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Archive for the ‘Food & Drink’ Category

Troegs Java Head Stout

July 16th, 2010
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troegs-beer-java-stout Last evening at Metropolitan, Firkin Thursday featured Troegs Java Head Stout.


  ”JavaHead’s recipe is based off of our original oatmeal stout. After the boil, the hot wort passes through our hopback vessel on it’s way to fermentation. Packed full of whole leaf hops and a bed of ground coffee beans, the hopback vessel is similar to using a huge French press, intensifying the coffee nose and releasing subtle hints of coffee flavor. The result is a lush oatmeal mouthfeel balanced with cocoa, roast and subtle coffee flavors.”

Nice to see a brewery delivering a well executed brew without resorting to the trendy hop bomb.    I was amazed at how easy drinking this beer was for a hot summer day.   Well Done.

Current Beeradvocate Rating: B+

Ben Brouse Beer, Food & Drink, Prelude

German Porter

July 14th, 2010
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I was talking to a friend of mine who mentioned a local German homebrew competition taking place.   In that conversation we talked about a style that was knew to me – German porter.   Check out the article that was dug up on this style.    I don’t think this style is currently covered in the BJCP style guidelines but it is pretty cool nonetheless.

Ben Brouse Beer, Food & Drink

McGillin’s Old Ale House (Philly)

July 12th, 2010
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Being in town for the Furthur show, a group of us were looking for a good place to have lunch and some good beers.    Obviously Yards and Victory were both represented, but was also happy to find some brews from Stoudt’s and Troegs.

Very cool décor and old atmosphere.    The food was decent pub grub but nothing I would seek out either.   My only complaint – the music.    Some of the worst 80’s tunes I’ve heard in a while. 

More reviews here.

McGillin's Old Ale House on Urbanspoon

Ben Brouse Beer, Food & Drink, Restaurant Reviews

Do Wine Critics Really Help You Select a Bottle?

July 7th, 2010
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I’ve posted about this before but I think Tom Wark over at the Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog is more adept at describing the situation.

"There are many trustworthy palates; you should seek out as many as you can. You should find out their favorites and if you can afford them, you should try them to see if your palate roughly aligns. If they offer no great reviews of affordable wines, you should look elsewhere; great wine is all around, just like good reviewers."

I look forward to the day that the 100 point scale is gone.   Have you ever seen a bottle labeled with a 38 in a liquor store?    I assure you – there are probably some that should be.

Ben Brouse Food & Drink, Wine

Channel Crossing

May 21st, 2010
channel cross
Last night, I attended the unveiling of the new collaboration between Oliver Breweries and Stillwater Artisanal Ales @ the Pratt St Alehouse.   Hopefully, this won’t be the last of the cross-pollination between these two breweries.
Open fermentation, Belgian yeast, interesting hop choices make for a very drinkable beer with fruity esters and firm bitterness.    The variations of this beer presented last evening included a plain old draft, a french oak firkin, and 3 dry-hopped pins (czech saaz, kent goldings & bramling cross).  
Personally, I preferred the draft version.

Ben Brouse Beer, Food & Drink

Grateful Red Ale

April 12th, 2010
If you know me, I was bound to have a GD inspired brew at some point.   This was brewed back on 3/6/2010.  
This recipe is originally taken from Jamil.  To quote him, “This is how red ales are done on the West Coast.  Just about every brewery out here needs a beer on their menu that has a lot of hop flavor, and many of them turn to this style of beer.   They are big, bold statements balancing lots of citrusy hops and specialty malt.
Beer Label - Grateful Red

Ingredients (Single Infusion Mash – 152F):

12.25# 2-row Maris Pale Malt
1# Munich
1# Crystal 40L
8 oz Crystal 120L
8 oz Victory
3 oz Pale Chocolate

Hops:

1.1 oz Horizon 13.0% AA 60 Min
0.5 oz Cascade 6.0% AA 10 Min
1 oz Centennial 9.0% AA 10 Min
1 oz Cascade 6.0% AA 0 Min
1 oz Centennial 9.0% AA 0 Min

Yeast:

(2) US-05  – ~@67F

Yield:

5 Gallons

Stats:

OG: 1.076 IBU: 66 SRM: 16 ABV: 7.8%

Ben Brouse Beer, Food & Drink, Homebrew

Irish Uprising – Lessons

March 27th, 2010

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

Special Firkins at DuClaw

March 27th, 2010
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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

It’s Dead Now (MD Wine Shipping)

March 24th, 2010
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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

Biergarten Haus in DC

March 22nd, 2010
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”.

biergartenhaus_patio454 Picture taken from the article.

Ben Brouse Beer, Food & Drink