Hey Tazio, What's in the Beer Meister?

Weeeeeeeeeeeeelllll, let's see....

Only the best beer we've ever brewed.

Not to be disrespectful to `ol Gaius Plinius Secundus but we're calling this beer Slimey the Imposter--a Pliny the Elder clone from Russian River Brewing Co., Santa Rosa, California.

The recipe is by none other than Vinnie Cilurzo, Russian River Brewing Co's brewer and co-owner. It was recently published in Volume 33 No. 4 of Zymurgy.

We pretty much followed his recipe except for a few hop substitutions--but we tried to keep the same bitterness by adjusting quantities for the different hops.

This beer is off the charts taste-wise. Beersmith was telling me a calculated 237.3 IBU! Wow!

This is a great beer and I can't wait to try the real thing sometime soon at the brewpub to see how it compares.

Deeeeeeeelicious and the best party of every day!

Town Adopts Beerwick as Name for Oktoberfest 2010

Realizing the value of promoting their burgeoning brewing and tourism industries, town elders (from the west side of town of course) today voted by bare majority to rename the town of Berwick to Beerwick for this year's Oktoberfest 2010 at the Berwick Brewing Company.

Well, not really. But they should've.

M passed this on from Saturday's Press-Enterprise.

We've been to each and every one and can attest that The Berwick Brewing Company (formerly One Guy Brewing) Oktoberfest gets better each year. So lot's of fun, good food, good friends, good music, and good beer are assured for everyone.

Prost!

What's next?

S brought home a huge jar of McCormick garlic powder yesterday.

Product of China.

I have half a mind (I know) to take it back.

What's next: American craft beer contract brewed in China?

Sheesh!

Hirschpfeffer

Aah. Fall is in the air. Can you dig it? We know we can.

Last Sunday we were paging through a back issue of the Beer Advocate magazine and happened upon an article describing some scintillating food recipes perfectly in fitting with the Fall season.

We were intrigued and wanted to try one of the recipes, so we chose Chef Sean Z. Paxton's (www.homebrewchef.com) Hasenpfeffer recipe.

Hasenpfeffer, is a traditional German fricassee or stew made from rabbit or hare (hase) with pepper (you guessed it: pfeffer), usually thickened with the animal's, um, well, we won't go there--suffice to say this ingredient is not in this very appealing recipe.

We pretty much followed the same recipe as Chef Sean's, but were unable to pull a rabbit out of our hats on such short notice, so we used fresh venison tenderloin instead. Substituting venison in the recipe technically makes this dish Hirschpfeffer--hirsch being German for deer.

(Unfortunately, we can't reveal specifically where we obtained fresh venison tenderloin this time of year, but their initials begin with D and K.)

Now, tenderloin is easily the best cut of venison and we're not saying you should use all your tenderloin for this dish: by all means save some for steaks. But with the long cooking time in the Dutch oven, even more ornery cuts should come out fork-tender and work just as well.

A quick trip to the The Beer Stop to score a called-for Dunkelweizen (Würzburger Hofbräu AG's Julius Echter Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel), and we were off and running.

Hasenpfeffer
A German Rabbit Fricassee
Ingredients
1/2	lb	applewood-smoked bacon, chopped
4-5	lb	rabbit/hare, cut into 8 pieces
		sea salt and black pepper
1/2	cup	all-purpose flour, placed into a pie plate or dish
1	cup	shallots, peeled and diced
2	tbsp	thyme leaves
1	tbsp	rosemary leaves, chopped
1	tbsp	savory leaves
10	each	black peppercorns, cracked
2	each	bay leaves, crushed
2	each	garlic cloves, minced
2	each	cloves, whole
22	oz	Dunkel Weisse
2	cup	chicken stock
2	tsp	lemon juice
2	tbsp	flour
2	tbsp	Italian leaf parsley, chopped
1/2	tsp	salt
Directions In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, add bacon. Stir somewhat frequently to help the bacon cook evenly and to help render out the fat. Once the bacon is lightly crisp, but not burnt, remove it from the pot. Leave behind as much grease in the pot as possible. While the bacon is rendering, cut up the rabbit and season with salt and pepper to coat. Next, dredge each piece of meat in the flour, coating evenly on all sides, and place into the pan with the drippings. Add enough pieces to cover the bottom not letting the pieces touch. Cook for 6-7 minutes on each side to form a nice golden brown crust and set aside on a clean plate. Repeat process until all the meat is cooked. If the bottom of the pan starts to have lots of burnt flour bits, the heat is too high. Clean the pan before continuing with the dish. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Add the shallots, stirring to coat evenly in the remaining drippings, cooking for 7 minutes to caramelize them. Add the thyme, rosemary, savory, peppercorns, garlic and cloves, stirring to incorporate, and cook for 2 minutes to soften the garlic a touch. Season with salt and pepper. Deglaze the pot with the beer, scraping the bottom of any browned bits. Add the stock, cooked bacon and browned rabbit into the pot, bringing the mixture to a simmer. Cover the Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid and place in the center of the heated oven. Cook for about 2 hours, depending on how accurate the oven temp is. The rabbit should be fork tender, but not completely falling off the bone. Remove from the oven and place onto a burner, over medium heat. Carefully remove the rabbit pieces to a plate. If there is not very much braising liquid left, add more beer or stock to the pot. Add lemon juice (to add a touch of acidity to the sauce) and sprinkle in the flour and parsley. Using a whisk, stir as the liquid comes to a boil. The sauce will thicken as it cooks for 1-2 minutes, cooking out the starchy taste of the flour. The sauce should be the consistency of gravy. Add more beer/stock if too thick or flour if too thin, to adjust the consistency. Taste and season if needed. To serve, place a piece of rabbit atop either Hefeweizen Spätzle or mashed potatoes infused with bock. Sauce the meat, garnishing with more chopped parsley and serve with raised red cabbage.

During preparation, we cut the venison into about one inch cubes. You can cut the pieces to your liking though. We served or hirschpfeffer over mashed potatoes, but Spätzle (the Hefeweizen Spätzle recipe is in the article cited above) or other noodles could be used just as well we think. We rounded out the meal by adding steamed, fresh young carrots from D--for eyesight prowess. (Beer drinking is a sport requiring visual acuity as we all well know.) Had we thought ahead, we could have picked up some red cabbage which is in keeping with the season and would have been an excellent vegetable accompaniment.

The end result was a delightful presentation of glistening Hirschpfeffer running down a mountain range of mashed potatoes, with a colorful bunch of young carrots on the side. The rosemary, thyme and clove were subtle and there was just a touch of sweetness from the beer.

Deeeeeeelicious!

Many thanks to Chef Sean for inspiring us to try his recipe and allowing us to reproduce it here. By all means check out his website www.homebrewchef.com for other interesting recipes.

The mentioned article and this recipe were originally published in Volume II Issue IX of the Beer Advocate magazine.

Ah, the PR2 Beerbot

Excellent use of software development talent, dontcha think?

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.