Mom's 74th Birthday Party

This weekend we celebrated my Mom’s birthday at my house.  We shared a lot of stories, laughs and, of course, a few beers.   My mother brought over an old picture of me and my brothers from about 35 years ago when we were kids.  That photo stimulated numerous stories about our growing up and a few laughs over the hair styles and clothes we wore back in the 70’s. Many of the stories revolved around how often we tried to kill each other either by accident or on purpose. 

One of my favorites is when my youngest brother, Pat, and I would pretend to be The Six Million Dollar Man and throw each other across the room.  My mom would pick up my dad from the bus stop at 7pm each night and, while she was gone, our wrestling matches would get a little more realistic.  One night, it got too physical and we ended up in a fist fight.  Being older and bigger, I had a distinct advantage in the fight until it moved to the kitchen where Pat found a knife.   He chased me around the dining room table with a crazy look in his eye.  I knew I just had to keep running until our parents got home from the bus stop, but sometimes I wonder what would have happened if he ever caught me. 

Today, what we don’t talk about, but is felt universally, is how close we are as adults. We all live in the same town less than a mile from each other.  Our kids all go to the same school and spend lots of time together.   And we find reasons to hang out together.  Whether it’s these family parties, hiking on Sunday mornings, watching each other’s kid’s sporting events, or sitting down over a good beer, we find ways to be in each other’s company. 

Being a parent of teenagers today, I can understand how hard it must have been for my parents, and my mom particularly being home with us the bulk of the time, to raise us.  My brothers and I are living through the trials and tribulations of raising teens right now.  Sometimes we talk fondly of that beach house we will retire to where nobody needs to be driven anywhere. But I think we will have considered ourselves successful parents if, when our kids are adults, they spend time together like we do. 

So mom, happy birthday and thanks for being such a successful parent.  You have earned a relaxing retirement and, hopefully, many more of these parties!

Oak Aged Pumpking

Pumpking is, hands down, my favorite beer.  This past fall, I held a blind taste test of 19 different pumpkin ales and Pumpking won by a mile. So when I heard that my local beverage center had a limited release oak-aged version on tap, I ran down and filled a growler for personal consumption.  At $22, including the bottle, it was not cheap, but I was hoping to have an outer body experience with this beer.  As soon as I got home I poured myself a nice big glass:

It pours similar to the original with a small head that dissipates quickly.  The oak has the same sweet caramel smell of its predecessor.  The first sip is sweet with a nice alcoholic bite.  A complex combination of tastes is roaming around my mouth.  The sweetness prevails but the woody taste is present.  And it’s that oaky flavor that lingers in my mouth the longest.  I’m not sure I like this as much as the original.  It is definitely a little more complex, but it’s the after taste that is remembered most.  It’s hard to put my finger, or my tongue, on exactly what I’m experiencing.  I’m reminded of painting my deck and the strong chemical smell of the paint thinner I used to clean the brushes. I guess some people like this experience, but I can’t say that I’m one of them.  It seems that this is a case of leaving good enough alone.

I am not about to dump the rest of the growler down the drain – this is Pumpking after all.  But I probably will not opt to do a refill.  I will let my wife, who is also a big fan, try it to see if it is just me or if the paint thinner thing is detectable by her more sensitive palate.  I’m thinking that she might have a similar reaction.

What I’m experiencing is probably the movement happening in craft beer right now to constantly come out with new recipes and blends.  Oak aged, sour beer, bourbon barrel selects, nitro widget double chocolates breakfast stouts.  What’s next,  lunch and dinner stouts.  Could it be that brewers are going a little over board to have the latest and greatest thing?  I like the old thing best: Great fresh beer.

Flights at Bailey's

My wife and I were looking to have a quick TGIF bite to eat after a long work week. We opted for Bailey’s Smokehouse in Blauvelt, NY because of the solid menu and the nice craft beer list. We were there back in October and I was surprised to see some of my favorite pumpkin ales in the house.  This time the beer list was even more impressive and they added flights of four 4 oz. drafts for $6. This gave us the opportunity to try many different craft beers without breaking the bank. 

Doreen started with bottle of Ithaca Apricot Wheat and I had a pint of Flying Dog Porter draft.  She found her beer a little too light, but my porter was rich, dark and satisfying.  We ordered the fried sampler consisting of potato skins, crab cake, pork rolls and mac and cheese egg rolls.  The crab cake was fresh and delicious with a spicy salsa-like topping.  The egg rolls were on the spicy side too but very filling.  The pork rolls looked a little over-done so I didn’t even make an attempt at them.  Besides, I needed to leave some room for the brews.

We each ordered a flight of four so we were able to taste the following 8 craft beers:

Ommegang BPA

Sixpoint Bengal Tiger IPA

Troegs Hop Amber Ale

Franziskaner Hefenweisen

21^st Amendment Back in Black IPA

Goose Island Honker Ale

Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ sumpin’

Dogfish Head 60 min IPA

We tried them all and then each ordered a pint of our favorite to go along with Bailey’s specialty: thin crust pizza. Dor went with the Hefenweisen which is a German Weiss (wheat) beer and had the lowest alcohol by volume of the bunch at 5%. This style of beer looks cloudy due to the yeast not being filtered out. We both agreed it had a fruity nose and nice banana and cloves taste.  These are not ingredients used in the brewing; they are aromas given off by esters produced by the fermentation process.  It had a slightly soapy mouth feel which may also be due to the byproducts of fermentation. 

My favorite was the Back in Black IPA from 21^st Amendment Brewing Co.  The brewery is named after the amendment to the Constitution that repealed Prohibition.  Apparently, 2 friends decided to start a brew pub in San Francisco that had the feel of one of the city’s 40 or so breweries that were in existence before alcohol was made illegal in 1920. Today, there are only 8 breweries to support double the population.   21^st Amendments beers are named in honor of great Americans.  Black in Black pays tribute to Paul Revere’s famous ride.

This beer pours with the hue of used motor oil with a frothy brown head on top.  Both the nose and taste of this beer says toasted malt.  That sweet flavor was complemented nicely by a bitter finish donated by the hops.  It had the perfect bitter/sweet dichotomy of rich dark chocolate.  At 6.8% ABV, it is not too strong if you are looking to have more than one.  Unfortunately, I already had more than one.  So I finished my pizza and made a mental note to find this beer, which is made in cans, at my local bevy.

When the weather gets cold, I can’t help but turn to darker beers to warm up the chilly nights.  So I went down to the “beer cellar”, which is really just a closet in my basement that has a lock on the door, and pulled out a milk stout.  This one is from Lancaster Brewing Co. and it’s the first beer I’ve had from this brewery.  I would figure a brewery in Lancaster would make some reference to the Amish and they do in their Four Grain Pale Ale.  Their web site professes to “pay respect to the old traditions” in their brewing style. Let see how their Milk Stout holds up to scrutiny:

It pours almost black out of the bottle.  There is virtually no head and subsequently, no lacing.   I can pick up a slight coffee aroma as I wave the glass beneath my nose.  The first sip feels like a slightly flat Coke swirling around my mouth.  It has a strong coffee flavor with a bitter finish coming through loud and clear. 

This beer is not nearly as creamy as other milk stouts I have had.  Milk stouts get their sweetness from the lactose, or milk sugar, which is unfermentible by the yeast.  As a result, these stouts are much sweeter than your typical bitter stouts like Guinness.   Unfortunately, I didn’t taste the sugary, sweetness I was expecting and am not crazy about this beer.  The Lancaster is not terrible, it just pales in comparison to some others that I’ve tried like Left Hand’s Milk Stout.  Now there’s a creamy, satisfying stout.

Beers of Japan

It’s a cold crisp day and the kids and I are home from school for MLK Day.  I offer to buy lunch and they are all over going out for sushi, like we usually do when I’m buying.  We go to our local Japanese place called U Me Sushi and share several different rolls including Teka Maki (Tuna), Unagi (Eel), Alaskan (Salmon) and Californian, which is mostly avocado and salmon roe (eggs). 

I take the opportunity to try a couple of Japanese beers.  My first is Sapporo Premium which is like the Budweiser of Japan. It comes out of the bottle a yellow/gold and has a thin head like most American Lagers.  I can pick up a slight hop smell which becomes a pleasant floral taste upon first sipping it.  It is very light and drinkable with a bit of bitter after taste. 

Next, I order an Asahi which would be the Miller of Japan.  The pour and carbonation look identical to the Sapporo along with the hoppy nose.  The taste and even the lacing up the glass are similar.  So much so, that I feel I could be drinking another Sapporo.  The only difference I can detect is the slightly dryer finish on the Asahi.  Both beers go very well with the fresh fish and I declare lunch a success. 

It turns out that the similarity between these beers is not a coincidence: they have a connection.  The Sapporo brewery was opened in 1886 and combined with Asahi at the turn of the century.  The two were produced under the same parent company until the 1950’s when they were split off. They have remained separate since but, like the Macro beers of the U.S., they seem to be trying to appeal to the masses.

After lunch my son, who just got his license (lucky me), drives me to my local beverage center where I heard they have a beer aged in sake barrels.  This seems like a good day to pick one up and compare it to the Budweiser and Miller of japan.  Hitachino XH (Extra High) has an 8% ABV and is considered a Belgian Strong Ale.  It pours an auburn color with a thin tan head.  I leave the residue behind in the bottle because I don’t want to get a surprise from drinking all that yeast as I have in the past.  The residue at the bottom of the bottle smells a little funky.   I notice that the back of the label has some letters and numbers stamped on it: XH: 11: 09.  I hope this doesn’t mean that it’s good until Nov 2009.  I’ve been burned by expiredbeer as well.

The beer in my glass has a smell of fresh bread.  First sip: malty and smooth.  No noticeable sake taste.  More a slight whiskey after taste.  Now, after I sit a moment, a little tinge of sake hits me.  It makes for a pleasing combination.  Overall, my evaluation is: very smooth and very enjoyable.  It may have a relatively high ABV, but I don’t feel it.  The malt and sake tastes blend well as I sit back in my chair and let the sensations work on my tongue and the back of my throat.

Not to be outdone by the lagers, Hitachino has been produced at the Kiuchi Brewery in Naka, Japan since 1823.  They also brew sake and the popular shochu, which is a stronger version of sake used in mixed drinks.  The company’s web site features a dancing owl that first distracts, then annoys you, while you wait for the pages to load. 

What a different experience Hiachino is from the Japanese lagers I had earlier with lunch.  Whereas the lagers went down so quickly, this beer demands a slow, thoughtful consumption.  At $5.79 per 12 oz. bottle, it is also more economical to drink this beer slowly.  If you sit and contemplate the complexity of this Extra High beer, you will get many more smiles per gallon.