Broadening Our Horizons LXXXIV

It's either a late lunch or an early Happy Hour today and here's what's on the menu:

This is a mePhone pic, believe it or don't.

That would be a Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale; I'm about halfway through this glass as we type and so far, so good.  We'll drink this stuff carefully as the alcohol content is a staggering (for beer) 8.19%.  That said, the brew is tasty, indeed.  The Bros like it and I'll quote from their house publication:

Review from BeerAdvocate Magazine Issue #51 (April 2011):

The pale amber color and sufficient lacing does not tell much of a story, even though it’s a great-looking beer. At first sniff, the nose is filled with barrel juice from the freshly used bourbon barrels—fusel with sweet vanilla and oak. Has the body of a well-attenuated ale, though there’s warmth from the aggressive alcohol. Hopping is modest at best; the dryness and high level of alcohol seem to balance this beer out. Boozy with fresh bourbon flavors from start to finish. Any sweetness seems to come from the feigned direction of the bourbon as it throws down that vanilla flavor. Some graininess within to remind us that this is a beer. Drinking this one slow. Definitely sets itself apart from all other bourbon barrel aged beers, which makes it a must-try.

Well, OK.  We've tried it but this beer won't go into our normal rotation, mainly because it's pretty damned expensive.  You'll note the beer is sold in four-packs, not six, and it's still pretty damned pricey (14 Yankee Dollars for a four-pack, on the 'net).  An interesting beer, to be sure, but there are better beers out there for less money.

And now it's out to the verandah to finish this puppy off before it gets too damned hot to be outdoors.

Broadening Our Horizons LXXXIII

We're thinkin' global and actin' local when it comes to our beer today.  Which means we're drinkin' a Wit Bier, albeit one brewed just up the road in Albuquerque.  Like this:

There are precious few reviews of this beer at the Go-To Guys' place (the Bros are completely absent) and no narrative at all on the first page of reviews I scanned.  So, I found this by goin' further afield.  A quote:

Summer time and a well made wheat beer seem to be nearly a perfect fit for one another as the hot sun creates the desire for something easy to drink that is packed full of refreshing flavors. To create an even brighter feel when drinking their well crafted wheat beer Marble Brewery from Albuquerque New Mexico uses the addition of wildflower honey. Wildflower Wheat uses this special addition along with an ABV of 5.2% to quickly draw drinkers into stages of high anticipation to pour and enjoy every drop as soon as possible.

I'm not quite sure what wildflower honey has over your... wait for it... garden-variety honey, but Hey! Marketing.  Further along these lines... I must not have a very discerning palate, mainly coz I can't taste the honey.  All THAT said, the beer is quite pleasant.  This is my second bottle and it's just perfect for a rather warmish day out on the verandah.  I think I'll put this brew into the regular rotation.

Speakin' about warmish days...

Note the forecast for the next few days.  We might could be driven indoors for Happy Hour on Sunday and Monday.  OTOH, our al fresco After Dinner Whiskey Hour could see a MAJOR extension on those days.

Broadening Our Horizons LXXXII

Another offering from Left Hand Brewing...

We like Left Hand's Milk Stout so very much we figgered most all of their brews would be worthy, so we picked up a sixer of their Sawtooth All-American Ale.  Our go-to guys like this beer a LOT, giving it a "94" rating.  An excerpt from their review:

Taste: A malty brew with caramel, light chocolate, toasted and some biscuit malt flavours. Very firm mouthfeel, medium-bodied. Pleasant fruit flavours follow and mingle oh so nicely with the even malt sweetness and complexities. Hop bitterness is mild, but balances the malt with light citrus and raw hop flavours that linger through to the end. Mineral-like flavours can also be detected. Finishes a bit dry with light grain tannins and faint background chocolate malt.
Notes: A freagin' spot on ESB, and a very impressive ale. I thoroughly enjoyed tasting this beer, and only wish I had more. 

I'm drinkin' my second Sawtooth this afternoon and I have to say that familiarity breeds sumthin' other than contempt.  My first Sawtooth encounter, i.e., yesterday, left me thinkin' the brew was too hoppy for my taste but I don't find that to be true today.  It remains to be seen if this beer will earn a spot in our rotation, but the sticks seem to be lining up that way.

And now it's back out to the verandah to enjoy our moderate temps and interesting Spring skies.

Broadening Our Horizons LXXX

I thought I posted about this beer before but a search of the EIP archives brought no joy.  So let's correct this oversight...

That would be a Widmer Hefeweizen, a delicious and oh-so-summery sort o' brew that's just perfect for this oh-so-summery kinda day.  I tend to drink a lot o' wheat beers during the summer months and, as I said, today is damned near a perfect summer's day.  My go-to hefeweizen is normally Franziskaner, but the local likker locker was fresh out when I made my beer run earlier today.  So... it's Widmer, which is not a bad second choice.

I mentioned today is damned near perfect.  How perfect?  Like this:

All the windows and the door have been flung wide open... so now it's out to the verandah to enjoy that cigar, a couple o' these hefeweizens, and my very own music.  Life's pretty good.

Broadening Our Horizons LXXIX

We've been saving that New Belgium/Cigar City collaboration brew for an auspicious day... which is to say a warm and gentle sort of day... for to enjoy it.  That day arrived today, whereupon it was (a) warm and (b) without Force Six or better breezes on the Beaufort Scale.  So, just for starters...

That's just before we poured Round Two.  And how was the beer?  Very good, thank ya.  I was prepared to not like this beer after reading several reviews at the Go-To guys' site for all things barley, hops and water.  Here's one such review:

Light amber color. Nice see through. Rich, creamy head with exceptional stick and smooth foamy lacing.

Aroma is clean with hints of malt and spices.

Biscuity malt flavor with hints of butter and diacetyl. Herbal leafy hop, descent balance. Touch of spices without a hint of heat. Yeast is not prominent as expected.

Sturdy medium bodied. Smooth, creamy texture. Slight warmth from the alcohol. Well carbonated.

Descent (sic) brew overall just weak for a pepper beer. Lacks the spice level and heat I was hoping for. Just a little dull in my opinion.

I would respectfully disagree.  If Buddy wanted "spice," then perhaps he should have sprinkled three or four drops of Tabasco Habanero Sauce into a Miller Genuine Draft, and Walla!  Mission Accomplished.  There's more to chile than fire, however, and I was impressed with the way the NB/Cigar City guys managed to capture the taste... as opposed to the fire... of chiles in this beer.  I won't go into any lengthy digression about chile but suffice it to say there's a HUGE flavor element in the wide varieties of chile one finds in this world.  In its own very subtle way, this ale managed to capture the spice and lingering flavor of the two varieties of chile... Anaheim and Marash... used in the brew.  This is a very well-done beer, both as concept (delivered!), and drink-ability.  The first round went down fairly quickly and we're halfway through Round II, as we speak.

That said, would we buy a sixer of this every week were it available 12 months out of the year?  No, we wouldn't.  But the brew was insanely delightful as a one-off... and sometimes that's exactly what you want.

Broadening Our Horizons LXXVIII

Well, yes.  And here's why we rolled out of bed this afternoon morning...

That's a Sammy Adams Porch Rocker, freshly removed from a "Beers of Summer" 12-pack and one small sip down in content.  My Go-To guys aren't at all impressed with this beer but I like it, on first blush.  The brew is MOST definitely "summery," with lots of citrus both in the nose and on the tongue.  I wouldn't drink these all afternoon on a hot summer's day but one to start with would not be objectionable at all.

Did I say "hot summer's day?"  I believe I did...

Close enough for a former gub'mint worker.  And now it's back outdoors to continue as we've begun.

Broadening Our Horizons LXXVII

We made a re-supply run out to Cannon Airplane Patch earlier today... for booze and victuals... and as we browsed the available beers at the Class VI store we noticed this on the shelves: 

That would be a New Belgium Spring Blonde Belgian style ale so... but, of course... we had to pick up a sixer of this new to us... and the rest o' the world, too... brew, whereupon we placed it in the fridge immediately upon our return to base.  It's cool enough to drink and now that we're half-way through the first bottle I have to say we're impressed.  This beer will make a nice session beer, in that it goes down most easily and has a light-on-the-palate, slightly sweet and flowery sort of taste.  I like it on first blush and predict we'll run a few more sixers of this brew through El Casa Inmóvil De Pennington... while it lasts.

In other news... we tried to take Happy Hour on the verandah today but... alas.  It's just too damned fresh outdoors at the moment to make such activities comfortable and appealing.  We were supposed to hit 65 degrees today but we're only at 58 degrees as we speak, and this under cloudy skies with a fresh breeze.  So it was back indoors to continue as we've begun.  No matter... it's ALL good.

Broadening Our Horizons LXXVI

Seek and ye shall find...

And we found it on the shelf at the Class VI yesterday.  We waited until today to sample the brew, seein' as how the beer was warm when we brought it home yesterday afternoon. "And..." you ask?

Worthy.  Very worthy.  The beer has a citrusy taste... lemony... with a slight sourness that's neither overbearing nor objectionable and it goes down VERY easily.  This beer will be in regular rotation here at El Casa Inmóvil De Pennington, especially once the weather gets warm, assuming, of course, the beer continues in stock out at Cannon (or the local beer emporium).  It's been a couple o' years since I had a Mothership but I do believe Snapshot is the equal, at least, o' that once-favorite beer o' mine.  The geeks at BA like Snapshot too, giving the beer an average 80/100 rating.  Go read if you want serious beer-snob (and I use that term with ALL due respect, for I are one) reviews.

Cigar Art... In Which We've Completely Lost Track of How Many of These We've Done

I think the last time we posted examples of cigar art was sometime back in early 2013.  That would be cigar art where cigar bands are concerned; I know we've posted pics of the nifty boxes these things come in as recently as last month.  Or mebbe December.  None the less, here are the bands from some of the sticks we've been smokin' of late:

These bands are larger than life... no need to click to embiggen

There's a reason why we've not done one of these posts in a while and that reason is we've been smokin' the Usual Suspects for the last few months... those sticks that please us most... as opposed to broadening our horizons.  We fixed that a couple o' weeks ago when we ordered one o' these:

There wasn't a clinker in the mix; I enjoyed all those sticks.  That said, the only new-to-me cigar in this selection that's likely to make it into the rotation is the Nica Rustica.  I really liked that cigar, which, as noted, doesn't take anything away from the other cigars.

Broadening Our Horizons LXXV

Possibly the best stout I've ever had:

The Bros like it a lot, too.  Lemmee quote:

Taste: Extremely smooth and creamy with a chewy, nicely odd, mild sweetness that mingles with a slight burnt/roasted chocolate flavour (big chocolate flavour). An underlying hop flavour balances the malt, showing up about half way thru the taste with a hint of licorice. The mouth is left a bit dry with a lingering note of astringency.

Notes: Hands down, and (sic) incredible stout and deadly in its drinkability. Unfortunately a bottle goes for about $3-3.50, making it a brew for special occasions.

I suppose the price is why Young's put that "Pure Luxury" on the label.  Today isn't any special occasion here at El Casa Inmóvil De Pennington unless you want to count the outdoor Happy Hour we're getting ready to launch.  But back to the brew... it's that chocolaty goodness that I like best.  That and the fact the brew goes down VERY well, enough so that it makes me wish I'd have bought more than this single bottle.  I just might have to go back to the well before the day's over.  This would make a great New Year's Eve drink.

Updated, sometime later:  SN1 sent along the following about an hour or so after I put this post up:

Great minds, and all that.

Broadening Our Horizons LXXIV

To (mis-)quote that guy with the beard and the beautiful wimmen hangin' on his arm... "I don't always drink stout, but I'm all over the map when I do.  Except for fucking Guinness."  The weather today simply screamed out for a stout and so it is:

Just about the only time I drink stout is in the winter, a habit I picked up during my three-year sojourn in Old Blighty.  My co-workers and I went to the pub for lunch about three days out o' five during the work week and in the winter the pubs were nearly always cold when we arrived, seein' as how it was our habit to get in early to avoid the lunch-time rush.  So we'd grab a table by the fire and order a round o' stout... for the warmth that was in it.  But we digress.

This is my first experience with Sierra Nevada's take on the genre and it looks like we made a good choice, indeed.  My go-to guys really love this brew, giving it a relatively rare 100 points.  And we quote:

Taste: A creamy full bodied brew with a roasted barley bitterness, notes of chocolate and a touch of caramel. High hop bitterness to balance that begins light, turns sharp and slightly tingly, eventually imparting its earthy flavour in the aftertaste and complementing the dry bitterness left from the roasted barley. The aftertaste stays with you for a very long time.

Notes: One of our favourite stouts; a well balanced brew showing both malt and hop complexities without one being the more dominant.

The brew IS rather hoppy for a stout, but not overly so.  We'll be adding a few more sixers o' this stuff to the fridge during the cold season.

It's still wet and rainy outdoors and we've spent a bit o' time at the window watching the rain come down.  Days like this always remind me o' this tune...

When we was together
Everything was so grand
Now that we've parted
There's just one sound
That I just can't stand

I can't stand the rain
Against my window
Bringing back sweet memories

Ah, well.  It's the song... not the memories (well, OK... so I'm not a very good liar).  And that's today's Happy Hour Soundtrack.

Broadening Our Horizons LXXII

In the "tidings of comfort and joy" department... it's that time o' year!  Yes, the time when Sammy Adams releases those 12-packs of seasonal brews for us beer geeks to enjoy and rave about.  So it was I noticed a couple o' few o' said 12-packs in the cooler at Wally-World (go figure) yesterday and we brought one home.  Like this:

That's the box the brews came in, plus one of the beers that we're drinkin' at this very moment.  Let me say a couple o' things about this particular beer.  

First: I was burned yet again by failing to read the small print on the packaging, this time I didn't catch the "cherry" part of "cherry chocolate bock."  That'll learn me to put my frickin' readers on when examining new beer.  Well, it SHOULD, but it prolly won't... just coz I'm like that.

Second:  I was all geared up to hate on this beer, what with the cherry flavoring and all.  I'm OK with chocolate... in fact I LOVE chocolate bock... but the two flavors, combined?  "No, no, no" sez my brain.  "Mmmm.  Not bad.  Not bad at ALL" say my taste buds.  The combination works surprisingly well, for me and also for a lot o' folks at the Go-To source for all things barley, hops, and water.  The cherry flavor is the dominant part o' the equation with chocolate more o' an afterthought, but the chocolate is there.  I don't think I'd go out and buy a sixer or two o' this brew if it were available as a stand-alone offering, which it isn't... in this part o' the world.  But I WILL drink the two that are part o' this 12-pack.

Concerning the 12-pack: I'll only buy one of these this year, unlike previous years when I tried my damndest to buy out the entire stock of the Winter Seasonal 12-packs at the Cannon Class Six store.  This year's offering is far from the "as advertised" blurb of "Winter Favorites," what with only two true (personal) favorites (Winter Lager and White Christmas) included in the mix.  The resulting 4/12 ratio just doesn't make the cut.  Nice try, Sammy... but no cigar.

Speakin' o' cigars... I do believe it's time to head out to the verandah to burn one such.

Broadening Our Horizons LXXI: More Good Beer I'll Give Away

So... we made a beer run yesterday and picked up a sixer o' what you see below.

My bad: I didn't read the fine print on the package.  I knew that Accumulation was New Belgium's seasonal winter offering but I failed to read the fine print: this is an IPA and we do NOT like IPAs.   I had one of these yesterday and we shall drink no more of 'em.

That said, here's what one of our go-to guys say about the brew:

Perhaps more of an IPA than White Ale, tasty none the less and a good switch up on the whole seasonal thing.

Yeah, well... OK.  YOU might think this is a good switch-up but MY mileage varies, and considerably, at that.  And for those o' you who might be considerin' dropping by for a beer over the holidays: this is what you'll be drinkin'.  I won't throw it out, but I'll damned sure pawn it off on the unsuspecting or on those folks who actually LIKE IPAs.  

You'll note the beer we poured in this picture is a Fat Tire.  We might be dumb once in a while, but we ain't stoopid.

Broadening Our Horizons LXX

Our brew today...

Just when I was on about the wonderfulness of the mePhone's camera... and then this.  I almost didn't post this pic.

That would be a Lugene Chocolate Milk Stout from the O'Dell Brewery, and Boy does it ever live up to its name.  This brew is a full, rich, chocolatey concoction that pleases the palate immensely... or my palate, at any rate.  One of the Bros really likes it too, giving the beer an 89 rating (Very Good).  From the tasting notes:

TASTE: Creamy, silky smooth, thick bodied, milky, subtle roastiness, chocolate throughout, modest hopping, big juicy kiss of alcohol, date sugar, mild spice, dark berries, faint orange peel, sweet creamy finish

This is a big brew, 12oz bottle took a while to conquer though I did not complain once. Seek this one out for something completely different.

When Jason sez "big brew" I'm quite certain he's referring to the beer's 8.5% ABV content.  We shall sip this one slowly.

And now it's time to fire up a cee-gar and adjourn to the verandah to take in yet another one of the last o' the nice days.

Ah, Civilization!

We were out and about earlier today and did some touristy things about which I'll prolly post later, mostly having to do with military bases (read as: fighters! and boats!).  The high point o' my day, however, came when Buck mentioned he knew this cool lil pub where we could grab a pint and some lunch.  So we did just that and what follows is a photo essay on that subject.

So, here's the sign on the sidewalk outside the pub:

Heh.  We not only love our enemy, we hold him (her?) quite close.  Our enemies come in varied and different uniforms, to wit:

A cheesy mePhone pic and out o' focus, at that.

The on-tap menu, there were at least 100 other choices in bottles.

We opted for a pint of Left Handed stout, mainly coz of the tag line that reads "As black as your ex-girl friend's wife's heart."  (Yes, we did a minor edit there... why do you ask?)  Here's what it looks like in a glass:

Note the bar top: those are genuine corks under an epoxy layer.  Cool, eh?

That would be my new best friend Crystal, who not only took great good care of us while we were ensconced at the bar but also gave us a couple o' few samples of the other beers on tap.  I would've been happy to spend the rest of the afternoon right there at the bar... so many beers! so little time!... but we had people to do and places to see.  So... one pint and lunch, while we were at it.  Here's what I had:

That would be a sashimi plate of barely-braised tuna in a soy-based sauce with pickled ginger on the side.  Buck had a burger and said it was delicious.

So we left and motored on to our next destination, which is about as close to beer heaven as I've seen in a good ten years.  Witness:

That would be but ONE aisle of four with beers from all over the country and all over the world.  We were in the store for at least a half an hour and left about 50 Yankee Dollars lighter, evenly split between SN1 and myself.  I MIGHT do a "Broadening Our Horizons" post in the next couple o' few, but OTOH I might not.  We shall see.  One more thing: yes, I DID buy a sixer o' that Left-Hand stout.  It's great good stuff.

Finally... a teaser o' things to come (mebbe):

Boats!

Broadening Our Horizons (X4), Episode LXIX

We made a trip down to our local likker locker day before yesterday for to replenish the barley pop section of our Fridge O' Many Charms and were greeted in the parking lot by big-ass signs advertising O'Dell's Summer Sampler.  "Well, cool," sez I, "I think I'll pick one of those up."  And we did.  Here's what's in that 12-pack:

A couple o' days have passed and I've sampled all four of the beers... Loose Leaf (a session or saison beer), 90 Shilling Ale (an amber ale), St. Lupulin (a very hoppy pale ale), and their IPA (which is about par for the course for that genre) (there are great lil videos about the beers at a couple o' those links, btw)... which I've listed in order of my preference, the latter two bein' tied for dead last.  I'm not an IPA fan in that I don't like hoppy bitterness to overpower the malt flavor in my beer.  It goes without sayin' that your mileage may vary, the corollary bein' taste is ALL in our mouths.

So, that said... I really like the Loose Leaf and the 90 Shilling but I won't be buyin' another of these 12-packs... mainly coz I don't care for half of the contents.  I'm hopin' against hope my likker locker will stock the 90 Shilling but when the Loose Leaf is gone... it's gone, seein' as how it's an experimental brew and is only available in the summer 12-packs.  I hate it when that happens, mainly coz Loose Leaf is a damned near perfect summer brew (I'm drinkin' one right now, as we speak).

Oh, well.  It's always sumthin'.

Broadening Our Horizons, LXVIII

A danged-near PERFECT summertime brew...

That's an Easy Street wheat beer from the O'Dell brewery and it's tasty, indeed.  It goes down VERY smoothly, too, so it might could be a lil bit dangerous.  I can see me knocking back about three of these today, easily, especially given it's rather warmish outdoors at the moment (about 92 fat ol' New Mexican degrees.  But they're DRY degrees.). 

Here's what our Go-To Guys have to say:

Taste: Medium body with a mildly creamy complex malt palate, sweet malt stays throughout with some doughy bread flavours. Hops are a touch spicy with a light yet balancing bitterness, flowery and herbal flavour fades quick. Nutty and powdery yeast character with an earthy undertone. A relatively sweet brew and all around pleasant to the tongue.

Notes: Clean cut American wheat brew, well focused on the malts with a well balancing hops and yeast. Optimum lunch time beer material here! Right up there with Widmer’s and Harpoon’s UFO.

I've never had a UFO but I have had Widmer's wheat and I agree with Mr. Alström, who gave a nearly unprecedented 100 points to this beer, Easy Street is most definitely a world-class beer.

And now it's out to the verandah to enjoy that Partagas Spanish Rosado you see in the ashtray above and my second Easy Street.

Life's pretty danged good right now.

Broadening Our Horizons LXIV

I mentioned yesterday that we'd restocked our fridge o' many charms with some drinkable beer after that Sammy Adams debacle.  We also bought some new-to-me beer, that bein' a sixer o' these:

I was quite taken with the Monks' Ale I sampled a couple o' weeks ago so it wasn't much of a gamble to buy some more of the Brothers' product.  I generally like Wit beers and this is a high qualty example of the genre.  It's tasty, indeed.  Here's what the Brothers have to say about their beer:

Monks’ Wit is distinctly fruity and spicy. The yeast lends a note of spice that accentuates the imported coriander, sweet and bitter orange peel, and other spices. The malt provides a sweet, bready quality up front and a round fruitiness in the middle.  The wheat and oats lend a creamy taste. 

The imported hops and spices lend a clean, dry, finish to this light, refreshing ale.

Refreshing, indeed.  I think Monks' Wit will be a regular brew for me this summer.

So.  Here's some appropriate music for the occasion:

This is perhaps my favorite REM song and we have "Out of Time" in the CD player, as we speak. That said... We ain't so much losin' our religion as we are gainin' some. In one way or t'other.  Those monks are definitely helpin' out in this space.

Broadening, LXIII

We'll be broadening our horizons a lot this week, seein' as how we picked up a Sammy Adams "Beers of Summer" variety pack while we were out shopping earlier today.  All o' the beers in this sampler are new to me, save the ubiquitous Boston Lager (why do they DO that?).  Longtime Gentle Readers may recall that I'm deeply and totally in love with Sammy's "Winter Classics," greatly anticipating the release o' that sampler and consuming mass quantities thereof, for as long as it lasts.  It remains to be seen if I'll like the Summer Sampler as much as the Winter version and I suspect I won't, given as how we're partial to the darker brews.

But, Hey... Summer's (almost) here and the time is right for dancin' in the wheat (with apologies to Martha).  We began today with the beer you see above... about which the Go-To guys have this to say:

Not too shabby. Reminds me of some of the first basic Belgian Pale Ales I had in my early beer geek days. No frills, but it's got some flavorful and quite drinkable. Wish it was a tad bit cleaner on the finish though.

Todd rated the beer as "average" and I agree.  There's nothing to write home about here but it is an honest and quite drinkable brew.  It's too bad I won't see any more of this brew, except in the samplers.  Such is life in The Beer Desert. 

Update, 1500 hrs:  We finished that Belgian Session whilst putting up this post and then cracked open one o' these:

Wowzers!  I REALLY like this beer! The blend of orange/coriander spiciness and the sage/rye combination really hits my sweet spot.  This is one of the most unusual and completely unexpected tastes in beer I've happened upon in a long, long time.  Yeah, it's THAT good.

Broadening Our Horizons LXII: In Which We Get Religion, Sorta

Today's beer... "brewed with care and prayer."

That would be a Monks' Ale, which is brewed here in NM... by The Benedictine monks of the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, in Abiquiu.  The friars have this to say about that:

Monks’Ale is an excellent session ale that is distinctively spicy with moderate fruity esters (particularly stone fruits).

The yeast lends a note of clove and in combination with the malts, hints of plum and apricot. The malts provide a distinct honeyish quality up front and round full middle. The malts and yeast provide a clean, crisp, dry, finish to Monks’ Ale.

Me?  I like it quite a bit on first tasting.  I can see myself doin' two or mebbe three of these this afternoon.  It's taken me a while but I'm beginning to find some very high quality beers here in the Land of Entrapment Enchantment.  This is one of 'em.