While the beer itself has great malt flavor and an appropriate amount of hops, this beer turned out way too dark. Turns out I missed the fact that Jamil was calling for 350L roasted barley and I used 500L. Figured this out over here.
Next batch, I will pull back both the Crystal 120L and the roasted barley. Lesson learned.
Ben Brouse Food & Drink, Homebrew
A friend invited me out to DuClaw @ Arundel Mills yesterday. I got a special treat to try two different firkins! A wit spiced with cinnamon and vanilla and a imperial porter with peppermint. While I would say these beers weren’t my thing, it was an impressive thirsty crowd that had gathered.
Best part of the night for me – trying the Double IPA – Serum. Amazing how balanced it was.
Ben Brouse Beer, Food & Drink
| Sushi Sono. Not much else to say other than this is easily the best, unpretentious straight-forward sushi house around. On a recent visit, my wife and I both had the miso soup and shared a tuna tataki appetizer (lightly seared with a scallion, vinegar & ponzu sauce). The salmon sashimi along with the tuna sashimi were of the highest quality. I thought the special live scallops sashimi was exceptional. Are you a sushi newbie? No worries – they serve great maki (rolls) too. |
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| The 22 oz servings of Kirin Ichiban or Sapporo are the icing on the cake! I hope to expand into some Sake in the near future as I know little about this beverage. |
| Don’t believe me how fantastic this place is? Check out the list of recognitions they have put together – simply stunning. More reviews here. |
Ben Brouse Restaurant Reviews
| A friend pointed this out to me today. From the Washington Post, “Biergarten Haus, the city’s largest — and only — German-style beer garden, is poised to bring bratwurst, hefeweizen and strolling accordion players to 1355 H St. NE next month. (There’s still some construction to be done, says co-owner Aaron McGovern, so the target date is "early-to-mid April.")"
Looks extremely interesting. I can hardly wait to sing my first “Ein Prosit”. |
 Picture taken from the article. |
Ben Brouse Beer, Food & Drink
Via MMBWL Facebook. Hooray for MD Sen Bobby Zirkin. At least one legislator has some common sense. Possibly he represents his constituents? *sarcasm*
“Zirkin independently offered an amendment today to SB 858 (Winery Improvement act, which had made it onto the floor) to allow Direct Shipping of Wine. The Senate will vote on this on Tuesday. “
If you haven’t been paying attention, check this out.
Ben Brouse Beer, Food & Drink, Wine
| Just one more wafer thin mint? |
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| We walked through the crowd and were immediately seated at a romantic table in front of a window; a great start. I knew I wanted to start with the deviled eggs and pickles and olives (I did my homework). The eggs arrived, 3 creamy, melt-in-your-mouth, golden works of art, garnished with thin strips of salty ham. Hands down, these were the best I’d ever had. The pickles consisted of carrot, parsnip (we think) and onion. Light and tangy, we enjoyed them casually throughout the meal. The olives (only green) were very good and until then, I didn’t even think I liked green olives. Mmmm. |
| Next, I slurped down 5 oysters (Ben tried one). I wish I could tell you the names – I do know that they were the 2 smallest oysters (my preference) on the list, 3 of each. They were excellent quality and very enjoyable. |
| After the oysters, we shared a flatbread with wild mushrooms, tofu, spinach, and garlic. We planned to eat just a piece or two but without any convincing, we slowly polished off the whole thing. The toppings were flavorful and savory. The dough slightly sweet with a nice smokiness from the grill. |
| Did I mention the drinks? Ben started with the best Old Fashioned I’d ever sipped. I tried a signature drink, the Clear Creek Flip (vodka/cranberry liquor/lemon/apple spiced syrup). I enjoyed some French Sauvignon Blanc with my dishes. Ben polished off a couple of microbrews (Victory Prima Pils & Tröegs Nugget Nectar) – What did you expect? (The site is called Brewnotes). |
| We enjoyed a nice break between the flatbread and our main entree. After all, we needed time to digest! However, our attentive server felt that perhaps we were waiting too long, so we were treated to a free small-plate of coddies with a nice spicy mustard (there’s a funny story about that mustard). Wonderfully light and fluffy, the coddies were gone in minutes. |
| Hooray entrees! The party continued with Ben’s ribeye and my scallop special. The ribeye (perfectly cooked) came with a delicately scalloped potato gratin with sharp cheddar cheese, while my scallops were perched on some sort of rice/whole grain with andouille sausage, herbs and culinary love. I wish I could remember the exact ingredients, because these may have been the best scallops I’d ever had. I still dream about them. *sigh* |
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After our entrees, I am nearly bursting out of my skirt. However, I’m determined to make it through dessert. You see, they had something on the list that I could NEVER turn down: a dark chocolate peanut butter cup (peanut butter cream, dark chocolate, caramel, whipped cream, ladyfinger cracker jack). So insanely good. INSANE! Cloud nine, peanut butter bliss. Meanwhile, Ben enjoyed a cheese plate, but due to my delirium I really have no idea what it was. Cheese… yeah… whatever. PB rules!
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I can’t get back to Woodberry Kitchen soon enough. Impeccable service, food, and atmosphere. Wow! More reviews here.
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Alyssa Brouse Restaurant Reviews
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| Over the weekend, we visited a restaurant (to be revealed later) that did something very neat – a cocktail menu. I had an old-fashioned. And this got me to thinking… |
| So what are the classic cocktails? Who serves them in Baltimore? Got a recipe? What makes it classic? |
| C’mon people, I need help. |
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Ben Brouse Food & Drink, Impromptu
| A guest post contributed from my dining partner, my wife. |
| Tonight we had our first visit to Azul 17 on Snowden River Parkway in Columbia. We had a hankering for some sort of ethnic food and nearly sealed the deal with one of our favorites, House of India. However, we made a last minute decision to try this relatively new eatery. We both love Mexican food – one of our old favs is El Salto in Brooklyn. We both had high hopes to have found an "authentic" (thanks, Kevin & Ann) Mexican restaurant near the homestead. |
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| The decor is very bright white, minimalist, and modern. The main dining room was mostly empty, so we sat at the bar. The bar stools were wobbly with VERY low backs, and not very comfortable. Large, high-quality TVs were mounted near the bar playing a slideshow of artistic agave pictures and food. Party-boy music played loudly. It wasn’t quite our style, yet we were still hopeful our food would be worth the trip. |
| There were many Mexican beers available by the bottle, and many, many tequila options (it IS a tequileria, after all). With only 4 draught options, I liked the choices – Dos Equis, Negra Modelo, Stella Artois, and Hoegaarden. I started with a glass of (properly carbonated) Stella and Ben had a traditional margarita. Ben’s margarita was a winner, so I had one also. Delicious. |
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The bartender brought us chips and salsa. The salsa was great; full of fresh flavor. The chips seemed a little stale, but that did not stop us from nearly emptying the basket, thanks to the salsa. We proceeded to order 2 Platos Pequeños (small plates): Tuna Azul and Chile Relleno de Queso. In addition I ordered 3 tacos, De Alambre (grilled steak with onions), Tacos de Salmon (you guessed it), and Chorizo Picante (spicy pork chorizo). Ben ordered the Enchiladas de Pollo (chicken enchiladas). I had expected our small plates to come first, followed by the tacos & enchiladas. However, food just came out as it was ready with no thought to the order. In the end, Ben stared at me while I ate my tacos and I stared at Ben while he ate his enchiladas. Oh well, this place isn’t exactly fine dining. It’s just a little disappointing how often this happens.
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| The tacos were the star of my meal, with my clear favorite being the salmon. It was cooked well, light, with nice heat balanced with sweetness, and full of flavor. The other 2 tacos were good, but not spectacular. If I were to return, I’d likely get 3-4 of the salmon tacos, or try something new. If you order the chorizo tacos, you should know that it is quite greasy; a puddle formed on the bar while I ate the other tacos. |
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The Tuna Azul was a good quality, nicely prepared piece of tuna, seared to medium rare with a flavorful crust. The tomato/onion/arugala/jicama salad was bland and after a couple of bites, it remained on my plate. The tuna itself would have been very enjoyable, had it not been for the overly sweet cranberry drizzle. It was so sweet that I did my best to scrape it off. I’m not sure what they were going for here, but they’d be smart to skip the drizzle, or devise a better match for the tuna.
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| Once the Chile Relleno arrived, Ben found the dish enjoyable, but understated. The chili pepper was cooked nicely, stuffed with a little cheese, and served in a tomato based sauce. All the flavors were nice but the dish was not memorable. |
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The Enchiladas de Pollo arrived after I finished my food, so Ben offered me a bite. The quality of the shredded chicken was good and the sauce was pleasant, but it left me thinking of tomato soup. Where was the bite? The rich flavor? I’m all for fresh and light, I felt the the dish was so light that it was lacking flavor and excitement. There was a very light crumble of white "queso fresco" on top. Perhaps I’m not accustomed to "authentic Mexican" food, but I missed some melty, cheesy goodness.
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Looking back at the entire meal, it was all good, but unfortunately not GREAT. Howard County is home to so many fantastic restaurants, it’s not likely that I’d return this this one. If I’m craving Mexican or Tex-Mex, I’ll head over to Frisco’s for a yummy fajita sandwich or some mahi tacos. Oh, and El Salto still rules. More reviews here.
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Alyssa Brouse Restaurant Reviews
Great post on the HoCo Rising blog. Sen. Joan Carter Conway’s fundraising reports are dissected and attribution is placed on the portion from the alcohol lobby (at least the ones that can figured out).
Couple this with the informative article from the Washington Post.
“The industry’s network of political action committees, 120,000 employees, and powerful distributors and wholesalers have contributed more than $1.3 million to state lawmakers since 2000, according to campaign finance reports.
They have also spent nearly $900,000 in the past five years to maintain a stable of lobbyists and lawyers in Annapolis whose firms have represented the industry for more than three decades, according to state ethics reports.
General Assembly sessions are kicked off with a roughly $16,000-open-bar reception for lawmakers and their families, and the industry’s wining and dining usually continues, such as with a $2,500 steak dinner Feb. 3 at Lewnes Steakhouse, an Annapolis institution. “
If you are still wondering why the Direct Wine Shipping Bill isn’t going to pass anytime soon, look no further.
Ben Brouse Beer, Food & Drink, Wine
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