Calvados tasting at Chick's Cafe

I don't plug many individual events at bars and restaurants; that's on purpose, because I want my plugs to have some kind of impact when I do make them. This one came in my e-mail today, and it's happening tomorrow, and I'm thinking hard about how to get to it.

I love apples, and apple booze, and have had discussions about apple booze (and the sad state of American ignorance with regards to it) with the bartender at Chick's, Katie Loeb, and this looks... I mean, how often do you get to meet a calvados distiller?


Meet Jerome Dupont, a 4th generation Calvados distiller from Normandy, France.
March 27th (tomorrow) 5-7 PM

Chick's Cafe and Wine Bar (614 S. 7th St.) will be hosting a Calvados (Apple Brandy) happy hour this Friday March 27th from 5-7PM. Come meet Jerome Dupont, 4th generation Calvados producer from Domaine Familial Louis Dupont. Sidecars $9 Flights of aged Calvados $12.


Wow. I gotta figure how to get to this.

Red Stag by Jim Beam

Well, this is different. Label's different, liquid looks different, the smell's different, and the taste is damned different. Funny thing is...the bottle's the same.

It's Red Stag by Jim Beam, labeled as "Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Infused with Natural Flavors," with a big sub-label "BLACK CHERRY." Which right away makes me wonder if there are other flavors ready if this works. I also wonder at how they put the Jim Beam name and seal and bottle on this new and kind of risky venture. (Budweiser Select, anyone?)

Does it work? Well, the cherry flavor is, as it says, an infusion of natural flavors, and it smells and tastes like it. It tastes like bourbon that's had cherries steeping in it, something we used to do back home in Pennsylvania Dutch country, a thing called cherry baunz (you also added sugar and tried to crush a few stones). The fruit flavor is not nasty or fake -- as I mentioned to a friend on-line, it's impressively authentic -- and it's not completely overwhelming. It does come across as too sweet...but for what? For bourbon? It's not, it's flavored bourbon. That's one of the good things Beam did: everything is spelled out nice and honest on the label.

And the best part of it being flavored bourbon, is that they kept it 80 proof, which keeps it from being wicked gross nasty sweet, like the first batch I tasted of Wild Turkey's American Honey. But like American Honey has become (and I do nip off Cathy's bottle occasionally), this stuff is just sweet...and it fits. Because it's got real bourbon flavor, coming from real bourbon. It's the bourbon that keeps me picking up the glass.

I almost want to mix this with some heavy cream. I think that's where Red Stag's best future lies: recipes and cocktails. I do have a shameful liking for sweet Manhattans; this might be wicked tasty. Sipping? Huh-uh. Over ice, splash of seltzer? Getting warmer. Don't think of it as bourbon whiskey. Think of it as cherry baunz.

And I just got the word: on shelves in June.

80 Years at Victory

We celebrated my father's 80th birthday at Victory on Sunday. We had reserved the corner table, under the brewkettle (which has a kind of 'Cone of Silence' effect, only it worked: we could hear each other pretty clearly, while most of the outside noise was blocked). Cathy and the kids and I got there a bit early, and I immediately ordered an Uncle Teddy's Bitter, which was nicely conditioned and fresh as an impertinent sophomore. Cathy got a Three Ring Ale, which I've been told is a Ballantine Ale homage. It was light and crisp, with some hoppy zip to it, but both of us preferred the Uncle Teddy's.

After everyone else arrived -- including my dad -- we ordered lunch and got more beers. My mother got a Wies'n, which was 'right on the edge' for her, she likes a maltier beer; my uncle Don got a Donnybrook that seemed to please him, and I got a Dark Lager, which was pouring nicely, a great dunkel. I went old school and got the smokehouse burger, which shaved off my appetite quite nicely.

I had another Uncle Teddy's to fill in the empty spaces, then got a cup of coffee to go with the cake. Victory's catering chef had promised me that her pastry chef could make anything we wanted, and we got a spice cake with caramel icing for my Pennsylvania Dutch dad. It was huge, and very nicely done, a delicious and authentic cake. My dad loved it.

It was a nice afternoon with the extended family, and the beer and food were perfect. Thanks to staying low on the alcohol level, I was in control of all my faculties and aimed the Passat eastward, but with a warm day and the big feed...it was a job staying awake on the way home. Now I'm 50 and my dad's 80; Cathy and I will mark our 20th anniversary in December, rounding out this year of family landmarks, all cause for joy and celebration. I wish you all a similarly happy year; the travails of the economy have brought us to cherish family, health, and friendship even more.

Philly Beer Week 2010 wants you!

I ran into Jennie Hatton at Standard Tap last night; I was just there to have some Standard Ale, she was there for a Casey Hughes-hosted Flying Fish beer dinner that sounds like it was a triumph, and I don't mean Patrick Jones-style (though that would be a good idea, too...). Which reminded me that she'd sent a request out to me and the other area beer bloggers, asking us to post the following; a general request to participate in a Philly Beer Week experience survey. It's a good community thing to do, and it helps Jennie make next year better. That's self-interest, boyo, so do it.

We are conducting a short survey to find out more information about your Philly Beer Week 2009 experience, and your time in the Philadelphia area. When you complete this survey you will be put into a drawing to win a Pair of Tickets to Opening Tap 2010 (5 pairs of tickets will be given away). In order to be eligible to win the tickets, please complete the survey by March 30th.
The Survey is here.
Thanks again for a great Philly Beer Week!
We will not share your personal information with anyone.
Cheers!

Get to work!

Kegs Go Home

Philly Beer Week's last event for me happened two days ago on Saturday; the Return of the Kegs. I took the kegs from our Upstate Beer Night at the Grey Lodge back to the brewers. It was a long day.

I filled up the Passat, and dropped Thomas off at Holy Ghost for the qualifying rounds for the National Catholic Forensics League championship (he qualified, and will be competing in Albany in May!). That was about 7:50 AM, and I aimed it north from there, up the Turnpike Extension. First stop was One Guy Brewing, and although I mostly just had time to drop off the keg (Atomic Punk IPA, and it went over well) and hit the head, I did get a short progress report. Guy's still having to run hard to meet demand, and an expansion of the taproom (almost doubling in size) is about to start. He's getting Friday nights when people can't get in the door! Bravo, Berwick.

Off again, headed for Williamsport. It was a beautiful day, cold and mostly sunny, and not too much traffic on the road...except for one wing-ding on Rt. 15 North, who just would not let me pass him. I don't get that. If someone wants to pass you, why not just pull over and let them by? Why play games and whip back and forth across two lanes to keep them from passing? Are you bored?

Anyway...slid into one of the courthouse parking spots, grabbed the Bullfrog keg (Beesting Saison, might have been the hit of the night) and handed it to a waitress (the pub wasn't open yet, it was a bit before 11). Ran back to the car and drove three blocks to Bavarian Barbarian. Mike was in, and I gave him his dunkelweizen keg back (not enough dunkelweizens out there, and I hope he keeps making this one). Took a few minutes to sample his spiced winter ale, First Snow (good -- for spiced ale, I'm not a huge fan, but this had all the right pieces in the right places and didn't overwhelm in any direction), then hit the road again.

Now I headed down Rt. 220, then cut back east and south, over two ridges (that's the landscape picture above) to Millheim and Elk Creek Cafe and Aleworks, to return the last keg (strong Belgian golden, and that was nice in a small glass). I had pushed hard all morning so I could relax now: I'd never had the food at Elk Creek, and I wanted to try it. Worth the wait. I had a glass of Oatmeal Stout -- smooth, bitter, nice -- with a bowl of lamb-lentil stew, and then a Blue Heron Pale Ale -- bright and hoppy, very drinkable -- with a smoked turkey, bacon, and avocado sandwich on flatbread, which was delicious; the side of house-made potato chips were outstanding. Gotta go back for more.

Down the valley to pick up Rt. 322 down to the Susquehanna, when I realized I had about 30 minutes to kill before talking to the Harrisburg homebrew club (ReHAB) at Scotzin Brothers homebrew shop in Lemoyne. It was a Saturday afternooon; I stopped by Tröegs. Wow. First time I've been in since the remodeling of the tasting area. What a huge difference. If you haven't been, you should go, it's a great place to try the latest and greatest from the Trogners. Just don't do like I did and park in the wet spot in the parking lot; turned out to be run-off from spent grain, and my car and I both smelled horrible!

Across the river to Lemoyne, where I spent a very pleasant two hours talking beer (and whiskey) with the homebrewers, and sampled some pretty darned good homebrews. They did not make a mead-drinker out of me -- sorry, guys, others have tried, and it just ain't happening (with one exception in Oklahoma and I've never tasted the equal since) -- but there were a couple beers that were excellent.

I left there about 5:30, stopped in at my parents' on the way home for dinner, then finally -- 450 miles later -- returned home. That's when I found out that my daughter, Nora, had learned that her school robotics team, the Mount St. Joseph Academy Firebirds (Nora's a freshman member), had won the Chairman's Award at the Philadelphia Regional FIRST competition, an awesome and jaw-dropping honor indeed. We were pretty proud parents. Good day!

Hofbräuhaus Goodness!

News from Pittsburgh: Bob Batz at the Post-Gazette sends this. Thanks, Bob!

Hop Hound Amber Wheat

Turbid amber color, nice head of creamy foam, bread-fresh aroma with a lightly citrus character to it. Tangy, refreshing, medium body, a real cut to it, spicy/lemony flavor and, long after the beer last moves down the throat, a bitter pull in the back of the throat.

If this were any other kind of beer than an American wheat, I'd cry foul on naming it Hop Hound. Because folks: it ain't that hoppy. But for what is widely, sadly, called "hefeweizen" in the U.S. (particularly in the West, something they just gotta answer for), this is, indeed, on the hoppy end of the scale. Kinda brings back memories of Wild Goose Spring Wheat, although that had a whole different mouthfeel to it, thanks to the English ale brewing.

So... yeah, it's the new Michelob spring seasonal. At 5.3% ABV. And it's really got yeast in there (although the neck label only refers to it as "what's left," and while it's technically not all yeast...it's pretty much yeast), quite a bit of it. The dog thing seems goofy. But it's not a bad beer at all for the category.

Get your flaying knives out: I liked another ABIB product. Damn me, I hate me when I do that. FWIW, I did see a sixpack of Wild Blue last week (in Philly, during Philly Beer Week!) and I still hate that syrupy shit, so there you go.

PLCB's 'CEO' Conti and Chairman Stapleton on PCN Call-In tonight

I'm double-posting this from my PLCB Abolishment blog, just because it's short notice. Apologies to non-Pennsylvanian readers.

Got questions about the PLCB? Want to know why your favorite wine (or bourbon, Sam) has disappeared? Curious about SLO? Jealous of the towns that have beer sales at their Wegmans or Sheetz? Want to know why the PLCB is training their clerks to be polite? Can't figure out why we have the case law, or why beer is sold in private stores but not wine and liquor? Want to ask Joe 'CEO' Conti just what it is he does? Would you like to hear them defend their very existence?

Itch for knowledge no longer. Both 'CEO' Conti and PLCB Chairman PJ Stapleton will be on PCN-TV tonight on the Call-In show for an hour, at 7 PM. I'd urge you to watch this. If you do call in a question, please be civil. I'd hate to have Chuck Ardo think you were criticizing them for curing cancer.

This should be fun.

Hofbräuhaus Pittsburgh is open!

The Pittsburgh Hofbräuhaus just opened, and STAG has a correspondent inside: check it out!

Deer, Beer, and Fear

Check out this video of deer invading The Beer Arena in Greensburg, PA. Watch and listen carefully, and see if you can catch all the errors the talking hairdos make. I'll give you the easy one: they refer to this beer distributor as "a liquor store." Oh, if only...