| The yeast tickles! |
Sep
2
2010
You like Unibroue right? Who doesn’t? The Québécois brewery puts out some excellent beers: Maudite, La Fin du Monde, Trois Pistoles, and my newest fave, Quelque Chose.
Keep you eye on LadiesOCB because there are a LOT of fantastic things in the works! I’m really glad I have an opportunity to join the lovely ladies writing in that space—but fear not, I’ll still be over at BB writing away!
Aug
18
2010
Monthly Bathtub contributor Ryan from The Healthy Hog is back from vacation in the land of the north. Always mindful of those who might not be able to travel as much as he does, he kept a thorough account of all the beers he tried. Such a good lad.
Some rights reserved by Steve_Tango
When Girlfriend and I originally planned a week-long vacation in Canada to see friends and family, I never expected to find much by the way of beer. At the beginning of the year, I had turned a two-week vacation to Australia and New Zealand into a beer tour, but was disappointed in my findings. Only two or three beers (of the 30+ I’d tried) had been above par (the best being a stout from Tasmania), and I had similar hopes for Canada. Despite Girlfriend hailing from the Nova Scotia, the only real experience I’d had with Canadian craft beer was Unibroue—which I’m not complaining about. Other than that, I knew the usual: Labatt*, Molson, Stella Artois.
Our first night in Canada, we went to a place specifically because of its above-average beer and cocktail list**. The first thing I saw was “Pump House Seasonal.” I asked the server and he said it was a “Thai wheat.” Not knowing what the hell a Thai wheat was, I decided to go ahead with it, mostly because the brewery was in New Brunswick***. When I took my first sip, I tasted something delicious, yet familiar. It took me a second to place it, and when I did, I immediately texted Mel****. The server hadn’t said Thai wheat, he’d said chai wheat. The beer tasted like a wonderful, slightly spicy, slightly cinnamony banana.
The remainder of the trip had its beer highs and lows, but that particular beer was the highest. Later that night, I had the Pump House Scotch Ale, and anytime we stopped at a liquor store I picked up another six-pack of Pump House: Special Old Bitter, Blueberry Ale and Red Ale. The Red Ale was the best of the rest, coming in second to the Chai Wheat and edging out the Scotch Ale.
I was also able to try multiple beers from a local Nova Scotian brewery named Propeller: an ESB, IPA and London Porter. The Porter was easily the best, which could be due to a multitude of reasons: Porter is my favorite style of beer, it was late after a long night of “trying new beers,” and I don’t particularly like bitterness*****. I do remember the porter being an excellent beer, though, despite any sensory shortcomings at that point.
The other great beer experience on the trip came during a small two-day scuttle around Prince Edward Island, home of the best mussels in the world and only one brewery. Of course, I couldn’t pass that up: How many people do I know who can say they’ve had every beer brewed in a single city, let alone an entire province? One******. The Gahan House was my one requirement on P.E.I., so we swung in to have a little nosh and I got, of course, a sampler of every beer they brewed.
While I can’t really judge the 1772 IPA (there’s that bitter beer again), I can say with certainty that my two least favorite beers were the Harvest Gold Pale Ale and Sir John A’s Honey Wheat Ale—which sounds like it would be delicious, but turned out to taste like any run-of-the-mill lager. A step up were Cole’s Cream Ale and the Iron Horse Brown Ale, which I would drink again, but not as my first choice. Their two best brews, however, were the Island Red Amber Ale (which they steamed their freshest of the fresh P.E.I. mussels in) and the Sydney Street Stout, an excellent example of the style that necessitated I order an extra half-pint. I passed it around and everyone seemed pleasantly surprised.
Which sums up my beer experience in Canada: pleasant surprise. I had a few average beers and even a few terrible beers (stay away from Rickard’s Dark), but of the even 20 that I had, even the small beers in the various middles-of-nowhere we visited had their merits, some that would even draw me back. I’ve already told Girlfriend that any future trip to Canada will involve a stop in Moncton, New Brunswick to visit my new friends at Pump House.
* Don’t believe my scoffing at Labatt. Having spent plenty of time in Cleveland, I’ve come to appreciate it more than most macrobrews.
** I immediately noticed a distressing concept: all of our sub-par macrobreweries (Bud, Coors, etc.) are also brewed in Canada and therefore make the “Domestic” list on menus.
*** My newest quest: drink a beer brewed in every state and province.
**** See: The superior Boris the Spider Chai Oatmeal Stout.
***** Why do I keep buying beer with descriptions like “special bitter” and “extra bitter”? Who knows.
****** Me.
Aug
10
2010
Recently, Beer Advocate named its Top 100 Beers based on a nifty equation that goes a little like this:
weighted rank (WR) = (number of reviews for the beer ÷ (number of reviews for the beer+minimum reviews required to be listed (currently 1000) )) × review average for the beer + (minimum reviews required to be listed (currently 1000) ÷ (number of reviews for the beer+minimum reviews required to be listed (currently 1000) )) × the mean across the list (currently 4.03)
Or, in other words: weighted rank (WR) = (v ÷ (v+m)) × R + (m ÷ (v+m)) × C
Check out Beer Advocate’s post for a more in depth explanation of the math behind the list (look for it at the bottom), but in the meantime, peruse the list here and note which beers we’ve had off of the Top 100 list.
Some rights reserved by DR000
Based on my count, Ray and I have had at least 65 of the beers, so we’ve drank 65% of the best beers on the planet. Not too shabby! I guess we’ll need to start working on the ones we’ve missed, though.
One thing I noticed was that Stoudts Brewing Co. was not on the list, which I find odd. The Fat Dog Imperial Oatmeal stout is top notch, and the DIPA is so smooth. Scarlet Lady is also a excellent beer … at least in my opinion they’re all worlds better than Sam Adams’ offerings.
Jan
20
2010
In Part I, I covered our visits to Great Divide, Boulder Beer and Oskar Blues. Now, on to the remaining 4 breweries/brewpubs that we visited on our Denver honeymoon back in November:
Left Hand's tap room was PACKED!
Left Hand Brewing Co. in Longmont, CO: Ray and I are big fans of Left Hand’s Milk Stout, and because they were only a 15 minute drive away from the Tasty Weasel, we knew we had to drop by. The taproom was bustling, and it looked like they have a steady stream of regulars that keep the bar stools warm — always a pleasant thing to witness. I grabbed a table that reminded me of the octagonal lab tables I used to sit at in high school biology, and Ray ordered a sampler. Aside from the fantastic Milk Stout, we got to sample beers like Sawtooth Ale (ESB), Black Jack Porter, Polestar Pilsner, and Fade to Black — a Foreign Export Stout and new seasonal for the brewery.
Mountain Sun served up a fierce burger.
Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery in Boulder CO: It’s hard to recall Mountain Sun because it was the last stop on our whirlwind 4-brewery/pub day. We stopped in for dinner and the place was hopping! Ray wrestled his way over to the bar and returned with a Raspberry Wheat for me (I always like to check out the fruit beers and I needed something light after the day of drinking). Twenty minutes later we snagged a table and happened to mention we were honeymooning in Denver. This resulted in the bartender removing our first round of drinks from our tab, saying they were on him. Score!
I wish we had stopped by Mountain Sun a different day so we could have tried more of their beers; judging from their beer menu, they’re a pretty creative group there. The burgers we ordered were excellent, and most likely contributed to heartburn, but that was our own damn fault.
Wynkoop's gernerous sampler
Wynkoop Brewing Co. in Denver, CO: We had possibly one of our best meals of the week at Wynkoop, but before having dinner there, we had stopped in for a quick pint earlier in the week at the bar. There was a home game that day, and I found it interesting to watch Denver and Steelers fans sit shoulder to shoulder in the pub without even a sneer or growl (I’m used to Philly fans I suppose). We ordered the Mile HI.P.A and Monkeys Fist IPA and were pleased with both. Following up our hop bombs, Ray obtained a sample of Patty’s Chile Beer, which was surprisingly balanced and had just the right amount of chile.
A few nights later, we treated ourselves to one of the best dinners in Denver. I had the Venison Bourguignonne, braised in red wine with mushrooms and onions and served with mashed potatoes. The venison simply melted in my mouth and the sauce was delicious. But what topped that was Ray’s entree, the Colorado Lamb Sirloin. This dish is made with local lamb that has been marinated and grilled, served with a creamy mushroom risotto. Ray described it on the comment card as the single most perfectly prepared piece of meat he had ever had. A total show stealer, so much so that I can’t remember a lot about the beer we ordered. Ray had the Silverback Smoked Porter, which wasn’t too smoky and fairly balanced, and I — out of character — ordered the Drunkin’ Pumpkin ale.
Bull & Bush Pub & Brewery in Denver, CO: We visited the Bull & Bush our last night in Denver, after hearing how great the beers are. Though the pub’s exterior seemed to be more reminiscent of a German-style pub, the interior was most definitely English. I could have done without the multitude of flat screen TVs plastered all about, but we were here for the beer.
To get acquainted with Bull & Bush’s offering, we ordered a sampler that contained Big Ben Brown Ale, Stonehenge Stout, Allgood Ale (amber ale), The Tower ESB., Patio’s Vat-Dunkel Weiss and a couple others … probably an IPA of sorts. I really enjoyed the Big Ben Brown Ale, which had a lot more complexity than most browns — thick and chewy with molasses, pit fruit and toffee. Ray had the ESB to start, and I remember finishing the night with the MAN BEER, which was a citrusy IPA.
The night ended with us stepping out into more than 3 inches of snow, which was a bit of a shocker because less than 2 hours before the ground had been dry. Oh, and the rental car didn’t have any snow clearing equipment, so Ray used his corduroy coat to beat the snow off the car while I shivered in my snow-soaked Chucks. We laughed a lot on the car ride back to the hotel.
Jan
11
2010
When it came to planning our honeymoon, we decided Europe was out — we didn’t have enough time to do it justice — and a cruise was out because nothing left the same weekend as the wedding (there was NO way we were going back to work for a week!). So what to do?
Honeymoon in Denver.
Think about it: mountains, fresh air, great restaurants, and breweries and brewpubs. How does that not make for a great honeymoon for a couple of mountain-loving foodie homebrewers?
While in Denver, we visited:
Great Divide's bustling taproom
Great Divide Brewing Co. in Denver, CO: On our first full day in Denver we hoofed it over to Great Divide’s tap room and brewery. We were able to take a quick tour, sample a variety of their beers, as well as buy a couple of pints.
GD’s Yeti Imperial Stout (both regular and oak aged) was fantastic to have fresh off of the tap. For the heck of it we sampled Samurai, which is hailed as an unfiltered rice ale. A little too close to the mass-produced macro brews for my personal taste, but the flavor was clean. Ray fell in love with Hibernation, a bold and chewy old/strong ale, while we were both pleasantly surprised by Wild Raspberry Ale, which had a lot more to offer than most fruit beers.
Boulder's sampler of delish
Boulder Beer Co. in Boulder, Co: For some [stupid] reason we had always underestimated Boulder Beer. Maybe it’s because we don’t tend to see a lot of it out on the East Coast, but let me tell you, our eyes were opened.
We ordered a full sample of everything they had on tap, as well as a few pints. From flagships to seasonals, we had a fantastic time with these beers. Ray declared Planet Porter as one of the best he’s tasted; my pint of Cold Hop, an English-style ale that danced on the edge of pale ale/IPA, was refreshing with just the right amount of hop bite; and we both loved Obovoid (oak-aged oatmeal stout) and Killer Penguin (ruby-red barleywine-style ale).
Never again will we underestimate Boulder. In a fitting sense, we stopped in at the Boulder Beer pub in the Denver airport on our last day of the honeymoon for a goodbye pint and lunch.
Tasty Weasel Tap Room: Home of Ten Fidy, Gordon and Barrels of Awesome
Oskar Blues Tasty Weasel Tap Room in Longmont, CO: Great space, eclectically decorated, with high ceilings shared with the brewery located right behind the tap room wall. We sat down to a full sampler of everything that was on tap: Mama’s Little Yella Pils, Dale’s Pale Ale, Old Chub (Scottish-style ale), Gordon (imperial red/double IPA), Ten Fidy (imperial stout), the last three of which also came in barrel aged versions.
It’s quite possible that Ten Fidy stole the show — viscous and black like motor oil, the imperial stout instantly won us over with its roasty-chocolate-coffee-bomb. I don’t think I have ever seen a beer poured with such a dark head.
Next up in Part II: Stay tuned for the rest of our escapades at Left Hand Brewing Co., Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery, Wynkoop Brewing Co. and Bull and Bush Pub & Brewery.
Nov
20
2009
Long time, no write … I know, I know. We’ve been bad. The Ginpel (Ray’s Belgian tripel with rosemary, juniper berries, and other traditional spices) we brewed back in August — it’s in the secondary, waiting patiently for the herbs and spices to be added. Boris the Spider Chai Oatmeal Stout that we concocted in late September — it’s hanging out in the bathtub in its secondary as well, waiting for me to finally wade through all my various chai recipes I’ve worked on.
We’ll get to them. I mean, heck, the culmination of 14 months of wedding planning and DIY projects finally hit on Saturday, Nov. 7. Ray and I tied the knot and shared a pint (or four). But that will be for another post where we can regale you with stories of what it’s like to bring together 75 people into the brewery that Carol and Ed Stoudt built and how the best open bar is the one with more than 10 local craft beers on tap.
Until then, here are couple more photos from our amazingly talented photographer, Georgi Anastasov.
Sep
14
2009
We were in the Stoudt’s area this past weekend taking care of wedding-related tasks. During a break between appointments, we decided to have a couple rounds at our future wedding venue, and while we were there, co-founder Ed Stoudt, taking a break from shucking oysters, called out to the room, “Brewery tour!”
And so we followed one of Pennsylvania’s beer godfathers over to the brewery, where Ed began the tour with a rousing monologue about beer, prohibition, macrobreweries, and more.
We were taken completely off guard, but I managed to get most of it on video. It’s shaky, washed out, and noisy, and due to a corrupted file that I didn’t notice until it was too late to fix it, we’re missing about a third of Ed’s thirty-minute speech, but it’s something. It’s just a shame, because he made a lot of great points about how prohibition devastated America’s taste in beer during the missing ten minutes, points that he only briefly returned to later on.
But here’s what still exists, in three parts (2 and 3 are the best — he mostly just talks about the process in Part 1):
Aug
7
2009
Welcome to The Session, a monthly event for beer and brewing bloggers! This is Session #30, for which Beer 47 writer David have chosen the topic “Beer Desserts.”
Ahh dessert. The realm where I feel most comfortable because it’s one of my specialities — so much so that I just left my desk to go bake my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, although it doesn’t contain beer.
I have made 3 beer desserts I can recall. My first was a spice cake using Victory’s Storm King Imperial Stout, frosted with a quadrupel-spiced buttercream. I baked it for my 26th birthday, and guests seemed impressed.
We’ve made stout floats with Stone 12th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout and a mocha java chip ice cream — and I think we’ve also used North Coast Brewing’s Old Rasputin and Stoudt’s Fat Dog.
I’ve also baked with liquid malt extract in place of molasses, creating my cherry oatmeal cookies, which were insanely good. Mmmm … cookies.
While baking my chocolate chip cookies and pondering beer desserts, I picked Ray’s brain for ideas. He thinks that any Belgian Strong, Tripel, Dubbel or Barleywine could be used with fruit somehow — so I suggested their use in a pie filling. Hmmm … a mincemeat pie dressed with a little English Barleywine in the filling? It could be delish. Ray also suggested making a reduction of a beer with some brown sugar and serving it over warmed fruit, with a spot of fresh whipped cream.
As for desserts we’ve ordered out, we have to tip our hats to the folks at Dogfish Head. We have shared the Chocolate Chicory Stout Cheesecake, which interestingly enough, is made with blue cheese and is insanely rich, and we have also shared the DFH Stout Sundae, which consists of vanilla ice cream, Chicory Stout chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and a hop-infused brownie.
What I think is important to consider when creating a beer dessert is that you must have a plan of action for dealing with the bitterness. Balance is crucial. If you’re going to reduce a beer for a sauce, you don’t want to reduce it to an unappetizing sticky mess.
So I think this might mean no IPA-infused cookies. Nevertheless, I’m sure there’s a place for bright, grassy beers, just maybe not dessert.
Jul
6
2009
Welcome to The Session, a monthly event for beer and brewing bloggers! This is Session #29, for which Beer By BART writers Gail and Steve have chosen the topic, “Will Travel for Beer.”
As if our recent road trip wasn’t enough, we spent a 3-day weekend at the end of June in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to relax our way up and down the boardwalk and partake liberally in the offerings at Dogfish Head’s brewpub, Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats. Over the course of two delicious meals, we got to try several Dogfish rarities.
I started with a pint of 90 Minute IPA, already one of my favorite Imperial IPAs, piped through Randall the Enamel Animal. After a trip through Randall, a lot of the carbonation is lost due to the turbulence, which allows the malt to shine through a bit more, and the extra helping of whole leaf hops adds a pungent flowery, citrusy aroma and flavor that takes a beer already cranked up to 11 well beyond the next level.
Then there was Mel’s pint of Grau Dunkel, a German style Dunkelweizen brewed with wheat malts smoked over the oak chips that Dogfish uses to age their Brown Honey Rum, giving the beer a complex combination of smokey vanilla, honey, and molasses flavors that could not compliment each other better.
Finally, Pale India Ale was a Belgian style pale ale brewed with Fenugreek, Big Elachi, Green Elachi, Kalonji Onion, Garam Masala, and Tamarind Paste. I don’t know what most of those are, either, but the result is nothing short of fascinating, with sweet, Belgian pale malt flavors and neutral hop bitterness mixing with prominent Indian spices, of which I found the two Elachi spices (cardamom) to be the most pronounced.
Each beer was completely unique, and only available at the brewpub. These were alongside various vintage beer offerings and Dogfish Head’s extensive line of delicious spirits. We picked up a bottle of Squall IPA, Sah’tea, a 2006 bottle of Immort Ale, and a bottle of BE, a distilled honey mead. These exclusive items got Mel and I thinking about the business strategy of building a wide-spanning bottle distribution while also maintaining a pub to call home base.
When it comes to raw numbers, I can’t imagine that Brewings & Eats contributes more than 10% of Dogfish Head’s yearly revenue stream. That may even be a bit high, actually. On paper, the pub appears to be nothing more than a nice little value-add for the books.
But man does it ever please the fanboys. Many, many people enjoy Dogfish Head’s beer; that is a given. Most of them will probably never go to the trouble of trekking through Slower Lower Delaware to get to the pub, but for potential hardcore fans, Brewings & Eats provides a sort of Mecca to which one can make a rewarding pilgrimage, drawn by visions of exclusive beers and unique souvenirs.
After a weekend of feasting on the pub’s excellent food and limited edition brews, weighed down with t-shirts and branded glassware and high on beached relaxation, patrons return home transformed into loyal minions spreading the news of just how very immensely great Dogfish Head is. If each visitor convinces even one acquaintance to take a trip to the pub for themselves, the word-of-mouth will explode into a cascade of consumer awareness.
As far as buzzwords go, you can’t get much more apt than “viral”.
Jul
1
2009
By May 27, Ray had finally finished digesting and recovering from the Rohrbach Plate, so we were off to see my good friends Rach and Dave in the B’flo, or Buffalo to you normal folks.
We arrived just in time for lunch and happily stocked their fridge with homebrews. Then it was off to Flying Bison Brewery, tucked away in the city, but not too hard to find. We were greeted by hop bines growing off the loading dock, which is always a good sign. Rach was a little skeeved out by the location (not the best in town) but we knew what would await us beyond the loading dock.
Once inside, we got right to business, sampling Flying Bison’s selections, which were diverse. We were impressed with the Blackbird Stout and Aviator Red, as well as a number of pilot brews. Even their lager was impressive! It was great to find out that Flying Bison’s brews are in high-demand throughout the region as well.
We got a nice, indepth tour, where our guide explained Flying Bison’s specific process, as opposed to the more high-level “beer is made of four ingredients” talks we usually get on brewery tours. We even got to climb up and look into the mash tun! Rach was an excellent sport, often not understanding exactly what was being discussed — it was her first tour — but enjoying our reactions to what we were learning.
Flying Bison employs four people — including the owner Tim — which is pretty damn impressive considering everything they have going on. All in all we walked away with a growler of Blackbird stout for Rach’s husband and a mixed six-pack of the Buffalo Lager, Blizzard Bock and The “Herc”, a “C-130 Barleywine ale” (PUN!) that Ray found simply divine.
After our tour we headed back to Rach’s beautiful home where we lazed about and ate chips and Bison-brand French onion dip. It was here that I was reminded of my years in college where Rach and I would debate “pop” vs. “soda” and Helluva Good brand chip dip vs. Buffalo-based Bison brand. For the record, Bison chip dip is excellent, but don’t pronounce it wrong — you say it bi-zon, not bi-son. Though if you’re me, you sound like an ESL student trying to wrap her mouth around the word “specific.” (Watch it in person some time. It’s hilarious.)
For dinner we headed to Pearl Street Grill & Brewery, where I tried a couple of their fruit brews: the Blue-eyed Blueberry Blonde and the Don Cherry Wheat. Both were smooth, subtle, and refreshing. Definitely an interesting brewpub.
We ended our evening in Buffalo on Rach and Dave’s back porch, pouring selections of the homebrews we brought them and watching a tumultuous thunder storm. They were both impressed with our beers, and we’re hoping the homebrew bug might bite them right in the ass.
For the remainder of our trip we were in southwestern Ohio, celebrating my cousin Kerry’s liberation from the confines of high school and on to higher learning at Kent State. Here Ray got to meet the rest of my family and earned the approval of my 5 uncles — I think the fact that he got their niece into homebrewing might have a lot to do with that. We served a few of our homebrews throughout our stay and were met with astonishment and delight: “You MADE this?!” was the most often heard comment, to which we replied, “Yes. Yes we did.”
