Sam Adams Beer Dinner at the Arena Bar and Grill

Go on boys. Drink your swill and scarf your Mac-n-Cheese!

I was extremely fortunate this year to have S treat me to a surprise birthmonth present at the Arena Bar and Grill last Sunday at their Sam Adams Beer Dinner.

(I typically don't celebration my birth day--I celebrate my birth month. S is nice enough to humor me.)


And Liquid gold surprises make for the best birthmonth celebrations. Don't you think?

We started out at the bar enjoying the home-made mixed beer nuts as we waited for the thirty-some other like-minded beer aficionados to straggle in. The nuts were a combination of almonds, peanuts, cashews and brazil nuts laced with a baked spicy-sweet glaze. The Boston Lager provided just the right fire-quenching you need for something like this. The nuts and beer would go well watching the Steelers win another Super Bowl.

From there, the revved-up crowd (fully assembled) raced to tables in the left-rear of the dining room, for dinner (and beer) and boy did the fun really get going over there!

(And drinking was just the half of it!) We met a nice couple from somewhere I don't remember. (Could've been from outer space for all I know but pardon me, I was under the influence of Sam Adams.)

I do remember the finer half of the couple: epicurean L! We'll definitely meet you at the Cork sometime!

Also J from Buttonwood who sat across from me and enjoyed the beer just as much as I did! And of course our keen conversations about Buttonwood, Hanover, and times and places of the near past were delightful.

Here you can see the pairings. (Now I'm not that much of a Sam Adams man although I do admire his cousin John in some ways, but there were some impressive brews here nonetheless that aren't available widely in PA, or so we were told.)

The real standout here, to me, was the Stoney Brook Red paired with marinated Skirt Steak. This dish had sweet summer vegetables on the side. The skirt was perfect and raised just enough to entice (a bit of thigh showed) and tasted faintly of the beer. The beer was hardy enough to hold it's own with the steak.

Deeeeeelicious!

And the American Kriek beer was nice paired with the superior Black Forest Cake, too. Although I'm not a big desert fan, the beer more than made up for it.

There was a brewer from the Boston Beer Company present to discuss and describe each beer as they were served, as someone from the Arena's kitchen introduced each dinner pairing. Also, there was a Sam Adams rep from the Allentown area who also knew a thing or two about the beers, like where they were available or could be purchased. We did yearn though for a bit more interaction with the brewer as the dinner moved along.

All in all, we spent a wonderful three hours or so learning about pairing beers with different foods and sampling same. The food was awesome and really no missteps in any of the courses. The service was impeccable. The company was great. The beers impressive. I would definitely go again if offered.

Thanks S: You are the best part of every day.

Quaffing from this at the bar tonight are we?

Quadrophenia

L gave me Quadrophenia for my birthday to replace the copy I gave to Chris.

Listening to it now.

Love, Reign O'er Me.

Crying. Miss you Bro.

Flying Saucers over Memphis

We missed this back in 2008 but sweltering 100 degree afternoon heat does wonders for ones motivation to seek out a cold beer.

I can attest that I was minding my own business just walking along enjoying the after-taste of some Beale Street `cue and PBR (Charles Vergos' Rendezvous was closed) when a ray came down from somewhere and transported me to a place with flying saucers hovering overhead. Large bar. Many handles. Metal bar-top. Interesting back bar with dominoes and chess piece pediments/ A first. Smoking is encouraged. Not the `cue kind. The cute barmaid was as cute as seven of nine. And not just cute but beer-cute. That is, knowledgeable and likes beer. And not beer-goggles cute either. Efficient and quick to probe me for what I wanted.

Wonder of wonder!

Monday! Pint Nite!

$2.75 drafts. Not everthing on the Fly Paper down below, but a goodly number. Yippee!

Tried a couple of beers that I hadn't had before from Yazoo and Schlafly. Mighty tasty.

Struck up a conversation with a fellow abductee D. D had been abducted before and we spent the better part of the afternoon reminiscing of beers drank and yet to drink. More friendly Southern Hospitality here.

Turns out the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium is a chain of beer bars in the southeast and Texas.








Check out the Fly Paper, Memphis edition.

Best part of every day.

FYI: Fermented NY - Craft Beer Crawl

S sent me this link--sounds interesting

No word if the tour includes 10 pints or 10 tastings.

Here's to 10 pints.

A Visit to Elmer Sudds

S and I shared a delightful few beers, pizza, and good company late afternoon yesterday at Elmer Sudds before ramblin' on to the R/C 14 to see the mind-bendin' Inception.

Vacation `a-dwindlin'. :O( Gotta make the most of it, eh?

I sweltered out of the no-AC Ford into full 91 stagger.

Early.

Sat down in the cool bar and the first handle I saw was for Southampton Publick House. So naturally, first instincts usually being correct--I picked the the truly quenching Southampton Publick House Double White Belgian-style.

Citrusy, refreshing, easy, fast down. I have found a new summer favorite. You know, I have come to really like beers of this ilk--spring and summer beers for sure. This one reminds of and stands up well to my current fave Victory Whirlwind. N.B. Get this Double White in a bottle--put it in the freezer--mow lawn. 20 minutes later: Enjoy.

Still no S in sight, I perused the draught list and the Breaker Brewing Company Black Diamond IPA leaped out at me. Described as a Cascadian Dark Ale (CDA) or Black IPA. This style was recently covered somewhere--Zymurgy perhaps? Never had it before so I tried a taster: Dark--almost black--nice piney hop aroma and flavah.

Ahhhh. :O)

Pint please!

Decent head that faded pretty quick. A unique malt flavor pushes through in the finish--could it be the rye malt? This is an interesting variation. I sure would like to know in what proportions the three malts were used--and there must have been some base malt too. Heavy? Nah. For being so dark this is easy drinking. Is this is available in a bottle? Don't know but it oughta be. I would get a six or two if it were.

Deeeeeeelicious!

Random thought: Breaker Brewing should get with the Black Diamond bar in Frackville to carry this beer. It could be their signature beer and if I dare say it would be a match made in a Black Diamond mine. N.B. Black Diamond in Frackville is beginning to carry some craft beer--the last time I was in they had some Troegs on. Oh and they have probably the best wings in NEPA--at least to this lad. Their Old Bay® wings are unbelievably good.

About that time S came in and ordered a Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat witbier which kicked mid-pour. Backup for S was Breaker Brewing Company Goldies Blonde Ale.

Wise choice.

Mine and hers.

N.B. J gave us the half-pint of Sunset Wheat. Blueberry aroma and taste were unmistakable. I don't remember this being there the last time from a bottle in Jersey a couple years ago. Hmmmm.

We each ordered a pizza--me Pepe and her the broccoli and shells. Hot and tasty. Sauce tomatoey and not overwhelmed by everything else--crust medium but still crispy--cheese just right.

Deeeeeelicious!

About that time J had replaced the expired Sunset Wheat with Hofbräuhaus Münchner Weisse. I think that was it, but I could be wrong...

Thought of my trip to Germany, summer of `05, so I tipped my glass to my friends in Frankfurt. Prost!

N.B. I know, Frankfurt's not a big brewing town--more an Apfelwein town it being in the apple belt and all, but still. Great beer knows no boundaries, eh?

Elmer Sudds is a very fine place to kick back with some great local beers (Breaker continues to impress this fellow), try some haute gastronomy that is a cut-above standard pub fare, and meet with old and make new friends. Highly recommended.

PS: They have a nice list of bottled beers too. See Mr. MyBeerBuzz for full details as well as the current tap list.

Glass Beer Drinking Vessels of the Middle Ages through the Early Modern Era

A good place to learn about beer drinking vessels is the permanent exhibits at the Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG) and the special exhibition Medieval Glass for Popes, Princes, and Peasants that is currently running.

A wide variety of glass beer drinking vessels were produced and used through the ages. Studying these vessels give one a finer appreciation for the way beer was consumed as well as the crucial role it played in social settings.

To the left is a tavern scene with men drinking; a cellarer below serving the beer. Obviously this is a gravity-fed cask beer as all beer was at that time. The beer is being served from a beaker popular in Italy during that time. I would not mind being a cellarer. The photo is from “Treatise on the Vices,” Cocharelli (Italy, late 14th century) Ms. Add. 27695, f.14. Copyright The British Library Board. All rights reserved.

The Humpen Perish those thoughts. Right now! The Humpen, a large vessel with a lid, was made between 1570 and 1740. Before the 17th centry, it was called a Willcomm (welcome). Tall glasses such as the Humpen were meant for communal use. They often held more than a gallon of beer! Guilds, hunting societies, fraternaties, and important families placed their own enameled decorations on these glasses. The elaborate Reichsadlerhumpen was painted with the imperial eagle and coat of arms of the electors of the Holy Roman Empire. Prost!

Medieval Ale Glasses These two tall glasses were made in Medieval times in different parts of Europe and used for drinking wine or ale. The one on the left was made in the Czech Republic or Germany and the shape of the one on the right was popular in the Low Countries (what is today Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany), and northern France.

The Boot Ah, the boot. Here is the earliest example I could find from Italy or the Southern Netherlands, late 1500s.

The Unbreakable Beaker Now here's an advancement in drinking: the unbreakable glass! This one is from Germany, dated 1663. It is inscribed “Trinckh mich auff und wurff mich Nider/heb mich auff so vill mich wider 1663” (Pick me up and throw me down/lift me up and fill me again 1663.) The inscribed hop flowers are realistic and the finger-holes are a functional touch. Don't you agree? Can someone tell me why these ever went out of style?

The Roemer The Roemer was a glass widely used in Germany and in the Low Countries during the late 16th and early 17th centuries for drinking both beer and wine. A roemer was decorated with a blob of glass called a prunt. Prunts made it easier to grip the glass and were also decorative. Flemish painters often depicted the roemer in their still-life paintings. The popular green glass became fashionable among those who could afford Venetian ware.

Stangenglas The image to the left may be a stangenglas but uncertain. This glass predates the passglas back to the late 1500s and can have elaborate enameled decoration. There were no drinking game lines around the glass like the passglas.

Passglas Now we're talkin' social drinkin'! This is a Tall Beaker or Passglas from Germany or the Low Countries, 17th century. The Passglas is usually clear or translucent and decorated with trailed or enameled horizontal marks around the glass, down the sides at regular intervals. They had a base and were tall and thin. The rings are sometimes simple lines in the glass and sometimes more elaborate. The idea was to gulp the beer only down to the next line and then pass the glass to the next person. Variations of this design had the intervals become wider as they reached the bottom of the glass--the better to inebriate you my friend. A further improvement to the Passglas was the groundbreaking and patented Inebriator Deluxe model. This glass had rings spaced at wide, regular, intervals. Between a set of rings was a another ring spaced perhaps 1/4 the distance between the rings. The purpose of this design was so that a different stronger liquor like Schnapps could be poured in a smaller amount on top of a layer of beer--and so on and so forth as the Passglas was filled.

Posset Cup Here's a posset cup from England, 1730-1750. Posset was a popular drink in the 18th century. It consisted of hot milk that was curdled with wine or ale, spiced or sweetened, and thickened with oatmeal or bread. Deeeeelicious! To each according to their ability to taste!

Trick Goblet From England 1690 to 1730. This vessel has an elegant shape, but it is difficult to drink from because of the vacuum effects created by the lower bulbs!

English Ale Glasses and Decanters Here is an example of an ale glass (1730-1750) and decanter (1760-1770) from England. The small size of the glass is a clue to the increased potency of ale as a result of improvements in the brewing process. The decanter's impressive etching is indicative of the level of esteem that a fine ale was held. The hops are especially attractive.

There was a refinement in beer drinking vessels over this time period that is clearly evident in their design. From the bulkier sustenance vessels to smaller and more refined glasses used more for entertaining.

It would be beneficial to study modern beer drinking vessels in the future.

The author wishes to thank the staff of CMOG for their assistance in the preparation of this story.

Barley's Taproom and Pizzeria

Turns out Barley's Taproom and Pizzeria in Asheville NC is the one place to stop in Asheville if you're gonna stop at all. Just like Jamie said.

It will be extremely easy to find yourself staying way too long and enjoying yourself way too much.

An extensive selection of tasty local beers. Friendly people (and barmaid). Very good pizza.

Best part of every day.

Beers Over Birmingham

Rumbled into Birmingham, with a spent rear wheel bearin', lookin' for some lubrication.

The Good People Brewing Company (GPBC) kind.

Fixin' to try their beer. Fer sure.

Fixin' the wheel bearin': secondary.

Headed into the Five Points South area of the city where beer lore has it Good People Brewing Company is told to exist.

Turns out Five Points South is where they send all the good chilin' lookin' to have a good time--the area has a lot of bars, restaurants, live music venues and such.

The area boasts some real cultural treasures too: the 24x7x52 bar being the most important.

Come to find out, the city elders have had the forethought to grandfather bar licensing laws to grant a few bars this honor. Was told that if the doors lock for even for one minute, the license go bye-bye. Well they have to catch you first. The Quest is one of these bars but sadly we did not inhabit it.

No garages here but who cares? Beer was our quest and beer we would find.

Found a parking garage. It was about 100 inside. In the basement. We parked the car and stumbled outside towards 1035 20th Street South. Where the brewery was told to exist.

Mr. GPS lied.

This is not the first time.

The brewery was not there but there was a bar.

But...

We once again were able make the best of a bad sitchiation and turn a bad happenin' to a good happenin' when we wandered into the Mill to cool off with a beer. Nice taproom with an old-school bar--maybe 15 beers on tap with about 10 craft beers--a few from Sweetwater Brewery in Atlanta but none from GPBC. The Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale caught my attention and turned out to be a quenching delight.

Unable to score a GPBC beer, I became disenchanted.

But...

I held a hopvine torn from the earth, to my ear and learned that there was a beer bar nearby named J. Clyde that carried ALL the GPBC beers--not just the two mainstream dark and light carried by most.

Torn between locating the legendary GPBC beer and a 2nd beer in the Mill, I opted for the GPBC and left on a quest.

Into the heat.

Now, I can usually find my way around a horseshoe pit even after splitt'n my shin on the post with sweat in my eyes and blood in my sneakers. But find'n J. Clyde took all my sleuthin' capabilty. Was it the heat? Was it the humidty? Cant tell fer sure but once I found my way out back I was faced with a series of doors eventually pickin' the right one. By smell.

Doesn't it just crack you up when you hear ``Cool Air Conditioning''? Well I'm here to tell you J. Clyde's was mighty cool inside as was the beer.

“Give me something great from GPBC I barked” at D the competent bar keep. “Try this one, I love it.” he offered. “What is it?” “Snake Handler”.

Well this 9.3% ABV Double IPA is one of the best I've tasted on this trip: five hop varieties with a 103 IBU. Yeee Haww!

Egggggggggggggggggsalentttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!

I asked for a beer menu--look close at the draught list--they have an impressive selection and a whole book detailing their bottle collection--perhaps 300 bottles. They even have the beers indexed by style which is a nice touch. This has got to be one of THE beer destinations for beer aficionados. Certainly one of the best I've visited.

The bar was an unusual ess-shaped layout with diagonally laminated bar top. The back bar behind the taps was stone laminate as were the walls on the side. Nice looking and clean place. The tap room extended to the left into a dining room with tables.

I had heard their food is good but I did not try it.

“Good people drink good beer.” HST

Add to that great one: “At J. Clyde”.

Highly recommended.

Pawn the flat-screen and take out a payday loan: We're goin to Hooters!

Two things, certainly, have leaped out at us time and time again from highway billboards on this road trip: Hooter girls and their boobs!

And pawn shops, check cash'in shops, title shops, and payday loan shops.

Is this a great country or what?

Notes on Asheville, North Carolina

Preceding my visit I heard the following about Asheville, all of which turned out to be true or at least probably true:

“I was born and raised in Asheville. Went away for 20 years. When I came back this year it had all changed and I couldn't afford to live there any more.”

“People go there and fall in love with it. They move there and never leave.”

“San Francisco east. And hippies.”

“You could spend a week in Asheville easy. Sampling the beer.”

“They may have more lesbians per capita than anywhere else in the US.”

Here's my brief take on spending just a day wandering around the downtown area.

George Washington Vanderbilt II purchased 125,000 acres there in the late 1800s and played a huge role in its development. He hired Gifford Pinchot to manage the vast mountain forests. This was the first time in US history where forest was managed and not just clear-cut with no thought for the future. Later Pinchot went on to be friends with Teddy Roosevelt who appointed him the first chief of the US Forest Service. Later in life, Pinchot moved and designed and built an interesting home and landscaped grounds, Grey Towers west of Milford PA and later was elected governor of PA--twice in two non-consecutive terms. We visited Grey Towers earlier in July and that's a story unto itself.

But I diverge. For those who haven't been there I would describe Asheville in terms of being a combination of other places, making it unique in its own right.

I would say that it's one part Boulder Colorado due to the mountain splendor and the great beer. However, the mountains are all green in Asheville while in Boulder they're blue/grey rock.

There's a dash of New York city urban sophistication due to the restaurants, art galleries, cool old buildings (which the city elders have had the great sense to not tear down), and happening music scene in clubs and spontaneously in the streets and public spaces.

I'd mix in one part downtown Sedona due to the new-age vibe and incense and peppermint wafting from certain areas. However, in Asheville it's a bit more upscale where in Sedona it seems blatantly touristy.

Finally, I would mix in a bit of San Francisco due to the diverse people you meet there--the art movie theater--the music scene. And the hills.

It's a great town and I would most definitely recommend it to anyone for a visit--not just for the beer but the whole package. The streets are clean and nice and the people are uniformly friendly.

N.B. You will find other information on the Asheville beer scene from a Pennsultuckian's slant, over at Pubcrawlin.

French Broad Brewing

When I heard of French Broad Brewing of Asheville, I immediately imagined a french broad making french ales in her farmhouse! And maybe goat cheese.

Reality much more conventional however, is such that French Broad is a river in western NC that flows into Tennessee.

Sorry!

Musings on Ales and Hop Flavor and Aroma

Being from NEPA I regularly enjoy local brews like Weyerbacher Hops Infusion and Double Simcoe IPA; Victory Hop Devil, Hop Wallop> and the seasonal Yakima Twilight; Dogfish Head 60 and 90 minute I.P.A; Troegs Nugget Nectar and more recently Stoudt's American Pale Ale.

These beers are similar with respect to the intensity of hop-forward aroma and taste, and also similar to the west cost ``hoppy'' ales like Bear Republic's Racer 5, Lagunitas Hop Stupid, Stone, Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA, and other beers of that ilk.

But after visiting Barley's and Jack of the Wood in Asheville and Foothills Brewing in Winston-Salem, and trying some let's say mid-south or Appalachian or just simply North Carolina beers, I came to the realization that there's another different and excellent take on hoppy brews bearing a pale ale or india pale ale style.

I had Hoppyum IPA, Seeing Double IPA, and a Pilot Mountain Pale Ale at Foothills; Green Man IPA at Jack of the Wood; and French Broad Brewery's Rye Hopper and Pisgah Brewing Company's Organic Pale Ale at Barley's.

And later in Memphis I had a Yazoo Pale Ale and Schlafly Dry-Hopped APA from Nashville and St. Louis respectively. These were more hop-forward and in similar in intensity to east and west coast hoppy ales.

So basically, I book-ended a few North Carolina beers with beers from the mid-west and my familiar east and west coast hoppy beers.

What did I learn?
My totally non-scientific conclusion is that if you're coming from an east or west coast hoppy ale mindset, you will find some of these styles of beers from the North Carolina area of the country, different. Wow, big revelation, no?

These beers are great in their own right however and are not to be dismissed. What makes them great are the more subtle hop-forward aroma and flavor. This makes them highly sessionable as they don't have the ``burn'' of the more hop-forward beers which sometimes, a pint is all one can handle. The bitterness is there all right, giving them that fantastic dryness that is hard to beat when it's hot.

Bravo!

Foothills Brewing

I left City Beverage with a six-pack of local NC brews to take back to PA and mused on the great times and the host of new and interesting friends made at Foothills Brewing in Winston-Salem. You know, I have not yet happened upon, during this de Tour, a nicer bunch of fellow beer drinker lads and lasses! I feel blessed in this sense. Thank you!

Wow! A whole section of the beer cooler devoted to NC brews. H, J, and M were not joshing when they said they had the best selection around. AND, mix and match to fill a six-pack. You like that? You like that?? I know I do. Egggggggggssssssaaaaaaaaaaaalentttttttttt!

The Hoppiest Fellow on Earth and his wife were kind to give me directions to City Beverage which were spot on. Rain? Not a problem. I'm floating on a velvet sea of beer foam!

Met the brewmaster Jamie, the nicest fellow--props to you and your guys on your World Beer Cup medal for Sexual Chocolate Imperial Porter. M and J implore me to backtrack east and visit Natty Greene's in Greensboro before I had west again; Jamie advises if you must do one place in Asheville make it Barley's and the Green Man; Hoppiest Fellow's wife says Bluegrass if you make it to Kentucky and the Mellow Mushroom in Asheville is good too. When do I have to be back at work? Next year?

Is it raining outside? Who knows, but the taps are raining beer in here!

Did you say you home brewed? These immortal words ushered a new era of north-south beer relations and it was with these words that I introduced myself to M and J at the bar and we proceeded to spend the next two hours ruminating over beers drank and yet to be drank--barleywines and double I.P.As a favorite of M, the merits of floral and herbal hops, home brewing, beer visits, tours, crawls and such.



Through the front doors awaits a spacious (30' x 30') dining room with a wood floor. The original wall to the left is brick. Straight through the dining room to the back though awaits the real treasure: A high trussed-ceiling taproom with what must be a 40' bar running down almost the entire length of the left wall with the brewery beyond that behind glass windows. There must be space for at least 20 beer drinking stools at the bar. The bar-top is constructed of laminated maple strips and must be 30 inches wide and sports a large Chicago-style bar rail. The back bar is impressive: a lower section of storage spans the length of the bar; at bar-height three wide sections delineated by square columns constructed of what looks to be cherry house deep shelves for glassware and liquor, also spanning the length of the bar. An impressive mirror dominates the center section of the back bar etched with Foothills Brewing. AND, crowing each end section and extending to the ceiling are wine lattice with storage for perhaps 300 wine bottles. WoW!

The Foothills Brewing building was at one time a Plymouth car dealership. After that a garage and a night club just prior to being converted to a brewery.

The day began overcast with scattered beer showers and stayed that way most of the day across North Carolina.

Blue Mountain Brewery

After crossing the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains on I64, we got off the highway and traveled south on I51 to the Blue Mountain Brewery.

The three year old brewery is located in a nondescript building sitting up off of the road on the left as you travel the winding and rolling valley.

Immediately striking is what must be an acre or two of Cascade and Centennial hops growing around the brewery. This is no conversation planting however--there's enough here for three batches according to the bar keep. The Cascade vines are only a year old and are pruned to have only one vine--the base of the plants are bushy and evidence of pinching off of the other vines. It is a constant fight in growing season as trailers come off seeming every day. We usually leave three or four vines and spread them across the trellis to travel vertically. The Centennial hops to the south of the brewery are productive and in their third or fourth growing season. As a matter of fact, the brewery is hosting a hop-picking party Monday August 2. Food and cold beer for of-age volunteers who can give a couple hours picking. Sounds like a party to me! Oh. And you can't beat the aroma of fresh hops too!

There's a wonderful porch and patio outside the brewery to the west and south overlooking the hop fields. The patio was packed when we got there about 7.

Inside, the bar is set to the left side of the front door and is a linear affair along the wall. A beautiful oak bar top and chicago bar rail completes the scene nicely. Behind the bar is a low back bar with windows over it looking out to a row of fermenters or serving tanks in the brewery. The tanks are nice to gaze upon while enjoying a cool beer but a bit boring as they don't talk and tell the happy stories of beers offered to the interesting people who've drank them.

To the right of the front door is a large dining/beer garden are with clusters of small tables and a couple large tables with benches for beer garden drinking German style. On the right end-wall is a nice stone fireplace.

Blue Mountain Brewery's Rockfish Wheat is the 2010 World Beer Cup silver medal winner in the American-Style Wheat Beer category. This category had 16 entries so it wasn't a gimme! The beer's name is an homage to the valley in which this brewery sits--the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west and another lower range a few miles off to the east.

The beer was served with a citrus wedge and mighty tasty. One of the best wheat beers we've ever had for certain!

There were a number of their other beers on draught too but we had places to go and things to do and had to cut it short at just one. The brewery bottles six-packs of their beers for sale at the brewery too. That's just great.

N.B. A $4.00 pint costs $4.36 which includes sales tax. :O(