Category Archives: The Barley
Monday Brews 5-19-14
After a week off from my Monday Brews articles last week I’ve wrangled up a long beer list. It was aided by the fact that my city was having a Craft Beer Week. And it was also aided by two playtests of Brooklyn Bridge. So I’ve got a nice long beer list for you this week.
I also brewed another beer. I’ll be writing about that later this week unless my new baby pops out of my wife’s belly. It is a wheat beer that I’m calling “You’ve Been Wheated.”
So let’s jump right in and start with the barley…
The Barley:
Best word to describe it: Yum!
BARLEY SPOTLIGHT: Tyranena Doubly Down and Even Dirtier Barrel Aged Chocolate Vanilla Double Stout
I enjoyed this most amazing beer with possibly the longest beer name ever during a Madison Craft Beer Week event. It was on tap and it was amazing. It was very rich with a beautiful flavor and a solidity to it that made it feel as though you just ate a full meal. I will definitely drink this again. Also, it’s baby brother, “Down & Dirty,” is also very good and more accessible.
- Sprecher Special Amber
- Boddingtons
- NEW! New Belgium Snapshot – I liked it at first but then it seemed to have a characteristic closer to a Sour beer. I’ll try it again.
- Young’s Double Chocolate Stout
- Lucette Hips Don’t Lie
- NEW! New Glarus Spiced Ale – Not as spicy as I was expecting, which was pleasant.
- NEW! Boulder Shake Chocolate Porter – Warm this one up a little and you’ve got yourself a full-on dessert!
- NEW! Potosi Steamboat Shandy – This was a very enjoyable shandy.
- NEW! Blakkr Imperial Black Ale – This brew is actually a partnership between three breweries. (Three Floyds, Surly, Real Ale). I didn’t particularly enjoy this brew.
- New Belgium Trippel
- Hofbrau Original
- Bridgeport Kingpin
- NEW! Green Flash Double Stout Black Ale – This was an excellent, deep, dark double stout.
The Boards:
How good of a Euro could this be? They don’t really look that bored.
BOARDS SPOTLIGHT: Aquadukt
This isn’t a new game, but it was new to me. And I loved the simplicity of it! The options you can choose on your turn are simple (build houses OR build a well OR build canals). But with those three simple choices comes a game with surprising depth. Which house tiles do you build – 1s, 2s, 3s, or 4s? When/Where should you build a well? How/Where should you build canals. This is a euro and it doesn’t try to hide it. The board is basically a big grid sectioned into 20 areas. I love games that use simple mechanics but yet have deep and interesting decisions!
- Targi – such a fun 2 player game!
- Quantum Orcas – Ran another successful playtest. Still not sure what I want to do with this game.
- Love Letter
- Unpublished Prototype – oh man… this one is SOOO good!
- Qwirkle
- Brooklyn Bridge – more below.
Designer’s Corner:
The progress currently being made on Brooklyn Bridge is making me feel much better about the game. While there are interesting mechanics that people seem to enjoy it has been all the other stuff in the game that has been needing the work.
The most major change is that money is no longer a part of the game. (Side note: I may bring money back with money being the points in the game. Currently the points are set up such that they could be equivalent to $$.) Previously players could earn money without having to build the bridge. That meant that early in the game they would focus on money to buy abilities. With the change the only way to buy abilities is with points and the only way to get points is to actually build the bridge… imagine that!
I am extremely happy with how the latest playtest went. The first half of the game worked really well, consisted of interesting decisions, and players overall seemed to be having fun. A big thing that was an improvement was the new player mats. These allowed me to get rid of the 30 red, 30 yellow, 30 brown, and 30 silver cubes that represent the bricks and mortar. Now players have one cube of each color and they move it along on their player mat.
It wasn’t all good though. The second half of the game imploded. It was as if the game ran into a brick wall (no pun intended). The upside is that I have implemented a few changes which should circumvent that issue. I can’t wait to get it to the table again. This is probably the first time with Brooklyn Bridge where I really feel like there is “publishing potential.”
There you go… the late, great version of two weeks of Boards & Barley. What Boards & Barley have you been enjoying???
Nobody Plays Brown – Homebrew #5
I brewed my first batch of beer for 2014 last week. It was a bit chilly sitting in my driveway while the wort was boiling. But I powered through and now my brew is transferred to the carboy getting tastier by the day.
There’s just something about brewing your own beer. It’s manly. It’s adventuresome. It’s rewarding. So in a few weeks I’ll have about 50 bottles of Nobody Plays Brown. How cool is that?
Brown Ales… What are they?
Brown ales are described this way on BeerAdvocate.com:
Spawned from the English Brown Ale, the American version can simply use American ingredients. Many other versions may have additions of coffee or nuts. This style also encompasses “Dark Ales”. The bitterness and hop flavor has a wide range and the alcohol is not limited to the average either.
And since you may not know what an English Brown Ale is either, here is the BeerAdvocate.com description for that:
Spawned from the Mild Ale, Brown Ales tend to be maltier and sweeter on the palate, with a fuller body. Color can range from reddish brown to dark brown. Some versions will lean towards fruity esters, while others tend to be drier with nutty characters. All seem to have a low hop aroma and bitterness.
And since you may not know what a Mild Ale is either, here is the BeerAdvocate.com description for that:
The quintessential British session beer, like its name suggests, a Mild is known for its low level of hops character. Alcohol content is traditionally very low. Grainy to toasty malts might be present, but expect some body from the high dextrins produced in brewing. Low carbonation with a near still, bubbly head. Colors can range from gold to dark brown. Traditionally a draft beer made popular in London and the Midlands of England.
Brown Ale
So what did we learn? Let’s take a look at some of the characteristics of Brown Ales:
- Low level of hops
- Low alcohol level
- Malty
- Can be nutty (Can’t we all?)
- Reddish brown to dark brown
There you go. Now you know as much as I do about Brown Ales!
Caribou Slobber = Nobody Plays Brown
This brew was a kit I received as a Christmas present from my older brother. It is called Caribou Slobber and is a kit based on Big Sky Brewing‘s Moose Drool.
For 2014 I am choosing board game related names for my brews. I twitter-sourced this name and must give credit where credit is due. Thanks to the Cardboard Jungle Podcast for the suggestion!
The kit includes the following:
- Specialty grain (Breiss Caramel, Fawcett Pale Chocolate, Black Malt)
- 6 lbs Amber Malt Syrup
- 1 lb Amber Dry Malt Extract
- 1oz US Goldings Hops
- 1oz Liberty Hops
- 1oz Willamette Hops
Those are the key ingredients for the brew. You can check out the recipe here: Caribou Slobber Recipe (pdf). It’s a pretty easy kit to brew and I had an enjoyable time brewing it.
In another week and a half I’ll bottle it and then the aging begins. I think I’ll see if I can save most of it for fall.
Anyone know of a cheap place to buy glossy label paper so I can make some labels for this brew?
Monday Brews – Cinco de Mayo 2014
Hola! Welcome back to Boards & Barley for an awesome Cinco de Mayo! According to Wikipedia, Cinco de Mayo is also known as El Dia de la Battala de Puebla (Day of the the Battle of Puebla). It celebrates the Mexican army’s unlikely victory over the french forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862. Now we commemorate by eating lots of chips, salsa, and guacamole and enjoying oversized Margaritas. Bummer… now I’m hungry for quacamole.
It’s Monday so here on Boards & Barley I like to recap the games and beer that I enjoyed in the past week. I’d love to hear what you enjoyed this past week. Feel free to leave a comment below! Let’s start with the Barley…
The Barley:
Belgians brew great beer!
BARLEY SPOTLIGHT: Karmeliet Tripel
I had never had the Karmeliet Tripel before, which is a travesty for someone like myself who really enjoys the Belgian Tripel variety of beer. The new local establishment that I keep mentioning had this on tap and served it in the glass shown in the picture. It was an excellent beer and I would definitely enjoy it again.
- NEW! Duchesse de Bourgogne – Another amazing Belgian Beer! I think I could easily get by with Belgian beer if it were the only country from which I could enjoy beer.
- Spaten Optimator
The Boards:
No spotlight this week. I played a few games but would rather just list them.
- Crokinole – Played with 4 players (6 discs each). We added a cool scoring rule where you score 10 points for each opponent’s disc that you knock out of play. However, if your disc also goes out of play on the same flick then it is a scratch and you do not get the points. This added a fun level of play to the game.
- Unpublished Prototype – This is a four player 4 card game that I don’t want to say too much about other than it is really awesome.
- Unpublished Prototype – I played a friend’s co-op game about healing patients. This game was very enjoyable and had an interesting and dynamic time aspect.
- Unpublished Prototype – This was a stock market game that had some interesting elements and worked well. I sure would love to see a different theme, though.
- Forbidden Island – I played with my kids and we lost on the VERY FIRST flood card (Fool’s Landing). I’ve never lost that quickly. You’ve technically only got a 19% chance on losing on the first draw of flood cards (16.7% on first card). And those percentages are ONLY if Fool’s Landing was one of the first six flood cards during setup. After we lost we reset the board and played again. But my kids lost interest before we could finish even though we had three treasures and a very good chance of winning.
Designer’s Corner:
I worked on Brooklyn Bridge this week. However, I have a problem in that there are about four different routes I would like to try with the design. I have several large changes that I would like to get playtested, which means my road to a “completed” game is going to be a much longer one that it was for Scoville. That’s fine though since I think this game has a lot of potential. Currently, however, it is more “Large Chunk of Stone” rather than “Finished David Sculpture.” I’ve just got my work cut out for me.
I also really want to dive into the design for Armada Galactica. I’m holding back on this because I don’t want to get into a cycle of 50% completed games. I’d rather keep my focus on Brooklyn Bridge and get that to the state where I could show it to a publisher with confidence. Sorry Armada Galactica… you’ll have to wait.
Also, I came up with what I believe could be a REALLY interesting tactile abstract game. I think this has the potential to be in the Qwirkle or Ingenious realm so I’m not going to give away any details just yet. Unfortunately this too will be waiting in the design queue for Brooklyn Bridge to progress.
Alright everyone. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed some Boards or Barley last week. If you tried something new that was awesome, let me know!
Monday Brews 4-28-14
Monday in Madison is rainy. Yesterday was rainy. Tomorrow will be rainy. Wednesday and Thursday will be rainy. And people wonder why Spring is my least favorite season. Oh well… at least we have board games to keep up happy during depressing weather like this.
So here we are starting another work week. While it’s dreary outside let’s look back and the Boards & Barley I enjoyed last week. That might brighten my mood.
The Barley:
So good! So smooth! So luxurious!
BARLEY SPOTLIGHT: Young’s Double Chocolate Stout
I enjoyed this on tap at a new local establishment in the glass shown in the picture. It is chocolatey, smooth, creamy, and delicious. I recommend you try it if you are a fan of any beer styles what-so-ever.
- Homebrew: Oatmeal Stout
- Hofbrau Original
- Lakefront Cherry Lager
- Lake Louie Warped Speed Scotch Ale
- Homebrew: Scotch Ale
The Boards:
Small tin, Big game!
BOARDS SPOTLIGHT: The Builders
I picked this up for several reasons. The artwork is awesome. The game has been getting a little buzz from Euro lovers. And it was only $18.
The Builders is a game about building buildings. Each turn you have three actions which you can use to hire workers, begin construction, send workers to build the buildings, or take money. Play continues until someone reaches 17 points from their completed buildings or tools.
This game plays quickly and includes a plethora of interesting decisions. I played it twice last week and I’m looking forward to playing it again!
- Glass Road
- Crokinole
- NEW! Unpublished Prototype
- NEW! Thebes – I love the theme of this one. Doing research and then visiting archaeological dig sites to search for artifacts is great! But the way this game manages the time aspect adds a very interesting concept. While I thought the artifact digging added a little too much luck, I found the game to be very enjoyable and I’ll play it again.
- NEW! Hab & Gut – I’m not normally a fan of stock market games. Money is a very bland theme for me. But this game, with it’s lingering concept of player elimination for the lowest charitable donor, and its hidden information market manipulation aspects made this a love-hate game for me. I wanted to know more information than I knew. I actually thought the design of this game was really clever. I would definitely play it again.
I didn’t do any design work last week. I really need to finish reading Words of Radiance so I can get back to spending my free time on game design. But that book is so good. What Boards & Barley did you enjoy last week?
Monday Brews 4-21-14
Welcome back to Boards & Barley! I hope you all had an enjoyable Easter weekend. It was a VERY slow week in terms of enjoying Boards & Barley. So today’s Monday Brews will be very short. Let’s start with the Barley…
The Barley:
BARLEY SPOTLIGHT: St. Bernardus Abt 12 Quadrupel
I enjoyed this fine beer on tap from a new local establishment that has an outstanding list of beers on tap. Most of them are European beers. Many of those are beers I haven’t ever seen on tap. I will definitely be going back there to enjoy more awesome tap beers!
The Quadrupel was quite exceptional. But weighing in at 10% abv means it should be a slow drinking beer. I didn’t drink it slowly. It was too good to drink slowly.
The other beer I enjoyed last week was a Belhaven Scottish Ale on tap at the same establishment (another reason I should have enjoyed the Quadrupel a little slower!). I’ve enjoyed Belhaven from a nitro can in the past but to have it on tap (nitro tap!) was awesome. It’s such a smooth beer with an excellent flavor. Yum!
I did happen to have a New Glarus Spotted Cow while I was working on my garden bed last week, but Spotted Cow is not close to those other two tap beers.
The Boards:
BOARDS SPOTLIGHT: Tessen
Tessen was the only game I played last week. The rest of my free time was spent on building my garden and reading Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance, which is amazing.
I taught Tessen to my brother-in-law who after the weekend was over mentioned that he wanted to play it more. It’s such a fun, light, and quick battle game that has you feeling tense as you are trying to collect sets of animals. If you’ve never played it, go pick it up from Van Ryder Games.
Designer’s Corner:
Since the garden and Words of Radiance were so prevalent last week I didn’t really do much game design. However, I did sit down for a while and put together some good ideas for Brooklyn Bridge. One of the things I’m working on is how to make the tower more appealing to build.
In the playtests that I’ve run so far it seems like it is VERY slow to develop. Players don’t seem to be incentivized enough to build the towers. And the whole point of the game is to build the bridge. SO I needed to come up with a better way to incentivize the actual building of the bridge. I think I figured that out last week. I’ve got a much better system in place that I’m hoping to try this week. Instead of having scoring bonuses for “area majority” in each section of the bridge I am switching it to physical rewards like an extra brick, money, or perhaps an advance token. This will also make the game move along more quickly. People will build. People will earn rewards. Rewards will help people build faster. And so on.
Hopefully I can revise my prototype this week and get it to the table.
And then I also hope I can work on Armada Galactica. I think this game has a potentially larger audience and it would be fun to design an awesome space-themed game. I’ll keep you posted.
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So those are the very few Boards & Barley I enjoyed last week. What did you enjoy?
Boards and Barley 