Pic(k) of the Week: Tiny wood sorrel on the Greenway

April showers bring May flowers. Like these.

Tiny violet wood sorrel flowers blossom on the East Decatur Greenway, in DeKalb County, Georgia, USA. 2 May 2021.

Violet wood-sorrel (Oxalis violacea) is a native plant in much of the United States, from the Rocky Mountains east to the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico coasts, and through Eastern Canada. It has a tendency to cluster in open places in damp woods and on stream banks, and in moist prairies.

— Wikipedia.

By the way, this is a closeup. The wood sorrel appears much larger in the image than it did in 'real' life.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Bullfrog in pond

The bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus) have begun bellowing. It's mating season, in among the water clover, of Postal Pond, in Legacy Park of Decatur, Georgia, USA, on 27 April 2021.

I could hear this loud fellow well before I could see him, well camouflaged as he was. That is, until I used my camera's telephoto lens as a monocular to spot him.

Legacy Park is an in-the-city park. But at 77 acres, it can have an in-the-country feel. Just ignore the occasional bleat of a car horn in the distance.

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• On 29 April 2021, Flickr's editors chose this image as one for inclusion in their Flickr Explore feature.


• Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of images posted on Saturdays, and occasionally, but not always (as is the case today), with a good fermentable as the subject.
• Photo 18 of 52, for year 2021. See it on Flickr: here.
• Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10 II.
  • Lens: Olympus M.40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R
  • Settings: 150 mm | 1/160 | ISO 200 | f/5.6
• Commercial reproduction requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.


• For more from YFGF:
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Pic(k) of the Week: Let us pray

During a tour of Independent Distilling Company and a tasting of the company's spirits, owner/distiller Michael Anderson paused (as if in prayerful thanks).

Decatur (East Decatur Station), Georgia, USA. 26 March 2021.

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Et seq.

When Georgia repealed  Prohibition in the state in 1935, it forbade distilleries (and breweries) from selling their own products on-site. It wouldn't be until 1 September 2015 that Georgia’s distilleries (and breweries) were permitted to sell their products directly to consumer from their tasting rooms. But...

The law limited distilleries to offering only three, half-ounce samples of their spirits per person. And if a visitor wished to purchase a bottle of spirits, hey/she first had to pay for and attend a tour of the distillery (of course, equal to the retail cost of that bottle). Providing distillery guests with cocktails, however, remained strictly verboten. But...

Two years later, on 1 September 2017, Georgia removed blue law pretense. Now, distilleries can sell consumers up to three 750 ml bottles directly on its premises. Additionally, they can sell cocktails (of only their own house-produced liquor) and unlimited full-ounce samples to vistors to their facilities, without the pretense of a tour ticket. Topping it off, any distillery can sell up to five hundred 53-gallon barrels of its liquor per year on-site. That's 133,754 bottles of bourbon (or whatever the spirit may be)!

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Ergo

In the photo above, Mr. Anderson may have been ruminating upon all that. That weekend, his small distillery was celebrating its 7th anniversary. But...

Even during a celebratory tour, his work was not done. Fermentum nunquam dormit! ^*

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• * Translated, from the Latin, as "yeast never sleeps." Amusingly, an alternate meaning of the word "fermentum" is "trouble." Thus, with poetic license, the phrase could be translated as "trouble is always brewing." Seems apt.


• Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of images posted on Saturdays, occasionally (as is the case today) with a good fermentable as the subject.
• Photo 17 of 52, for year 2021. See it on Flickr: here.
• Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10 II.
  • Lens: Olympus M.40-150mm F4.0-5.6 R
  • Settings: 123 mm | 1/250 | ISO 200 | f/5.3
• Commercial reproduction requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.


• For more from YFGF:
  • Follow on Twitter: @Cizauskas.
  • Like on Facebook: YoursForGoodFermentables.
  • Follow on Flickr: Cizauskas.
  • Follow on Instagram: @tcizauskas.

Pic(k) of the Week: Avonator Doppelbock

Small beer?

USA Today recently selected the small city of Avondale Estates, Georgia, as comprising “the nation's best small-town beer scene for 2021” (the nation being the USA). The town (population: est. 3,093) defeated nineteen others for the honor.

The charming town of Avondale Estates, just east of Decatur, Georgia, has a small downtown area packed with unique food and beverage offerings. For beer lovers, there’s Wild Heaven Beer (brewery), The Lost Druid Brewery, The Beer Growler & Pint Haus, and (soon) Little Cottage Brewery. ^*

— USA Today 10 Best
26 March 2021

Pictured above is a beer enjoyed at one of those emporia in that winning beer scene: to wit, Avonator Doppelbock, on draught, in the beer-garden at Lost Druid Brewery, on 9 April 2021.


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But how did the beer taste?

Bock is a traditional, strong, malty Bavarian lager. ... Dopplebock is a strong [bock] beer with a typical alcohol content beyond 7% ABV. The style originated in the Bavarian capital of Munich, Germany, and was for a fairly long time synonymous with the Salvator beer brewed by Paulaner. Other breweries indicate the style by amending “-ator” to the beer's name. While they can be brewed to any color and made by different methods, doppelbocks are usually reddish-brown bottom-fermented lagers, and generally show a toffee-like, bready aroma and rich malty palate with notable residual sweetness. Hops are usually robust enough to offer some balance, but rarely about 25 IBU.

— The Oxford Companion to Beer (Oxford University Press, 2012).

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Yes, but how did the beer taste?

Nose of plum, dark bread, and black olives. Flavor follows suit. Medium-sweet body and medium-full mouthfeel; off-dry finish. Tasty and sipping strong. (The brewery provides little online description although the label on a take-out can certified alcohol by volume to be 9.6%.)

Many latter day American 'craft' breweries tend to eschew 'traditional' European beer-styles (although there may be a guerilla return). So, it was refreshing (pun intended) to find one and enjoy it, close to home and, indeed, during bock season.

A series of occasional reviews of beer (and wine and spirits).
No scores; only descriptions.

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Pic(k) of the Week: This way, in red.

In 1869, the Stone Mountain Granite Company built a railroad spur to serve granite and quartz quarries at the foot of monadnock Stone Mountain, thirteen miles east of Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Now, still in operation but as a tourist attraction, the Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad extends 3.88 miles (of standard gauge of 4 ft 8 1⁄2 inches), encircling the base of the mountain.

This way, in red: a rail switch along the track. Photo taken 26 March 2017.

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