After Dark B, B, & B

So, thanks to a White Sox west coast trip, we got a chance to do some late night Beer, BBQ, and Baseball. The Sox are playing in Oakland and a 9pm start means I am grilling in the dark on a beautiful Friday night.

Beer: went with a variety pack I picked up in StL last weekend from a brewpub named Schlafly’s. The pack included their Pale Ale, their APA, and their Kӧlsch. I had tried some of the beer a couple of weekends before and fell in love with their Oatmeal Stout, so I thought I should try some others.

The Pale Ale: I’m not a big Pale Ale guy, but this wasn’t all that bad. The lady loves it, so I think I’ll let her drink the rest of it. Official Score: 7.3 out of 10.
The APA: My first question, what on earth is an APA? Turns out it stands for American Pale Ale. Oh, so like an IPA (India Pale Ale)? Yes. Actually, from what I can tell, it is the exact same as an IPA. In short, it’s just a hoppy Pale Ale. Do people in StL now have some kind of complex about mixing their beer with foreign countries? Either way, didn’t like this one so much. Official Score: 6.5 out of 10.
The Kӧlsch: This beer was fantastic. I wasn’t exactly sure what makes a beer a “Kӧlsch” so I looked it up. According to Wikipedia, it just means it’s a beer brewed in Cologne, Germany. Kind of like champagne is just a sparkling wine from a specific place. I’m starting to think the people at Schlafly are just naming beers whatever da f they want. Regardless, this is a good beer. Official Score: 8.7 out of 10.

BBQ: We went simple for our late start. Got two small steaks, two pre-prepared kabobs (beef, green pepper, red pepper, and onion), and a large onion. We cut up the onion, drizzled it in olive oil and covered it with salt, rosemary, thyme, and butter. We wrapped it in foil and threw it on the grill to cook for about an hour. You can and should cook it for longer, but an hour gets it done. We took the steaks and covered this with some of Weber’s Chicago Steak Seasoning. If you don’t own this seasoning, run out and get some. Right now! I love this stuff. It can make the cheapest steak taste fantastic. I even put in my eggs in the morning. That’s how good this stuff is. Everything turned out wonderful. Grilling in the dark was a success.

Baseball: On the one year anniversary of his perfect game, Mark Buehrle came out and threw a gem. Beuhrle went all 9, gave up only 4 hits, and allowed only 1 run. The Sox put up 5 for him and this game was O’va. In true Buehrle fashion this game only took 2 hours and 14 minutes. The man is a stud.

The Blog

Welcome Friends! I have started this blog for no important reason. As a matter of fact, this entire blog is going to be about nothing particularly important. If the url hasn’t already given it away, Bradford’s Bastard Blog is going to be about Beer, BBQ, and Baseball. Why Beer, BBQ, and Baseball? Well, these happen to be some of my favorite things to drink, do, and watch. Why start a blog about them? Recently the love of my life, let’s call her “She”, started a blog to help her reconnect with things she feels passionate about, things she has lost touch with, things that she enjoys. While by no means are Beer, BBQ, and Baseball important, I do enjoy them, and I do at times lose touch with them. Life is full of important things; jobs, bills, ect. By all means, it’s important to pay attention to these things. However, I also think we sometimes need to take time and make sure to give ourselves the things we enjoy. This is something that “She” has helped me understand. Often times I find myself getting too caught up in things like work. I forget to stop and enjoy life. This blog, in a way, is to help me stop getting so caught up and help me get back to enjoying. Someday I’ll look back on my life and I’m not going to remember most of these”important” thing. I hope to look back and remember these things I enjoy; I hope to have lots of them to remember.

I should note that I recently had the fortune to combine something very important to me, friends and family, with these exact things I’m blogging about…beer, bbq, and baseball. I thank everyone who came up. I’m glad we could all enjoy these things together. It was a memory I will always take pleasure in and a memory I hope to repeat many times.

Now, to what Bradford’s Bastard Blog is about:

While I wrote this blog, I enjoyed some awesome beer, bbq, and baseball.

Beer: A beer I found at Whole Foods called Maredsous. It’s a Belgium Triple (one of my favorite types of beer as you will probably discover as this blog develops). I have to say I recommend it. It’s a strong, sweat beer (like all Triples), but not overpowering in its sweetness. The 10% alc/vol is something to probably be aware of. Don’t pound these things. Slowly enjoy them for their flavor.

BBQ: A 1.25lb porterhouse with a hickory flavored dry-rub. It cost $25 from Whole Foods (damn I love their meat, damn I hate their prices). I overcooked it just a bit (damn you new distraction of a blog) but still left it closer to rare than medium, so it was still fantastic.

Baseball: Watching the Blue Jays play in Detroit. Rooting for the Blue Jay since the Tigers are only 2.5 back of the Sox. The Tiger’s schedule the next few weeks is pretty difficult. I’m hoping the White Sox can get a significant lead before they hit September and have their own difficult schedule. As I’m posting this, the game is tied 2-2 in the top of the 8th. Go Blue Jays!