Pub Crawlin’

Traveling to Dark Lord Day last weekend, I had the opportunity to shop at several terrific wine/beer/liquor stores. It was so much fun shopping in places that had a variety of products to offer, and allowed me to purchase small quantities at competitive prices. We visited the following:

• Rozi’s Wine House in Lakewood, OH opened at 8 AM and sold a great selection of wine, foodie gifts, homebrew supplies and deli items (oh, did the cheese look fabulous!) And, of course, craft beers.  A sandwich board announced they are ranked 47th in the world for beer selection.
• Champane’s Wine Cellar & International Marketplace in Warren, MI had a large selection of Michigan beers available, and many other great microbrews at wonderful prices (Derek pointed out Blackout Stout 4-packs at $9.) I chatted with the beer manager, who really wanted our opinion on his fairly recently acquired selection (rumor has it there are between 90 and 150 different beers!) We all agreed it was a great stop!
• Liquor Stop in Highland, IN was attractive due to its proximity to Three Floyds. And for the beer traveler, knowing that Flossmoor Station isn’t far away probably makes it even more desirable.
• Siciliano’s Market in Grand Rapids, MI has become a regular stop on our way to Founders. The store is small, but they pack it in! The front of the store features homebrewing supplies, coffee, tea and tobacco. In the back, there is a wide selection of beers, priced singularly with a 10% discount on cases, mixed or not.  It was a huge selection for such a compact space.

This is on my mind because I recently discovered Lew Bryson’s new blog, which I have really been enjoying. Entitled Why The PLCB Should Be Abolished, he explains, “I started this blog to get people in Pennsylvania angry about the PLCB,” with the hope of generating advocacy. That’s a great idea, and bless Lew’s soul if he actually gets enough people so informed as to the many facets of stupidity in our system that they actually begin to advocate for change.

Unfortunately, at least in my area of the world, I find that most people are complacent rule followers. People are either content with the way things are because they can’t imagine life being any different, or they are very aware and unhappy, but unwilling to channel those feelings into political action. This isn’t just true in the world of beer - it’s true with every issue. And as someone who has completely unresponsive legislators, I can understand why it seems easier to do nothing…but that doesn’t make it okay to do nothing.

The thing we need to remember is that the operative word from the acronym PLCB is CONTROL. The Commonwealth has all of the power; the producers and consumers have none. I would love to see a shift where the “C” word is something more like Choice, Competition or Customer-service. Better yet, I’d love to see that acronym disappear from my vocabulary!

Meanwhile, like a stereotypical girl, I’ll look forward to those big out-of-state shopping trips! (Shawan’s, anyone?)

Here is a video and a PDF describing one of the many projects I’ve been working on… 

Great soundbyte, btosiano!

D and I were just talking about Mike Hiller and how things are hopefully going in Williamsport. How timely that this news just came across my radar…

Bavarian Barbarian Brewing Company is pleased to announce that Weldspatter IPA is now on tap! Samples and growlers are available at the Horde Room in the brewery, located at 429 W. 3rd St. The beer is also on tap at Kimball’s and B21 in Williamsport.

Weldspatter I.P.A. is a hoppy, though well-balanced beer with a sweet hop flavor and Elysian aroma. This unfiltered beer has a richer, more golden color than most other pale ales. The hops in Weldspatter I.P.A. include Phoenix and Pilgrim varieties imported from England and an American variety called Nugget. India Pale Ale beers typically go very well with pungent cheeses, grilled meats and spicy foods.

Great news, and congratulations!

Weldspatter I.P.A. was the winner in the Barbarian’s Selection ’08 Campaign, which allowed voters to choose the next beer style. It was announced April 1st and immediately brewed with an expected release date of Friday, April 11. Unexpected problems arose during filtration, which ultimately ruined the characteristic hop flavors inherent to the India Pale Ale style and the release was postponed.

In celebration of the release, the brewery will offer growler fills of this new brew for $8 now through the 3rd of May.  I doubt I’ll make it up for that, but perhaps a friend or family member will get a chance to check it out.

Okay…the best thing about sharing this news is that I got to use the word “Elysian” in back-to-back blog postings - when does that ever happen?

I attended a beautiful event tonight - a wake for our dear Remote Patron Authentication server. Since 2002, it has provided well for us. But every computer has it’s time. I was just so glad they were able to put it down with care, rather than allowing it to end life with a crash…

Out of respect and remembrance, we gathered at Alibis for a fine memorial dinner. Around the table, we enjoyed Ithaca Apricot Wheat, Troegenator Double Bock, Legacy Hedonism and Lion’s Pocono Pale Ale.

Only kind words were spoken for our former RPA server, and it brought back fine beer memories such as a 2001 pre-server training in Pottsville (home of Yuengling) and a 2002 technology conference in Seattle (which was fully educational, but included evening visits to Elysian, Pike, Pyramid, Red Door and the now-defunct Redhook Trollyman Pub.)

Thanks, my friends, for taking great care of our computers and for enjoying good beer!

The most frequently asked question of me at Dark Lord Day was, “Where’s D?” Several of the men commented that their wives wouldn’t go to DLD for them… 

Honey, I didn’t go FOR him - I went in spite of him! I went for myself (although the truth is I probably wouldn’t have gone if Heath and Kim hadn’t included me in their ride.)

Anyway, he had to work all weekend, but did get the day off on Saturday to attend Heather & Jake’s wedding. And since he was in State College, that provided an opportunity to attend Zeno’s Belgian Brew Fest, which ran from 3-8 PM on April 26.

Looking at the full list of 70 bottles and 6 taps of Flemish, Wallonian, Trappist and Farmhouse beers, it does sound like a good time!  Here is what he enjoyed:

• De Dolle Dulle Teve
• De Rank XX Bitter
• Duchesse de Bourgogne
• Gulden Draak
• Melbourne Cherry
• Petrus Aged Ale
• Piraat

Am I jealous?  Absolutely not… That same night, I was drinking Hoppy Chick IPA on cask at The Livery, and I had both a Vanilla Porter and a blended glass of Rubaeus/Imperial Stout at the new Founder’s location.

Derek, Heath and Kim also introduced me to Culver’s that day, where we got the family-sized order of Dairyland Cheese Curds. My life is forever changed (and my cholesterol is forever high!)

Real dairy-fresh white and yellow cheddar cheese curds breaded and cooked to a gooey, cheesy golden brown. These curds are made in Wisconsin just for Culver’s!

 

The notes in my Palm T|X said the following from our April 4-6 trip to State College, PA:

We’re sitting here having such a relaxing time at Zeno’s. 

 

All the stresses of work and home are just melting away, as we enjoy day two of the Cask Ale Weekend (I guess it was a long weekend, as it started yesterday!)  We arrived just in time for the AAA Blues Band to start playing, and very quickly, D and I were thinking the same thing…we miss KClingers!  Not enough to end the boycott…they screwed us so royally…but we both pined a bit for the old days when we used to drink good beer and listen to great music in the company of friends.

 

I swiftly reminded D that we are drinking MUCH BETTER beer, right now, and quite frankly, we have better beer IN OUR OWN BASEMENT then we can get at KClingers.  We can go home, pop in a CD from a band that Bill has banned or one that has broken up (Danny Morris?!?! Where are you now?!?) But we won’t. Because we are here and the experience is wonderful.

Those were notes from the first night, and on Saturday, we met up with a bunch of friends from all over the state (first at Otto’s for lunch, and then on to Zeno’s for the night.)  Here are the beers we had - Zeno’s was kind enough to offer a pitcher price, so our crowd of, like, 10 people, were able to order pitchers and share…

• Big Black Voodoo Daddy
• Otto’s Red Mo
• Otto’s Nugget IPA
• Otto’s Double Double D IPA
• Otto’s Jolly Roger Imperial Stout
• Ithaca Nut Brown
• Ithaca 10th Anniversary Ale
• Cricket Hill Best Bitter
• Weyerbacher Double Simcoe
• Sly Fox Seamus Red Ale
• Troeg’s Hopback
• Troeg’s Mt. Hood Red (which is really Troeg’s Pale Ale dry hopped with Mt. Hood Hops)
• Bell’s Java Stout
• Bell’s Two Hearted IPA
• East End Fat Gary Nut Brown
• Weyerbacher Double Simcoe
• East End Gratitude
• Lancaster Rare Cock Bock
• Legacy Hedonism American Strong Ale

Besides our usual cast of characters, it was fun to hang out with Matt Allyn and his wife (from Voodoo Brewery), Scott from East End Brewing, and the Ithaca Brewing rep (sorry - I don’t have your card right here and I’ve forgotten the name…)

       (thanks to Tim for being the photographer!)

Is this a good time to mention that on Friday I stopping in at Troeg’s for a taste of Scratch 11, dry hopped with Cascade hops, from a firkin? Mmmmm, mmmmm…tasty!

As part of my campaign to “take back the basement in 2008,” a tasting party at our house seemed in order. D decided to make it a premature St. Patrick’s Day meal of corned beef, cabbage and potatoes, and chose a nice line-up of beers to share.

It was a little bit of an open-house situation with a count of approximately fourteen - twice the number that can comfortably sit at our table - and many brought additional food and brews. It made for a really nice gathering of acquaintances. Here is the line-up (in alphabetical order, since I don’t recall the exact order of presentation):

• Bar Harbor Brewing Co. Special Amber Ale (Vintage 2007; Bottle Number 587)
• Bell’s Two-Hearted (5 liter mini-keg)
• Berkshire Brewing Co. Bourbon Barrel Scotch Ale (brewed exclusively for Julio’s Liquors)
• Berkshire Brewing Co. Lost Sailor IPA
• The Brewer’s Art Green Peppercorn Tripel (no oysters here…)
• Cassissona (sparkling black currant-aged 6 months-bottles 2/25/2005)
• Firestone Walker Porter Reserve
• Frederiksberg Chocolate Stout (I hope I have the correct link!)
• Full Sail Top Sail Imp. Porter Bourbon Barrel Aged Brewmasters Reserve 2008
• New Glarus Brewing Raspberry Tart
• One Guy Cinnamon Boldy (growler; brewed with honey and Vietnamese cinnamon)
• Pisgah Baptista
• Pisgah Valdez (growler)
• The Portsmouth Brewery IPA
• Sixpoint Craft Ales Bolshoi Russian Imperial Stout(signed by brewmaster Shane C. Welch - batch # 74, bottle # 652)
• Ska Brewing Nefarious Ten Pin Imperial Porter
• Southern Tier Choklat
• Stone 6th Anniversary Porter
• Stone 9th Anniversary Ale
• Stone Russian Imperial Stout
• Stuise Brewery Aardmonnik Earthmonk Flemish Sour Ale (1000 bottles every 2 years)
• Thomas Hardy’s Ale - 1986 (Bottle #A 32923; 1986 was the year Thomas Hardy’s Ale was introduced to the United States for sale)
• Unibroue Edition 2004

I owe a special thanks to Jason, not only for bringing the ever-so-tasty buffalo chicken dip, but for being so thoughtful to provide the growler of One Guy Cinnamon Boldy. It was a bit polarizing - some people didn’t care for the sweet, hot cinnamon in their lager, while others (like me!) absolutely loved the tingling in the nose and the heat dancing on the tongue. It’s such a nice beer with a sneaky 9% punch! , low alcohol treat.

I broke out the Lindt Excellence 70% Cocoa (and some less-potent dark chocolate) to go with the New Glarus Brewing Raspberry Tart, and transition us over to the Southern Tier Choklat.  My mom would say of both, “that’s not beer!,” but I’m so glad that the brewers didn’t think that way. I’m such a fan of the hops, but these two treats take me down a whole different path of enjoyment.

I pulled out the Lively Run Fine Herb Chevre, and it was a big hit. It went well with rosemary crackers from The Fine Cheese Company, which I had in the cupboard. Unfortunately, it was gone by the time we opened up The Brewer’s Art Green Peppercorn Tripel. It was a little too peppery for my taste, but would have probably gone well with this calming, mellow cheese.

My biggest surprise was the Stuise Brewery Aardmonnik Earthmonk Flemish Sour Ale. Given that I am not a huge fan of sour beers and D is, I expected he would enjoy it and I would be less positive. In reality, I thought this was a pretty good and certainly drinkable sour ale. D couldn’t think of one good word to describe it! He was the only one of the six people around the table who did not care for this beer.

The beer of the night was the Thomas Hardy Ale. It was a vintage ale from 1986, and came from the other Jason’s cellar (it seems the men had to have a J or D name to be invited to this party - Jeff, Jason, Jason, John, Joseph, Dave, David and Deuane represented the male population.) We broke out the snifter glasses for this one, and it was absolutely worthy of new glassware. So smooth, so wonderful.

We started early with an intention to drive to Appalachian Brewing Company to hear Herbie, but D was in no condition to drive, and I was happy to continue hosting (we did pop the Herbie CD in the stereo, though!) 

Things wrapped up pretty late, and we didn’t get out of the house on Sunday in time for the Philly Beer Week events (with the cancellation of the Game Dinner, and no appetite to attend the Lost Abbey brunch, my interest waned a bit anyway.) What a great way to spend our shortened weekend!

On Friday, I enjoyed my fourth and fifth firkins for the 2008 Nugget Nectar season, thanks to Paul at the General Sutter Inn.  The last event there was such a success that nearly 40 people were still in line when the Nectar kicked, so not only did he do it again, but he got two firkins!

The ballroom was a wonderful location for the event. There was room for everyone and it didn’t take long to go through the first of the two firkins of Nugget Nectar.  As always, this was of the gods…  This ultra-hoppy amber is piney and cirtusy; it finishes bitter, but the bitterness does not linger. On cask, this is a perfect pint.

The Ridgeway Oxfordshire Blue, also on cask, was nothing to scoff at either.  It had light flavors of toasted malt and an earthy hop dryness in the finish (I can say with conviction that I did not taste hamster bedding, as described by a bottle drinker in Suffolk!)

I’m glad the minor snowstorm held off long enough for us to enjoy cask ale night at General Sutter!

This was sent to me from Kira Gay Hiller, Operations Manager (and self-proclaimed Battle Axe) at the Bavarian Barbarian Brewing Company - it’s an announcement we’ve been waiting for!

The Race for the Brewhouse has begun! The Bavarian Barbarian Brewing Company, brewer of “The People’s Beer,” is inviting the People to choose their next beer style. Beginning today, the Barbarian is launching Selection ‘08 in which the people of Williamsport will elect either Weldspatter IPA, or Square Feet Wheat Ale. [Editor's note: BBBC assured me that those of us not living in Williamsport are also welcome to vote!]

Early polls indicate that the Weldspatter IPA, an India Pale Ale, may be heading for a landslide victory due to the IPA’s vocal and fervent supporters. However, political experts are forecasting a strong showing from Square Feet Wheat Ale’s more subdued supporters.

“There may be a silent majority at work in this area,” says pundit Tipsy McStagger, “especially in the surrounding boroughs and among female voters.”

Polling will continue through the month of March and supporters for both beer styles are eagerly anticipating their beer’s victory to be announced on April 1. Visit the Selection ‘08 polling center to vote and track the progress.

The Barbarian encourages everyone to follow each candidate’s campaign closely. Remember your civic duty and vote your conscience. In this election, every vote counts.

The Bavarian Barbarian Brewing Company is Williamsport’s first production brewery since the 1950s and intends to expand its production and distribution beyond Pennsylvania’s borders in the ensuing years. For more information on Bavarian Barbarian Brewing Company, please visit their website or call 570-322-5050.

At the Selection ‘08 Polling Station & News Center, you can read about the candidates, view the results, and sign up to attend the April 11 Inaguration Party.

So, come on, America!  Get out there and vote! And if you haven’t made the trip, go visit the brewery to taste their initial offerings. The folks at Bavarian Barbarian are incredibly personable and serve up a decent ale. Take your growler, or use their growlers for a small deposit, because you’ll want to share the love.

As reported this morning on my local news station, PA House Bill 606 is getting closer to the vote. I don’t have time to keep up with all of the politics (and when I do a little ‘net search, Lew Bryson remains the most on top of this situation!), but I do have time to write to my legislators at the House and Senate.  I’ll write again. 

They never write back, so I’m guessing neither of them support it, but I could be all wrong.  Maybe they are just busy like the rest of us.  I do hear from them on how they are lowering my property taxes (which doesn’t ever show up on my tax bill), create better schools for my children (what children?), improving the environment (by allowing windmills to destroy our wildest and highest habitats?) and are making a difference in the area of transportation (really? why is light rail proposed where there is already an Amtrak line, but not heading west from Harrisburg where the commuter population is growing?)  Ooops…sorry…this is about the craft brewing industry.

Whether you support the “six-pack bill” or not, just a short note expressing your opinion, like this one, is appropriate. If you don’t know how to find your legislators, visit my previous posts on SB 674 and HB 606 on this matter.