Neighborhood beer spots

Guest blogger, Robeer, has been raving about two neighborhood beer spots: Blind Tiger Ale House and Swift Hibernian Lounge, both in NYC, but with different offerings and atmosphere. Stay tuned for a review of beers available at Swift.

On tap at the Bowery Whole Foods beer room

Sixpoint Craft Ales Eight Days O' Wheat, exclusive to the Bowery beer room, is

A unique recipe collaboration from the staff at Sixpoint and the team at Whole Foods Market, Eight Days emerges with a soft, tart wheat flavor and a mild citrus hop bitterness. Finishes dry and clean. 5.3% ABV

Guest post: Three Floyd's Mild Ale

Guest blogger, Robeer, is back with an entry about Three Floyd's Mild Ale.

On a recent visit to Chicago, we visited State and Lake (201 North State Street), a restaurant profiled in a New York Times article on Chicago microbrews. State and Lake has a decent variety of local brews, and the one we sampled was Three Floyd's Pride & Joy Mild Ale. Our server told us that the "Mild Ale" was in fact a fairly hoppy IPA. Indeed, it was. It was reminiscent of some of the good California IPAs such as Lagunitas and Stone, flavorful and high in alcohol content. Like its California cousins, there was little head (see the picture above).

Home-made nocino

Photos of the first day of nocino brewing

When I lived in Berkeley, I exchanged fruits and herbs with Forage Oakland. From one exchange, I received nocino - an Italian liquer - made from unripe walnuts from Delaware Street for nocino I made from a Parker Street walnut tree growing in the sidewalk. It's an acquired taste (read: bitter, medicinal) and best served chilled and on ice.

The walnut tree on Parker Street

Walnut shells courtesy of neighborhood squirrels

The recipe I used was published by the Hammon Company but the website no longer works. Here's a similar, simple nocino recipe from Simply Recipe. After a few months of steeping, I brought the nocino to a party where a friend of Italian heritage recommended a longer steeping with slices of lemon. Here's an image of a finished nocino.

*Cross-posted. Edited on 09/25/09.

The first Dunkin Donuts

Dunkin Donuts humbly began in 1956 in Quincy, Massachusetts. This photograph was taken at a Dunkin Donuts in Greenwich Village, NYC.

St. George Spirits's sense of humor

Seen in August 2007 at St. George Spirits Distillery, Alameda, California.

Foraging for wine ingredients

I'm a forager. In the summer, I can eat my daily serving of fruit by walking Berkeley's streets. I've exchanged my garden herbs for fruit via Forage Oakland.

In my neighborhood, the fruits of the strawberry trees (Arbutus unedo) are ripening. Verifying the edible nature of the fruit, I discovered a blog entry at Algarve Buzz about Aguardente de Medronho, a Portuguese wine made from the fruit.

Another common urban plant is the dandelion. I have yet to forage the dandelion because of its growing sites - sidewalk planting strips where dogs often urinate. Did you know that wine can be brewed from dandelion?! Felicity at Thrifty Living writes about the process here.