S1P30 - Beer Review - The Temptress

These are the beer notes for the Two Old Guys Drinking Beer (2OGDB) podcast Season 3 Episode 10 (S3E10).

Lakewood Brewing Co.

• Founded in 2011 by Wim Bens born in Belgium, move to Texas at age 7.
• Brewery & taproom 2302 Executive Dr. Garland
• Tours on Saturdays - free
• Taproom open 7 days/week.  
• Other beers
• Lakewood IPA
• All Call - Kolsch
• Lakewood Lager
• Lemonale - golden ale with lemon
• BLACK CURRANT ARTSY TARTSY - Berliner Weisse with Black Currant
• Cold Front IPA
• Pinkel - pumpkin pie Dunkel
• Earthly Highs - tart and hazy IPA
• Muy Importante - margarita Mexican lager
• Grim Shearer - Rye Whiskey Barrel-aged Rye Wine
• Troll Toll - double IPA
• Goatman - India black lager
• Peanut Butter Temptress - Imperial Milk Stout w/ vanilla, peanuts, and sea salt
• Coconut Temptress - Imperial Milk Stout w/ toasted coconut
• Raspberry Temptress -
• Mole Temptress - Imperial Milk Stout w/ vanilla, chiles, cacao, and cinnamon
• Sin Mint Temptress - Imperial Milk Stout w/ mint, graham cracker, and natural
• French Quarter Temptress - Imperial Milk Stout w/ vanilla, bourbon barrel-aged coffee beans, and chicory

The Temptress

• Imperial Milk Stout. Ale brewed with lactose sugar and vanilla
• $10.99 for 4 pack @ Kroger
• ABV - 9.1%
• IBU - 56
• Serve in a snifter at 50° - 55°
• Marketing BS - Va-va-voom! The Temptress is seduction in a glass. Curvy in all the right places, this Imperial Milk Stout pours with a thick, milk chocolate head. Chocolate and caramel malt give it a rich and complex body while the lower carbonation gives the beer a silky mouth feel. She’s voluptuous, with a soft alcohol warmth that grows deeper with every sip. Take your time with her and she’ll reward you.
• Tasting notes - Thick, rich milk chocolate head Sweet Caramel notes, Touch of vanilla, Warm Complexity
• On bottle notes - “Va-va-voom! Out Temptress is seduction in a glass. Curvy in all the right places, this imperial milk stout pours with a thick, milk chocolate head, sweet caramel notes and a warm complexity that grows deeper with every sip. Take your time with her and she will reward you. Schol!”
• PAIRS WELL WITH - Robust Bleu Cheese, Dark Chocolate, Sin
• Multiple awards

The Review

This is an excellent beer. Almost all the descriptive notes from the brewer are accurate. It is robust and full of flavor. Both Dennis and I rated this a very solid four (4) bottle caps out of five (5). Dennis went so far as to intimate that this may be his favorite beer that we have reviewed. That would knock Rahr's Ugly Pug from the top spot. I still rate Ugly Pug as my top. I deduct a few points from The Temptress because of a slightly more sweet taste and the high alcohol content. More than one or two The Temptresses could be dangerous. Regardless, you can not go wrong with this excellent brew from Lakewood Brewing Co. It is delicious.

wjh

S1P29 - Meanwhile

The stuff we couldn't fit into the podcast. These notes go with the political/news segment of S3E09 Two Old Guys Drinking Beer podcast. Remember, these are just notes taken between podcast recordings and are not always grammatically correct or properly punctuated. 

• Trump lies as of 08/05/19 - 12,019 in 928 days. About 13/day, 20/day since April
• Trump golf - 214 visits in 137 weeks, 98 confirmed rounds
• Trump polls - 41.5% approval, 53.8% disapprove
• July 2019 was the hottest month ever recorded.
• 08/06 - Toni Morrison dies at 88
• New allegations of sexual abuse coverups at BSA
• GateHouse Media & Gannett will merge.
• Some GOP legislators moving away from NRA.
• Trump sees “no political appetite to ban assault weapons”. Polls disagree.
• Walmart removes violent video game displays. Still sells guns and the actual video games. 
• Biden continues to make mental/verbal gaffes. “Poor kids as smart as white kids.”
• Kamala Harris, “Trump didn’t pull the trigger but he certainly has been tweeting out the ammunition.” 
• Why does the press keep saying X gun law would not have prevented X mass shooting. No law is 100% effective. Would better laws have prevented the one before or three before? Maybe the new proposed laws aren’t tough enough.
• 1619 - 2019 - 400 years of US slavery. 
• Dana Perino subbed for Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday. Horrible. She is a conservative political commentator, not a journalist. She helped Kudlow with answers, rather than moderate the panel session she reverted to a commentator. All pro-Trump
• Congress needs to shorten the allowed period for an acting cabinet secretary or agency head to serve. 
• The Mooch turns
• Surprise, Sarah Huckabee Sanders joins Fox News. 
• I hope Congress now realizes that giving the President broad powers or writing sloppy legislation is no longer good policy. The assumption that the executive branch would be reasonable or even sane is outdated
• Economic numbers appear to have been overblown. Jobs and growth rate. 
• Biden not getting any better on the campaign trail. Gaffes.
• Blood eye on CNN town hall
• Trump is losing faith in Fox News
• Mathis indirectly trashes Trump. Directly bashes Obama. Hypocrite.
• Trump desperate to get some wall built before 2020 elections. 
• We have far more symbolic gestures of sympathy than real changes. 

National

1. 08/05 - Obama speaks out on the rhetoric of racism, fear, hatred…
2. 08/05 - Trump still not keen on new gun laws. Says mental illness is the problem. Mistakes Toledo for Dayton. 
1. Mentions pairing gun legislation with immigration reform
1. Why would you combine two complex problems?
2. Trump mentions problems with video games.
3. He sort of supported tighter background checks but is now back to mental health.
3. 08/05 - China responds to the latest Trump trade threats by devaluing its currency. 
4. The US officially designates China as a currency manipulator. The trade war continues to escalate.
5. 08/05 - US increases sanctions on Venezuela. 
6. 08/06 - Fired FBI agent Peter Strzok sues to be reinstated
7. 08/06 - Tucker Carlson thinks the white supremacy problem is a hoax. Actually, Carlson is a hoax and an ass.
8. 08/07 - ICE rounds up immigrants in Mississippi. Leaves kids without parents.
1. ICE did not notify the White House (afraid of leaks) or CPS prior to the raids. 
9. 08/07 - Former Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez Garced becomes Puerto Rico governor
10. 08/07 - The House Judiciary Committee asked a federal judge to compel John McGahn’s testimony 
11. 08/07 - Trump visits Dayton (Toledo?) and El Paso. Not welcomed with open arms but at least he didn’t turn them into public campaign rallies. 
12. 08/08 - Andrew McCabe sues the FBI and DOJ over firing. 
13. 08/08 - Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Sue Gordon resigns. More turmoil in the intelligence community. 
14. 08/08 - Trump names Joseph Maguire, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, as the acting director of national intelligence. 
15. Trump retweets that Clinton involved in Epstein's death.
1. While Trump blames the Clintons, the fact is Epstein died in federal prison during Trump’s administration. Barr blames jail
16. Trump’s companies continue to use undocumented workers. 
1. The hypocrisy is amazing.
17. 08/10 - Jeffrey Epstein commits suicide in jail. FBI to investigate.
18. 08/12 - New Trump rules will punish legal immigrants if they use public assistance. 
19. 08/12 - Trump weakens the protection of endangered species.
20. 08/12 - More opioid statistics released and analyzed. 
21. 08/13 - Trump delays some additional China tariffs until 12/15.
22. 08/13 - 29 states sue Trump administration over easing coal-burning power plant emissions. 
23. 08/13 - McConnell lifted sanctions on Russia that directly benefitted Kentucky (& probably him). Swampy.
24. 08/13 - New environmental study.
25. 08/14 - US Treasury bonds enter an inverted yield curve. Stock markets tank.
26. 08/15 - Steve King goes off the rails again.
27. 08/15 - The House Judiciary Committee subpoena Corey Lewandoski and Rick Dearborn. 
28. 08/15 - John Hickenlooper drops out of the presidential race.
1. He will run for the senate seat in Colorado
29. 08/16 - The crowd for Trump’s Shell rally was paid and told not to misbehave. 
30. Does Trump want to buy Greenland?
31. 08/19 - The acting head of the Department of Corrections is removed.
32. 08/19 - Planned Parenthood opts out of Title X.
33. 08/19 - Trump touts great economy at the same time he looks at more stimulus. Payroll tax cuts and interest rates. 
1. 08/20 - Trump confirms tax cuts are being considered
34. 08/20 - Trump backs down on improved background checks.
1. Again proves he is the  NRA’s bitch
35. 08/20 - Trump cancels his trip to Denmark because they won't sell Greenland
1. Says Danish prime ministers “absurd” comment about Greenland was nasty.
36. 08/20 - Trump insults Democratic Jews.
1. He says Israel loves him. Second coming of god
37. 08/21 - CBO says deficit to rise $800 billion more than forecast over 10 years 
38. 08/21 - Jay Inslee drops out. Will run for governor.
39. 08/23 - China to impose tariffs on $75 billion in US goods.
1. Trump responds by raising many tariffs on Chinese goods from 25% to 30%
2. 08/25 - Trump reconsidering tariff escalations
40. Trump “orders” US companies to find alternatives to China
1. 08/25 - Trump will not order US companies out of China
41. RGB has radiation treatment for a pancreatic tumor. Please hold on Ruth.
42. 08/24 - G7 meetings - Another G6 + 1 (US)
1. Trade deal with Japan, maybe. No details
2. Pledge $20 million to fight Amazon fires
3. Trump skips climate change meeting
4. Maybe some improvement in Iran situation
5. Trump blames Obama for Russia annexing Crimea
6. Trump wants Russia/Putin back in G7/G8 
43. 08/25 - Joe Walsh enters GOP presidential race. 
44. 08/25 - On Sunday political shows, Lindsey Graham and other GOP talking about deficit said tax cuts, military spending are not the problem. It is entitlement programs. Of course. 
45. 08/26 - Trump pitches Doral for 2020 G7
46. 08/26 - Johnson & Johnson found responsible for opioid crisis in Oklahoma. $572 million settlement. 
1. Sacklers & Purdue in settlement negotiations. 
47. 08/27 - Barr books Trump’s DC hotel for $30K X-mas party.
48. 08/27 - Trump wants to open up logging in Alaska. Fuck the environment. 
49. Al Franken podcast w/Walter Mondale. Still practicing law at 91. Still sounds sharp and up on current affairs. 
50. 08/28 - Kirsten Gillibrand drops out of presidential race
51. 08/29 - Trump wants to roll back methane emission regulations.
52. 08/30 - Trump administration limits scientific input into USDA dietary guidelines.
53. 08/30 - Madeleine Westerhout, Trump's personal assistant, steps down or is fired after she shared Oval Office and Trump family details with the press.
54. 09/01 - Pence stays at Trump’s resort in Ireland. On the opposite coast from Dublin where his meetings were. 
55. 09/03 - The Pentagon diverts another $3.6 billion to Trump’s wall.
56. 09/05 - Administration proposes big changes to housing market.
57. 09/06 - US adds 130,000 jobs in August. Unemployment rate remains 3.7%.

International

• Watch some international new. BBC, Al Jazeera. 
• Holy shit, Britain has no constitution. 
• 08/06 - North Korea launches two more missiles. Protesting US-South Korea military exercises.
• Two more
• 08/16 - a couple more
• Maybe an Ebola treatment/cure?
• 08/12 - Did Russia’s spiffy new nuclear missile blow up?
• 08/15 - Representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota barred from entering Israel at Trump’s urging. 
• Israel then says Tlaib can enter for 24 hours with conditions to visit her grandmother in the West Bank
• 08/16 - Tlaib says she will not visit under those conditions.
• 08/25 - Macron invites Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to G7
• 08/28 - Boris Johnson seeks to keep Parliament in recess until just before the 10/31 Brexit deadline.
• 08/28 - Italy forms new government. Conte to remain PM.
• 08/28 - Johnny Isakson (R-GA) to resign at end of year. Health.
• 09-03 - Boris Johnson loses first Parliament vote on No-deal Brexit.
• 09/04 - Boris loses two more votes on Brexit & elections.
• 09/04 - Hong Kong withdraws extradition bill.
• 09/06 - Robert Mugabe dies @ 95. He too Zimbabwe from independence to economic ruin in 37 years of rule. 
• Texas
• 08/05 - Kenny Marchant will not seek reelection. TX-24 Representative. Another Republican in a changing district retires. 
• A family squabble among GOP Texas House members. Dennis Bonnen in hot water.
• Dallas paid sick leave ordinance being challenged in federal court. Texas AG joins the suit on plaintiff's side. Of course, the Texas state administration hates local rule and choice. 
• 08/07 - Trump visits El Paso after the mass shooting. He wasn’t invited, they don’t want him and his campaign still owes the city over $500K. 
• 08/08 - Texas Democratic Party sues Sullivan, Bonnen, Burrows. Empower Texans involved.
• 08/09 - Tarrant Tea Party is for intolerance.
• Tarrant Tea party - replacement theory.

• 08/16 - Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, resigns as chairman of the Texas House Republican Caucus. Fallout from the ET meeting.
• New voting machines and voting centers for Tarrant County.
• Engage Texas PAC. Trying to register Republicans and sign anti-abortion petition at DMV/DPS offices. 
• 08/30 - Molly Ivins movie out now. "Polarizing people is a good way to win an election and a good way to wreck a country."
• 09/03 - Bedford mayor Jim Griffin will resign to run for Texas HD 92 in the Republican primary. Seems like a strange choice.

wjh

S1P28 - Beer Review - Long-Range Pils

These are the beer notes from the S3E09 Two Old Guys Drinking Beer podcast

Revolver Brewery

• Granbury, TX
• Founded by father and son, Ron and Rhett Keisler
• Tours on Saturdays noon-3:00. $10, 4 8oz tastings + pint glass, food available
• Other beers:
• Blood & Honey - American lager with blood orange peels, honey, & spices
• Pull-Tang - Tangarine IPA
• Hop Device - IPA
• Mi Cheve - Mexican lager
• Mullet Cutter - English style double IPA - seasonal
• Fracker Barrel One - Red wine barrel-aged stout

Long-Range Pils

• ABV - 4.8%
• IBU - 28
• $10 @ Kroger. Available at many places. Package & draft.
• A traditional German-style lager with an American accent. Brewed with 2-row pale malt and hopped with German Saphir, Czech Saaz, and American Mosaic.

Review

The Two Old Guys found Long-Range Pils to be more floral and hoppy than the usual pilsner. Not unpleasant, but not quite as crisp and clean as expected. At 4.8% alcohol, you could easily drink a couple or three at a sitting. We both rated it on the low end of three (3) out of five (5) bottle caps.

Miscellaneous Beer Notes

09/07 - National Beer Lover’s Day

wjh

S1P27 - Meanwhile, What We Missed

A tip of the hat to Stephen Colbert. On his Late Show, he often does a segment after the monologue that he calls Meanwhile. The premise of the bit is that since the opening monologue usually deals with the big news items and issues of the day, a lot of minor items slip through the cracks. He then proceeds to joke about mostly absurd news blips. 

That sort of happens with our podcast. We tend to concentrate on a couple of big issues, often those that happened close to our recording date. That means that we skip over or completely ignore many news items and issues. Unlike Colbert's Meanwhile, many of the issues we skip over are actually very important. Because of the flood of news that Trump generates, I take notes almost every day between podcast recordings. Part of Trump's strategy is to overwhelm the news cycle so that we forget the bad stuff when the newer bad stuff comes out. Wash, rinse, repeat. 

My plan for my Meanwhile posts is to quickly list what we skip on the podcasts. These will be bullet items that may or not be accompanied by a short comment. Many will include links to news stories. I have already commented on some of these items at the time they occurred either in a separate blog post, tweet, and/or Facebook post. You can see the links to my other sites near the bottom of the right-side column. 

It is normal to have 40 or 50 separate notes prepared between broadcasts. I'm always amazed at the number when we try to distill it down for the recording. 

So here we go with the first MEANWHILE post:

These notes go with the S3E08 Two Old Guys Drinking Beer podcast

• Trump lies - No update. Still stuck on 10,796 lies in 869 days as of 06/07/19
• Trump golf - 201 visits in 132 weeks. 144 rounds.
• The opioid crisis and very disturbing numbers
• The flow of Chinese investments in US slows by up to 90%. An unreported fallout of Trump's trade wars.
• Trump jumps to action when Kanye West calls about A$AP Rocky’s arrest in Sweden. Seems less than a national crisis.
• Al Franken got fucked and caved too soon. Regrets. New Yorker piece.
• Ilhan Omar is Al Franken’s Congresswoman. 
• Trump continues to brag about Article II powers. Wrong. I doubt he has even read Article II.
• Trump’s Bronx golf course loses money. Blames the city 
• Watching The 80s on Netflix. Amazing how many fuckups & failures Reagan had. He also often wore light-colored suits. Considered an impeachable offense when Obama did it once.
• Republicans usually stay united and attack Dems. The Dems tend to stray and attack their own. 
• July 2019 was the Earth’s hottest month ever, beating July 2016

National

1. Congress and WH agree to a two-year budget that will raise the debt limit and increase the deficit. Raises spending by $320 billion
1. What happened to the fiscally responsible GOP?
2. 07/25 - House passes the budget bill
2. 07/22 - Trump expands power of ICE. Can deport without immigration judges or any due process.
3. 07/22 - Trump brags that he could wipe Afghanistan off the face of the earth
4. 07/22 - DOJ sends warning letter to Mueller concerning his testimony before Congress
5. 07/23 - Senate confirms Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper
6. 07/23 - Senate passes the 9/11 first responder bill. Thanks to Jon Stewart and public pressure on McConnell.
7. Trump gets punked at Turning Point rally by fake Presidential Seal
8. 07/24 - Muller testifies before Congress
1. Full transcript 
2. For someone who said they probably wouldn’t watch the proceedings, Trump sure had a lot of tweets. Over 20.
3. Not exonerated
4. Maybe no conspiracy with Russia but certainly cooperation
5. Russian interference was to benefit Trump
6. Russia did and is interfering with our elections. Others too.
7. Did not subpoena Trump because he would fight the subpoena and prolong/distract the investigation.
8. DOJ policy stopped Muller from subpoenaing and indicting Trump
9. Trump lied to investigators
10. Trump could be prosecuted for obstruction once out of office
11. Investigation not a witch hunt or a hoax 
9. 07/24 - A federal judge blocks Trump's latest asylum ban attempt.
10. 07/24 - Trump vetoes Congress’s ban of arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, again.
11. 07/24 - Puerto Rico governor, Ricardo Rosselló, will resign next week.
12. 07/25 - Major auto companies strike deal with California for mileage/climate goals. In opposition to Trump’s new guidelines. 
13. 07/25 - DOJ plans to resume executions of death row inmates, ends a 16-year moratorium. The pro-life party.
14. 07/25 - House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena White House work communications sent via personal devices and accounts
15. Only one Republican showed at NAACP convention. Bill Weld
16. 07/25 - Senate Intelligence Committee report. Russia targetted election systems in all 50 states. Overly redacted report
1. Yet McConnell continues to block election security legislation
17. 07/26 - US economy slowed in the 2nd quarter to 2.1% growth
18. 07/27 - Supreme Court allows Trump to use $2.6 billion of military funds to build the wall while litigation continues. 5-4 vote.
19. 07/27 - Trump says he has asylum, safe third country deal with Guatemala. No details plus legal challenges in that country.
20. Trump trashes Fox News because one of their polls showed Biden ahead of Trump. Again, facts don't matter if they differ from Trump's beliefs.
21. Trump trashes Baltimore and Elijah Cummings.
1. Jared Kushner owns many substandard rental properties in and around Baltimore.
22. 07/28 - Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, will step down.
1. Trump will nominate John Ratcliffe, (D-TX) as the replacement. An unqualified Trump sycophant. 
2. A move to politicize the intelligence community
23. GOP to hold annual retreat in Baltimore in September.
24. 07/28 - Gilroy shooting. White nationalist. 
25. 07/29 - Trump again tries to pretend he was at ground zero during a bill signing for 1st responder benefits. No Dems or Jon Stewart at signing. Fuck You. 
26. New California law requires release of tax returns for presidential candidates in primaries.
27. 07/30 - ACLU says over 900 children have been separated at border.
28. The Fed cuts interest rates ¼% to 2.25%. The first cut since 2008
29. US imposes sanctions on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
30. The Senate confirms Kelly Knight Craft as UN Ambassador
31. 08/01 - Senate passes a huge 2-year budget. $320 billion increase.
32. 08/01 - Trump to impose tariffs on another $300 billion of Chinese goods on 09/01. This round includes consumer goods such as cell phones.
33. 08/01 - Trump instructs new DOD Secretary Mark T. Esper to review a DOD cloud computing contract because Amazon might win the bid. Very swampy.
34. 08/01 - Texas Representative Will Hurd, says he will not run for reelection. He is the only Black Republican in the House. 
35. #MoscowMitch, #LennigradLindsey are trending hashtags
36. 164,000 jobs added in July
37. 08/02 - John Ratcliffe either withdraws or is dropped by Trump as Director of National Intelligence. Another personnel bust and lack of vetting. 
38. Afghan troop withdrawal proposed. Sketchy details.
39. 08/03 - El Paso mass shooting. Another white supremacist targetting immigrants,
1. Fox News coverage was terrible. Softpedaled type of weapon and white nationalist angle. This is not the time to politicize the gun control issue. Brought up Islamic terrorist possibilities. Seemed to be behind on breaking info.   
40. 08/04 - Dayton shooting

International

• 07/19 - Iran seizes British oil tanker
• 07/23 - Boris Johnson becomes British PM. Elected only by Tories. About 13 cabinet ministers dismissed or resigned. 92,153 votes to Jeremy Hunt’s 46,656. Total UK population 66M. 
• Will Scotland vote to leave UK? Boris has denigrated the Scots i n the past plus they voted against Brexit.
• 07/24 - North Korea fired two projectiles off their east coast.
• And again a week later
• Hong Cong protests escalate
• Moscow demonstrations

Texas

• 07/22 - Wendy Davis officially announces for House District 21
• Wascom’s “fetus asylum” law causing division in the community.
• Ron Wright diagnosed with lung cancer. US rep from 6th district, Ellis & Navaro counties plus part of southeast Tarrant including most of Arlington, Mansfield, & southwest FW. 
• Empower Texans and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen and GOP Caucus Chairman Dustin Burrows are having a dustup over media access and targetting some incumbents.     

wjh