Pub Crawlin’

I stopped paying attention to this issue with the crazy holidays, so thanks to Lew Bryson for putting up a post about the ammendment to House Bill 606.  His post, as always, is comprehensive, but if not convincing enough for you to act, read on at Beer Advocate, Beeryard News and my childhood local paper.

If you support the amendment to House Bill 606, you need to contact your legislators, and let them know you support the ammendment as written, which allows the sale of six-packs at beer distributors. Make it clear that a limit to 12-, 15-, or 18-pack sales is not acceptable.

Please - help me take back the basement - advocate for six-pack sales in PA!

So I’m planning a business trip to Pittsburgh in a few weeks, and I want to show my co-workers (who are also my friends!) a nice time.  One of our only free moments is Tuesday night, so I thought we could relax and enjoy an evening at Church Brew Works, however, it will be Tuesday, November 6 - Election Day in Pennsylvania. 

For a moment, my heart stopped…please don’t tell me we’re going to have to go to Eat ‘n Park!  (Kidding!!  If we had to go to a dry restaurant, I would have chosen La Feria.)

Now, understand I’ve been working EVERY Tuesday night for at least four years, so I haven’t had an opportunity to experience Election-night imbibing.  But I do recall one of my first post-drinking-age election nights when I was shocked that they couldn’t serve me simply because it was Election Day.

Well, we’ve come a long way, PA, because apparently in 2000, Act 141 lifted those restrictions (wahoo!)  Perhaps I new that, and simply forgot.  It looks like we’ll be visiting The Church!

How very lucky for us that Duck-Rabbit was brewing on Friday, and accepted us as visitors!  This crude-on-the-outside building on the edge of town is a sparkling vision on the inside.  The smell of brewing came wafting out the doors, and it was fabulous to meet the friendly guys inside.

Paul (the owner and head brewer) and Ken (the self-described crazy homebrewer and right-hand man) are masters of the craft and extremely personable guys.  They run a great operation, and focus on dark beers.  Paul is a philosopher (formerly a professor, if I understood correctly), and Siebel graduate.  He’s been brewing for 20 years, and worked in Cincinnati and Louisville (Pipkin - now defunct) before opening this facility with a 20-barrel brew kettle.

They can’t sell on the premisis, but pointed us in the direction to where we could purchase Duck-Rabbit products.  But we were offered tastings of the four standard brews.  Here are a few (brief) impressions:

• * Amber - good tasting American amber; high in carbonation
• * Porter - really enjoyable; dark, roasty and a smooth oiliness in the mouthfeel
• * Brown Ale - my favorite of all the ales; full hoppy flavor - made with Amarillo (YUM!) and Saaz hops, it had a fabulous aroma and equally pleasing flavor; not an English Brown, but a hopped-up good ol’ American brown
• * Milk Stout - the subtle sweetness of this stout gave it a bright, lively flavor

We learned that the Brown Ale is made with a process called First Wort Hopping (FWH), which was a new concept to both of us.  It raises the IBU’s without creating an overpowering hop aroma or bitterness, resulting in a more balanced beer.  Perhaps that is the other reason I liked it so much.

We also learned about the seasonals: Barleywine (made with 95% Amarillo hops) in the winter, Rabid Duck Imperial Stout in the spring, Wee Heavy Scotch Style Ale in the summer and Baltic Porter in the fall.

I hope to get photos up as soon as we get home…we’ll see if that happens!

A few weeks ago, while walking down the street in search of sushi, we passed an old college hang-out of my friend Eric.  The Blessed Oliver Plunket had a cool name, and promising tudor fascade, but it was a dingy, dirty smoke-filled hole, and I personally never ate or drank there.

Well, we noticed someone open the door and we were nearly blinded by the bright, clean interior.  The light was shining through the latice work on the windows, and a new sign was hanging on the outside.  Alibi’s is the old Oliver Plunket all cleaned up!  So, today, Barbara and I tried it out for lunch.

They must have used Kilz on the walls to get out the smoke odor, and they completely refurbished the flooring.  The walls are creme color, chair rail to floor is black, and red accents abound.  It is classy and attractive, clean and smoke free.  I even pointed out there are round skylights, probably not seen in decades with the soot build-up.

The food was great - my steak salad had THE MOST tender strips of steak on it, and it was cooked to order.  The beer list was also pretty nice.  I was there during work hours, so I didn’t scrutinize it too hard, but I will be stopping in sometime soon for a Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, or something else tasty, very soon!

The staff were incredibly attentive, and everyone showed great concern with our satisfaction.  I was certainly impressed.  This will be my next stop for a beer in Carlisle, PA.

Barbara was cataloging books the other night, and something of interest rolled across her desk!  Apparently my library ordered The Essential Reference of Domestic Brewers and Their Bottled Brands (known in the industry as DBBB.)

She sent me a catalog link to the item, and I’ve found a few reviews (here, here and here!)

 (Click photo to read TAKE THIS TEST)

How fitting that the guys at Craft Beer Radio did their latest show from the Anheuser-Busch 2006 Hop Harvest Tour on the VERY SAME DAY that I spotted this sign.  They say, “It was awesome to experience the harvesting of hops, and to see the scale of the operation. Of course there was beer during this event, and to our pleasant surprise we had some beers beers that would stand up to classic examples in their style.”  They don’t say they want this flavor “thereafter”!

As I stated in my last post, we were glad that the birding was so awesome at Quivira NWR last evening, because our morning birding on the south drive wasn’t very productive. We repeated the north drive just for fun, and did pick up a few new birds, plus got a great look at black-necked stilt babies (not a very long look, as we didn’t want to upset the parents!)

We drove back to Grand Rapids, KS by way of Ellinwood – a cute little town with wheat sheaths on the lightpoles – where we found Mississippi Kites and Eurasian Collard Doves.   We continued on to Liebenthal where we followed the advice of Leo from Mo’s and picked up some Pat’s Beef Jerky.

There was no coffee this morning, so combine with the monotony of the drive from Grand Rapids to Hays, I fell right asleep. I woke up as we were driving into Hays from the south, and it looked like a sleepy little town (coming in from the north, it looks like any other larger town on an Interstate exit – busy with gas stations, convenience stores, fast food and chain restaurants.)

We located Gella’s Diner & Lb. Brewing Company, and things were far from sleepy in there! This place has a clean, fresh look that ranked it as a restaurant fitting for any major U.S. city. The literature described it as “inspired by icons of the Midwest”, with it’s handpainted farm murals, industrial agriculture lighting, open spaces and references to early railroad (one of the most obvious references was a part of the restaurant sectioned off my box-car style sliding doors.

This building, built in 1922, was used by Western Union and Midwest Energy, then closed up for many years until local investors were inspired to create the pub. The brick walls, light wood and use of metal piping and brushed aluminum against black surfaces gave clean lines to the entire place. Even the bathroom sinks were great – gooseneck faucets over flat white marble – the sinks were at least 1.5″ x 1.5″ with a 1″ lip.

“Fesh” is their motto, with as many ingredients as possible homemade and homegrown (mustards, dressing and ice cream all made in house; meats with no preservatives and never frozen, vegetables prepared on site and nothing ever microwaved.) The only contradiction to this were the colorful jars of pickled vegetable products that lined large sections of walls – giving the place beautiful color, although I noticed they were pickled products from Jake & Amos in Lancaster, PA. (more…)