d I immediately thought about a fellow beer blogger out in Arizona (hope that's right). I've been reading his blog, Good Burp for almost a year and it's always an interesting look at beer and life. Check it out when you can. It's not often that many posts go by before a mention of Sam Calagione or Dogfish beer. I'm sure that after reading about what is taking place this upcoming Monday (Nov 16) at Monk's he's going to want to pack his bags and head for the City of Brotherly Love. Mr. Good Burp if you need a place to stay just let me know. Cheers!
ON DRAFT:
ent in an effort put it to good use. I'm not exactly sure what took us so long to drag it from the cellar but we should of been using this thing a long time ago. The whole idea of tossing meat, veggies, spices potatoes and whatever from the fridge into a cooker in the morning and having a meal by the end of the work day is brilliant. Our first official meal; pot roast, potatoes and carrots seasoned in a pepper and garlic sauce. Perfect. The beer for the evening Great Divide 15 Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA.
s no wonder I love great beer aged in those barrels. Naturally some beers work better than others. So far I prefer Barleywines, Stouts, Doppelbocks and Old Ales taking on the qualities of barrel aging. The idea of a hoppy IPA or DIPA spending time in the wood just isn't as enticing. However I tipped back my glass of GD's 15th Anniv. with an open mind.
o offense Dr. Joel (New Holland), Ms.Woods (Sly Fox) and Ms. Mulligan (Victory) we love you and all those who make a living with the worlds greatest beverage. It just seems like it wasn't that long ago that I shared in a jeroboam of Double Bastard during Stone Night at Craft Ale House. Yes, there is a soft spot in my beer swollen liver for Stone Brewing and more specific Arrogant Bastard. I've been hooked since my first sip eons ago.
hich allows us to adjust to many bottle formats and we keg in 50 liter and 5 gallon kegs. We use the highest quality ingredients we can lay our hands on and that is not just marketing jargon. If it makes better beer, we use it. We also strive to use local ingredients when and where we can. Not only do fresh local ingredients help us to make better beer, it helps us to make beer that reflects the culture and heritage of Tampa Bay.
n worth it to hang with the little guy.
ng a different side in ads for Jamieson Brewery in Australia, as reported by The Daily Telegraph. Jamieson is using a likeness of Snow White to advertise their Raspberry Ale as "anything but sweet". The image gets right to the point. Don't worry mom and dad the names of the dwarves and America's sweetheart have been changed to protect the innocent. Snow White is Ho White (seems appropriate) and Sleepy, Happy and Doc are now Filthy, Smarmy and Randy (?). As you may have figured mega media corp Disney isn't too happy. The campaign creators, The Foundry, reported that they had "a little bit of contact" with Disney. Kids can we say cease and desist order? Yes we can!
The Yankees have already swept the Minnesota Twins and the Phillies have done away with the Colorado Rockies, however before all this October playoff pandemonium started I took the train up to NYC to meet a few friends for my first visit to Yankee Stadium. Since I am a fly-by-
night baseball fan my trip to the Big Apple served another purpose. I made sure to arrive early enough to explore a few good beer bars before meeting the group. The afternoon started at the very impressive Rattle-N-Hum and then moved half a block west to Heartland Brewery & Rotisserie (350 5th Ave) located in the Empire State Building.
member the beer being fairly average. Not bad just nothing to shout about. Kelleigh had made the point that the place might work better for someone who was trying craft beer for the first time. There was good variety with nothing too over the top to scare off the macro minded beer drinker. In a sense what Red Lobster is to seafood, Heartland is to beer. Fast forward to now. So why did I decide to stop in on this trip? Besides having to pass the front door on the way to The Ginger Man (more on that later) HB&R brews one of my guilty autumn pleasures, a pumpkin beer.Put pumpkin in it and I'm on it: cake, pie, latte, ice cream, soup, yadda, yadda, yadda. Every fall for the past several years my never-fail-me pumpkin beers have been Southern Tier Pumking and Dogfish Head Punkin' Ale. Wishful thinking had me penciling in Heartland's fall classic Smiling Pumpkin Ale. The brew
ery website states: "Our Famous autumn colored beer is made with honey-roasted pumpkins and simmered with ginger, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. A sweet and spicy harvest treat that goes down smoothly". Tasty brewery speak.
Smiling Pumpkin starts out with the big aromas of fall. Nutmeg, cinnamon, coriander and allspice are all present. Sadly the first sip revealed a taste that didn't quite reach the level of the aroma. Some light spice and sweetness came through with a touch of pumpkin flavor. The honey-roasting isn't detectable. Overall a little too thin for my taste. Since I am more of a pie-in-the-glass guy I was hoping for a bolder spicier beer with a maltier background. However it does fall in line with their other middle of the road offerings.
My quick stop at Heartland allowed me just enough time to toss back the pint and look around the place. The most notable point about the Empire State location were the bars. Upstairs reminded me of a slightly fancier Friday's (where is your flare?) while the dimly lit, quiet downstairs seemed like a trendier spot for the evening. A great space but either way I wish the beer had made the big impression. Onward to the Ginger Man.
To be continued...
your average Irish American pub. While taking a seat at the long bar, one quick look at the hand written draft board and immediately you know this place takes its craft beer serious. There are 40 beers on tap and another 4 on cask at a separate cask bar at the back of the room. The place has the classic warm, been-there-forever pub feel. Surprising since it opened only a little over a year ago. The dimly lit room is trimmed in dark wood and has enough craft beer swag on the ceiling and walls to put the fear of God into a Coors Light drinker. Visiting for the first time I kicked myself for not taking time to make it up during their huge cask event for the recent NYC Craft Beer Week. In honor of real ale I decided on a Clipper City Brewing Hang 
10 Weizen Dopplebock accompanied by a side of IPA brined fries (double fried perfection). 
