craft beer - - Page 4

by snebbu

Fall TV Frenzy! Pairings for Your Favorite Shows

The arrival of fall brings us the return of many of our favorite shows. Some enjoy the comedies, the cheesy chick flick(ish) shows, and others the thrillers. Regardless of what show(s) you prefer – they’re back! Several hours will be taken away from the time you thought you had in your day as you stare at the tube losing brain cells. The least you can do is feed your body with tasty food and beverages. For you we polled ~~our trusted ES focus groups~~ ourselves to determine the shows that we are looking forward to watching most, pairing them with our own crazy dishes. Plan some parties with your several friends and impress with creative themes and pairings. You’re welcome.

FOX – New Girl

A show about a girl living with a bunch of dudes (and her ex) but somehow they all get along. Crack open a pumpkin wheat beer that everyone can enjoy together and put together (or order) a buffalo chicken pizza. While some biased people out there liken beer and wings to men, there are plenty of women out there that enjoy it too. Like Jess, find common grounds and dig in.

Drink: Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat

Eat: Buffalo Chicken Pizza

FX – American Horror Story

Always a little creepy, and typically even more disturbing, American Horror Story merits something that will take the edge off while watching. The Séance Saison is a fall seasonal that adds fall spices to the mix to get you in the spirit. Also considering the fact that this year’s season’s theme is circus, we thought the best meal to pair with the theme would be circus food: corn dogs and some air popped popcorn.

Drink: Séance Saison

Eat: Corn Dogs with Popcorn

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by snebbu

Endless Beers: Stone Xocoveza Mocha Stout

Stone sends us their most recent collaboration brew: The Xocoveza Mocha Stout. This weird name represents the sentiment of the true engineer of the beer: Chris Banker. Chris won Stone’s homebrew competition in March of 2013, where the champion wins the chance to brew their homebrew at the next level. Stone provides their facilities, expertise, and ingredients to create a bigger and even better version. The name is derived from the idea of a Mexican hot chocolate, which is what the beer is supposed to remind us of – sweet and spicy hot chocolate. Given the Mexican twist, Stone invited well known Mexican craft beer representatives of Cervecería Insurgente to join in the collaboration.

The suds include malts and specialty ingredients of a milk stout. Cocoa and milk sugars were added during the boil, which adds noted sweet and roasty flavors throughout the brew. Then, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, pasilla peppers, and coffee are added. The end result is a very complex flavor profile. While I don’t taste the chocolate as much as I do a sweet roasted coffee – it does remind me of a spicy hot cocoa. Here are the ES tasting notes:

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by snebbu

Endless Beers: He Said He Said

Not sure you got our memo yet, but: fall has arrived. Get with it. That means that pumpkin beers are nearly gone already and Christmas everything will be out in a matter of weeks. Bah humbug. Until then, let’s enjoy the fall spirit with some more BEER!

The He Said He Said is a collaboration four pack brought to you by 21st Amendment and Elysian Brewery. The four pack offers two beers: a Belgian Tripel Brewed with Pumpkin and Spices and a Baltic Porter Lager Brewed with Pumpkin and Spices. The four pack tells the stories of how the two brewmasters/co-founders came up with their collaboration pumpkin brews. Of course, as we all would, each brewmaster takes a bit more credit than the other. The result of the clashing stories was two strong but very different pumpkin collaboration brews. Get it? He said, he said.

The first offering is the brain child of Shaun O’Sullivan of 21st Amendment: The Belgian Triple Brewed with Pumpkin and Spices. Of course, this comes from the brewery that brings us beers like Hell or High Watermelon and Back in Black IPA. Special ingredients in the Belgian Pumpkin Triple include pumpkin puree, pumpkin juice, Galangal, and Tarragon spices. Enough with the small talk, let’s discuss the taste:

ABV: 8.2 %

Appearance: Orange – the color of a pumpkin. A bright, transparent orange.
Aroma: Earthy pumpkin scents complemented by herbs, spices, and a little bit of the belgian trappist yeast.
Taste: Has clean and crisp taste of a Belgian Tripel, then pumpkin and spice flavor throughout. It’s a strong brew, but it doesn’t taste as much like alcohol as many Belgian Tripels. The smooth, sweet flavors take away most of the boozy taste.
Mouthfeel: Surprisingly creamy leaving a buttery feeling on the roof of your mouth.
Overall: Definitely a strong belgian with a decent ABV. I was able to drink this without feeling full, and instead actually feeling refreshed. The pumpkin flavor is there, but isn’t intensely strong like an imperial pumpkin. Good on a warm fall day, or a Sunday while watching football.

Next up is the other side of the debate of how the collaboration began: the Baltic Style Porter Lager Brewed with Pumpkin and Spices. This is the Elysian side of the coin – the side that brings you pumpkin fests, intense pumpkin beers, and strong beers. The Pumpkin Porter includes special ingredients such as pumpkin puree, pumpkin juice, Vietnamese Cinnamon, and Caraway Seed. While it’s a porter, it is also a lager. BOOM. Here are the tasting notes:

ABV: 8.2%

Appearance: Black, opaque. Looks more like a thick stout than a thinner porter.
Aroma: Sweet coffee smell with a meaty pumpkin smell.
Taste: Coffee flavors along with sweet molasses, but not as strong as expected. The pumpkin flavors come through stronger but do not overwhelm. Fall spices are subtle in this one.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, but more crisp than expected.
Overall: Carbonation could be better, but other than that it has the sweet flavors of a porter complemented by earthy spices and pumpkin. Lager aspects of the brew are subtle, but it balanced out the beer a bit.

The He Said He Said is an interesting collaboration that offers a different take on pumpkin beers. The porter was good, but reminded me of other stout pumpkin beers I have had before. On the other hand, the Belgian Tripel Pumpkin offered a completely different take on pumpkin brews that I haven’t had before. The Tripel is more of an “anytime beer” than other pumpkin beers I’ve had before. Refreshing yet sweet, strong yet not overwhelming, the brew offers the fall flavors without suggesting it must be drunk after dinner or during a cold, crisp day.

Our ES Suggested Pairings (dare I say…for BOTH?!):

Meals: Chicken Tacos (for the tripel) and juicy steak (for the porter)
Cigars: Macanudo Maduro or CAO MX2 (for the tripel) and Drew Estate Naturals English (for the porter)

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by snebbu

Endless Beers: Cape May Brewing Company

The fiance and I frequent Wildwood, New Jersey throughout the summer months. We’ve found the food and drink spots to avoid, and determined our “go to” spots. The one thing I was missing was local craft beer. In the past couple of years, I noticed a “Cape May IPA” popping up at the local bars. Finally I realized that the Cape May Brewing Company is located just miles away. Housing several fermentation tanks, small brew kettles, and various bearded men, the Cape May Brewing company is making its mark on the New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia craft beer market.

The founders of the brewery (Chris and Ryan) are South Jersey residents and wanted to have a craft beer that was locally brewed. Unfortunately, there were few options. After some careful planning, the Cape May Brewing Company opened in July of 2011 and began brewing various beers to satisfy their urges. In only three years, the brewery (and taproom)’s reach continues to grow. A larger brew house is in the plans to help them fulfill their distribution wait list of 60 + vendors.

The taproom manager, Jim gives the tour and is well versed in the history and the making of their beer. Jim moved over to working in a brewery after working as a bartender for several years. Jim never really liked beer since he was tasting the water-like substance many of us call “big beer.” However, he visited the taproom and they gave him a flight of various beers to taste. Since then, he’s been hooked on beer. Jim’s advice to craft beer “novices” or noobs is to go to a brewery, order a flight, and keep give it a try.

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by snebbu

A Very Dogfish Vacay: The Brewery

Where beer is made. Brewery tours vary in size, location, and even in stories (and in free samples). I’ve noticed that some breweries just tell you how beer is made and dump you off at the pub for you to buy any of the beers. Others give more personalized tours and offer plenty of free samples. Dogfish Head was the best brewery tour to date. Of course, that may be because we got a private tour from an off-centered employee (thanks Senovia!) But before we get started, just imagine what you think the brewery looks like. Now, imagine that times ten. The brewery is part of a large amount of land that is practically becoming the dogfish campus. This includes an insulated pipe line that runs the beer from the brew house to bottling. Oh yeah, and an industrial-aged tree house where they hold their administrative meetings.

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by snebbu

Endless Beers: Happy IPA Day!

You may not know it, but it’s National IPA Day! Donut day, coffee day, ice cream day…why not have a day for those of us who take pride in the name “hophead”? Well today’s that day. Many consider the IPA (India Pale Ale) to be the brew that really made a name for craft beer. The IPA is a bold, typically strong in alcohol content, and bitter (in a good way) brew that includes strong notes of citrus. Regardless, today is a day to try an IPA for the first time, try out a crazy new IPA flavor, or crack open your favorite IPA. In the spirit of this wonderful holiday, we worked with some of the best breweries in the nation to bring your our “National IPA Day Roundup.”

Sierra Nevada 2014 Hop Harvest: 6.5 % ABV

Sierra Nevada brings out this annual 5-bottle series that features a single hop, wet hop, fresh hop, and wild hop brews. I had the Equinox Single Hop IPA. Single hop meaning they used only one kind of hop to highlight the aromas and the bitterness. The brew is an easy drink that will put you in the mood for fall. The IPA has typical hop flavors you would expect and then the taste of fresh peppers and spices from the garden comes through.

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by snebbu

A Very Dogfish Vacay: The Brew Pub

Next stop in Delaware: the Brew Pub. The Brew Pub is located in Rehoboth Beach, DE. While the pub serves some tasty foods, let’s be honest—it’s all about the beer. The Brew Pub is where Sam Caglione started the brewery. While the main “flagship” brews are made at the brewery in Milton, every beer starts as an experimental in the Brew Pub. This means that here you are likely trying a beer that you may never be able to have again. You are helping decide the fate of the precious suds we’ve all learned to love and enjoy.

When we visited, there were several rarities for us to try. The best bet is going with a flight and picking either the most outrageous brews available, or those that you’ve never had before. From there, you can decide which brews you’d like to have again and again before you leave the pub. While it is home of many rarities, it also has just about everyone of their seasonal and flagships. But you can get those just about anywhere. Go for the ones that you may never be able to get again. The brew pub also has signature beer cocktails that are worth a try.

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