Why Is There Beer? beer tasting

The latest tasting at the Brickskeller was different than their normal affair. Instead of having one or more brewers come and speak about their wares they had a few folks from the industry on the panel to discuss any and all things beer. Bob Tupper hosted the event as usual. Everyone has been expecting his Tupper’s Hop Pocket Ale and Pilsner ever since he announced his partnership with St George’s Brewing. He said that after many many delays he was promised that the beer would start to brew this Tuesday. He also said that he hopes to brew other kinds of beer including possibly a wet hopped beer. The other panelists included Larry Robinson of Chevy Chase Liquors, Greg Kitsock the writer, Bill Catron a distributor, and Dave Alexander himself the owner of the Brickskeller and RFD. I took Judy for her first true beer tasting.

They each picked a couple beers for a total of ten. Four I had in my fridge at the time (but are of course favorites of mine), a couple I was unfamiliar with, and two more were aged. The list:

• Williams Brothers – Grozet 5%
• Rodenbach - Red Ale 5%
• St Louis – Gueuze Fond Tradition 5%
• Sierra Nevada – Harvest Wet Hop Ale 6.7%
• Victory – Wild Devil Ale 6.7%
• Anchor – Old Foghorn ’97 or ’95 8.8%
• Thomas Hardy 2005 11.7%
• Dogfish Head – Burton Baton 10%
• Stone – Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale 8.7%
• Founder’s – Breakfast Stout 8.3%

The Grozet was an interesting beer made with gooseberries and wheat. It was rather light; not too much of the Scottish flavors. I didn’t think it was much to write home about.

The Rodenbach was interesting. It is a red Flemish ale and had that sour cherry flavor. It wasn’t too sour; it was drinkable. The Red that we had is a blend of 25% old and 75% young. I guess the Grand Cru is a 33/66 ratio. Rodenbach has managed to keep its lineage of family owners throughout the generations.

The St Louis Gueuze was another Belgian style. I’ve had other lambics but I don’t think I’ve had much gueuze. It was pretty good and well balanced. Apparently this beer was a blend of one year and two year aged beer. Five kegs of this made it to the US.

The Sierra Nevada Harvest Wet Hop Ale is a familiar one. I just drank one from the store and have another in my fridge. This keg was much better than my bottles though. The bottle was starting to taste more like a traditional IPA whereas this keg had much more of that floral hoppy taste and aroma.

The Victory Wild Devil is one of the four beers in my fridge but the only one I have yet to try. I was quite pleased. Apparently this is a mix between a lambic and an IPA. They took their Hop Devil and added a Belgian yeast. It has a nice balance; it is not very sour. They paired the wild yeast flavor with the hops pretty well. I’ll have to go home and drink my bottle soon.

The Anchor Old Foghorn was either from 1997 or 1995. Apparently the Brickskeller cellar notes aren’t too complete from that time period. I’m not a big barley wine fan but this was pretty good. I’m sure the aging helped mellow it out a bit. I’ve never had a recent Old Foghorn so I can’t compare but I may need to buy some and stash them away for a decade.

The Thomas Hardy 2005 was interesting to taste because I’ve had the Thomas Hardy 1988 at a previous tasting. It had that syrupy rich taste but not as deep as the 1988. Judy gave most of her sample to me and I didn’t complain. I liked the Old Foghorn better but this was definitely a complex beer.

Dogfish Head Burton Baton is a favorite of mine. The panel really enjoyed this beer as well. They all felt it had some of the best aromas of any beer. The Burton Baton is pretty expensive at about $4 a 12 ounce. Although a lot of the beers we had are expensive. The Burton Baton is their 90 Minute IPA blended with an oak aged strong ale. A great beer.

Stone’s Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale is right at the top of my favorites with the Burton Baton. This is the same recipe as their 11th Anniversary Ale but they got such great feedback they are now brewing it whenever they have the time and ingredients. This is a wonderful hoppy black beer. I wish the panel would have talked more about this one.

The last beer was Founder’s Breakfast Stout. This was definitely a robust coffee flavored stout. As usual by the time they got to the last beer people were heading out the door because of the long event. They didn’t talk about the beers as much as they told stories. It was an interesting night. I could have listened to Bob, Bill, and Dave all night. They had to pull the words out of Larry’s mouth and Greg isn’t his best in front of crowds. They were a knowledgeable group though with a lot of experience and insight.

Smuttynose Beer Dinner

Last month was the Oktoberfest beer dinner and this month at Pizzeria Paradiso was an Autumn Smuttynose dinner. I took Sarah to her first beer dinner and it turned out pretty well. I’m starting to get spoiled and remember a few of their extra delicious pairings from the many dinners I’ve enjoyed. Now if it’s not an over the top taste bud sensation I’m almost disappointed. This was a good dinner though. The brewer was in attendance and speaking about his beers which is better than the usual regional rep. Maybe I wasn’t blown away by the beers.

We sat with an interesting tall character with blond hair parted down the middle and almost in his eyes. He met his quite friend at some odd neighborhood dog/drink street gathering that has been going on for years. The other two were a young couple at their first beer dinner who liked the restaurant and didn’t know anything about beer. The tall old blond dude kept the table high in group sprits. The menu:

Sweet Potato Coffee

Robust Porter 5.7%

Spinach, Artichoke, Olive Salad

w/ Farmhouse Lemon Dressing

Farmhouse Ale 7.5%

Salmon Pastrami

IPA “Finest Kind” 6.9%

Pumpkin Pesto, Pancetta, Parmesan Pizza

Pumpkin Ale 6%

Old Brown Tomato Sauce, Fontina, Gorgonzola, Roasted Garlic, Cherry Tomatoes, Thyme, Oregano Pizza

Old Brown Dog 6.7%

Autumn Pound Cake

Baltic Porter 8.7%

The first course, “the bite”, isn’t sweet potato coffee it’s coffee sweet potato. And I didn’t taste much coffee. Everyone seemed to like it though as long as they only had a bite. And everyone liked the Robust Porter. It was an interesting start.

The salad dressing was a lot of lemon but I liked it with the Farmhouse Ale. The dressing was made with the ale but it was pretty much all lemon. There was a lot of artichoke which was good but I would have liked more spinach.

Everyone was curious about the salmon pastrami. It came out as two peppered strips on toasted bread with a cream cheese made with the IPA. It was quite good. The table wasn’t so much a fan of the IPA as I was but the appetizer was given the thumbs up. The salmon pastrami and cream cheese on toasted bread was delicious.

The first pizza was interesting, almost a little dry with just the pesto, but still pretty good. The pesto was made with a lot of pumpkin but I didn’t taste it. The Pancetta and toasted parmesan was good with the Pumpkin Ale. The brewer said he likes his beer tasting like beer with the spices kept subtle which was good to hear. The Pumpkin Ale was good but I think it was the only pumpkin beer I’ve had this year other than the 1 yr old Dogfish Head Pumpkin Ale.

The second pizza was pretty good looking to the table. I sent a MMS to Teri as she is a pizza lover. This was a cheesy creamy pizza. Greg the beer guy said he wanted a creamy pizza to go with the Old Brown Dog. It was too cheesy to eat with your fingers. It was a lot better than I thought though not being a fan of an overly cheesy pizza. I ate more than one piece. The Old Brown Dog was not as robust as I’m used to. The brewer said it was a good session beer. He also said he was told to brew Really Old Brown Dog as they had the idea and the label ready to go. He said that one was very malty, which I liked, and this next one will be more of a Barley Wine, which is not my favorite style. Apparently they sorta skipped 2009 and will brew it next year.

The Autumn Pound Cake was good. And of course not just a pound cake. There was some super thick rich chocolate/maple sauce on top as well as roasted apples. It was quite good. Of course by the time you get to the deserts they always taste damn good. The Baltic Porter was much different than the Robust Porter. That is all I can say.

gypsy jazz

A nice hotel downtown has been putting on a jazz series and lately they have been doing a tribute to Django Reinhardt. Django is a favorite of mine so I’ve been meaning to check it out. The guy I really wanted to see as part of this tribute series was Frank Vignola but I missed his shows. This other band, Harmonious Wail, was playing and Kirby said she would go with me. They are an interesting group from Wisconsin.

After some Thaitanic we headed to the hotel for the show. The Madison is a very nice hotel; recently renovated I think. The band was playing in the back of the restaurant. The band came on after we sat in our assigned seats and ordered a drink. The woman vocalist had a great voice. She played percussion on a Smirnoff box and mixed in some scat. One guy kept switching between guitar, mandolin, ukulele, and an acoustic four string. They also had another guitarist that played some good lead. A rhythm guitarist appeared to be on loan. The double bass player was pretty good and had some great moves as all stand up bass players should. They played their own folksy style of jazz but there were a few good gypsy jazz songs. I would have preferred more of the gypsy jazz but overall it was a good show.

It was nice to see Kirby for the first time since she came back from Colombia. She will be her usual self and pop in and out when she feels she has time.

Robert Earl Keen & Friends

Sarah mentioned her favorite singer, Robert Earl Keen, was coming to the Birchmere. Even though it was country, being the music guy that I am I volunteered to take her if she couldn’t drag any friends along. I noticed the tickets weren’t cheap and commented to her that being a popular show tickets could go quick. Sure enough a few days later it was sold out. So I took it upon myself to check Craigslist. I saw two posts asking for tickets but no one was selling tickets. Later that night I happened to see an ad about 15 minutes after it was posted and emailed the guy. He was offering two tickets at face value. I quickly claimed them and then teased Sarah before letting her know she was going to see her favorite man.

We got there right after 7:00 and the parking lot was full. We found some good seats at my usual spot on stage left. Apparently he normally plays with a band but tonight he was with Bruce Robinson and Todd Snider. Robert came out first and said that the three of them will each play a few songs solo and then come out together for the second set. It was interesting that Robert played first. The crowd was happy with his choice of songs. Bruce Robison was pretty good as well. These guys are definitely song writers as opposed to just some guy that looks good and can sing. Todd Snider was probably my favorite. He came out for his solo set in bare feet. He was also the only one with a roadie taking care of him. Todd reminded me a bit of Bob Dylan with his song writing and his harmonica playing. He was a funny guy and had the crowd going on a few of his songs. He had a bit of the Arlo Guthrie thing going on too with his story telling songs.

They played together after the set break but they really didn’t play together. The three of them sat together on stage but they took turns playing their own songs. Maybe they don’t normally play together or something. It appeared they wanted to try to join in with whoever was singing but they didn’t want to ruin the song having not rehearsed it together. So they just took turns singing songs while the other two sat and watched. It would have been nice had they played all together.

I’m not a fan of country but I enjoyed the show. They were all good song writers. No flashy pickin’ but apparently the words fit together well. I could be convinced to go again with good reason. Sarah was happy and enjoyed the show.

rockin’ out at IOTA

There were a few shows at IOTA in the last week.

Last Friday Sarah and I went to IOTA to see Down Dexter. We had nothing else going on and the alternative, Bill Frisell at the Kennedy Center, didn’t seem like it would live up to my Friday night expectations. The previous week we hit the comedy show at Listrani’s. That was pretty much a bomb. The first comedian was wasted and the second one joked about how pathetic it was to perform for us. This week we decided to check out some music. After some dinner we headed over to IOTA and walked in around 10:30. The place was full as usual and it appeared as if the lead singer had some friends and family in the crowd. They only played for another hour or so and the show was over.

I missed The Brew and The Heavy Pets on Sunday. Lee wasn’t feel well.

On Tuesday somehow I dragged some coworkers to see Trampled By Turtles. I was out at happy hour with Lewis and Teri at some new place Sonny took us called Eat Bar. After a few drinks and some food Teri convinced the crew to go see the band I was interested in. Of course they forgot between all the drinks that it was a bluegrass band. They still paid the $12 cover (except for Sonny) and came in. I asked the doorman about the show I missed on Sunday and the guy gave me a CD of The Brew. Inside I got beers for the group. Sonny and Lewis were a bit bored. They also felt a bit in the minority but I did point out a few other non-whities. Teri seemed to be enjoying herself which I’m sure was due to the drinks involved. The three of them left after a few songs. I hung out for the last jam. It was a decent band. Not nearly as intense as the Stringdusters but they got it going during a few songs.

Caps pull through

I hit my first game of the year on Saturday and the Caps almost gave away another win. I got tickets through some scalper guy who has multiple tickets to games for multiple sports. I found him on Craigslist while looking for Widespread/Allman Brothers tickets. I got two club level seats for Teri and I at $75 each which is a great deal. I dig the club level with its plush carpet and shorter beer and bathroom lines.

The Caps started the season off well in preseason and their first couple games. Then they lost four times usually giving up an early lead. On Thursday they kicked some butt against the Sharks. And they started off Saturday’s game well being up 2-0 after the first period. It was usually territory though and their defense was yet to be trusted. The Predators came back with two goals of their own. The five minute overtime failed to produce a winner so they went to the shootout. Ovie, who had the first two goals, got one past the goalie and the Caps walked away with a win. It was drama but they came through.

another weekend in DC; another protest

A ton of people showed up downtown for the National Equality March yesterday. It was a nice day and I rode my bike down to check things out. The march was supposed to start at noon and I showed up a bit before 1:00 at the corner of 17th and Pennsylvania Ave where the march was turning to go past the White House. The route was closed to traffic and the marchers took up the whole width of the street zigzagging around the block in both directions. I started to take some pics and videos of the amusing signs and characters while the protesters kept coming and coming. They were organized in to groups. Other than a ton of general sounding GLBT groups there were catholic church chapters, groups from each state, and even “Teabaggers for Gay Rights”. They continued to stream past for at least an hour.

Once the last of the protesters came by I cruised over to the capitol area to try to catch the beginning of the march. On the way I spotted the Playgirl van. The march was so big that half of the protesters were already forming on the Capitol grounds when I got there and I was resigned to watch the second half of the march again. They had a speaker near the west steps of the Capitol and the Capitol grounds were already mostly full. I saw some religious freak driving a box truck covered with anti-gay slogans around the mall. I followed him for a block to see the reaction of protesters but since he couldn’t get near the parade route not many saw him. The few that did see him waved hello.

I rode around the Capitol and decided to grab some ful at Keren. Along the way I noticed the Breast Cancer Walk participants in pink who were outnumbered in DC probably 1000 to 1 by the gays.

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beer score at the beer store

I scored at Whole Foods tonight. Not that my beer stock was lacking but you got to take advantage when rare beers are available. The big score was Stone’s Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale. They brew it every year but only occasionally and in small batches. It’s not inexpensive beer but it’s one of the least expensive Stone beers I’ve bought. I busted some out at with friends before the Phish show and they were all over it.

A new one for me is Duck-Rabbit’s Wee Heavy Scotch Style Ale. Of course I didn’t realize till at the cash register that it was $14 a six pack. Not that I would have done anything differently; it’s something I wanted to try.

I picked up another bottle of Stone’s 2009 Vertical Epic because I only had one for long term storage and one for current consumption. I assume it won’t be in stores much longer.

I also picked up my second bottle of the Sierra Nevada Chico Estate 2009 Brewers Harvest Ale. I drank my first bottle tonight and it is most excellent. I love that fresh floral hop taste.

I saw the Dogfish Head Pangaea and decided to pick it up since it’s been awhile and I don’t have any in stock.

Last, but definitely not least, I replaced my stock of Lindemans Framboise. Always got to have a bottle of that for the ladies. It is fail proof.

finally a new phone!

After almost 2 years with the same phone I finally got a new one yesterday. My old phone, bought in January 2008, really was awesome with GPS, multiple input methods such as a scroll, D pad, and touchscreen, as well as solid hardware. I was happy with the unofficial support and hacks that were available online. I had slick updates such as Windows Mobile 6.1 and unlocked GPS many months before Verizon released it. Actually Verizon never did release an update to unlock the GPS. Anyway, the thing weighed a ton with a full keyboard and with all the new sweet phones now on the market I was set on getting a new one. Having the HTC Touch Pro2 for a few weeks as a demo phone for work sealed the deal for me. I bought the HTC Touch Diamond2 which is the same phone without the keyboard. Verizon calls it the HTC Imagio. The other major difference with the Touch Pro2 is that yesterday was the official release of Windows Mobile 6.5 and this was the first Verizon phone with the new OS. I got it online and Verizon shipped it out overnight. It was only $99 after the 2 year upgrade discount, online discount, and $100 rebate. I’m diggin’ it. It is very slick.

The only reason I was hesitant to get the phone is that I’d rather have an Android phone (Google’s OS). Unfortunately Verizon doesn’t have any at this time. There is solid unofficial information that a Motorola Android phone will be released on Verizon next month but I don’t like that phone with the full keyboard. And I’m a fan of HTC over Motorola. Also, the Verizon’s Touch Pro2 sold out in a few days and is still out of stock. I didn’t want to wait on getting the HTC Imagio. Of course the day after I purchase my phone it was leaked that Verizon will be releasing the HTC Hero in November with Android. So now I have 30 days to decide if I want to get the HTC Hero next month and return my new phone for a full refund. I would love to get away from Windows Mobile but I’ve read that the HTC Hero is lacking powerful hardware and can be slow. Maybe Verizon will give it an upgrade. But will the specs be leaked before my 30 days is up?

Widespread Panic & Allman Brothers Band

Not a bad double bill. The only issue was they played at Merriweather Post Pavilion which has an early curfew. Being that they had to end at a decent hour, and both bands were playing full sets, that meant an early start time. 6:00 to be exact. Not the most convenient coming from DC in traffic. But it was worth it!

I tagged along with Lee and Kari and the plan was to leave at 3:00 to beat the traffic. We left my place around 3:45. Apparently there was an accident on the beltway and we sat on 495 for an hour. We arrived a few minutes before the show. I came without a ticket since it wasn’t sold out (and a last minute change of plans by a coworker). As soon as we parked I was offered a pavilion ticket for $60. Lee and Kari had 7th row pavilion and had offered to get me down so I wasn’t too keen to spend a ton of money on a show with tickets still available. He then offered it for $50. While I was trying to remember what kind of cash I had in my pocket the guy took off to deal with someone else and came back with a lawn ticket for $40. I would have rather had the pavilion ticket for $50 but settled for the lawn ticket.

Widespread Panic was playing first and when we got in the place was quite empty. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the venue with so few people. After a few songs Lee came up with Kari’s ticket and got me down to the center of the 7th row. The front few rows were full but there was room to get down in the middle. It was quite the vantage point. Widespread was rockin’. At that close distance you could see the whole band and how they interacted with each other. In the back of the pavilion or up on the lawn you could only see one band member at a time on the big screens. It was cool to see them getting down together.

During the set break we met up with Mike and his friend at the 9:32 Club. It was a nice place to relax between shows because it was open with tables to chill at. After a few drinks, a few minutes before The Allman Brothers were to start, we headed out so Lee and Kari could get down to their prime seats. By this time the venue was almost full. It wasn’t sold out but the place was filling up. I hung out on the lawn for the first few songs to let Lee and Kari get settled. Security was light during Widespread Panic but during surveillance at the beginning of the Allman Brothers I saw there was no getting down without a ticket. Apparently it was crazy down in the pavilion because word was they couldn’t get back up to let me down. No matter. While on the lawn the guy next to me asked if I was alone. “My friends are down in the pavilion” I replied. “Would you like to go join them?” he asks while pulling a ticket out of his pocket. Apparently he had two pavilion tickets and was happy on the lawn. After many thank yous and a cling of the beer cups I headed down to the pavilion. The center pavilion sections were full. My ticket was in the far right section and I could get down pretty far.

The Allman Brothers rocked out as they have for the last four decades. I haven’t seen them in years since Dickey Betts left. I may have only seen them once or twice since Allen Woody died. I’ve seen Derek Trucks play with them but only as a guest. Wayne and Derek threw down. Both of them traded off leading the show and playing back and forth. Susan Tedeschi came out for a song or two. She sung at first then threw down a nice solo that got the crowd going. A sax player came out for a bit. For awhile there were 10 people on stage jamin’. A few members of Widespread Panic came out and played with the band as well. The place was rocking out. Getting my last beer I finally found the Starr Hill tap and got a Northern Lights IPA. After drinking Stella Artois all night I took a sip of the Northern Lights and immediately noticed good flavor. The band was a rockin’. The crowd was getting down.

They encored with Whipping Post. It met expectations. No need to elaborate.

I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve seen them.

World Beer Fest again

It’s October which means it is time for World Beer Fest in Durham. Raleigh in the spring; Durham in the fall. As usual I drove to Fredericksburg and met up with Mark and Michelle for the drive down to my sister’s in Raleigh. We have developed a pattern of attending the afternoon session in the spring Raleigh event and the evening session in the fall Durham event. After arriving we had lunch at Lynnwood Grill which is pretty good. After hitting the store for post fest beer we arrived at Eric’s in Durham around 4:30. Eric, my sister’s bridesmaid next spring, is another regular member of our beerfest gang. His place in Durham makes for a perfect home base before and after the fest.

Each year we get a little wiser. This year we actually had reliable transportation waiting on us. We made him wait over 30 minutes while three people showed up late (and ended up driving themselves) and one person searched for her lost ticket. The temperature was perfect. The Durham venue is not as nice being on a baseball field. The Raleigh location is in a decent downtown park. Others in the group thought the crowd was a little more spread out this event but I didn’t notice any difference. It is always crowded in the beginning and as people start catching a buzz and getting tired the lines get shorter. A good time was had by all. We ate some food during the event which is not normal for us. The samosas were excellent.

It is not uncommon for some breweries to run out of beer at the end of the evening session but it seemed like there was less than half of the booths open at the end of the night. That is not cool at all. Even in the beginning I was looking forward to some St. Bernardus Grotten Brown but there was none left. I took a few more videos than normal this time and am going to try to more short videos in the future. As the evidence shows we were feeling quite good at the end of the fest. We also scored lots of good cheap food. I got 3 more somosas for a dollar each. Another in our group got a few for free minutes later. And Mark got a free gyro.

We had to wait a few for our van ride home but it wasn’t long. My sister’s friend who just recently had a baby had her first crazy night out in a year and she was making herself feel better over the garbage can. When the van did pick us up Mark did a great job smoothing over the driver as the sick one made good use of the passenger window.

Back at Eric’s place the party continued. I busted out some Allagash Black which probably wasn’t the best choice after 4 hours of solid drinking. The crew did well to continue partying till late. A game that Eric had similar to the old-school Pyramid game show kept the group entertained. Eventually we all passed out.

The next day after some mimosas we cruised back to my sisters, played some Wii, and had lunch at the Flying Saucer. Is it legal to have such a wait staff? Michelle and I drove home while Mark stayed in Raleigh for work.

They are going to have a beerfest in Richmond next year but two a year may be enough for me.

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