Up until recently, I casually enjoyed the taste of an ice cold Corona on a hot day. Now I know Corona isn’t the greatest of beers, but it tasted fine to me… that is until I was introduced to a Belgian Ale brewed by Trappist Monks called, Chimay. There are 4 different flavors of Chimay, which are easiest identified by simple colors of the labels; red, white, blue, and golden.

I’ll use content from Wikipedia to describe each one.

Chimay Rouge (Red) – 7% abv. In the 75 cl bottle, it is known as Première. It is a dark brown colour and has a sweet, fruity aroma.

Chimay Bleue (Blue) – 9% abv darker ale. In the 75 cl bottle, it is known as Grande Réserve. This copper-brown beer has a light creamy head and a slightly bitter taste. Considered to be the “classic” Chimay ale, it exhibits a considerable depth of fruity, peppery character.

Chimay Blanche (White), or Chimay Triple, 8% abv golden tripel. In the 75 cl bottle, it is known as Cinq Cents. This crisp beer bears a light orange colour, and is the most hopped and driest of the three.

Chimay Dorée (Golden), 4.8% abv ale, brewed from very similar ingredients as the Red, but paler and spiced differently. It is a patersbier, intended only to be drunk at the abbey or at the nearby inn Auberge de Poteaupré, which is associated with the abbey. The monks themselves drink this variety rather than the stronger three. The Dorée is not sold commercially and the rare bottles which make their way out are through unofficial sources. Even the brewery’s own web site makes no mention of this variety.

(Source)

My personal favorite is the white, but I have yet to try the golden. During the holidays, they had a gift pack available that contained a bottle of each flavor as well as a commemorative Chimay glass. This was my first introduction to the white label, which immediately became my favorite.

In smaller areas, Chimay proves somewhat difficult to find, and if you do happen to find, it can be quite expensive. Ranging anywhere from $10 to $15 a bottle for the white label and a few dollars more for the red and blue, this expensive, but delicious Belgian ale is well worth the price.

I also tried Brasserie Dubisson Cuvee Troll, which was actually quite good as well. Description: Trolls is Dubisson’s fastest growing beer. Made with all blond malts & a touch of orange peel, Trolls is a hazy blond, with a lovely, doughy, fresh malt aroma. Finishes clean.

I definitely have plans to try more imports in the future, but for now Chimay is my drink of choice.

I think we had a winter? I mean, as much of a winter that we can have in Southern California. It was definitely a very mild winter this year, which also makes me wonder just how hot it’s going to be this summer. This past weekend, the weather was so nice I headed over to Lake Rancho Santa Margarita and snapped a couple shots of the lake with my iPhone 4S using Camera+.

If you love playing on your Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo console, then you are sure to own a portable console, or have plenty of fun applications on your phone to amuse yourself when you are on the go. But games can be made even more fun when you are playing against your friends.

Some phone applications require an internet connection. This allows you to go online and play against your friends, or other online gamers. So if you have a contract with a network like O2 or Three, and you have installed the unlimited internet bundle, you might be interested in reading all about the fun online game, Words With Friends, which has become popular worldwide.

Words With Friends

If you like Scrabble, then this is the perfect game for you. This free application allows you to play against your friends on a virtual Scrabble board. Just like the classic board game, each letter has a different score value and bonus points can be gained by placing words over a double or triple letter square. In addition, you can switch the board over to the chat panel which allows you to interact with your opponent during the game.

Words With Friends also has a link with Facebook; you simply click on the ‘F’ icon which will display the friends who are online and ready to play.

The funny thing about this game is that a number of bizarre words are accepted, such as AZ or QI, and if they are placed on a special scoring square, you can earn many bonus points. Alec Baldwin, star of the hit US comedy 30 Rock, was recently kicked off an aeroplane after he was told numerous times by staff to stop playing the game after phones were asked to be switched off. It really is that fun!

Last night as I was leaving work, I looked up into the sky and realized I was looking at one of the nicest sunsets I’d seen in awhile. Sadly all I had to use was my iPhone 4S, so I snapped a photo using Camera+ app and was more than satisfied with the results.

My excuse for the lack of updates: Life has been crazy, I’ve recently purchased a house and had plenty of work to do before moving in. Thanksgiving wasn’t spent with family or friends, it was spent moving all day and a TV like dinner afterwards at Sizzler. So yeah, I have plenty of food, photos and gaming posts to catch up on. So stay tuned.

This week’s WP7 Xbox LIVE deal of the week is Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night for $4.99, $2.00 of the regular price.

I personally think I’ll pass on this one, I’ve read quite a few reviews on Zune from paying customers complaining about the controls.

Wayside Creations brings you another amazing episode from their Fallout series, Nuka Break. Watch as a trip to Eastwood reveals an opportunity for Twig, Ben and sexy slave, Scarlett.

Being the huge Fallout fan that I am, it was only inevitable the Survival Edition would end up in my hands. Honestly, what Fallout fan could pass up a pipboy, bobblehead, lunchbox and The Art of Fallout 3 book and making of DVD?

This week’s WP7 Xbox LIVE deal of the week is everyone’s favorite board game, Monopoly. For the next week, get Monopoly for $2 off the regular price at $2.99.

Also, don’t forget, Kinectimals is officially out today for WP7, a great game for kids that works very well on your WP7.