Cheers to Mom!

11 May

Raise a glass to the moms today! Better still, hand mom a glass of her own. But skip the Appletini… she deserves better. Here are a few places mom may like to go for a pint today:

Helena, Montana: The Howling Wolf chapter of Barley’s Angels, an organization that “works with craft-beer focused breweries, brewpubs, restaurants, alehouses and other public beer establishments to advance the female consumer craft beer enthusiast, resulting in increased patronage and revenue from women, while encouraging education and interest in beer among this often under-recognized demographic group”, is hosting a Mother’s Day cheese and beer tasting and brewery tour at Helena’s Blackfoot River Brewing Co. Led by Blackfoot Brewer Becky Molm, the pairing features Blackfoot River’s Woollybugger Wheat and Singlemalt IPA. $6.

Downington, Pennsylvania: Victory Brewing Company is hosting a Mother’s Day Brunch, featuring a special brunch menu. $20 for adults, $10 for kids.

Decatur, Georgia: A Celebration of Women Who Love Beer at Brick Store Pub! All downstairs taps will be dedicated to breweries that have women as part of the brewing team. Leslie Henderson, brewer/owner of Lazy Magnolia Brewery in Mississippi will be on hand, and Heather McReynolds of Cannon Brewpub in Columbus GA will present a special Mothers Day cask. Brewer demonstrations will take place, and special desserts featuring Belgian beers will be served. Any mom would love this! Contact lee@brickstorepub.com for more info. The charity event runs until 4pm.

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Uncanny Design

9 May

The usual amount of attention I pay to a beer can is only as much as it takes for my eyes to skim past them in the package store on their way to the lovely 22 oz bottles. Beer in cans usually means cheapo swill… doesn’t it? Well, of course that’s not true anymore. Craft brewers have begun to embrace canning as a viable alternative to bottling their delicious wares. Nowadays, lotsa respectable folks produce high quality craft beer in cans. It’s time someone pointed out the beauty of beer cans, and these fine companies have decided to do so once a year: Ball Corporation, Cask Brewing Systems (who kick-started the trend of craft beers in cans), Mumm Products, and Hi-Cone have teamed up to sponsor an award ceremony to recognize the graphic art of the craft beer can. They’ve devised a contest called (wait for it) the Canny Awards, which launched its first presentation at the Craft Brewers Conference earlier this week in San Diego.

It’s not only some aluminum industry bigwigs making the call on whose tin is prettiest. The suits have assembled a crew of serious drinkers to help ‘em choose, including author Randy Mosher, Ashley Routson of Bison Brewing, folks from Whole Foods, the Brewery Collectibles Club of America, and a bunch more.

So whose can was declared the fairest of them all? Dig Sixpoint’s Diesel, to your left! Others who made the list are Austin Beerworks’ German Style Pearl-Snap Pils, Bitter American Extra-Pale Ale by 21st Amendment, Hop-A-Potamus Double Dark Rye Pale Ale by Great River Brewery, and more. See the full list here.

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Yeast Culture

19 Apr

photo by Howard Stelzer

Now here’s an event worth getting festive about: Where the Wild Beers Are, the third annual Collaborative Festival for Lovers of Wild and Sour Beers! It’s a festival of our very favorite kinds of ale, those tart and funky beers that Belgians produce so well. Brewers like Cantillion, Brouwerij Van Steenberge (makers of Monk’s Cafe for the world-class Philly bar of the same name), Fantôme, Rodenbach, and especially Duchesse du Bourgogne make astounding beers in this style… but so do Americans like Ommegang, New Belgium, and Cisco, among many others. If you dunno this kind of beer, it might be an acquired taste… but once you get it, these complex ales inhabit a world of their own for you to explore.

But it’s not just a big room full of brewers and distributors handing out little 2 oz pours of their product. No, this event is collaborative. What does that mean, you ask? And how is it that I heard you ask it, even though I’m all the way over here? I’ll ignore the latter question, and let the fest folks answer the former:

Register to attend.
Bring a commercially made wild, sour, or farmhouse ale to share. (or bring many). Most commercially produced wild and sour ales are welcomed, whether they are an easily available import or rare domestic one-off.
Receive, for every 750ml of beer contributed, 10 drink tickets (approx. 1 drink ticket per 2.5oz contributed, multiple small bottles are fine). We offer extra samples and priority pours for people who are willing to share hard to find bottles. There always is a wide variety of quality beer to sample!

Neato, eh? It’s all happening at The Gutter, a darn cool bowling alley/craft beer bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY. So let’s enumerate the cool things about this event:

1 – the best kind of beer in the world! Lots of it!
2 – BYOB and share… what a great idea! It’s a dangerous gateway to Socialism of course, but… worry about that later.
3 – bowling!

Here’s what you need to know:
May 5, 1pm to 5pm
at The Gutter – 200 N 14 St, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Cost is $10 plus beer to share.
Visit the official Where the Wild Beers Are festival site for lots more information. Oh, and if you miss it, don’t get too sour… the same folks are hosting a similar event in Minneapolis in the Fall.

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Don’t Try This at Home

16 Apr

We’re all in favor of folks experimenting with beer as a base for creative cocktails… and we’re loathe to discourage go-getters from milking surprising results from unexpected ingredients… however, please think twice before taking this brutal visionary’s lead. I dunno who he is, but he oughta have his Boston Shaker revoked.

Yup. No thank you. And bro, don’t call me “baby”… especially right after you chug yr vegan Budweiser catastrophe. Wow.

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Two Simple Ideas for Tax Day

15 Apr

Are you th’ kind of person who did yr taxes way back in February? In that case, today must be just another Sunday for you. Lucky thing. You very organized, smug little citizen you. Celebrate your own commendable fore-thought by fixing yrself a cocktail this afternoon. A drink in the afternoon? But of course! You probably have a wide-open calendar with no pressing obligations. You’ve anticipated complex problems and have done all yr homework way ahead of time. You can watch yr favorite TV show from th’ relative luxury of your comfy couch and enjoy a little treat that requires some effort… a few ingredients to track down, more than one step in th’ instructions. You can handle it. After all, you have nothing better to do today… right?

The Retiree

We envision this as a Belgian-influenced tiki drink. Maybe you can sip these while sitting on your porch in Boca Raton on a balmy afternoon after a round of golf with your pals from the condo association. But you don’t have to wait until you’re 65 to enjoy one of these… retire early! We make ours with Kasteel Rouge, a high-alcohol Belgian brown ale flavored with sour cherries. It’s decadent, but… ah, you’ve worked hard, you deserve it. If you can’t find Kasteel Rouge, try using Vichtnaar, Monk’s Cafe, or Liefman’s Oud Bruin. They’ll all work just fine.

  • Crushed ice
  • 10 ounces Kasteel Rouge (or whatever, see above)
  • 2 ounces white rum
  • 1 ounce vodka
  • 1 1/2 ounces blue curacao
  • 2 ounces pineapple juice
  • 2 pineapple wedges, for garnish
  • 4 maraschino cherries, for garnish

1. Fill two hurricane glasses with crushed ice, and add half of the beer, rum, vodka, curacao, and pineapple juice to each glass. Stir gently.

2. Add a cocktail umbrella (the biggest one you can find), a wedge of pineapple on the side of each glass, and a couple of maraschino cherries in the drink for garnish. Drink with a straw.

Serves 2

* * * * *

Now if you read that last intro bit and thought: heck, that’s not me at all. I can’t even find my calculator… actually, do I even own a calculator? Do I have all my W-2 forms? I thought I put them over here, underneath the cat. Wait a sec… who moved the cat?!

Friend, take a deeeeeep breath. It’s gonna be fine. You just have to do one thing first, and that’s this: make yrself a drink. Yep. It’s the right thing to do. Here’s a simple one… you probably already have the ingredients in your pantry. Your pantry is in your kitchen. Just walk down the hall, turn left, look straight ahead of you, and… yeah, you found it. That thing there is your pantry. The one with shelves in it. Seriously, just relax and it’ll all be fine. I promise.

Phil Collins

Barleywine is one of those beer styles that folks either hold in the highest esteem or can’t fathom how anyone can finish a glass. We respect that this style of ale takes some getting used to. Barleywines are intensely sweet, quite complex, and often bracingly bitter, with a high alcohol content. Many craft breweries produce versions in the autumn. We use the singular brew in a variation on a classic cocktail (Phil is Tom‘s cousin), tempering the hop bite with gin and lemon.

  • Ice cubes
  • 1 ounce gin
  • 1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 ounce simple syrup
  • 3 ounces barleywine
  • 1 lemon twist, for garnish

1. Fill a highball glass with a few ice cubes, and add the gin, lemon juice, gin, and simple syrup. Stir gently.

2. Top with the barleywine, garnish with the lemon twist, and serve.

Serves 1

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Hello, Friendly BeerMixologists!

9 Apr

Since embarking on our adventure of writing a book of beer cocktail recipes, I’ve had versions of the same conversation over and over. Someone is excited to hear that my wife and I have written a book about beer… and then confused about the title. “Beer… Cocktails?” Yes, sensitive soul, it is true. Beer can, and often is, used as a perfectly good and delicious cocktail ingredient. The awkwardness typically dissipates when an actual drink can be procured and sampled (hey whaddaya know… they’re delicious!), but when proof of the concept’s merit and evidence of their long and proud history is not forthcoming, well… it can get lonely. That’s why I’m thrilled as beer punch to read an entire darn website about nuthin’ but beer cocktails. It’s called BeerMixology, and here’s a link for you to savor.

The site was brought forth from th’ internet void by Tatiana Peavy (also author of A Strong Fuggly Brew, the font of which sure looks like it’s supposed to be a black metal band… but I guess she just likes goats) and Ashley Routson (who works for beer-cocktail-friendly Bison Brewing and also writes Drink With the Wench). Sure enough, it features beer cocktail recipes by folks from everywhere, including lots of creative ideas… like this one, which uses Bols Genever, Bols Sloe Gin, Lindeman’s Gueze, blood orange juice, and absinthe. I’ve gotta try making that one soon, mmm!

 

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Boston Celebrates American Craft Beer

8 Apr

We’ve got a soft spot for these regular BeerAdvocate events. First of all, we’re lucky enough to be able to get to them via public transportation, which makes it easier to indulge without needing to designate a non-indulging driver. Second, one of these festivals of beery advocation was where we first tried brews by one of our very favorite producers: New Belgium, from Colorado, to date still not distributed in Massachusetts. And finally… well, BeerAdvocate just knows how to throw a party. The biggest of the year is always their summer event, the American Craft Beer Festival. The fifth annual installment sure looks like it’s gonna be a doozy.

On June 1 and 2 at the Boston Seaport World Trade Center (a much larger venue that the BA guys use for their Extreme Beer and Belgian Beer festivals during other seasons), attendees can sample more than 500 beers from over 100 brewers from all over this great land… providing a good one-month lead to start feeling real patriotic in time for the 4th of July. Who’s gonna be there? Heck, it’d take less time to name the brewer who aren’t going to be there. But some to look forward to are Anderson Valley, Great Divide (makers of the gobsmackingly good Yeti Oak Aged Imperial Stout), Portland Oregon’s classic Widmer Brothers, and the magnificent Brewery Ommegang. No New Belgium this time, but it’s still gonna be a heck of a who’s who in American craft beer. Look here for a complete list, and here to buy yr tickets.

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The Day That Fruit Juice Ruined Gin Forever.

27 Jan

I get why beer drinkers and some brewers get all up-in-arms about this whole beer cocktails thing. The argument has been made many times: someone took so much time to make a beer just so… why ruin it by adding a bunch of stuff to it? I wanna put this to rest, though I know that some folks won’t be satisfied. Here goes.

Distillers work real hard to make their spirits just so. Bourbon is beautiful. Gimme a real good gin on ice, it can be perfect. It takes real talent, skill, and a heckuva lotta time to make scotch. But… all of these liquids can be, and often are, used as cocktail ingredients. I’d never turn down a Blood & Sand – in fact, I recently had a fine one at Brick & Mortar, in Cambridge MA. But thar’s scotch in that drink! Am I corrupting the scotch by enjoying a Blood & Sand? Heck no. Sometimes, I want just scotch, other times I want a cocktail. Both are happy times. Th’ same logic can be applied to lotsa cocktails… would you forsake a Manhattan to avoid offending the bourbon distiller? Who defends the poor gin distillers from the foulness of fruit juices and liqueurs? Anyone?

… just my two cents here. If you’re gonna refuse to taste something tasty on principle, then I guess there’s more left for me. Thanks!

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Marble Sheep

27 Nov

This grown-ups-only sundae highlights the chocolate and espresso flavors in one of our favorite American beers, Founder’s Breakfast Stout. If you can’t find Founder’s near you, try experimenting with any oatmeal stout you can find. The proportions here are intended as estimates to be adjusted according to your tastes. Fox’s U-Bet is our top choice for chocolate syrup, but use whichever brand you prefer. Serve your Marble Sheep with two spoons, and keep the bottle of beer handy to refill as needed. The marbled black and white appearance in the parfait glass is quite lovely!

1 pint vanilla ice cream

12 ounces Founder’s Breakfast Stout (or other oatmeal stout)

Chocolate syrup (as much as desired!)

Fill a tall parfait glass three-quarters full with the ice cream. Add about 6 ounces of stout. Drizzle with chocolate syrup and serve with a long spoon. I like to discreetly take mine into another room and finish it before anyone asks me to share.

Serves 2

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Battle of the Beer-Tenders

15 Nov

Calling all Hawaiian beer-cocktail fans! Tonight, Kona Brewing Co. of Honolulu issues a challenge to the island’s most creative bartenders.  Join ‘em at Koko Marina (one of Kona‘s brewpubs) for the inaugural Best Beer-Cocktail Contest. Contestants will go head to head in a five-round contest to see who mixes the greatest cocktail using Kona Brewing beers. Winners get a trip for two to the Big Island with a tour of the Kona Brewery, a Kona Brewing Beach Cruiser, skimboard, beach chair and a Kona Brewing Beach towel.

Guests will also enjoy entertainment by local favorite party band Da PushOverse.

WHEN: Tuesday, November 15, 2011

5:00 pm- 6:00 pm:  Giveaways, drink specials and social hour

6:00 pm- 7:00 pm:  Beer-Cocktail Contest

8:00 pm: Winners announced

WHERE: Kona Brewing Co.

Koko Marina

7192 Kalanianaole highway

Hawaii Kai, waterside Honolulu

808-396-KONA(5662)

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