8/19/10- Hawaiian Holiday!

Sierra Nevada Chico IPA- Brouweji Lane- Greenpoint, Brooklyn- 32 oz- Poured in to Pub Glass- 7.3% ABV- I was told by the beer guy that Brouweji Lane has two of the four kegs of this beer in the entire city! So that was a bit of a selling point. He also said this beer is sort of a mix of an American IPA and a classic English IPA. Definitely amber in color. Fluffy two finger head which receded pretty quickly with nice lacing. Again this beer has a light to medium bodied mouth feel, with a bit of a slick,oily finish. Light on the carbonation. Very piney aroma with some citrus in the background. This is a good IPA, almost feels like a Double IPA. Also very reminiscent of the Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA but maybe a little more complex. I 'm not really getting the classic English IPA in this one like the suggested in the store but maybe I'm just missing something. I like this beer but if I had to choose between this and the the Sierra Nevada Torpedo I'd go with the Torpedo.

Tonight I chose two records Music of Hawaii- Henry Mancini and his Orchestra and Hawaiian Holiday- Hal Aloma (king of the steel guitar) and his Hawaiian's. This selection is inspired by and in preparation for our one week honeymoon to Hawaii which we are leaving for in two days. We have been married for almost two years and we are finally going on our honeymoon! We will be spending a week in Kauai and are really excited. Not only was our honeymoon almost two years late but we have both not been away together in probably 3 years. This is an extravagant trip for us, but one that is probably a bit deserved. I am in the midst of packing so I can't discuss these records two much, but for a buck a piece there great especially the steel guitar record! This record has both instrumental and vocal tracks and looks like it was issued in the late 1950's or early 1960's on Columbia. Nice sparse arrangements which favor the steel guitar. This is music I dream about when I think of Hawaii. The Henry Mancini record is also good but for different reasons. Mr. Mancini made dozens of orchestral albums back in the day and he tried to incorporate alot of different musical styles into an orchestral format. Alot of these songs prominently feature the harpsichord and steel guitar and also include vocals, strings, horns, etc. Think James Bond scores of the 1960's and you can imagine what this record sort of sounds like. I wish I could write more but I have to finish packing. I am hoping to score some records in Hawaii but my cursory searches on the internet do not show any record stores on Kauai. Maybe I'll get lucky and come across a flea market. However I should be able to find some local beers to bring home.