Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
bottle shops, pubs and breweries
This is the last FoodGPS column for 2009. But don’t worry there will be more in 2010.
Click HERE to read about the Boneyard Bistro, Blue Dog Beer Tavern and a New Year’s beer from Brasserie Dupont.
Remember, you can always view my Brew and You postings by clicking on the FoodGPS logo on the left sidebar.
The largest beer selection in Hawaii is here at Bar 35. More than 150 of the beers available are local. And it’s not on some remote island that is hard to get to, it’s in lovely Honolulu.
For their 3rd anniversary the fine folks at Beachwood BBQ are throwing a Holiday beer fest!!
Here is the list…
Alesmith YuleSmith
Alesmith (Cask) YuleSmith
Bootlegger's Winter Ale '09 – Chocolate Mint Porter
Brasserie d’Achouffe N'Ice Chouffe '08
Brasserie Dupont Avec Les Bons Voeux '08
Brasserie Dupont Avec Les Bons Voeux '09
Brouwerij De Ranke Père Noël
Brouwerij Het Anker Gouden Carolus Noël '08
Brouwerij Huyghe Delirium Noël '08
Brouwerij St. Bernardus Christmas Ale '08
Bruery Beachwood 3rd Anniversary Blend
Bruery Rugbrød
Bruery 2 Turtle Doves
Craftsman Holiday Ale
De Proefbrouwerij Kerstmustke
Green Flash Belgian Brown
Green Flash Belgian Stout
Green Flash Double Coffee Stout
Green Flash Grand Cru
Green Flash Palate Wrecker
Hair Of The Dog Fred '06
Lost Abbey Gift Of The Magi (Barrel-Aged) ’08
Lost Abbey Gift Of The Magi ’08
Mikkeller Santa's Little Helper
Mikkeller To: From:
Moonlight Working For Tips
Moylan's White Christmas
North Coast Old Stock Ale '09
Port Santa's Little Helper
Port Way Heavy (Carlsbad)
Rubicon Rosebud
Scaldis Noël
Sierra Nevada Empire Strikes Black
Sierra Nevada Celebration
Stone Old Guardian '06
Stone Imperial Russian Stout '06
Stone 07.07.07 (Wine Barrel-Aged)
from the Rattle & Hum blog
1st Annual Winter Beer Extravaganza!! 12/15
The beers so far:
Starting our 1st annual winter beer tap week, all beers will be on at one time and this is the list so far:
Captain Lawrence ‘Nor Easter’
21st Amendment ‘Monks Blood’
Allagash Grand cru
Blue Point Winter
The Bruery 2 Turtle Doves
Corsendonk Christmas Ale
D’achouffe N’ice Chouffe
De Dolle Stille Nacht
De Koninck Winter Kronic
Dupont Avec le bon vouex
Elysian Bifrost
Flying Dog K-9 Cruiser
Gearys Winter
Great Divide Hibernation
Heavy Seas Winter storm
Lagunitas Brown shugga
Lagunitas Cappaccino
St. Bernardus Christmas ale
Stoudt’s Winter
T’smisje Kerst
Troegs Mad Elf
Two brothers Northwind
Weyerbacher Winter
Magic Hat Roxy Rolles
Pretty Things Babayaga
Rogue Mogul Madness
Rogue Santas private reserve
Rogue Yellow snow
Scaldis Noel
Sierra Nevada Celebration
Smuttynose Winter Ale
Southern Tier Old Man Winter
21st Amendment Monks Blood
Arcadia Cereal Killer
Ramstein Winter Wheat
Kelso Chocolate Lager
Ridgeway ‘Bad Elf’
Ridgeway ‘Warm Welcome Nut Brown Ale’
Ridgeway ’Santa’s Butt Winter Porter’
Ridgeway ‘Lump of Coal’
Blaugies ‘La Moneuse Special Winter’
De Ranke ‘Pere Noel’
Geants ‘Noel de Geants’
Slaapmutske ‘Kertsmutske’
Struise ‘Tsjeeses’
Duyck ‘Jenlain Noel’
Mahr’s ‘Christmas Bock’
Weissenohe ‘Monks Christmas’
Kulmbacher ‘Kulmbacher Eisbock’
That is a killer list. Jenlain Noel, 21st Amendment Monk’s Blood and Magic Hat Roxy Rolles look particulary intriguing to me. So if you are in NYC check it out.
From the Holiday Ale WEBSITE
“Held in the heart of downtown Portland, the Holiday Ale Festival keeps attendees warm and dry under a large clear top tent that covers Pioneer Courthouse Square while allowing for views of the city lights. Gas heaters create a cozy ambience under the boughs of one of the region’s largest decorated Christmas trees.
More than 40 potent winter ales are featured at this year’s event, all of which are created specifically to bring warmth and cheer to the holiday season. These aren’t beers you’ll find in the supermarket – our brewers have put together special recipes just for the Holiday Ale Festival. From Belgians and Barleywines to Porters and Stouts, these beers are rich, robust and full of complex flavors.
Come hoist a pint and toast to the spirits of the season. We look forward to seeing you at the Holiday Ale Festival…Cheers!”
EXTRA!!! I just heard that they will be having some great (rare) beers at this event. 2005 Samichlaus anyone? Or perhaps a 2009 Hair of the Dog Jim, a blend of Hair of the Dog beers which this year may be more Blue Dot-esque. You had better try it out.
Whenever I feel a hankering for something different than what is in my local go to beer stores, I start searching the internet to see who ships and if they have something that I haven’t had before. Usually I end up ordering from Liquid Solutions (which is great) or from my parents (which is great because they charge way less).
For my Holiday beer tasting I wanted something really new and luckily I found Archer Liquors. They are based in Illinois and they have a really cool selection of stuff plus the people there are really nice.
I like to highlight beer places that are trying to do better. There are so many striving for mediocrity chains out there getting people’s hard earned money. I think more people need to go here….(if you are in the Pittsburgh area of course)
“Fat Head’s Saloon is a neighborhood bar & grill on Pittsburgh’s Historic South Side. We’re not some fancy-schmancy place or fast food take-out joint where your food is kept alive by heat lamps. Everything is cooked to order. Our huge menu features Headwiches, sandwiches, burgers, wings, ribs & more. Choose from 42 craft-brewed beers on tap, and one hand-pumped “real ale.” Fat Head’s numerous awards include Best Bar Food, Best Wings, Best Burgers, and Best Beer Selection. Stop in. Chill out. Have a beer and a sandwich or somethin’.”
When I think of beer afficionados, I think innovation (or collaboration, depending on the day) so when I saw this article in the online edition of the Oregonian, it came as no surprise.
“After months of construction, Prost! opens today as the anchor tenant to the new Mississippi Marketplace, at the corner of North Mississippi and Skidmore. In one of the most interesting experiments in Portland’s dining scene, the new German pub is the first restaurant to open its doors to food-cart customers looking for shelter — and a beer.
Business man Roger Goldingay spent months (not to mention $900,000 in real-estate costs) to shape a new vision for North Portland: converting a dilapidated building and an abandoned lot into a food-cart center, a community gathering place and an incubator for small artisan businesses focused on food or crafts. The cornerstone of Goldingay’s project was finding a restaurant that could work synergistically with its adjacent neighbors: a little village of spiffy food carts and market stalls.
Prost! (pronounced “proast”) was in line with that vision. Cart hoppers can sit outdoors in Mississippi Marketplace’s large tented eating area. But they now also have the option to eat — day or night — inside Prost’s handsome new Greek Revival space, as long as they buy a drink. Surviving Portland’s monsoon season is a major challenge for Portland’s cart owners, and many die with chillier weather. The option to hunker down in a homey space could make is possible for Mississippi Marketplace cart owners to survive — and pave the way for other food cart and restaurant collaborations.
That shouldn’t be too painful, especially is you like German beer (prost means “cheers” in German). On tap: 11 German beers on draft and around 8 to 10 bottled options, plus with a hard liquor license.
Owner Dan Hart will also serve a modest menu of German-style snacks: sausages (sourced locally from The Original Bavarian Sausage), fresh-baked pretzels and sandwiches, with most things under $10.
Mississippi Marketplace is possibly a model for the future, as other developers are already looking to bring similar food-cart projects to other parts of the city. Goldingay says he has been contacted by several developers in recent weeks.
“Most restaurants consider the food carts to be competition,” says Goldingay, whose “Prost! was the first who came on and said we welcome the idea and support it. We’re praying we get through the winter!”
Prost! is located at the corner of North Mississippi and Skidmore, 3 p.m.-2:30 a.m., Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2:30 a.m. Saturday-Sunday”
The mantra of creative / out of the box thinking is overused especially in the media this last year but I applaud everyone who actually takes it heart and acts on it.
I don’t get out to the Library Alehouse often enough. They have good food (Spinach and Strawberry salad) and a nice selection of beers and at least one if not more that I haven’t had either before or in a long time.
Since Bear Republic was in town along with Racer X, I e-mailed my fellow beer traveler Richard and we tasted a sample of 4 Bear beers.
First up was Norcal, it is a typical West Coast Pale. Assertive and hoppy without the citrus and pine that makes an IPA for me. It does go great with food though. Second was Racer V. This was my favorite of the night. As Richard said, pink grapefruit tastes. Third was the Racer X. Strong and bold at first but that dissipates to pine and orange notes. Last was Heritage, a Scotch ale. Nice malt and roasty flavors. Some coffee notes too.
Thanks to the Library for putting on a good show.
I did not know what to expect of Toronado SF. I had purposefully not looked at any photos. All I had done was check the beer list and made advance selections (that I didn’t follow). I have been to enough beer sellers to know that this was A) a serious beer place B) a familiar beer hall style.
Toronado is like Horse Brass in Portland or Lucky Baldwin’s in Pasadena or Tied House in Denver. Old taps are attached to the wall everywhere. (They had a great year by year tap progression of the Anchor Christmas beers) Old signed bottles are on shelves and every bar stool is taken. Oh and the lighting was dim.
Don’t take this as a slam against the place. Toronado is authentic. The taps on the wall tell a history. There was a large grouping of historic Full Sail taps. You can’t fake this. Plus, I love that they had a large board that was easy to read of the current rotation. With prices! Why some places eschew that touch is beyond me.
My wife scored us a table by some sort of magic and I settled on a new Anchor Steam. Hey, we were in the home of Anchor. Huming Ale is made with Nelson Sauvin hops, supposedly. It was almost like two different beers fighting each other. A steam beer with layers of hops but I could not locate the grape-y Nelson in there.
I could easily have stayed for hours and tried all new (to me) beers. That is the mark of a great beer bar.