I think it’s safe to say that Brewery Ommegang is one of my and Ray’s favorite breweries. Almost all their beers have hit it out of the park for us, from Hennepin, a Farmhouse Saison to Cup O Kyndness, a Belgian-inspired Scotch Ale. But of course, there will always be one that is exceptionally near and dear to us: Three Philosophers, a quadrupel created by blending 98% of the ale with 2% of a Belgian Kriek.

This is a beer I grew fond of, so, when Ray decided I was going to be his forever-lady, he picked up a 2007 bottle of the Cooperstown brew and proposed to me on Aug. 22, 2008.

To celebrate the engagement months later, my Uncle Larry and Aunt Susan gave us two bottles of Three Philosophers, bottled in 2008. Ray and I quickly decided to cellar the brews. One would be opened shortly after the wedding in November 2009, and the second would be opened right around our first wedding anniversary in November 2010.

Ideally, we would have had the beer on our anniversary, but our plans were to go to Blackfish in Conshohocken—an amazing seafood BYOB—and we figured a quadrupel would overpower almost anything we ordered. Instead, we had it a few nights later with pan-seared filet mignon and roasted brussel sprouts. So good.

The bottle aged well. Dark stone fruit was evident, and the alcohol was very mellow. The cherries were present, but tended to play second fiddle to stronger plum notes. The aging definitely smoothed out the beer, and we both found it quite enjoyable.

I highly recommend this sort of practice—buying a couple of bottles to celebrate an occasion, leaving one to cellar and open over an anniversary. It would have been an excellent experiment if my uncle and aunt had given us three bottles: the last could have been saved for our fifth or even tenth anniversary!

Breweries, Craft Beer 6 Comments »

More than two months later, and I’m still trying to wrap up our Denver trip—yes, it was that epic.

Oskar Blue Sampler. Top (l-r): ODB Barleywine; Velvet Elvis; Some High Grade Smoke; Columbian Supreme; Ten Fidy. Bottom (l-r) Priscilla Wheat; Hoppy Seconds; Redbeard's Love; Gubna Imperial IPA; S-bus Imperial Brown

After visiting New Belgium on Day 8, we headed over to Oskar Blues Home Made Liquids and Solids. We enjoyed 2 sampler trays filled with beers that don’t tend to make it into cans—these were draft specialties. The ODB Barleywine was intense, and I remember being fairly impressed with Some High Grade Smoke, especially since I’m not much of a smoked beer kind of gal (maybe someday). The imperial Redbeard’s Love was very caramely and S-bus Imperial Brown was my first exposure to the offbeat style, and I liked it.

Day 9
Once again we hit up WaterCourse Foods for breakfast, because, simply put, the food there is mind-blowingly phenomenal. Get on a plane NOW and eat there. Your stomach will thank you.

After a 6+ mile hike at Elk Meadow in Evergreen, Co., we met up with my fellow Lady of Craft Beer Micki at Great Divide. And, unfortunately, it was between these two activities that I found out that my beloved Clark’s Ale House was closing—making me a sad panda that could only be cheered up with excellent GD brews.

Day 10
Friday saw us head to Snooze for a light breakfast (1/2 orders of Bennys and coffee only for us). Our plan for the day was to go neighborhood hunting, nap in the park, have lunch at SAME Cafe, and basically just play it by ear.

We found that the neighborhood just south of the state capitol seemed to be our best bet, even with a street full of apartment complexes called Poets’ Row (I’m such a geek). I discovered a cool hair salon sporting posters for Roller Derby and discovered WaterCourse Bakery’s location, so I knew this would be a perfect spot to settle down in a few years (hair salons and bakeries … my only requirements).

Lunch at SAME (So All May Eat) Cafe was delicious and meaningful (read more about it on MelBee Says …) and reading and napping in Cheeseman Park was delightful.

Great Divide Yeti and Wild Raspberry soon became one as I mixed the two samples to become the Wild Raspberry Yeti.

Ray called for Happy Hour at Great Divide, so we hoofed it over there, and we enjoyed a few samples and pints and our books. There was an excellent vegetarian food truck doing their thing right outside the patio, but we resisted the temptation and held out for WaterCourse (yes again!) and their delicious pastas for dinner.

Day 11 saw us checking out, dropping off the rental car and heading to the airport. But before we shimmied through security, there had to be breakfast, and once last beer at Boulder Beer in the airport. I enjoyed a Mojo IPA with the same southwestern chicken salad that I had a year ago, while Ray enjoyed a Planet Porter with a burger.

And then it was off to our gate to head back to Philly. Every time we leave Denver it gets a little bit harder, but one day the tables will turn and we’ll be leaving the Mile High City to go on vacation and not the other way around.

Breweries, Brewpubs, Craft Beer, Denver 2010, Restaurants 1 Comment »

The Abbey, the Beer-Stream trailer that was once commissioned to travel, sharing the wonders of New Belgium beers.

It may have been a month since I wrote about Odell Brewing and more like 2 months since we were actually at the mecca that is New Belgium Brewing, but our time spent there still seems pretty fresh in my mind. I mean, how does one forget about a 90-minute brewery tour?

We were greeted first by the classic Airstream trailer in the parking lot, and then headed straight into the Liquid Center. We checked in, got a nifty stamp on our hands and snagged our first samples, pre-tour. I had the Ranger IPA—so crisp and hoppy and full of resiny goodness. Our tour guide Seth (who is epically awesome and the tour guide to have while at New Belgium) had us gather around and enjoy the first of many samples to come (the Abbey ale … so caramely!) and told the story of how New Belgium was born out of Kim and Jeff’s basement and then grew into the current space.

Seth, our tour guide at New Belgium, was super cool and highly knowledgable.

Then it was time to head upstairs, where you can see the tops of the kettles and the beautiful mosaics that surround them. It was at the upstairs bar that Seth decided to make an “employee-owner” decision to have each of us pour our own samples from the tap (to save on labor, as he put it).

He taught us the perfect way to pour (just enough head so you get to experience the aroma appropriately) and let us have at it. I poured a perfect sample of Hoptober, the fall seasonal. Ray followed and managed to kick the keg of 1554 (a Belgian black ale). He gave it another shot, this time kicking the keg of La Folie, the sour brown. The third time was the charm and he finally managed a decent pour of Ranger IPA.

We peered in on the cellaring area, saw the lab where we waved at a bunch of the folks behind keeping the NB yeast healthy and then made our way over to the bottling/packaging facility, lovingly called the Thunder Dome, where we had yet another sample, this time Mothership Wit.

Throughout the brewery, New Belgium has dioramas like this one for Fat Tire Amber Ale.

From there, we headed back to the main building, headed up the stairs by accounting so that we could have the honor of coming back down—via a large metal curly slide. Seth suggested curling up to avoid any abrasions from the metal and riding on the left butt cheek. I tried my best while sliding down in a dress, but still managed to nail my knee pretty well. Two months later, and I still have a dark spot on my knee the size of a quarter.

We finished up in a room Seth has set aside for us with two final samples: Ranger and 1554. Seth regaled us with the story behind 1554 (watch the video!) and then sent us on our way to hang out in the Liquid Center.

Overall, it was an amazing tour, with much more than just walking around and trying samples. Seth explained all about the brewery’s environmental philosophies and more, which are just mind-blowingly awesome (and I’m not even going to try to cover it all—just read about it here).

Definitely reserve spots on the tour if you find you’re in Fort Collins. Great beer. Great time. Great social and environmental responsibility. Who could ask for more?

Breweries, Craft Beer, Denver 2010 1 Comment »

Mel, literally in the Bathtub Brewery

Hopefully you’ve been keeping track of all the great stuff over on the Ladies of Craft Beer website, where it seems I’ve been doing most of my writing (I haven’t forgotten you!). We’ve got some great beer reviews, homebrewing tips, opinion pieces and more. On top of ALL of that (and that’s a lot!), Stevie, founder and big cheese over at LadiesOCB has started a Women in Beer Series.

Stevie has reached out to all the LadiesOCB contributors, as well as a number of women in the thick of the craft beer industry. I think it’ll be a really exciting series, and yesterday I was featured! Talk about excitement.

So head over to the LadiesOCB website and check it out for yourselves.

Craft Beer, Homebrewing, Miscellany 1 Comment »