I love walking into a wine and beer shop and being greeted by a big wall of beer, especially in the form of big bottles! I’m always impressed when a small store like Fenwick Wine and Beer in Silver Spring, Woodmore Wine in Largo, or Rick’s Wine in VA, devotes significant shelf space to large bottles of some of my favorite beers (even the obscure ones). All three of these stores have impressive collections of big bottles (the Beermudgeon’s at Rick’s is the best “curated” collection).
I recently bought three big bottles at Woodmore, including the Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest, a wet-hopped beer. It sat in my fridge for almost a week before I contemplated opening it. Not because I was intimidated by the hops or the alcohol (6.7% hits you faster than you think), but because it’s a BIG BOTTLE. It’s easily 2 glasses of beer. If there are two of you, it’s easy, but if your roommate and fellow blogger is a) on vacation and 2) laid up with food poisoning it might be all up to you to drink this bad boy. Do I want that much beer? What if I don’t like it? What if I’m too full?!
What do you think? Can you take it?
(ps: It is a most excellent beer: Crisp, floral, balanced. I recommend taking a chance. If you don’t finish it, it was still worth it.)
Filed under: Beer on December 27th, 2011 | No Comments »
Three things happened to cause this:
1: I’m hungry
2: My homework for Information Retrieval Systems is to create a custom Google search engine.
3: I’m a giant info nerd.
I give you The Quest for Food search engine. Go ahead! Try a search for Thai Beef (or tofu if you’re veg).
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Filed under: Not beer, Recipe, Uncategorized on October 20th, 2011 | No Comments »
The hoppy IPA is, I have to say, my favorite style of beer. I love, love, love it. I have rarely met one that I didn’t like. Those Brits really knew what they were doing when they super-hopped their ales to get them to their warm colonies.
So let’s all celebrate the joy that is the IPA. Raise a glass and drink a hop or two!
And enjoy reading this lovely, short piece that dispels some common myths around the IPA:
http://zythophile.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/four-ipa-myths-that-need-to-be-stamped-out-for-ipaday/
Filed under: Uncategorized on August 4th, 2011 | No Comments »
I’m in Toronto for a conference (FICCDAT if you’re interested). Whenever I travel, I scope out local beer choices, especially brew pubs (must get pint glasses) and I did my research for the “New York of Canada”. But I always leave myself open to the opportunity that someone local will have a great recommendation. It worked out great for me in New Orleans (Coquette in the Garden District) and Louisville (River City). Justin at the hotel restaurant recommended C’est What almost before I asked the question! And he was absolutely right!
Thirty taps range from super hoppy to engine oil dark. They have two regular casks as well as three rotating casks. The food menu is far from pub fare.
I’m enjoying a Hop Addict by Durham Brewing. 5.4% and crisp and citrusy. It should pair well with the ginger vinaigrette. Not sure how it will go with the bison burger.
Update: Hop Addict was great with the salad. Al’s Cask Ale was better with the burger. If you go to C’Est What, you might miss it. It’s a basement joint. There’s a patio restaurant right next to the entrance. Enjoy!
Filed under: Beer, Drink local, Food, Travel on June 5th, 2011 | No Comments »
Wow, this is a very unusual blonde ale. It has an amazing rose aroma when you first open the bottle. But it’s the flavor that really kicks you in ass (typical blonde!). The cascade hops in this beer are very prominent and tasty. As a lover of bitter beers I am really enjoying this one. But it was not what I was expecting. If you decide to have one go into it like you are having a very strong IPA, not a blonde. We blondes are much gentler than this.
Filed under: Beer, Tasting notes on May 1st, 2011 | No Comments »
One of us is traveling this week. I (Jess) am in Sweden visiting family in Stockholm and Gothenburg. Any time I’m traveling, I spend an hour or so searching for breweries and/or brew pubs in my destination cities. In Stockholm I found Monk’s Brewery and Cafe with several locations including the one we hit today on Wallingatan.
Monk’s Cafe has a HUGE selection of Belgians, which is fine if you’re into Belgians (which I’m not). More importantly, they had four of their own beers on tap (pils, blonde, dark, and amber). I ordered the pils which came in a huge mug. It was deliciously bitter and crisp with a very clean finish. My tablemate had the amber which was served in a snifter-style glass. The amber had tons of malt and yeast notes, bordering on a belgian but not as rich.
The food was delicious, too. I had the hop-cured salmon (I’m a sucker for gravlax and, hey, I’m in Sweden). Other folks had garlic toasts, cured sausage, and roasted root vegetables.
Back to my title: As I was leaving the restroom I found a refrigerator case full of American beers including Dogfish Head Forte, Southern Tier Tripel, Lost Abbey, Flying Dog, and Ommegang. I almost hugged the case. If you’ve ever traveled out of your country, you know how happy an advertisement for McDonalds can make you (even if you never eat at McDs). However, whenever possible I prefer to sample a local beer. Drink with the natives.
Filed under: Beer, Drink local, Food, Travel on March 23rd, 2011 | No Comments »
Boyfriend and I went to Lot 12 in Berkeley Springs, WV for my birthday. I was all set to order wine with whatever delicious locally sourced fare that caught my fancy. We sat at the bar to wait for our table and I spied three taps of local beer. If they’re going to the trouble to source local food (from the veggies to the venison) the least I could do was try the beer.
I ordered the West Virginian Pale Ale, Dan ordered the stout. Mine went very well with the oven roasted quail with venison sausage in a bourbon barbecue sauce. Dan’s stout paired well with the NY strip.For dessert I went with a 15yo Dalwhinnie scotch for my lemon thyme creme brulee. (If I’d seen a peche or poire on the beer menu, it would have paired nicely, too).
Just because you’re “eatin’ fancy” doesn’t mean you have to have wine. Consider a beer instead!
Filed under: Beer, Drink local, Tasting notes on October 22nd, 2010 | No Comments »
A light, malty ale from North Coast Brewing Co. Lots of forward caramel and bread notes. Not much of a hop bite. Nice for a summer patio beer (perfect for the Argonaut patio!).
And mad props to the folks at the Argonaut. We were so happy to see people out on the patio and upstairs in the restaurant. We’re really looking forward to the reopening of the kitchen and bar!!
Filed under: Beer, Tasting notes on August 6th, 2010 | No Comments »
At Ethiopic on H st. Waiting at the bar for one of the cool little window tables. I ordered a Meta. Very malty. Reminds me of Tusker. Almost like a malt liquor in flavor. Tons of caramel with a little pilsner bitterness. I hope it goes well with the spicy Wot beef I just ordered.
Filed under: Beer, Tasting notes on July 2nd, 2010 | No Comments »
What a different beer! Definitely a West Coast IPA. Lots of grapefruit and lemon in the nose. A little malt and toast on the palate which is then totally taken over by the crisp hop bite. That fabulous bitterness hangs around for a good two or three minutes after (a beer afterglow?).
Many thanks to the staff at the Avenue for lending me the Streetcar Dining Guide for reading material. They recommended several great choices for dinner. Which to choose…
Filed under: Beer, Drink local, Tasting notes, Travel on June 12th, 2010 | No Comments »
