Quickie, notes from the Rogue

Mushburger City, Holidays. 5/22

   Heading out to Chi-Town for Memorial Day weekend.  Hit the beach to grab a quickie surf.  Very windy with onshores at 10-15 kts. outta the southeast.  High tide.  Quite mushie.  Rode mostly whitewater from the front. Water around 62F.  Gettin' better.

At least one day in the sun.  OC Inlet, 5/17.

  Also gonna use the post to give mention to Craft Beer Week last week as well as Cruisers Weekend in Ocean City.  Tried a few, even got one from my daughter Shannon out of the Outer Banks.  Limited rating, so ya gotta read between the lines. Focused on enjoying the week of beer.

Parsonsburg brewery (Near Salisbury) Tall Tales

John Henry Dry Stout.  13 IBUs, 4.7 ABV.  Easy

drinking dark.

Baltimore's Heavy Seas Riptide IPA has all

the spices and orange notes of a Wit.  I 

called it a "steroidal hopped Blue Moon." 

7.25% ABV. 45 IBUs.

My daughter's pick.  Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery's

Milk Stout.  Creamy, hoppy chocolate at 60

IBUs and 5.7% ABV. She liked.

Starr Hill's IPA.  Northern Lights slaps ya

with 52 IBUs of hoppiness and  a smooth

6.5% ABV.  Nice Virginia quickie India Pale.

Turning The Corner, notes from the Rogue

Clean thighs.  5/16

 











   Seems we're finally getting the warmer nights needed to increase Right Coast water temps.  Winds calmed to bring clean although small conditions mid week.  Days are balmier.  Just need to bring on the sun.  Humidity?  Really startin' to feel it.  Attracts thunder storms like mayflies to a warm offshore... which I experienced this night as the winds shifted from southwest to west.  Chance of thunderstorms?  Almost every night this week.  Surfed Castles.  Low tide.  Was clean and clear...teal green walls peeling mostly to the right.  Atlantic readin' 57F...comfortable enough to strip the gloves. Stripping more rubber won't be far behind.  Serene evening on the water.  Finally turned a corner.
 

Castle in the sand.

Faceplant- must be my alma mater.

   There is a beer in mind that brings hop serenity whenever I have one.  If I cannot find what I'm looking for, I tend to go for one of these.  Sierra Nevada's Torpedo Extra IPA.  One of the few IPAs with nationwide distribution that I consider top of the line.  Sierra Nevada lives up to a rep that never disappoints.  Brewed with whole hops using a dry-hopping "Torpedo" to maintain the citrusy aroma without too much bitterness.  Pours an amber-gold with a 2 plus finger head, light haziness and distinct lacing.  ABV of 7.2% but not overpowering. The aromas of pine and citrus enhance the light tropical fruit in the taste.  65 IBUs give it a sharp hop sting yet refreshes.  I rated the Torpedo an A.

"Excessive intake of alcohol, as we 

know, kills brain cells.  But naturally, it 

attacks the slowest and weakest brain 

cells first.  In this way, regular con-

sumption of beer eliminates the weaker 

brain cells, making the brain a faster 

and more efficient machine.  That's why

you feel smarter after a few beers."

                                          -Cliff Clavin

 

Lost Wave, notes from the Rogue

Spring 'Noreaster, 5/5

   Went down to the beach yesterday. Very brief trip. Thought I could catch a glimpse of hope. Not so.  Surf was a mess.  Water still hovering at 49F. The blowing onshores of a mild 'noreaster made for a cool, albeit not unpleasant weekend.  Got plenty of yard work done.  Grass, deck, gardens.  Cut, cleaned and deweeded.  Next week's forcast looks promising though.
   Okay, so I'm crossing the Rt. 50 bridge on my way back to the 'Bury to feed the machine, and in my periph to the left I spot these rollers.  Right in the bay as the current flows from the inlet inward and runs up on a sandbar, one that has been slowly sinking away over the years.  Seen it before.  Just saw it break last Thursday. I pulled off to better survey this lost wave.  Lost, like the swell somehow wandered into the Sinepuxent and jacked onto this small shoal.    It breaks between the entrance to the OC Fishing Center Marina to the west and the Fishing Docks south of the Bridge to the east.   I've even seen it ridden before.  Last summer. When conditions are right it makes for a clean break. Sweet switch-hitter...right or left.  Probably best ridden with a log, but so what.  Always nice to ride new territory.  I plan on squeezin' at least a couple outta her at some point.

Rare footage, lost wave.  5/2

   Whilst I wait for any kind of swell... the beer of recent.  21st Amendment's Brew Free! Or Die IPA.  Nice hazy orange/amber pour.  2 Finger milky white head.  Good lacing.  70 IBUs give it a juicy hop bite with 2-row malts playing into the sweet overtones.  This one is rich. Very smooth and easy drinking.  At 7% ABV it is understandable how the six varieties of hops can make a chump outta you after three or four.  Gimme number five! I rated this an A-.

"Hops will set you free!"

-B. Bishop