Autumn Comments & the Great Pumpkin Ale

Every fall calls for a pumpkin ale; or at least the Thomas Ave. Brewery faithful do. Until three years ago, Pumpkin ale was a conceptual style that couldn't offset the mediocre number of 'fall brews' released by major breweries in the midwest. I've tinkered with the idea of including squash, zucchini & the titular gourd into a pumpkin ale, but their fermentable contribution is suggestible at best. Anyone who's had a dish made with a gourd component can attest that the pulp from these seasonal vegetables is more like a plate for a greater dish; one which the chef needs spices & other accompaniments to truly create a dish worthy of bearing the name of whichever fall field gourd hath fallen into their skillet.

So, this season's Pumpkin ale falls back onto the old trusty malt bill:
70% American 2-row Barley
14% German Munich Malt
12% Blended Caramel Malt
4% American Special Roast Malt

An overall toasty-sweet compromise that does well for both late hop additions & spice character via pumpkin pie spice. I deny some recipes that go for Cluster hops as a sole bittering addition. I've always held true to the idea that spicy late addition aroma hops add a special something to a beer that only comes once-per-autumn and possibly once in the dead of winter. This year's recipe will have a 2 oz./5 gal. first wort hop addition of German Spalt hops, and a late addition of American Mt. Hood. In past years, I've gone for more citrusy or floral late additions, but my Oktoberfest hybrid ales proved to be a waste on my selected yeasts. Worthy lessons, but lessons that yielded to a sudden availability of Spalt pellet hops.

Lucky beer, indeed.

American ale yeast, as gospel. Three weeks fermentation before a week in the keg. Oh, you Autumnal traditional beer!

Beer details aside, I should notify that my inaugural post begat some poetic justice. Only two weeks after I'd made light of a flat panel TV on an Iowa roadside, my cat pushed my wife's TV off our record cabinet before my occupied eyes. It was a physical feat for such a small feline that begat the later evening into becoming a trip to WalMart for a replacement.

Yes, humbled am I.

Now we have an LCD TV & Bluray player, though Wally-world's selection of Bluray discs was so reprehensible that I chose no additional titles to compliment my new array of devices. What follows is my current commentary on HDTV & its hegemony over innocent consumers. Though I found it strangely perverse to be pushing a flat-panel TV & hundreds of dollars in et cetera equipment through WalMart aisles in a single shopping cart. Don't ask why I didn't go elsewhere. My most satisfying intention overall was denying Best Buy my dollars in credit.

- Anything short of a roof-top antenna provides paltry reception, even when bathed in transmitter reception. Satellite TV is a crap shoot for equipment quality. Comcast/Xfinity will do you like Ving Rhames in Pulp Fiction.
- 90% of major network programming is uninteresting 'reality' TV or shows that are akin to karaoke showdowns. If I wanted to be bored by this kind of culture, I'd go to a townie bar.
- WTF Family Guy?! Just because you have a 1.77:1 aspect ratio doesn't mean you need to devote half of your waning comedic intellect to 3D animation. I prefer Aqua Teen Hunger Force & Squidbillies for a reason. Namely, more of those shows' bugets are devoted to making me laugh, rather than confirming that two or three animators can work in a three axis environment. To hell with advanced shading, I want less motion, more throwback humor via obscure acronyms & minimal animation over a 12 minute span.
- HDTV was supposed to be the death knell for pan & scan or full frame edits of current movies. So, why are so many syndicated digital broadcasts catering to people with 4:3 TVs? I've seen full frame broadcasts with letterbox aspects being broadcast over the so-called HD channels of UHF stations. It's time these stations do like the big networks & devote HD broadcasts for intended aspects & resoultions & leave the reduced versions for the x-2 channels on their transmitters. I'm looking at you My-Network-TV affiliates & your crappy 30 Rock reruns! Also, if Netflix doesn't rescind their BS 1.85:1 version of Pulp Fiction, I may cancel my subscription.
- Oh, and Youtube.com... Just friggin' go 720p already! You're the biggest video site aside from Netflix from 6-10pm! Just let me watch Brewing TV in HD! I will never choose to get any content from iTunes, and you should take advantage of that!
- 1080i, I hate you. I actually hate any broadcast format that ends in 'i'. So just, upgrade to 'p' already!

Oh lord, what have I already become?