Saturday, August 09, 2025

Pic(k) of the Week: Woodland morning

Woodland morning
Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).

Softly camouflaged,
Morning in the woodland
Fending the summer beast.

Melton Park: DeKalb County, Georgia, USA. 23 June 2025.


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Tuesday, August 05, 2025

The return of Red Sky at Night

Saison + hummus
Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.
Red sky in morning, sailor take warning.

old sailing adage

Heavy Seas Brewing's Red Sky at Night Saison, served on draught (with a side scoop of hummus) at My Parents' Basement (a combination good-beer pub, graphic novel shop, and arcade game parler) in the City of Avondale Estates, Georgia, USA (some 570 miles south of the brewery).

22 July 2025.


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About Red Sky at Night

Heavy Seas is a thirty-year-old 'craft' brewery, founded in 1995 (née Clipper City Brewing) in Baltimore County, Maryland, USA. The Red Sky at Night appears to be a limited re-release for the brewery's anniversary. Here's the brewery's description of the beer in 2010, when it was an annual spring release:

Brewed in the style of Belgian farmhouse ales – using a unique Belgian yeast and authentic Belgian candi sugar. It is a potent and spicy ale with deep complexity. Pairs well with Thai cuisine and mussels.
  • ABV: 7.5% [alcohol by volume]
  • IBUs: 17.5 [international bittering units]
  • Hops: French Strisselspalt
  • Malts: Pale, 2-Row, Wheat Malt

My impression (now, in 2025):
The beer poured with a pleasantly hazy appearance, typical of the saison style. In flavor, there were hints of spice (such as anise), notes of candi sugar fusel alcohols, and a 'red delicious' apple character. Tasty!

My Parents' Basement mistakenly, but humorously, referred to the beer as Red Rum Sky at Night, mixing a cinematic horror allusion with a nautical aphorism (quoted above). To be fair, so had the beer-review app, Untappd.

About Saison

(pronounced: "say ZAWWN")
Beers in this category are gold to light amber in color. Often bottle-conditioned, with some yeast character and high carbonation. Belgian-style saison may have Brettanomyces or lactic character, and fruity, horsey, goaty, and/or leather-like aromas and flavors. Specialty ingredients, including spices, may contribute a unique and signature character. Commonly called 'farmhouse ales' and originating as summertime beers in Belgium, these are not just warm-weather treats. U.S. craft brewers brew them year-round and have taken to adding a variety of additional ingredients.
CraftBeer
a website of the [U.S.] Brewers Association


A series of occasional reviews of beer (and wine and spirits).
No scores; only descriptions.
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Saturday, August 02, 2025

Pic(k) of the Week: Like a caress

Like a caress
Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).

Like a caress,
A woodland embrace.
Vernal fancy.

Seminary Wood in Decatur Legacy Park: City of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 25 April 2025.


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Dinah Washington: Crazy He Calls Me
Album: Dinah Jams (EmArcy, 1955)

"The difficult, I'll do right now. The impossible will take a little while."

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Saturday, July 26, 2025

Pic(k) of the Week: Into the green

Into the green
Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).

After the rain,
The urban duo
Goes into the green.

Trolley Trail in Gilliam Park: City of Atlanta (Kirkwood), Georgia, USA. 28 June 2025.


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Dexter Gordon: Cheesecake
Album: Go (Blue Note, 1962)

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Saturday, July 19, 2025

Pic(k) of the Week: Festival dancers

Festival dancers (02)
Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).

Dance (drink!) to the music.

Inman Park Festival: City of Atlanta, Georgia, USA. 26 April 2025.

Taking place on the last full weekend in April, the Inman Park Festival & Tour of Homes is Atlanta’s largest all-volunteer festival. Organized by the Inman Park Neighborhood Association since the 1970s, the festival has grown to become a full weekend jam-packed with events, including music, kids' activities, a Tour of Homes, a marvelous street parade, an artists’ market, and some of the city’s best people-watching.

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Sonny Rollins: Tune Up
Album: Newk's Time (Blue Note, 1959)

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