CS Booze Club.

[Bagboy]

Had the Samuel Smiths Organic Strawberry Ale this evening. It was quite good. I wrote a review for it on BA. I gave it an A.

[Jester]

A girl is cooking me said steak dinner (with cous cous), probably Tuesday night. I hesitate to call it a date, as I don't think it is...but either way, I'd like to bring a nice wine, and she doesn't like many wines.

Bad news....I was right, it clearly was NOT a date.

(The good thing about having no expectations is that it is impossible to be disappointed. At least, that's the theory.)

However, she did love the wine I brought, which was suggested by a coworker: Chateau St. Michelle Harvest Select Riesling. I tried it, and it was quite nice. I recommend it highly, though I myself would not drink it with a steak, as she did.

Better with a steak was what I had for myself, which was BV Signet Collection Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon, 2004, a bottle I had had sitting in my wine rack for the last six years. It was wonderful! Rich, luxurious, smooth, just a hint of acidity, perfect for steak, and it just got better as the night went on. This wine is one I HIGHLY recommend.

Had the Samuel Smiths Organic Strawberry Ale this evening. It was quite good. I wrote a review for it on BA. I gave it an A.

Samuel Smith's also have an Organic Lager, which is nice, and and Oatmeal Stout, which is amazing, and a Nut Brown Ale, which is THE BOMB. One of the best browns I have EVER had.

[Bagboy]

I have a new favorite Mexican beer: Bohemia. Negra Modelo is my other favorite. Bohemia tastes like a German Pilsener. The worst Mexican beer to me is Corona. I've had the Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout, Nut Brown Ale, and Taddy Porter. The bottles are in my collection.

[thansal]

So, last night was a Beer and Cheese tasting/talk at AMNH with Garret Oliver, Brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewery and Aaron Foster, the cheese buyer for Murray's Cheese.

Garret Oliver was a treat, funny, engaging, passionate, and really knowledgeable about his field (Beer and Food).

He opened up with a short explanation of why Beer and Cheese makes perfect sense, even more so than Wine and Cheese. Mainly focusing on the fact that Beer has a much wider range of flavors than Wine, and is more likely to compliment a cheese due to them being from similar stock (ultimately, grass).

We then got down to the beers and cheeses, and it was well worth it. I'm just going to write a short note on each of the beers:

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace
A saison-style ale with Sorachi Ace hop. A light nose, lots of bright lemon notes. Tastes much as you would expect from the nose. Very lemony, very bright, a decent amount of hops bitterness, though not as much as I was expecting. Went great with the goat cheese it came with.

Brooklyn Wild 1
A very limited version of Brooklyn Local 1 (a great Belgian style ale) that has been aged in barrels, and then re-fermented with a wild yeast strain. Not my favorite. It was fun for knowing that this is a beer that isn't available to the public (about 40 cases have been made in total), and it still had much of what I like about Local 1, however it was a bit hoppier than I normally enjoy, and the cheese it was with, a buffalo milk washed rind cheese, was great, however the pairign wasn't my favorite.

Brooklyn Brown Ale
This is NOT a new beer to me, and has long been one of my favorite Brooklyn beers. It's a wonderful nut brown color, LOTS of malt both in the nose and in the taste. A well rounded flavor and not too sweet like many malt heavy beers. The cheese it came with, and Ossau-Iraty (sheep's milk), was wonderful, and this was also probably my favorite pairing.

Brooklyn BLAST!
It's an IPA. It's got a very high bitterness level, and a LOT of hops. And you know what? I liked it. It was far from my favorite, but it didn't over power me with the normal flavor of soap I get from IPAs. This could just be because I was already about a can of beer in (the wild 1 is relatively high ABV iirc), or it might be that it was paired with an excellent cheddar, I'm not sure.

Brooklyn Monster Ale 2009
A 10% ABV Barleywine. The first thing was that I finally learned what the deal with Barelywines is. They were originally produced in England for the mostly french nobility, who preferred wine to the local brews. As for why they aren't sold in the US? Because they have to be labeled as "Barely Wine Style" as calling it wine would be illegal. I loved it. A rich mahogany colour, a strong presence of rich caramel malts and bitter hops with a sort of sherry flavor to it. It really reminded me of all the things I like about wine with out the parts I can't stand.

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout 2010
And imperial stout, black as night, lots of espresso and chocolate malt flavors on the nose and in the taste, and, as I have found with most imperial stouts, way to damn sweet. IT was really nice withe the blue cheese it was paired with though.

Over all my favorites were the Monster and the Brown. I already loved the brown, however I will now be keeping an eye out for the Monster. getting to try the Wild 1 was also fun, even if it wasn't my favorite.

The last little fun fact I learned was why big bottles of beer are in Champagne bottles, and the answer is that they aren't. Champagne is bottled in beer bottles :P

[Jester]

I have a new favorite Mexican beer: Bohemia.

I like Bohemia. I would like to suggest, if you haven't tried it already, my favorite Mexican beer that isn't named Negra Modelo, and that is Pacifico.

(I say my favorite not named Negra Modelo as NM is so completely different from all the other Mexican beers, which are all of a similar style, though they obviously vary greatly in taste.)

So, last night was a Beer and Cheese tasting/talk at AMNH with Garret Oliver, Brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewery and Aaron Foster, the cheese buyer for Murray's Cheese.

I am very jealous. That sounds like a blast!

He opened up with a short explanation of why Beer and Cheese makes perfect sense, even more so than Wine and Cheese. Mainly focusing on the fact that Beer has a much wider range of flavors than Wine, and is more likely to compliment a cheese due to them being from similar stock (ultimately, grass).

Interesting. I'm not sure I believe it, but I will certainly test it sometime soon!

Brooklyn Brown Ale
Brooklyn Monster Ale 2009
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout 2010

The Monster and the Stout sound awesome, and I hope to be able to try them sometime soon. The Brown sounds good as well, as I love browns, but I'll be trying that even sooner, as I have a single bottle of it in my fridge from the Beer Monger.

[thansal]

Excellent on the brown, it really is one of my standards

I didn't really mention much on the beer and cheese, because I 'm honestly not that good at describing cheeses yet (until recently I didn't eat much out side of the bog standard American cheeses, bright orange cheddar, single slice processed cheese food, etc). I will say that they were right. Beer and Cheese go together wonderfully (even out side of the standard fondu of beer and cheddar).

I suspect, however, that it requires some one very familiar with both to make it work. I mean that because they both have such huge flavor ranges, that finding the right type of beer to go with a specific cheese (or vise versa) is a challenge.

An interesting example that Garret Oliver mentioned was with the last beer. He has been doing beer and cheese talks for a while now, and at one of them there was a mix up where the Stout was supposed to go with something else, but was listed with a Stilton. He was back stage being flustered and not sure what to do. They he tried it out, and lo and behold, it was excellent.

I also fully encourage the exploration of beer and cheese. I mean, why not? they are both good, if you don't like the pairing just eat/drink them separately any way :P

Ninja Addendum:
That also answers a question I was having: "Is Brooklyn known outside of the NE"

[Jester]

That also answers a question I was having: "Is Brooklyn known outside of the NE"

Absolutely! Hell, my bar used to have Brooklyn Lager on draft, and I have tried both of the Locals (1 and 2), though I can't remember my feelings on them that well, other than that I preferred one to the other...and I can't remember which one it was! Both 1 and 2 are also usually available at my local Beer Monger. Also, several places down here sell Brooklyn Lager, and I am pretty sure I saw it out West, but don't quote me on that. But yes, it is known in Florida.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

Well, to be fair, we do have tons of Brooklyn natives down here, so it might not be much of a stretch to find Brooklyn Lager too

[MoonCat]

I don't usually post here because, hey, I'm no connoisseur....but I know what I like.

Last weekend we went to a Wine Festival at the old Broadway Market, and tried wines from several wineries. One that blew me away was "Freyja's Passion," a mead from Black Willow Winery (Burt, NY). It's honey wine with strawberry and vanilla, and it is amaaaaaazzzing.

It goes down like rich cream, smooth and sweet without being cloying. I've had mead before, but not like this. This is a very, very sensual wine! Yummy.

[thansal]

I don't usually post here because, hey, I'm no connoisseur....but I know what I like.

Last weekend we went to a Wine Festival at the old Broadway Market, and tried wines from several wineries. One that blew me away was "Freyja's Passion," a mead from Black Willow Winery (Burt, NY). It's honey wine with strawberry and vanilla, and it is amaaaaaazzzing.

It goes down like rich cream, smooth and sweet without being cloying. I've had mead before, but not like this. This is a very, very sensual wine! Yummy.

Good mead is really wonderful

Bad mead is rather terribad :P

I'm going out for Yakitori tonight with friends which means Kirin or Sapporo (probably Sapporo) and a thing of cold Sake probably, should make me happy

[Jester]

Wow, not much activity in here. Did no one try any good drinkages over the Halloween holiday? I sure as hell did. Hell, I have plenty of notes on beers....and still notes on beers from my vacations to Phoenix and West Palm that I haven't posted, that I need to. And will.

But not today.

Today I invade my craft beer stock in the fridge, and see what I come up with.

Which I see I seriously need to update my list of. See, I have such a stock in my fridge, I thought it would be easiest to make a list of them, so when I have to choose, I just look at the list, pick what I'm going to try, delete that one from the list, and move on. But I know by glancing at said list that I have not updated it through some recent tastings and purchases. Fuck. Well, I'll get to that in a few days, when I (finally) post my notes on all those beers I've been promising you.

Today, however, I'll be trying something that was not my first choice, but when I saw it on the list, it jumped out at me. From Shipyard Brewery, their Imperial Porter, part of their Pugsley's Signature Series. And this is a big bottle (22 oz.), so I am hoping it is damn good, or it's gonna be a long 22 oz.

The color is just what I would hope for from a good porter: deep brown with just a hint of red, deep and dark, and pouring thickly, though not as thick as some of the motor oil-like stouts I've been known to enjoy.

The nose is THERE. I had worried my nose might be going away with old age or something, as lately as I have not been smelling much in my beers. I just must have been getting some beers with very subtle aromas, because this one is anything but. Deep and rich with strong chocolate overtones, this holds out some excellent promise.

But to hell with the eyes and the nose. What does the tongue think?

Wow.

Hold on, let me try another sip.

Forget wow. This is exquisite.

A bit more carbonated than a lot of the richer browns I've had recently, this one still holds its own in taste, with strains of semi-sweet chocolate, brown sugar, and just a hint of vanilla lurking back there.

The most negative thing I can say is that it wants me to think it's a brown, rather than a porter. It is not as rich as most porters, and it does have a lot of brown character to it. But whatever it is, whatever its called, this is an excellent beer.

Score: 8.5. Definitely worth finding.

I tip my hat to you, Shipyard. Another feather in your Maine-born cap, to be sure!

[Dilorenzo]

I haven't tried anything interesting recently, unfortunately. I just don't have the time, which sucks.

Oh, wait! Guinness Black Lager? Did I talk about that? I don't think so. The stuff is awesome. Most of a well poured Guinness flavor, not as much heaviness. It will be freaking perfect summer drinking, I think.

[Jester]

I actually tried Guinness Black Lager while on vacay in Phoenix, and while I will include my notes on it when I finally transcribe said notes, I will say here that, while it was decent enough, I expected more from Guinness, and was actually rather disappointed in the final product, especially considering some of the fine black lagers out there on the market.

Guinness Extra Foreign Stout, on the other hand, is utterly fantastic. More on those later, as promised.

[Dave1982]

Wel, this past Saturday (the first cold night without power) I dusted off a package of Aspen brand hot buttered rum mix and made a mug, adding a jigger of dark rum.

Blech. Honestly, considering it was a powdered mix I'm not surprised. It had been sitting on my shelf for at least a year.

When I get the chance I'll have to make some real hot buttered rum.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I've tried the hot buttered type drinks and didn't really like them...but I can do with a nice mulled spiked cider. Yummm.