Beer Week 2009 Super Blog Pt 6

Day Eight


It’s Friday the 13th! With so many great events being held on this day, we had problems deciding which ones to attend without losing our sanity. I wanted to go to the Grey Lodge for the “Friday the Firkinteenth” but the thought of fighting the potential mob in order to get near a firkin greatly diminished my enthusiasm even though all those firkins (last heard was 30 and counting) were calling my name. I could have gone at 9:00AM when the event started, but I just couldn’t be one of those” he-men” to have beer for breakfast and certainly did not want to be drunk by noon (or at anytime) as reported in the Houston Chronicle*. Plus, we all had more important things to do during the day…until Tourist Tree read the “Smok’Em If You’ve Got ‘Em” event description. “Well..., I could possibly get my work done sooner so we can go after lunchtime, “ said the Doctor Professor.

Yards Brewery

The promise of over 20 smoked beers, 3 BBQ venders, an amateur BBQ smoke-off, and even Holts cigars had successfully lured us out in the middle of an afternoon even though we had tried to avoid any events that had the potential for having a large crowd.

 
 

We showed up slightly after 2:00PM. We could only find Tommy Gunns there but it already had run out of meats. No sight of Sweet Lucy’s or El Camino Real but there were an ample number of amateur competitors there eagerly giving out their creations for the masses to taste. There were ribs, pulled pork, pulled chicken, chili, meatballs….
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, the mob was there but the 17 beers on taps and the 5 in bottles were keeping everybody happy and moving. Even with the amount of people there, the place was not unbearably jam packed.

We tried the New Holland Brewing Smoking Jacket Stout – smoky, sweet, taste of BBQ; Flying Dog Dog Schwarz (7.5%ABV) – dark and malty; Aecht Schlenkerla Fastenbier (5.5%) – interesting; Trackside Brewing Smoked .45 (7%) – sweet, citrus, good with BBQ; Stewart’s Brewing Smoked Porter (5.4%) – a bit bitter and malty; Stouts Brett’s Scotch Ale (6.5%) – light tasting and a bit sour; Bethlehem Brew Work Rauch Bock (6.8%) – taste of caramel; Roy Pitz Brewing Ludwig’s Revenge (5%) – taste of coffee, slightly sour note; Sierra Nevada Smoked Imperial Porter (7.8%) – good smoky taste; Yards/Iron Hill Smoked Pol (5.8%) – nothing special; Stone Brewing Smoked Porter (5.9%) – very good; plus a home-brewed hefeweizen that was handled to us by a BBQ competitor which was very good.

An ingenious way of serving a pulled pork sandwich.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Entertainment.
 
We didn’t do the rest of the offering since we either had them before, the kegs were kicked as the afternoon was going by or we just didn’t get to them: Triumph Brewing Scotch Ale (8%); Iron Hill Rauch Bier (5%); Sly Fox Rauch Bier (5.2%); Oskar Blues Smoked On The Water (7%); Left Hand Smokejumper Imperial Porter (9.2%); Home Sweet Homebrew Smokin” Hole (5%); Sly Fox Smoked Imperial Porter (8.2%); Spezial Rauch Bier (5%); Aecht Schlenkerla Urbock (6.5%); Aecht Schlenkerla Weisse (5.2%).
 

It was a busy place with people coming and going. There was even a shuttle bus running between the brewery and The Grey Lodge.

Baby mama brought the family out.

Blogger Bryan Kolesar aka “Brewlounge” captured us in one of his pictures.

 

Tree and Suz, aka blogger “Beerlass”. She has a picture of us on her site too. Cool!

Announcing the results for the BBQ smoke-off.

Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em!

Capogiro

Rogue Chocolate Stout and Lindeman’s Framboise Lambic gelato.

Tourist Tree’s two favorite food groups: ice cream and beer.

Capogiro had another new flavor for the Beer Week, Lindeman’s Framboise Lambic. I was never a big fan of fruity beers, however, this lambic was brewed with raspberries and made quite an interesting gelato.

A very nice outfit on a cold spring day.

Perfect afternoon snacks after the Smoke‘Em event: Lindeman’s Framboise with Peanut Butter Chocolate on left and Rogue Chocolate Stout and Peanut Butter Chocolate on right.

La Colombe

We had a little intermezzo before the evening festivities. IMHO, La Colombe is the best coffee roaster in town…, or in many towns that we have been.

Tir Na Nog

We took a walk to Tir Na Nog since the Irish Tree would like to meet the Brewmaster from Guinness. However, he was a no-show.

Marathon Bar

We then walked over to Marathon for the Lion Brewery but it was a non-event. The bar only had a few in bottles hidden in the back fridge with the Lion rep sitting in the corner. Nothing on draft, no crowd, nobody paying attention. Lame!!!

Misconduct Tavern

After walking a huge circle half way through town, we were delighted to find Harpoon at Misconduct. I have been a fan of Harpoon for years, unfortunately it is mostly available in bottles only in this area. It was a pleasant sight to see it on tap. Tourist Tree became a fan from drinking the limited release Scottish style ale Firth of Forth last year.

We did the tasting flight and started with the Apple Cider (4.1%). Very light, very easy drinking, perfect for quenching our thirst from all the walking. The Catamount Maple Wheat (6.8%) was a limited release from February. It was slight sweet with hints of maple from the brewing. We liked it very much. The Quad was a hoppy Belgian style Dubbel packing an 11.75% ABV. It was a bit on the intense side but not too overwhelmingly. Pretty awesome! There was also the limited release Rauchfetzen Smoked Ale which was pretty impossible to find anywhere, but we didn’t want to do the 22oz bottle since we still had another stop or two to make. We did score some freebie handouts from the rep after doing some beer talking with him.

Good Dog

It’s the Sly Fox vs. Southampton Firkin Beer-Off. Whoever kicks its firkin first won.

The bar was pretty packed when we got there. Tourist Tree was trying to get a Sly Fox Seamus Red from the firkin set up in the front by the entrance, while I slowly tried to get through the crowd to get a Southampton Irish Red set up at the back. I almost made it when a big cheer went off. The Irish Red firkin was kicked! It only took 22 minutes! Three minutes later, the Seamus Red was kicked too, right after Tourist Tree got herself a mug. (Picture right: The guy from Southampton accepting his trophy.)

The place was crowded but festive.

No Irish Red but we had the Seamus Red.

Tourist Tree got a freebie Southampton shirt.

Running into familiar faces.

Ladies posing with their new fashion accessories

No idea how this trend was started.

With both firkins kicked, Tourist Tree switched to the Flying Fish Good Fish which Flying Fish brews just for the Good Dog, while I had a Southampton Barton Pale Ale. The Good Fish has been one of Tourist Tree's favorite beverages at Good Dog. I liked the Barton Pale Ale. It would be a good beer with BBQ.

10 Arts

We have had several very nice fine dining experiences at 10 Arts. I have enjoyed many dishes there like the tuna carpaccio, bouillabaisse, short ribs, etc. Chef Carroll also makes a killer mac n’ cheese. Ever since that restaurant opened, I have been wondering what her burger would be like? With all her experience at the Le Bernardin kitchen, could she do a simple American comfort food right?

After having “a few” beers this day, a burger sounded like a very logical choice for a late dinner!

 
 
 
 
 
 

The meat was nicely packed together and grilled to our request with cheddar melted nicely on top. The onion was sliced razor thin and the lettuce was sliced into thin strips and piled on the tomato and the slightly pickled cucumber slices. We were intrigued by cucumber slices since it tasted very fresh and crunchy but had only a very slight hint of pickle. I thought it was fresh cucumber until Tourist Tree pointed out the slightly pickled touch. There was also a light touch of a mild horseradish sauce on the bun which worked quite nicely with the vegetables. We both liked our juicy burgers very much and I particularly like the fine dining touch on them. The fries were nicely done but there was a bit too much salt in it for my taste.

I want to point out that the service was absolutely superb. Attentive yet not intrusive, friendly yet professional and the attention to details were excellent. We enjoyed our burger meal at 10 Arts very much.

Running into old friends after dinner.

Day Eight beer tally: New Holland Brewing Smoking Jacket Stout; Flying Dog Dog Schwarz; Aecht Schlenkerla Fastenbier; Trackside Brewing Smoked .45; Stewart’s Brewing Smoked Porter; Stouts Brett’s Scotch Ale; Bethlehem Brew Work Rauch Bock; Roy Pitz Brewing Ludwig’s Revenge; Sierra Nevada Smoked Imperial Porter; Yards/Iron Hill Smoked Pol; Stone Brewing Smoked Porter; a home-brewed hefeweizen; Harpoon Apple Cider, Catamount Maple Wheat, Quad; Sly Fox Seamus Red; Flying Fish Good Fish; Southampton Barton Pale Ale.


*“Drunk by noon? Perfectly acceptable in Philly” Houston Chronicle, March 6, 2009.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bizarre/6298546.html