How *not* to brew a Scotch Ale

On rare occasions you can do lots of wrong things and have still have something end up right, this is the universes' way of lulling you into the kind of false sense of security that allows people to do stupid things like run for public office in Alaska.

Our most recent homebrew should not taste as good as it does. After 1 week in the bottle our 'wee heavy' does have the sweetness, roasty, smoky/peaty, malty, caramel flavors with an alcohol warmth and sweet medium body that is to style. So score.

But here's where we messed up:
1. Too much diacetyl- not just caramel/sweet, its a bit much due to high temperature fermentation. We pitched the yeast at around 80+F because the kitchen was way hot and the wort would not freaking cool down.
2. Only did a primary fermentation and it was too hot for style. We had a bit of a heatwave here and our d-bag landlords recently told us not to store anything in the basement so our Scotch Ale was in the 70's-50's. And we (I) was too lazy to rack and do a secondary letting it cool down even more. So now we've got a not so clear brew and it does not taste as "clean" as it should.
3. The tubing for the bottling siphon was the wrong size. We tried to get a suction with duct tape but not so much- the beer got way too oxygenated when being bottled and too much sediment got stirred up as well. The beers have lots of head (which incidentally isn't bad for the style), but the oxygen also gave us the odd off flavors of oil/gasoline. Since we love old ales, this off flavor is not really a negative for us.

Ingredients for the nerdy: 7 lbs pale LME, 40g peated malt, 1/2lbs roasted barley, 1lb marris otter 2-row, 1/2lb crystal 120, 1/2lb dextrine malt. 1oz kent goldings at 60 minutes, and 1/2oz willamette at 15 minutes.

Beer Travel Atlanta

Plenty of articles have been written in the past couple of years touting Atlanta as a beer destination, so I'll add my two cents as a former resident who has recently visited and noticed some more great changes.

My old stomping ground of Decatur, just a little East of the city, its own little microcosmos of walkable areas, shopping, food, and a hip but not too hip or too rich vibe. Old couples mingle with young gay couples with kids, kids and dogs alike enjoying the festivals and festival atmosphere of the weekends. Here lies the legendary Brick Store pub, which was tough to get into most nights when we lived there- and now impossible. But who won't wait for an insane amount of Belgian and craft beers the world over? We probably stumbled from there every other week trying a different beer. Owned by the same parties, Leon's Full Service is a step up food-wise focusing on local food (a welcome change we have noticed since we left). The shrimp gyro was a solid selection; shrimp were sweet, succulent and not overcooked, the tang of the yogurt worked well with the red onion pickle. The frites with your choice of 'sauces' proved boring- make that curry thicker and the frites meatier and you will have the perfect bar food. The smaller but stellar beer selection was good enough to please die-hard BSP fans.

Also in Decatur, another old hangout of ours: Thinking Man Tavern which has kept its fairly decent pub grub menu (I'm a fan of the house made veggie burgers) and has also kept its better than average beer selection. This visit, I noticed that they had the much hyped Life & Limb in the bottle. Score! Since I missed out on various tappings in Madison (if we had any) and any stores that may have had it would have sold in in about two minutes given the ravenous beer geeks here in Madison. Its a dark brown malty beer with hints of earth, smoke and a good amount of sweet syrup and root beer flavors. Very complex and well crafted, a slightly bitter malty finish balances the sweetness in this full bodied beer with well hidden alcohol. Believe the hype, this is a very drinkable beer with every sip reminding you that two master brewers collaborated on this one.

With local brewers Sweetwater, and Athens-based Terrapin actually being heard of outside of the South and local beer superbars Taco Mac; local beers are coming up in the beer world. Smaller brewpubs are growing with 5 Seasons now has three locations, and oldie Atlanta Brewing Company is still kicking it old school. Festivals like the Winter Beer Carnival are popping up along with the long-time worst organized fest: the Decatur Beer Festival. (*note: maybe they have fixed it since we attempted the fest in 2007 I hear they do pre-sales finally; no parking, no line organization, running out of beer, tiny cramped space, putting it right in the middle of a busy area)

Atlanta also seems to have enough beer geeks to warrant the at least four cases of Founder's Nemesis I spied in the mid-level liquor store, but not enough geekiness to have sold out of it unlike Madison which sold out in less than two days. (*note: I do know of one place in Madison that has a single case of Nemesis still but its on hold due to computer glitches)

Unvisited but new: Westside beer store Hop City perhaps a contender against the all-powerful Ponce Green's for beer heaven?

Minnepolis in two days

When better to visit the Twin Cities? Thanksgiving. Thats right; the possibility of being in one of the coldest cities in America keeps the wimps away late November. Plus that whole holiday thing.

First stop on the way in: St Paul and the Happy Gnome. Go for the beer, stay for the beer. I will give props to the bison/elk/bacon burger of meatastic-ness but the rest of the food was nothing to blog about.

Stay at uber hip W Foshay, the art deco building oozes cool and the room's swank mini-bar (that we did not touch), made me wish I had worn something a little more...gangster moll. The Prohibition bar way up top was great for views and atmosphere, but light on cocktail snobbery.

Saffron, a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern restaurant in downtown, is where we ended up for dinner. Splitting delicately spiced small plates we sampled anchovies with harissa and preserved lemon, and kofta meatballs in tomato/mint sauce. Both we packed full of fresh and balanced flavors, the anchovies were a real hit- the preserved lemon cutting right through the oily fat of the fish and the earthy spice of the harissa. We then moved onto the lamb carpaccio and fresh beans with lemon and dill. The lamb and a wonderful combination of sweet fatty flavors with a hint of wildness and tart acidity. The beans were nice, nothing to write home about.

Located in the Graves Hotel is cocktail nirvana. Bradstreet Crafthouse is the kind of place you take someone who knows cocktails. Really knows cocktails. An inventive menu, classics and twists, attention to technique, glassware, house made bitters/syrups/etc all served to make this place truly at the pinnacle of the resurgence in the art of the cocktail. I could have watched all night. They even had specific shaped and sizes of ice for various drinks. My best cocktail was one created on the spot- he did a little twist on a Manhattan involving a dropper of Laphraoig and a spruce flavored liquor. I still dream of this place.

Breakfast at Hell's Kitchen. All kitsch, no bite. I guess its cool to be served by surly hungover hipsters in their jammies, and Ralph Steadman does some art for the place; but that does not make the food any better than any other urban diner.

Getting our sushi and ramen fix, we headed over to St. Paul for Saji Ya. Pretty sweet house ramen, and the lunch box special was satisfactory as well.

The last stop before we left the Twin Cities was a beer store located in the burbs. A good well rounded selection of imports, local and domestics. Nothing outrageously hard to find, but I was pleased to see that the beers was organized by style and not geography. This a great way educate and help people find beers similar to ones they already like. It encourages people to expand beer horizons!

Thus stocked at the Four Firkins, we headed back to Wisconsin well fed, having slept in a swank hotel, and with beer. The Pilgrims would have been proud.

Beer and Chocolate!

A recent beer and chocolate tasting at my local Whole Foods yielded some cool results. Along with the usual suspects: Stout, fruit beers, creme brulee....a few interesting pairings were revealed. Both. good and bad

Ayinger Oktoberfest with its intense/nutty Munich malt and smooth drinkability paired well with a 365 milk chocolate hazelnut bar. Both are mild nutty flavors with a hint of smooth/rich decadence. This pairing, I'll look forward to next year when the Marzens are 'in season'.

Lake Louie Arena Premium, a US Pale Ale with its typical US hop balance, bitterness, malt backbone, and palate cleansing action paired extremely well with a 365 dark chocolate mint bar. The hop heavy flavors in a US pale tend to be on the citrus/pine/resin side, the min and hops complemented each other and added a minty fresh dimension to the beer. Since the bitter dark chocolate fed the bitter hops, the overall effect was that the bitterness increased in both, and the mint was stronger with the bar but was 'cleaned' off a bit by the hops in the beer and the voerall carbonation and body of the style.

Stone Smoked Porter with the Vosges Moe's Bacon bar- match made in heaven. Bacon, beer, chocolate, smoke- a bacon beer would have been too much but the chocolate in the porter is always a hit when paired with actual chocolate.

Not a fan of the overly sweet and cloying desert beer, Southern Tier's Creme Brulee (I know, heresy) but the extreme caramel lactose sweetness was actually cut by the Whole Foods bakery bittersweet flourless chocolate cake. Taken in small amounts, I could do this beer as long as I had something substantial and bitter to cut it.

Ale Asylum's Trippel Nova was overshadowed by the chocolate covered ginger (bulk). The ginger itself tasted great with the Trippel, the spices from the yeast spiced up the ginger and gave it a great kick, and the sweetness from the candi sugar and Pils malt added to the richness of the chocolate. Sadly, while the ginger confection fared well, the Trippel wilted. By itself, the seasonal beer from one of my favorite local breweries was low on hop balance and high on fruity sweet and spice: not a favorite.

Another nice pairing was the oak-aged milk stout Dragon's Milk by New Holland with the Ben and Jerry's Smores ice cream. The oak aged beer complemented the woody smores, the milk and chocolate in the stout were prefect with their milk and chocolate counterparts with the smores ice cream.

Sweet ass beer and cheese pairing

After an Herve Mons cheese flight a few days ago by one of my favorite cheese lecturers, I imagined that the Tommette du Tarn with its earthy, tart, musty, sweaty, nutty flavor would be awesome with New Glarus's Berliner Weisse. The Berliner Weisse is a very sour, effervescent, lightly citrusy/floral, refreshing champagne-like beer. Light bodied, perfect for summer and perfect for a strong smelly cheese like the Tarn. I also tried the La Serena raw sheep's milk, it is also tart, smelly, sweaty, barny, slightly grassy/floral, mushroomy. The La Serena also warmed up and became even more creamy and smelly. Perfect.

We ate it so fast that I couldn't even get pictures.

You've got red on you

When I think of the Red Eye brewing company in Wausau, my second thought beyond great beer is...nutella calzone.

Back up. My first intro to this place was beer served at the Old Fashioned. The Bloom and Scarlett 7 (a wit and dubbel) were exceptional, and when I found out the brewery was within 3 hours and near a good hike- off we went.



Everything tastes a little better after exercise, its a bit like beer goggles except you don't wake up next to someone you feel the need to gnaw off your own arm to escape. Pizza and beer are my two big post-exercise cravings, and I'm a sucker for wood-fired pizza. The bbq chicken, red onion, smoked gouda, and cilantro pizza was our selection. Red onions added that bit of sweetness, the cheese and toasty crust offered up the extra smoke, and of course the bbq did both- not exactly super complex flavors but they were exactly what we expected and wanted. The crust was perfect (go wood ovens) and the ingredients fresh. We also split the lobster cakes with avocado remoulade. Not impressive, but not horrible. The sweet delicate lobster was a bit overshadowed by the oil leftover from frying, and the remoulade was bland.

On to the beer: between the two of us we tried almost all of them. The Thrust is a US IPA that is very crisp, refreshing, and if course full of citrusy/piney US hops but still has a discernable malt backbone. Very nicely done, but its not a standout. The Bloom is a Wit with considerable wheat in the aroma and taste, along with the coriander/orange/perfumy spiciness to be expected. A great summer quencher, I could drink this one all day. A seasonal nut brown was on tap which excited the beer geek in me because the brewer specified it was a Southern Brown. A Southern Brown is not brewed with fried chicken or cornbread- imagine a Newcastle, with a less bitter finish, less hop flavor and aroma, with slightly more caramel/toffee/and sweetness. It was creamy and smooth with hints of fruits. Very nice, and we took some home in a growler. The Scarlett 7 was also a favorite of mine- dubbel style with full on dark fruits (plums, raisins, currants), molasses, bready/biscuity malts, almost chewy texture but still smooth enough to drink way too much. Sneaky alcohol and no the prettiest to look at, but a damn good beer.

Last but not least: the calzone of evil with chocolate and nutella. I mean, there's really no way to screw this up. It was so good Drew tried to steal my portion and I almost stabbed him with my fork. Do. Not. Steal. My chocolate evil.

Great taste 09: the quickie

This year I volunteered and even got a snazzy guayabera with my name on it. I 'ran' the beer and cheese education session. This pretty much meant that I shook hands with people, played bouncer to douchebags who were mean to my volunteers, and handed out beer and cheese. Dan from New Glarus gave a great talk and made some good pairings- it was a pleasure to meet and listen to him.



As busy as I was, I didn't take notes nor did I drink as much but I will mention some favorite brews. Real ale tent: Bluegrass Brewing chocolate rye porter, Fat Heads' Collaborative Evil, New Albanian: Beak's Best, Malcolm's Old Setter Ale, Hoptimus IPA (best advertising ever), Surly: Ash-Aged Cynic, Tea Bagged Bitter, Kuhnhnens' Cherry Belgian.

The real ale tent was a big haunt of mine this year, I arrived early and watched the guys and girls tap the casks. I was allowed/encouraged/dared to tap a bunghole (seriously its the hole on the top of the cask that gets tapped first to release CO2), there is footage of this somewhere of my tapping it, air blowing out, then the beer bath. In my first 30min of the festival, I was covered in beer. I also got to be all beer-groupie and meet one of the cool local lady brewers, Jaime of Dells Brewing/Moosejaw. I also got to meet a New Albanian brewer, who told me that the awesome Malcolm's Old Setter Ale was waiting for two years, it was full of alcohol warmth, sweet caramel/toffee malts, gasoline, butter, dark fruits.

Non-cask beers of note and remembrance:
B. Nektar Meadery- Buckwheat Mead
Blue Cat- coriander and orange US wheat
Lakefront- Rosie kriek lambic



Overall, an awesome time. Again. I'll take an even more active role next year, this is really a premier beer event and the small numbers make it all that much cooler. I only saw a small number of stupid shit, a few drunk vomiting, almost fights, outfits that should not be...but as a long-time veteran of DragonCon; this was Sunday school.

Cowboys need beer too

Arizona is not exactly a beer paradise. We love the state; the ecological diversity, the adventure activities, the margaritas, and some tasty cuisine. Beer? Eh.

We begin our tour in Tucson, a perennial favorite of ours for the city vibe, the trails, and the best museum/zoo we have ever seen. And they have these freakin huge cacti.

Thunder canyon Brewery- Well reviewed regardless of the strip mall setting. Sadly, I don't agree. "Orange u Glad" it sucked, so someone poured orange juice concentrate into a hefe? Really? This is what I call a chick beer. Smell the disdain.

The ESB and the Amber were decent examples of style but not particularly stellar. The amber was definetely drinkable with some piney/citrus hops. The food was so unremarkable, not only did I not take notes, but I also have no idea what we ate.

1702 beer bar- In a near-campus strip mall, we found the beer snob bar. And it was good. We sat at the bar facing the wall of taps the likes of which are not often seen in the South or Midwest (Green Flash, AZ breweries like Barrio, Papago, Four Peaks). I drank an Eel River Old Ale; not the best for the warm weather with its full body and slick finish. Too vanilla and honey for my taste, it had a bit too much hop aroma for style but other than that it would have been a deent Old Ale for winter drinking- what the hell was I thinking in Tucson? Drew allowed me to sample his New Belgium Fleur Missere- a perfect warm weather drink: carbonated, citrusy hops, herbal, grassy, barnyard, even some grapefruit. I really thought it was a cross between a saison and a blond with the yeasty aromas and brett flavors but its a Belgian Pale. So I need to study more...

Overall 1702 was a great place for a beer, very local and the bartenders knew their beers. We didn't get a chance to try the food but we were impressed overall by the place.

Local Tuscon brewery Nimbus was one we'd hit in the past. Lacking time on this trip, we skipped the industrial-location of the brewpub but did pick up some Old Monkeyshine for camping. Its a lighter Old ale style, or a heavier/maltier cask ale. Its higher ABV probably prevented its dark fruits, nutty and biscuity malts from being too sweet. Well carbonated, with only a hint of earthy/floral hops in the aroma and taste. Maybe a high ABV, sweeter mild? Nice full body, and smooth. It was great for a windy desert camping nightcap, and a private train room.

Having never been in North Arizona, we planned a drive through Flagstaff and the Painted Desert all the way to New Mexico. Stopping through historic-cool downtown Flagstaff, we hit the Beaver Street brewpub. Typical beers: a stout, IPA, amber, etc. The stout was a thick chewy oatmeal, chocolate, toasty malts. The amber, 'red' ale, was a balanced easy-drinking beer. We reccomend the interesting meatloaf sandwich, tasty but very filling. We also munched on the Green Goddess grilled salmon salad- just for a bit of green in a vast pub-food sea. The food and the beers fit the bill after a day of driving.

Old Fashions are always in fashion

Every once and a while that popular place in the tourist section of town can be judged well worth the hype. Visitors may scoff at the notion of “Wisconsin cuisine” but the OF pulls off this niche so well that there’s an hour plus wait some evenings and most weekends. This food is comforting, filling, and exciting enough to make me come back at least once a month. To add to the all Wisconsin all the time theme, they are now serving all Wisconsin beer that can be bottled or tapped. From the usual suspects of Spotted Cow and Tyranena, to nouveau ghetto (Old Style? Really?), to small brewpubs as far as Lake Superior (Thirsty Pagan coming soon).

Food first: A little something for everyone: veggies, salads, fried food, and tons of meat. The ingredients are fresh and quality enough that even the fried coatings of the awesome cheese curds can’t hide. The roast beef is superb, tangy and a little bloody but full of flavor- the tiger blue sauce makes a great foil to the meaty sandwich. The pulled pork is sumptuous and greasy; toasted bread and a great sauce pull it together to fill up for the day. The veggie sandwich is savory and filling, I am pretty much a sucker for anything with warm goat cheese and roasted veggies that aren’t from a can. Very good burger and the fries are thin and crisp. A really cool touch for dinner are the lazy susans, a selection of finger foods to share. From the great WI cheeses (of which there are many), to the local inspired fish plates (still not sold on walleye), to the great dips; these lazy susans are a great way to introduce people to the spirit of the Old Fashioned. And of course they have brats, you betcha.

I'll get back to the beer in a second. Let's talk booze. If you choose, you may look at the large book o booze, listing cocktails to and exhaustive bottled beer list, to local non-alcoholic drinks- people really go for local brewed root beers here. Go ahead and try the signature drink the Old Fashioned. This is made with brandy in the great white north here which is the subject of much speculation and did get the hairy eyeball from this Southerner who is pretty damn sure that anything other than bourbon in an OF is high blasphemy. There's even an editorial about this, ironically, in the latest issue of Imbibe. I'm sure the bartenders do a great whatever-tini too when the chicks come in to drink at night, but the beer is really worth exploring here.

Not only are there tons of bottled beers, but over 20 taps including a monthly "cheap" beer that generally isn't cheap- right now its Tyranena scotch ale and when I first ate here it was the very drinkable Fattybombalatty by Furthermore. So far in the every brewery initiative, I've tried a couple. Red Eye brewery in Wausau put out a Belgian style called Scarlett 7 that I just had to try because I'm a sucker for Belgian style. Not a big smell coming off of this ruby colored beauty. Slightly floral, figgy and malty. A sweet medium mouthfeel gives way to rich fig, raisin, cinnamon, and spices. The hops are noted at the finish, balancing the sweet and malty taste in a crisp way that American brewed Belgian styles are great for. Wausau is now on my WI beer list.

Tyranena Rocky's Revenge: Bourbon aged brown ale, poured medium brown with a lacy tan head. Good bourbon smell to it. Drinkable and smooth, I could taste the bourbon and wood but only as a finish. It did not slap me over the head with it. Kinda fizzy mouthfeel, overall it was nice but I feel like the bourbon aging was the difference between a boring beer and an ok beer.

Calumet rye! I do miss rye beer, Terrapin was a good go-to beer in Atlanta suitable for all weather. This rye was not as hoppy or crisp, it is more of a go-to beer for a place that has seasons. Muted, smooth, floral, and very drinkable; I felt this rye to be less hoppy and more like an ESB than an IPA- I'm very very fine with that. I want to try this again, more of it than a taste.

So that's the Old Fashioned. I actually did talk about food in this entry. Go me.

Great Taste: final

Three words: real ale tent. If I had known about this, I would have made a bee-line and hunkered down in there like I was having a zero-day. A tent full of cask-conditioned kegs, unfiltered, British style (including not being ass-cold), and cask ales are fermented for a second time in the cask or firkin. This tent is a great example of a growing trend in the US for cask style beer, someday we'll get our own version of CAMRA which is kinda like a Slow Food for "British" style beer and pub culture. Keeping it real yo.

Surly brewing company out of Minnesota. Best name: Teabag Furious, which is a malty IPA-like reddish beer with some tea tossed in somehow. Maybe added post hops, who knows but the beer had a nice tannic taste that was a great palate-cleaner, coppery hue, medium beige head and cloudy with the tea. Tasted more like a good ESB than the usual overly hoppy IPA. Cask style oak-aged Bender was pretty sweet too, lovely low carbonation strong oak taste with a heavy mouthfeel. The best taste from Surly was the Darkness 08. Even the name sounds cool. This Russian IPA-style beer (correction: Russian Imperial Stout NOT Ale holy shit shoot me) had alot going on taste-wise but it all worked: big mouthfeel, black as sin, chocolate, rum, molasses, vanilla, caramel, blackberry/rassberry, oak. The hops ass-smacking aftertaste prevented the Darkness from being too sweet and heavy.

Summit oatmeal ale had a slight bitter taste that came after the initial sweetness. I could literally taste oatmeal, overall it was one of the more unique oatmeal ales I've tried.

Sadly, I missed some really limited ales because I wasn't terribly aware of this tent. I'll do better next year.

On a side note: we were kinda expecting some sort of amateur hour. I mean, 5,000 people with unlimited beer? But this festival is apparently some serious shit, I saw very very few amateurs. No fights, hardly any police (in Atlanta if there were 5000 people drinking, the cops would be thick as fleas). And drunk buses to take you across town. What more could you want? I think we'll be tailgating for tickets next year, I'm not missing this one.

The brews from Green Bay

We really haven't explored too much of our newly adopted state, pretty much drove to Madison, then drove to and from Chicago. We've seen the interstate and maybe like 2 suburbs of the capital. Given that its autumn here and we've heard that there's some color up here, we took off to camp in the touristy Door County area to see some pretty leaves. Of course, I had to find a brewpub somewhere along the way to try so hello to Titletown in Green Bay and Packer country. Other than being a brewpub, Titletown is right on the tracks in downtown GB, and the big pub also has a big menu that I imagine anyone can find something to eat from the pub burgers to pizza to walleye and other comfort entrees.

Drew ordered the Bamburg brew, a rauschbier style with almost no head. The taste I had was pretty nice; smoky flavor but not overpowering, drinkable, medium to heavy mouthfeel, caramel aftertastes with very little hops. The color was nice and dark, I will mention that it felt almost sweet. Undecided so far, I had a taste of the Mulligan brew and the Pullman porter. Mulligan brew was a dark red pour with a little light head, light-medium mouthfeel, an amber ale with a whole bunch of stuff thrown in. Tasted slightly sweet malt, then citrus/pine, then the hops hit me and I thought they were a bit out of place. The porter was a pretty boring example- no real depth and the bitterness didn't really balance with the malt. So I went with the Bamburg based on taste and my food.

Onto the food; as we tend to split lots of stuff, this time we split a bison melt and an elk burger.Onto the food; as we tend to split lots of stuff, this time we split a bison melt and an elk burger. The elk was crazy greasy, had chipotle mayo adding to the messy, canned jalapenos, and onions, cheese etc. I liked the first couple of bites, but it was way too greasy and I would have been ill if I had eaten the whole thing. Slightly spicy (by Wisconsin standards), the sweet potato fries were a decent balance to the spice and grease. The bison open faced melt was less greasy- nice and chewy with melted cheese, onions, and mushrooms. We'd get that again, but the elk almost immediately came back to haunt us as we sat at the beer drinking more beer to burp it up.

Drew also ordered the beer and cheese soup, made with the honey ale, this soup was very thick and pretty tasty. Full of beer cheese goodness. Drew also later ordered the 400 honey ale and I tasted it too: pretty sweet and tick, not as thick as mead or as sweet as cider but pretty girly, also very very drinkable. I'd hit that for a bbq or anything vaguely sweet and meaty.

Great Taste Part 2 of 3

Imagine all that beer in only a few hours! Decisions, decisions. Plus, I knew I only had a small window of time before I would have had so much to drink the whole notebook thing would go out the window. So would my taste, that is the time when I can drink crap like PBR.

Onward!

As Florida (from whence we came) is full to the brim of scary tourist traps- the Mouse being the big one- we are used to the things coming out of tourist towns to suck. And be really expensive.

Moosejaw, out of the Dells, seemed to be better than the average beer. Maybe because even in Wisconsin we are not going to fuck around with beer? The apricot (style unsure) was spicy, cleansing, hoppy, and fruity up front. This was no Dogfish Head Aprihop, but it was a nice breath of fresh air on the warm day. The trippel I also tasted, damn I am a sucker for Belgies, was the usual yeasty, quaffable, big-avb. It was kinda "meh"- no real depth, a xerox copy. If we do get the urge to visit the Dells for some indoor water park, mini-golf, or Indian casino action- we'll stop by.

Not only am I a sucker for Belgies, but I'm also a sucker for odd ingredient beer. Seaweed, pine, heather, juniper, peppers....anywhoo Kuhnhenn was not originally on my list but one of the guys we were talking to in line told us to stop by. Holy crap I want to drive way the fuck out to Detriot and have more of their beer. They seemed to do alot of the "ancient" recipes with bizarro ingredients. The heather ale had the mulling spices, honey, almost wine taste to it. Coating mouthfeel, just on the good side of cloying. I like these guys at times, but it may be too sweet for others. Drew tried an interesting brew that he rushed over to have me taste too. I think it was called the 'Sahti' and it smelled strongly of juniper, clove, pine/spruce, and cardamom. All the crazy flavors seemed to work together, it was such an interesting taste (no hops so I'm pretty sure it was an ale) that I'm not sure I could pair it with food- nor do I think I could drink more than one. I get the feeling that they try odd beer flavors often, we missed their legendary creme brulee sadly.

For beer geeks out there, apparently Twin Cities brewer Surly has some sort of cult following or at least some beer geek cachet. Yep, we got Surly. At the booth itself we tried the Bender; a drinkable brown that had some malt, oatmeal, fruit and spice. Just my kind of drink for most of the year with its crisp mouthfeel. Also tried the Coffee Bender: are coffee beers done yet? This one was a typical example, decent but I think I'm over the coffee beer thing in general so if YOU like coffee beers- this is nice.

Next entry: The real ale tent and all its goodness. And a couple more beers with slightly slurred notes and a slightly slurred memory. I will also share in some non-beer related catty observations.

Back with a Great Taste: part 1 of 3

Sorry loyal reader(s), we've been lazy. Frankly moving to Wisconsin (aka: land of beer and cheese) has been so overwhelming to our collective palettes that there is almost too much to write home about.

Let's talk the biggest deal we've lucked into so far here: The Great Taste of the Midwest. Only 5000 tickets which you can either hope you are lucky enough to get through a mail lottery, or you can tailgate starting at 3am outside of Star Liquor (which we actually did walk by one spring AM wondering why people were in line for the booze shop). We got ours because one of Drew's science people had some spares since some people moved. Score!

We took the drunk bus down to stand in a huge-ass line. You can tell the Midwesterners as they already had brats grilling and were outfitted with comfy chairs. I swear these people treat tailgating like boy scouts- always prepared. Once 1Pm hit, the line moved pretty fast and I was able to have a taste in hand by 10 after.

A night or two before, we had been able to scope the online list and make a list of who we wanted to taste, so thus armed with a list and my trusty booze notebook- off we went. Below are my notes for the fateful June day, as the day wore on I made less intelligible notes so I'll have to rely on a sketchy memory along with my scribbles.

First scheduled stop: Founder's for the bourbon barrel-aged porter pouring. I am a fan of their Dirty Bastard scotch ale, so I wanted to hit them up for more stuff. By the way, bourbon barrel would be the theme this year, if I had a dollar for all the ones I had tried; I'd be both drunk and rich. The Founder's was a strong porter, almost imperial in its alcohol flavor, smoky, slight bourbon aftertaste only, and not at all sweet. It was a strong B.

Next on to some Viking. The innovative Mjod mead style ale was a stomach warming, semi-dry, honey and clover flavored bit o nice. Spicy finish making it a nice winter warmer. The Hot Chocolate had a bit of a spice in the back of the throat kick that was a bit much for the nice warm day; not impressed but it was brewed with fair trade coffee so thats cool. Lime wheat- seriously? Corona? How is that Viking? Drink up fratboys, I'll stick to the Viking seasonals inspired by cold weather, not spring break.

On to a palette cleanser: a herby/citrus organic wit by Lafayette. Cool drink of beer.

Dragonmead: frankly the booth looked cool as hell, so I went for the trippel. It smacked my ass with abv and there was a distinct sour taste (not a Flemish sour kinda taste) over the usual citrus/banana/clove flavors. Eh, I'm spoiled for trippels- this was no St Bernardus.

Having had the farmhouse French style from Two Brothers before and enjoying it, we tried a very clean and crisp Dog Days lager, and the Cain and Ebel IPA which were both decent examples of said styles- but frankly I never get worked up over an IPA. Solid selections.

The insane line at the 3 Floyds booth made me think they were pouring something really special. Alas it was scheduled for later or all the good stuff was in the Real Ale tent (oh I'll get to that tent don't worry). Had the Gumballhead wheat, basically it was a typical summer wheat. The Alpha King was a bit more interesting, hoppy and grassy but with actual malt flavor, an IPA I could drink more than once. Why the hell was there such a long line, we didn't get it.

Part 2: the best shit. evah.

First Impressions: Madison

Ah Madison, Wisconsin: land of cheese. And beer. And large gray snowdrifts leftover from the fabled 'worst freaking winter' evah. Its been one whole week since we've set up house (kinda) and wandered the town searching for food.

Weary Traveler: Our pick so far for best stumbling distance pub. Small but local craft beers on tap, the Lake Louie stuff is awesome (the scotch ale is dreamt about already); and the food is pretty above average. The goulash had some incredibly good quality beef chunks in its tasty goodness, the ahi tuna and reubens were also of equally good meat-quality. No cheap crap here. The menu is not terribly diverse or inventive, but the weekday ambiance and cool bar-sitting factors make this one a contender for us.

Great Dane Pub: Very tasty beers at this brewpub, the stouts and cask conditioned ales are big winners, but the porter was much too bitter. We shared the eviiiiil mac -n-cheese and a salad initially; very good move on our part as the mac n cheese is super fatty and rich. The second trip at the much better downtown location had use trying some faux-mexi dishes which later...errr...backfired on us. I personally was pretty much more interested in the beer, and I was not disappointed.

Angelic Pub: While they don't actually brew beer on site anymore, the Ale Asylum stuff was pretty nice. The Big Slick stout and Nutbrown Ale were both pretty nice, and the taps are fairly diverse with odd inclusions like Miller and Chicago's Goose Island along with the local stuff. The bar is huge and full of very very bad girly liquor; causing me to imagine that this place so close to campus is serious amateur hour on weekend nights. The beer-cheese-sausage soups was very rich and filling, and the local veggie burger with unique pub fries was the perfect thing to split for a filling but not overly fattening lunch.

Blue Plate Diner- In one of the older neighborhoods down the road, Drew picked out our very first breakfast experience in Madison. Cute diner with plenty of veggie selections (duh its Madison) and freaking MALTS!!!! The gluten-free nut milk french toast was rockin, fresh bananas to top off the most interesting tasting 'fronch toast' I've ever had. It tasted strongly of cinnamon and the nut milk gave it a tart flavor that cuts the usual cloying sweetness of french toasts. We also split a homemade corned beef hash with scrambled eggs and a decent biscuit. I've never had hash that wasn't formerly surrounded by steel, so this real beef freshness was a treat. The coffee was not bad either, a real plus considering that most breakfasty places in ATL had shite for coffee (burned grinds Pastries a go-go I'm talking to you!).

Himal Chuli- Small cash-only Nepalese place on what I consider the most tragically hip (or hippie?) street in Madison. Never having Nepalese food, we found out it is very similar to Indian food and we just had the daily veg tarkara with warm, thick roti bread. The cauliflower and eggplant tarkaras were full of coriander, garlic, and tumeric in this tasty Nepalese style curry. We also had the chiya (tea) to round out our nice veggie lunch.

So while Madison is totally awesome for veggie/vegan/whatever dietary restrictions you have: so far, I've been enamored of the super fresh, quality beef. Sure, I could have bought swank stuff in Atlanta anytime, but for the local pub to have better tasting beef than other comparably priced places is a cause for me to eat a little more meat heavy.

*photo courtesy of cooltownstudies.com

Cheese and Hitachino Espresso Stout

You have to love Whole Foods, any place where I can get a short cheese lecture, taste, and help with a beer pairing is a nice place to spend my paycheck in. The Ponce location is best for the cheese lecture here in Atlanta, as my eyes scanned the cheeses I got beset on both sides by gentlemen willing to help. After much discussion on what to pair with a coffee stout, they sent me home with a Spanish leonora goat cheese, and a truly wonderful soft gray bumpy rind cow's milk cheese that I can't name. I threw away the %$##ing wrapper!!!!

On to the beer: The Hitachino espresso stout poured black with practically no head in a regular pint glass. The stout smelled strongly metallic, so much that I had to put it aside for a minute to try to get past the metal. The first taste was sharply bitter. Subsequent tastes mellowed out a little and I could taste the espresso and sweet chocolate, but I ended up always with a bitter and slightly metallic aftertaste. Overall, the metallic smell overwhelmed my taste in many ways; and when I didn't inhale (he he) I tasted full-bodied creaminess in addition to the super coffee taste. I have read extremely good reviews for this beer online, none of which mention the metallic taste/smell so maybe I got a bad bottle. I'll just have to go try it again!

The Leonora was a good foil for the bitter stout; as it was slightly smoky and sweet with a hint of flowers/pasture in it. The other cheese, while incredible on its own, was no much for the metal/bitter of the Hitachino.

Three dark beers tasting

A recent buying splurge at Green's netted me three dark beers:
Gale's Prize Old Ale, Lagunitas Imperial Stout, and Gulden Draak. As I am paying more attention to the ins and outs of beer tasting, I am noticing the traits and qualities that others describe when they taste beer in an official capacity. So now that I know just enough jargon to sound pretentious, let the name dropping begin.

Gale's Prize Old Ale: Using a modified snifter/chalice type of glass, the Old Ale pours dark brown with red/caramel colors tints. With no head and a syrupy glaze left on the glass when I swirled it; the Gale's felt more like a port or liquor than a beer at first. The scent is dark and fruity, smelling like beer and something older, like out of a documentary on medieval cuisine. The first taste is thick and sweet, almost cloying. I could taste lots of fruits- berries and a slight hint of darker fruits like prunes/figs/dates- something that would go in a homemade fruitcake. The sweet taste mellows out quickly into a fuller-bodied caramel flavor. Then the calvados hits you. Having had calvados before (thank you Drew's grandfather), I knew the flavor right off. Calvados is to cider like Veuve Cliquot is to sparkling wine. This beer was a bit too sweet to drink alone for me even with the crisp calvados finish, but I would have loved it with dessert or cheese.

Lagunitas Russian Imperial Stout: A friend of mine justified trying this beer by saying since Imperial Stouts were traditonally made for export to Russia, this kind of beer was likely sent to troops during WWI, and as he studies WWI, therefore we must try the beer. Poured in a tall pint glass and in a regular pint glass, the color is very very dark brown with a medium head in the tall pint and a minimal head in the normal pint. The Lagunitas smells a little hoppy, smoky, and of vanilla. The color and smell alone kind of make this a different kind of RIS, most of them are practially black in color and smell more sweet/chocolate/berry. While it tastes more hoppy than an usual RIS (most Lagunitas in general are pretty hoppy), the malts and full-bodied taste keeps it from being too bitter. The secondary tastes for me were vanilla and smoky chocolate. I did detect an aftertaste of coffee. Overall its not a favorite RIS, a little too hoppy and not dark enough, but its a really drinkable beer and the alcohol by volume won't put you on the floor.

Gulden Draak: A dark triple high volume Belgium. Poured into the chalice/snifter glass I have, this beer kind of does look golden. The head is thick and puffy, and the dark brown beer is shot with gold. Given that this one smells pretty alcoholic, I gave it a minute to breathe. After a minute, the Draak smells like herbs/spices and some earthy fruits. Its very flavorful- peppers, spices/herbs, earth, malt, apricot or grapes, caramel. Very carbonated, slightly sweet but crisp. Extremely full-bodied, this is one of my favorite darker triples. The aftertaste is carbonated and very slightly citrusy- the spicy hops balance the malts/caramel. This will put you on the floor, but its a nice ride down.

Sorry Manuel's Tavern!

In my recent Pub Report I completely forgot Manuel's Tavern in the Virginia-Highlands neighborhood.

Manuel's will always be a recommended tavern spot. A great big tavern with a few different rooms that be be rented out, this is a great place to have a low-key event. We had our after-wedding pub party here and it was just what we wanted. The menu consists of the usual pub fare with burgers and sandwiches, but they also do entrees and semi-famous hot dogs. They also serve breakfast on the weekends. The veggie burger was better than average, but overall the food is average, filling, pub-fare. The medium-size beer selection is heavy on the American beers with something for everyone from Bud to Terrapin Ale. The local lager (602 N. Highland) is decent, and the usual beer imports are on tap like Guinness, Newcastle, Bass.

Dating back to the 50's. Manuel's also has some cool history- loads of local and national politicians and other famous personalities have graced this tavern. One of the few places in this neighborhood where you can see by the pictures and the clientele that the neighborhood and the city in general used to be quite different.

Manuel's: we salute this Atlanta institution!

The Pub Report

We've been to all of these pubs at least twice. And the list does not include Brickstore...that gets a whole post all of its own.

The pub round-up of Atlanta in no order:

Avondale:
(Recommended) James Joyce- Good food (Joycean named entries warm the cockles of my heart), Smithwicks on tap, large patio, smoking in bar, touch games machine (crack!), decent service, nice venue. There was some live trad music in the past, but of course drama ensued as it often does with musicians so no more Irish music. High up on the list, especially for families, groups, or people who do not want a scene.

Buckhead:
Fado (RIP- to be reopened January 2008)- The only reason to go to Buckhead; the great food, best Guinness pour, and the Monday night session all make for great reasons to go. The parking, the idiots who think they can dance, and the surly hot staff is a reason to be annoyed - but I'll take it if it means I can drink a pint with a very very good grilled salmon sandwich while trying to keep up with the super fast tunes.

Cabbagetown:
97 Estoria- Mediocre food, but the atmosphere is fun and low-key most nights even if I do feel I don't meet the tattoo requirement. The beer selection is so-so, and the cool neighborhood has not gotten too big for its britches. They also have a DJ some nights with good non-invasive music, a smoking room, and I have been present at a PBR tattoo contest. Nice neighborhood pub, if it was my neighborhood I'd be there.

Decatur:
(Recommended) Thinking Man- The food is mediocre to good: the rounds and veggie burgers are good, whereas the guacamole is horrible. The specials can sometimes be hit or miss, and they do have plenty of vegetarian options. The beer selection is good for its size, the 'starving artist' rotating tap may be the only time you can get crap beer the rest of the taps are filled with the usual snooty beer suspects: Guinness, a hefeweizen, local beers, a cider, popular microbrews like Flying Dog or Dogfish Head, with seasonal selections. The bottled/canned beers are an even greater variety with Old Chub and Chimay next to Miller and Becks. The real reason we recommend this pub is the voerall 'vibe'. We would pull our seats up to the bar, and at Thinking Man we just felt welcome. The crowd is diverse as far as Decatur goes (not just hipsters or young families), the staff is pretty cool with just the right amount of cynicism at the odd person who orders a JagerBomb/Cosmotini/Irish car bomb. We like the odd drunken old guy who talks at the bar to us just as much as we like watching the moped mafia mess around with their bikes and hip haircuts.

Corner Pub- Moved from its previous location due to arson a few years ago, the new location in the spiffy East Decatur Station is clean and pretty. At first the beer selection was iffy on the bad side, but they have expanded after those first couple of visits. The food is good, better than many in the area with wings as standouts. The veggie fare is good, the veggie Cuban making me crave the real thing; and who can beat PB&J? I never felt terribly comfortable here: maybe between the trivia night, darts, one pool table, theater and lofts next door; Corner Pub tries to be too much. The vibe was just kinda odd, and while everything is really above average we just never felt home here.

The Angel- Overpriced, less than good food, and generally useless service are the reasons I always try to steer people away. Yes, it looks all cute on the inside, and it has a patio, and its in downtown Decatur. The beer selection is not very English for an English pub, the entrees look good on paper but do not follow through, and I have sat at the bar for a good 15 min before someone even deigned to notice me in an empty pub. The music is also very hit or miss

Trackside- Cute, dingy, open crazy late, tables, smoky...Trackside is the closest thing to a dive bar in three zip codes. Do not ever eat the food unless your stomach is made of steel. The beer is your usual low to midbrow range, you can get Stella AND Bud. Sometimes the music can be crazy loud, but Trackside has cheap pool tables, karaoke, attitude, and late night drunk hospitality people. I think its awesome and I don't go nearly enough.

East Atlanta
The Earl- The Earl successfully manages to be a great indie music venue and a pub that you can feasibly hang out in when its not jam packed. The food is pretty good for a place that has one scary bathroom. The beer selection is fine, but not too high-brow. The scene can be anywhere from aging hipsters at the bar to hot young things showing off the newest retro-tee waiting for whatever side project of whomever related to some other local band to start playing. This place could easily be pretentious, and certainly many people are, but as a pub I'd totally haunt the bar stools if I lived near enough.

Gravity Pub- Peeling carpet, great jukebox, snarling staff, and decent beer. Apparently just now under new ownership, so I'm only talking about the handful of times I went in the past. I don't even think there was food before, so we'll have to see. I like the feel of this place, less showy than the Earl and you could actually sit down and talk most nights. I'll have to report back on the changes...

L5P:
Euclid Avenue Yacht Club- Dingy and small, this pub is still an institution with street cred that has withstood the gentrification onslaught thus far. I hypothesize that with L5Ps' cleaner image, it only has so much room for the 'unique' that used to be the standard. EAYC still fits the bill; not bad food for meat-eaters, decent beer, not much attitude from the scene; if I lived in the neighborhood I could definitely see this as my kind of place.

Brewhouse Cafe- This pub has three great things going for it: location is front of center for people watching in L5P, huge outdoor patio, and satellite TV for various games you may not be able to see with cable like the World Cup or rugby matches. The food is mediocre, the beer selection is slightly above average, and the crowd can be hit or miss: it may be full of drunken Emory students, soccer fans, or just gentrified yuppies from around the expensive block.

Oakhurst:
Universal Joint- When I lived in Oakhurst, I was here more often and it is a cool place but it just never really clicked. Very good veggie burger and good food overall, the beer selection is only ok, the scene is diverse and pretty chill with a good amount of dogs and kids due to the large patio.

Oysters: a thin line between love and hate

Growing up in Southwest Florida I remember using every trick in the book to wriggle one more away oyster from my dad, who also reduced himself to subterfuge in the never ending oyster war between us. These were the raw oysters; right off the boat, on a saltine or slurped, with the holy trinity of horseradish/hot sauce/cocktail sauce to accompany them. My mother, not fond of raw food or food that has the consistency of mucus, was amused by our endless game of oneupsmanship.

Nowadays, far from the ocean, I battle with my husband over who gets the 13th oyster or the "No honey, you must have eaten 4 already...not me..." argument. We do follow the "R month" old wives tale because we do know about Gulf coast oyster reproductive cycles and like the winter month flavors better.

Our picks for oysters in Atlanta?

How can you not love a fish place that has a skyline and cemetery view?
Six Feet Under serves some of the best cheap seafood in the area. The dishes can be as simple as po-boys with greens, to a more elaborate seared tuna with cucumber wasabi drizzle & fried jalapenos. I dream about the tacos: spicy fried calamari, blackened shrimp, and catfish all filled with unique and fresh toppings and of course- spicy. Six Feet Under also has good beer, a price above rubies, but the wait can sometimes be daunting especially on weekends.

Want to hit a neighborhood spot with literary pretensions? Tucked away in Oakhurst, Steinbeck's has some of the best oysters and a friendly vibe. Good beer on tap, a crazy hot sauce selection, and some pretty good New Orleans-ish food. This is a great place to just chill out, drink some beer and suck down those little gray devils. It's never crowded, and we easily are recognized even though we don't live at this particular bar.

Road Trip: Asheville, NC

Deep in the heart of downtown, the Early Girl Eatery serves up consistently fresh, tasty, and seasonal breakfasts. We also hear they serve lunch but the breakfast is just so good we’ve never tried coming in a little later. Shrimp and grits, pan fried trout, and black-eyed pea cakes are some of the down home Southern type dishes; but pancakes and omelets are not left behind in this Asheville institution. Good coffee, and attentive but not clingy service rounds out a solid entry in the Asheville canon.



This is not your unwashed hippie aunt’s restaurant, and there are no tofurkeys or boring salads. The Laughing Seed features consistently innovative vegetarian cuisine aimed at capturing the hearts and minds of hip young bohemians with discretionary funds. The sandwiches are always a good bet as they tend to be a departure from the usual grilled veggies or veggie burger, a recent cashew spread-feta-avocado with harissa sauce sandwich is a stand out. Of course the house hemp-nut burger is legendary in Asheville, but I’m more likely to go after the various tempeh sandwiches: tempeh reuben, tempeh Cuban, etc. The east/west quesadilla was a super cool mix of Tex-mex and Indian flavors featuring a mole-style sauce, cheese, and curried vegetables; it was a brilliant idea and I felt that the taste delivered on the promise. Low Country Roll-Ups feature tangy bbq tofu in tortillas with cheese covered in a tahini-mustard sauce that I have tried to unsuccessfully duplicate at home. Also featuring a full bar, Green Man beer, juices, smoothies, teas, and even elixir tonics.




What can I say about the pub decorated in Celtic fertility god themes? Not only does it have its own beer, Green Man Brewing Company, but Jack of the Wood is also part of the Laughing Seed collective so it has wonderfully greasy vegetarian selections among the usual pub fare. The tempeh reuben is a sandwich worth driving for, and it even tasted great before you have begun sampling the excellent beer. I think over the many times we have staked out our stools at bar for untold hours, we’ve tried every appetizer at least once and most of the sandwiches. Everything pleased the sober and drunk palate, maybe the spinach/artichoke dip was a little boring and the standard Irish pie fare was heavy and uninteresting; but for $god’s sake don’t always order the fish and chips, they may be all greasy and tasty but come pub food always tastes the same. Live music (Irish, Bluegrass and Old Time sessions!) and a very friendly atmosphere make Jack of the Wood our default hang-out when in Asheville.



Heiwa Shokudo: When we first came to this place in 2005, it was crazy busy and full of hippie families. I broke with tradition and did not order sushi, instead trying something new that I couldn’t pronounce. Coming back in 2007 to the place that prides itself on fresh ingredients and a little side of fusion in its recipes, the exciting flavors are still as much of a revelation now as they were when I left my sushi/tempura comfort zone. The menu is broken into soups, sushi, noodle dishes, and the flexible multi-dishes placed in cute trays. Plenty of vegetarian dishes mingle seamlessly with the seafood entrees. All of the fish I have ever tasted in this tiny restaurant have been of equal or better quality to any big city sushi joint; the cold ahi poki combined fresh tuna, avocado, and veggies in a soy-ginger marinade can make me instantly want to get in the car and drive up there just thinking about it. The ‘choose my own adventure’ menu also included a firm and flavorful tofu misoyaki, a perfect balanced seaweed salad, and crunchy brown rice. The fried edamame with a tofu crust was a great salty/crunchy beginning to a meal I can only describe as high-class hippie bento.

Other places of note:

For a quick or leisurely coffee and some light baked goods, the City Bakery is a good bet for an early crowd.

If chocolate is your thing, Chocolate Fetish has many different flavors of quality sin. The dark chocolate covered figs and ancho-chipotle truffles are a pricy indulgence.

While we didn’t try the food menu, the extensive beer menu of the Bier Garden is worth a meal when we come back to Asheville. Local beers such as French Broad, Highland, and the Pisgah Brewing companies sit along venerable micro-brews and Belgium beers in the massive collection. Cool new to me beer: Vermont’s Magic Hat no.9.