Lets talk travelling: weekend bag

Lately I have been doing increasingly more travelling for work.  I have always owned nice travel luggage but with the bulk of my travel being between one and three nights, I have never had the justification for an appropriate weekend bag that works for a carry on.

I recently picked up a Calvin Klein weekend bag that has nicely fit my needs.  It doesn't look like traditional travel luggage which is nice because it doesn't give the impression of being a tourist or traveller outside of the airport, but it still packs the same way.  I have included my Allen Edmonds slippers in the photo for the sake of size reference.  Savvy planning easily allows for a week of business casual and "civialian" wear, my toiletries and spare set of casual shoes.  I found the CK bag to be incredibly convient because it opens wide like a doctors bag.  The downside is because of the sloped top, it is difficult to efficiently fit a full-sized laptop and typically requires carrying a seperate bag for such.  Because it is shoulder luggage, it can be burdonsome carrying for extended periods.

I picked the CK weekend bag up solely because I found it insanely cheaply.  I was concerned that it would quickly look scuffy or simply not hold up.  I can confidently say those concerns were unfounded as it has been incredibly versitile and sturdy.  Despite the additional weight and burdon I would love to replace it with a full-on raw hide leather solution, but for the moment it has fully exceeded my exceptations and core needs.

Lets talk drinks: Petrus Aged Pale

[Image used without permission from http://www.craftbeertime.com  great site to check out, sorry guys for the infringement but my camera failed me]

Hopefully for anyone reading this will associate keystone with an architecture term before that of a beverage...  that would not be gentlemanly befitting.

I prefer not to use this blog space for reviewing my craft beer drinking exploits but it is important to at least be aware of some of the trending topics in the craft beer world.  A few years ago we had the massive trend of over hopped beers, followed by the IPA/Belgian mash-ups of the wild ales, we had the resurgence of red ales.   But this year I think has really been the resurgence of sour ales.

Sour ales are exactly what they sound like, they are sour.  They range from sour sub-notes that complement the beer to over powering where the sour takes the overall taste far removed from your anticipated beer experience.  Petrus Aged Pale is the latter.

I first had Petrus Aged Pale on tap at the Maproom the other month.  I fell in love with it and it has been the most memorable sour beer I have had to date.  I recommended it to a fellow female companion who normally isn't a beer drinker but it fairly ambitious and she was definitely impressed.  On tap it is slightly more beer like than it is in bottle  I had seen it on the shelf at two top shelf stores since but hadn't picked up any bottles.

I was at a suburban blues bar the other night who had a fantastic beer lineup, but the only item that really stuck out to me was the Petrus, and I will recount the story for comedic value.  After I placed my drink order, the gaggle of waitresses were clearly talking about me with hand covered mouths.  The waitress returned shortly with my Petrus and said they were debating about whether they should serve me that beer or not.  Apparently, it is the only beer on their list that they won't take back....  but she said it was OK because I looked like a beer snob from the city.  Its hard to know if I should take that as a complement or not.

If you have the opportunity to try Petrus Aged Pale and your adventurous, do not hesitate to order it.

In future posts I hope to have some writeups on some of the other heavy hitters in the sour beer category like the Bruery's Hottenroth and Professor Fritz's 1809