Ithaca is Gorges -- Part V

In which we actually go to Ithaca.

We were up in NY over the weekend, visiting the in-laws (mother and 2 brothers), as I mentioned earlier. On the way back, we cruised down along Lake Cayuga, eating up the beautiful lake views, passing up the winery tours, and wondering about real estate prices. We got into Ithaca, and stopped at the Ithaca Ale House, a relatively new place down in the middle of town. Good tap selection, neons, good vibe, looked promising.

And largely, it panned out. The beer selection was strong, and I decided to get a Wachusett Blueberry Ale, since I've had just about every other Wachusett beer but this one, their best-seller. It was quite nice, not overpoweringly fruity, drinkable and pleasant. I also got a taster of Ithaca's Oaked Nut Brown Ale, the one I panned a few days ago, and it was...better. A little sweet, a bit thin, and only the slightest incipienct edge of sourness, maybe resiny wood. It's possible that the problem is that the oak is just a bit too much for the beer to carry: too much wood for the beer.

But we were there for lunch, right? So we ordered: three burgers of varying type and a crabcake salad, and Cathy and Nora split a French onion soup. The soup came, it was good...and then we sat there...and sat there...and sat there. I could have had another beer, we could have skipped reloading the meter...it was annoying, to tell the truth. Don't know if it was the kitchen, either, because the waitress avoided us, and the other tables were dragging. The food, however, when it did finally arrive, was excellent. My burger was delicious, fresh, done just rare, the way I like it, with crisp lettuce and onions. Worth the wait? Tough call; I really would have liked another beer.

Ithaca...was nice, as always. And we'll be back.

Ithaca is Gorges -- Parts III & IV

Had the last two Ithaca beers in the box last night while playing Trivial Pursuit (80s edition, God help me, but the men kicked the women's butts, so not all bad). The first was Oaked Nut Brown, an oak-aged version of Ithaca's year-round standard Nut Brown. Sorry, guys: this was a mistake. The beer was sour; not wildly, spit it out sour, but tangy, like incipient infection problems. Granted, the beer was bottled in September, and may have been better then, but...four months? Should hold up that long. Thumbs down on this one; we tried a second bottle, got the same results (and swore), and moved on.

We moved on to the Ithaca Pale Ale, which was much more likable. No surprises here: American Pale Ale (Cascade, Willamette, and Centennial, according to the website) that wasn't over the top, but certainly not wimpy either. In fact, it compared rather well to the somewhat underwhelming Southern Tier IPA we had after it (which was disconcerting: STIPA is, in memory, a solid IPA, firmly bitter and buoyantly hop-fragrant; this was none of that). I'd be very happy with a sixtel of this at a Summer party (or a winter party, for that matter).

More tourist stuff? Not right now, but we may be driving thru Ithaca shortly; maybe we can get some pix. Meantime, we're not done: I've got a couple big bottle Excelsior series to do yet. Oh, and by the way: happy anniversary to Ithaca, they just celebrated their 10th anniversary earlier this month!

Ithaca is Gorges -- Part II

Digging into the Ithaca box a little deeper, and I came up with a Cascazilla. The brewery sez:

The name CascaZilla is a play on both the name of our local Cascadilla Gorge and the monster amounts of Cascade hops in this beer. This red ale gets its distinctive color from a healthy portion of caramel malt, which also lends some body and sweetness to the beer. The predominant flavor and aroma of this beer, however, is brought to you by the fresh American hops.

Yes, indeed. The beer's surprisingly gulpable for being so hoppy and so big (7%), and even a Lager-drinker at our caroling party loved it. Like the label, too: the monster movie stuff with the idyllic image of the gorge falls in the middle of it. Ithaca's come a long way from four year-round beers (solid, but not what you'd call exciting) and a couple seasonals (I never thought I'd see Flower Power again, and I'm so glad they brought it back). Now they have beers like this, the big bottle wonders (working my way through a few of those, should post on them), and real promotion -- and they're in Philly.

So...you should go see them. Ithaca really is a town worth visiting. Very cool, and an early entry in the East's good beer scene (the Ithaca Chapter House, which was once a brewpub with a bitching-good blonde bock), a nationally-known vegetarian restaurant (Moosewood, and even a carnivore like me likes it), a hopping 24/7/365 deli with excellent sammiches (Shortstop Deli) and surrounded by fantastic Finger Lakes scenery...oh, and did I mention there's a seriously great cidery there, too? We'll probably be passing through the town at some point in the next week, it's always fun.

Ithaca is Gorges -- Part I

I got an odd box from the city of Ithaca not long ago. Actually, it came from the city's visitors bureau, Ithaca Beer, and the I-town record label, an interesting trio of actors all urging me to consider Ithaca as a destination for beer, music, and other attractions (like Taughannock Falls, at right, one of several nearby waterfalls). They craftily caught my attention by wrapping the whole presentation around a CD of I-town artists, a small fly-drive of artwork and press releases, and a 12-pack of Ithaca beers -- those sly dogs. So after chilling, I popped the sampler CD in my PC (you can listen along here, I liked the Billy Cote cut) and popped open a bottle of Gorges Smoked Porter.

The CD? Good tunes, if a bit heavy on reggae for my tastes (do small labels get reggae artists for the same reason small breweries do ales: it's easier and cheaper?). The Smoked Porter, on the other hand, was very much to my tastes. Porter, no matter what else it is, should be drinkable, downright quaffable. If it isn't, I think it misses the whole point of being porter. Gorges doesn't let the smoke get in your eyes and overwhelm the porter, it's not gaggingly bitter, and it's not woozily strong. Mostly it tasted "moreish," as the sainted MJ used to say.

More to come shortly, on the beers, the music, and the travel to Ithaca concept.

Ithaca Beer, welcome to Philly!

I've been drinking Ithaca Beer Company beers since before I started the research for New York Breweries, back in 2001. They started off with some fairly standard offerings, including the Apricot Wheat that's their best-seller (approximately 45% of total sales), but they've turned it up; Flower Power IPA is a blossoming beauty of hop flavor and aroma (and way too drinkable at 8% ABV), and their Excelsior series is awesome: White Gold, a slightly funky ("Ithaca wild yeast," executive brewer Jeff O'Neil told me, from a small pilot batch that was being carefully blended in) big spiced wheat ale; Caffeinator, a coffee doppelbock; and TEN, a massively whomped-up version of their Cascazilla red ale that took first place at the TAPNY festival tasting this year, propelling Ithaca into the New York State championship, winning the F.X. Matt Memorial Cup.

So it's not surprising that after a successful foray into the hot beer market of Pittsburgh, Ithaca decided to test the waters in Philly. They launched Tuesday night at McGillin's Olde Ale House, and I drove down to Standard Tap, unloaded my bike (free parking in NoLibs, baby), and rode down to have a taste. I was sweating in the 97° heat, but you know, there were a lot more bikes on the streets than the last time I did this. Interesting.

Anyway, it was cool in McGillin's, and though I was early, Jeff was good enough to hammer home the tap in a pin of Flower Power. It was a beautiful pour, a healthy billowing flower of foam over a cool apricot-hued beer. The aroma was mighty and wonderful, hop-twisted and estery, and deep under it was a beer that was West Coast-hoppy but East Coast-balanced. "I'm not so much on bitter," said O'Neil, "but I love hop flavor. Sorry it's not as "session" as you'd like, though." I managed to choke it down, quite quickly, and ask for a half-glass more.

I asked owner Dan Mitchell, why Philly? "We've done very well in Pittsburgh," he said. "We started talking to people (wholesalers) in Philly about two months ago...the guys at Penn (Distributers) seemed to get our beer the best." That's who they went with, and Penn was out in force at this launch. Dan was particularly impressed by the way Philly folks already were aware of Ithaca's beers, thanks largely to beer-trading efforts engendered by beer websites.

The market's ready to show some love to Ithaca's bigger beers, it appears, and we'll be getting regular -- small, but regular -- shipments of cask ale as well, starting with another pin of Flower Power and an Oak-aged Nut Brown (that Jeff says is spectacular) that will be at Friday the Firkinteenth tomorrow (only one in 2008, weather's looking good, whoo-hoo!!!).

I think that Ithaca may actually find a solid market for the Apricot here as well. Philly is well-known as a hot-spot for Belgian-type beers, and a love for lagers, but we don't have a regular fruit beer...and I don't think it's because there's not a market for it. I just think no one's offered it year-round. Apricot may go big here, in which case I suspect you'll see some local brewers bending to the buck and sniffing around the fruit. Could happen.

Anyway, I thanked Dan and Jeff for coming down and for the invite to the launch, strapped on my Camelbak (with two Excelsior bottles stuffed in there, Old Habit Rye and TEN, thanks again, guys!) and helmet, saddled up and headed north, eyeing the ominous clouds. They weren't quite ominous enough to stop me from nipping into Standard Tap for a quick cold pint of Kenzinger (and it was quick, I'm telling you, after that hot ride; it barely touched the sides on the way down) before strapping the bike to the back of the Passat and heading home. I beat the rain by about ten minutes.