When is a Ski Trip not a Ski Trip?

When there are 8 breweries between you and the mountain! So the Atlanta Beer "Snob" will be heading out west to hit the ski slopes of Vail, CO the first week of February. Heading out there with a good friend Ken (of guy who drank the entire Christmas beer selection from the belgian bar at Brick Store fame). As it would happen, any time I head to a new place I am always looking for new beer to try. We get into Denver around 2pm in the afternoon and really have nothing to do except drive to Vail. So, I started looking for breweries to visit while in Denver. I have since come to the determination that if I ever have to move from Atlanta, Denver is on my list to move to. Heck 20 or something breweries and distilleries within a hours drive? Yes please! So a quick list of the ones we are trying to go when we first get to Denver:

Great Divide
Wynkoop
Strange Brewing
Breckenridge Brewery and BBQ (probably grab dinner here)
Renegade Brewery
Stranahans Colorado Whiskey
Wit's End Brewing Company

So 6 breweries and a distillery. I plan to stock up on beer from the breweries since it should be cheaper than buying it at a liquor store out in Vail.

On the way back after skiing we are playing it by ear and are going to try to head north of Denver a bit (Ft. Collins, Boulder, Loveland, Longmount ect.) and hit a brewery or two before having to head to the airport. We may need to find a UPS store to ship so beer back!

I'll keep everyone up to date on what I try while out there.

Happy Drinking!!

Quick Resturant Review: Hi Life in Norcross

My wife and I got a nice date night out (thanks to the in-laws for looking after the boys!) and tried a new place just around the corner from were we live. Hi Life is the name of the restaurant. From the outside it looks a bit diveish? It was suggested to us by my sister-in-law who did a business lunch there. We stepped inside and were immediately greeted by a nice low key interior, kind of American laid back bistro/pub kind of thing. The host and waitress were both very nice and knowledgeable. Very large wine list, good selection of beer on tap (Guinness, Blue Moon, Sweetwater 420 and IPA, Pernoi and Stella, no american light lagers here!) and a very extensive cocktail list. I stated with a Sweetwater 420 and my wife ordered a Cosmo. She stated that the Cosmo was very well done, this planted a small seed in my head for an upcoming cocktail order to verify the ability of the bartender. Anyway, we ordered salads, she got the wedge and I the arugula. Both amazing, the wedge was a nice change up from most as it used boston lettuce instead of iceberg. I could have just eaten my arugula salad it was so good, usually not a fan of pecans, but the way the ones on the salad were toasted was great. Main course, I went with the Guinness and Coffee braised short ribs (came with greens and mascarpone mashed potatoes) and my wife with the Friday night special, 2 Maine Lobster Tails with the claw and knuckle meat, yukon gold mashed potatoes and broccolini. Both entrees were amazing! Short ribs done perfectly and the lobster was great.

Now, my little challenge to the bartender. I ordered a Manhattan with dinner. Why? Well I have a love/hate relationship with Manhattans. A lot of places really don't take the time to make them correctly. Most bars will just make a bourbon martini, i.e. bourbon with some dry vermouth and a cherry thrown in. I can tell when they are made like this just by the look and taste of the dry vermouth. The real way to make a good Manhattan is to use sweet vermouth (preferably red) and a dash or 5 of bitters. My all time favorite Manhattan place is the Bluegrass Tavern in Lexington Ky (187 different types of Bourbon!!!!!). Absolutely perfection in a glass. They also make a mean old fashioned but back to the Manhattan at Hi Life. The first clue they knew what they were doing, she asked what kind of bourbon (I choose Bookers) and asked if I wanted it on the rocks or straight up, not many places ask this when you order a Manhattan. Anyway, I got it straight up, it came out in the correct cocktail glass and I knew just by the look it was right. A very good Manhattan using the correct sweet vermouth and a hint of bitters. If I was going to nit pick and would have liked a few more dashes of bitters but thats just my taste.

So, in closing, Hi Life is a great little laid back hidden spot in a strip mall near Norcross. Great atmosphere, great wait staff, great food, great drinks one heck of a menu and very well priced. For dinner you good go all out and have a $50+ per plate dinner or hang and the bar and order a pizza or burger for a happy hour. I will definitely be heading back the Hi Life sooner rather than later!

Happy Drinking!!

Chirstmas Beer Review

Hit up the Brick Store the weekend before Christmas to finally try to drink my way through the Belgian Bar. The beers on tap were:

ST. BERNARDUS CHRISTMAS
CORSENDONK CHRISTMAS
GOUDEN CAROLOUS NOEL
SCALDIS NOEL (12% Quad)
DERANKE PERE NOEL
CHRISTMAS LEROY
N'ICE CHOUFFE
AVEC LES BONS VOEUX

The Christmas Leroy was tapped out by the time I got there. It was replaced by Samichlaus Bier. Started out with the Deranke Pere Noel then hit the Samichlaus. Got a little lucky (un-lucky?) with the Samichlaus pour. As per Brick Store custom, the majority of the beers on draft are served in the brand specific glass, the Samichalaus was no exception. Poured in a great looking tulip glass with a pour mark of 0.2L. Ok, so the pour was supposed to be 0.2L, the wonderful bartendress pretty much topped it full, closer to 0.5L. So a great thing right? Well yes and no. Samichlaus kicks in at a nigh near illegal in Georgia 14%abv! Yeah, 17 or so ounces of high gravity wonderment. Sweet, smooth, warming. Just wonderful. I wish I had saved this one until last since it pretty much blew out my pallet (and my senses, still on an empty stomach when I drank it!). So I also worked through the N'ice Couffee, St. Bernardus and the Corsendonk. I finished the night with a cellared bottle of Monstre Rouge, a Flanders Red brewed in collaboration between Terrapin and De Proef. My buddy did make it through all 8 of the drafts and was somehow still standing at the end of the night.

For anyone in the Southeast that can make it to the Brick Store from late November to Christmas I highly suggest you head over to Brick Store and try some of the amazing Winter/Christmas beers on draft upstairs at the belgian bar.

Happy Drinking!!

Rainy Day = Brew Day

Had a tennis match rained out yesterday so not much else left to do but brew! Decided to give the Dunkelweizen a go. Everything went pretty well but I did run into my first stuck sparge. Guess I'll add some rice hulls to my buy list next time I make a wheat beer. Even with the stuck sparge, I hit a good middle road OG of 1.050. With a good ferment it should put my final gravity somewhere in the 5% range which is about what I was hoping. My recipe is below:

Grain Bill:
5 lbs. - Wheat Malt
2 lb. - Munich Malt
2 lb. - Vienna Malt
1/2 lb. - Crystal Malt (60L)
1/4 lb. - Chocolate Malt

Hops:
.5oz Hallertau (60 min)
.5oz Tettnanger (30 min)

75 Minute Boil
Mash for a little over a hour at 155F.

Using White Labs WLP300 Hefeweizen Yeast

Long Time No Beer?

Wow, let that year and a half blow by quick. Let's see, I've drank a lot of great beer since the last post. Enjoyed working my way through the Brick Store Belgian Bar Christmas Beers last month. Planning a ski trip next month that will also just happen to take me by several great breweries in the Denver area. Still doing the homebrew thing. Have really progressed in the quality of my brews. Last two in particular, a big hoppy Irish Red/Red IPA was amazing and the follow up Smoked Stout was pretty good. Planning on brewing in the next week or two, going to brew up the Red IPA again and give a Dunkelweizen a shoot. Hope they turn out.

Happy Drinking and Happy New Year!

Alaska Brewing Smoked Porter

Wow. Glad I got my hands on this beer. I had read several articles on it and jumped on the chance to have my in-laws pick me up a bottle while they were up in Alaska. A little back story, I really like Porters. Tend to like them better than most Stouts. I know there is a fine line between the two but if I have two to chose from I usually end up liking a Porter more than a Stout. Not really sure why, Porters seem to be a bit rougher, more complex, deeper? Stouts are nice but some can be a little too smooth (for yet another sidebar, Russian Imperial Stouts are a whole other beast, same goes for Baltic Porters). So back to the beer in hand, Alaska Brewing Smoked Porter. What is not to like about this beer? Its a Porter, its a smoked beer, its from Alaska. Wow it is good. Deep black with a very nice deep brown and bubbly head. Get the smoked malt flavor up front, a tiny bite to go with the roasted flavors. Not really coffee or chocolate flavors but ..ummmmm. Can't really explain the taste. Just dang good. To paraphrase Ferris, If you have the means sometime, I highly suggested picking one up, it is just so choice. I'll give it 4.5 out of 5 pints. Probably my number 2 Porter/Stout overall. Sliding in just behind Stone's Russian Imperial Stout.

What else is in the fridge right now....hmmm let's see. A few bottles of Southern Tier IPA (very good, not too hoppy, nice and drinkable), Serra Nevada Glissade (A Golden Bock, ok, has a funky flavor in the middle I can't place and that I'm not to fond of), Alaska Brewing Co. Amber (very nice, review up shortly) and I have a mixed 6er from Dundees that I will be trying to attend the virtual tasting of this afternoon with the head brewer.

That seems to be it for now. Two posts in a week, what is the world coming too.....

Happy Drinking!

Long Time, No See...

Wow, has it been since January since I posted last? Yikes, my bad folks. I could throw out tons of excuses but I won't. Just too much going on. Plenty of good news on the Beer front. Went to a Brooklyn Beer dinner at Taco Mac here in Atlanta, good stuff and neat to find out about the way the company started. Got the kegerator disassembled for a good cleaning before I get ready to hook up some new homebrew. I should be brewing a wheat and maybe a nice Pale Ale this summer. Football schedule came out and I guess I need to come up with a warm weather breakfast beer, first 4 games are nooners, fun. I have been invited to virtual tasting next week hosted by the head brewmaster of Dundee, Jim McDermott. Now if I can only find a way to drink a few beers at work for the 3pm tasting. I also was contacted about reviewing a few new beers coming over from Ireland. Strangford Lough Brewing Company is sending me a few samples to try out. Really looking forward to those, love me some Irish beer.

Ok, what have I been drinking? Nothing too remarkable has crossed my lips. I did try the new Oskar Blues Gubna IPA. Really good, very floral, lots of grapefruit. Hides the 10%abv well and is not too bitter for a big IPA. Also had the latest Terrapin Side Project 10, Captain Crunkels Black IPA, I really liked it but talked to several people that didn't care for it. Lots of Coors Light has found its way in and out of the fridge. Actually found myself grabbing a cider a few nights ago while working on the car and finding the fridge empty of beer! I do have a few good things waiting to be opened at the moment. A buddy got me a bottle of Dogfish Head Rason 'de Extra, I'll give that one a shoot this weekend. He also rescued my collection of Terrapin Side Project Bottles. I thought I had all of them but #1, came to find out that I had thrown away my last bottle of #8, Pumpkinfest. He found me an extra in his stash, excellent.

What else? My in-laws made another west coast trip and brought back a small but very nice haul for me to try. Alaska Brewing Company Smoked Porter and Amber and a bottle of Russian River Pliny the Elder. Really looking forward to these. I did have one of the Ambers earlier this week and it was quite good. I'll write up a longer review this weekend to go along with the Smoked Porter and Pliny the Elder reviews.

Seeing that I am getting some interesting hits from industry types I am going to do everything in my power to up my post rate. Hopefully once a week. For now, I'm just glad to be writing this. As always, Happy Drinking!