PtY @ Monk's

By announcing this, although most who are seeking the mystical elixir are already in line, do I add to the uber hype? Maybe.  However, with my number of followers I don't think I'm creating uber anything.

After last year's flow of bad words about how the release of Pliny the Younger was handled at Monk's they have gone in another direction.

Monk's Mad Monday - Russian River Monday, February 28, 2011 11:30AM cash bar

OK Campers,
It’s time for another Monk’s Mad Monday. As always, things kick off at 11:30AM. You really need to be here early for the event. This week it’s our 4th Annual Russian River Day and yes, we do have one sixtle of Pliney The Younger. We figure that there will be around 50 glasses of Younger available.


We are charging a ridiculous amount ($15) for a glass of the Younger, but 100% of those sales goes to charity. We will pour the Younger at 11:20AM so it is ready to serve when you walk in the door. Please have your $15 in cash ready - exact change will be very helpful, but feel free to give more. $20 would be great. We want everyone to be able to relax and not go crazy about whether you will get a glass of Pliney The Younger.


We figure to raise $750 from the sale of Pliney The Younger and Monk's will add $250 to bring the donation to $1,000.


***THIS JUST IN (2/22): Natalie & Vinnie just told me they are going to kick in an extra $250 to the charity, bringing the donation up to $1,250 - it will ALL go to Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.


***ANOTHER UPDATE (2/25): Jeff Benjamin from Vetri/Osteria/Amis will be adding another $1,000 to the charity kitty. Woo hoo.. now we're up to $2.250!


***YET MORE COOL STUFF (2/26):...Mat Falco, Philly Beer Scene mag, is donating one his four custom made, ceramic growlers for a raffle. Fifty $5 tickets will be sold and one luck person will walk away with this $200 piece of art. Take a look at this gem @ http://www.beerscenemag.com/2011/02/pliny-the-younger-and-win-a-growler/


Let's try to raise some serious cash for this worthy charity. So pliney up, er pony up, some extra cash for these children.


Thank you,
Tom

Here’s Monday’s Lineup:

The "tions"


Russian River Consecration (CA) Strong brown ale aged in a cabernet saugvignon barrel (Silver Oak) for six months with fresh currants The wine, oak and currants are well integrated in this stunning beer. 10.5%abv


Russian River Damnation (CA) Vinnie’s take on a Belgian strong blonde ale obviously influenced by Duvel. Great aromas of banana and pear. Medium body with flavors of pale roasted malt and spice from the hops. Lots of hops in the finish give it a nice bitterness and a crisp, dry finish. 7.75%abv


Russian River Redemption (CA) Their Belgian-style Single. A bit of citrus & spice in the aroma and taste from the Westmalle yeast. Blonde ale with a substantial hop finish. Vinnie’s beers are always excellent. This is a session beer. Enjoy. 5.48%abv

Russian River Sanctification (CA) Fermented with 100% brettanomyces. Funky and fruity. Enjoy. 5.75%abv
Russian River Temptation (CA) Blond Ale aged in french oak chardonnay barrels for twelve months. Vinnie adds his house strain of brettanomyces that adds a sour component and a bit of fruitiness. 7.25%abv


The IPA's
Russian River Blind Pig IPA(CA) Perhaps my favorite West Coast IPA. Solid hop aromas and finish backed up by the perfect balance of malt. Dare I say “quaffable”? 6.1%abv.


Russian River Pliney The Elder (CA) This is the original Double IPA, made by mistake, natch. More hops balanced by bigger malt. Aromas of grapefruit dominate. Finishes surprisingly dry, yet not too bitter. 8%abv


Russian River Pliney The Younger (CA) This is the original Triple IPA, and this one was not a mistake. Vinnie just wanted to see how far he could push the envelope. This is a Big Beer! Pliny the Younger is hopped three times more than their standard IPA, and is dry hopped four different times. 10.5%abv


$15 glass of Younger- CASH ONLY...
100% of the “Younger” money goes to Charity: Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.

New Jersey Wood (Bourbon Barrels) and Bugs (Brettanomyces)

THE WILD BEERS

Heywood – Strong Belgian Golden Ale fermented in oak with 100% Brett L. Tart, dry, sour, phenolic and funky. 7.5% abv

Eddy - Strong Belgian Golden Ale fermented with the Duvel strain in stainless, then spiked with Brett L and aged in oak. Dry, fruity and phenolic with a refreshing tartness. 7.5% abv

Brett Quad - Strong Belgian Dark Ale fermented in stainless then spiked with Brett L and aged in oak. Rich, malty and complex with just a hint of fruitiness and mild phenols. 10.0 % abv

Brett Pete’s Celebration – Strong Belgian Dark Ale fermented in stainless, then spiked with Brett L and aged in oak. Malt complexity mingles with a touch of spiciness and pie cherry aroma from the Brett and a warming alcohol character. 11.0% abv

Wine Barrel Wee Heavy – Strong Scotch Ale fermented in stainless then aged in a freshly emptied Pinot Noir barrel spiked with Brett L. Rich malt character and a touch of roast complimented by a subtle but distinct red wine character and spicy phenolic notes. 8.8% abv

F.red Flemish Red Ale - Malty reddish-brown ale fermented in stainless with the Roselare blend then aged in used Pinot Noir barrels for 9 months. Malt sweetness and toastiness followed by an assertive but pleasant sourness. 5.3% abv

THE BOURBON BEERS

Porter – Our award-winning Pig Iron Porter aged in bourbon barrels with whole vanilla beans. Roasty malt and pronounced bourbon flavors with a nice vanilla aroma, served on nitrogen. 6.0% abv

Eisenhugel – Imperial Weizenbock aged in bourbon barrels. Rich and complex due to a huge percentage of specialty malts and Bavarian ale yeast with the added character of wood and bourbon. 11.0% abv

Wee Heavy – Our Strong Scotch Ale, aged in Four Roses bourbon barrels. A distinct sweet malt character entwines with bourbon and vanilla flavors. 9.0% abv

Imperial Pumpkin Ale – Big notes of bourbon and vanilla layered with pumpkin pie spices backed by a firm caramel malt body. 10.0% abv
Winter Warmer – Strong dark ale finished with winter spices and aged in a bourbon barrel. Christmas in February. 8.0% abv

Pete’s Celebration – As if this beer weren’t already rich enough… Big, chewy Belgian Strong Ale aged in used Bourbon barrels. 10.3% abv

We’ll be offering two separate samplers of all of the wild beers and all of the bourbon beers. Each will be $12.00 for 4 oz of each of the 6 beers.

WOOD? 2.0 @UJ's Inn on the Manatawny

"If I would could you?"

Wood heads converge on Union Jack's Inn on the Manatawny this Saturday (2/26) to experience a barrel aged promised land. The draft list pretty much speaks for itself.  If you've never made the trip to UJ's make sure to hook up the GPS and a designated driver is a good call for this one.
12:30pm-12:30am, PAYG. Cheers!

WOOD? 2.0 BARREL AGED FEST

Avery Rumpkin (rum barrel)
Founders Nemesis
Laughing Dog The Dogfather (bourbon barrel)
Philadelphia Shackamaximum
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron
Dogfish Head Burton Baton
Nebraska Hop God (chardonnay barrel)
Port Older Viscosity
Lost Abbey Angels Share (brandy barrel)
Allagash Interlude
Allagash Confluence
Allagash Odyssey
Bells Hell Hath No Fury (bourbon barrel)

More to come....

It was a toss up between this and The Beatles "Norweign Wood"



Sweet Blending aka Liquid Love

This year Valentine's Day brought the obligatory heart shaped boxes of candy, roses and cards filled with sappy prose, but the best sweet treat came in liquid form. A couple of weeks back I purchased several beers for a small tasting and realized I had the makings of an interesting blending experiment.  I'm not such a beer purist that I can't have a little mixing fun.  It doesn't happen often other than the occasional Black & Tan or Dirty Ho (Hoegaarden and Lindemans Framboise). However, with a bottle of Southern Tier Choklat on the shelf and a Samuel Smith Organic Raspberry Ale in the fridge I couldn't resist. Come on! Chocolate and raspberry, perfect.

The blending was done in a snifter, courtesy of TJ's 7th Anniversary celebration. Three parts Choklat to one part Raspberry Fruit Ale created a magical elixir.  The rich sweet chocolate blended perfectly with the sweet tart raspberry.  Choklat is often seen as a big, overly sweet chocolate bomb of a beer.  The Sam Smith's tartness helped to bring in some balance and add to the dark fruit notes already present in Choklat. I played with the balance going heavier on the raspberry, but the best combinations where the ones with raspberry as the background flavor.

All in all it was dessert in a glass. Perfect for Valentine's Day.  If you have a sweet tooth and happen to have access to each try the experiment for yourself.  Better yet wait until you have a few people over so that you can share the liquid love.

SLAM @ CAH

I dig Craft Ale House.

I love what Gary and Melissa do with beer and food.

I have a Pavlovian response when I hear about fresh HOPSLAM. On TONIGHT at CAH, 6pm.

However, Im 90% certain the true reason for mentioning this tapping is to have an excuse to post this video.

SLAM!!!

Bar & Restaurant Owners Greg Koch Says Go Craft for Profit

SellingCraftBeer

Wood'ja @ Nodding Head and Prism @ Capone's

Head to the city: 

This time Nodding Head's second Saturday event takes on big wood. It's all about the barrel aging with 3 beers provided by the house and one from a special guest. Sat Feb 12, 3pm-6pm, PAYG.

(Cask Two-Year-Old) Wee Heavier, (9.5%ABV) which is a strong, Scottish-style ale that has been aged in a wooden cask that once held Calvados brandy, and more recently JW Lees Harvest Ale. This ale is very dark in color, and full-bodied with a 'roasty' character and sweet malt flavors. It'll make your belly happy. (Disclaimer: the two-year-old barrel aged beer could possibly be volatile or magnificent. Either way, we have plenty of great back up beers - it's all part of the fun).

Pho-Tay, (7%ABV) which is our O-Tay aged in the Phunk Barrel. This beer started off as a golden ale brewed with eighty-four pounds of organic buckwheat and Belgian yeast, giving it a unique spicy character. It then, of course, picked up oak and brett characteristics.

Saison De La Tete, (6%ABV) which is a blend of a young saison, and a sour barrel aged, low alcohol, hoppy pale ale. Then, we added flavors of brett and oak to the slightly funky saison character.

ALSO: SPECIAL GUEST BEER FROM FRIENDS AT RUSSIAN RIVER

Consecration, (10%ABV) which was aged in American oak Cabernet Sauvignon barrels. They not only use Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus, but also add currants to the beer while it is aging in the barrels.

Journey to the burbs:

Join Rob DeMaria of  Prism Brewing at Capone's for something on the unique side.  So ya like bacon and ya like beer? How about fruit and peppers? Prepare for a taste assault with the tapping of Prism's Insana Bacon Chocolate Stout and  LOVE is EVOL Strawberry Jalapeno Brown Ale.

Insana Stout (7% abv, 50 IBU)  Pours chocolaty and goes down smoky. Using an enormous amount of cocoa and vegetarian friendly bacon, this beer makes you want breakfast for dinner, or as we like to say "BFD". Enjoy it with steak or portabella if you are animal friendly - or with pancakes and scrapple if you want the true BFD experience.

LOVE is EVOL (5.5% abv, 34 IBU). Some say that Love is evil. We say if you spell love backwards its evol. Our Strawberry Jalapeno brown represents that notion with the love of strawberries and the evil nature of Jalapenos. Leaving some seeds in and some seeds out we balance the spiciness and flavor of the Jalapenos to meld well with the strawberries and brown ale. Using earthy English hops combined with some traditional American ones weve created something special for your tongue. So dont be shy and tell us did you find love or evol?

Sat Feb 12. Rob is in house @ 12:30.

Bonus: Arrive early for Bell's HopSlam.  It's on at 11:30

Happy Groundhog Day

This morning that furry prognosticator from Punxsutawney looked out of his hallowed hole and didn't see his shadow. Guess that means we will all benefit from an early spring.  Regardless of the positive prediction a wintery mix is preventing the true Groundhog Day celebration from happening.  Tonight's Dogfish Head event at Craft Ale House has been postponed until next Wednesday (Feb 9, 6pm).  So for now be content to gaze upon the list of upcoming draft goodies and plan accordingly.  Spring might not get here by next week but I predict one hell of a good time happening in Limerick.

60 Minute Ipa

75 Minute Ipa - firkin
90 Minute Ipa
120 Minute Ipa '09
Red & White
Black & Blue
Sahtea
Theobroma
Midas Touch
Indian Brown Ale
World Wide Stout
Raison D'Etre being poured through Randall the Enamel Animal filled with ...
and maybe more.

We will be offering a flight with 60, 75, 90 and 120.

Wendy, our Dogfish Head rep will be showing up to do some giveaways sometime around 6'ish. If she comes in and sees her shadow, we will have 6 more hours of partying. Yeah!