Now I’m not normally a big sports fan, especially football, but I couldn’t help but watch the end of the Super Bowl tonight (I was out and about running errands for most of the game because I really didn’t care and was really only watching while waiting for my laundry). When I am a sports fan, I tend to be a New York sports fan, having grown up in Southern CT, much closer to NY than Boston or Foxboro as is the case of the Patriots. Sure, the Patriots had a historic season going into the Super Bowl completely undefeated. However, every good thing must come to an end, and tonight, that end was the New York Giants with an unlikely ending to an otherwise perfect season.
Personally, I can’t stand the obnoxiousness of Boston-area sports fans, generally being Red Sox fans, but that extends a bit to Patriots fans as well, as they have become quite cocky with their team’s perfect regular season. The only good thing (other than being the first football team to go 19-0) that would have come of the Patriots winning tonight would be the possibility of it being cool to hate them (much like it’s become cool to hate the Yankees, the most decorated team in the history of professional sports, all sports). But the only thing better than the Patriots making history with a 19-0 season is the Patriots going 18-1 to a very unlikely opponent who barely made it to the post season. If I enjoyed watching any Super Bowls in the past 28 years, this was the best. It was a good game and anyone who says otherwise is just being a crybaby (Boston-area sports fans love to blame the refs or the umpires when their teams lose, even when it’s a legit loss). Both teams played tough. When the Patriots’ offense pushed, the Giants’ defense pushed right back. In the end, it seems as though the Giants’ defense got the best of the Patriots and Eli Manning made some incredible plays (especially in the run to the game winning touchdown breaking loose of the Patriots’ defense and making an incredible throw that was almost incomplete, which was probably the play of the game in my opinion).
Anyway, I’m happy it’s over and I am thrilled the Giants won.
EDIT: I saw this post a post that no longer exists on Beer Advocate because it was unrelated to beer and had to share it. It basically sums up how I feel about Belichick and his reaction to losing. He didn’t once say in his interview that the Giants played one hell of a game. Instead, he just said he was disappointed in his own team. That’s pretty classless if you ask me. Basically, the BA post called Belichick a sore loser, which is pretty accurate if you ask me.
Last night, Providence was hopping. It was Parents Weekend at Providence College. The PC Friars had a basketball game at the Dunk. And there were shows at both Trinity Rep and PPAC. Susan and I had spent the day shopping and doing stuff we had been putting off for a while (I finally picked out a wedding ring for instance). When we got home, we were starving and wanted burgers. We hadn’t been to Trinity Brewhouse in quite some time (a few months, which isn’t like us) because the food and beer had been so hit or miss lately and it tended to lean more towards miss. But we decided last night that we’d try it again. We start to head downtown and notice upon crossing over I-95 that downtown is mobbed with people. We arrive at Trinity and see that there’s barely any standing room, nevermind tables to sit at. We put our names in and were told it could be 45 minutes to an hour before we got a table. I really wanted to eat there and figured we could spend that time drinking beer since it had been a while since the last time I was there. I went to get some cash from the ATM around the corner and decided to see how long the wait was at Bravo. That, too, had an hour wait. So I went back to Trinity, informed Susan of that and we got some beer. I had Pat’s Mild Ale, which was basically a low alcohol Pale Ale, and Susan got their Russian Imperial Stout, which ended up tasting nothing like a RIS, but was still very good (which I’m glad she enjoyed or I would’ve had to drink that as well). Twenty minutes after putting in our names, we were seated. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be a whole hour because the PC game started at 7 and it was already like 25 till and the place was quickly emptying out. The hour wait scared most of the people behind us, unfortunately, but the place was still jammin’ when we left.
Anyway, I ordered the Black and Bleu Buffalo Burger and Susan got my usual standby, the Brewer’s Burger. We had a waitress who had served me just about every time I’ve gone there in the past year. She greeted us with “I know you have the menu memorized”. After I finished the Pat’s Mild, I ordered the RIS as well. It was good, though again, not like a normal RIS. It lacked the hoppiness you would expect and had more of a sweet fruity quality to it. Our food was cooked perfectly, their old fries are back, and we were nicely buzzed from the beer. It was a perfect night out (which was followed by picking out tuxes at the mall). Trinity still holds a special place in my heart and last night proved why. Hopefully, they’ll continue the good work. It was nice to see Senator Josh Miller (the owner) there working hard and helping out. I was beginning to think he gave up on Trinity and was spending too much time at Local 121, his newest restaurant.
Last Thursday’s tasting at Nikki’s was a winter beer tasting. I was excited to see that he had Great Divide’s Hibernation Ale. Great Divide is one of my favorite breweries. You just can’t go wrong with any of their beers. Their website said this is a limited seasonal. I was thinking it was super limited, but I am glad I was wrong. Anyway, I picked up a 6 pack of this great beer after tasting it at the tasting and had one the next evening. It’s an Old Ale, though it’s very reminiscent of a Scotch Ale. The beer pours a dark brown/ruby color with a small tan head. The smell is immediate smoke with a slight hint of some caramel. The flavor goes the same way. While I was hoping it was going to be better, at 8.1% ABV it should age for a year or so just fine (it even won an award for best aged beer in 2005 or 2006). I am not saying this is a bad beer, but I’m hoping that in a year some of the smoke flavor will go away. Aside from the up front smoky flavor, there was some caramel and a slight roasted flavor in there as well. I’m hoping to get some fruitiness that is characteristic of Old Ales after aging it for a year. I put 3 of them in my fridge (though there’s now only 2 after drinking that one) and I’m going to age the other 3 until at least next winter. I’m hoping some of those other flavors come out. There is a very slight alcoholic warming quality to it, but it’s not overpowering. In fact, you can barely tell how strong it is until you finish the glass. Having this after 9:30 at night knocked me out. I have some high hopes for this one after a year, but even fresh, it’s still another solid offering from Great Divide.
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