It's Not the Name, It's the Taste

I don't care about the name, the color of the label, or any of the social crap that may be associated with any particular brand of beer. I drink beer because I like the taste of it. I don't drink nearly as much as I used to before I got that ulcer, but I still drink my two beers a day because I like the taste of it. There are two main components that determine the taste of beer, the malt and the hops. It is the proportionate blending of malt and hops that determine whether a beer is "dry" or "sweet". Of course beer doesn't really taste dry of sweet, but that's the words that are used to describe it. I think they say something similar about wine. A sweet beer is heavy on the malt and light on the hops, while a dry beer is just the opposite. Budweiser is generally considered to be a dry beer, while most of the Miller products fall into the sweet category. Stroh's and Pabst are somewhere in between those two. The craft beers I have tasted seemed to fall into the dry category, but it's hard to tell because they're not even yellow, so it's like comparing apples to oranges.

There are two ways to make home brew, from scratch and from a kit. I have never tried making beer from scratch but, from what I have read, it sounds more difficult and time consuming than making it from a kit. The kit consists of syrupy stuff that comes in a can. The malt and hops are already mixed for you. You can tinker with the taste by adding more malt or hops, or you can just try a different brand of kit until you find one you like.

Legs Inn closes for the winter because it's a big barn of a building with no insulation. It's been a few years but, last I heard, it was owned and managed by George and Kathryn Smolek, the third generation of Smoleks to run the place. I don't think they have winter jobs, they work hard spring to fall and go down to Chicago for the winter to rest up. Deer season is not nearly as big a deal around here as it used to be, but I'm sure there would be enough business for them to stay open if they wanted to. After deer season comes the skiers and snowmobilers, which would certainly keep them busy till spring.

It doesn't matter which hand you use to describe where you live in Michigan, but it should be turned so that the thumb is on the viewer's right to correspond with a map of the Lower Peninsula. you can represent the U.P. with the other hand if you want to, but then you can't use it to point to the desired location on your primary hand.

There is a certain amount of philosophy associated with law and politics but, when push comes to shove, it's the precise "letter of the law" that counts. While the constitution may be read as a philosophical document, its primary function is to describe the powers and limitations of the three main branches of the federal government. It doesn't matter what you think it means or what I think it means, it matters what the courts determine that it means. A future court might decide that it means something different but, until it does, the latest ruling stands. I think that you're right about the Second Amendment, and so did a previous Supreme Court ruling, but that ruling was overturned by a more recent ruling. The Michigan State Constitution avoided that controversy by clearly stating that citizens have the right to bear arms both in the state militia and as individuals. Of course, that's only good in Michigan, but I wouldn't be surprised if other states have something similar.

How was the weather on your trip, and what did you find when you got home? Most of the Eastern U.S. has been pretty stormy lately. We haven't gotten nearly as much snow as some other places but, of course, it ain't over yet. Kind of makes you hanker for some global warming, doesn't it.