One of the best ways to build your fitness and increase your ability to workout better, is by using your heart rate to set your workouts. I’ve been training with a heart rate monitor for nearly 27 years and have found it to be very helpful. Back in the Fall of 2008 I did a series of posts on using heart rate based training to improve your fitness so I wanted to re-introduce you to it here:
The Series
Heart Rate Based Training Part One: An introduction to heart rate based training, why it is important to train using heart rate, and how to get the most from your workouts using this proven technique.
Heart Rate Based Training Part Two: How to test yourself to determine your “training zones”. I give you three different ways of determining these zones based on how accurate you want to be.
Heart Rate Based Training Part Three: How to build your training program and “zones” using the information from part two. I also give a couple of sample workouts to help you get started.
The Goal And An Offer From Me
The goal of all of this is to help you get more from your workouts. Once you know how to properly determine and use heart rate to train you can do better workouts in less time as well as train correctly for a 5k, Century Ride, marathon, or whatever other goal you may have.
For those of you that are interested I am offering to help you build a basic training program based on heart rate. Like I said in the “Intro Video” last month, I am not a fitness professional, just a guy who has trained for endurance events most of my life. That being said, if you are interested, send an email to me at mark@bikebeerbbq.com and I will let you know more information on what support I can provide. I need to charge something for the service. It will be very affordable, but I haven’t reached a number yet.
Books You May Want To Read
There are a lot of good books out there that can help you develop a training program based on heart rate. Here are a few that I suggest you check out:
Continuing down the trail of Stout reviews I decided to try a Milk Stout from Longmont, Colorado’s Left Hand Brewing. Milk Stouts have a higher percentage of unfermented sugars in them, usually lactose, that help give the beer a sweetness that counters the strong roasted character of Stouts. I haven’t had many Milk Stouts so I was interested to see how Left Hand’s effort tasted: Continue reading “Left Hand Milk Stout”
One of my resolutions for 2010 is to read more. I used to read a lot but have gotten away from it recently. But, my new E-Reader, the Libre from Aluratek, is quickly turning me back into someone who loves to read. I have been interested in e books and e-readers for a number of months and finally got serious about doing some research. What I found was that there are a lot of options in the market and many of them are fairly affordable. I wanted something straight forward that was lower priced and offered a lot of flexibility. My research led me to the Libre. Here is my video review of it: Continue reading “Aluratek Libre E-Reader Review”
Young’s Double Chocolate Stout has been on my “to drink” list for a while. It comes in both nitro widget cans as well as bottles. I have heard that some people tend to like one more than the other. So, I decided to do a back to back review with the can 1st, followed by the bottle to see which is better:
This is a yummy beer! I love chocolate and Young’s Double Chocolate, in both the can and bottle, delivers. The chocolate is more on the bitter sweet side than milk chocolate. It is a bit like drinking a liquid chocolate bar There isn’t much else to the flavor other than some nice roasted malt flavors. The finish is slightly acidic and has a chocolate note. Drinkability is pretty good. So, which is better, the can or bottle? Well, they were both very close. The only discernible difference I could really get was in the “creaminess” of the beer, with the nitro widget can tasting slightly better than the bottle in this regard. Also, the appearance of the canned version was better than the bottle, due once again to the nitro widget.
So, I declare the canned version of Young’s Double Chocolate Stout the winner, by a widget, over the bottle. Both are very, very good so please try them, especially if you like chocolate!
Here Are The Scores:
Can:
1. Appearance- 9 points (out of 10)
2. Smell- 8 points (out of 10)
3. Taste- 17 points (out of 20)
4. Drinkability- 8 points (out of 10)
Total 42 (out of 50) Points- 4 Mugs (The Winner, by a Widget)
Bottle:
1. Appearance- 8 points (out of 10)
2. Smell- 8 points (out of 10)
3. Taste- 16 points (out of 20)
4. Drinkability- 8 points (out of 10)
It was a cold, rainy, and windy night; perfect weather for staying inside and making a nice, hearty stew for dinner. I hadn’t made stew yet this Winter so we decided to do a Beef Stew and pair it with a Stout. I picked up a 4-pack of Guinness Draught in the 14.9 oz widget can, fired up the gas cook-top, and started cooking:
The Beer
Guinness is a decent beer. It has a fantastic appearance (due to the Nitro widget), an average aroma and flavor and pretty good drinkability. Nothing about it is bad at all and it’s an entirely decent beer. Don’t expect any real complexity but do expect a consistent, easy drinking beer. It went perfect with (and in) the Beef Stew I made. I still have 2 cans of the beer in my fridge and I will enjoy them very soon.
Here’s The Score:
1. Appearance- 9 points (out of 10)
2. Smell- 6 points (out of 10)
3. Taste- 13 points (out of 20)
4. Drinkability- 8 points (out of 10)
Total 36 (out of 50) Points- 3 Mugs
ABV 4.2%
Approximate Calories: 162-194 (14.9oz)
Beef Beer & Barley Stew Recipe
Here is the recipe I used for the stew. You can use barley groats rather than pearl barley in this stew to give the dish a little more texture. Substitute rutabagas, parsnips, or other root vegetables of your choice for the carrots and turnips.
Yield: 6 (big) servings-we got more like 8 out of it.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound beef stew meat
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups coarsely chopped onion
2 bay leaves
2 thyme sprigs
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups (1 1/2-inch-thick) slices carrot
2 cups chopped peeled turnips (about 1 pound)
3/4 cup uncooked pearl barley
5 garlic cloves, minced and divided
2 (8-ounce) packages mushrooms, quartered
3 cups water
3 cups low-salt beef broth
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 (12-ounce) bottle dark beer (such as stout)
3 small beets
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
Preparation
Heat oil in a stockpot over medium-high heat. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Add beef to pan & sauté 10 minutes or until browned. Remove from pan. Add onion, bay leaves, and thyme sprigs to pan. Cover, reduce heat, and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Uncover; stir in tomato paste. Increase heat to medium-high. Add carrot, turnips, barley, 4 garlic cloves, and mushrooms; sauté 3 minutes. Add beef, 1/2 teaspoon salt, water, broth, Worcestershire, and beer; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours. Discard bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
While stew is simmering, trim beets, leaving root and 1 inch stem on each; scrub with a brush. Place in a medium saucepan, and cover with water; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 35 minutes or until tender. Drain; rinse with cold water. Drain; cool. Leave root and 1 inch stem on each beet; rub off skins. Cut each beet into 6 wedges.
Combine parsley, thyme leaves, and 1 garlic clove. Ladle about 2 cups stew into each of 6 bowls. Top each serving with 3 beet wedges, about 1 1/2 teaspoons parsley mixture, and 1 teaspoon horseradish.
I enjoy coffee. Most days I have a couple of cups. Besides tasting great, it wakes me up and helps me get going. I love the aroma of a fresh cup of coffee in my hands. Well, in my tour of Stouts this Winter, I’ve had some very good beers that have a strong coffee component. I thought I would try yet another, Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout, brewed by Terrapin Beer Company and made with coffee from Jittery Joe’s, which is based in Athens, GA just like Terrapin:
This beer from Terrapin is amazing! I had this beer a little more than a year ago and remember liking it then but this time around I LOVED it It pours nice with a mocha colored head that sticks around and leaves good lacing. The coffee component of the beer is just about perfect with a smooth roasted coffee aroma that fills your nose right before you taste the beer. There is a strong coffee component to the taste but also a nice malt and slight bittersweet chocolate flavor that reminds you that you are drinking a beer, not coffee. There is no real bitter/acidic flavors, just nice dark roasted coffee goodness. Drinkability is very good, especially considering the 8.1% ABV. The beer goes down very easily and without a bitter aftertaste. I was very impressed with the Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout and I think you will be as well. Try this beer now!!!
Here’s The Score:
1. Appearance- 8 points (out of 10)
2. Smell- 10 points (out of 10)-The first beer to get a perfect 10 for this!
3. Taste- 19 points (out of 20)
4. Drinkability- 9 points (out of 10)
It was a cold rainy night, perfect for a movie. So, after a delicious dinner of pesto chicken and roasted veggies we headed to the basement to watch Spiderman 3 on the big screen. I was looking for some dessert so why not have a beer with Chocolate in the name? I decided to try Rogue’s Chocolate Stout. I haven’t really been disappointed with any of their beers before so I was looking forward to it: Continue reading “Rogue Chocolate Stout”
After all the Stouts I’ve been reviewing I decided to take a quick trip to Belgium and try a Saison/Farmhouse Ale from De Proefbrouwerij:
This was a good side trip I really like beers that are sour and a bit “funky” so I can usually depend on a Saison to help me get my fix. The De Proefbrouwerij had a nice mix of classic Farmhouse Ale and Belgian Dubbel. There was some sourness/funk backed up with a nice malt flavor. This is a tasty beer, not super complex, but good. Drinkability is good as well. If you want to try a “moderate” sour beer, this might be a great choice. I enjoyed it and now that I got my “funk fix” I’m ready to dive back into the Stouts.
1. Appearance- 7 points (out of 10)
2. Smell- 8 points (out of 10)
3. Taste- 17 points (out of 20)
4. Drinkability- 8 points (out of 10)
Alright, 2009 is in the books and I finally got all of my rides entered and logged. The result is the following video which shows a little more detail of all the bike riding I did in 2009, my best year yet as far as distance and time spent riding. It was also a record in one other very important category (you’ll have to watch the video to find out but let’s just say it directly relates to the other two parts of this blog’s name) Here you go:
Asheville, NC is a great beer town. There are several breweries in the area as well as some nice beer bars and pubs. We were up there last August and spent some time touring Highland Brewing. Highland makes a few different beers but during the tour we drank a couple of glasses of their Black Mocha Stout, which Brewmaster John Lyda really seemed to like. So, 5 months later, I’m finally getting around to reviewing the beer: Continue reading “Highland Brewing Black Mocha Stout”
There isn’t much else to the flavor other than some nice roasted malt flavors. The finish is slightly acidic and has a chocolate note. Drinkability is pretty good. So, which is better, the can or bottle? Well, they were both very close. The only discernible difference I could really get was in the “creaminess” of the beer, with the nitro widget can tasting slightly better than the bottle in this regard. Also, the appearance of the canned version was better than the bottle, due once again to the nitro widget.
