Memorial Day Weekend: Friends, Beers, and Games
A chronological list of my holiday weekend, with duplicates removed. It was over a week ago, but I’ve finally put it all down in writing. I have included the ratings for the beers and the games (taken from RateBeer.com and BoardGameGeek.com). The beers are ranked by percentile. The games are rated out of 10, and ranked in order.
- Franziskaner Heffe-Weisen (90) - a fabulous summer beer, light and refreshing
- Yspahan (7.5, 83, Sébastien Pauchon) - a fun and light game with wooden camels, and an interesting dice mechanic; a very approachable game for “non-gamers”
- Unibroue Maudite (96) - a fabulous and dark complected beer, with riotous carbonation; i discovered this Quebecan gem when I was living in Alberta, and have loved it ever since
- Hacienda (7.3, 151, Wolfgang Kramer) - take your cattle to market on the South American pampas frontiers; lots of bits, moderate difficulty
- Lord of the Rings (7.1, 187, Reiner Knizia) - a co-operative game, where everyone is playing a hobbit, trying to help the ring be destroyed, quite a bit of variety, with multiple boards, we lost horribly
- Dvonn (7.6, 69, Kris Burm) - one of the Project GIPF series (all 2-player abstracts), Woody’s son Mac happens to be very good at it and he trounced me
- Anchor Porter (98) - my favorite beer is the next one I’m having, variety is the spice of life, and the variety in beer styles is what I like, but when pressed, this is the beer I call my favorite, it’s chocolatey goodness is unsurpassed
- In the Year of the Dragon (7.7, 53, Stefan Feld) - this was a new “big box” release last year, and got a lot of play, though mixed reviews at last year’s BGG.con; i was slow to warm up to this game, but by the time my first play was over, i liked it
- New Belgium 1554 Brussels Style Black Ale (85) - the lowest rated beer so far, likely because it’s not true to style; it is true to total deliciousness, and I have several friends who like this beer a lot, but aren’t really beer drinkers
- Twilight Imperium, Second Edition (7.2, 794, Christian T. Petersen) - this 2000 game was superseded in 2005 (3rd Edition, 7.9, 27), last year I bought the 2nd edition w/ expansion for rock-bottom prices; this was the first real play I’ve had, it was very enjoyable, it would be great with 4 (we had 3), and yes it would take 6 hours or so
- Tribes - hmm, a week gone by and I don’t recall this game
- St. Arnold Summer Pils (36) - a good light but moderately hopped beer
- Unibroue Trois Pistoles (99) - a dark belgian ale, another fabulous example from this brwery
- Lindeman’s Framboise (90) - it seems that lambic variety has dropped in past years, Lindeman’s can always be found in the Houston market; this is their raspberry infused version; not as sour as tradition would dictate
- Tigris and Euphrates (8.2, 4, Reiner Knizia) - a classic, and tough to get your brain around, such simple mechanics, such complex interplay, best with 4, very Knizia
- Lindeman’s Cassis (76) - this may be one of my favorite lambic flavors, this one is black currant
- Goa (7.9, 21, Rüdiger Dorn) - this one has sat in the box at Wimberley many, many times, and this is the first I’ve played it; it was a great game, i’d love to play more
- Avery The Reverend (87) - a quadruple that was deliciously sweet and complex
- Alagash Dubbel Reserve (87) - a taste beer from Maine
- Hamburgum (7.4, 159, Mac Gerdts) - i wasn’t quite sure about this one on my first play a month ago (despite beer being one of the resources in the game), but playing it a second time I really came to enjoy, and grok, this one
- North Coast Brother Thelonious (90) - a strong ale from California, named after the Jazz icon
- Tripel Karmeliet (98) - a fabulous belgian tripel
- Ra (7.9, 19, Reiner Knizia) - this multi-round bidding game is nearly 10 years old and a classic
- Lindeman’s Pêche (79) - peach, a standard, but less common lambic flavor
- Lindeman’s Kriek (82) - the classic version of the flavored kriek; cherry
- Traders of Genoa (7.5, 76, Rüdiger Dorn) - we play this one fairly often at Wimberley, this time it was reinforced that the game play can vary drastically depending upon the opponents - there’s deal making afoot
- Recess! (5.4, 3643) - a kids game where you try to steal the lunch money from everyone else while not getting caught by the nuns, getting one of your boys to kiss one of your girls ends the game and earns a bonus
- Keythedral (7.1, 131, Richard Breese) - a game I had to have for the octagonal pieces, generally enjoyed by all
- Las Vegas Showdown (7.4, 116, Henry Stern) - a great build-your-own-casino theme, implemented with a bidding mechanism that’s not too threatening, mean new-comers always enjoy it; lots of fun
- Wits and Wagers (7.2, 175) - a great solution to the party trivia game - bet on everyone’s answers; this one was in constant play last year at BGG.con
- Pandemic (7.9, 29, Matt Leacock) - brand new and hard to find, this game is amazingly fun, even when you perpetually lose; well balanced, it’s a shame it maxes out at 4 people
I had the odd and uncommon experience of not being able to find my keys Wednesday morning. I checked the two spots I normally leave them. Then checked again. Then the five expanded places I might leave them.
Hey, Sunday is time again for Houston Roller Derby.
Allen and I are number 11 in 
