Collective Arts Brewing & Donut Monster – Origin of Darkness (with Vanilla, Toasted Coconut, and Lactose)

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Beer, Beer Review, Canada, KEX Brewing, Stout, Stout Season

As some of you may recall, I had myself a bit of fun with the Origin of Darkness series of brews last year.  Of the two I tried, one was absolutely amazing and the other I found so off putting I couldn’t bring myself to drink enough for a review, leaving that “honor” for my wife instead.  After making sure to review the ingredients I felt pretty good about this one, though.

Beer Name: Origin of Darkness (with Vanilla, Toasted Coconut, and Lactose)

Brewery: Collective Arts Brewing and Donut Monster (Hamilton, Ontario)

Style: Imperial Stout

ABV: 11.5%

Description: Brewed in collaboration with Donut Monster the brewery’s friendly, neighborhood donut shop, this variation of their Origin of Darkness imperial stout was aged in bourbon barrels along with “classic” donut ingredients like vanilla, coconut, and cream.  Read more about it here.  This particular bottle was from the 2018 vintage.

Appearance: It had a thick black body with faint tan lacing that formed with the pour and quickly faded away.

Smell: Sweet and boozy with a pretty significant amount of bourbon.

Taste: Started with a mix of creamy malts and dark chocolate.  The additives came through strongest mid-sip, with moderate notes of vanilla and toasty coconut highlights.  The finish was hot with plenty of bourbon and some nice barrel notes.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, thick body with low carbonation.

Hype: I was moderately excited about this, even in light of that black truffle experience.

Overall: I really enjoyed this and think they did a pretty good job capturing the essence of donut.

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Book Review: The Island, by Peter Watts (Sunflower Cycle)

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Book, Book Review, Peter Watts, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Sunflower Cycle

As I promised the other day, here we go with another short work from the Sunflower Cycle.  Although it was the first of these stories to be published all the way back in 2009, this is currently the third act of the series and takes place a very long time after my initial point of reference, 2019’s Freeze-Frame Revolution.

Although it came first, this work reads like it was a fresh installment of a long running series in terms of how developed the world and characters were and how cohesively it fits into with the stories that would come later.  Set aboard the spaceship Eriophora as it continues its unending mission to construct transportation gates, this 40 page short story references (or rather foreshadows) a lot of things that happen in Freeze-Frame, most notably the crew’s efforts to limit the authority of Chimp, the AI that controls the ship and mission.  In these pages, we join the eternal Sunday Ahzmundin as she is awoken to investigate an unexplained signal emanating from the area of the ship’s next construction site.  When the source is determined to be a sentient life form unlike anything conceived of before, Sun and Chimp have a profound disagreement over their obligation to avoid harming it.  Adding to the intrigue is that the only other person around is a rather odd crew member named Dix, an artificially conceived child of Sun with some very complicated loyalties guiding his view of the argument.

I found this story absolutely fascinating for a number of reasons.  First and foremost for me was the alien lifeform. It was just so far outside the scope of human comprehension and the norms of what you tend to come across in most sci-fi stories that I couldn’t help but be drawn to it, and the outcome of its encounter with Sunday and Chimp left me even more taken in by it.  Speaking of the two leading characters, it was a whole lot of fun watching their calculated aggressions against each other, all the while both fully aware of how much they ultimately need each other. This dynamic between the two also shaped my other two highlights of this story (and indeed the series in general), those being the psychological effects of a life divided up into short moments across the eons and the exploration of humanity’s place alongside advanced artificial intelligence.  With both of these topics, the author manages to create a great deal of tension in the stories that doesn’t necessarily always have a resolution which is definitely something that will keep me coming back for more of this series.

I’ll keep this post short and sweet and close by saying that this was an absolutely brilliant short and one that I highly recommend.  That this story managed to pack so much depth into such a small amount of space is truly amazing and something that must be read to truly appreciate. There are still a couple of Sunflower Flower stories out there that I really enjoyed, but in the interest of keeping things fresh around here, I might not review them for a little while.  My schedule is freeing up a bit in the near future and I have a number of other books I’m eager to get to!

Book Review: Hotshot, by Peter Watts (Sunflower Cycle)

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Book, Book Review, Peter Watts, Rifters, Sunflower Cycle

Alright, time to get back to the books!  While looking back on my reads from the past year, I was reminded of how much I enjoyed Peter Watts’ 2019 novella titled The Freeze-Frame Revolution and how excited I was to find out that it was part of a series called the Sunflower Cycle.  Luckily for me, the rest of these short stories are freely available here on the author’s website.  For those keeping track, this work was originally published in 2014 and marks the chronological beginning of the series.

The sun’ll die long before we do.  We’re gonna outlive the whole damn galaxy.

In the book we meet a young woman named Sunday Ahzmundin who is about to embark on a mission that will span the eons.  The product of a specialized breeding program and some rather extensive genetic and psychological manipulation, it is a role she was literally born to fulfill.  That knowledge, however, does little to curb her tendency to push back against the people running the program and mock their claims she is free to decide her fate.  Rebellious and often destructive to herself and others, she recruits her friend Kai to accompany her for an experience she hopes will provide a sense of acceptance and inner peace regarding their upcoming mission.

I liked this story a lot, though I’m not sure how I would have felt about it not knowing a little bit more of the story, especially some of the details about the mission.  Conversely, this also filled in a few things from Freeze-Frame that I had wondered about, so I don’t feel like I made a mistake in my reading order.  Chronology and understanding seem to be rather fluid here, which is perhaps appropriate given the complicated relationship these characters have with time.  Indeed, there seems to be a general consensus among readers that the order isn’t particularly important for these stories and that there is even a benefit to weaving your way through them along different paths.

Moving on from that, what I enjoyed most about this particular work was its psychological profile of Sunday and the very long view of it takes of human development from the perspective of people about to become outside observers.  There was also an interesting look at technology here as well, specifically at its uses and limitations and what room these leave for human action and agency in an age of highly advanced artificial intelligence. There was a whole lot of this content packed into a mere 23 pages and that was definitely more than enough to inspire me to read on!

Birthday Beer! Wizard’s Burial Ground and Screenshot

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Beer, Beer Review, Brewery Vivant, Massachusetts, Prairie Artisan Ales

Earlier this week I officially made it through yet another trip around the sun and celebrated in part with a pair of spectacular brews I found at the Rye and Thyme restaurant in Leominster, MA.  It was a somewhat random stop on the way to our final destination, but it was certainly a welcome one.  Boasting some amazing pub food and an equally impressive tap list, this was definitely my kind of place!

Beer number one was Wizard Burial Ground from Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids, MI.  Checking in at 10%, this bourbon barrel aged Quad was certainly an eye opener!  It poured a see-through amber colored body with a thin white head and had an invitingly sweet smell.  As for the taste, it packed a huge caramel and dark sugar sweetness upfront followed by a hint of bubblegum yeast in the middle and smooth, warming bourbon notes on the finish.  The pleasantly medium-thick mouthfeel held the flavors well, making this one amazing brew and an excellent start to my special day.

My second beer of the lunch was Screenshot, an 11% Imperial Stout from Prairie Artisan Ales.  Brewed with hazelnut coffee, it poured to a thick black body topped by a layer of tan foam.  It opened with a delicious mix of rich dark malt and sweet cream that was soon followed by moderate notes of hazelnut coffee, espresso, and dark chocolate.  It closed with a good luck of sweet, roasty heat and featured a super smooth thick body.

And there you have the two brews that helped me kick off my birthday celebration.  Here’s looking forward to another year full of great beers and (eventually) books!

Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery – The Chocolate Manifesto

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Beer, Beer Review, Canada, Chocolate, Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery, Stout

I am checking in this fine Monday morning with the first review of beer coming from my Christmas haul.  I was in the mood for something sweet and this looked like it had the potential to really satisfy.

Beer Name: The Chocolate Manifesto

Brewery: Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery (Ontario, CA)

Style: Imperial Milk Stout

ABV: 10.0%

Description: The brewery’s “definitive statement about chocolate and beer is described on the label as a “triple chocolate milk stout” brewed with three kinds of chocolate: shade-grown cacao nibs, roasted cacao powder, and chocolate malt.  Many promises of chocolatey goodness were printed across the label.

Appearance: It poured a dark cola brown body that looked black in the glass.  Resting up top was roughly a finger’s worth of than foam.

Smell: HUGE cocoa powder aromas immediately upon opening the bottle and pouring into the glass.  Think of opening up a can of good hot chocolate and then at least doubling the experience.

Taste: Again an explosion of chocolate with each of the three types well represented over the course of the sip.  It opened with notes of creamy chocolate malt and decadent milk chocolate which around mid-sip gave way to a more bittersweet cacao powder influence.  The finish was dark chocolate with bits of roast and heat mixed in. This was all chocolate throughout, but it was really interesting how it managed to feature the different types so well.

Mouthfeel: Super smooth, with a moderately thick body and low carbonation.

Hype: Moderate.  I was intrigued by this one when I saw the bottle but really didn’t know what to make of it.  Based on the label alone, I went in thinking this either going to be fantastic or disappointing with very little room in the middle.

Overall: I really enjoyed this.  To my pleasant surprise, it totally delivered on the aforementioned promises of chocolate overload.  This is a must try for chocolate lovers, though it is a beer you’ll end up spending some time with. As much as I was tempted to drink quickly on account of the decadently sweet, creamy opening, the heat and bit roast kept me at a much more reasonable pace.