Pic(k) of the Week: Sylvan grotto

Not really a grotto, but, in cold winter, the sylvan feel of the creek and its surroundings exuded Arcadian seclusion.

Crooked Creek flowing from Mountain Lake, in Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area, near Stonecrest, Georgia, USA, on 26 January 2023.

We tarried awhile.

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Erich Korngold's Violin Concerto, 1st movement: a guilty pleasure, perhaps, but nonetheless suggesting a musical 'feel' of the scene.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Nature contemplation

The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood.

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

On a spring-like winter's afternoon, a gentleman was sitting still on the banks of Glenn Creek, seemingly contemplating its simple beauty.

Glenlake Park: Decatur, Georgia, USA. 20 February 2023.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Peachtree rapids & riffles

Rain-filled rapids and riffles on the South Fork Peachtree Creek, in a 120-acre urban Piedmont forest.

Mason Mill Park, in DeKalb County, Georgia, USA. 9 February 2023.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Thicket tunnel

Thicket tunnel or allée over the trail?

Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve: DeKalb County, Georgia, USA. 8 February 2023.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Tynt Meadow English Trappist Ale

Tynt Meadow English Trappist Ale is an English Trappist beer, brewed by Trappist monks (precisely: the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, a Roman Catholic monastic order) at Mount St Bernard Abbey, located in the town of Coalville, in Leicestershire, England, UK.

The monastery was founded in 1835. Brewing only commenced in 2018, when the abbey's small-scale dairy farm had become non-viable (vs. large agribusiness). Tynt Meadow English Trappist Ale is its only beer.

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HOW DOES IT TASTE?

Short answer: delicious. Long answer:

In color, Tynt Meadow is burnished-copper; clarity is good. The beer is well-conditioned, pouring with a long-lived, off-white head and some nice lacing down the glass...possibly because of bottle-conditioning (with live yeast). That also may have contributed a measure of oxygen-scavenging (i.e, active protection against staling). The beer tasted fresh, despite its trans-Atlantic voyage.

The principal flavor is dark fruit with lesser motifs of bitter chocolate and treacle. Interestingly, the monastery does NOT use Belgian yeast (which is the norm for most Trappist ales) but an unidentified English yeast-strain (in addition to English barley and hops, both also unspecified) that is noticeable in a fruit-cake flavor. The ale finishes smooth (I detest the illogical neologism "drinkable"), although the alcohol does seem to create a strong presence in the aftertaste. 7.4% alcohol-by-volume (abv).

Imported bottle (330 ml / 11.2 fl.oz), tasted in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. 20 September 2022.

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ERGO

Based upon their Cistercian adherence solely to prayer and work, the monks of Mount St Bernard Abbey literally produce only enough beer to pay their bills and support their charities. They quote Psalm 104:

You make the grass grow for the cattle and the plants to serve man’s needs, that he may bring forth bread from the earth and wine to cheer man’s heart.

I say, beer is liquid bread. So, please, "give us this day our daily bread."

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

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