Brewnotes

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.

Ben Brouse Restaurant Reviews

This looks like it isn’t going to be the year of direct wine shipping in MD. Eye on Annapolis has some great coverage of yesterdays proceedings.

Ben Brouse Beer, Food & Drink, Wine

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

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.

Ben Brouse Food & Drink, Impromptu

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

Ryleigh’s is the latest offering in the building that used to house the original Sisson’s brewpub.   Ryleigh’s offers many wines and has a few craft beer offerings.  I really like the atmosphere inside the restaurant.  The old brickwork is still intact but now supports several bars.   The place is wide-open and there always seems to be a “buzz” in the crowd.

Ben Brouse Restaurant Reviews

Delegates Malone & DeBoy,

I would like to understand your position on House Bill 832.   I am concerned that this is an easy target to raise taxes without looking at the source of Maryland’s budget woes.   While I am not opposed to raising taxes, I take great exception to the following passage of the bill:

"Comptroller shall distribute the remaining alcoholic beverage tax revenue to the General Fund of the State".

If this bill was intended to raise funds for health concerns, why would any funds at all make it into the general fund? Beyond this, the rate of increases for the different beverage areas are astronomical.   My intelligence is being mocked when I’m told its $0.10/beer.  In actuality, the percentage increases are obnoxiously and ridiculously high:

MD proposed tax rates ($$/gal):

	beer	1.16  (1,288% increase)
	wine	2.96  (740% increase)
	spirits	10.03 (668% increase)

If the tax increase passes, our state alcohol beverage taxes will be four times the
national average for beer (highest in the nation; 2nd place Alaska at $1.07/gal), over three-and-half times the national average for wine (highest in the nation; 2nd place Alaska at $2.50/gal), and just shy of 50% higher than the national average for spirits (eleventh-highest in the nation; 1st place Washington state at $26.45/gal) [Source: the Jernigan paper referred to in the House bill preamble].  Please take into consideration the true impact of such a bill.  Any way you slice it, this bill is bad fiscal policy and doesn’t solve any aspect of the looming budget crisis.   The only true way to solve the budget crisis is to reduce spending.

Looking forward to your response,

Ben Brouse

Update #1: I added the link to the figures that were cited.

Update #2: Both Delegates responded that they were opposed to this bill.    I will be watching.

Ben Brouse Beer, Food & Drink, Wine

A malt-focused beer with an initial sweetness and a roasted dryness in the finish.  My first hoorah into the Irish Red style (BJCP 9D).  Not really my favorite but I had to brew either this style or Scotch Ale for the CRABS March monthly competition.   Calling this the “Irish Uprising” due to the yeast tricking me.   Very slow to start due to some over chilling but once it got around 65F things really took off.   This recipe is originally taken from Jamil with a few minor tweaks.

Ingredients:

Hops:

Yeast:

Yield:

Stats:

Ben Brouse Food & Drink, Homebrew

Tom Wark writes the Fermentation blog.   In it, he describes the absolute mockery of testifying before a committee that isn’t going to do anything regardless of the testimony.  Yes, this is how democracy really works in Maryland.  Too bad it was regarding the proposed Direct Wine Shipping bill (HB 716)  that I’ve talked about so much before.  

Ben Brouse Beer, Food & Drink, Wine