Beer blogging hiatus

My apologies for the sad lack of posts over the summer and now into the fall. I have been swamped with work and a new, non-beer related teaching gig. I promise to get back on the blogging horse as soon as I can. I did manage to try 30 new beers on a 10 day trip to Scandinavia -- more when I return.

Prost!
Bostonbeerman

Session Five - Atmosphere for Enjoying Beer...

Session Five is all about great atmosphere when drinking beer. The guys over at Hop Talk suggested that we blog about our favorite beer experience--that is, great places to drink beer and our favorite people to drink it with.

My wife and I try to book one European trip each year and as a result, I have had some incredibly memorable beer experiences. The most recent was in Brugge, Belgium. I purchased four bottles of Westvleteren 12, three made the journey home, but I had to have one in situ. I sat in the window of my hotel room with my feet dangling down toward the canal and enjoyed each and every sip--the beer exceeded my expectations. That was a pretty amazing experience.

Other memorable pints include: the bottle of Corsendonk Abbey Pale Ale I drank on my wedding day while driving from the church to the reception in a Bentley; the Murphy's Stout I had in the middle of Killarney National Park in Ireland; a few pints of Samuel Smith's Extra Stout and fish and chips at the historic Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street in London (we pretty much had the place to ourselves); randomly finding Masala Mama IPA in Minnesota; and a pint and an Oude Jenever at the incredibly quaint, yet gritty t' Doktertje in Amsterdam (you can see some pics at bostonbeerman.com).

These were all amazingly unique beer experiences that I will probably never replicate, although I sure as hell hope I do some day. The beer and the atmosphere were great for each of these events and I experienced all but one of them with my best friend, my wife. The bottom line is that time shared with friends generally makes for the most memorable experiences.

For the last couple of years, my high school friends (and another good friend) and I have planned a late-summer weekend at my friends place on Biscay Pond in Bremen/Damariscotta, Maine. The location is amazing. The house is right on the pond and is perfect for kayaking, swimming, fishing, marathon Texas Hold'em poker tournaments, and of course drinking cold beer on the deck (actually we drink beer while doing all of the above listed activities). As an added bonus, the house is just a few miles from the ocean and the freshest seafood you can find.

We don't see each other nearly as often as we used to and the trip is just an opportunity to get together with the guys and act like jack-ass high school kids again. We pretty much just kick back, relax, and enjoy some juvenile buffoonery--most of our time is spent busting each other's balls about anything and everything. The one drawback is that the crew generally grabs Corona, Bud Light, or Coors Light as their drink of choice, which explains why I bring a case of Murphy's Stout. However, I think one of the boys has been converted and is slowly moving to the darkside. :)

One of the highlights of the trip is dinner at a great place called King Eider's Pub. My first time here was a fantastic surprise. The food is great, including some of the best crab cakes I have ever tasted, great burgers, and several fresh seafood specials. The atmosphere is very cozy--hardwood floors, low wood-beamed ceilings, brick, and a great little bar with just eight seats. The restaurant is in an historic building and broken into several sections (pub, dinning room and a great oyster bar), it feels very much like a comfortable home, and provides the perfect atmosphere for throwing a few back with your friends. The staff is very friendly and the service is great.

Damariscotta is a quaint fishing village over an hour from Portland, so you can imagine my surprise when I looked up at the taps and saw Ayinger Oktoberfest as well as some great local (Pemaquid Scottish Ale) and international beers. Then I took a peek at the beer menu and found Delirium Tremens, a few more locals, and an array of beers from Samuel Smith. To top it all off, they have a kick ass selection of single malt scotch, including a few "hidden treasures" with limited distribution. So there you have it, quaint atmosphere, good food, great friends, and some excellent beer, who could ask for more.

I could almost hear that classic old Lowenbrau jingle in the back of my head, "Here's to good friends, tonight is kind of special..."

Really Old Brown Dog Ale...

Smuttynose Old Brown Ale is a fantastic American Brown Ale that was inspired by Olive, the dog that graces the label. Unfortunately, Olive died on March 15, 2007, just a month after the release of Really Old Brown Dog Ale. If you are a dog person, the label image will just about bring you to tears.

Really Old Brown Dog Ale is part of Smuttynose Brewing Company’s impressive Big Beer Series. It is bottle conditioned–I cellared this one for about 4 months, but I have another that I am going to save until next year.

For those of you not from New England, Smuttynose is located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The name comes from an island on the Maine/New Hampshire border. The label states: "Olive, iconic mascot and spirit guide of our brewery, first appeared on our Old Brown Dog label and has returned 13 years later, to pose for our Really Old Brown Dog, a luscious, malt-rich, full bodied old ale featuring deep notes of complex fruit. Much like our beloved Olive, this beer will mellow and age gracefully."

This beer has a rich garnet brown color that pours to a thin, tight head with decent Belgian lace. It has a very pleasant raisin and currant aroma with a touch of milk chocolate. The Really Old Brown Dog is medium-bodied with a nice, light carbonation, and it finishes with a tea-like dryness. Actually it is much drier than I had expected. Hop flavors develop more and more with each sip and help balance off the rich malt sweetness. It is pretty complex, with tastes of pear, plum, candy sugar, chocolate, caramel, pepper, and even the faintest touch of espresso at finish. This beer is 7.0% abv and I find it very smooth and drinkable.

While it is very good, I am anticipating that my second bottle with taste even better after an additional year. I am toasting Olive while I drink this one. My little beagle is curled up against my leg as I type--there really is nothing better in life than a great dog.

Here's to Olive.

Session Four - The Local...

Snekse over at Gastronomic Fight Club is hosting the beer blogger session this month. We were asked to review a local beer made within 150 miles of home. This was a tough call for me. My first thought was to choose one of the Harpoon 100 Barrel Series sitting in my cellar--I have been very impressed with most of these beers. My next thought was Mercury Brewing Company. Their Ipswich Stout is amazing and Ipswich Ale is one of my favorite summer beers. Of course I could have chosen one of the great offerings at Cambridge Brewing Company or The Tap's Leather Lips IPA. All of these beers, well except for the Harpoon, are made within about 25 miles of my house.

However, I decided to choose a beer made just a couple more miles away in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It seems like I am always drinking this beer. I offer it in my beer appreciation classes, a good friend made sure it was available at his wedding last month, I went to a BBQ tonight and there it was, and I pretty much buy a case of it every other month. I love Smuttynose IPA. This unfiltered IPA has a very cool label that depicts a couple of old timers sitting on folding chairs in front of a trailer, kicking back and quaffing a killer beer...could this be a vision of my retirement!

The first sniff and first sip are all grapefruit hop goodness. This beer always tastes extremely fresh to me. Smuttynose IPA is a respectable 6.6% abv and pours to a beautiful orange gold color with a great big frothy head with lots of Belgian lace all the way down the glass. The hop flavors are citrusy, herbal, flowery, and piney. The first sip pretty much tastes like a freshly cut grapefruit. However, the bitterness fades into an interesting sweet caramel malt flavor. Overall, this beer is almost all hops. It is pretty dry at finish, but a very drinkable and remarkably refreshing IPA. Smuttynose just hit 15,ooo barrel production last year for the first time, so maybe you will see this beer at your local sometime real soon. If you do, put on a plaid shirt, grab a folding chair, and sit back and enjoy.

Milestones...

When is comes to beer, one of my mantras is "quality, not quantity." Numbers are usually not that important to me, unless I am on the golf course or picking my fantasy baseball team, but I am reaching a pretty big milestone.

No, not 40 years old, I have a few more to go before that. I am approaching my 1,500th beer tasted and rated. I have 35 more to go and I figure I will get there by late June. I try lots of beer and it can be hit and miss. I am looking for a tried and true homerun. Any suggestions....please leave a comment.

Road trip to San Francisco...

I just came back from a business trip to San Francisco and as usual I tried to squeeze in a little beer research. Before leaving I made a reservation for the free tour at Anchor Brewing Company, a must for all beer lovers (call a few weeks in advance to make your reservation). It was a fantastic tour--stepping inside their 1937 building (they have occupied it since 1979) and seeing their pristine, handmade copper kettles was worth the trip alone (click here for a 360 degree view).

I had a chance to talk to the guides (Lindsey and Dan), a few other employees, and even the owner and brewmaster, Fritz Maytag--yes, he was there on a bright and sunny Friday afternoon and I was told he is there almost every day. As expected, the tour was packed full of interesting details about the brewery's history, but I was surprised to learn that the small staff of less than 60 employees hand produces about 85,000 barrels of beer per year. For some reason I thought they were a much larger operation--probably because of its great reputation and availability. I absolutely love the Christmas Ale and feature it in my beer courses each year. Plan on spending about 2 hours at the brewery. The tour lasts a little less than an hour, but afterward you can enjoy samples at a leisurely pace in their very cool tasting room.

During my pre-trip research I also picked up a couple of great Beer Fly reviews from Beeradvocate. My first stop was the Rogue Public Ale House in Washington Square. Rogue is located in Newport, Oregon, but I was excited to see they had a pub in San Francisco. John Maier is one of my favorite brewers and I was like a kid in a candy store looking at the beer board--Shakespeare Stout, Chocolate Stout, Chipotle Ale, Dry Hopped Red Ale, Morimoto Soba Ale--everything looked so good. I went with the Imperial Younger's Special Bitter (YSB), Glen Strong Ale, and Imperial Russian Stout. All three beers where fantastic. Although the place was packed, Dan Pearson, the Director of Commerce, Culture and Tourism (I love this company!) took the time to answer my questions about the beers and the pub, which opened in 2003. He gave me a sample of Brew 10K, a new beer celebrating 10,000 batches of Rogue goodness. It is a new recipe "using some of the best ingredients John Maier has ever brewed with...Vienna, French Special Aroma, and Maris Otter Pale Malts; Yakima Summit and German Saphir Hops, Free-range Coastal Waters, and PacMan Yeast." It was so smooth and drinkable yet packed a whopping 10% abv. I also purchased a bottle of Issaquah Bull Frog Ale, which I have yet to try, and some cool Rogue swag.

I also took a trip to lower Haight Street on Friday night, the area was jumping. I was really looking forward to visiting this infamous beer bar, Toronado. The place was absolutely packed, but since I was flying solo and playing the role of George Thorogood, I was lucky enough to find a single seat at the bar. Although I love Belgian beer, I was a little disappointed to find that it was Belgian beer month. The board listed some interesting Belgian beers, including Brouwerij De Halve Maan's Brugse Zot, a beer I have never seen in the United States (see the image to the left of my main blog page). I was really hoping to drink some local California beers that I cannot get in Massachusetts and I am sure I would have had even more to choose from had it not been Belgian beer month.

I was excited to see Russian River Brewing Company's Pliny the Elder on the list and made that my first beer. Simply put, the beer was outstanding. It was great to see so many people drinking it, I would have to guess that a dozen or more people on my side of the bar were enjoying it. My second beer was Pliny's little brother, Blind Pig IPA, another fantastic beer from Russian River. These are the first two beers I have tried from Vinnie Cilurzo's Santa Rosa, California brewery--I was very impressed and will certainly have to update my Top 99 Beers.

The bar was full of friendly locals, including a woman named Chungho who introduced me to the bartender, Johnny. He gave me a couple of recommendations and took the time to chat about the beer list even though he was very busy. I also discussed the San Francisco beer scene and baseball with a cool guy named Jason. It might sound corny, but I really felt at home at this bar. I would have stayed there for the rest of the night, but I asked Jason if Magnolia Pub and Brewery, on the upper section of Haight was worth the trip and he suggested that it certainly was worth a visit, so off I went.

Magnolia was much quieter and laid back than Toronado. It is kind of a small intimate space with a bar at the back, so I bellied up and checked out the beer list and menu. I paired a delicious cask conditioned IPA with a mildly spicy andouille sausage, pepper, and onion pizza--the perfect midnight snack! The staff were super-friendly, knowledgable, and very attentive. For a small microbrew pub, their beer list was pretty extensive--too bad I only had time for one beer. I will surely make another trip to the pub on my next visit to the area.

I topped the trip to San Francisco off with an amazing lunch on Saturday at the The Slanted Door (Vietnamese restaurant) in the Ferry Building. I started with a Grapefruit, Jicama, and toasted pecan salad and dungeness crab with cellophane noodles paired with a very smooth Trumer Pils from Berkeley, California. I can't wait to get back to the area, there are so many amazing beers to try.

Beer Blog Friday Number Two...

Here is my contribution to the 2nd Beer Blog Friday--my thanks to Alan at A Good Beer Blog for hosting the event this time around.

I decided to stay traditional and go with Westmalle Dubbel. This beer pours to a thick, marshmallow head that dissipates pretty quickly. The first scent is a crusty bread aroma with touches of peppery spicyness and dried fruit. Pretty well-balanced with sweetish raisin and spiced plum flavors. I have had this beer before, but I was still surprised by the somewhat aggressive carbonation that really makes for an interesting mouthfeel. It is medium-bodied and just a bit dry, but very drinkable. The clove and peppery spicyness peaks about halfway through the glass. I also found some very subtle banana and milk chocolate flavors. The Dubbel is not as complex as the Tripel, but it is still quite good. It leaves just the slightest bit of warming on the back of the throat. I could certainly drink another one right now. I give it a 4.3 out of 5.