I Like Dark Snapper

[*Disclaimer: I read an article somewhere about how to get people to read your blog posts, and it mentioned that you should always have a catchy title for your post that gets people to see what it's about. Hence what you see above. Of course, I believe everything I read on the Internet, so we'll see ]

My first love has always been beer. I really like cocktails (obviously) and appreciate the distilling and bartending crafts, but beer drinking and beer making got me really geeked out on the whole artisinal side of imbibing. I recently have been picking up limited edition or special brews that I see in the few outlets around the DC area that carry them. About 3 months ago, I picked up a Terrapin "The Dark Side" Belgian Style Imperial Stout, one of their line of Side Project, one off production brews. I learned recently via Twitter that it was pretty much at its peak, so I decided to crack it open (although imperial stouts aren't what you would immediately think of as a hot summer day type beer.) How wrong you would be.

I've had Terrapin's Rye Pale Ale before, and really liked it (I am a sucker for rye in any form, apparently). So I was anticipating good things, although I was concerned that the beer might be past its prime. If it is, then this beer must have been freakin' glorious when it was at the height of its game. It pours with a very thin, toffee colored head, and smelled of light coffee and that special Belgian yeast smell that's really hard to describe. I expected a thick mouth feel, but it was very dry - caramel and chocolate was there, but not the sweetness that you would associate with those tastes. It went down clean, and then a slight bitterness formed on the side of my tongue, adding a nice complexity to the beer. This is a somewhat high ABV beer (8.5%), but you don't get that sense at all while drinking it (I'll probably feel it later, though)

Overall, I really liked this, and am glad I picked it up. Too bad it's not more widely available, or I'd pick up some more. My love for dark snapper will have to be shelved (for now).

Podcast!!

After much hard work and a (large) number of strong drinks, the inaugural version of The Drinking Time podcast has been posted! For this addition - we drink a couple of beers, and check out three cocktails ideally suited to the Memorial Day weekend. Check it - you know you weren't doing anything with that 17 minutes and 44 seconds anyway.

First Stop in NYC - The House of Brews

This is the second time I have written this post - The Megabus' spotty wifi on the return trip to DC ate my first version. Too bad, too - it was a blogging masterpiece unsurpassed in the history of the intermanets. This one just qualifies as mildly awesome.

After a relaxing Megabus ride from downtown DC to NYC (wifi (flawless on the ride up), bathroom, comfy seats), I stepped off in midtown on a gorgeous sunny day. Strolled about 15 blocks to my hotel - I never complain about having to walk in New York, the experience is one of my favorite things about the city. Checked into my palatial (by NY standards) room, and then headed out for lunch and a beer.

Randomly stopped into The House of Brews on West 46th Street. This area is evidently known a Restaurant Row, but given the so-so establishments in the area, I found it hard to believe that this street was the only one with that designation in the city. Maybe it's just based on quantity. Since it was 3PM on a Wednesday, the place was pretty dead - one guy nursing a water, watching the Yankees lose on one of the three flatscreens. The beer selection was pretty good - more than a few Belgian bottles, including a 12 ounce bottle of Bitter XX (a large version of which I have chilling in my beer fridge), and if you wanted to shell out $450 for a 2005 Sam Adams Utopia, you could do that.

Had a draft Chimay Trippel (tasty), and a chicken sandwich and fries (not so much). But the point wasn't to have a memorable culinary experience, or to have this be the place to sample multiple beers in a sitting - it was to lay an adequate gastric foundation for the planned activities of the evening - cocktails at Death and Co. and Bar Centrale, and dinner at Caracas.

Next up: Death and Co.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Time To Drink: Dogfish Head Fort

What is a beer? Not really an existential question, and not one that people outside of beer geek circles spend a while lot of time contemplating. But with the release of the "strongest beer in the world," the Sink The Bismarck "quadruple IPA" from BrewDog brewery in Scotland, it's been asked a lot lately, both by beer geeks and the mainstream press. Is an alcoholic beverage that clocks in at 41% ABV really still a beer, or is it some other category of beverage - not quite a spirit, certainly not a wine, but "beer" doesn't quite get it either?

I'm not going to delve into that heady discussion (get it? heady? beer?? No?). But that question was running through the back of my mind as Suz and I tasted Fort by Dogfish Head brewery. Touted as the strongest fruit beer in the world, this 18% ABV monster uses over a ton of raspberries during fermentation, and that was obvious from the second we poured some from the large format (25.6oz) bottle into some wine glasses - the raspberries hit you right away. But so does the alcohol, which was very clearly present on the nose. The head - tiny, tight bubbles - dissipated quickly, leaving the lovely, rose-gold, slightly opaque liquid alone in the glass.

Fort is "strong" in French, and this beer is certainly that. Suz noted it more closely resembled a currant liqueur like Chambord than a framboise style Belgian beer. Lightly carbonated, the finish was long, and almost cloyingly sweet. That alcohol on the nose wasn't as obvious in the taste (but it was pretty obvious based on the buzz we had after finishing the bottle). But that sweetness builds on the palate, and becomes overwhelming eventually. It's pretty clear that this type of beer is not suited to a couple of people knocking back 12.5oz of the stuff while playing Scrabble (let's just say two letter words were about all we could conjur at the end of that game).

So when should you drink this? With three friends (a 6oz serving each seems right), from a white wine glass, while eating a great chocolate dessert (Suz suggested a dark chocolate mousse, which would be right on - bitter chocolate and sweet raspberries = yum). And I think that gets at the question about whether these types of beverages should be thought of as "beer" - we have to change the way we think of what beer is, or can be. Pop the cap on one if these and chug it down at a tailgate, and you're going to be in for quite a shock. But serve it like a dessert wine, or, in the case of the Sink The Bismarck, like a fine dram, and you begin to experience the beer the way the brewers intended. Some initial research can help determine your approach to these beverages, and result in some increased knowledge about what being a beer really means.

Redirection of Purpose

As predicted in my first post to this blog, I haven't exactly been updating it on a frequent basis (I think four time in 6 months qualifies as "infrequent"). I think mostly for the same reasons I stopped updating my old site - not really much to talk about. Since I didn't have any structure or purpose to posting, there wasn't anything driving me to do so. While in Whole Foods the other day, I picked up a copy of Imbibe magazine to pass the boredom while I waited for my hippie check out girl to figure out how much a kiwi costs. Scanning that magazine, I think I found my purpose and structure.

Anyone who knows me knows I enjoy drinking. In my early years, I probably fit the same mold as most college-age guys - drink lots, drink cheap, and drink often. Now that I am a mature (um..), professional (okaaay...), adult (maybe..) father of one (definitely), two out of those three drivers have changed: I don't drink as much in quantity anymore (it was truly a revelation that a single well made cocktail, glass of wine, or craft brewed beer usually generated a lot more pleasure than six crappy beers (I am looking at you, PBR)); I don't drink the really cheap stuff if I can help it (nothing wrong with a Bud Light on a hot day in the parking lot at a football game - just not my choice to drink with dinner, or at a bar with friends); I do, however, continue to drink often - usually once a day, typically a glass of wine or beer with dinner, maybe one after my daughter goes to bed. So in addition to my interest in consumption, I gained an interest in production - about 6 years ago I started making my own beer, which I love to do. And I have always had an interest in cocktails - how they are made, the history of a particular drink, the sometimes exotic ingredients or spirits, etc. And I obviously have an interest in parentheses (but that's another issue.)

So from all this I figured why not try and write about my interest in imbibing - whether that be beer, wine, coffee (which I also love), spirits, cocktails, whatever. It's something I have an interest in, and at worst no one reads it and I still have some good drinks along the way. I will try and post something new every day - but realistically I'll shoot for a minimum of once a week. Don't expect literary brilliance (it should be pretty obvious by now that's not possible) or even necessarily insightful comments on the subject matter.

This is a guy writing about what he drinks.