Rio Grande Outlaw Lager

This beer comes from Rio Grande Brewing Company in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and on a recent trip I was at least able to get to a six-pack from a local grocery store.

Rio Grande Outlaw Lager has a crisp, hoppy aftertaste that you'd more likely associate with a lighter beer. It's medium-light in body with a honey-to-amber color.

A subtle spiciness in the hops, combined with great sugars from the malt, make for a pleasant drink and pleasant buzz. Where some lagers lean toward a citrus crispiness, this leans toward spice.

It's an excellent beer. Try it if you're in the Albuquerque area!

Yazoo Brewing Co.: Live from Nashville, Tenn.

I'm in Nashville, Tenn., for my first time -- just stopping for the night on my way out West -- and I found two beers from the local Yazoo Brewing Co. in the local Kroger, which did not have a wine section.

I had never heard of Yazoo beers before my trip to Kroger, but as it would happen, on my way through town to the hotel, I noticed the Marathon Motor Works Building (see a photo at this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blakewylie/13514985/in/set-979352/).

The old Marathon Motor Works Building is the home of Yazoo Brewing Co.

This evening I bought six packs of Yazoo Pale Ale and Yazoo Dos Perros Ale for $7.49 each at Kroger, and I'm glad I did.

Yazoo Pale Ale has the fresh citrus touch and tartness of Sierra Nevada, with this difference: where Sierra Nevada is crisp, Yazoo Pale Ale is smooth. It's a wash in my book. This is a great beer.

Yazoo Dos Perros, with a medium body, excels in the malt department, with chocolate and light coffee tones, similar to the coffee from beans grown in Papua New Guinea. This is a good beer.

Visit the Yazoo Brewing Co. online at http://www.yazoobrew.com/yazoomain.html.

Yazoo Brewing Co.: Live from Nashville, Tenn.

I'm in Nashville, Tenn., for my first time -- just stopping for the night on my way out West -- and I found two beers from the local Yazoo Brewing Co. in the local Kroger, which did not have a wine section.

I had never heard of Yazoo beers before my trip to Kroger, but as it would happen, on my way through town to the hotel, I noticed the Marathon Motor Works Building (see a photo at this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blakewylie/13514985/in/set-979352/).

The old Marathon Motor Works Building is the home of Yazoo Brewing Co.

This evening I bought six packs of Yazoo Pale Ale and Yazoo Dos Perros Ale for $7.49 each at Kroger, and I'm glad I did.

Yazoo Pale Ale has the fresh citrus touch and tartness of Sierra Nevada, with this difference: where Sierra Nevada is crisp, Yazoo Pale Ale is smooth. The difference is just about a wash in my book. This is a great beer.

Yazoo Dos Perros, with a medium body, excels in the malt department, with chocolate and light coffee tones, similar to the coffee from beans grown in Papua New Guinea. This is a good beer.

Visit the Yazoo Brewing Co. online at http://www.yazoobrew.com/yazoomain.html.

Does Highland Gaelic Ale taste better in Asheville?

I was recently in Asheville, N.C., but my stay wasn't long enough to join the next tour of Highland Brewing Co.'s facilities. Damn!

On my way out of town, I went to Sunny Point Cafe in West Asheville for an outstanding late lunch.

I ordered a Highland Gaelic Ale in the bottle, wondering if it would taste any better than the Highland Gaelic Ale I find in the Myrtle Beach, S.C., area.

And it was pretty much the same, with the exception of maybe a little crisper carbonation, but that's to be expected.

It's a wonderful beer, as the rest of Highland's brews are, and I hope to make the brewery tour next time.

http://www.sunnypointcafe.com
http://www.highlandbrewing.com

The Year of the Books About Stoics, or the Continuing Stoic Revival

A new book on ancient Stoicism is due in September.

At least three books about ancient Stoicism have been re-released in paperback this year.

Several more books about Stoicism or the thought of individual Stoics have been released in the past few years.

Why are people into the Stoics these days? I'm trying to answer that question for an upcoming article in LiturgicalCredo.com, but for the moment, I'll give a broad-brush backgrounder and then get back to this year's books.

Founded in ancient Greece by Zeno of Citium in Cypress (344-262 B.C.), this philosophical school lived about 600 years through Roman Imperial times. The writings of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor who lived 121-180 A.D., are considered key texts for Stoicism as we know it today.

Due in September is Stoicism and Emotion (University of Chicago Press, 2007) by Margaret R. Graver.

The book "shows that they did not simply advocate an across-the-board suppression of feeling, as stoicism implies in today’s English, but instead conducted a searching examination of these powerful psychological responses, seeking to understand what attitude toward them expresses the deepest respect for human potential," according to the description at Amazon.com.

The three books re-released in paperback this year, suggesting an ongoing interest in the subject matter, are:

Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy Behind the Military Mind (Oxford University Press, 2005, 2007), by Nancy Sherman

The Stoic Life: Emotions, Duties, & Fate (Oxford University Press, 2005, 2007), by Tad Brennan

The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness (HarperSanFrancisco, 1995; HarperOne, 2007), which was co-authored by Epictetus, an ancient Stoic, and Sharon Lebell, a writer and musician who lives, in our time, in Northern California.

Note that two of the three paperback re-releases were published just two years ago.

Graver's books and those paperbacks are priced within a range one might expect to pay for a book.

However, if you really wanted to dig deep into this subject matter, you could buy one of these expensive academic books, released this year:

The Corinthian Dissenters and the Stoics (Studies in Biblical Literature) (Peter Lang Publishing, 2007) by Albert V. Garcilazo for $71.95 at Amazon.com, or

Spinoza and the Stoics: Power, Politics and the Passions (Continuum Studies in Philosophy) (Continuum International Publishing Group, 2007) by Firmin Debrabander for $120 at Amazon.com.

The priceless online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has an entry on Stoicism here: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stoicism/ .

-Colin Burch