Grumpy Beer Geek

I finally got around to cooking up batch 10 of my Cincinnati Chili recipe. I threw in a couple new ingredients and it turned out pretty good. It’s still not quite there though. Read on to see the recipe, my notes, and provide your feedback.
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I’m just not sure about this movie.

One one hand it is a good movie filled with great characters (though none of them original), on the other hand it seems like a poorly conceived and maybe even exploitative tribute to the World Trade Center disaster.

The story of the movie is that Monty (Edward Norton) has been convicted of a crime and must set the relationships in his life straight before he heads off to jail. It’s a great premise pulled off fairly well. The movie moves a bit slow, but is filled with generally good dialog that seems to keep you interested.

The actors all did a good job. Philip Seymour Hoffman played his standard character, but did it well. Edward Norton did a great job as Monty. And the movie was well directed by Spike Lee.

My real problem is that this is the way that this movie seemingly exploits the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and particularly the Word Trade Center disaster. This is a movie that was adapted from a book that was released in early 2001. Well before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But this movie makes a point of squeezing in scenes of the ruins and the tributes while adding nothing relating to the disaster to the plot line whatsoever. It just seems exploitative to me.

In one scene, Monty’s two friends, Frank and Jacob are standing in a window in Frank’s apartment that overlooks the World Trade Center ruins for three minutes. During this time the talk about the sight like middle-aged Bevis and Butthead would.

While I don’t think the subject should be ignored, and I certainly don’t think it should ever be forgotten, it seems as though it was just paraded through this movie without reason.

So in the end, after the movie was over I was conflicted. I liked the story, but I felt dirty for paying for something that I, in at least some respects, felt exploited the victims of 9/11.

Click here for other, probably better reviews of 25th Hour.

Musee Mechanique, my favorite place in San Francisco, has re-opened at it’s new location near fisherman’s wharf. They are now located at Pier 45 (Shed A at the end of Taylor Street).

They have a 2 1/2 year lease but hope to extend it further. The collection is rather fragile. They didn’t lose anything during the last move, but there were a few items damaged.

Stop by and take a look if you are in the area. It’s a fantastic place. I also have a few pictures up as well.

Hosted a 12 year vertical of Anchor’s Our Special Ale this past weekend. It’s one of the few beers that I look forward to buying every year.

The vertical turned out pretty good. It’s interesting to see how the beer ages and changes over the years. Even though the recipe changes every year there are some consitant themes through out the year. Ginger and spruce make frequent appearances.

This is one beer that definitely ages well. The spices seem to blend and the beer becomes fuller over time.

In my opinion, the best vintages were the 00, 97, 95, 93 and 94.

It’s also interesting to note that only the 1991 seemed like it was off.

I’ve gotten a couple questions about chili lately. I’m no expert, but click on more to see my answers.
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The WB’s Surreal Life must be the best bad TV show ever.

Throw 7 people who’s collective fame clock is at 14:59 and counting into a house and see what happens. It’s amazing. The best bad TV has ever been.

It’s on WB on Thursdays at 9:00pm.

While visiting friends and family for the holidays I stopped by the local Kroger and picked up some little cans of Cincinnati heaven.

I picked up 14 cans total — cost me $2.24 per can. Dumped them in a suitcase — checked it on the plane and it got back safely. Now I just need to try making my own batch again — now that I can compare it to the real stuff. Hopefully I can work on that this weekend.

Anyone want to open up a Skyline franchise in San Francisco? I keep checking — but they never get farther west…