Shore Stuffing, the Rogue's notes.

Wind blasted pup...no SUP today. Chop on the river. O.Pines, 11/28/2019

   Let the festivities begin. Time to stuff in as much running, eating, trimming, shopping, and general excess before year end. Thanksgiving, my mark for the beginning of a month-plus long holiday feast of stuffing on the Shore. Don't get me wrong. I relish it, appreciate it, worry about it, get aggravated by it, and pretty much look forward to every bit of it. Christmas is definitely the anchor. New Years the finale, before Winter's hum drum and frost envelops everything. Ain't it always the same? No matter how the feast ended up, when it's over there's a let down. Ocean City's Winterfest of Lights always helps with this let down. Loads of LEDs. They have a number for 'em. $hit-tons. That's my number. Part of our Thanksgiving festivities included the trip to Winterfest at Northside Park. Just a few highlights...

   What beer goes with a turkey dinner? Asking me? Any and all. Virginia's Starr Hill put out a New England style IPA called Swim...nice for the occasion. Paired well with the saltiness of the oyster dressing and the savory seasoning of the turkey. Poured a cloudy orange with a less than finger head. Not big on lace retention.The yin of the mango and pineapple fruit aromas. The yang of the spicy pine, and familiar tart hop-grapefruit tastes. Little more than subtle at 7% ABV. Refreshing hop bite...more closely resembling a Pale. Rated a B.

A good holiday seasonal opener and desert partner was Leinenkugel's Snowdrift Vanilla Porter. Opaque black pour. Two-plus finger, light tan head. Light vanilla notes joined with chocolate and malts in the wafted up through the liquid. Boasted a hint of cherries and vanilla, dark chocolate, coffee, and molasses in the flavor. Creamy texture going down. Light bitterness (16 IBUs) in the aftertaste offset the heaviness of the beer. No one aroma or taste stood out. At 6% ABV, a nice post-dinner seasonal. Rated a B/B-.

"I'm excited this Thanksgiving

to eat like the 1% and drink

like the 99%."   -Anon

Growin' up fast. Winterfest, 11/27/2019.

Not Yet, the Rogue's notes.

"Did you know that salt water is most closely related to human blood, and you know what that reminds me of? Our own essence, gentlemen." -Matt George, In God's Hands
Clean-up of the bloodline begins. Just another Monday at the OC Inlet, 11/18/2019  -Dispatch Pic

   Ready for any weekend. Not. Not making time. Not getting out. Not getting wet. Not yet. Water now getting to borderline 50F. Weather not exactly conducive. Weekends have been busy. Clean-up from the offshore systems earlier in the week had occurred off hours, i.e. weekdays. Mornings, afternoons (despite winds picking up). Yep, Standard Time work hours. 0-Dark Thirty by the time I get off. No surf yet...
   ...Beer review though. Of course. Like the most recent coastal system, Chaos Brewing outta Roanoke, VA added to the Atlantic confusion with Squatch Ale. A scotch ale...get it? Poured a dark reddish-brown, with a thin finger's worth, khaki head. Light toffee-malt notes mixed with spice. At 7.5%, a little boozy sweetness in the initial swig. Flavors of caramel and roasted malts. Finish was a hair tart...flashing the 25 IBUs of slightly bitter hop citrus. A good-un to wash away a missed surf opportunity, ye olde wee-heavy got rated a solid B.

"Advocacy, not snobbery, is the
best path to spreading beery

enlightenment." -the Beer Geek

Last Voyage, the Rogue's notes.

Pulling up the anchor, letting go the rope. Age rules over all things, fate rules over hope.  -Gentle Giant
 Autumn serenity overcomes a fading summer. Upriver, St.Martins. 11/2/2019

   Last nice weekend. Last fishing expedition. Last boat cruise. Last voyage. Water had cooled on the bayside as well. Launching at the usual ramp, I released the winch strap allowing the boat to begin to back off the trailer. To float the boat the rest of the way I usually end up wading in (required of SUV owners vs. pick-up trucks) and push it off. Yeah, the water had gotten noticeably colder. But, the day was calm, even the bay was calmer than usual. Less boat traffic...sure that helped the conditions on the open water. Wife and I cruised over to try our luck by the Rt. 50 bridge. South side had a strong current dragging north. Anchor wasn't a guarantee. Constantly watching our proximity to the bridge as I was slingin' the Roy Rig towards the pilings. Got stuck a few times. Finally lost a rig. Happened to see "Big Bird" Cropper plying the current as well as several other boats. Noticed he didn't stay in one place long if they weren't biting. Saw a few small non-keepers pulled in. No one really catching anything. Finally took the 'Big Bird" hint and left. Trolled the northside, wife driving...did a good job too! Kept flipping the rigs under the bridge and around the pilings until I had lost the remainder of the rigs to the flotsam along the bottom. No worries. We headed up the channel and the thoroughfare, past Harbor Island, around Fish Tales, and across the bay back to the St. Martin. Followed the river down to the county boat ramp in Bishopville. Turned back to end the voyage where we started. The Pines boat ramp. No fish, but stoked to get out on the water, even to end the season.

Final landing.

   Main Beer Company's Fall Coffee Stout. Nice warmer to keep nearby during clean up. Pour was a very dark brown with a tan, finger-plus, foamy head. Solid tan lacing and retention. Aromas of pine, roasted malt, and mocha coffee. Tasted of cola mixed with semi-sweet chocolate. Light char of burnt malts and hop bitterness did nice job of countering the sweet without making the finish overly dry. Plenty more cold brewed coffee behind it. 5.6% ABV meant another was possible without smudging the hull. Very good stout. Rated an A/A-.

"The natural path for every
gluten-tolerant adult should 

lead them to falling in love 

with beer." - P. Dawson

Closing Time, session notes from the Rogue

Another one bites the dust; harvest time, Berlin, MD. Late October, 2019.

Closing time.
One last call for alcohol,

So finish your whiskey or beer.
Closing time.
You don't have to go home,

But you can't stay here.
-Semisonic

   The end is here. At least that of my weekday surfing. On the way to work I had actually been doing a countdown. Number of corn and wheat fields that get harvested. Soybeans that are turning color before drying up. The number that have succumbed to the sickle, mechanized or otherwise, increased with each trip. Evening surf sessions had shortened to the point where if I didn't get outta work early enough, I was sittin' in the lineup searchin' the horizon in the dark. Week before last featured knee to thigh fast closers. Water in the low sixties...boot time. Fun rides. At this point of the season, in a full suit, I was happy just to have a few to glide down. 

Corrugated surf, but stoked for the glide. Holidays, 10/24/2019.

And Damn! Week over week it got cold fast.  Water in upper 50's by the last week of October. Donned the boots and gloves for that last ride. Overcast all day, so even by 5-ish as I entered the water, it was short work before I was pretty much in the dark. At that point, the waves were coming in ghostly sets, like zombie walkers. Were on rising up in front of ya before you knew it. Wrappin' around and draggin' you over the falls. Little chance to get in position. Managed to slip into a half-assed right before the thigh-high mass folded over and kicked my stick out from under me. Spent the rest of the evening caught inside, or missing the ride. Trudging out in the pitch black, nuthin' left but All Hallows Eve and the weekends. Until Springtime.

Last weekday sesh...

...tough catch all evening. Holidays, 10/30/2019.

   It's the time of year for my annual Oktoberfest beer of choice. This year it was Narragansett Brewing's Fest Marzen, an amber-orange, Bavarian style lager that poured crystal clear with a finger-plus white, foamy head. The aromas exploded with malt and caramel with a light hop spice. Flavor featured more toasted malts, a sweet, nutty, biscuity backbone, and a 22 IBU, clean, crisp finish. 5.5% ABV, so the six of sixteen ouncers (say that 5 times fast...after the 3rd) wasn't deadly. Rated a B+.

Perfect for month end, and in keeping with Jack's (o'Lantern) night, Blood Orange pHunk, another acquisition from Cape Charles Brewing. A Berliner Weisse that poured a clear copper color. Thin fizzy head. Little lacing. Smelled of citrus and orange, with a touch of grain. Tart splash of lemon and bitter orange in the taste with a dry, hop finish. 4.0 ABV, 5.0 IBU. Easy drinking brew. Rated a B.

   Closed the month with another epic Berlin Halloween. This year's theme: Day of the Dead. This town really knows how to throw a good 'ol Eastern Sho' fall party. It was a ride no one wanted to end.

On the hunt...

Where's that schoolmaster?

You have to be here to get it...the candy I mean.

"Shadows of a thousand years
Rise again unseen, 
Voices whisper in the trees
Tonight is Halloween."
-D. Kozen

The stoke of the night...more candy.