Tag Archives: Bethany Miller

Citra Gose or: The Less Desirables Beer of the Week

18 Wednesday Jul 2018

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Salutations™!!

Bull’s Tavern, the Official Beer Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents Citra Gose from Hi-Wire Brewing Company, The Less Desirables Beer of the Week.citra-gose_mockup-402x1030

Goses have quickly become one of my favorite styles of beer. I love sour and I love salty and Goses are both at once. When Danielle brings in a Gose beer, I get excited. For one, it’s a Gose but also, I know that Danielle is my Beer Hero so she’s going to do us right! She did us right.

I really dig what Hi-Wire does. They’re located in NC’s Beer Capitol, Asheville. They do stuff to take care of the environment and they make great beer. This is one such beer. It’s salty and tangy and has a great floral and citrus aromatic essence about it. It’s light in body, light in heft (it’s only 4.2% ABV) but heavy on the flavor. Danielle said that if you like margaritas, you should try using this in lieu of a sour mix. I want to try that!

BeerAdvocate rates this beer 3.73/5 (Good) which I think is selling it short. Untappd has it at 3.67 caps out of 5, also selling it short. I rate it at 4.5 as it’s danged delicious. Have you had it? What did you think? If you’ve not had it or just have a hankering for more, head to Bull’s Tavern and try a pint of it. 

Listen to this week’s podcast episode to hear what we all think about it. You can do that HERE.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“At our core, we brew beer we want to drink on a regular basis, beer we can sit down and have multiple pints with friends.” – Hi-Wire Brewing

Bolo or: The Less Desirables Beer of the Week

16 Wednesday May 2018

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Salutations™!!

Bull’s Tavern, the Official Beer Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents Bolo Coconut Brown from Burial Beer, The Less Desirables Beer of the Week.burial

As Danielle said during the show, she’s never heard of a coconut brown before. We’ve heard of coconut stouts and coconut porters. But, never a coconut brown. It’s hard to beat just about any beer that has Burial’s name on it. So, when those factors are combined, that means delicious creamy goodness.

To me, there was a little bit of flavor dilution. There wasn’t a big coconut flavor push in the beer. The flavors were all a bit muddled. On top of that, the beer had been in a growler for an hour or so and it was warmer than I’d want it. I’d love to retry it right out of the tap. All that being said on the flavor, I liked it. I would just have liked a little more clarity. The brew is 5.6% ABV.

BeerAdvocate rates it at 3.94/5 (Very Good). Untappd has it at 3.91 caps out of 5. I rated it 4.25 out of 5. Tune into the latest episode of The Less Desirables to hear what Danielle, Bethany, Cheyenne, Nathan and I had to say about it. You can listen HERE.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

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“Dense forest demand sharp blades. Worn, torn, chipped or rusted, the Bolo shepherds the path. Later still, this tool of ancient times takes on the tiring task of harvesting the hidden fruit of the tropics. Enjoy an aroma that reminds you of tropical granola with a smooth maltiness that hints at chocolate and nuts. Baked in our kettle, cured to perfection.” –  Burial

Many a Brew or: The Less Desirables Beer of the Week

09 Wednesday May 2018

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Salutations™!!

Bull’s Tavern, the Official Beer Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents a shload of beer.

Yep, I said it was a shload of beer. Chances are the brews we had on the show this evening you’re not going to find at Bull’s Tavern, so instead, we are just going to talk about Bull’s Tavern. 1_tld

They have 24 taps. They have an extensive liquor wall. And, they have a lot of live music. So, beer, booze, music. That’s a great combination. Add in a great atmosphere and you have a near perfect place.

The thing about the beer selection at Bull’s Tavern is that there are many that you won’t find anywhere else in WSNC. That’s because, with Bull’s partnership with Gate City Growlers, they get brews that you just won’t find anywhere else. They drive to the far reaches of the state to get the best beer this state has available. Yum!

As far as live music goes, here’s what they have going on this week:

May 10 – Something Like Seduction
May 11 – Little Stranger
May 12 – Brothers Pearl

Go support local music and have a great beer whilst you’re at it.

Tune in to this week’s show and listen to Caitlin, Bethany and me talk about the beer that Caitlin brought. You can listen HERE.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Milk is for babies. When you grow up you have to drink beer.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

I’ve Been Drinking About You or: The Less Desirables Beer of the Week

25 Wednesday Apr 2018

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Salutations™!!

Bull’s Tavern, the Official Beer Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents I’ve Been Drinking About You Double IPA from Casita Cervecería, The Less Desirables Beer of the Week.beer

Danielle brought us a good beer this week (well, every week). She brought this lovely gem from a nomadic brewery here in NC, Casita Cervecería. What does that mean? Well, think of it as if it’s a “pop-up” dinner at a restaurant. At a pop-up, a concept restaurant comes in and uses another restaurant’s facility, equipment, and space. This is what Casita is doing. They are creating “temporary” breweries inside other breweries.

This brew, as best we can tell, was made/brewed at Duck-Rabbit.

It was delicious. You got a waft of hoppiness in the beginning but that went away and what was left was a fruit-forward, honey-laiden, sweetish flavor. This is a good beer. It leaves a great lace, too. It’s a bit heavy on the ABV (7.5%) and I’m okay with that. It doesn’t taste boozy, though.

BeerAdvocate has it rated at 4.15/5 (Exceptional) and Untappd has it at 3.99 caps out of 5. I rated it 4.25 out of 5.

Have you had this brew? If so, what did you think? If not, or you just have a hankering for more, you can head to Bull’s Tavern and grab a pint or, if you have a growler, you can go fill it up with this delicious brew.

Tune in to hear the show and find out what Danielle, Bethany, Abigail and I think. You can listen HERE.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

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“We like the idea of using our creativity to make a product that will make people happy.  It’s our greatest hope these beers will become part of your joyful memories.” – Casita Cerveceria

Hulihe’e or: The Less Desirables Beer of the Week

11 Wednesday Apr 2018

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Salutations™!!

Bull’s Tavern, the Official Beer Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents Hulihe’e Rye IPA from Fonta Flora Brewery, The Less Desirables Beer of the Week.1beer

This is the beginning of a trend, I think. Danielle brought us some fantastic beer that you can’t get from anywhere else in Downtown WSNC. Bull’s Tavern, through a partnership with Gate City Growlers, gets access to a lot of brews that other places may not get to. That’s a bonus to having Danielle on the show.

Fonta Flora is in Morganton, NC (that’s in the mountains). They make great beers and this is one of them. We know that I’m not a big fan of IPAs but this is a rye IPA and it was different. I got some citrus notes (Citra Hops are prevalent), loved the cloudy golden color, loved the texture and body, and really the flavor was smooth, but bitter, but had a nice finish. The brew sits at 6.1% ABV.

BeerAdvocate has it at 4.24/5 (Exceptional) while Untappd has it at 4.11 caps out of 5. That’s really high for both of those.  Have you had it? What did you think? If you’ve not had it or just have a hankering for more, you need to head to Bull’s Tavern and grab your pint. Tune into this evening episode to hear what Danielle, Bethany, Shonna and I thought of the beer (I rated it 4.5, I think). You can listen right HERE.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“That is a fine beverage.” – Matt H.

Hi-5 or: The Less Desirables Beer of the Week

21 Wednesday Feb 2018

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Salutations™!!

City Beverage, the Official Beer Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents Hi-5 IPA from Terrapin Beer Company, The Less Desirables Beer of the Week.

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I actually enjoyed this IPA. Is it my favorite? Nah, but it’s pretty good. Terrapin does their beers right. And, this is absolutely right. It’s not too hoppy. The ABV is 5.9%.

BeerAdvocate has it as 3.88/5 (Very Good). Untappd has it at 3.76 caps out of 5.

Have you had it? What did you think? If you’ve not had it or just have a hankering for more, head down to City Beverage and grab your sixer. Tell them that we sent you.

Tune in now and hear what Danielle, Bethany, Josh, Richard, Andy, Led and I think of it. You can do that HERE.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

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“This IPA features 5 tropical, orange, & citrusy aromatic and flavorful hops, a medium body with biscuit and caramel malt notes that bring balance to the beer. This California Style IPA’s big citrusy aroma and huge hop presence will keep you in awe sip after sip.” – Terrapin’s Hi-5 page.

It Happened or: the Party That Was

12 Monday Feb 2018

Posted by in Life as We Know It, The Less Desirables Network

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Salutations™!!

This past Saturday, after we did our “Saturday Thang,” we had a little party, a get together if you will, at The Less Desirables Official Emerald Isle, Finnigan’s Wake. There was a decent crowd. I would have liked it to be bigger, but there were several factors involved.

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The Original The Less Desirables (l-r) Brian, Tim, Eugene

 

One, it was the Saturday before Valentine’s Day, which is this Wednesday. So, I figure there were a lot of folks that went out to eat at that time; that was their date time.

Two, the weather was atrocious. It was snotty and wet. Some people just don’t go out in that. If we didn’t have this party, we’d have gone to dinner and gone home. I get it.

Third, I was a little late getting the invites out. However, I really enjoyed the folk that came out.

Let’s throw this down first. The BCPF was with me. She is so supportive of me and TLD. She has always been. I love when she’s by my side.

Superfan Damien made his way out here from Durham. He was the first in and the last one out. That’s awesome. My new pal, Tim and his wife, Amy (whom I have known since she was 14), were there. Past TLD guest, Tracy Bush, the Nutrimom, was there and she had an entourage. Friends Michael and Karen Hoch were there. Also, a past guest, Jordan Googe, was there. A childhood friend, Shonna came and brought her friend Misty. Bethany from The Less Desirables was there for her first TLD party. My new friend Jeff (whom I’ll be doing a podcast with soon) brought a pal of his.

I loved having all those folks there with me. But, I was in for a very unexpected surprise. Two very special guests showed up, surprising me. Eugene was across the street doing work at the local radio station. He came over and sat with us for a bit.

But, the big one was Brian. Brian, the ORIGINAL co-host of TLD. He what started the show with me over eight years ago. He came down from Virginia to celebrate with us. I had chills and was so excited. Both him and Eug being there was amazing.

I thank each and every one of the attendees for being there and their support. Thank you, too, to Opie and the folks at Finnigan’s Wake for their support of us over the years. Thank you to Laura and Brittany for taking care of all of us.

Thank you, Dear Reader, for your support of us over the years, as well.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“So don’t do it…” – Brian Attridge

Piggybackin’ or: Celebration Time

06 Tuesday Feb 2018

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Salutations™!!

I’m going to piggyback The Man Who Ate the Town as I always do, but I’m also going to talk about what I said I was going to talk about, yesterday. Kelly and I talk about Camino’s new co-owners, Super Bowl and our food for the big game, Wise Man, Willows and a brand new Asian place called Dynasty. You can hear about that HERE.TLD

Now, on to the other thing. This past Saturday, February 3rd, was the EIGHTH anniversary of the very first recording of The Less Desirables podcast. I tell this story every year and I know you get tired of reading about it but here goes anyway…

Brian and I sat in what is now my son’s bedroom and labored over what we were going to talk about for twenty minutes. This after we spent an hour running around getting all the right cables and such together from where the bands I was in practiced. We pulled it off and the next week we did it again. And the next. And so on. Our first outside guest was Brian’s brother Sean who played the part of the Least Desirable. I feel I can tell that, now.

Then, our first “official” guest was our buddy Jay Platt who was our Beer Guru for the first three years. That date was March 17, in which we went to Finnigan’s afterward to get some holiday time in and started really promoting the show. Jay was a quarterly regular and then moved monthly until circumstances led to him having to stop. I miss old Jay.

We started having guests regularly after a while and one of those was my buddy Eugene, whom other than The BCPF, I probably write the most about on this blog after myself. He became a fixture and co-host as the Official Third Wheel and TV Guru.

Brian eventually bettered himself and moved to Virginia leaving Eugene and me to tend the garden. We then added Caitlin to our fold and she became the Third Wheel. Eugene left and we brought Bruce in to replace him. Bruce was fun, but life took him back to Chi-town. Caitlin took the co-pilot chair and eventually another guest became a permanent fixture, that being Danielle.

With Caitlin, we always knew we were on a limited-time basis with her, because she was going to be moving once her degree was finished. We did get to milk her time for about a year longer than we thought and that was great

When Caitlin had to move, yet another past guest came in to take the Third Wheel seat, or as we call it now, the “Abuse Tim” chair. That would be Bethany and that’s where we are now. Danielle, Bethany and me, with a bevy of guests.

Tomorrow, we will record show #417. That’s more than and longer than any other podcast in this area and as far as I can tell, this state. Without that first one eight years ago, I wouldn’t produce Fan Interference, The Camel City Dispatch/Electric Camel Pod, Tart and Tangy Triad, The Beer Dads, Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking or The Man Who Ate the Town podcasts. With the exception of the CCD and T&TT podcasts, I still do the others as part of The Less Desirables Network.

There are more TLD podcasts and shows coming, whether as part of the TLD Network, a whole new podcast network or for individuals’ use. The future is bright, but I have to get busy, there’s a lot of podcasting to do, yet.

We would have never gotten where we are without our sponsors: City Beverage, Finnigan’s Wake, King’s Crab Shack, Washington Perk, Bull’s Tavern, Underdog Records, Test Pattern. Also, we thank a/perture cinema, The Garage, Bob’s Big Gas Subs and Pub, Cafe Rochè for their support early on and up until the last little bit. A few of those are no longer in existence but we do appreciate them being with us when they were.

This Saturday, we are celebrating our eight-year fun, along with the rest of the network, our guests, our listeners and our people. We are doing that where the whole thing was conceived: Finnigan’s Wake. That’s where I pitched the idea to Brian and we planned its course. I am now inviting all of you to Finnigan’s to celebrate with us. The party is from 7-10, February 10. I really hope to see a lot of you there!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Voted the best pop culture podcast within a four-block radius in downtown Winston-Salem, this is The Less Desirables.” – TLD Announcer

Prioress or: The Less Desirables Beer of the Week

06 Wednesday Dec 2017

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Salutations™!!

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done a post like this. Danielle has been awesome and has brought a few growlers of things for us to try over the last little bit and I can’t thank her enough for that. But, here we go…20171206_125913

City Beverage, the Official Beer Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents Prioress Milk Stout from Southern Pines Brewing Company, The Less Desirables Beer of the Week.

I’ve had a few things from Southern Pines and I think I liked them. Then again, it’s beer and I like beer. I’m a sucker for stouts and milk stouts, too. So, here I am hoping that this week’s selection is nothing shy of fantabulous! The ABV is 5.6%.

BeerAdvocate has it at 3.83 out of 5 (Very Good). Untappd has it at 3.81 caps out of 5. Have you had it? What did you think? If you’ve not had it or just have a hankering for more, head on down to City Bev and grab your sixer.Tell them that it’s the “beer of the week” and get 5% off your order. Tune in tonight or tomorrow and see what Haydee, Danielle, Bethany and I think of it. It looks like Groot has already decided he wants some, too.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

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“Smooth, sweet, and complex, the Prioress is full of wonderful caramel, toffee, and bitter dark chocolate flavors, leaving a lingering chocolate covered espresso bean quality. Heaps of oats and lactose provide a velvety mouthfeel that is rich and elegant.” – Southern Pines Brewing Company

Introducing… or: Top Shelf Top Leaf

15 Wednesday Nov 2017

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Salutations™!!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I would like to introduce to you the newest member of The Less Desirables… Bethany Miller!

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Bethany Miller

 

Now, Dear Reader, I’m sure that you figured out that she has been a regular guest co-host pretty much since the first show after Caitlin left. The plan was to go with a rotating bevy of guest hosts and that would basically be “auditions” for the spot. But, Bethany kept showing up – which is a good thing – and she was engaging with the guests, she’s funny, she’s witty and she is not afraid to take shots at me, which as any listener to The Less Desirables knows, is imperative. So, throw out the “guest” part. She’s official! She’s the seventh person to hold the title of “co-host” (counting myself).

Bethany and her husband, JD, own Top Leaf Cigar Lounge and they offer a great place for people to go, purchase their high-quality cigars (not that Swisher Sweets stuff – not that there’s anything wrong with that), sit comfortably in a casual setting with people of like mind and enjoy camaraderie in this cigar smoking community.  Bethany and JD know what they’re doing and they can guide you in your quest for the “perfect cigar” for you.

Danielle asked me, “can we keep her?” And, you don’t really tell Danielle “no.” Plus, I have been extremely happy with Bethany’s adopted role and she has taken up the mantle. So, welcome, Bethany Miller! Congratulations!

Of course, Wednesdays are usually beer day but Danielle is bringing a “Dealer’s Choice” tonight. Whatever she brings, you can pick it up at City Beverage. Listen tonight to hear what it is and what we think about it. And, if you haven’t yet, check out Bethany as our new co-host.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I’ll take the ‘insult Tim chair.'” – Bethany Miller