Beer of the Week

The beer: Double Canister India Pale Ale

Brewed by: Antietam Brewery, Hagerstown, Maryland

Description (from Untappd): "A West Coast IPA brewed for the Frederick Civil War Medical Museum. Piney and citrusy hop profile over a solid malt backbone."

Would I buy it again?: I'm sure there are people who can really tell the difference between various IPAs, but I'm not really one of them. They all taste fairly similar to me, so I thought this was fine and easy to drink. I would buy this one again simply cause it's a special collaboration between Antietam Brewery and the Civil War Medicine Museum in Frederick, and I think it's cool that this beer exists. I wish it was a bit more unique like the Flying Dog collab beer I reviewed a few years ago; an IPA isn't exactly anything special. But it's the thought that counts.

Want to Own Real Estate on the Moon? Here's Your Opportunity

I wish I'd found this a bit earlier in the day, but to celebrate the lunar eclipse tonight, Bagel Bites is currently running a contest that goes until 12:59 AM Eastern Time on Thursday, May 27 for 100 randomly chosen people to own a whole acre of property ... on the Moon. You also get some free Bagel Bites if you win, but that's not very interesting.

Now, you might think that it's ridiculous to own real estate on the Moon, but it's surprisingly not clear cut. The Outer Space Treaty prevents nations from claiming territory in space, but that treaty came into being before commercial space flight became a thing, so it doesn't say what commercial companies can and can't claim. I wouldn't stake your life and future on homesteading on the Sea of Tranquility, but it is possible the winners of this contest may actually own a bit of the Moon. And that's kind of cool.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Coffee Bender

Brewed by: Surly Brewing Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Description (from the website): "Guatemalan coffee, roasted locally, is added to our house oatmeal brown ale. Cold press coffee aromatics and intense coffee flavors are balanced by the oats in the malt bill, resulting in a cappuccino-like creaminess."

Would I buy it again?: Usually when you see coffee in a beer, it's a stout, not a brown ale. Unlike the Sheetz donut beer, however, a brown ale isn't too terribly far removed from a stout, and as you can see from the picture, this beer is plenty dark. However, that brown ale does keep things comparatively light, so while I wouldn't call this a beer you could easily down a six pack of, it doesn't fill you up like a coffee stout might. The taste is good as well, so this beer definitely gets my approval.

Review: En-Joie Golf Club (Part 2)

It's time to take a look at the back nine at En-Joie, go here to see the front.

The tenth hole is a fairly short par 4 that goes slightly downhill. It's not exactly parallel to the first hole, though they share a teeing area, but in many ways it functions as a mirror. It goes downhill in a similar way and it has a pond by the green on the right side instead of the left. If you're a long hitter, you'll want to be careful as a 300 yard drive will reach the pond, and the fairway narrows considerably when the water starts. The water is just a foot or two off of the green, so there's no wiggle room right, and a big bunker left that makes for very tense recovery shots. Not much green to work with, a slope that runs right to left, water just beyond, I wouldn't recommend it.

The tenth hole.

Approaching the tenth green.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is a fairly long par 4 that bends slightly to the left around some big trees. There's a bunker on the outside of the dogleg, and the green is best approached from the right side, near that bunker. The green is slightly elevated and is protected by two bunkers on the left side.

The eleventh hole.

Approaching the eleventh green.

The eleventh green.

The twelfth hole is the shortest (and final) par 5 at En-Joie, playing just 510 yards. That means it's definitely reachable in two so long as you avoid the right side and the overhanging trees. Actually, if you can get close to the green with the second, you probably should, as there's a pond about 50 yards short of the green that complicates lay-ups. Either you've got to go out to the right of it, leaving a bad angle, stay short which leaves a long third, or go past. I think that's the best option. The green is angled 45 degrees to the fairway, which makes shots easier from the left side, especially with the bunker in front.

The twelfth hole.

Approaching the twelfth green.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole is 425 yards, making it the longest par 4 at En-Joie. The playing corridor is wider than many others, so feel free to swing away with the driver. Just avoid the fairway bunker left. The second shot is to a slightly elevated green protected by a bunker right and two small bunkers left. It's the longest par 4 on the course, but it's honestly not that difficult a hole.

The thirteenth hole.

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is 185 yards and plays parallel to the fourth, even utilizing the same pond. There's a distinct left-to-right lean to the hole, so keep that in mind when hitting your tee shot. There are two bunkers left of the green to catch shots purposely hit away from the pond. The green isn't bad, like the two par 3s on the front, but it suffers from playing almost exactly the same as those two.

The fourteenth hole.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is, at the very least, something different. It's a mid-length par 4, and for once it doesn't have trees lining one side of the fairway. Instead, it's got water. The pond runs down basically the entire left side, ending all the way at the green. The smart play is really to use a wood or long iron, since the hole isn't long and the fairway is widest about 200-250 yards from the tee. The green is big (though it's got quite a bit of slope to it), so it's okay to approach it with a slightly longer club. Use a driver and you'll be heading right into the narrowest part of the fairway for not a whole lot of reward. I'm not a big fan, but like I said, at least it's a bit of variety.

The fifteenth hole.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is easily the best hole at En-Joie, and a bit of an outlier, if I'm being honest. It's a quirky little par 4 that's drivable by quite a few people, being only 275 yards. There's also eight bunkers scattered about, which is two more than the fifth (the hole with the second most, and a long par 5 at that). The green is elevated and a group of three trees protects the green from the right side, meaning you'll have to hit a fade if you do want to go for the green. If not, you'll hit a long iron, avoiding all the sand, and then a little wedge up the hill. There's a small tier in the green, but it's enough to provide interest. It's a neat little hole and I wish En-Joie had more like this.

The sixteenth hole.

Approaching the sixteenth green.

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole is a little par 3, playing just 145 yards. The green is long and in a bowl of sorts, with a single bunker to the right. There's quite a bit of back to front slope to the green as well, though the back does flatten out. It's a pretty easy hole, but that's okay. It's nice to have a less demanding par 3, especially considering how similar the first three are. 

The seventeenth hole.

The eighteenth hole is a 400 yard par 4 that plays a fair amount up hill. It's not an easy drive – there's trees overhanging the right side and water left. But if you do hit the fairway, you're rewarded with a pretty easy second shot. The green is fairly large and receptive, with just one bunker to the right. It's definitely a reasonable birdie opportunity if you hit a good drive, and I appreciate that it's not extremely difficult while not being super easy. 

The eighteenth hole.

Approaching the eighteenth green.

The eighteenth green.

If you're looking for a golf course filled with interesting, strategic options, En-Joie is going to disappoint you. Wouldn't you know it, but it turns out putting a golf course on a small, flat property isn't a recipe for success, especially when the holes are all parallel and lined with big trees. Virtually every tee shot is the same, and unless you're extremely accurate, you'll be hitting punch shots out from underneath those trees all day. The greens aren't awful, but there's little imagination around them and not much in the way of advantageous angles. 

There is a "but" coming, and here it is. While my brain wasn't particularly stimulated by anything En-Joie did, I can't deny the good things it has going for it. This is a golf course that has and currently does host professional golf events, that is a fact. This is also a fact: If you walk, you can play En-Joie for $27. That is a very good price for 18 holes of golf. En-Joie is a municipal course, so absolutely anyone can play it. You might think that it would be too difficult for the once-a-year golfer who can barely get a drive 100 yards, but it really isn't. There are no forced carries so long as you utilize the proper tees, and the only hole that might give a high-handicapper trouble is the fifteenth. Even that hole is tolerable, since the water is limited to one side. There are trees, yes, but the vegetation isn't dense, and when you play here at a time when the leaves aren't covering the ground, it should be relatively easy to find golf balls in the trees, and it's relatively easy to get out of them as well. I didn't lose a golf ball at En-Joie, and that is no small feat.

In the end, I didn't really like En-Joie and I have no particular interest in playing it again. But I'm glad it exists for the people of Binghamton, and I hope they continue to enjoy it for years to come. It's cheap, it's not particularly difficult, and it's friendly, and that's all you can really ask for from your local muni. Just don't go out of your way to see it.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Resurrection Ale

Brewed by: The Brewer's Art, Baltimore, Maryland

Description (from Untappd): "Our Abbey-style brown ale, brewed with five types of malt and three hop varieties. This rich yet dry beer is dark amber in color with lots of flavor."

Would I buy it again?: Here's a fun fact: Back in 2008 Esquire magazine named the Brewer's Art the best bar in the whole country. You would therefore expect a beer made by them (worthy of special mention on the bar's Wikipedia page, I might add) to be quite good. And it is. It's drinkable but it's got plenty of heft and taste as well. I'd like to go to this place once it opens up again, see what the place is like. This beer has gotten me curious.

Review: En-Joie Golf Club (Part 1)

When I went to go visit my brother in upstate New York back in October last year, our plan was perfect. Equinox one day, then Leatherstocking Golf Course in Cooperstown the next day. The fall foliage would be at its peak in both places, and I'd get plenty of great pictures. Then Leatherstocking had its green aeration delayed because of rain right to the day we had our tee time (though we'd get there in November, thanks to some unusually nice weather; come back next month for my review of that). We needed a backup course, and that brings us to En-Joie Golf Club in Endicott. 

If that name seems vaguely familiar, it should. En-Joie was the host of the former B.C. Open, a real fully fledged PGA Tour stop, for 35 years until the mid 2000s, and is the current host of the Dick's Sporting Goods Open, a Champions Tour event (that's the senior tour, in case the excessive branding makes that unclear). This isn't the first former host of a PGA Tour event that I've played, since Mount Pleasant held one in the 50s and 60s, but I actually remember watching the B.C. Open on TV when I was young. Happily, just like Mount Pleasant, En-Joie is a municipal golf course accessible to all. Actually, reading through the course's history is fascinating; it dates back to the 1920s and was built because the owner of the Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company (which employed 20,000 people back then) loved golf and felt that his workers shouldn't be excluded from the sport. A round there originally cost just a quarter, which would be about $3.50 in 2021. It costs a bit more than that to play there now, but En-Joie is still very affordable. 

There is, however, a slight problem, one that you can identify by looking at the course on Google Maps. En-Joie is not located on a large piece of land, and the holes are, by and large, narrow, straight, and parallel with each other. The Susquehanna River is just a few hundred feet to the south and En-Joie has dealt with severe flooding in the past; it couldn't host the B.C. Open in its final year because the course had been damaged by flooding. So it's flat too. That is not a recipe for success. So, can En-Joie overcome those hurdles and be a golf course worth playing? Let's find out.

The first hole is fairly modest, being a shortish par 4 that plays slightly downhill. The drive is pretty straightforward unless you can it 300 yards, in which case a small pond comes into play, so if you're a long hitter a 3 wood may be the better choice off of the tee. The green is long, fairly narrow, and guarded by the pond to the left and a bunker right. It's not a particularly interesting start, but it's not awful or anything.

The first hole.

The first green.

The second hole is 350 yards and the one true dogleg at En-Joie. There's no need to use the driver here, and doing so is really not a good idea. The fairway runs out about 250 yards from the tee and turns hard left, and there's a pond that separates the fairway from the green that a hooked or pulled driver could easily end up in. Either that or you could end up underneath a tree with water between you and the green. A conservative play is really the prudent option. The second shot is a wedge over water to a big green with a decent amount of slope to it. You'll notice that, while you're on the tee, the back tee isn't really the back tee. A good thing that En-Joie does is not even put tees out where the professionals play from. They get a 7,000 yard course, but the normal back tees are at 6,600 yards. Basically no casual golfer needs a course that's 7,000 yards, and removing the option surely speeds up the pace of play, because we all know golfers love to play from the wrong set of tees.

The second hole.

Approaching the second green. The pond is invisible but definitely there.

The second green.

The third hole is the first of three par 5s on the front nine. It's 545 yards, so it's not really reachable unless you're a really long hitter, and a bunker that eats into the fairway on the right side right where a drive would end up makes the tee shot a bit complicated. The lay-up shot is best hit down the left side, flirting with the bunker about 75 yards short of the green. Then you've got a little wedge into a big green guarded by two bunkers on the right side.

The third hole.

Approaching the third green.

The third green.

I hope you like mid-length par 3s with water on one side, because En-Joie has three of them. The fourth is the first and the longest at 190 yards. The water is left, along with a single greenside bunkers. The green is actually not too bad, with a swale running across the middle making putts hit from the wrong level very tricky.

The fourth hole.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is 5 yards longer than the third, making it En-Joie's longest hole. It plays slightly uphill down yet another narrow fairway (I haven't really commented on that because every hole is the same in that regard), with the fairway bunker in view being more decoration than an actual threat. The second shot has a bit more to consider. Two crossbunkers cut in about 75 yards from the green, which is right where a lot of people will try to lay up. Unless you're confident you can carry them, I'd recommend restraint and settling for a longer third shot. The green is medium sized and has three bunkers around it.

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

If you're laying up on the fifth, do it short of the bunkers.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is 420 yards, slightly downhill, and dead straight through the trees. A single bunker on the left side narrows the fairway, but it can be easily cleared with a good drive. That will leave you with a short or mid iron into a very slightly elevated green. I'm really trying here with this course, but I can't pretend there's really anything interesting going on here.

The sixth hole.

Approaching the sixth green.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is 170 yards, and features water on the right side instead of the left, plus it has two bunkers – left and right. The green has two separate levels separated by a tier, with the back higher than the front. 

The seventh hole.

The eighth hole is 530 yards, and while there are no bunkers on the tee shot, you'll want to avoid the left side, otherwise your second shot will be blocked out by big trees that come into play more than most trees at En-Joie. If you're going for the green in two, you'll have a tough long iron or fairway wood over a cluster of bunkers to a shallow green with a false front. If you're laying up ... well, it's a wedge instead of a wood. 

The eighth hole.

Approaching the eighth green.

The eighth green, featuring some weird guy.

The ninth hole is a mid-length par 4 with fairway bunkers left and right that you're probably supposed to hit a draw between. Alternatively, you can hit driver over both bunkers if you're fairly long. Then you've got a wedge to a green with a bunker left and a mound to the right. At the very least, this hole doesn't play through a 30-yard-wide corridor of trees, so it's got that going for it.

The ninth hole.

Approaching the ninth green.

The ninth green, featuring a very angry golfer.

That's it for this week, next week we'll take a look at the back nine.

Beer of the Week

The beer: Lost in the Fog California Common

Brewed by: Silver Branch Brewing Company, Silver Spring, Maryland

Description (from the website): "Conceived in the mists of San Francisco Bay during the gold rush, this warm-fermented lager is toasty, slightly fruity and refreshing"

Would I buy it again?: This beer was coming in with one strike against it before I even took a drink. I could not get a head on it at all. Not the end of the world, I suppose, but not great. The taste was also a bit disappointing. Not an awful beer, but it was a bit too hoppy in my opinion, so it clearly fails the Yuengling test.