Got some C’s for you today. Cranberries and currants from 2 Towns Ciderhouse.
Bliss pours the requisite red, would have been weird otherwise. I like that the aroma is still primarily apple. It needs to be cider with flavors, not just flavors. There is a really nice tartness here. I get the currants more than cranberry but I have a feeling that each drinker will perceive the two in different amounts. Very zippy with a nice hit of carbonation. I can see this paired with a salad with blue cheese very easily.
Let’s start off the year with more of a world view as the BBC presents us with a podcast about food (and spirits). The Food Programme is chipper and upbeat and is just very British. Perfect for the new year ahead.
I would pair this with the Samuel Smith variety pack that I have seen in SoCal Trader Joe’s. But even if TJs is not your thing, you can probably find one where you beer shop.
In the Best of 2023 edition of Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine, drinks writer Stephen Beaumont highlighted a few Canadian breweries to be aware of, it was a perfect starting point for the brewery tours for January. We begin the journey with Muddy York Brewing Co. in Toronto.
Here is my taster tray…
Major Small Best Bitter – “The Original Session Ale. Bitters were primarily served fresh under no pressure at cellar temperatures. Major Small Best Bitter is brewed using earthy English hops and biscuity malts. Major flavour, small ABV, thoroughly balanced.”
Gaslight Helles Lager – “Showcasing the flavours that come from using premium Bohemian Pilsner malt, we employ a unique yeast strain to make this thirst quenching variation of a Munich Helles more than just your ordinary lager.”
Chilly Bin NZ Pilsner – “Chilly bin — the New Zealand name for a cooler/portable ice box or chest. Chilly Bin NZ Pilsner – a tasty pils from Muddy York brewed to showcase New Zealand’s famously grown Nelson Sauvin hops. While you might not call your faithful cooler a ‘chilly bin’, you certainly need to try this crisp, light and refreshing pilsner.”
Working Hard New England IPA – “After experimenting with different hop combinations, we’ve settled on the super juicy and tropical duo of Mosaic & El Dorado. Aromas of mango, tangerine and stone fruit burst out of the can making this hazy New England IPA the perfect way to reward all of your Hard Work.”
Not only is N/A beer gaining on the ground but the air as well As Alaska Airlines has teamed with Best Day Brewing to offer their Kölsch on flights. It is “the first non-alcoholic beverage to join Alaska’s premium beverage line-up. “
I know that taste buds and aroma is different at altitude which makes having any flavorful drinks a hit or miss proposition but will an N/A drink hold up better or will the weakened state get weaker?
Fieldwork Brewing has a new beer series coming for California and Oregon residents, called Way Back perhaps in a nod to the cartoon time machine. The focus will be on big and burly Imperial beers. But without a laundry list of added ingredients and in bottles.
Warm Flannel is the latest in the Scottish Wee Heavy style. Looking forward to a bit of a walk through of slightly forgotten styles that should be on menus more often, if I had my way.
Disney has been slowly moving into liquor from their California Adventure park to EPCOT to cocktails at in the Star Wars universe. But the one attraction that I thought could really capitalize on drinks has been missing, Haunted Mansion.
I am not going to ever recommend a cruise but I will be looking out for more information about the The Haunted Mansion Parlor styled to “resemble a first-class drawing room of a classic cruise liner from the golden age, invoking inspiration from the original Haunted Mansion with a nautical twist.”
If the floating parlor is successful, maybe it will come to the parks and who knows with the Disneyland Haunted Mansion slated for refurbishment all of 2024, maybe a ghoulish cocktail will be a possibility in Anaheim.
I generally don’t cool whiskey. Sometimes a splash of water but that is about it. But since the Nesh Whiskey Chiller can take a liquid from room temperature to 36 degrees in 15 seconds, It just might solve the issue of recently purchased beer that has warmed up on the way home from purchasing.
The science is that “the area around the coils is frozen solid – exposing your whiskey to 3 feet of ice as it pours through while remaining isolated in a stainless steel tube. This significantly reduces the temperature of the spirit without directly exposing it to ice or water.”
