Things That Are Brewed

Southern Tier Old Man Winter Ale

2011-12-10T20:26:00.000-05:00

Keeping this old man and old lady warm. Reminds me of a pale ale but
it's classified as an " old ale" according to Beer Advocate.

Three unfestive beers

2011-10-09T20:52:00.003-04:00

Robeer purchased all of the Octoberfest beers carried by a local beer shop (pictured below).

We tasted in order Otter Creek Oktoberfest, Stoudts Oktober Fest, and Victory Festbier. Unfortunately, we were disappointed. If we had to purchase one of these beers again, Robeer would choose the Otter Creek, though he found it bland. I would not choose the Victory. Stoudts was evervescent like a cider but not as complex. Victory tasted by crushed juniper berries and I only like gin with tonic on hot and humid day. Robeer thought this beer tasted metallic.

Founders Breakfast Stout

2011-09-07T10:42:00.000-04:00

On draft at Swift Hibernian Lounge, NYC. It was "Incredibly good," reports Robeer.

Bock and pils at Half Pint

2011-08-29T07:33:00.000-04:00

Lionshead Pilsner and Narragansett Bock.

Sierra Nevada Kellerweiss

2011-08-28T18:21:00.000-04:00

A hefeweizen that tastes like a strong pils with a Belgian nose and
color. Note the thick head.

Weihenstephan takes center stage

2011-08-22T07:30:00.000-04:00

Well, almost, the sweet potatoes fries at Half Pint are darn good, too.

Two brews at Georgia's Eastside BBQ

2011-08-16T07:27:00.000-04:00

Hush puppies for the vegetarian and pulled pork for the omnivore. Can you guess who drank which beer?

C-bus brews

2011-08-08T19:25:00.001-04:00

We drank some fine and refreshing Columbus beers on hots days in June: Columbus Brewing Company Pale Ale and Elevator Brewing Company Hefeweizen.

Three locals at the Brick Store Pub

2011-06-01T19:19:00.000-04:00

Robeer attended a conference a few weeks ago and sent us this photograph of three beers served at the Brick Store Pub in Decatur, GA.

The beers from left to right: Terrapin Monks Revenge, brewed in Athens; Thomas Creek Conduplico, brewed in Greenville, SC; and Jailhouse Breakout Stout, brewed in Hampton, GA.

Dogfish Head Sah'tea

2011-05-14T18:18:00.001-04:00

We learned about Sah'Tea, a Dogfish Head brew, at the teaspoons & petals blog. Unfortunately for us, Sah'Tea is not sold in our area (within 50 miles of our zipcode).

Here is a description of the beer from the Dogfish website:

A modern update on a 9th century Finnish proto-beer. Brewed with rye, we caramelize the wort with white hot river rocks, then ferment it with a German Weizen yeast. In addition to juniper berries foraged directly from the Finnish country-side we added a sort of tea made with black tea, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and black pepper. The spicing is subtle and balanced and Sahtea is a highly-quaffable, truly-unique brew with a full-mouth feel.

Image: Finlandia Sahti (source)

The original Finnish beer - Sahti - sounds delicious, too, according to its Wikipedia entry:

Sahti is a traditional beer from Finland made from a variety of grains, malted and unmalted, including barley, rye, wheat, and oats; sometimes bread made from these grains is fermented instead of malt itself. Traditionally the beer is flavored with juniper berries in addition to, or instead of, hops; the mash is filtered through juniper twigs through a trough shaped tun called a kuurna in Finnish. Sahti has a distinct banana flavor due to the yeast. Sahti is a top-fermented brew (ale), and while baking yeast has been used traditionally, ale yeast may also be used in fermenting.

Update, 5/19/2011: Read a New Yorker article published on November 24, 2008 about Sah'tea at A Better Brew: The rise of extreme beer, by Burkhard Bilger (hat tip Beertography).

Beer offerings at airport kiosk

2011-03-01T21:28:00.000-05:00

Back in the new year with a photograph of bottled beers being sold at a CIBA kiosk at La Guardia Airport.

Bier in München

2010-12-14T19:09:00.001-05:00

A conference brought us to Munich where we drank several beers including the two below, Hefe-Weissbier Hell and Dunkel (right). Each 0.5L of beer cost 3.50 Euros.

Vietnamese Coffee

2010-10-03T18:30:00.000-04:00

We are back...with a photograph of Vietnamese coffee. Our first, at Kelley and Ping in SoHo.

The white layer at the bottom of the glass is condensed milk! Here's a link to a how-to brew Vietnamese coffee via INeedCoffee.com

Taps, taps at Amity Hall

2010-08-24T12:15:00.002-04:00

Beers on tap, does not include bottled beers.

Greenwich Village's newest beer bar, Amity Hall, did not disappoint. The bartender certainly had amity or "a cordial disposition" and the beer menu was long and from what we sampled, tasty!

The Mothers Milk Stout (pictured left) was a "liquid" stout while the Blue Point Sour Cherry Imperial Stout was tart with sweet fruit and dry chocolate. Pictured right, the Stone Vertical Epic had a very creamy head.

Deux bieres du Quebec

2010-08-23T09:21:00.005-04:00

St. Ambroise Biere De Ble A L'Abricot by McAuslan Brewery and Les Brasseurs de Montreal La Chi Oriental.

The apricot wheat ale is amber in color with an apricot nose that intensifies as the beer warms. (Read brewery's description.) The Brassuers has a ginger nose and tastes like a winter ale. (Read brewery's description.) Salut!

Two beers from Park Slope's Bierkraft

2010-07-19T09:28:00.000-04:00

Smuttynose Robust Porter and Southampton Publick House Keller Pils, both purchased at Bierkraft in Park Slope, Brooklyn. We first drank the Keller Pils at Mario Batali's Otto Pizzeria in Greenwich Village.

President Obama gave a 312 case to Canadian PM

2010-06-29T15:33:00.002-04:00

We are back in a big way, with a youtube video of President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron exchanging beers at the G20 Summit. Mr. Obama gave Mr. Cameron a case of 312 Beer and Mr. Cameron gave Mr. Obama a case of Hobgoblin. hat tip: The Obama Photo & Video Diary.

Rogue Chocolate Stout

2010-04-06T18:25:00.001-04:00

Guest blogger, Robeer, is back!

If someone were to pour you a glass of this, you'd look at its dark color, thick brown head, smell chocolate off the top of it and say "hey, it's a chocolate stout!"

If you were to then sip it, you'd say "yep, it IS a chocolate stout!"

This beer is exactly what it says it is, a chocolate stout. If you like chocolate stouts, you'll be pleased. If you are not sure if you like chocolate stouts (that would be me prior to drinking this) then imagine a stout (Guinness, for example), add a chocolate-coffee taste (heavier on the chocolate than the coffee) and add a bit of bitterness at the end -- in other words, this is more of a dark chocolate than a milk chocolate -- and you've pretty much got the Rogue Chocolate Stout.

I'd drink it again.

Gimmick? Or... Gimme, Part 2

2010-03-23T20:02:00.002-04:00

A new post from guest blogger, Robeer

Today is part 2 of some tastings where we try to determine whether a brewery has put out a gimmicky beer, or one really worth drinking. Last time we sampled Morimoto Hazelnut, a Rogue Signature Ale. This time we sample Harpoon Brewery's Island Creek Oyster Stout. The beer is part of Harpoon's "100 Barrel Series" and the ingredients apparently include oysters. We weren't sure what to make of the idea of oyster as an ingredient, but Swift's Hibernian Lounge advertises a half dozen oysters + pint of Guinness special, so apparently the combination of oysters and stout is good...

So... how was the beer? In short, disappointing. One of the tasters said "it tastes like burnt coffee." The same taster was expecting a dry stout, but this beer fell somewhere between a Guinness and a Jupiter Dry Stout -- it was, unfortunately, not the best of both stout worlds.

Gimmick? Or... Gimme, Part 1

2010-03-15T06:00:00.002-04:00

A new post from guest blogger, Robeer

Today is part 1 of some tastings where we try to determine whether a brewery has put out a gimmicky beer, or one really worth drinking.The beer up today is Morimoto Hazelnut, a Rogue Signature Ale. For the uninitiated, Morimoto is a famous Iron Chef on Food Network. He is known for incredible creativity in the kitchen, and we suppose the idea is that he is also equally creative when it comes to beer.

The label for the beer is certainly creative -- it is a silkscreen picture of a younger, svelter looking Morimoto with one hand on hip, the other hand raising a mug full of what is presumably Morimoto Hazelnut, on a green background with Japanese characters and Morimoto's funky signature.
The beer itself is good, but maybe not as creative as we would like. It has a nutty, hazelnut nose, which is exciting. The taste is that of a flavorful malty brown ale. The hazelnut nose was very noticeable upon first pouring. After the beer had sat in our glasses for a while there was less hazelnut and more of burnt or smoky nose.

Jever

2010-02-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

Drunk at Mercer Kitchen, Soho, NYC

Guest post: Visit to Swift Hibernian Lounge

2009-12-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

A new post from guest blogger, Robeer

We moved to NYC in July 2009. We had made many a trip to NYC in the past, and the overwhelming feeling was that there was good beer, but not great beer in NYC. Northern California (where we lived prior to NYC) and the Pacific Northwest (where Robeer lived even further in the past) seemed the US meccas of beers.

We now live within a 5 block radius of two of the best beer spots in NYC: Swift Hibernian Lounge and The Blind Tiger. Both spots sport rotating taps of craft brew from around the US and world. We hope that this post will be the first of many that celebrate the great beers that these two places offer.

A couple weeks ago, we stopped in at the Swift Hibernian Lounge. Robeer sampled a 12 oz glass of the Monks Cafe Flemish Sour Ale (picture below).

Monk's Cafe Sour Ale

Monks was sour, as advertised, having almost a sour apple flavor (in a good way, not in a sweet, over-the-top Jolly Rancher way). After a day of walking around NYC the sour ale was found to be light and refreshing, very drinkable. It had a thin head with small bubbles as you can see in the picture. The color was a dark red amber. The taste was surprisingly good, but the type of beer to drink once in a sitting before moving to another beer....

Which is what Robeer did next when he sampled the cask conditioned Sierra Nevada Stout (picture below).

Sierra Nevada Stout, cask conditioned

The Sierra Nevada Stout was perhaps not the best beer to follow the Monks (a floral IPA might have been better), but the Stout didn't disappoint. It was full flavored, dark, woody. We have been impressed with Sierra Nevada's attempt to put out interesting beers instead of just focusing on their mainstay beers (the fresh hopped IPA was recently profiled in the New York Times). The Stout is a Sierra Nevada mainstay, but this is the first that we've had it served cask conditioned.

Neighborhood beer spots

2009-12-08T06:00:00.001-05:00

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

2009-11-01T13:55:00.002-05:00

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

2009-09-25T07:00:00.001-04:00

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

2009-09-15T10:00:00.002-04:00

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

2009-08-28T10:00:00.000-04:00

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

2009-08-25T10:00:00.000-04:00

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

Foraging for wine ingredients

2009-05-22T09:00:00.000-04:00

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.

Pilsner spectrum

2009-05-08T09:00:00.000-04:00

I enjoy drinking pilsners, but not of the Bud class of pils. Lagunitas Pils is a good example. Lagunitas Pils is in the middle, more or less, of a pils spectrum which is bookended by pilsners like Scrimshaw (heavier) and Sudwerk (lighter). Despite its maltier flavor, the Scrimshaw Pils is crisp!

Lagunitas Pils

2009-04-29T20:58:00.000-04:00

Inspired by Eric Asimov's Times article on American pilsner, we purchased a beer we've been meaning to try: Lagunitas Pils. The Lagunitas was placed in the third ranked group with Lakefront Kilsch Pilsner, Milwaukee and Sly Fox Pikeland Pils, Phoenixville, Pa. The top three pils on Asimov's list are brewed in Pennsylvania. Lagunitas is brewed in Petaluma, California.

Taste (Robeer): Not as much flavor as I would like; am used to drinking Lagunitas's IPAs. Taste (Me): I like it. Very close to Trumer Pils, another California Pilsner, in Berkeley. Nice mouthfeel - refreshing but lingers on the palate.

The Week of Beers

2009-04-21T22:46:00.000-04:00

A gift was offered to us here at Things That Are Brewed: a week-long schedule of beer tasting in San Francisco. The gift was courtesy of a foray into a local diet. Can you drink it?

Sunday afternoon – magnolia pub & brewery

Monday happy hour with colleagues – monk’s kettle

Tuesday drink alone night – speakeasy ales & lager

Wednesday night come’on – the alembic

Thursday celebration – 21st amendment brewery and café

Friday cut out early – Anchor Brewing Tour

Saturday RAGE ON – Toronado

Thanks A!

Q cappuccino

2009-04-16T18:43:00.000-04:00

'Q' or Albuquerque-style cappuccino is topped with cinnamon sugar. Extra warmth on a nippy afternoon. Delicious.

Jupiter Dry Stout

2009-03-31T09:00:00.000-04:00

I think I had my first dry stout at The Trappist in Oakland. I cannot recall the brewery. The stout was really nice - creamy but dry. Jupiter's Dry Stout has the same qualities. A worthwhile substitute is Young's Double Chocolate Stout which is available in local grocery stores.

Beer and wine at Beta Lounge

2009-03-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

Berkeley's newest lounge bar is Beta Lounge on Durant between Shattuck and Fulton. The lounge serves draft beer (Lagunitas IPA, Pyramid Hefeweizen, Stella Artois, and Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale) and wines (like organic Bonterra Merlot). Happy hour runs from 4 - 7 p.m. with $3 beers and $5 wines. The menu is nicely varied; we really liked the guacamole. Also, we enjoyed sitting on the red couch.

Ayinger Brau-Weisse

2009-03-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

Drunken somewhere in Berkeley, California in August 2007. From Ayinger Bier:

Fragrance and taste of the “yeast-cloudy” wheat beer are distinguished by a refined top-fermented flowery-yeast character and an unmistakable, distinct banana aroma. First sensation on the taste buds is full-bodied, very soft and mild with a lively, champagne-like sparkle. A light, typical wheat beer taste is expressed, the bitter tone of which can scarcely be detected. The sparklingly refreshing Ayinger Bräu-Weisse will impress every wheat beer connoisseur with the first mouthful.

One serving of Middle Eastern coffee

2009-03-12T09:00:00.000-04:00

Sweet and thick and when drunk by an irregular coffee drinker, powered the whole day.

French press cups vs American cups (mugs)

2009-03-06T19:52:00.000-05:00

Two cups from a French press = 1 American sized cup (or mug)
Four cups from a French press = just right or two cups of coffee for American drinkers

Sad news: Bill Brand of What's On Tap died this morning

2009-02-21T17:03:00.000-05:00

What's On Tap post
Oakland Tribune article

Some bread with your beer or vice versa

2009-02-21T16:38:00.000-05:00

The baking blog, Baking Bites, has a delicious recipe combining beer, fruit, and bread dough to make Apricot Beer Bread. The recipe specifies Pyramid's Apricot Hefeweizen, one of my favorite brews. (The photograph was taken of a computer screen at an ING Direct Cafe in Philadelphia.)

Yard art: Bud Light cans

2009-02-15T13:01:00.001-05:00

New Jersey brews: River Horse & Flying Fish

2009-02-05T13:10:00.000-05:00

A trip to a bottle shop in New Jersey was made more pleasurable when we discovered two local brews: River Horse and Flying Fish.

We selected the Tripel and Pale Ale from River Horse and the Flyish Fish ESB Amber and IPA. No tasting notes exist but I remember liking the River Horse Tripel Horse, below, very much.

The Tripel Horse is described as follows on the River Horse Brewing Company website:

Notice a unique aromatic nose with a hint of vanilla esters, which comes from the Belgian ale yeast. Tripel Horse has a big body and rich mouth feel and finishes mostly dry with only a touch of sweetness. If you shy from some of the sweeter Belgian ales, we think you will enjoy this one. The palate improves with age, so keep some on hand and you can ride Tripel Horse down a new path with each opened bottle.

It's good for what ales you, part 2

2009-01-23T19:00:00.000-05:00

Ailment: Aggressive New Yorkers on board your six hour flight.
Remedy: Arrogant Bastard Ale.

Ailment: Several consecutive computer crashes in the course of an afternoon.
Remedy: Stouts with a BFF (Guinness and Young's).

It's good for what ales you (part 1)

Popular drafts at Frjtz: 2 Below and Grimbergen

2009-01-12T15:30:00.000-05:00

Beer and fries: a delicious pairing. A large order of Frjtz's famous fries were shared with a glass each of Grimbergen (left) and New Belgium's seasonal 2 Below. Both beers are the most popular drafts at Frjtz's Valencia location; 2 Below then Grimbergen. I preferred the Grimbergen which is no surprise. I enjoy abbey-style beers.

On tap at Barclays: Pliny the Elder and Black Diamond

2008-12-20T20:36:00.000-05:00

From the extensive "on tap" menu at Barclay's Pub, we selected Pliny the Elder Double IPA and Black Diamond Hefeweizen. The latter was dry with an almost cider-like effervescence. Also, this hefeweizen was less fruity (no banana taste) than other hefeweizens I have drunk. However, the Black Diamond web site describes the beer as follows:

Our Hefeweizen is a traditional Bavarian style Wheat Beer.
We use an authentic Bavarian yeast strain, which imparts a fruity character with flavors of clove, banana and citrus.It’s gently hopped with German Noble hops and has a lively effervescent character that makes it an extremely refreshing brew with outstanding drinkability; the perfect beer on a hot summer day.

The Pliny the Elder Double IPA (above left), brewed by Russian River Brewing Co., was very hoppy, as expected. However, that translated into a bitter aftertaste, similar to "chewing the head of a dandelion."

Poem: Beer Street

2008-12-16T13:43:00.000-05:00

Beer Street by William Hogarth
Source: Upton Tea Quarterly, Winter 2008

Beer, happy Produce of our Isle
Can sinewy Strength impart,
And wearied with Fatigue and Toil
Can chear each Manly Heart.

Labour and Art upheld by Thee
Succesfully advance,
We quaff Thy balmy Juice with Glee
And Water leave to France.

Genius of Health, they grateful Taste
Rivals the Cup of Jove,
And warms each English generous Breast
With Liberty and Love.

Delirium tremens

2008-12-03T01:29:00.000-05:00

Delirium tremens was as good as the first time we drank it at David Copperfield's House of Beer in New York. We saved coasters from the bar and used for this bottle which we bought at The Wine Mine (!) in Oakland.

Efes pilsner

2008-11-26T15:12:00.000-05:00

A light, slightly reminiscent of Heineken, beer for a Turkish dinner of stuffed eggplant.

Drinking autumn-ish beers

2008-10-19T20:03:00.000-04:00

Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale reminded me of pumpkin ice cream from my favorite childhood ice cream store - smooth, slightly spicy, with the perfect amount of pumpkin flavor. I cannot recall any details of the Wassail. Here is the Full Sail description:

A deep mahogany color, Wassail is brewed with four different malts and a blend of Pacific Northwest hops, giving it a malty full body and a pleasantly hoppy finish that appeals to both hop and malt lovers alike. In other words, a Christmas miracle.

Chemex drip pot

2008-09-30T17:32:00.000-04:00

Image: Chemex.com

No, I do not own this drip pot. I use a French press and sometimes an old Krups espresso machine to brew my coffee. I read about the Chemex in the recent New York Times Magazine style issue. Pilar Viladas, who has used the Chemex, writes that "all you do is pop in a filter, add ground coffee, then water, and voila: a perfect cup (or 10) of java."

Image: Fantes.com

Like the Chemex, my French press is glass so it does not impart an odor to the coffee. Also, I don't need to buy filters for my press. The significant advantage the Chemex has over the press is its lack of moving parts. Vigorous plunging has damaged the filter mesh in my press. Luckily, I can order a new one (center piece in image) but I don't have the tool to install it, yet,

Vancouver BC coffee in a Seattlite's pantry

2008-09-24T22:33:00.000-04:00

Two coffees in the pantry of the brother of a good friend who lives in Seattle, Washington:

Kicking Horse Coffee "Kick Ass" - beans ground with cardamon - delicious!
Salt Spring Coffee Co. Very Dark French Roast

2008-09-21T15:18:00.000-04:00

Beer sales and the rocky stock market in the New York Times Sunday Styles section

2008-09-05T17:15:00.000-04:00

Obama and beer at Brookston Beer Bulletin
Budweiser's American Ale at What's On Tap

Miche Sepi and Lavender Crest Winery

2008-09-04T15:45:00.000-04:00

Attending a friend's wedding in Colona, Illinois I learned that the state, before Prohibition, was the second largest wine producer in the U.S. (Corn and soybeans are now major crops in Illinois; notice the corn behind the grapes.) My favorite red produced by the Lavender Crest Winery, site of the wedding, was the Miche Sepi, named for the nearby Mississippi River. It's blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Marechal Foch, and De Chanauc. Dry, easy to drink, but with a healthy dose of fruit.

Steam Whistle Pilsner delivers

2008-08-29T17:45:00.000-04:00

We've already expressed our appreciation of the Steam Whistle Pilsner. In addition to the taste, we also like the brewery's delivery program, though it's limited to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and its suburbs. Kegs or cases are offered: $42.95 for a 24 pack; $78.25 + $20 deposit for a 20L; $112.95 + $50 deposit for a 30L; and $179.95 + $50 deposit for a 50L. There are additional service charges for kegs and bottles, depending on the delivery zone. In the GTA, the keg service charge is $45 vs. $55 outside the GTA. The bottle service charge within the GTA is $15 per case or $45 for 3 cases or more versus $55 for 3 cases or more outside the GTA. The keg service charge include set-up and pick-up, 1 bag of ice, beer cups or glassware with the Steam Whistle logo, draught equipment with tap handle loan. The bottle service charge included set-up and pick-up, 1 bag of ice, bottle opener, and bottle trough loan. American breweries should enthusiastically adopt this system.

Ahwahnee Amber Ale

2008-08-17T14:16:00.000-04:00

One of the best things about the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park is the patio off the grill restaurant. After two nights of camping and drinking lukewarm beverages from plastic mugs, we were thrilled to sit on comfortable chairs sipping chilled beverages like The Ahwahnee Amber Ale pictured above. If you visit t The Ahwahnee, order the amber. We also drank a Yosemite Pale Ale which we purchased at one of the park's markets. Although it was lukewarm by the time we drank it at our tent site, the temperature could not disguise its tasty flavor.

Starbucks will close 600 U.S. cafes

2008-07-21T13:57:00.000-04:00

Starbucks in downtown San Francisco

Starbucks will close 600 stores in response to a 45% decline in its stock price. The company has published a list of U.S. stores that will be closing on its website. Only two cafes will close in San Francisco: 901 Market Street and the Metreon.

[ via MacRumors ]

Beer offerings at Toronto pubs

2008-06-25T14:47:00.000-04:00

Of the five new beers we drank in Toronto, the Steam Whistle Pilsner is our favorite. The brewery is nestled in a birch-filled lawn at the base of the CN Tower. The brewery does not serve food but you are given two free pint-sized tastings; we drank one pint each. Our tasting notes from the time we drank Steam Whistle:

"Yum! Thicker than a typical pilsner."
"It's like a Heineken."

In addition its great tasting beer, the Steam Whistle building uses "clean electricity," which it purchases from Bullfrog Power, to power its operations. Also, the building (pictured above) was a former train repair facility. You can still see trains and the rotating bays, pictured below.

Of the four remaining beers, we also liked Rickard's White. Surprisingly it is brewed by MolsonCoors. it was served with an orange slice. I wish hefeweizens were served with orange slices in the U.S.

We had great expectations for the Creemore Springs lager. It was recommended to us; an Ontario organic made from only four ingredients. We could not verify this information; no mention of organic ingredients are mentioned on the brewery's Web site. It was malty but it generally lacked distinction. One of likes lagers, one of us does not. Neither of us liked this beer though a web search yielded good reviews.

Our least favorite beers were the Wellington County Ale which tasted like a watery stout (above) and the Keith IPA that was so light in color and body (below).

Local cafe serves in corn-ware

2008-06-13T17:45:00.001-04:00

Strada, a local cafe on the edge of the university campus, has switched from paper and conventional plastic cups to a corn-based bio-polymer ware manufactured by NatureWorks LLC. The company describes its approach and products as follows:

Imagine a polymer used to make everything from packaging and consumer goods to fibers for apparel and furnishings, derived from renewable resources instead of oil. Polymer that offers more disposal options and is more environmentally friendly to manufacture than traditional petroleum based plastics. Derived from 100% annually renewable resources such as corn, our product, NatureWorks® polymer, is the world’s first polymer showing a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Even the straws are made from corn!

Beer and wine at recent events

2008-06-08T18:31:00.000-04:00

Beer and wine drunk before taste better at special events!

PBR and Trumer Pils
First time at T-Rex (I ordered vegetarian dishes)

Bio-Weinguth.u.M.hofer Gruner Veltliner 2007 (first time drinking this brand)
Notes: grassy, herbal nose; peachy melon, smooth, buttery, tight finish
Guest writer, Robeer's, birthday

Guinness and a Gruner Veltliner
SATC (Sex and the City) opening night

Blogging Science Friday's episode about the science of brewing

2008-05-16T15:09:00.000-04:00

Neighborhood grocery, Claremont Avenue, Berkeley, CA

An essential ingredient for (good) beer is "happy yeast." How fortuitous that I was listening to today's Science Friday on the day that I wanted to post here! Here's a highlight of the discussion. Click here for show details.

The general beer making process is as follows: 'malted barley is ground and mixed with water to produce an infusion or mash which is treated with several temperature steps that break down complex substances into simpler compounds that yeast can eat.'

Yeast is important. The difference between an ale and a lager is yeast but grains are also important. Roasted or caramelized grains produce darker beer. Another component are hops. Hops were first used for its antimicrobial properties but it also imparts flavor, "mouthfeel," bitterness, and aroma.

Did you know that malt liquor is a U.S. government designation?!

One guest said that liquid calories don't count in answer to Ira's question about the value of reduced calories in "light" beers.

Culture is also important. One-third of the population in the nineteenth century was foreign born of which one-half were Irish. There was also a significant German population. Both these nationalities have a strong beer heritage. The landscape also played a role. Wisconsin was one of the largest growers of barley and was the leading state for hops production before Prohibition.

Of course, the issue of organic beer was raised; originally, all beer was organic!

That "widget" in Guinness cans delivers nitrogen, rather than carbon dioxide, to the beer which creates smooth, creamy, "tight" foam.

If reading about beer puts you in a celebratory mood, join beer fans in honoring craft brewers during American Craft Beer Week.

Odds and ends brew photos

2008-05-01T19:03:00.000-04:00

Kosher wine recommendations from the Times and WSJ

2008-04-17T12:57:00.000-04:00

With Passover three days away, it seems appropriate to share Kosher wine options from two of my favorite wine columns: Tastings by Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher and The Pour by Eric Asimov.

Both columns list red and white wines, though The Pour features a variety of reds. Eric's favorite reds were the 2003 Galil Mountain Yiron (Bordeaux) and the 2005 Dalton Upper Galilee Cabernet Sauvignon. Among the whites he tasted, he preferred the 2004 Segal’s Special Reserve and the 2006 Barkan Classic; both whites are Chardonnays.

Gaiter and Brecher tasted Cabernet Sauvignons and Chardonnays, only. They also liked Dalton giving the 2004 Dalton Reserve French Oak Finish Upper Galilee a "very good" mark. The couple's Cabernet best of tasting was the 2005 Orna (Orna Chillag) 'Riserva' Galilee and Chardonnay best of tasting was the 2005 Ella Valley Vineyards.

To read the entire columns, click "Kosher, for Everyone" (Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher) or "You Don’t Have to Be Jewish to Love Them" (Eric Asimov).

Cheers to beer

2008-04-07T22:00:00.000-04:00

* The image was changed; the previous image quality was poor, and the Guinness head broadcasts festivity!

Today is the 75th Anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition. Listen to a broadcast - The Day Beer Resumed Flowing, Legally - on the All Things Considered website.

Beer education at The Trappist

2008-03-16T19:33:00.000-04:00

Four friends excitedly entered The Trappist on 8th Street at Broadway in Oakland. We knew from the website that the bar offered "15 rotating taps and over 120 specialty bottles" and we were looking forward to tasting some of them. Fortunately we found a table because we tried ten beers over the course of four hours. Last night I learned a few things: (1) Maredsous is produced as a double (dubbel or 8) or triple (tripel/ trippel or 10); (2) bottles of Belgian beer sold at local groceries are priced inexpensively in comparison to prices at The Trappist; and (3) there are as many beer glass styles as there are styles of beer.

Today I borrowed Michael Jackson's Beer Companion (1993), in part because I felt that I incorrectly described saison style beer. I told my companions that saison beer is farmhouse style beer, and according to Wikipedia, I am correct. I also wanted to learn more about the beers we drank last night. So first, saison. According to Michael Jackson, the recently deceased "beer hunter", saison is a "refreshingly crisp, tart" summer beer brewed in the spring, March to be specific, in French Flanders and southern Belgium. We drank the Hennepin Saison (pictured below, left) which was quite crisp, carbonated, and orange, all characteristics noted by Jackson. The saison tasted similar to the flagship beer of Great Lake Brewing Company, said T.P., a former Cleveland, Ohio resident.

Avery IPA, Houblon Chouffe, and Old Rasputin Stout were also drunken in the first round. IPA or India Pale Ale is famous for its hoppy character. IPAs were shipped from Britain to India without refrigeration and the hops, according to Jackson, served as "an anti-infectant." Avery Brewing is located in Boulder, Colorado, so technically Avery IPA is an American IPA. Beer Advocate also distinguishes the American IPA from the British version noting that the

hops are typically American with a big herbal and / or citric character, bitterness is high as well. Moderate to medium bodied with a balancing malt back bone.

Houblon Chouffe is not listed in the Jackson's Beer Companion index. The beer has an alcohol content of 9% which was not evident in its taste. It came with a wonderful head of foam (pictured above, right). The Brewer and Robeer first drank La Chouffe in June 2005, at Cafe Belgique in Amsterdam. The final beer in the first round, the Old Rasputin Stout, pictured below, was described as "chocolate in bottle."

Our band of four drank two tripels in round two (La Divine Tripel and Maredsous Tripel), an Allagash Wit, and a Konig Pilsener. Tripel designates the strength of the beer in the Trappist style of brewing. Michael Jackson notes that only six breweries can use the word trappist on their labels: Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, Sint Sixtus, and Schaapskooi. All except Schaapskooi are located in Belgium. Trappist is "in law an appellation of origin, not style" (Jackson). Interestingly very similar to French wine appellations. Breweries that produce beer in the Trappist tradition can use the word abbey or the phrase trappist style.

La Divine Tripel; Konig Pilsener, right

Allagash White Ale, as you can guess from the name and the photograph below (right), is a type of wheat beer. Allagash is located in Portland, Maine. One of our group described the wit as "a stoop beer...nice and refreshing," which is congruent to Allagash's own description: "it is a beer that is very drinkable and smooth any time of the year." Jackson writes that the South Germany, particularly Bavaria, style of wheat beer has been the most influential. This style is known as Weizenbier whereas Weisse is from Berlin. Belgian witbier or biere blanche is brewed with spices like orange peel and coriander. Beyond these place distinctions, Weisse (white) or Weizen (wheat) refers to beer "bottled with a sediment" while Hefe refers to the addition of yeast. Dark wheat beers, where dark malts have been added, are known as Dunkelweizen.

Pilsener is named for the first brewery that produced it - Pilsen, Bohemia. According to Jackson, prior to 1842, "all beers were dark or cloudy." Jackson stresses that Pilsener (or pilsner or pils) does not just designate a golden, clear brew, but rather, a true pilsener "has good malt character, but is accented toward the hop, in its floweriness of aroma and dryness of finish." This description accurately describes my experience of the Konig Pils. I was expecting typical American pilsners. The Konig's complexity was a pleasant surprise.

La Penneffoise; Blanche des Moines, right

The final round consisted of two beers: Blanche des Moines, a Flemish White and La Penneffoise, a Belgian Blonde brewed with prunes! It is fitting to end with the latter as it was Michael Jackson's favorite beer, according to another patron at The Trappist. I could not verify this information, but La Penneffoise was included on Michael Jackson's Rare Beer Club list in October 2007. I really like this beer. It is a terrific combination of a blond ale and subtle fruit. I saved the bottle.

Four porters in honor of George Washington

2008-03-15T17:06:00.000-04:00

George Washington's birthday was last month so this post is a long time in coming. On February 18, we drank four porters to celebrate the former president's birthday. Jay R. Brooks of Brookston Beer Bulletin wrote about Washington's love of porters in his Chronicle column. Washington's favorite porter, according to Brooks, was Robert Hare Porter brewed in Philadelphia. Robert Hare was also the "first porter brewery" to open in the U.S. in 1775. In his article, Brooks wrote about Anchor Porter, Deschutes Black Butte Porter, Sierra Nevada Porter, and Eel River Porter. We drank Eel River, Butte Creek, Deschutes Black Butte, and Anchor porters. Although we did not rank the beers, we rated them by asking whether we would buy them again (see table below photos).

Porter brewery	Label/ bottle	Brew color	Taste	Alc. %	Location	Organic?	Purchase again?
Eel River	Standard bottle ("stuby screw top"), not the most inspired label	Dirty reddish brown; dark caramel	How is this different from an amber; forgettable, no porter nose	5.5	Fortuna, CA	Yes (California Certified Organic Farmers)	No
Butte Creek	Standard bottle (tall); label has a woodcut feel; like the farm imagery	Definitely darker, "inky" with a bit of head	Rich (like a Sheaf stout); closer to a stout but not as creamy as a Guinness, sour end	5.9	Chico, CA	yes	Yes; Maybe/yes
Deschutes Black Butte	Distinctive bottle; cool landscape label	Between Eel River and Butte Creek in color; yeast on the bottom	Carbonated taste up front; sour, yeasty with a slightly sweet finish	5.2	Bend, OR	No	Yes; Maybe/yes
Anchor Porter	Distinctive bottle (short, pear shaped); like the trademark anchor	Ruby colored pour; very dark (darkest of the four)	Malt nose, fruity, chocolate malt end, sour with chocolate end; citrus zest; banana	Not listed	San Francisco	No	Yes

Wine odds and ends

2008-03-06T19:07:00.000-05:00

In a previous post I provided the incorrect location for Franklin Square Wine Bar in Oakland. The wine bar is located on Franklin Square and not in the first floor of The Grand at West Grand and Broadway. I ate lunch at the wine bar this afternoon: a wild mushroom tartine with an egg over easy and a chevre cheesecake with caramel sauce and fleur de sel. The cheesecake was deliciously goaty and the salt absolutely energized the caramel. I did not order wine, but the flight menu for today is pictured below.

I have just completed Love by the Glass by Wall Street Journal wine columnists Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher. I used to read their column, "Tastings," when I subscribed to the newspaper. The last time I received the paper at home was one year ago and reading the book reminded me of how much I enjoy their writing style and perspectives on wine. You can view a video clip of their famous annual tradition, "Open That Bottle Night," on the "Tastings" web site.

On a different brew, I ordered a house coffee (the thermos was labeled "Mexico") at MamaBuzz on Telegraph at 23rd to get change for the bus as well as to warm up. The coffee was not fresh and I added too much milk. It was warming, but not pleasant tasting.

Super Bowl 2008: A tALE of loss

2008-03-02T17:38:00.000-05:00

Post written by guest blogger, Robeer. Read his previous post about beer in Philadelphia.

Disappointing. A let down. We are talking about the New England Patriots – the Heineken, on the other hand, was excellent. We had a small Super Bowl party at our house with A, E and T where we tried out one of the 5L Heineken mini-kegs. We bought the keg at Bev-Mo, which also had other similarly kegged European beers. You have probably seen the really annoying commercial for the Heineken keg where one “friend” helps another by carrying the keg into a party (thereby taking all credit for the keg). In any case, the keg itself is incredibly simple to use. A nozzle that comes with the keg snaps into place on the top of the keg and you are ready to pour. It takes all of one second. The first pour came out a bit foamy, but this was probably due to operator error on the part of yours truly. Other than that, all the pours came out nicely. The one complaint was the tendency for the nozzle to drip a little after the pour finished. This problem seemed to go away after a half dozen pours. Sadly, the problems the Patriots were having on the field didn’t go away any time soon. So, while the kegged Heineken was really quite good, it did nothing to wash away the bitter feeling of defeat that we had at the end of the Super Bowl (nor did the Maker’s Mark).

Blue Bottle Coffee Company New Orleans style iced coffee

2008-02-28T23:55:00.000-05:00

I drank it at the farmer's market stall in Berkeley and at the Blue Bottle store in Mint Plaza. It was delicious both times - it must be the chicory.

Nine or so steps to the "perfect press pot" coffee

2008-01-22T18:42:00.000-05:00

Both Stumptown Roasters in Portland, Oregon and Blue Bottle Coffee in San Francisco provide detailed press pot coffee instructions. When you purchase Stumptown beans, you are given a 4.5" x 4.5" brewing guide printed on recycled paper. I love this book. I refer to it whenever I make press pot (i.e. French Press) coffee, even from other vendors. The Blue Bottle Coffee brewing guide is also cleverly presented. The postcard image differs depending on the style of your brew (French Press, filter drip, mokka pot, or espresso). I got the postcard with the French press cover photo because that's my preferred brewing method. (I also have an espresso machine). Perhaps I should have chosen the mokka pot postcard. As I mentioned before I use Stumptown's directions and I could have mailed the card to a friend who just got a mokka pot.

Anyway, the directions are quite similar and I have prepared a comparison chart below. You can use either set of directions whether you brew Stumptown or Blue Bottle or Kicking Horse (Canada - the coffee I brewed this afternoon).

Steps	Stumptown	Blue Bottle
1	Grind coffee (ground coarse preferably with a burr grinder).	Coffee (3-4T of coffee for every 8oz of water).
2	Add coffee (1T of coffee for every 40z of water).	Double the amount of water you intend to use.
3	Add water (bring water to a boil and cool for 45s, then pour vigorously to saturate the grounds) but do not fill the pot.	Grind the coffee to a gritty consistency while water is heating.
4	Start counting down 4 minutes.	Bring water to a boil and cool for 30s.
5	After 1 minute stir the grounds and add water if needed.	Warm French Press with water and pour this water into cup to warm it.
6	Put press on pot.	Add grounds to the press pot and pour water into the pot "in a thin stream."
7	Slowly press the pot at the end of 4 minutes (press several if necessary).	Gently stir the coffee and place press on the pot (Blue Bottle recommends stirring with a wooden spoon or chopstick).
8	Pour the coffee immediately after pressing.	Wait 3 minutes.
9	Drink the coffee.	Stir the coffee again.
10	Clean the French Press. Do not use soap.	Gently press the coffee.
11		Pour the coffee immediately and drink it.

Wines at Cacao Sampaka, Madrid

2008-01-15T23:53:00.000-05:00

As with most of the wines I drank in Spain, I did not record the names of the wines above. The red (tinto) was dry. I did not record tasting notes for the white (vino blanco).

Coffee in Sevilla

2008-01-09T19:19:00.000-05:00

A single order of coffee at breakfast in Sevilla, Spain

Tasting notes from a holiday party

2007-12-13T17:41:00.000-05:00

The following brews are some of the wines and beers that were tasted at a combination birthday and holiday wine party. The beers were brought by a couple who claimed they do not know much about wine. The Bouteille Call (pronounced "bootay call") was offered by a San Franciscan couple. As it's said, we ate, drank, and were merry!

(from left to right) Orleans Hill Cote Zero (organic and vegan)

You know we {heart} vegan wine in Berkeley
Might taste better after breathing
Sharp, spicy, peppery
Impertinent
Peppery, fruity, immature; has an inferiority complex; grapey

Wellington The Duke

Well balanced (no kick)
Smooth
Well behaved

Poggio Bedini Nero D'Avola

Subtle, raspberry, dark
Very complex, very good
Spicy
Unforgettable - or is that the other one? Oh bother

Reinaert Flemish Wild Ale

Wheat oriented, carbonation is a nice change from wine

Saison Imperiale Belgian Farmhouse Ale

Fantastic - belgian among fave beer

Choya Umeshu (plum wine)
(no notes)

Bonny Doone Bouteille Call

Strawberry flavor - sweet - very tasty
Jammy
Zany

Bye, bye Bison

2007-12-02T17:09:00.000-05:00

Bison Brewing began making beer in Berkeley, CA in 1989. The brewery was, until last week, located at the corner of Telegraph Avenue and Parker Street. In 2003, Bison closed their brewpub (the space now houses an Indian/Pakistani restaurant and a coffee shop). All that is left of Bison is the logo above the cafe. The sign above the brewery is gone. Bison has moved to 3rd and Linden Street in Oakland. Linden Street also hosts Linden Street Brewing, Oakland's second brewpub after Pacific Coast Brewing Company in Old Oakland.

Note the boarded window. The brew equipment could not fit through the door. On two separate occasions last week, I saw equipment being removed from the old storefront. According to the East Bay Express, Linden Brewing owner, Adam Lamoreaux, purchased a brew plant from Bison to brew his yeasty beer, Urban People's Common Lager.

Brew Friday

2007-11-23T15:04:00.000-05:00

I have already made my only brew purchase of the day: a cup of coffee. Unlike the many Black Friday mall enthusiasts, I will enjoy what I already have: Duke V from Wellington Vineyards in Sonoma.

Eric Ross Winery, Glen Ellen

For Thanksgiving we enjoyed wine with friends and family: Tapiz Malbec, Imagery Tempranillo, and Imagery Port. None of these were listed in today's Chronicle Wine section on "bottles that haunted...dreams."

For beer, the Chronicle recommended the following:

Westmalle Tripel Trappist Ale
Marin Brewing Co. Point Reyes Porter
Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse (one of my favorites)
Bear Republic Brewing Red Rocket Ale
Russian River Brewing Damnation Golden Ale (Belgian-style; Triple Rock in Berkeley, CA brews a golden ale)
Trumer Brauerei Trumer Pils (brewed in Berkeley)

Citromax, Coors, and IPA

2007-11-12T22:43:00.000-05:00

During the course of the Golden Gate Half Marathon on November 4, we drank a lot of Citromax. I guess it's the other "gatorade," gatorade being the now generic term for sports drinks (like band aid or post-its). After 13.1 miles of Citromax, we never want to drink it again. The race was also sponsored by Arrowhead water, of which we drank a lot. What role do Coors and IPAs play in a 1/2 marathon?

Unbeknowst to us, in a post titled "Forget Gatorade, drink beer", Brookston Beer Bulletin reports - based on a Spanish study - that "for the dehydrated person, beer helps retain liquid better than water." As it turns out, we split a cup of Coors (the best cup of Coors we have ever had) after the race. We followed this brew - much later in the day and after properly hydrating ourselves with water and juice - with an IPA tasting. We informally compared Deschutes Inversion IPA, Wolaver's IPA, Indica IPA, and Lagunitas IPA. One of us prefers Lagunitas, while the other really enjoys Wolaver's. For both of us, the Indica is a second favorite.

Brilliantly unusual beer

2007-11-06T23:22:00.000-05:00

My library does not include any books on beer, but newspaper articles keep me well read in this subject. Here are two recent articles about beer; one is about fresh hop beers, the other is about cask-conditioned beers.

Neither of the beers pictured is fresh hops or cask-conditioned.

Fresh hops

With fresh hop beers, whole unkilned hops are used - another similarity to Beaujolais Nouveau, which uses whole clusters of grapes in fermentation. When brewing with the whole, fresh hop cones, subtle herbal, vegetal and earthy aromas and flavors are extracted that can't be produced any other way

San Francisco Chronicle

Fresh hop brews in season

Cask-conditioned

She pulled down on the tap, then pushed back, pulled down and pushed up, in rhythmic repetition like a farmhand at a well. The ale poured slowly into a mug, at first all foam, then turning translucent before suddenly clarifying into a brilliant suds-topped amber

New York Times

The Power in the Cask: Old Ways, New Beer

More on the beer-wine-cheese trio

2007-10-30T23:23:00.000-04:00

First, my apologies for not posting more frequently. While nature is winding down, my life has been going full blast. This post is not about a brew I enjoyed recently, but rather it's about choosing beer if you really like wine and choosing cheeses to pair with beer or other brews you like. The former is taken from a beer for wine drinkers article published by Appellation Beer and the latter from Edward Trencom's Noseby Giles Milton.

If you like...

a dry white, then choose a hoppy pilsner.
Gewürztraminer, try a Vienna-style lager, or a Munich-style lager.
Champagne, choose a wheat beer (My favorite beer is wheat, but my wine of choice is a red - Zinfandel, Pinot, Cab.)
blush Zinfandel or pink champagne, try a framboise.
Cabernet Sauvignon, choose an English-style ale, or an American IPA.
Pinot Noir, you might like a Scottish or Belgian ale (My second favorite type of beer).
Fino sherry, try a lambic (These are often out of my budget).
Amontillado sherry: a porter or dry stout (I've never tasted an Amontillado sherry; have you?)
Port, you might like a Trappist ale (tied with Belgian ale).

Miles via Edward Trencom's relative, Emmanuel Trencom, recommends the following drink and cheese pairings:

Oh, there's a drink for every cheese, tum-tum...and a cheese for every drink....Oh, a porter for a pave and a sherry for a sleight. A claret for a cantal and a toddy for a tomme. A julep for a jorbkase and a negus for a niolo. A gin for a gomost and a grog for a gruth. Champagne for a chacat and a cider for chaource. Oh, there's a drink for every cheese, tum-tum, and a cheese for every drink (Miles, 2007, 123). Emmanuel Trencom drank his vasterbotten with porter.

Read the previous post on beer, wine, and cheese.

Champagne for October rains

2007-10-14T21:37:00.000-04:00

It is the beginning of the rainy season where I am and that's reason to celebrate. It has been a long dry summer and our garden is thirsty. We opened this half bottle to celebrate a new job, but I like the idea of celebrating the rain too.

Wine bar coming to Grand and Broadway, Oakland

2007-09-29T18:29:00.000-04:00

Update, 03/11/2009: The wine bar is not in the Broadway Grand. It is located in Franklin Square.

I've never been to Luka's Taproom on Broadway and W. Grand in Oakland, though I have heard and read favorable things about the bar. Recently, the SF Chronicle noted that Luka's owners will be opening a wine bar across the street on the first floor of the new residential high-rise (the Broadway Grand) also at Broadway and W. Grand. A fantastic idea; sometimes you feel like drinking a beer, sometimes you feel like drinking a glass of wine.

(the) Broadway Grand

Luka's Taproom

The game is not on t.v.

2007-09-22T20:52:00.000-04:00

We heard this statement at three pubs on Saturday, September 15. Our first stop was Lanesplitter on San Pablo, a pizza and beer eatery, because two separate staff persons assured us the restaurant would show the game. When we arrived, two other large groups were there to watch the game as well. The staff told us that "the game is not on t.v." but we knew this was false. The San Francisco Chronicle had listed the channels that would carry the game. The issue was that Lanesplitter did not subscribe to the service that included the channel on which the game was playing. We ate our pizza and went to two other places - Spenger's Fish Grotto (a nice bar with lots of televisions) and Brennan's Restaurant (a cafeteria style bar with lots of televisions) - where we were also told that "the game is not on t.v."

Our final stop was Pyramid which was showing the game on all of its televisions. In fact, the brewpub shows all the Cal games! To celebrate our find we ordered a round of beers: Black Apricot (1/2 MacTarnahan's Blackwatch Cream Porter + 1/2 Apricot Weizen) tastes like coffee with fruit, Imperial Hefeweizen tastes and smells like bananas (22 ounce retails at Andronico's on Telegraph for $5.29), Amber Weizen tastes like traditional hefeweizen with malty end note, and Imperial Pyramid IPA tastes very hoppy with a creamy undertone.

front, Hefeweizen
center, IPA
center right, Black Apricot
rear, Amber

25 years of California brewpubs

2007-09-14T13:15:00.000-04:00

On Thursday, September 13, Triple Rock Brewery in Berkeley hosted the 25th anniversary celebration of California brewpubs. Twenty-five years ago, California AB 3610, written by Tom Bates (current mayor of Berkeley), allowed a person brewing beer to sell that beer where it was brewed as long as a restaurant was operated at the same site. Triple Rock was the fifth brewpub in the state opening in 1986. Numbers 1 through 4 are

Yakima Brewing & Malting, Yakima, Washington, 1982
Mendocino Brewing Co., Hopland, California, August 1983
Buffalo Bill's Brewery, Hayward, California, September 1984
Manhattan Brewing Co., New York, N.Y., 1984

The Triple Rock history page notes that "it is the only one now operating using the original brewing equipment and the only one still owned & operated by the original founders."

[via The East Bay Blog and Brookston Beer Bulletin]

In memorium: Alfred Peet and Michael Jackson

2007-09-08T16:28:00.000-04:00

This post is in memory of Alfred Peet, founder of Peets Coffee and Tea and "grandfather of specialty coffee," and Michael Jackson, "the beer hunter," who died one day apart in August.

The Beer Hunter archives
Alfred H. Peet (hosted on Typepad)

City of Love beer cafe

2007-09-01T14:57:00.000-04:00

This post was written by guest blogger, Robeer.

We were in Philadelphia (the “City of Brotherly Love”) recently and had an opportunity to sample some brews at Tria Café (http://www.triacafe.com/). Tria is a beer, wine and cheese bar that also offers an assortment of tapas. Tria’s menu does a nice job of categorizing the cheese and drink into different categories. We started with a beer from the “Invigorating” category - Sly Fox Royal Weisse (Ruthersford, PA) – and one from the “Friendly” category - Yards ESA (Philadelphia, PA). We paired these two tasty brews with a coffee and lavender rubbed cheese called Barely Buzzed made by the Beehive Cheese company of Utah (Tria categorized the cheese as “Approachable”).

left, Weisse

For dinner we had grilled asparagus salad, roasted beets with Bulgarian feta, brie with balsamic strawberries and gorgonzola with fig jam bruschetta (are you sensing a cheese theme?). Halfway through dinner we abandoned the local brew theme and adventured deeper into the beer menu, choosing one beer from the “Profound” category - Tripel Karmeliet (Belgium) and one from the “Extreme” category - Makana Iqhilaka African Mead (South Africa). We found the Karmeliet to be a bit like champagne; it was very bubbly and dry and had a slight witch hazel taste. The Mead was “all about the honey”; it had a cinnamon/clove/nutmeg flavor that made it seem “like Christmas”. It also had quite a high alcohol content at 12%.

left, Mead

More Boston brewed

2007-08-08T18:15:00.000-04:00

Vessel at Cleveland Brewing Company

Edible Boston conducted a beer tasting of "the best beers Boston has to offer." The results are featured in the Spring 2007 issue. The review did not include beers from Boston Beer Works (read the Boston brewed post) or from Harpoon Brewery. (Sam Adams is brewed in Cincinnati, Ohio.)

The article's author (and the tasters) gave high marks to the offerings from the Cambridge Brewing Company (in Cambridge) and Berkshire (in South Deerfield), neither of which is located in the City of Boston. The tasters even included non-Massachusetts beers like New England Brewing's Atlantic Amber made in Woodbridge, Connecticut! A more accurate representation would have been beers from the Boston region. Anyway, the review is a nice beer guide, so I will keep it as a reference for my next trip to Boston.

- Berkshire Coffeehouse Porter (South Deerfield)
- Berkshire Maibock Lager
- Cambridge Brewing Company (CBC) Summer Hefeweizen 2006
- CBC Regatta Golden
- CBC The Wind Cries Mari (made with lavender and heather)
- CBC Spring Training IPA
- CBC Red Gold
- CBC Cerise Cassee (made with a cherry infusion)
- New England Brewing Atlantic Amber (Woodbridge, Connecticut)
- Opa-Opa IPA (Southampton)
- People's Pint Slippery Slope (Greenfield)
- The Tap Leatherlips IPA (Haverhill)
- The Tap Whittier

The tasters also recommended:
- Ipswich Original Ale
- Offshore Amber Ale (Martha's Vineyard)
- Wachusett Summer Hefeweizen (Westminster)
- Wolaver's Organic Brown Ale (Middlebury, Vermont)

Boston brewed

2007-07-29T20:48:00.000-04:00

There are several breweries in the Boston area but my favorite is Boston Beer Works. I have a particular fondness for the Fenway location. Recently family and I enjoyed several beers on tap.

left: Mad Hops Imperial IPA
right front: Back Bay IPA; Watermelon Ale

left: Saison Nouveau, Belgian-style
right: Back Bay IPA, cask-conditioned

We also drank Haymarket Hefe Weizen and forgot to order the Fenway American Pale Ale.

Happy July 4, 2007

2007-07-05T00:27:00.001-04:00

Rust-belt brews

2007-06-24T18:50:00.000-04:00

Delicious beer in the Rust-belt cities: American Wheat (hefe-weizen) and Irish Red Ale from Cleveland Brewery; Dogfish Head IPA (60 minute and 90 minute - "very hoppy") from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware tasted in Pittsburgh, PA.

Dry soda

2007-06-04T18:58:00.000-04:00

You might be wondering why a blog dedicated to things that are brewed might feature a soda. I have two reasons: (1) I like Dry Soda and (2) the verb to brew has several meanings. Dictionary.com provides the following definitions:

Verb
- to make (beer, ale, etc.) by steeping, boiling, and fermenting malt and hops.
- to make or prepare (a beverage, as tea) by mixing, steeping, soaking, or boiling a solid in water.
- to concoct, mix, or cook (a beverage or food, esp. one containing unmeasured or unusual ingredients): She brewed a pot of soup from the leftovers.
- to contrive, plan, or bring about: to brew mischief.

Noun
- a quantity brewed in a single process.
- a particular brewing or variety of malt liquor.
- a hot beverage made by cooking a solid in water, esp. tea or coffee.
any concoction, esp. a liquid produced by a mixture of unusual ingredients: a witches' brew.
- Informal: beer or ale; an individual serving of beer or ale: Let's have a few brews after the game.

I've drank two flavors of Dry Soda: Kumquat (left) and Rhubarb. I prefer Rhubarb, especially with the juice from half a lemon.

NBA Draft Lottery Brews (Blues?)

2007-05-30T00:15:00.000-04:00

This post is by guest writer Cman (read his latest post on Celtics Blog).

On Tuesday May 22nd we had two beers and a lucky hat to help bring luck to the Celtics: the #1 pick in the NBA draft lottery. The #1 pick would garner rights to draft Greg Oden, the prized freshman Center from Ohio State. Hoping to do our part, we carefully selected two beers: Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Speakeasy Big Daddy IPA. The Sam Adams would channel Boston and the Big Daddy would channel Greg Oden..... Unfortunately the "channels" got crossed and the Portland Trail Blazers ended up with the #1 pick and Boston ended up with the #5 pick.

Now to the beers:

Sam Adams Boston Lager (R)
-Sweet, smooth, caramel notes. But not sweet enough to bring lottery bliss to the Celtics.

Speakeasy Big Daddy IPA (L)
-A strong IPA that went down bitter mid sip when the Boston Celtics logo emerged from envelope #5. Ouch.

It's good for what ales you

2007-04-25T22:31:00.000-04:00

My beer of choice used to be a nut brown ale. Now I prefer wheat beers. I bought a bottle of the brown ale and my drinking buddy bought the stout (he likes Guiness) to compare the ale factor. Both are quite dark in color with a frothy head (not as thick as a Guiness). The coffee element in the stout gives it a stronger flavor, while the hazelnut imparts a nutty, lighter flavor to the brown ale. It was hard to determine which had more ale factor, but we agree that both are good for what ales you.

Calistoga, more than mineral water

2007-03-26T18:20:00.000-04:00

Calistoga mineral water: a popular beverage. We did drink of the mineral water but we also sampled various brews during our stay.

On the way to Calistoga: hot cocoa and capucchino, Felini's, Berkeley

Calistoga Inn Red Ale and Pale Ale

Calix 2004 Syrah at barVino
Pretty darn good

Pinot: Tangent Blanc 2005, J Gris 2006, Joseph Swan Noir 2004
A pucker of dried fruit (pinot noir)

Rombauer Chardonnay 2005, Titus Zinfandel 2004, Unti Syrah 2003
I like it! (chardonnay)

Content deleted on Sept. 10, 2007.

Salting your beer

2007-03-03T23:19:00.000-05:00

This is not a post about adding salt to you beer. It is about Sea Salt, a new (to us) seafood restaurant on San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley, CA. I read about Sea Salt in a recent issue of Foodism and we ate there to celebrate Valentine's Day, a week early.

Background: pilsner

Beers: Scrimshaw Pilsner; Eye of the Hawk (similar to Sierra Nevada)
Taste: We can't remember anything about the pilsner but the Eye of the Hawk was medium bodied, somewhere between creamy and crisp, perfect with oysters, fried shrimp and grilled sardines.

from left to right: Washington Eld Inlet Kuomomoto; Marin Miyagi; Stellar Bay

Sweet Maine shrimp; local sardines

A walk to the park

2007-02-24T00:25:00.000-05:00

A Cup Above, Telegraph Avenue

There are five coffee shops on my walk to Strawberry Canyon Park. The most unusual cup of coffee is served at Caffe Mediterranee - a kaffe mit schlag - coffee topped with a heavy whipped cream. It is richly delicious.

Left Peets Coffee & Tea, Telegraph & Dwight
Right Caffe Mediterranee, Telegraph Ave.

Left Cafe Milano, Bancroft Avenue
Right Caffe Strada, Bancroft & College

Brewed coffee or an Americano?

2007-02-12T12:32:00.000-05:00

A good cup of brewed coffee always trumps an espresso coffee, like the Americano (in spite of its beautiful crema). Unfortunately, the closest cafe to my "day job" only serves espresso coffee. I have contemplated bringing a hot water heater and French press or a coffee maker to my office, but part of the coffee ritual is taking a break from the office. So during the week, I drink Americanos, unless I go further afield for a brewed coffee. But on the weekends, closer to home, I have more access to brewed coffee.

For example, these photographs were taken at Royal Grounds on Shattuck Avenue (Berkeley). There is also a new cafe, Mokka, at Telegraph and Ashby (Berkeley) that serves espresso, brewed, and filter drip coffee. I have had two prior experiences with drip coffee - one at Plumes in Monterey (smooth, delicious) and the other at the Berkeley Farmers' Market (a very strong brew by Bluebottle Coffee Company). You might be puzzled about the difference between filter drip and brewed coffee ... isn't brewed coffee made with a filter? Read a description of the filter drip process on the Bluebottle Coffee website.

The pursuit of hoppiness ...

2007-02-03T00:08:00.000-05:00

"The pursuit of hoppiness" is the title of a beer article in the Winter 2007 issue of Foodism (it also seems like a pun of the Will Smith movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness").

Foodism recommends lager with fish and poultry, while an ale better suits red meat. In other words, lager is to fish/poultry as white wine is to said dishes; ale is to red meat as red wine is to said dishes. Ales tend to have more hops than lagers and pair well with spicy and oily foods, similar to high acidity wines.

Can you distinguish the ales (or hoppier beers) from lagers in the following boxes of beer?

Photos taken at World Market, Oakland.

Classic brew - coffee - and a donut

2007-01-20T18:08:00.000-05:00

We each used to drink a cup of coffee and eat a doughnut every Sunday morning while reading the New York Times in the spring of 2004. We relived the experience recently at Golden Gate Donuts on Telegraph. Golden Gate has 40+ varieties of donuts. I got the chocolate covered donut with chocolate sprinkles and a small coffee ... a nice start to the day.

Holiday cheers!

2007-01-12T19:21:00.000-05:00

OB - a Korean brew - served at Mandoo in New York

Matusalem rum - a gift from an avid sailor

An old favorite

Message on a bottle

2006-12-19T21:21:00.000-05:00

Rogue's Hazelnut Brown Nectar (as delicious as its name sounds) and Lagunitas's Cappuccino Stout (lives up to its name) offered interesting reading while we waited for the heads to settle.

Rogue's recipe
13 Ingredients: Harrington, Klages, Munich, Hugh, Baird Brown, Carastan 13/17, Crystal 70/80, Crystal 135/165, &Beeston Pale Chocolate Malts; Perle & Sterling Hops; & Hazelnut Nectar, Free Range Coastal Water & Top Fermenting Pacman Yeast. No Chemicals, Preservatives or Additives.

Lagunitas's poem
Coffee is my shepherd; I shall not dose. It maketh me to wake in green pastures. It leadeth me beyond the sleeping masses. It restoreth my brain. It leadeth me into the paths of consciousness for its namesake. Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of sleep, I will fear no artificial sweetener for thou art with me; thy cream and they sugar they comfort me. Though preparest a carafe before me in the presence of my zzz's. Thou anointest my day with sunlight; my cup runneth over. Surely richness and flavor shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of capuccino forever...let us sip...or whatever...

Sangria and sherry

2006-12-09T19:56:00.000-05:00

A recent birthday dinner led to a new appreciation for sangria and sherry. We celebrated at Tamarindo Antojeria on 8th Street in downtown Oakland. We sat in a narrow ("intimate") corner of this small restaurant and ate several delicious tapas plates including Ceviche, Empanaditas, Arroz Blanco con Platanos Fritos, Sopecitos Surtidos, and Tacos de Camaron.

In previous experiences with sangria, the juice always overwhelmed the wine. The sangria at Tamarindo was great - I could taste the wine, a syrah. With dessert (Flan de Coco and Crepas con Cajeta ), we ordered the Pedro Ximinez sherry - a sweet, "thick" dessert wine reminiscent of port.

l : flan
r : crepas