The Sizzler

Published on October 16, 2016 in Gear by taro. Closed

p1060710Straight 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.

p1060711But 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.

p1060713OK, 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.

Beer Is Good – Sam Adams Maple Ale

Published on October 15, 2016 in Uncategorized by taro. Closed

p1060709Next 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.

 

 

 

 

Beer Is Good – Kizakura Kolsch

Published on October 8, 2016 in Food and Review by taro. Closed

p1060708Found 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

 

Beer Is Good – Sam Adams Octoberfest

Published on October 5, 2016 in Food and Review by taro. Closed

p1060707This 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..

 

 

 

Tactical Anvil Shaped Object?

Published on October 4, 2016 in Gear by taro. Closed

p1060703The 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?’

Sam Adams Bonfire Blonde

Published on October 3, 2016 in Food and Review by taro. Closed

p1060705Next up in the variety pack is this blonde ale. Pours clear medium yellow, weak head. Smoke aroma, not a terribly complex peaty smoke, just a straight smoke your bacon smoke. Hop tang and touch of citrus, clean finish. Medium mouthfeel, weak carbonation.

Just makes 3 out 4 smokey monkeys.

 

 

 

Beer Is Good – Sam Adams Toasted Caramel Bock

Published on October 2, 2016 in Food and Review by taro. Closed

p1060704In the Samuel Adams Fall Variety Pack, pours a very dark amber with small head. Dark roast aroma, bitterness in the middle gives way to a controlled sweetness. A nice nuttiness sneaks in on the finish. The sweetness along with the carbonation that goes quickly away does give it a moderately heavy mouthfeel.

Not as heavy hitting as some bock’s I’ve had, this is pretty nice drinking. Still it’s more appropriate to slow drinking than sessioning.

I give it 3.5 out of 4 goaty monkeys.

 

 

Value?

Published on October 1, 2016 in Gear by taro. Closed

OK, SKD wrangled me with their Ninja school promo discount and a bought a couple things. One is this bag from Hawkepaks they call the recon rifle bag. No, it’s not a tactical man purse, it’s going to be my tool bag for work!


The gray bag on the left is what I’ve been using. It’s a $5 NAPA bargain bin special, but I like it because it has tool pockets that my tools kind of fit into. It’s a touch too small sometimes and the cheap fabric is falling apart, but at $5 I just buy another, this is my second.

So now I have this new made in USA bag. It’s clearly made of more robust Cordura and features more compartments and a nicely padded shoulder strap. It also came with additional MOLLE pouches, one for water bottle and other three magazine pouch to attach as desired, and a holster doodad. Looks like I can make use of all of the parts except for the waist strap. I think that’s going to become spare parts.

So the question is, is this new pack worth 16 times more than the bag I was using? We shall see.

Beer Is Good – Kizakura White Yuzu

Published on September 25, 2016 in Food and Review by taro. Closed

p1060702New at Marukai, looks like they are importing this Kyoto craft brew that Dave earlier reviewed. Pours a cloudy medium yellow with moderate head. Doing the swirl with last quarter of pour churns up some pretty chunky bits. Despite the name, mild initial aroma, citrus and hop. Even bitter that fades to a nice grain finish.

A good example of a Weiss.

4 of 4 white monkets

Angry Mongols

Published on September 7, 2016 in Food, Review and Travel by taro. Closed

after all these years of visiting Whistler Blackcomb, I finally ate at Mongolie Grill. I guess before you make a judgement, you have to try it. My judgement is I do not need to go back. It’s not awful. Let me take a step back and describe it. You pick out your own ingredients from a self serve salad bar type layout. Selection of noodles vegetables and meats. Ladle on a sauce. Then take it to cooks manning a giant grill where they stir fry your selections while you watch. They occasionally will entertain with some teppanyaki style juggling and food tossing. You are charged by weight, which quickly adds up. In fact, this meal ended up being my most expensive meal in Whistler!  So not worth it. In fact, Build Your Own Bowl that just opened in Hawaii Kai does the same thing but Ina casual dinning setting for $10 a bowl that tastes almost as good. True it doesn’t have sockeye salmon, scallops or ribeye, but then it doesn’t cost $35 either.

2 out 4 Mongolian Monkeys, the value isn’t there.