoppy Red. Can’t say I was looking forward to this. Pours deep amber medium head. Pine hoppy aroma. Bitter, A bit of roasted malt, lingering bitter finish. Medium mouth feel.
I’ll finish the beer, but I can’t say I really like drinking pine cones.
2 out 4 piney monkeys.
Hey, it’s a Ballast Point that’s not an IPA! Unfortunately I didn’t read the subtext, “hop forward porter.” And that is exactly what this is. Pours a extremely dark brown, basically black, strong head. Hop aroma and bitter, with dark roast porter. Medium thick mouthfeel.
I find its not horrible, but I’d like it much better with less hops. I have to give it 2 of 4 dark hoppy monkeys. If you like hops, then you might like this, but you need to like porters.
Straight from Japan, Sizzler! Complete with retro art. It’s a beer fizz saver, and also a cap lifter. It actually works quite well as a bottle opener.
But the main feature of this somewhat oddly named doodad is the ability to recap an opened bottle. Nice for those large bottles that you don’t want to finish in one sitting. We shall see how well it works.
OK, follow up report, here is the beer after 24 hours, not bad at all. This get the monkey seal of approval as it works as intended and advertised, is easy to use, and also has additional features that also work well, namely the opener. There also is a tab for lifting can tabs but I haven’t gotten to the point of needing that.
Next up in the fall pack is this Maple Ale. Pours a clear dark brown with red tint, medium light head. Medium smoky aroma and hint of the maple. Hops bitter through the middle, but not flowery. Medium mouth feel gives it a bit of a hearty feel. Wonder what the ABV is, this beer feels warm! Ah, it’s 6.4%, it is in the fall pack, after all. It’d be nice if it were more fall like here.
3 out 4 maple monkeys.
Found also at Marukai, the Kolsch from Kizakura brewery. Pours a slightly cloudy yellow with moderately strong head. Fair amount of hop aroma, but not strongly flowery. There;s abit of tanginess in the middle, abit of bitter, then a grain finish. Mouthfeel is crisp. As would be expected of a kolsch, its pretty easy drinking.
Just makes 3 of 4 monkeys
This years Octoberfest entry from Samuel Adams. Pours clear medium dark amber, medium head. Hop but not flowery aroma, with roasty tones. A bit of tang ending with tapering bitter. Not incredibly complex, I much prefer the Sierra Nevada rendition. Still fairly hearty and drinkable.
I’d say it just makes 3 out 4 October monkeys..
The big ticket item I ordered from SKD was this, from Refactor Tactical they call it the ASO bag, Advanced Special Operations bag. It’s kind of a glorified duffel, but a very well made tactical duffel. Main compartment has a large opening flap and is devoid of anything else leaving maximum space to stuff krap in. Continue reading ‘Tactical Anvil Shaped Object?’