beer - - Page 5

by ML

Beer Runs: The 2013 Challenge

For some reason, I convinced snebbu and a few of our other, beer-loving friends to sign up for the Stoudt’s Distance Classic 12k on Halloween weekend. Stoudt’s happens to be one of our favorite breweries for a few reasons: highlights include its central PA location, plenty of older, beer-loving folks, and a free shuttle at most events from the brewery to all area hotels, which are usually around $50 a night. No college girls or heels here. We frequent their microfest and figured, why not do the 12k, especially if there’s a free pint glass and a beer at the end?

I should have known this was a bad idea by the words “Distance Classic” in the title, but I kind of thought it was a joke. Unfortunately it was not. This 7.45-miler was a tad harder than expected; considering the race was, in my opinion, 80% uphill, including one hill that was 1.3 miles long, and 3/4 of the way my legs almost gave out just WALKING up. Also, the water stops didn’t have beer. Thankfully, we made atomic orange shirts to identify us as members of a fake organization, the FYAEA (Federation of Young Alumni Exploring America), which aided in search and rescue efforts.

Although I completed the race, was handed a loaf of bread at the finish line, and was given TWO free beers for coming in last (awesome), I felt defeated. But had there not been beer at the end, I would have given up at mile 2 and hitchhiked home. So, I’ve come up with a challenge for myself, snebbu, our friends, and whoever else wants to join (YOU?): use beer to motivate yourself to run in 2013. Run as many 5-10ks as possible in 2013, all of which are either a) at a brewery b) sponsored by some sort of liquor or c) involve free beer at the end. Not only will we a) be in shape b) be motivated and c) get a lot of free booze, I’m sure that many of these runs will raise money to benefit a cause other than my sobriety.

by Katt Kasper

An ‘Ordinary’ Test

I recently discovered that in terms of my own personal liquor tastes, I am a ‘connoisseur of the ordinary.’

When I walk into a bar, my personal liquor preference list is this: bourbon, scotch, rye, vodka, red wine, white wine, beer. And although I could drink bourbon with every meal, I traditionally pair certain foods with certain liquors. Red wines with steaks and Italian food, white wines with fish and chicken, rye or bourbon with sandwiches and burgers, and beer with pizza. Scotch I usually drink by itself, with a cigar or as a dessert.

But whatever the drink, when it comes to my liquors of choice, I’m not usually a top shelf kind’a guy. My taste palette favors blends over single barrel drinks. I can appreciate a good single-malt scotch or one-barrel whiskey, but I always revert back to my ‘everyman’ blends. It appears that my taste buds are about as sophisticated as reality TV. In the immortal words of Popeye, “I yam what I yam!” I’ve long ago given up trying to appease the upscale opinions of those who love looking down on us poor, working class stiffs—with our common-place tastes and our bargain basement choices. You can enjoy your French Champagne pinky-up with the rest of the guests, and I’ll have my shot and a beer with the bar staff and servers.

Recently, I decided to run a personal taste test, to see if I really do prefer cheap liquor over “the good stuff.”

by snebbu

Top 10 Beers to Drink on Halloween

Other than eating half of it, what are you planning on doing while handing out Halloween candy? Hopefully you’re planning on scaring the crap out of kids. Or maybe popping in your favorite scary movie. Regardless, why not do that while drinking a seasonal brew?

I’ve sampled each of the beers listed (and then some) to create a lineup of the top ten beers to drink on Halloween. Rather than ranking them, I put them into my own categories in order for you to determine which would be your best pick. I suggest picking two (or three) solid choices that you know you will like. Then, take a risk and try something new! On to the research:

Sweetest Pumpkin Beer: Tommyknocker Brewery’s “Small Patch Pumpkin Harvest Ale”

ABV: 5%

Pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top. That pretty much sums up this one. It smells like pumpkin pie and tastes like pumpkin pie. This is not for those out there that don’t enjoy sweets, particularly sweet beers. But for those who do, try it out. It’s a great dessert beer. It is medium bodied and has more of a sweet pumpkin taste than the spice taste that most pumpkin beers do. It’s a crisp, clear brew that’s easy (and sweet) drinking.

Spiciest Pumpkin Beer: Sam Adams Fat Jack Pumpkin Ale

ABV: 8.5%

You’ve heard about this one before, but trust me, it’s got all you want for a cool fall night. The brew offers a warming feeling with every sip–the same feeling in your stomach you get from a sip of Jack Daniels—while also delivering the sweet taste of pumpkin. You can taste the spices of cinnamon, ginger, and even the allspice together with pumpkin.

“Tastes Most Like Pumpkin” Beer: Southern Tier Brewing Company Pumking Ale

in Drinks / Holiday / Lists / Top 10 Lists 1 comments

by snebbu

Endless Road Trip Boston: Sam Adams Pumpkin Ale

If you’ve never been to a brewery before, you may be expecting some mechanical experience where you are watching them brew on the other side of a glass window. Maybe you expect to see a bunch of hoses shooting beer from one place to another, leading to a huge bottling machine. Maybe, if you’re lucky—you’ll get a free sample of beer. Not the case at Sam Adams…and that’s a good thing.

The tour starts out in a small tunnel shaped like a keg. From there, you show them your “ticket” which is a Sam Adams label. Then, you literally walk right through the brewery. You’ll see some dudes with kick-ass beards working on the freshest brew. Oh, and you’ll be smacked in the face with the delicious smell of grains and can go touch the huge vats that brew “America’s World Class Beer”.

*Impress your friends*: One piece of info that many of you may not know – Sam Adams is one of the breweries around that makes sure their beer is like no other – they harvest their own yeast. So, no – you can not completely replicate any of their brews. Impressed? (with me, obviously…) You should be.

On to the best part of the tour: the bar.

in Drinks 0 comments

by Twin Tastes

Oktoberfest for Everyone: Beer Braised Chicken

Come Autumn in Germany (and basically all over the world nowadays), crowds celebrate their inner Bavarian spirit and love of all brewed beverages during the 16-day Oktoberfest beer festival. While we have never experienced Oktoberfest in its country of origin, we can only imagine how fun it would be to gather around long tables in rustic beer gardens, chow down on bratwurst and pretzels, and sing and dance along to live oompah music.

For now, a more realistic approach to celebrate Autumn—and beer—is to put our own Boston twist on a dish braised in Sam Adams Octoberfest beer. The brew’s robust, caramel flavor adds a complexity when simmered slowly with chicken, thyme and root vegetables.

Oktoberfest Beer Braised Chicken

in Fowl / Recipe 1 comments

by Katt Kasper

Wine Enemas…They’ll Get You in the End

Oh those crazy college kids! What will they do next? Being that I’m a fan of most things alcohol related, I recently came across an article about a college student that was partaking in a little nontraditional wine tasting. That is, he decided that chugging it would take too much time to create a buzz, so he somehow reasoned that it would be better to go in through the out door. This way of introducing alcohol into the bloodstream is faster and consequently more dangerous than sipping it the old fashioned way. He was in fact, brought into the hospital with a 0.40 blood alcohol limit, which is lethal in most cases.

There have been times in the past where I’ve wanted to get a little ‘loose,’ and I’ve partaken in the time-honored method of consuming shots of alcohol in various formats: Jell-o shots, body shots, flaming shots…but never have I thought of applying this technique through my rectum. Call me old fashioned, but I rather like the taste of most liquors, so it seems that bypassing the tongue while introducing it into the bloodstream is cheating me out of a great deal of pleasure.

I’m hoping that this is an isolated incident and that the trend doesn’t catch on, particularly with wine. Wine tastings could become very messy, and the rating categories would change dramatically. ‘Back taste’ would take on a whole other meaning and the serving temperature would have to be a major consideration. Some champagnes and sparkling wine would take your breath away upon introduction and certainly wouldn’t appeal to the ticklish.

I know I’m showing my age here, but shot-gunning a beer or pouring it through a funnel seemed a pretty quick way of creating a buzz when I was in college. Maybe I’m lame but getting drunk by pouring junk-in-your-trunk seems a bit extreme. Food and drink should be pleasurable, relaxed experiences shared amongst family and friends. I hate to hurry through a great steak or rush a lightly iced scotch, so the appeal of getting super blitzed in less time makes as much sense as wanting to get full after one bite.

A word of caution to all my back-door buzz seekers; the main technique used to create a great wine is the same one used to create a great time, and that is control.

Lose it, and it could bite you in the ass.

in Drinks / Personal / Rants & Raves / Trends 5 comments

by snebbu

What’s Your Beer Telling You?

So clearly, that boring debate last night didn’t help anyone decide who to vote for. If you’re still not sure which way you’re leaning, grab a beer out of the fridge—what are you holding? Okay, now cross-reference your beer with the bubble chart above. Got it? Okay, now you can vote.

If only it were that simple. Well…apparently it kind of is. The National Journal analyzed data from a Scarborourgh report and found that those who drink Heinekens are most likely to vote Democrat and those drinking Sam Adams are most likely to vote Republican. Then, there are those in the middle—drinking, of all things, the beer of The Most Interesting Man in the World. Too bad being in the middle isn’t considered too interesting right now (which is why you middle folk should take a stand!!!)

So let’s delve a bit deeper:

in Drinks / Politics 0 comments