Another Day, Another Journey

This past Saturday I resumed my meandering ways and got out into the city to visit some places I had marked on my to-do list; in other words, I visited the Sam Adams brewery. I did other things as well, but let’s start here, where in fact I started.

The brewery is located southwest of downtown Boston (in Jamaica Plains if any of you know the city). I rode the T (from MBTA, Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority; it’s what everyone calls the subway) down to the nearest stop and wandered the streets until I found it. After waiting for an hour and a half because the tours are quite popular, I got to wander through the brewery. The Boston site is actually the smallest brewery they own, with larger ones in Cincinnati, somewhere in New York, I think, and a new one somewhere else (maybe North Carolina?). They may have more also, I can’t recall. The others are used to produce their products for mass consumption, while the Boston site is for R&D. The guide we had basically said that this meant they use it to refine and sample new formula ideas, to brew competition beers, and when the tanks are empty the employees can sometimes just come up with their own ideas and give them a try, presumably with the understanding that anything great will be the property of Sam Adams.

We got to taste the barley and smell the hops they use for some of their brews, and then a complimentary glass and two free tastes of their products. We got the Boston Lager, their main brand, and the Summer Ale, their current seasonal. While getting to drink samples of these, we got told some of what the employees of the brewery do in the course of their jobs. I just don’t know if I could show up to a brewery and start tasting beer at 10:30am every day to make sure the product on the market is up to specs.

Wait, did I just type that?

I also got to try 2 concepts for a new product that they have. One was a coffee flavored stout (dark beer) that I believe was appropriately titled Coffee Stout, and the other had a hint of blackberries and was, also appropriately, called Blackberry Ale. How do you think they came up with the names? The tastes were set up so the tasters could vote for the one they liked better, so I voted (secret ballot, thank you very much; I voted for the Coffee Stout, though).

After that I went to the Museum of Science (it might have a real name but I don’t know it) where there was an exhibit on baseball. I was like a moth to a flame; once I saw the ad for it a few weeks ago a visit was inevitable. The exhibit (and the whole museum) was alright, mostly set up for younger people to try and get kids interested in baseball (and science, respectively). The one nice thing they had was a 60’6” cage with a padded wall painted with the plate half of the battery on one side and a radar gun. So I threw. Caveats:

1) I didn’t get to warm up.
2) I wore flip flops, so I wound up throwing barefoot.
3) I was wearing khaki shorts and a button up shirt, so I had a suboptimal range of motion.
4) I am a wimp.
5) I didn’t get to warm up (maybe if I repeat it you’ll forget #4).

Anyway, everyone gets three throws, and with a wide variety of ages, from kids barely into live pitching (who got to throw from closer) to people who were actually adults (I don’t count me as being an adult yet), most of the people were bouncing one of the floor, one off the ceiling, and the other would hit either the radar gun which was off to the side or the back wall about where the batter’s head was painted. Regardless of speed, they weren’t going to get anyone out. As it turns out I wouldn’t have gotten anyone out either, but that was due to the speed component of velocity and not the direction component; all three of my throws hit the painted catcher’s mitt. The highest velocities I saw there were two teenagers who bounced every throw; one hit 62 for his best, the other reached 59. I was third for the time I was there, hitting 49, 50, and 51 for my three throws. If I had been warmed… I’m just saying.

After that, I went to a location recommended by the Florida folk: the Bull & Finch Pub. This is the pub used as the inspiration for Cheers. I had a few beers and ate dinner there, and it was decent and reasonably priced. I didn’t get any Cheers gear, but that’s only because I don’t know the show that well and I’m not really that kind of souvenir person.

So that was the weekend. The head of the program employing me is finally in Cambridge from his summer visit to the Hoover Institute at Stanford University, so I’ll be getting busier in the upcoming weeks (note: I am considering that a good thing). He has mentioned the possibility of continuing some of my current responsibilities even after I leave Cambridge, so I may have an easier time than I thought keeping in this circle.

That’s all I have for you today. What’s new with everyone out there?

Oh, here are a few pictures for everyone.

This one was for my brother, who should be amused. If not, he’s wrong.

This is the Museum of Science (it stretches across the river) as seen from the Longfellow Bridge to its south. Yes, that is a baseball design to symbolize the exhibit. Yes it’s awesome.

This is the exterior of the Bull and Finch Pub (Cheers).

This is the yellow flag that flies outside the Bull and Finch Pub to ensure everyone knows that they should enter.