The Taproom at the Somerset Hills Hotel

Today I had the great honor to join, J, J, and R for lunch at the Taproom inside the Somerset Hills Hotel in Warren NJ.

This place is really convenient to I-78 in northern NJ and once you get off exit 33 you can be there in a few minutes.

This place has typical lunch-time hotel/casual restaurant fare but is atypical in its choice of beers.

11 taps and 50 bottles--check out the current Christmassy tap list:























Our waiter informed me that the draught list changes often as the head guy here loves beer.

I started with the 35th Annual Anchor Steam Christmas Ale which was spicy, fragrant and delicious coming in at a light 5.5% ABV. According to Anchor, they have a different recipe and label each year. The labels are evocative of new life as you can see by the Christmas tree on the tap handle that's decorated with the 2009 version of the label artwork. These releases are a meant to be a celebration of new life.

After that, I wanted to try something a bit warmer: The Anderson Valley Brewing Company's Winter Solstice was as good if not better that the Anchor--it reminded me a bit of Bell's HopSlam at the start but without the strong hop finish. This is a warming 6.9% ABV that would be great to find and bring to a holiday party. IMHO: I think you will enjoy this one.

I peeked into the taproom on the way out and it looks good but I'll need a return visit to check the bar and gantry. It does have a nice tin ceiling--certainly not original but in keeping with the taproom style.

There is almost nothing as good as friends and beer this time of year. Don't ya think?

DC

S and I just got back from our secret mission to DC.

I don't usually tell anybody about these secret trips, but this time, I'll make an exception.

Psst. This one's for the Ladies. But fella's: Listen close.

Friday and Saturday were Ida-ugly but made delightful by side-trips to Pizzeria Paradiso where we had some really tasty pizza and some great beers too. We went to the Georgetown location which was a nice walk from where we stayed. Alas as local as I could get, as I always try, was Baltimore: I ordered up aClipper City Winter Storm Warning Imperial ESB from a cask. I'm not much of an ESB, ESP, EXP, or ELP man myself, but this one was pretty good--a nice balance of malt and hops and a very drinkable 7.5% ABV winter warmer. By the way: Where are the DC breweries?

S had the Hitachino Nest White Ale witbier (on draught), from the Kiuchi Brewery in Japan. Her taste is developing nicely, don't you think?

After we settled in with our bowl of olives, I tried to convince her, about that time, that it was called Nest White due to it's use of birds, ala Ace Ventura, in its manufacture.

She wasn't buy'n it.

Pizza here, by the way, is superb. We had the Paradiso with fresh Muttsarella and one extra bit of Porkaliciousness: Sausage. I'm here to tell you, if you care to listen, that the sauce was par excellence! Real tomato, and not salty. Crust: medium thickness, charred perfectly, a bit chewy. Cheese: Real. Fresh. Not your NY style pizza but YummyLicious in it's own Capitol way. There is a small bar downstairs which we didn't but pass by on the way to the restroom. I will come back here in a heart-skip.

Saturday was S's day to shine or be shined as it came to be. The Capitol Oasis, in all it's majestic splendor, awaits the patient. And by heaven's S has patience. S: you're the best and you deserve it.

And I deserve beer. (For having you.)

Saturday night we lived it up at Brasserie Beck downtown. This is a Belgian/French bistro with some really high-end Belgian waffles.

Oops I mean beers.

There's a nice bar as you go in on the right and there's an open kitchen as you walk to the rear of the space. The ceiling is high and there are old clocks high up on the walls around the place reminiscent of what you would see in a Eurpoean train station. It can be a little noisy in there.

Of some note was the Pauwel Kwak from Brouwerij Bosteels. Interesting glass--nice tasting malty beer. The glass was more interesting than the beer, I have to say. :O(

The food here was fabulous: The Belgian Frites are not to be missed. For my main, I had the special which was prawns in a tomoato/anchovy base. S had a crispy critter that they call a Skate. The waiters there are good at what they do and their beer knowledge is pretty good. As was the barkeep's btw.

Mission Accomplished!