Review of a Half & Half (Guinness & Harp)

While we deviated a bit from our single beer review...It's March...St. Patrick's day...the more beer the better. (Also a good daily philosophy) lol! So, we made Half and Halfs! I will say I was sold on this idea when I saw the Lagerhead Black & Tan turtle by Brutul (pronounced brew-tool) The idea is that you pour the cold Harp into the beer glass and then settle the cute little turtle on top of the glass and pour the Guinness over top of it. The turtle will disperse the Guinness evenly and it will float atop the Harp. In theory. I think I need more practice and more head left on the bottom layer to prevent mixing. Still tasty tho! I found out that I like Guinness, it rich and thick and smooth. A little sweet and very substantial, I was a little scared because most people I talked to said they didn't particularly care for it. "Guinness is so thick you can chew it!" But, I guess it's an acquired taste. Like olives (yum). Or blue cheese (ew). I hate to say tho that after drinking through the Guinness, I didn't really taste the Harp. Of course, that couldn't possibly be due to my inexperience of making this drink! Lol!
Holly

Lagerhead Turtle from Brutul

All I can say about the half and half is that the Harp made the Guinness drinkable.  I am not a Guinness fan.  I have no idea what Harp tastes like not mixed with Guinness because my half and half was pretty thoroughly mixed.  It was pretty, though.  As it mixed after being poured, it looked a bit like amber with the dark swirling slowly into the light.  I would like to try one that is poured like the picture one of these days.
Mary

Please note, our Random Guy is still working on his review.  I will add it in later.  :)

Weekend Off

Well, Holly and I took our first weekend off, so there is no block for this past week and no beer review.  I went to a quilting retreat.  See what I worked on here.

And...just because every post deserves a picture, here is a T-shirt quilt I made for a firefighter that broke his pelvis in 2 places.

Review of Siberian Night Imperial Ale

This week, we taste tested Thirsty Dog Brewing Company's Siberian Night Imperial Ale.  Wow, that was a mouthful!

This is all the brewing company had to say about this particular beer...

From Thirsty Dog Brewing Co website

So...on to the reviews!

I poured this beauty into a Sam Adams perfect pint, there was a small head and no lacing as I drank the Siberian night away. By Siberian Night they mean black as night, this stuff is dark and could scare off an amateur based on its looks. The aroma had hints of roasted malts, chocolate, coffee, and a little alcohol. The taste is what I expect from an imperial stout. Smooth with hints of caramel and a lingering roastiness of the malts and sweet chocolate. The alcohol is hidden well for the 9.7 ABV. I could easily drink this beer all night.
Jim McCord, Random Guy

Siberian Night Imperial Stout smells like chocolate! This stout is deep dark red-brown in color. Slightly bitter with a faint burnt caramel taste and has no taste of chocolate what so ever. I am not much a fan of darker brews. That said, I am not much a fan of this beer either. I give Siberian Night 2 out of 5 thimbles.
Holly

Siberian Night is dark...really dark.  I tried holding it up to the light, and still could not see through it.  It was so dark that the foam was a light brown color.  It smelled of chocolate and coffee...yummmmchocolate and coffee.  It did not taste like it smelled.  It was very strong and bitter.  The after taste was better than the taste.  I give this beer 1.5 thimbles.
Mary

Anna's Anchor - J8

This week, we completed Anna's Anchor.  Keep Reading for the steps!

Paper-Pieced:

Paper Piecing template printed from EQ6

Use the Paper Piecing templates to make 2 of these

Join the 2 pieces from the previous step together as shown

All you have to do now is add on the other 2 sides

Holly's completed Paper Pieced Anna's Anchor Block

Mary's completed Paper-Pieced Anna's Anchor Block

Template Pieced:

Step 1: Cut out all the templates

Start building your block as seen in steps 2, 3 and 4 above.

You should have 2 of the competed squares on the left and 2 of the completed triangle units in the middle.  Sew a triangle unit to a square unit...twice.

Sew the 2 units together and then sew the borders on.

Mary's completed template pieced Anna's Anchor block

Review of Goose Island's 312

Photo from Goose Island Brewery web site

This week, we taste tested a beer called 312 from Goose Island brewery in Chicago.  Some people have been asking us where we get the beer and/or how we select our beer.  I can say that most of our beer selections come from World Market, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and the Anderson's.  In the future, I will try to list the specific location for each beer.  As for how we select our beer, it is on some very important criteria.

1. Is the label pretty?

2. Is the name interesting?

3. Is the cap itself (because we are keeping them) pretty and unique?

4. Suggestions from our friends and followers.  Feel free to make us suggestions.  If it is a hard to find beer, help us out and include where we can get it in your comment.  And hey, if you feel like you would like to provide us with 3 bottles of your favorite brew for us to review on the blog, feel free.  :)

 
the Facts
Style: Urban Wheat
Alcohol by Volume: 4.2%
International Bitterness Units: 20
Color: Hazy Straw
Hops: Liberty, Cascade
Malts: 2 Row, Torrified Wheat

Serving Suggestions from the brewery

Preferred Glass: Tall
Food Pairings: Salads, Fish
Cheese Pairings: Fresh Chevre, Buffalo Mozzarella
Cellaring Notes: Enjoy within 180 days

Wow...we are late posting the beer review this week.  Just barely making it under the wire before we taste next week's beer.  LOL

I decided to add something else new.  We will now have the facts about the beer at the top of every review and, if offered, serving suggestions from the brewery.

When I judge a beer, here's what I judge it on: Would I buy it again? I wouldn't buy this one again. It was okay, smooth for a malt. I'm not much of a malt liquor guy. 

Paul Nicholson, Random Guy

312 Urban Wheat Ale has a light citrusy scent. It's got a pretty pineapple/orange juice color. 312 is smooth, but really fizzy. Kind of tastes like blue moon (my usual bar staple when I'm out with the guys) I give 312 4 thimbles.

Holly

Let's start with 'I liked it'.  It had a refreshing smell and a light buttery color.  The only drawback was the ridiculous amount of carbonation in the beer.  WOW.  It bubbled like crazy.  Other than the carbonation (which of course, causes the burps), it was a good beer.  I give it 4 out of 5 thimbles.
Mary

Have you tried 312?  What did you think?  Leave us a comment!

Ann's Folly - Paper Pieced - Makeup from Week 4

This is part 2 of Week 4's blocks.  The paper-pieced version of Ann's Folly.  Let me just say that this block was a bear and contrary to the norm so far, harder (yes, I said harder) than the template pieced counter part.  There were more mistakes and more ripping done on these paper-pieced blocks than on most small quilts.  In the end, Holly caught her mistakes and fixed them before it was too late, but I didn't catch one of mine until the block was complete...so, I am not going to fix it.  I may decide to redo the entire block somewhere down the road...you know, before I shove pins in my eye sockets and after the frontal lobotomy (or a bottle in front of me).  Either way, if I redo it, it will be the template pieced way.  the points on that one seem to match up better, anyway.  Okay...enough of my rambling...onto the instructions.

 First, we printed out the paper-pieced diagram from EQ6 (left) and cut it into the various segments (right).

Next, place the background fabric right side showing on the back of the triangle segment.  Place a piece of focus fabric right sides together with the background and then sew along the bold line.  Trim the seam allowance. Add another piece of focus fabric and sew along the next bold line.  Trim and press.

Next, add a piece of background fabric to either side of the strip in the middle and sew along the bold lines.  Trim and press between each addition.  Add a piece of focus fabric for the small triangle tips.  In the picture below, Holly chose to use background fabric instead.

Here is where we find Holly's first big mistake...See the picture below.  It is only a mistake because she wanted to have the little red fans fussy cut in the small triangle tip.

Do all of the above steps again and you should have 2 of the units pictured below.

Now, to make the remaining pieces.  Start with the middle.  Make the strips just as you did for the units above, just without the large triangles.  Remember that in the following pictures, Holly chose to use background fabric instead of focus fabric on the small triangle tips.

 Once you have the 2 pieces above, sew them together to create the one below.

Now, to make the outer frame pieces.  Just like on the template pieced block, we decided that the tiny square in the corner of 2 of the frame sides was ridiculously small, so we simply made it part of the piece next to it.

Here is where we find Holly's next mistake.  LOL  She accidentally swapped the center fabric on the frames for 2 of her side pieces.  Oops!

After ripping and re-sewing, she had 2 each of the units shown below.  YAY Holly!

Okay.  Now you should have all of the pieces in the picture below.

Now, to put them together.  First, piece the 2 middle strip sections together.

Then, sew a large triangle section to each side of the strip.

Now, you have a complete middle square.  Next, we add the frames on.  Sew the frame sides onto opposite sides of the middle block (below).

Then, you sew on the remaining 2 sides and you have a completed block!

 Now, all you have to do is remove the paper...carefully.  :)

Mary's Finished bloc (left) and Holly's finished block (right).