The start of the baseball season is just a little over a week away. Cincy's BarrelHouse will be celebrating with a customer appreciation day on Opening Day. Here are the details, via the RateBeer posting and the BarrelHouse website: 
The BarrelHouse, along with Avril-Bleh Meats, is hosting a Customer Appreciation Day to celebrate the Reds opening day on April 2nd. The event will be from 9 am to 3 pm, and will feature $1 beers and $1 brats. There will be a $5 cover charge to get in, and there will be a raffle for prizes, including a pair of Opening Day tickets that will be given out at 1 pm. All proceeds from the event will be given to a local charity. Roll on down to the BarrelHouse and join us!
Also, don't forget to support your local brewery while you're cheering on your favorite team at your favorite ball park. RedLegg Ale is a natural, and is more widely available this year than ever before.
RedLegg Ale, named after the Cincinnati hometown favorite, is tasty stuff--one of the better red ales I've had (and I'm not particularly fond of the style). In fact, most of the BarrelHouse beers are excellent. They were strictly a brewpub for years, but have moved in the opposite direction and are now strictly a brewery. Too bad for us local folks--they used to have great bands play--but good news for folks living outside of Cincy. Hopefully, these beers will start getting distributed more widely.
Here's the address and other important stuff:
Monday, April 2nd from 9 am-3 pm
BarrelHouse Brewing Company
544-B West Liberty Street
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Technorati Tags: beer, brewing, craft beer, baseball, opening day, Cincinnati, Reds, BarrelHouse, RedLegg Ale, brewpub, brewery, red ales, amber ales
Several of us set out on a St. Paddy's day crawl Saturday, hitting some of Dayton's better beer bars. It's been about 3 years in the making--Alex and I were to do a crawl a few years ago, but each year, it hasn't worked out. Finally, this year, the stars aligned.
We started the morning at Boston's Bistro. They opened at 6 am, and business was steady and picking up when we arrived at 10:30. Boston's has a great selection of beers, and the draft selection featured most of Barrelhouse's line. Between the three of us, we sampled the Boss Cox Double Dark IPA (cask), the Red Legg ale, the Cumberland Pale Ale, the Hocking Hills Hefeweizen, and the Scotch Ale, as well as some requisite Guinness pints.
Lunchtime found us trekking across town to Taggart's (with a quick stop at Pug's Dog House for some Chicago-style hot dogs). Taggart's is a neighborhood bar that my wife's stepsister's husband co-owns with his sister. Taggart's is a great bar (round the corner from my house), with a regular following. We watch OSU football games there. Recently, Mike has been stocking more and more craft beers. For a while, you could get Beamish for $2.50 a pint and the Goose Island beers always seem to be on special. Recently, they've brought in Arrogant Bastard, which Mike tells me has been selling well.
We caught part of the OSU/Xavier basketball game, drinking Goose Island Kilgubbin's, Guinness, and Murphy's stouts, before mixing in shots of bourbon.
After picking up a cigar from the smoke shop next door, we headed to Tank's, where Benjamin joined us. More food and more bourbon. For the life of me, I can't recall which beer I had (that's probably due to the bourbon), but Tank's regularly has a great selection of bottled and draft beers.
Later, we parted ways with Benjamin and headed out to the clubhouse, a warehouse studio hangout that Shane rents with another mutual friend. Complete with a pool table, a bourbon bar, a killer record collection, and huge picture windows that offer great views of the city, the clubhouse is a perfect place to whittle away an afternoon or evening. Kyle and Nathan eventually joined us, and Kyle brought some Mt. Carmel's copper ale and some Dogfish Head Blue & White.
Finally, one last stop: the Trolley Stop, to see our friend Denise. The Trolley is another local hangout that usually has several interesting beers on tap. Saturday, we ordered rounds of Dogfish Head 60 min. IPA. Needless to say, after that beer, most of us were done for the night. But it was great to hit some Dayton beer hot spots without suffering the ubiquitous green beer.
Technorati Tags: beer, brewing, craft brew, Dayton, Ohio, pub crawl, Boston's Bistro, Taggart's, Tank's, The Trolley Stop, Barrelhouse Brewing, Mt. Carmel's, Goose Island, Beamish, Guinness, Dogfish Head, St. Paddy's Day, St. Patrick's Day
What I love best about the regional nature of craft brew is that now, no matter where I travel, I seem to be able to find an interesting brewery, brewpub, beer bar, or brew that I can't get at home. Last week was no exception.Wednesday evening, we were in Cranberry Township, outside of Pittsburgh, for a meeting on Thursday morning. I discovered, via BeerFly, that there was a brew pub about a mile from my hotel--Hereford & Hops. The Pennsylvania location is one of three--there's a restaurant in Michigan, and one in Wisconsin. Hereford & Hops is a steakhouse and brewpub. It's fairly upscale, but still comfortable. The decor has a decidedly Irish theme--the bar is offset from the rest of the restaurant and looks very much like an Irish pub.My co-workers and I were very impressed with the food. Two of us ordered the filet mignon, while Bill ordered the prime rib. In each case, the steaks were cooked to spec, and were tender and well-seasoned. Mine came with a baked sweet potato, which was a welcome break from the traditional baked potato or french fries.The beers were solid. I drank a Hop Rocket and a Schwarzbier. One co-worker ordered a Whitetail Ale, while another had a root beer. I enjoyed the Hop Rocket. It was a pretty standard IPA. I could have stood it to have a more pronounced hop flavor, but I am admittedly a hophead, so others would probably find it strong enough. I also really enjoyed the Schwarzbier. It was smooth, with a roasted malt flavor that didn't overwhelm. I picked up a growler for some friends back home, as well as a growler of the Irish red. A note about growlers. H & H will fill your growler and it's reasonably cheap--I think I paid $9.95. They also sell their own growlers, the kind with the flip-top lids. These are $17.95 plus $9.95 for the beer. It was a little more than I expected, but I should have asked about the growler price before I ordered it. Overall, H & H was an enjoyable experience. The food was excellent and deserves high marks. The beer didn't blow me away, but it was all solid and well crafted. I'd give the food an A and the beer a strong B+.
The details:
Hereford & Hops
1740 Rt. 228
Cranberry Twp., PA 16066
724.742.2337
http://www.herefordandhops.com
Technorati Tags: beer, brewing, craft brew, brewpub, brew restaurant, Hereford & Hops, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, steaks, Hop Rocket, schwartzbeer, black lager, Irish red, BeerFly, regional beers, beer travel
In preparation for St. Paddy's Day, here is one of my favorite pub jokes:One Saturday, an Irishman walks into a pub in New York, orders three pints of Guinness, and takes a seat at a booth in the back. He sips from one beer, then another, and another, until all three are gone. The barkeep watches but says nothing.The next Saturday, the same Irishman comes into the bar, orders three pints, and starts sipping away at the beers. This time, the barkeep feels compelled to say something. "You know, the beers would taste better if you ordered and drank them one at a time."The Irishman looks at the barkeep, then back at the beers, and starts to explain:"It looks odd, but it's a family tradition. See, I live here in New York, my brother lives in Sydney, and my other brother lives in London. Every Saturday, we each go to a pub and have a beer for each other. It helps us keep in touch."Satisfied with the explanation, the barkeep goes back to the bar. And each Saturday, for weeks and months on end, the Irishman heads to the pub, where there are three pints waiting for him.One Saturday about six months later, the Irishman comes into the pub, but instead of taking the three pints, he explains that he'll only be needing two pints that day. "Sorry to hear about your brother," the barkeep says."Huh? Oh, my brother," the Irishman explains. "No, they're both fine. See, I've just quit drinking."
Nope, I haven't quit drinking and I'm not dead, but it has been a busy time personally, so forgive the lack of posts. Lots to catch up on.
I'll start with a recent trip to Chicago. I was out in Evanston on business, but was able to meet up with my friend Larry, who is very active on the local literary scene. We hit Resi's Bierstube for dinner, mainly because his borther-in-law (Sonny) works there and because I'd heard much about it.
Resi's is one of the last remaining German biergardens in Chicago. Before my trip, I had read a review that stated that Resi's was like a German VFW hall. Can't agree more. The decor isn't much, but this place is still a find. If you like big, hearty Eastern European fare, as well as a wide selection of German brews, this is the place.
I tried a BBK, which I had never heard of. The bartender described it as a German pils, although the beer itself was too sweet and not crisp enough to be a pils. BeerAdvocate lists a BBK Dortmunder, which might be the same beer I tried. Either way, it was pleasant enough, but not something I'd get again.
I would, however, order the Aventinus I had as my second choice again. And again. And again. This beer was big and malty--very tasty. However, if I ever make it back to Resi's, it'll be tough to limit myself to just the beers I've had before. There were about 25 beers on the list, all authentically German or microbrews true to German styles. Very impressive beer list.
And the food was terrific, too. The picture isn't much to look at, but I had Knackwurst, with kraut and German potato salad. Delicious. Made my German heritage proud!I've heard Resi's is even more spectacular when it's warm enough that you can sit out in the actual biergarden. That may be true, but I'd eagerly head back any time of the year.
The details:
Resi's Bierstube
2034 W. Irving Park Rd.
Chicago, Illinois, 60618
773.472.1749
Next Thursday, at 8:00 PM, Boston's Bistro, a.k.a. America's Most Arrogant Pub, is hosting a Stone Brewing tasting. The draft list includes:Sadly, I'll be en route from Chicago, so I'll miss the tasting. But there's no reason for anyone else to not go!Technorati Tags: beer, brewing, craft beer, Stone, Boston's Bistro, tasting, Old Guardian, Arrogant Bastard, Double Bastard, Oaked Bastard, Smoke Porter, Stone IPA, Dayton, Ohio
(File this one under "better late than never." Guess that's what happens when you have little ones at home . . . )
The last Friday of January, Jungle Jim's welcomed Dave Engbers of Founders Brewing to host a tasting of his brewery's beers, including several beers rarely or never seen outside of the Founders Taproom.
I chatted with Dave prior to the start of the tasting. What a great guy--warm, friendly, more than happy to talk about his brewery. He talked about the tap room being a proving ground for new beers, that they will try out a recipe for a new beer, gauge the response, then tweak the recipe again. They brew the experimental beers mainly in 20 barrel batches, which Dave explains lasts about 4 weeks. This time frame is long enough that they can see how many repeat orders they get for the beer, once the newness factor wears off. He noted that Red's Rye was formulated in this manner, expect that in the tap room it was dubbed RyePA.
During the tasting, Dave also talked a good bit about the company history. Not long after he graduated college, he and a buddy decided to change course and start a brewery. They began small and, at first, brewed the sorts of traditional brews typical of microbreweries. As they watched small breweries around them go under, and as they say America's tastes start to change, they adapted their business model, brewing big, more adventurous brews. Today, it is these brews for which they are known. (Their Kentucky Breakfast Stout is number 4 on BeerAdvocate's top beers, their regular Breakfast Stout is number 11).
Dave Engbers guards the Dry Hopped Pale Ale
The brewery is still somewhat small, although they just doubled their capacity and will soon be brewing about 8000 barrels a year. Distribution is still relatively modest, too. I wouldn't expect that to change wildly, even with the enlarged capacity. Instead, they seem to be committing to quenching the desire locally--last year they were only able to fill about 60% of the orders that came in. Great news for those of us in the Great Lakes region!
The beer list was fantastic. A little shorter than the usual Jungle Jim's tasting (they usually include 10 beers), but this one made up for any perceived shortcomings in uniqueness (two of the beers were small batch beers, served for the first time outside of the tasting room) and in punch (the beers started at 6.2% abv, with several between 8% and 10%).- Dry Hopped Pale Ale--round hop aroma that was floral and crisp; malty, but the citrus hop flavors upstage the malt; clean finish
- Centennial Ale--bigger than the dry hopped, with a HUGE Centennial citrus hop aroma; overall taste is much more balanced than the aroma would suggest, with a bittersweet finish
- Dirty Bastard (draft)--I was anxious about this beer, given the lackluster impression when I reviewed it several months ago. At the time, I wondered if the bottle I'd picked up hadn't gone bad. Now I'm certain that was the case. This version of the beer tasted nothing like the earlier beer I'd tried. It was huge, sweet, and well-rounded, with hints of plum and raisin. Lots of hop flavor, and not much peat, but very solid, well-rounded. I'll have to pick up another bottle at some point soon.
- Red's Rye--I've had several rye beers before, but nothing quite like this. With 11% rye in the mash, the beer has a reddish coloring and a crisp, grainy taste. The Amarillo hops give it a huge grapefruit flavor.
- Double Trouble Imperial IPA (draft)--Only a handful of kegs are available of this very limited release beer. Brewery Jeremy Kosmicki and his father brewed this IIPA one weekend. The hops give it a huge, hop-cheese nose, and the taste is bitter without being one-dimensional. Glad to have tried it.
- Blushing Monk Belgian Razz (draft)--another tap room exclusive. This beer was loosely based on the Rubaeus, on overload. I'm not generally a fan of fruit beers, but this was something else. Nearly like a raspberry sorbet--clean, refreshing, a 10% abv palate cleanser.
- Breakfast Stout (draft)--I was lucky enough to grab a 4-pack at an earlier tasting, so I'd had this legendary beer before. However, it was even better on tap--enough so that I grabbed a growler for a later date.
I hadn't had a lot of Founders beers before going to this tasting. I was really impressed both with Dave and with his beers. I'm starting to understand why so many of their beers are in such high demand. (The next batch of Kentucky Breakfast Stout is set for release on March 15th). Oh, and be sure to check out Founders on myspace.
Nathan, Jason, and Scott with Breakfast Stout
Technorati Tags: beer, brewing, craft beer, Founders, Jungle Jim's, Michigan, brewery, tasting, Cincinnati, tap room, taproom, Breakfast Stout, Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Beer Advocate, Great Lakes, Dry Hopped Pale Ale, Centennial Ale, Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale, Red's Rye, rye, malt, hops, Double Trouble IIPA, Jeremy Kosmicki, Blushing Monk Belgian Razz, Rubaeus, myspace
