Beer Week 2010 Super Blog, Pt. 4

Day Three


Call me crazy; I figured that with all the gluttony for the past several days, I better do some exercise. So I got up at 0530 and had my butt down to Kelly drive with my bicycle. Being the Bike Race day with the roads already closed, I rode most of the race course several times (Minus The Wall. Yeah, I’m a wimp) as I was calculating in my head how much each mile is worth in terms of beer calories.

Kraftwork

A relative newcomer in Fishtown, Kraftwork is a beautiful bar with big windows facing the street that allows lots of sunlight to come in to show off the intricate metal work details in the fixtures that give the bar such unique characteristics.

On this day of Beer Week, all hands were on the left with all the taps featuring beers from the Left Hand Brewery.


We started with the Sawtooth and the 400 lb Monkey with our late afternoon snack. The Sawtooth is a 5.0% ABV ESB that’s just nice and smooth coming out of the nitro tap. Tourist Tree loved her 6.7% IPA which is hoppy but not ridiculously bitter.

Chilled Beet Soup


It was like eating melted beets. The soup captured all the right flavors of a beet in an easy to eat medium viscosity. The light drizzle of oil on the soup was a nice elegant touch.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Grill Jersey Asparagus, Morel Mushroom, Fried Egg, Manchego Cheese, Truffle Oil


What can you not like about this dish? OK, the asparagus was having a shrinkage problem. They were a bit dry and shriveled up but this shortcoming was made up by the egg yoke running everywhere and the essence of truffle oil permeating in the air. I was as happy eating the food as I was happy drinking the Sawtooth which paired so well with the dish.

 
 
 

We love going to Beer Week events when we see old friends and talk to newly met people about beer, food, world peace, and whatever comes up in the conversation. Being in the late afternoon, Kraftworks was not overly crowded with plenty of space. As we were drinking the JuJu Ginger (4.0% ginger beer) as our after snack drink, we were really enjoying hanging out at in this relaxed atmosphere in a lazy Sunday afternoon before continuing our beer adventure for the day.

Johnny Brenda’s

When the Troeg brothers packed their special limited release beers and their employee bands onto a bus for Philly, we headed to Johnny Brenda’s.

With all the taps on Troegs, we concentrated on the Scratch Series limited release beers which are usually available only at the brewery and a few bars in the Harrisburg area. We started with the Cocoabunga as the first Troeg employee band was starting up. This oak aged chocolate stout is #27 in the series. It is dark, smooth, milky, and delicious with a chocolate flavor. Next, we had the Citra of Brotherly Love. This 7.4% IPA is the latest Scratch Series beer that was brewed in honor of the Philly Beer Week. The name is also a play on the use of the citra hops and the two Troeg brothers. It has hints of orange and grapefruit with the light sweetness that took the hoppy bitterness edge off. The beer is also aged in wine barrel for a week before being kegged.

Three Troeg employee bands showed up for the day. Each played very stylized music, all very good.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

We had the Roggen as we took a break from the music and relaxed at the bar downstairs. The #28 beer at 6.1% was brewed after the German style Roggenbier. We liked its lightly sweet citrus character which is great for the summer. I, however, didn’t like my next beer as much. The Scratch Series #29 Belgium IPA was…an IPA, not my most favorite style of beer. On the other hand, Tourist Tree liked less the #30 Bock beer. This 7.00% Maibook / Hellerbock beer was smooth and easy drinking but much lower in IBU than the #29 that Hophead Tree liked.


We ended our gig at Johnny Brenda’s with a Flying Mouflan. John Troeg wouldn’t tell us how this 9.3% barleywine was named except it might have something to do with his college days.

Nifty hand stamp used at Johnny Brenda.

McGillin’s

When Lincoln was elected president in 1860, McGillin’s opened its door for business. 150 years later, it is still operating at its original location. What better way to celebrate this monumental occasion as the city’s oldest continuing operating tavern than a huge blow-out birthday bash!

As man and women of the people, Tourist Tree and Aiiyah stopped by the “Creative Black Tie” event with their “Creative Peasant” attire but co-owner Chris Mullin still welcomed us with open arms.

The Budweiser Clydesdales stopped in for a visit and attracted a large admiring crowd. They looked kind of out of place in the tiny side street standing next to an abundant boarded-up building.

Food was plenty. The hot wings were wonderful in calming down our stomachs after an afternoon of drinking. For the record, Tourist Tree and Aiiyah were drinking sodas.

 

This band has been playing there since 1860.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Creative black tie is individuality.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Leslie, pretty girl, and David in high fashion, McGillin’s style.

 
 
 
 

The Houston Boys Choir gave an impromptu performance at the Rittenhouse Square Park as we were taking a walk after leaving McGillin’s. I felt so at home since I was wearing my University of Texas T-shirt.


 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 

Good Dog Bar

After a day of drinking and eating, we needed dinner. The Italian Wedding soup was a rustic rendition made in-house. We tried to pair that with the Iron Hill Kryptonite IPA from a firkin. Yuck! That didn’t work for Aiiyah. Tourist Tree liked the 7.2% high IBU IPA but it just didn’t work with the soup for me. I preferred the orange’ish, apricot’ish 5.5% Saison which went very well with my Good Dog Salad instead. The salad also cured my guilt from not having eaten any vegetables for the past several days. We also shared a plate of mussels made with Magic Hat #9. The mussels were quite plump and tender, and the sauce was just deliciously full with taste and complex flavor in depth.

Day Three Beer Tally:

Left Hand Sawtooth
LeftHhand 400Ib Monkey
Left Hand JuJu Ginger
Troegs Scratch #27 Cocoabunga
Troegs Scratch #31 Citra of Brothery Love
Troegs Scratch #28 Roggen
Troegs Scratch #29 Belgium
Troegs Scratch #30 Bock
Troegs Flying Mouflan
Iron Hill Kyptonite IPA
Iron Hill Saison

Beer Week 2010 Super Blog, Pt. 3

Day Two


The drive from Washington, DC to Philadelphia is a tolerable journey, if you have a good music mix in the iPod. My playlist was barely keeping our sanity in check when it took us one hour to move just 7 miles when 3 lanes on New York Ave. were merging into one, so a patch of 10 by 10 could be repaved. All these time sitting in the car crawling our way north did give us ample opportunity to thumb through the extensive list of events happening during the Beer Week and decide on a place(s) to go for day two when we (hopefully) got back to Philly. It took us no time to come up with our first destination.

The Good Dog Bar


Our favorite hangout in Philly was hosting the Flying Dog. That’s a no brainer for us to stop in when these two dogs meet. So who did we see as we walked less than two feet past the front door into the crowed bar? Our very own beer goddess, the Beerlass, who was still wearing her race number from the 3 ½ mile Beermuda Triangle Run earlier that afternoon. She even seemed to have survived the run pretty well since she was still on her feet despite it took her 2 hours to complete the loop.

 The beeline from I-95 to the front door of Good Dog led us to the firkin of Flying Dog Snake Bite sitting on the bar, our first official Philly Beer Week beer event, in Philly. While the Tourist Tree was appreciating this hoppy 7.1% IPA after the slow drive home; Aiiyah decided to switch to something more suiting his taste, the Barrel Aged Gonzo Porter. At 7.8%, this imperial porter provided Aiiyah with both a good taste of satisfaction and an equal amount of high octane happiness.



Doing the Flying Dog with Flying Fish Casey and Tim.

 Summer in the City


Alcohol does impair judgment. We both desired a good burger after flying around with pints of the Flying Dogs. I still do not understand or remember what had transpired us not to have the Good Dog Burger but instead we walked down the street and tried our luck in getting a few seats at the Village Whisky. Alcohol does impair judgment.

To our surprise, and probably to anyone who had tried to get a table on a Saturday night’s surprise; we were seated immediately at Village Whiskey. Summer in the city was doing us well!

We love beets. We even tried to cook beets at home one time and gave up on any future attempts after realizing that it takes a very long time to cook a beet till it is tender. We now order beets whenever we see interesting ones on menus.

The pickled beets were served with black olive tapenade, whipped ricotta and toasted sourdough. The yellow and red pieces were tender yet still had a nice snap. The light pickling allowed the beets to retain some of their natural characteristics without being drowned out by the process

Village Whisky has an extensive whisky and cocktail list, yet I am proud to say that of the many times I have visited, I have not had anything other then beer there. There has always been something very interesting either on the taps or in bottles in the short but sweet list.


After the rowdy good time we just had at Good Dog, I wasn’t going to have another beer with dinner but the sign written on the chalk board outside the restaurant so intrigued and convinced me, “Beer Week Special: Marshal Zhukov’s Imperial Brandy Aged Stout”. Enough said. This jet black dark liquid of gold was sweet, smoky, and herbal’ish. It’s thick, viscous, and packed a good punch at 11.5%ABV. I have not seen many beers from the Cigar City Brewery in the city yet, but I like every beer from this Tampa, FL brewery that I have tried so far. I still have no idea who Marshal Zhukov is.

With an audacious need for a good burger, Tourist Tree ordered the BBQ Pork Sammy (without the sammy part). The pulled pork soaked in whisky BBQ sauce was sweet with a little kick of spice following. As a pulled pork connoisseur, Tourist Tree liked the meat but thought the sweetness in the sauce was becoming overwhelming toward the end of her meal.


There are times the by-catch on a dish becomes the star while the main attraction stands behind in the shadow. This time, it was the fried pickles, which were nicely seasoned and battered. A bite through the perfectly fried crunchy batter led to a juicy slice of pickle followed by the light kick of spiciness from the seasoning. These fried pickles on the side of the BBQ pork were awesome!

With an audacious need for a good burger, Aiiyah had his with cheddar, bacon and an egg on top. There is nothing more satisfying than a gooey egg yoke running all over a wonderfully prepared burger made with high quality meat; well…, may be if the bacon were a bit crispier. Regardless, my handful of a juicy bomb provided what I needed psychologically and physiologically. Of course, nothing was complete without a good order of tater tots on the side.
 

 
 
 

The temptation was too much. With Capogiro only a few feet away across the street, it would be illegal not to stop in for a little cup of goodness before going home. While the Tourist Tree had her usual mix of sorbets, Aiiyah had a Thai Coconut Milk granita with a nice scoop of Stracciatella on top. Excess is good!
 

Day Two Beer Tally:

Flying Dog Snake Bite

Flying Dog Barrel Aged Gonzo Imperial Porter

Cigar City Marshal Zhukov’s Imperial Brandy Aged Stout

Beer Week 2010 Super Blog Pt.2

Day One


It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! But…we’re not here! We’re still in DC!

Brickskeller Bar

We were sitting comfortably in our favorite dive bar in DC as the Hammer of Glory was coming down tapping the ceremonial keg at the Opening Tap event at the Visitor’s Center in Philly that signaled the official start of the Philly Beer Week.

We were meeting our good friend Monica who now lives and works in DC at this beer haven because…Monica doesn’t drink beer! I still don’t understand how she could have survived 20 some odd years in the Navy without developing any taste for beer, even crappy beer. However, she did take advantages of her distaste for beer by trading her beer rations for other goodies on the ship.

With some encouragement from our friendly bartender who had brought out every single bottle of large format Southern Tier beer in the house for us and a dare with our new formed friends sitting next to us, we decided to do our version of “Educating Monica” starting with a bottle of Southern Tier Mokah. Instead of starting Monica with something light (that tastes like beer), we decided to go for the chase and give her something totally un-beer-like with a bang. This might be the very last beer that she would drink for a while, or this espresso and melted chocolate heavy hitter in a bottle could be the one that would open her eyes to a whole new world.

In the excitement of the moment, we forgot to snap a picture of Monica trying a beer. This is a very close simile of the real Monica, although her fiery red hair is much shorter now in real life (Humm…she doesn’t dress like this to her job in the high power corporate world everyday either, I think).

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
It’s a group effort to go through the extensive beer list.
 

Lindsey from Austin


I have a lot of admiration for a single female that would walk into a bar by herself and knows a good beer to order. With her friends upstairs at a sold-out tasting event featuring industry heavy weights like Sam Caligione, Jim Koch, etc., Lindsey grabbed herself a Flying Dog Raging Bitch and had herself a good time glued to the cold air coming out of the air-con.

After we each discovered our common link with Austin (she, just moved from the city, via Henry Ave. in Philly; us, heading back there in a month for another visit), our conversation turned to…, what else but food, beer, and spots that we both like to hang, especially our favorite BBQ places outside of Austin and the collective scream of the name, “Uchi”, when the word “sushi” was brought up.

Watermelon in a can

I have seen it many times in various places but I had never tried it. After the heavier duty Mokah, I needed something lighter so I would still be remaining upright for dinner. Our conversation with the people sitting on the other side of us at the bar had planted the seed for me earlier. Plus, I just had to do it for curiosity. The Hell or High Watermelon beer by 21st Amendment is a wheat beer that has gone through a second fermentation with watermelon. It tasted…just like watermelon. This 4.9% beer in a can was quite interesting and I kinda, in a strange way, liked it for its thirst quenching characteristic on a hot summer day.

Founding Farmers


A LEED certified restaurant that practices farm to table, Founding Farmers is owned by a farmers’ collective with a heavy emphasis on sustainability. It sources its ingredients locally and makes everything in-house from dressing to pastas to bread.

We were lucky to snatch ourselves 2 seats at the crowded bar instead of enduring a 45 minutes wait for a table at 9:15 at night. We were fully occupied by watching our bartender making different cocktails from the restaurant’s very interesting cocktail list which ranged from old fashioned traditional to modern day hipster drinks. Unfortunately, most of the beers on the draft list were kicked by the time we sat down. Fortunately, one of the two beers left was something that I had not had before. The Welhenstephaner Heffe Weissbier is a wheat beer from Germany. This 5.4% summer brew may not be the perfect pairing for my dinner but its delightful quality worked magic in this crowded restaurant for me.

Instead of having another beer, Tourist Tree decided on something appropriate for the hot and humid Washington evening, a Capirinha. Even as I was trying to stay true to beer during the Beer Week, Aiiyah did sneak a few sips of her refreshing Brazilian national drink after watching the bartender muddle the concoction in front of us (I liked her second one better in which the bartender, intentional or not, poured in a bit more alcohol).

Skillet Corn Bread


Like a super sexy woman walking down the street, I couldn’t keep my eyes off this item on the menu. The bread arrived piping hot with an aroma that made me want to do a nose dive into this skillet of soft yellow corn heaven. The bread had a nice consistency, not grainy, not greasy, nor overly sweet, and with lots of sweet corn mixed in. I really liked the concept of the whipped butter in a pool of honey in the side cup. A dip of the bread in the mixture was heaven in the mouth. At only $5.00, this 8 inch skillet of hot corn bread with honey butter was a cheap date with a super sexy woman.

Bacon Lollis

When you see something on the menu, you have an image of what it might look like. Sometimes you get exactly what you expected; sometimes you are disappointed; sometimes, you are pleasantly surprised. The Bacon Lollis are pieces of Nueske’s bacon candied with cinnamon and brown sugar. Let me clarify: It’s candied pork belly! If you were looking for thin crispy breakfast style bacon strips, you would be disappointed. This was a nicely sliced pork belly done at its best. There is absolutely no redeeming health value to this dish but being baked instead of fried may make you feel less guilty about eating it.

Prime Rib


First things first: The mac n’ cheese was awesome. It was al dente; it was cheesy; it was creamy; it was sauced right. It was just gourmet good! The beef was herb crusted with the crust crispy in some areas. Unfortunately the seasoning wasn’t applied evenly which left some spots being bitterly salty. The outer layer of the meat (never know the actual technical term) was super tender while the meat further inside toward the center was…good. I was surprised that a chunk of fat in the cut wasn’t trimmed off the meat and I was somewhat not happy that the steak was served with a heavy ladle of butter over it. However, I did like the heavier consistency of the sauce with its deep flavor and a strong essence of onion. At $28.00, it was a nice hunk of meat done pretty well. I wouldn’t be happy if I had to pay more for it; but I was satisfied with what appeared in front of me for that price. However, I would ask the butter to be left off if I get it again. In addition, I wouldn’t mind at all if I had to pay more for another serving of that mac n’ cheese.

Mahi Mahi


This was the fish of the day. It was tender and surprisingly moist. Since most kitchens overcook fish, I was not disappointed with this catch of the day at all even though I found the by-catch, green beans and spinach, kind of boring.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Banana Split


Our bartender disappeared for a good 10 minutes after we ordered the dessert. We were wondering what happened to him when we saw him coming through the bar with our not-your-grandfather’s banana split. There were thin slices of nice and moist red velvet cake. There was an awesome vanilla ice cream; a very good chocolate ice cream; and another scoop of strawberry ice cream which, I think, was outshined by its other two counterparts. There was a phenomenal light raspberry sauce by the pastry chef and 5 different toppings sprinkled over the entire assembly. I quite enjoyed this excessive over-the-top dessert and was impressed with all the individual components that were made in-house (OK, the awesome miniature mini-mini malt balls have to be sourced outside, right?).

Day One Beer Tally:


Southern Tier Mokah

21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon

Welhenstephaner Heffe Weissbier

Beer Week 2010 Super Blog Pt.1

Day One Minus One


We were so excited for the start of the 2010 Beer Week. We still do not agree or see the logic of moving the Beer Week from March to June, but regardless, we were still excited for its coming.

Churchkey

Since Aiiyah had to be in DC for a few days, we did our Beer Week eve celebration at this hip bar with a bottle list that fills a binder. Churchkey is the beer-centric bar that sits on top of the restaurant Birch & Barley. Instead of a sommelier, Birch & Barley has a beer manager that will pair beers for every course of your dinner.

Yes, the bottle list does fill a binder and it does take some time to go through it.

With the threat of a thunder storm and the heavy humidity that blanketed over the city, Aiiyah started with a Harpoon Summer to combat the heat and stickiness in the air. This kolsch style 5% ABV beer was refreshing and absolutely made Aiiyah a happy man with his internal temperature lowering rapidly as he sipped each mouth full of beer. (Disclaimer: Beer in glass in picture is not the Harpoon Summer)

While Aiiyah was still trying to cool down from the walk from the Metro with a lighter beer, The Doctor Professor Tourist Tree went straight to the heavy duty good stuff; Dog Fish Head Palo Santo Marron on cask. Sweet Jesus! We had this unfiltered 12% brown ale aged in Palo Santo wood barrel before, but having it from a hand pump cask was a different experience with the flavor being more robust and profound.

The place was quite busy with a steady crowd coming in even on an early Thursday evening. All the drafts were available in a 4 oz pour or a full glass. We liked that very much since it allowed us to sample a few more varieties.

For beer number 3, we picked the Cuvée Alex Le Rouge from Brusserle Des Franches-Montagues in Switzerland. It is an Imperial stout that is brewed with vanilla, tea, and serawark pepper. The beer was dark and hoppy; and we have not seen any beer from this brewery in PA yet. We know Switzerland makes outstanding chocolates and watches; we know it also makes pretty good beer now.

After our slight detour to Switzerland, we returned to the US with a glass of Flying Dog Raging Bitch on Cask, then made a round trip back to Switzerland with a Duuzel from the same brewery. This 9% beer is brewed with Guérande sea salt and American hops. After we took our initial sip, we both collectively commented it as “interesting”.

With our stomachs growling, we ordered a plate of Devil Fries. So…, what the devil are Devil Fries? In the most basic Aiiyah explanation, it’s a plate of poutine wanna-be with French fries (pretty good and crispy), cheddar cheese (sorry, wrong cheese), and sausage gravy (humm, that gravy needed some work).


We finished our night at the Churchkey with a Heavy Sea Letter of Marque and a Great Divine Express Oak-Aged Yeti.

The Heavy Sea Letter of Marque is a 7.8% Baltic porter with rye from Clipper City Brewery in Maryland. IMHO, it’s pretty mild in flavor. I loved the strong intensive espresso in the Yeti. It was a great beer to finish the night.


Churchkey offers many choices for beer lovers of all tastes. The place is pretty if you can block out the fluorescent lights in the beer refrigerators that stare at you from behind the bar. The place offers several cubby low sitting areas with comfy couches at the back that are perfect for groups to hang out and work their way through the beer list…and nibble on the fake poutine.


Day One Minus One Beer Tally:

DFH Palo Santo Marron on cask
Harpoon Summer
Brusserle Des Franches-Montagues Cuvee Alex Le Rouge
Flying Dog Raging Bitch on cask
Brusserle Des Franches-Montagues Duuzel
Clipper City Brewery Heavy Sea Letter of Marque
Great Divine Express Oak-aged Yeti

Temptation

I have been known to surrender to temptation occasionally.

While driving on the I-95, the big sign for Maryland House kept wiggling its index finger at me doing one of those “Come-on in, come-on in…” gestures. OK, it was past lunch time, and I was hungry.

I had packed a small cooler of healthier choices for the road; yogurt, fruit, trail mix…; but I could not resist having a biscuit from the famous French road trip rest stop food purveyor, Roy Rogers (pronunciation: Roy Ro-Jay). Hey, it is not one of the better biscuits around. Its small hockey puck dimensions pack enough fat and cholesterol to block a few blood vessels to your heart; but it’s tasty and I wanted one.

I have a soft spot for the Roy Ro-Jay food. When I was in college, it provided some of a more tastier and healthier (just let me bathe in this fantasy, ok?) options among the sea of non-inspiring fast food restaurants that lined the road between my apartment and the classroom. I remember walking into Roy’s and ordering a roast beef sandwich from the cashier in funny looking faux-western outfit. I then piled on the lettuce, tomato and pickles from the fixins-bar, or some good tasting fried chicken, followed by a sundae (Softserve on a biscuit. The sweetness of the ice cream with the saltiness and texture of the biscuit was heavenly). Roy was also one of the pioneers that had a salad bar as an option at that time; and I loved the availability of BBQ sauce, horseradish sauce, and ketchup that I used as dipping sauces for my fries.

Although I have wised up in my eating habits, I still carry a sense of sadness when Marriott decided to close all the Roy’s in the area and neglect them to just roadside service plazas. Yes, I do sneak a biscuit, a piece of fried chicken, or a roast beef sandwich with lettuce, tomato and pickles piled high from time to time when the occasion arises.