I don’t know about you folks out there but my work week was filled with meetings, business process discussions, both existing and what should be happening and decision making about a few different topics. All of this in conjunction with a project I am involved in at work and will be for a pretty long while. Needless to say I was ready for the weekend when it arrived.
So it was a welcome sign to see the Doctor start texting me Friday afternoon and let me know where he was. After completing a couple of errands, running home and changing the dog and walking my clothes, I headed out and met the Doctor at BrassTap.
When I arrived he was at the bar talking with Brad, the manager and son of the owner, Allan, who was talking with other patrons. Brad greeted me and after I settled in asked what I was in the mood for. Since I had missed the Cider Event they had held the night before and they had some on tap still, I decided to start with The Anvil Bourbon Cider from Sonoma Cider.
Sonoma Cider’s The Anvil – Bourbon Cider
That garnered me another badge on Untappd but I also liked that it wasn’t the cloyingly sweetness or tartness associated with most ciders. The bourbon flavor in the background help dampen down the sweetness, and any tartness that might have been in play. It was refreshing in a way that you don’t normally expect from a cider.
The Doctor and I started catching up with each other and before long a second round was needed. I wanted something with a darker flavor too it and I saw that they had Southern Tier’s 2XIBA, which is a Dark Ale. It had the roasted malt flavor in the background that Schwarzbiers and Porters have, but an extra amount of hop flavor brought it back into the IPA realm.
Southern Tier 2XIBA
After a bit, Allan’s relief came in and he sat down and jawed with us a bit while we supped suds and swapped lies. About the time I was getting to the end of my Dark Ale I began to feel a bit peckish and decided that with my next beer I would have one of the hot pretzels. So along with the pretzel I ordered something I had heard about but had not tried yet. They actually had Yeungling’s IPL (Imperial Pale lager) on tap.
Yeungling IPL
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by it. I used to drink regular Yeungling frequently before I started drinking Craft Beer and if I find myself somewhere where craft beer is not available or at least not one that I like, then I will ask for a Yeungling. It is not my go to beer but I still prefer it over Budweiser or Coors or any of the others. The idea of treating a Lager like and IPA isn’t unheard of and is probably how the Czech’s created Pilsners but the flavor was interesting. It was smooth like some Lagers and you could definitely taste the hops in it, but it didn’t have that harshness that Hops can add to an IPA when the brewer gets carried away.
And I have to add that it went very well with the hot pretzel they had served me. Though to be honest the pretzel could’ve stood on its own with the honey mustard dipping sauce they served with it I can’t wait to try the beer cheese sauce they are thinking of trying.
After I finished the pretzel and the Yeungling I decided it was time to head home as I had a long drive the next day. So I bid a good evening to the Doctor and the BrassTap staff and made my way home. But I must confess to a case of the munchies and stopped at Steak and Shake on the way home. Nothing like a steakburger, fries and a shake to stave off the hunger pangs.
The next morning after a hearty breakfast, walking my dog Tucker a couple of times, and prepping the truck for a long drive I headed off to Tampa. Most folks would travel I-75 down to Tampa and I have done so many times in the past but I really hate dealing with the traffic on that route. So instead I went further west, through Williston then turned south and eventually hit the Suncoast Parkway and took it into Tampa.
The ride was fairly smooth even though there was a lite bit of traffic. But on Saturday in Florida that’s gonna happen. I got to my destination about 10 minutes after it started and as I drove by the entrance I saw a very long line to get in.
As I drove past I started looking for some parking whether it was free or pay to park didn’t matter as I had figured I would end up paying. But nothing in the immediate vicinity was available. I actually ended up getting turned around and lost while trying to find point nearby, which if you have driven to the vicinity of the Tampa Stadium you understand.
Eventually I ended up parking between the stadium and the historic museum at a pay n park but it was about 40 minutes later by the time I walked back to the beer fest. The only good part of that was the line has shrunk considerably by then and I gained entrance in a matter of minutes.
Soap box time!!
Why is that beerfests always take place in areas with I sufficient parking and then don’t post anything about it on their sites I don’t mind having to pay to park but just once I would like to attend a Beerfest where I don’t have to walk a mile to get to the rest from parking or worry about being towed or worse token into!
Stepping down from soap box.
After finally entering the fest I was glad to see that it was fairly well organized as far as the site went. There were plenty of brewing tents and quite a lot of food trucks And lots of port-a-potties strategically placed throughout the grounds.
As I began making my way through the various beer vendors I saw some familiar faces with folks from Alligator Brewing, First Magnitude Brewing and Swamp Head Brewing all having their wares for the offering. All of them being Gainesville based I felt obliged to stop by and see if they had something I hadn’t sampled yet. Unfortunately for me I had sampled all of them before but that didn’t stop me from having one anyway as I know they all have pretty good beers.
There were a ton of other brewers present, many of which I had sampled offerings from before. These included Tampa Bay Brewing Company, Intuition Brewing, Funky Buddha Brewing, Cigar City Brewing, Barley Mow Brewing, Coppertail Brewing, Due South Brewing, Florida Ave Brewing, Motorworks Brewing, Miami Brewing, Green Bench Brewing, Wynwood Brewing, Rapp Brewing, Pair O’Dice Brewing and some more.
But there were quite a lot that I had never seen before, maybe not even heard of yet. These included: 7venth Sun Brewery, Barrel of Monks Brewing, Central 28 Beer Co., Copperpoint Brewing Company, Crooked Thumb Brewery, Mastry’s Brewing Co., Rock Brothers Brewing, The Waterfront Brewery, Ulele Spring Brewery, and maybe a few others.
There was a very large crowd with people mostly from the Tampa area but there were also some folks like me who traveled from a bit further out.
I had a good two hours of beer sampling before the fest ended and that actually was about all I really needed. There were hundreds of beers and I probably only sampled about 30 or so it was enough to hit my limit.
So I wended my way back toward the parking garage and half way realized I hadn’t eaten anything at the fest. Luckily for me an answer appeared in front of me.
Yes, there is nothing quite like wings and fries to go with craft beer.
This fest occurred last weekend and I haven’t been able to finish the article til this morning. I stopped by Gainesville House of Beer yesterday after work an chatted with the manager Alex for a bit. I mentioned the beer fest and he asked me if there were any beers that stood out.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention them here:
Mosaico – Session IPA from Four Stacks Brewing
Paratrooper Porter from Veterans United craft Brewery
Udderly Calm – Milk Stout from Swamp Head Brewery
Twisted Streams – a Saison from Saltwater Brewing
Glass Emporer – a rum barrel aged Imperial Stout from Proof Brewing
5th Anniversary Panhandle Steamer – a California Common from Pensacola Bay Brewing
Mad Cola – a mead from Mad Beach Craft Brewing Company which tasted just like a cola.
Dry Hopped Series Pale Ale (Mosaic) from Due South Brewing
Domestic Bliss – a Belgian Strong Pale Ale from Crooked Can Brewing
Blood Orange Wit – from Copperpoint Brewing Co.
Honey Bach – a Doppelbock from Central 28 Beer Company
Indiscretion – a DIPA from Escape Brewing (This got my highest ranking for the day but all of these listed I scored pretty high.)
One last little note for the beer geeks out there. HOB has a couple of Cigar City beers that haven’t been around before: Strawberry Shortcake – a Helles Lager with strong strawberry notes in the nose but a smooth lager finish, and Cinnamon Apple IPA which also has a fruity nose (smells like apple pie) but a strong IPA flavor with a smooth finish.
But they also have a very, very good Belgian Strong pale Ale from Lost Coast Brewing called their 25th Anniversary Ale. Really good flavor and a nice smooth finish.
If you’re near there stop by and try and tell Alex I sent you.
Lager, Ale, Belgian, Gose, Porter, Stout, ESB, Common…. All of these different names floating around out there to describe beer. If you’re a newcomer to the craft beer scene it could be overwhelming. Especially when your exposure to beer has been limited to what your Dad has been drinking from the local grocery/convenience store/beer distributor.
Let’s start with the basics and move on from there. Beers at their core are primarily categorized into two basic types: Lagers and Ales. And the main significant difference between these two types is the yeast used to convert the sugars in the wort to alcohol and the temperatures at which this is done.
Lager yeasts work at the bottom half of the wort and are much more efficient at cooler temperatures. Ale yeasts work on the top of the wort and while they still need moderate temperatures to work are much more room temperature friendly than Lager yeasts. Both impart different flavors onto the beer. And while this is usually the defining factor in determining an ale from a lager there are some variants out there where someone has tried brewing an ale recipe with a lager yeast and vice versa, and where lager yeasts are used but at higher temps, or ale yeasts at lower temps. But we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
The brewing of Lager is actually more difficult that Ale because of the need for lower temperatures, both for fermentation and storage. But that also means that because of the easier temps to work with there are many more variations of beer varieties available with Ales.
Lagers are generally classified by the modern Bavarian (Southern Germany) Styles available today. They generally break down into either a pale lager (or Helles) or a dark lager (Dunkel). Pilsners, while being a pale lager are generally classified differently because of the additional amount of hops used to create a different flavor. Bocks are stronger and darker versions of lagers. Marzens are lagers brewed in March (Marz in German) when the last brewing of beer was allowed, and can vary in color and taste. Schwarzbier (or Black Beer) is a dark lager made from roasted malts, similar to a Stout in ales.
And each of these styles of lagers will have some variations on them as well. Most of the popular mass market beers available worldwide today are lagers.
Ales are brewed at a higher, more temperate, temperature range than lagers which results in a sweeter, more full-bodied taste. Historically the term ale referred to a drink brewed without hops. Originally, the bittering and preserving agent used was gruit, a mixture of herbs and spices added to the wort before fermentation. Later on hops replaced gruit as the bittering agent. Ale styles generally get their names from the English culture from which many of them were developed in. Brown Ales get their name from their dark amber or brown color. Mild Ale is a maltier, lower gravity beer. Old Ale is also malty, but dark colored and a higher ABV than Mild Ales. Pale Ales get their name from the predominantly pale malt used to brew them. Porters and Stouts are made using roasted malt and roasted barley, the Stout usually being a stronger version of a Porter. And Wheat Beer get their name from the high percentage of wheat used along with malted barley to make it.
There are other varieties within these styles that you will encounter, and that will be covered in a later article. Some even cross the lines a little bit by combining different methods. The rules are not so hard and fast as some might like to make you think and brewers are constantly experimenting for new taste variations.
Whatever may arise, give them a try and you may find yourself surprised.
The Doctor texted me after work on Friday and told me that he and Rowdy were going to Painting With A Twist that night. They had a special class that was featuring Swamp Head Brewery and would include some free samples of the local brewery’s wares. I asked him what time and he told me the class started at 7 but you want to get there at 6:45 to get prepared.
Now, if you have never heard of Painting with a Twist it’s an art based business where you and some of your friends go and learn to paint a specific drawing or painting and while you are doing that you can consume wine which you bring yourself, which is the Twist part.
If you are older guy, like me, there is probably a misogynistic archaic portion of your brain that is thinking “Sounds like a chick thing.”, or something similar. And I confess when Rowdy had told me about the business a while back that was my natural, albeit Cro-Magnon, reaction.
But this evening they were not only featuring beer, but Craft Beer from Swamp Head, which is one of our local breweries in Gainesville. And after thinking about it some more, why would I not want to hang out around a bunch of women imbibing in beer and wine.
The Doctor also sent me a pic of his current location, the BrassTap, so I made sure the dog was walked, changed out of my work duds and headed out to join him.
When I got to BrassTap, I saw both father and son, Allan and Brad, were working behind the bar. I wasn’t sure what I wanted so Allan recommended the Terrapin Hopsecutioner (w/ Tangerine and Lemon Peel). I gotta admit it was pretty damn good, and this is from someone who is not as big a fan of IPAs as other people, like Allan, are. It definitely had a hoppy flavor which should satisfy anyone looking for that taste, but it didn’t have the harsh aftertaste that some IPAs have. I would definitely drink it again. It was also nice to score two more badges on the Untappd app.
The Doctor and I sat around Philosophying and catching up with each other, then I was ready for another so I ordered the Erie Brewing Ol’ Red Cease and Desist. This was a Scotch style ale with a mild rye flavor and very little aftertaste. It was a good Scotch ale but not the best I have had.
When I was finished with that one it was time to go and both the Doctor and I wanted to grab a bite before we got there. Luckily for us the studio is located right next door to McAlister’s Deli off of Newberry Road in Gainesville. So we stopped there and got a sandwich before we went to the class.
Rowdy met us there and went ahead to the class to make sure we were all seated together, while the Doctor and I wolfed down our food. And I have to point out that is really a shame because McAlister’s makes some pretty tasty sandwiches.
When we finished we walked around the corner to the studio and walked in and waited in line to pay for the evening class. After we paid we were handed our canvas and went into the studio and found Rowdy already decked out in her painting apron and saving two more for us along with our seats.
When you arrive they have each seat equipped with the easel for your canvas, the brushes you will need, a large plastic cup with water for washing out the brushes (obviously we were using acrylic paints), and a palette with premeasured samples of the paints we would be needing for the evening. Ok, to be honest the “palettes” were actually paper plates, but when you are working with large numbers of people like this it makes more sense to use paper plates or you would end up having to clean off all of the palettes after every class.
And this particular class was pretty full already. And while it may have sounded misogynistic earlier, the class was made up of a majority of women. But there were a few other men there as well so the Doctor and I were not the only ones attending.
Around the studio were the various paintings that had been done before for earlier classes and I saw some that I liked a lot. They represented a wide variety of styles. Not being an expert in Art I will not try to pass myself off as one on here.
And before class began we were encouraged to help ourselves with a sample from the cooler that Swamp Head had provided for the event that evening. Their canned fare was available to us, which meant we could choose from Stump Knocker Pale Ale, Big Nose IPA, Wild Night Cream Ale and Cottonmouth Belgian Witbier. Unfortunately, my favorite of their year-round offerings was not there, Midnight Oil Oatmeal Coffee Stout. So I selected the Cottonmouth for my first sample. If you haven’t had it before, then you should as it is a nice clean witbier with just the right flavor.
When the time arrived, our teacher, Katie (who I found out later is also the studio manager for Gainesville), began talking about the studio and explaining how things were set up and whether you had been there before or not that you would still end up enjoying yourself. She introduced her assistant for the evening, Holly, who would be going around and helping where she was needed.
Holly and Katie being Photo-bombed by the Doctor.
Then she talked a little bit about the painting we would be doing that evening, the Swamp Head logo. And she introduced Nick Dunn, who is the Director of Operations at Swamp Head. He stood up and spoke a little bit about Swamp Head’s history and about what the logo represented and what the company believed in. I won’t try and quote him here. You can go the Swamp Head website and read that for yourself here:
After he was done he sat back done with the other patrons who were painting. And Katie then mentioned some of the nice swag he brought along would be given away during various little contests throughout the night. This perked Rowdy’s ears up as she is all about the swag.
So we began class by discussing the brushes and the paints and how to use them during the course of the evening. Then we started working on the background for the painting first. Now while I said I am no art expert, I have done some artwork over the years, mostly for my own enjoyment. But I usually just work in sketching, either with pencils or charcoal. And in that I usually work on the object of the drawing first and then fill in the background later. So this is a different way of thinking for me.
Now, I am not going to go into the details of each step we took in the process as reading about it would not be the same as experiencing it. I will say that Katie was a good teacher in that she took her time explaining how to do what we needed to do and pacing the class so that everyone could catch up. She even worked in a couple of 5 minute breaks so we could stand and stretch. I will say that I was very glad to see that they had a camera on the easel that she worked off of and displayed it on a big screen TV in the back of the room, where we were. It made it much easier to see what she was doing and describing.
And Holly was very helpful throughout the evening as well, making sure folks had enough of the various colors we were using, pointing out ways to help out the students, and giving encouragement as she went along.
Both of these young ladies were very good at their job and you could tell they enjoyed doing it. I would recommend asking for them when you go. I know Rowdy wants to do her birthday party there and them to teach the class.
A little more than halfway through the class I decided to get another sample and selected the Stump Knocker Pale Ale this time. It’s also a refreshing beer and probably my favorite of the year-rounds just after the Midnight Oil and Wild Night.
The contests throughout the night included posting a pic to social media and checking in at Painting with a Twist, the one receiving the most likes wins, another included painting temporary tattoos on each other and having a pairs contest to see which pair of tats had the best symmetry. And there was another but I don’t remember what it was. We didn’t win any of them but we still had fun.
A young couple who sat across the table from us had brought their own wine and was sampling it and really didn’t know anything about Swamp Head. The young man came up to me and asked what beers were good. I told him that they were all good but it depended on what kind of beer style he liked. I asked him what he normally drank and he responded that he wasn’t a big beer drinker but he liked the usual stuff. I guessed that he meant a normal American Lager and steered him toward the Wild Night Cream Ale. I didn’t want to throw him into the deep end of the pool with an IPA or a Stout. He said that it tasted pretty good, so we may have discovered another convert to craft beer.
In your face Macro!!
During the whole class music played in the background of a variety of artists, but I especially enjoyed listening to Darius Rucker’s Wagon Wheel, the Spinner’s Rubber Band Man, and a lot of older hits and quite a few of us were actually singing along.
A lot of picture taking took place at the end both by the patrons and the staff and the staff also took pictures throughout the night and later posted them Facebook. The two hours spent at the class went by fast and when we were done we all hand a painting to take home with us. I’m thinking I will hang mine in the brew house I plan on building later on.
So all I can say is if you get an invite to go to Painting With A Twist then you should take the opportunity to go. Or make an opportunity yourself. You learn something new, get to meet new people, have a little alcohol and just enjoy yourself a lot.
A ham with cloves for flavor in the background and Nettles Country Sausages in the foreground.
I haven’t fired up the smoker in a while and decided today would be the day. I had a ham in the fridge I have been wanting to put in the smoker for a bit but haven’t had any wood for smoking until I finally went to Walmart and picked up some hickory wood chunks. Tip #1: If you need to go to Walmart on a Sunday, do it so you’re out of there before Noon. It was kind of quiet when I got there but by the time I got all of my goods and headed for the checkout it was a cluster.
When I got home I put some of the hickory chunks in a bucket and filled it with water then started cleaning the grill and getting it ready for a fire. I then started a fire under the chimney containing the charcoal briquettes and went inside to prep the ham while the briquettes started heating up. I removed the wrapping from a simple shoulder ham and began piercing the flesh with some cloves, and old trait of my mother’s. I was beginning to feel a bit peckish so I opened up a pack of Nettles Country Sausage while I was at it. I could cook those fairly quickly and let the ham cook at the same time.
Now if you have never used a smoker before it takes practice to learn how to keep your smoker at the right temperature. Too hot and you’ll over cook the outer part of the meat. And too cold and you risk bacteria getting into the food that you are cooking because you’re taking too long. And every style of smoker has its own way of controlling the temperature, though in general it usually involves controlling how much air you let into the fire and how much smoke you let out. If you don’t have a smoker and only have a gas or charcoal grill you can still use them for smoking you just have to use the right accessories to do so. Tip #2: Don’t try smoking indoors in your oven. The smoke smell will permeate every part of your house and you’ll be forever getting that smell out of the oven. It will make everything you cook after that tastes like smoke and unless you smoke cigarettes that is probably not a good thing. Even using the artificial smoke flavoring can let the smoke smell permeate the oven.
My combination gas/charcoal; grille and smoker hard at work.
You read earlier that I was using hickory for my smoking wood. There are several different types out there; Cherry, Pecan, Oak, Applewood and Mesquite are a few. I prefer hickory myself. Though I may try others down the road as they all have different characteristics. But I just really like the flavor that hickory leaves in the meat.
The charcoal coals were glowing red then so I knew it was time to put the meat on the grill. I arranged the ham on tin foil shaped to catch any drippings like a bowl and placed it on the grill furthest from the flame box. Then I laid out the sausages on the half closest to the flame. This would allow them to take the brunt of the heat so they could cook faster. With the lid closed the ham would also get heated and begin cooking. After I closed the lid I opened the door of the fire box and added a few chunks of hickory that had been soaking in water. The red hot coals began converting any water trapped in the wood to steam and the wood itself slowly began to burn releasing the smoky flavor I was looking for.
Inside the firebox
After about 15-20 minutes I rolled the sausages 180 degrees and let the other side get some of the heat from the fire. Then after 15-20 minutes I flipped the sausages end to end so that the end furthest from the firebox got some equal treatment. I also moved the sausages around on the griddle so those in the middle were swapped with those on the outside. And about 15 minutes later I rolled the sausages 180 degrees again. Each time after I opened the lid I added a couple chunks of wet hickory to the firebox.
After the sausages were cooked I removed them from the grill and slid the ham onto the side of the grill closer to the firebox. I put a couple more chunks of wood into the firebox then went inside and had a sausage for my lunch. If you have never had a Nettles sausage then I recommend them. They’re very tasty and if you like heat then the hot ones are for you. I like mine in a roll or sausage bun with a slice of cheddar and some mustard. I decided to drink a Shotgun Betty Witbier with my lunch which went with the sausage very well. Tip #3 Nettles sausages go very well with a witbier.
I spent the rest of the afternoon adding a couple of Hunks of wet wood to the firebox every 20 minutes or so, and supping down a nice saison while doing so. About 3 hours into cooking the ham I knew I needed to make my glaze. Now normally I make a pineapple-brown sugar glaze. But I didn’t have any pineapple juice or pineapples in either the whole or canned form to get juice from. So I decided to make a glaze with a craft beer base instead. Tip #4 When you run out of ingredients improvise with Craft Beer.
Now I know some folks have talking up Craft Beer marinades and I have used a couple myself but I have not heard of anyone making a glaze yet. Glazes are different from a marinade. First of all the marinade soaks into the meat helping to tenderize it. A Glaze is an outer coating that only imparts flavor to that portion of the meat. After cooking the juices from the meat combined with the glaze make a nice little topping for the meat.
My normal pineapple-brown sugar glaze is pretty much just that: pineapple juice, brown sugar and some mustard to balance out the sweetness. I lso place the pineapple rings around the ham with toothpicks. A good glaze compliments the meat so for a ham which is normally saltier a sweet glaze is desirable. But adding a craft beer base to the glaze instead of pineapple juice would change the flavor aspects depending on the style of beer used. A strong hop flavor with it’s bitterness would probably amplify the saltiness of the ham which isn’t what I wanted so that filtered out IPAs, APAs, etc. I also had to take into account the hickory smoke flavor I have been adding all afternoon. I still wanted to taste that flavor so I decided against a wheat beer or a gose as those would probably dampen the smoke flavor.
I was leaning toward either a porter or a stout when I realized I had the perfect accompaniment already selected… a scotch style ale. And to be more specific, Founder’s Dirty Bastard scotch style ale. I can hear some folks out there now, “What on Earth are you thinking?! Why waste such a great beer on something like a glaze?!”
To you I will reply, any great recipe is only as good as the ingredients you put into it. And anything that deserves to be done well should be done right from the beginning. Besides, whether it’s in a glass or a glaze I’m still going to be consuming that beer.
I’ll tell you the ingredients now:
Mustard, Brown Sugar, a bottle of founder’s Dirty Bastard and a bowl and whisk for mixing.
4 Tbsp brown sugar
4 oz. scotch ale
2 Tbsp yellow mustard
Now I will add the disclaimer that these measurements are ballpark and not exact. I’ve been making the normal glaze for so long than I kind of eyeballed the ingredients. The best practice though is to taste the glaze as you’re making it and adjust the ingredients accordingly.
First I put the brown sugar into a large enough bowl for mixing then I added the beer and using a whisk mixed them thoroughly. This combination became expectedly frothy and foamy once the sugar began dissolving. On top of the foam I added the yellow mustard. You can use ground mustard in place of the paste I used but then you may want to add a dash of vinegar to get the same flavor. Then I mixed this in thoroughly with the beer-sugar combo.
By the time this was done mixing it was time to start the last half hour of smoking. So I took the glaze and began applying it with a silicone brush trying to cover as much of the ham with the glaze as I could. Once I had that applied I loaded the last of the wet wood chunks into the firebox and let the smoker do its thing. I took any unused glaze back inside the kitchen and set it aside for later.
When the smoking was done I placed the smoked ham in a dish for carving and poured any of the glaze that in the bottom of the tin foil I had cooked the ham in on top of the ham in the dish. The ham carved fairly easily, even through the caramelizing on the skin section where the glaze has made it chewy. Once I got done carving I placed a couple of pieces on a plate and served it with the remainder of the Founder’s Dirty Bastard in a mug. If I have to say so myself, it was delicious!
The hickory flavoring came through in each bite of the ham and the glaze complemented it well. I could taste the sweetness of the sugar, the spice of the mustard and the dark malty flavor of the scotch ale. None of the flavors over-powered another. Well worth the effort and the wait.
Good results like this can only lead to more experimentation. Try some yourself and…
Okay, so “Predictions” is probably too strong a word to use for this particular article. Why don’t we try “Intuitive Guesses” instead, as some of what I will put down into words this time will be 100 % accurate and some, at best will be 50/50.
Let’s throw a 100 percenter out first…
ABInBev will purchase more craft breweries around the US this year. BAM!!
Okay, that was an easy one, especially considering they keep making overtures to multiple breweries. And I believe I read that they stated in their corporate newsletter something to the same effect. So if it is really a surprise to anyone that they will continue this strategy you need to wake up and change your name to Rip Van Get-a-clue.
100 percenter #2…
New Craft Breweries will keep opening throughout the year. BAM!
During recent months craft breweries have been opening at a rate of almost two a day nationally. Even if the Macro Brewers keep purchasing Craft Breweries they won’t be able to outpace that rate. So there will be even more new beers for all of us to try out there.
In fact I have read that Gainesville will be on the receiving end of a new brewery by the name of Rainstorm Brewing in the coming year. We will also be home to a new brew Pub with a Micro Brewery as part of the business, called Blackadder Brewing, supposedly this May.
50/50 percenter #1…
New Craft Beer Tap Rooms and businesses will continue opening up throughout the year. BAM!!
Again this is not news to me as I have already read or heard about this from other local sources. Gainesville recently received a Buffalo Wild Wings which will serve craft beers alongside the macro beers that most sports establishments feature. World of Beer, which has a business west of Gainesville in the Town of Tioga is opening a new business (I believe with a different franchisee) in Gainesville just off of Archer road at the old Hooters location. Hopefully there will be others as well.
100 percenter #3…
Beerfests will abound. BAM!
Okay, I did that one with my eyes closed. But they weren’t closed when I got invites to the FBG Beerfest in March and the Hogtown Craft Beerfest in April. And you can be sure there will others I will try to attend throughout the year. Maybe even outside of Florida this year.
50/50 percenter #2…
Social acceptance of craft beer and those who consume it will continue to grow. At first craft beer lovers were referred to as Beer Geeks, but as more people become introduced to it I believe more people will appreciate the different styles and flavors that are available to them. Two years ago you saw an increase in ciders and meads. Last year you witnessed the rise of barrel aged and sour beers. I am hoping Porters and Stouts will begin coming back stronger, but that is a personal preference, not a prediction.
I believe social acceptance will grow because more and more craft breweries are becoming involved in community events and charities. Yoga classes, Wildlife and Environmental Charity Events, Political Fundraisers, and other fundraisers for various charities are constantly popping at breweries and brew houses. I don’t see that trend waning, in fact I see the opposite happening.
So that is my Craft Beer Pred… umm… Intuitive Guesses for the coming year.
Lagunitas’ Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale at the Lagunitas Beer tasting at Lucky’s Market
If your town is like Gainesville then you are probably finding yourself overwhelmed with decisions to make about where to get your Craft Beer needs fulfilled. Here we have had within the last two weeks Swamp Head Brewery’s 8th birthday party, Crafty Bastard’s 1st anniversary, multiple tap takeovers and charity fund raising with pints at various locations, like Brass Tap and Gainesville House of Beer. Even the Hoggetown Medieval Faire had their first weekend and they featured a Craft Beer tent this year(see pics below).
LEJ PretzelFirst Magnitude Beers featured along with others at the Hoggetown Medieval Faire
I decided to start my weekend a little different. As anyone who follows me on Twitter or Facebook may remember, I usually go to Lucky’s Market in Gainesville on Wednesdays so I can have a sample of craft beer at their little bar and take advantage of the double coupon day (Sales from prior week and week ahead are both valid on that day). I didn’t make it on that Wednesday because I knew they were having a beer tasting on that Friday that I wanted to attend.
I have had a couple of different samples of Lagunitas Brewing’s beers before and what I had I liked. So being able to try something from them I hadn’t had before appealed to me greatly. Plus beer tastings featuring a particular brewery can tell you a lot about the folks making the beers.
I arrived at Lucky’s right around 4, when it was starting and the young lady repping the company and pouring the beers was finishing setting up. There was quite a display of swag on the counter (see pic below).
Lagunitas Swag
When she finally got ready to pour there was myself and a few other people at the counter. I sampled Laguntas beers in the following order: Lagunitas Pils – a very sincere tribute to Czech Pilsners (below left); Lagunitas Sucks – a very strong scent of pine in the aroma but a very smooth Double IPA (below right); Lagunitas a Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ which is a pretty good smooth tasting wheat ale (pictured at top of article); and a Lagunitas Maximus which was also a very smooth tasting Double IPA (pictured second down below); and I also had a sample of the Lagunitas IPA which I had had before but figured what the heck – I was there, it was there…
When I had had my first sample about half way down, lo and behold the Chemist arrived and joined me at the counter, then about halfway into the next sample Rowdy showed up. So the Philosophying would begin earlier this evening. We sat around sampling and catching up for a bit. looking over the Swag available and realizing we had better get some before it all disappeared. After a bit Chemist got a text from the Deck-Orator that she was done with work so he went to retrieve her and they would meet me at Gainesville House of Beer later on.
I stuck around a bit more and gabbed with Rowdy and before long one of her friends from roller-derby stopped by and they began conversing. During that time Rowdy and I both overheard the manager say he had some bottles of Kentucky Bourbon Stout that had been held back for someone to pick up and it had been too long and he put them on the counter for folks to take up and purchase. So Rowdy and I each got a bottle to take with us. SCORE!!
After a bit I figured I needed to head out and said goodbye to Rowdy as she wasn’t joining us that evening. So I grabbed my bottle of KBS and walked by the chip area and grabbed a couple of snacks for the continuing happy hour at HOB, then walked to the cashier, paid and went.
By the time I got to HOB the lot next to it was full so I parked in the downtown garage, grabbed the two bags of chips and headed over to HOB. I saw Chemist and Deck-Orator had a table so I walked over and greeted them, set my chips down and went to the bar for the first actual pint of the evening. I ran into the Chemist son, J, while I was there and realized we would be a foursome which was good because that meant I would eat less chips.
For my first pint of the evening, I decided because of the influence of the Lagunitas samples earlier that I wanted a Pilsner, so I ordered the Sierra Nevada Nooner Pilsner (see pic below). This was a nice Pilsner but not as good as the Lagunitas sample I had had earlier.
With the chips I had brought the Pilsner went down pretty easy so I decided to order something with a little more kick to it. Alex, the manager at HOB asked me what I was having and I said, “I’m in the mood for a little Insanity.” To which he replied, “I like the way your thinking!” and went back and poured a Weyerbacher Insanity (see pic below), which is a barleywine. I have to say, I have had some barleywines that make you want to shave your tongue, and others, like this one that taste really good and smooth and have a nice little kick.
We worked on our respective drinks and philosophied some more then thoughts began working on dinner ideas. Someone suggested the Top, which we were all for, so we settled up our tabs and walked across the street and around the corner. Unfortunately the wait for seating was over an hour and I’m not one for waiting that long to eat. Someone suggested we maybe try Emiliano’s or another spot downtown and see what we could come up with. I liked that idea and hadn’t been to Emiliano’s in a while so we headed out in that direction.
When we got there, they weren’t quite full yet and had a wait if we wanted to sit inside but could be seated right away if we wanted to sit outside. It was cool out but not intolerable so we chose outside and were quickly seated. The Deck-Orator and the Chemist were leaning toward wine with the meal but I felt like sticking with the ales, so they ordered a nice red and I ordered a First Magnitude Ursa (American IPA) which I think is one of their better beers.
J wasn’t feeling well so he excused himself and walked home. So the remaining three of us looked over the menus and ordered our meals when the waitress returned. I had been there a few times and hadn’t had a bad dish yet, but wanted something I hadn’t tried before so I ordered the Mofongos, which is fried green plantains and yuca mashed with bacon and garlic-lime mojo, stuffed with your choice of grilled skirt steak, slow roasted pork, or sauteed shrimp. Served in a beef and pork jus. I chose the steak for my protein. I can’t recall what Chemist and Deck-Orator ordered.
We Philosophied some more for a bit but it didn’t seem long before our food was ready and brought out. The Mofongos was delicious. I like both plaintains and yucca but had not had them served mashed together before. It didn’t have the sweetness you usually expect from those two individually but it was still delicious.
When dinner was done I was too full to even think about a dessert. I think my cohorts were as well. All in all a very enjoyable meal that was a good way to finish the evening out.
If you hadn’t tried any of the small session beer tastings that happen around town occasionally then I suggest you do so. You can usually find at least one good beer out of the group that you will like. In this case, I enjoyed all of the samples and will probably not hesitate to try anything else from Lagunitas Brewing.
And if I hadn’t talked about Emiliano’s in this blog before then I should well have. I have not had a dish from there yet I did not enjoy. Now, a small word of caution, if you are like me and have problems with shellfish their menu is usually Mediterranean fair and several dishes will involve shellfish. But you can find something on there you can eat.
Until next time, as the Blarneyman says “Enjoy Every Moment!!”
When cooking with Craft Beer, it is important to remember that these beers will impart their distinct flavors into the finished product, just like good wines do.
If you have done any cooking with the normal American Lagers then you know that even these beers which are lighter in flavor impart a little bit of themselves into the recipes they are used in. Now, imagine the difference that using Craft Beer, with it’s much stronger flavors and varying degrees of higher alcohol content, would make.
Others have been experimenting with beer parings and recipes (I like the Beeroness’ recipes myself), but I wanted to try my hand at and thought I would share the results with you.
I decided to try a little experiment using some different craft beers in a variation of my chili recipe just to see the differences that would make in taste.
Ingredients are similar for my 3 Meat 3 Bean Chili from L-R: One can Southwest Corn; 1 lb. each of cooked ground beef, breakfast sausage, and cubed chicken; one quart jar of dried pinto, black and kidney beans; 1 can each of diced tomatoes with chilis and another with onion and garlic; one large chopped onion; cayenne pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, black pepper and salt to taste; and three separate types of beers.
For clarities sake, this is not my full blown chili recipe so I will not go into details about the contents but will focus instead about the beers used and the flavors they imparted.
I have one of those 3 pot slow-cookers that you can use to cook multiple dishes at once. So I basically divided my ingredients into three equal portions and split them among the three pots. The only difference between the pots was the beer I used.
The 3 beer chilis cooking
I had multiple beers types to choose from in the fridge but decided to limit it to three types, an IPA, a Wheat Beer and a Brown Ale. I also had Pale Ales, Belgians, a Porter and a couple of Stouts to choose from but thought the Pale Ale I had would get buried under the chili spices and the others were to complex for this go-a-round of experimentation.
I selected Blowing Rock IPA, a decent enough IPA from Blowing Rock Brewing; Shotgun Betty Hefeweizen, a good example of an American Hefe from Lonerider Brewing Co.; and Bell’s Best Brown Ale, from Bell’s Brewery Inc., which is one of the better brown ales available.
From L-R the chilis and their respective beers: Blowing Rock IPA, Shotgun Betty Hefeweizen and Bell’s Best Brown Ale.
Normally when I make chili I like to serve it with cheese and onions and, depending on the chili, a bit of sour cream. And I like it to be accompanied by corn chips, or homemade rolls or at the very least crackers. For this I did without the sour cream, chips, rolls and crackers, though I did keep the cheese. Even so it was a mild shredded cheddar. I wanted it to balance out the heat I cook into chili.
IPA Chili with a sample of blowing Rock IPA
First up was the IPA Chili. I could smell hints of citrus in the chili and tasted it slightly as well. I could taste the other ingredients of the chili but it was damped down a lit bit making it just an ok dish. The IPA accompanying it tasted just like an IPA should. I think this showed that when serving an IPA based dish an IPA goes best with it.
Hefeweizein Chili with the Shotgun Betty.
The second bowl featured the Hefeweizen beer. The wheat flavor of the beer seemed to enhance the spices. It also gave it a hint of crackers in the chili which surprised me but then after thinking about it shouldn’t have. The sample of the Shotgun Betty I sampled with it pared well with the chili and enhanced the flavors even more.
Brown Ale Chili made with the Bell’s Best Brown Ale.
The third bowl featured the Brown Ale in the chili. The brown ale flavor seemed to add a little sweetness to the chili but didn’t dampen the heat of the it. The beer itself tasted a little bitter at first. But after I sampled more chili and more beer the bitterness faded.
The blended chili with a sample of each of the beers, an IPA, a Wheat and Brown.
I decided to take one more sampling gambit and combined all three chilis into one bowl, then pared each of the beer samples with the combined chili. The blended chili actually tasted the best out of all the samples. As far as the parings went, the IPA tasted bitter, more so than before and did not go well with the blend. The cracker taste of the wheat chili was gone with the blend but the wheat still brought out the heat in the chili. And the brown brought out a sweet aftertaste with the chili.
This little experiment in chili was not only interesting but tasty. I was expecting the IPA to add a little bitterness, which it did, But when pared with itself for drinking it tasted just fine in the chili. I did not expect the cracker flavor from the wheat beer chili but I did think it would pare well with chili. The brown surprised me with the sweetness it brought to the chili as I never really thought of a brown ale as a sweet flavor.
And I was definitely surprised that the blended chili tasted better than any of three individual chilis. Though I liked all three I preferred the Wheat and the Brown. Not sure if I could pick one over the other as I liked them both and the ales brought out different aspects of the chili that I liked.
I will definitely be trying more experimentations with beer cooking down the road and will share the results with you.
Tucker with Rowdy at the Pints for Puppies event at Gainesville House of Beer
First let me clarify the title of this article by stating that I have no empirical data or documented evidence to support that claim. It is merely an opinion, and being that I am a craft beer lover it is a biased opinion at that.
But what I have been observing first hand over the last few years is that the interaction between Craft Beer Breweries, tap rooms or beer houses, and their patrons is much more community oriented that my recollections of the interactions with the Macro Beer Breweries and their related distributors.
My experiences of interactions with Macro breweries or the representatives has been basically like one of their beer commercials. Sporting events, or athletic related events, BBQ or Chili cook-offs, NASCAR, and of the course female swimwear contests seem to be the focus of their community interaction.
Don’t misunderstand me, I know that at least one of them has done things like donating canned water to disaster areas and I’m sure that there are some really good folks who work for them. But it seems that for the most part their focus with customers is generally whatever increases the profits for the company and their stockholders. But then that really shouldn’t surprise me. As demonstrated by the numerous craft brewery acquisitions and the impending merger between ABInBev and SAB Miller the bottom line appears to be their final deciding factor.
But the focus of Craft Breweries and Craft Beer Tap Rooms when dealing with events around their communities is much different. Now every business wants to make a profit. Let’s face it without profits it won’t be long before these businesses no longer exists. But there comes a point where profits need to give way to the needs of the community that these businesses live in and rely on. And in this aspect most Craft Beer businesses (whether breweries or tap rooms) excel far above their Macro Beer counterparts.
A perfect example was my most recent visit to Gainesville House of Beer. They hosted an event called Pints for Puppies. The idea was to raise funds for a new dog rescue Loving Hands Rescue. The idea being that $1 of each pint you purchased would be donated to this group. They also had beer specials and were accepting donations in cash or the form of supplies that the rescue could use for the puppies.
The Brass Tap on Archer road recently hosted a fund raising event for Operation Cat Nip, which is a program to help spay or neuter feral cats to help keep the population from growing. They also have teacher appreciation night every Friday offering discounted drafts to local teachers.
All of our local breweries, Swamp Head Brewing, First Magnitude Brewing and Alligator Brewing (located inside Tall Paul’s Brew House) are often involved in fund raising for various purposes. Ranging from environmental causes, charity events, political fund raising and even hosting yoga.
And the crowds that turn out for these events are inspiring. Even folks who may not normally patronize a craft beer business turn out for them because it helps the community. And there are other businesses in town that do similar fund raising events involving craft beer. Forgive me for not naming them all here. But you may have read about them in my other blog entries.
And while Gainesville is generally considered a liberal leaning college town where you might expect this kind of activity, from what I can tell of happenings in other towns with Craft Beer related businesses, this is not a liberals only activity. You see it happening all over the US wherever craft beers businesses have been popping up.
All I can say it I find it very inspiring and gratifying to part of a community (I refer to the Craft Beer community – not just Gainesville) that is so giving and concerned for the people, animals and environment around them.
Cheers to you all (that’s from Tucker too) and keep up the great work!!
Tucker likes good craft beer too. Don’t worry I know hops are bad for dogs. This is a Hefeweizen and he only licked the empty glass.
Here’s hoping all of you had a great holiday season. The Tucker and I did. I had decided back around Thanksgiving that I would drive up to Pennsylvania, where I grew up, to visit my youngest sister and her family this year at Christmas. And a bonus was that my other sister would be visiting with her daughter. This would be the first time that both my sisters and their children and I were all under one roof. So I was really looking forward to it. It would also be the first time that my niece Maddie would see snow and the first time I would take Tucker with me up north. Needless to say I was very much into the Christmas Spirit with so much to look forward to.
My Christmas celebrating actually began the weekend before with an annual Christmas Saxes celebration, of which the Maestro is a member. This is a private gathering of friends who come together to celebrate the season, bring dishes and drinks for everyone to partake in, and enjoy Christmas Carols ala arrangements for four saxophones. I had been invited before but have never been able to attend and this was my first year for it. So I dressed for an appropriate holiday gathering in Florida (see pic below).
The Maestro was there, of course, along with his Muse. The Maestro offered me a Sierra Nevada Christmas Ale, which I enjoyed and was surprised that I had not ever had before. The Chemist and the Deck-Orator were in attendance and brought along some pepper jelly and wine. Rowdy and the Cooler joined us too and brought along some really delicious meatballs and a few IPAs. The Doctor could not attend but some other friends (mentioned in previous blog posts) were in attendance and brought various dishes. I had brought a pretty good Malbec from Argentina and some Baklava which I had ordered on-line.
Rowdy and the MuseThe Cooler and Rowdy
It was a very relaxing and enjoyable evening filled with good eats, good drinks and good friends. As we were leaving I reminded the folks mentioned above that I wanted to try and get together on the following Tuesday for one last happy hour before I ventured into the northlands.
From bottom left clockwise: The Doctor, The Maestro, Rowdy Dangerfield, The Cooler, Jaded Jester, The Deck-Orator, The Muse, and yours truly.
We met at the Top Restaurant, downtown on North Main Street, when they opened at 5 PM that Tuesday, December the 22nd. I arrived first followed by the Doctor, then the Cooler, then the Maestro, along with several other folks with their own parties. When they opened I was the second party to ask for seating and they wanted to prepare a table big enough for eight of us. We were seated very shortly and began looking over the menu and ordered drinks while we waited for the ladies to join us. I ordered a Blitzen Festivus Ale, by North Peak Brewing (Festivus, for those who are not Seinfeld fans, is an imaginary holiday that takes place instead of Christmas or Hanukah invented by George Costanza’s father “Festivus For The rest Of Us!”). This had a nice flavor with a malty aftertaste.
Blitzen Festivus Ale
Rowdy arrived soon after and brought her friend Jester with her. If you have read my blog before you have heard mention of the Gainesville Roller Rebels of which Rowdy is a member. Jaded Jester serves as a ref for their bouts. The Muse showed not too long after that. She and the Maestro ordered some Plantain Chips for an appetizer as we wanted to wait for the Deck-Orator to arrive. The Chemist was working and couldn’t make it.
While we waited a couple of us did a little impromptu gift exchange. I brought some pint jars of homemade Eggnog and the Maestro brought gift bags of various holiday Ales, none which were consumed on the premises as we didn’t want to offend or cause problems for the Top. Not long after that the Deck-Orator arrived and we began Philosophying in earnest. I handed the Deck-Orator her and the Chemist’s pint of Eggnog. And then a lot of us ordered food. I ordered their Twisted Swisster Burger with a side of House Fries, and another drink, a Sugar Plum Brown Ale from Cigar City. This was just okay. The plum flavor was overpowering the brown ale for me.
Sugar Plum Brown Ale
Let me tell you something you may already know, there is a damn good reason that the Top is rated one of the 10 best places in Gainesville to get a burger. I’ve eaten there several times and had more than a few different types of burgers and every single one was delicious. If you’ve been there and haven’t had a burger, or if you’ve never been there… Then whatinthehell are you waiting for??!!
Bell’s 30th Anniversary Imperial StoutCold Mountain Winter Ale
After the burger and fries were finished I wanted one more beer, so I ordered the Bell’s 30th Anniversary Ale, an Imperial Stout which I have to tell you was once of the better ales I’ve had in a while. It was a perfect topper to a good dinner out with good friends. We all began making our way out, saying “Merry Christmas!” and Happy New Year!” to each other as we left. Since I had parked over by Gainesville House of Beer when I arrived I thought it ony fair I stop in and purchase a beer from them before going home. In keeping with the holiday theme I ordered a Cold Mountain Winter Ale from Highland Brewing, which seemed appropriate as I was stopping not far from there on my way to PA. It had a nice flavor and was a good topper for the evening. I had more to do that evening so it was relatively early when I got home. I still had things to do to prepare for the road trip the next day.
I woke up at my normal time, 5 AM on a workday, and still had things to do before I could head out. I finished packing my bag as well as a bag for Tucker, and had to load all of the Christmas presents, bags and other items that were making the trip North with me in the back of the truck. I usually drive when I go up North to Pennsylvania for a few reasons: 1 – I like driving. I always have. I enjoy seeing the scenery that goes by, feeling the road under your feet and being able to stop where and when I want or need to. 2 – Invariably whenever I travel to PA I either have something big or a lot of that I am either taking up or bringing back or both. And you can’t easily do that when you fly. 3 – If I did fly I would still need to rent a car when I get there and with the low gas prices right now driving isn’t that expensive. 4 – I’m a big man and planes aren’t made for people like me. I would have to fly first class all the time to feel comfortable and I don’t want to shell out that kind of money and still have to rent a vehicle and ship items up and back via parcel. And this time there is a 5 – Tucker was coming with me. No way was I going to put him in a shelter nor was I going to try and send him via airplane.
I was hoping to leave the house and be on the road by 9 AM but it was actually much closer to 10. One of the things I do when I’m traveling in the winter northward is stop at the Fruit Stands in Florida and pick-up fresh bags of oranges and grapefruits for my family. This year I also threw in a bag of Pecans. Once I got those items Tucker and I began our long journey North.
This was the first time that Tucker had traveled on such a long trip with me. He had been to south Florida with me twice and those times where lessons learned. The first time he practically spent a lot of the trip either leaning against me or trying to lie in my lap so he could see out the window. The next time I brought a crate along in case we had to leave him for a while my sister didn’t want him pulling the Christmas tree down. And I ended up putting him in the crate on the trip because he kept trying to jump up on my lap while I was driving. On this trip I really didn’t want to have to crate him for two days while going up and another two on the way back.
So I ended up constructing a little platform that rested over the front passenger seat. It would raise him up about a foot so that he could easily see out the windows and hopefully stop him from trying to climb in my lap while driving. As we made our way North, Tucker began settling in for the ride, looking up occasionally to see where we were or trying to come sit in my lap once or twice. But for the most part he sat on his little deck and slept. When we stopped at any rest stops he was eager to get out and encounter any new smells or if there were other dogs he wanted to make friends.
Tucker co-piloting
After 8 hours of driving almost continuously in the rain, I stopped in Statesville, NC, which is the half way point between Gainesville and Greenville, PA where my youngest sister lives. I often use the Red Roof Inn when I stay there as they are located near a mall, a Kmart, a grocery store (Food Lion I think), an IHOP, a Starbucks, and a couple of different fast food places including a BoJangles, which I never see in Florida and I love their spicy chicken. And the Red Roof has recently renovated a lot of their locations and they are really much nicer and the price isn’t too bad. I was too tired to go get dinner for myself so I broke out some provisions I had brought with me, including a Tin Roof Brewing Turnrow, a harvest ale, which was a gift from Rowdy and hit the spot after a long day of driving. I’m not sure but I think Tucker was jealous of me drinking it. I finished my meal with a Tin Roof Brewing Parade Ground Coffee Porter which was all I needed to help get some sleep that night.
It rained all night and still was the next morning, so I went over to the grocery store before I left to get some of the Red Hot Carolina Hot Dogs that my brother-in-law craves and picked up a couple of six packs of local craft beers, Shotgun Betty Hefeweizen Ale and Blowing Rock APA, as well as a six of Not Your Father’s Ginger Ale, which I had not seen in Florida yet. I planned on trying them after I got to PA.
Tucker and I loaded up the truck, put our new supplies in the cooler and headed onward to the Northland. We stopped a couple of times for him to check out the mountain smells at the rest areas as well as a break for lunch at the New River Gorge Bridge Overlook off of US 19 in West Virginia. They have a nice pet walk area there and the weather was still warm enough for us to sit at a picnic table at have our midday repast.
By the time we hit the PA southern border it was dusk and still another two hours before I would get to my sisters. Tucker slept the rest of the way up but when I hit the big curves on I-79 around Coraopolis he woke up and was trying to get back in my lap.
I arrived at my sisters, (V), around 7:30 PM, much to Tucker’s relief, and was just in time for dinner. V’s homemade sausage gravy and biscuits alone are worth the trip, but it was also very great to see the family. If I’m lucky I get to see them once a year and so much can change in that time frame. My nephew Jake maybe only three but he could pass for 5 or 6 because he’s so tall. His baby sister Sarah has the cutest smile, and I mean cuter than most babies, and she has started walking. It may be only a few steps at a time but it won’t be long before Mommy and Daddy (B) are chasing her down. Tucker had to adjust to his new cousins (both my niece and nephew and the four other dogs) as he hasn’t been around a lot of kids.
After I unloaded the truck, and stowed mine and Tucker’s gear (and some deliveries from Santa) upstairs in the guest room, we began settling down for our “Long Winter’s Nap”. It was unseasonably warm for December but there was a cold front bringing more rain to the area. It would have been nice to see snow on Christmas Day but my old knees would be glad to hold off the cold for a bit. Tucker had a little trouble getting used to the sounds of the house. And the way he reacted in the room outside the guest room you would have thought someone else was out there. There was speculation later on during my visit about the house being haunted by a former tenant, but I didn’t care as long as it didn’t mess with the beer I had brought with me.
Christmas morning, Tucker and I tried to adjust to the routine of the house and get our own little morning routine worked out. All the dogs go out in the morning the morning before sunrise then come back In and get a treat. They don’t get fed until my nephew wakes up as that is his one chore, a chore which he takes very seriously. So I didn’t want to mess up the other dogs routine by feeding Tucker so we waited for the boy to stir. Once he and Sarah both woke up we decided that he needed to feed the dogs and then have breakfast before the Christmas presents were opened. Not a popular decision as far as the nephew was concerned but his Mom and Dad now know what our parents knew. If they don’t eat breakfast before they open the presents it will be hard to get them to eat afterwards.
Needless to say breakfast flew by fairly quickly then the gift-giving schtick began. I won’t describe it to you as some of you may have more sensitive feelings than others but the aftermath of the carnage resembled the Ardennes Forest during the Battle of the Bulge. We were lucky to make it out alive.
The rest of Christmas Day was spent relaxing and watching TV except for V, who cooked a Christmas meal of ham, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing (or what some of you prefer to call dressing), homemade biscuits, salad, etc. Now while some of you may be thinking “Typical males letting the woman do the cooking!” Let me rebut by stating that if we were at my house I would be doing the cooking. Besides my sister likes to cook and is very good at it! So Nyah! (Imagine me sticking my tongue out here because I really don’t want to post that pic!)
Before dinner I broke out the “Not Your Father’s Ginger Ale” and shared a taste of that with V and B. It was alright but I think I would rather actually have a ginger ale instead of this as it was a little too sweet for my taste. B brought out an apple cider from Jack Daniels which was better than most ciders I’ve had but I don’t know if I would call it the best. With dinner I opened up the Shotgun Betty Witbier from North Carolina. It accompanied the ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole and homemade rolls very well. Later on I had the Blowing Rock APA, and it did not fare as well as an accompaniment to the food, but it was ok.
The next couple of days was spent visiting my youngest sister and her family, getting reacquainted with my brother-in-law and nephew and trying to connect with my niece who is still a toddler but better able to remember faces now. I was very glad that she wasn’t frightened by my beard as that can scare some smaller kids. But her dad’s beard is even longer (though not as full) than mine, so I guess that made it easier for her.
I did a little shopping the day after Christmas to get birthday presents for my nephew’s upcoming birthday and see if any bargains interested me. And later that night while taking Tucker for a walk I saw an Elven Moon. For those who don’t know what that is, it is simply an atmospherical phenomenon that occurs when the right combination of a full moon, moisture in the lower atmosphere and and really cold air occur at just the right balance to give the appearance of a ring around a full moon.
But other than that and taking Tucker on some long cold walks we didn’t do a lot besides just catching up with each other, which all I really wanted to do. That is until my other sister arrived on the 29th.
When she (Icee – she hated it when Mom called her that) and my niece Maddie walked in there were a lot of hugs and kisses. Maddie hadn’t seen her Aunt V since our Mom had passed and had never met her Uncle B and her cousins, and Icee hasn’t been up to visit since Jake was born so there was a lot of catching up to do.
Both of my nieces hit it off right away. Jake was a little reluctant at first being the shy type. But he would eventually come around. And since Tucker and Maddie were old friends he was very happy to see her and Icee. This was the first time that all of us were under one roof and it was a really good feeling to have all of my parents progeny together. It would have been great if they could have been there to see it but part of me felt that they were there in spirit.
We had dinner together, and I had brought some homemade Eggnog with me for everyone to get a sample of so I had a sample myself. B really liked it and I had gotten some text messages from my friends who had sampled it after I had left telling it was good as well. And to be honest I had to agree. But I cannot take all the credit for it. I used the recipe that Alton brown had posted to Foodnetwork.com with some minor tweaking here and there. Icee declined because she was tired from the flight and wanted to make sure to get to the hotel unimpeded.
At the end of the evening Icee and Maddie went to their hotel and would be back in the morning so we could do some day trips. On December 30th, we decided we would drive by our old hometown and visit our parents’ graves. We left Jake and Sarah with the sitter then headed over to Meadville to visit the cemetery. I hadn’t been there since the year after Dad had passed and not at all since Mom has passed. And there would be no telling how long it would be before I made up that way again so it was good that we stopped by. Their grave site is right next to an older sister I had who died when I was only a year old, and she only a year older than that.
Visiting them, for me, was a reminder of how short life really is for all of us, and how precious times like we were getting to spend together really are.
After we left the cemetery we decided to head over to our home town and see what changes had crept up since we had left. We made a quick drive by to see the old house we grew up in and saw a lot more had changed since the last time we were there. The yard when we were growing up was a full two acres and Mom had a quarter acre garden out behind the house. That was reduced to maybe a half acre yard with no garden in sight. The old barn had fallen down when my parents still lived there but the foundation was still in place, but now that is gone. A neighbor just up the hill used to make concrete casting statues of all types, and that property was empty now and grown over.
When we got into town we saw that the Cardinal Country Restaurant was still up and running. V had worked there when she was younger and my Dad went there every day for his lunch when he was inspecting highways from a local construction office. A lot of additional construction that had been done to the high school since we had left. Some businesses where different than what they were when we lived there and some were basically the same, and others still were gone completely.
While V, Icee and I were reminiscing about this and that while driving around, I could tell Maddie was losing interest. She’s still too young to find family history as interesting as adults would. Our trip together to the homestead kind of reminded me of the time about 20 years ago when Dad and I went to the North Braddock section of Pittsburgh to see the neighborhood and the house he lived in as a little boy. But then I recognized some of the area as we used to travel there to visit relatives when I was a kid. Who knows, there may be a day when Maddie gets an interest in when we grew up and she will be able to connect in the same way.
We made our way back through Meadville, where both Icee and I had apartments before we had individually moved to Florida. We drove through downtown and by the old Market House and ended pulling up to a light in front of Sherry Distributors. I used to frequent them way back when I lived in PA. I told Icee to pull in there so I could see what craft beers they had, if any. She did and I rolled my window down and told the young guy working that I was a craft beer fan and wondered if they had any.
Craft beer wall at beer distributor in Meadville PA
If you haven’t been to Pennsylvania before there I should explain that alcoholic beverages aren’t purchased at the grocery or convenience store like they are in a lot of other states. You have to buy wine and liquors in State Stores, which are State licensed, owned and operated stores (which is a conundrum in itself as Pennsylvania is a commonwealth, not a State). And beer has to be bought at a beer distributor, which is a privately owned business where you can purchase beer in half or whole cases, or the keg. This is a result of the laws passed after prohibition ended back in the 30’s. You can buy liquors, wine and beer in restaurants for consumption and they are allowed to sell you some to take home but only up to 192 ounces. So you can buy a six pack at a bar or restaurant to take home but not anywhere else.
The distributor was a building with two drive through entrances, one side being your regular beers (Bud, Miller, etc.) and the other being craft beers, with a couple of sets of large coolers running down the middle of those two sections. And off on the side was a large cooled section where kegs and extra cases were stored. I had specified I would like to get something local to the guy and he said that they had VooDoo Brewing in a 12 pack. I told Icee to park the car because I wanted to get out and look at what they had and stretch my legs. She did so then her and V got out and joined me, while B and Maddie stayed near the car.
We began looking over the wall of half cases (see pic above) and Icee and V would read the boxes and make comments or ask questions about the beers and I would reply to them. V piped up, “There is finally a new trend that you’re like an expert in. I’m so proud!” at which Icee and I started laughing. And V added, “It’s true. We’re all usually on the tail end of these things.”
Besides the VooDoo Brewing variety 12 Pack, which I actually took 2 of, I also selected a variety 12 pack each of Deschutes Brewing out of Oregon and Lancaster Brewing out of Lancaster, PA. While I was there I got a 12 pack of the Jack Daniels Apple liquor that B and V liked. Icee picked up a 12 pack of Angry Orchard to take back to V’s (I don’t remember what variety she got). We picked up our selections and put them and ourselves back in the car and headed back out toward Greenville.
But we decided to take a little detour through Jamestown and head out to see a little more countryside. We also wanted to stop at a nearby Amish Store that was just this side of the Ohio border and only a few miles from the house. This store, the Creekside Country Store, was touted by B and V as having some of the best deals you could find for a variety of different things. They had some used items that could be considered antiques by some as well as some practical everyday things that you need for living in the country, like kitchen items for canning or cooking. They had a section where some homemade Amish preserves and jellies were on display, and they also had a bakery inside where they made homemade breads, cookies and fried pies. If you haven’t had a fried pie before think of those hostess pies you buy in the store, but fresher tasting and a wider variety of fillings, and really just tastier. If you are ever out West of Greenville, PA on Kinsman Rd then you owe it to yourself to stop by and at the very least get some of their baked goods.
Fried pie with Pineapple filling
We got back to V’s house and started getting ready for a birthday party for Jake that evening. His birthday wasn’t actually until the 3rd of January but the next night was New Year’s Eve and both Icee and Maddie were flying back the 1st and Tucker and I were driving back that day as well. Our cousin CC and her partner J were coming over along with their kids. And Jake had been asking about more presents since Christmas Day.
It was good to see our cousins and to see Jake light up with glee again at opening more presents. I either had Tucker or Sarah in my lap most of the night. Sometimes it was just to keep one from licking the other. More of my eggnog was passed around and my cousin wanted the recipe so she could make it.
Not too late in the evening we called an end to the party. B had to work the next day and V, Icee the kids and I were all going to call on our Aunt B who was visiting her father a couple of hours south of us. Icee was still a little jet lagged and V wanted to try and get her kids to bed sooner so she could get sleep herself.
B was up before us in the morning since he had to go work on the farm. He works as a farm hand on a dairy farm and he was going to have to make sure the milking got done that morning due to a family crisis the farm owner was having.
Icee and Maddie came over from their hotel around 8:30 and about a half hour later we were on the road to visit our Aunt and cousins. V had been trying to get ahold of our cousin M who was arranging our meet all the previous night and the next morning but she never replied to her text messages. About 30 minutes into our trip V tried texting again and then noticed she had a Messenger text from M. Apparently Aunt B started coming down with something the night before and she wasn’t feeling very good this morning. She didn’t want the kids to catch whatever she had so she canceled our get together. It was a little mix-up in communication but we decided to turn it into a day trip.
We headed for the farm where B worked so Maddie, Jake and Sarah could see the cows. We arrived around 10 and they were just finishing up with the tail end of the milking. We walked into the milking room and we could see that Jake was shaking. He loves cows that are on TV and toys that are cows, but let’s be honest, to a little kid, up close a cow is a freaking monster. But I will give the boy credit… Despite his obvious fear he followed us in and started to relax a little after a bit of time. Maddie and Icee walked closer so B could tell them what they were doing while they were milking the cows.
When they were done milking we walked back through the barn to where they had the calves penned up and the kids were able to get a lot closer and actually pet the calves. Jake and Sarah both enjoyed this but I think Maddie got a real kick out of it but she never sees anything like that where she lives now.
When we were done with the cows we started heading back south. We ended up at a Winter Wonderland kind of place (I can’t remember the name), which had a whole bunch of different Christmas themed displays still up. It was part of a big store that was filled with all kinds of Christmas decorations, toys, gifts and candy. We spend about a half hour or more looking at all the displays and merchandise available for purchase. Of course I couldn’t leave without buying something.
It was getting close to lunch time and I suggested that we go to the little sub shop that V & B had taken me to on one of my previous visits, the Lock Stock and Barrel in Sharpsville, PA. The have really great subs as well as some other foods. I ordered something that I have only ever been able to order in PA and that is a Pizzaburger. And to be honest the only place I’ve had one outside of PA is my kitchen. In this case it was actually a Pizzaburger Sub cause it was about a foot and half long, but it still tasted great.
If you have never had a Pizzaburger then you owe it to yourself to get one. Next time I make one at the house I will have to write down the recipe and post it on here (Hmmmm, perhaps a beer paring with different PA foods).
We got a sub to go for B and dropped by the farm to give it to him, then headed off to a place V had been telling us about in Eastern Ohio that had a giant horse and buggy like the Amish drive. It was called End of the Commons General store and is located in Mesopotamia, OH. When I saw the horse and buggy that V told us about my first impression was that it was made by the Trojans and they were probably hiding inside. It was freaking huge!!!
It is located in a little park across the street from the General Store, which carries almost anything a country boy could need, including clothes, household supplies, hardware, locally bottled sodas, Amish made candies, jellies and preserves, breads, cheeses, jerky, and a whole bunch of other things. The prices seemed reasonable so we made a few purchases, then started heading back.
When we got to the house the aroma of homemade sauerkraut and kielbasa that had been cooking in the oven greeted us. This would be our traditional New Year’s Eve dinner. We’ve been having this on New Year’s Eve for many years. I remember when I came home from the Air Force and cooked a batch of it with beer. My grandmother was horrified at my pouring the beer into the pan. But when she tasted the finished product, all she could say was, “Wow!! This is really good!”
This year my sister was using her homemade sauerkraut and some kielbasa from a local butcher. She didn’t use beer or add any spices or even add an onion, which I do. And when dinner time came around, the first words out of my mouth were “Wow!! This is really good!” Funny, how life is cyclical like that. Her homemade ingredients tasted just like the store bought ones I would use after adding the ingredients I mentioned. If ever you needed proof that homegrown and homemade beat out store bought this is it.
I decided to drink one of the VooDoo Brewing’s beers with this meal and I was not disappointed. I had their VooDoo Love Child and it accompanied the kraut and kielbasa very well. To be honest it is a very nice Belgian Style on its own but it really pared well with dinner.
I guess I should mention that I had been sampling one of each of the VooDoo flavors in their variety pack since we had picked them up the day before and none of them were bad. In fact I would say that I was really surprised at how well a selection there was in the pack.
The Killapilz (Pilsner) was a very nice smooth drink. The Gran Met, also a Belgian, was really flavorful. Wynonna’s Big brown Ale was a great example of a brown ale. The HooDoo was a good American IPA. The White Magick of the Sun was a good wheat beer. And you already read my mention of the VooDoo Love Child. I believe that and Wynonna’s Big Brown are the best of the pack but they are all good or better.
Icee finally got a taste of my eggnog which she agreed was pretty darn good. We also got a sample of my sister V’s homemade Mead and her Elderberry Wine. Our Mom used to make homemade wines, both Grape and Elderberry, which maybe explains why both V and I enjoy making fermented libations ourselves. The Mead was of course sweet but not sickly sweet as to make you want to pour it over pancakes as some mead I have had. And there was enough of an alcohol flavor to it too give a little kick but not too much to make it rough. The Elderberry was very good, similar in texture to a Merlot but with none of the tannins or bitterness that a few reds have.
We came to a general consensus that none of us would be welcoming in the New Year at midnight. Icee and Maddie had a plane to catch the next day and Tucker and I would be starting another long drive, this time back to Florida. So V started packing a to-go box of homemade canned goods for Icee and I to take home with us (I would transport them with me since she wouldn’t be able to take them on the plane with her). Then around 9 or so we started saying our goodbyes.
In the morning I began loading the truck and preparing to leave. It was good visiting with the family but as much as I enjoyed it I knew it was time to go. And Tucker was ready too. His ongoing war with the squirrels and lizards in Florida had been tabled for too long for his taste and he was ready to resume hostilities.
We began with the hugs and goodbye kisses from my niece and nephew and I told my sister I would text her my progress as we traveled. I turned to Tucker and asked him if he was ready to go… and his response was to bark and head for the door. V didn’t know whether to laugh or be offended.
There had been a little bit of snow the day before but not really enough to stick, but at least Madison was able to see some and she actually made a snowball from the snow on Icee’s rental car at the hotel. As I began making my way south the snow began falling at a much faster rate and the flakes were much bigger than the day before. It looked like I was getting out just ahead of the cold front that was bringing snow in. But the snow started letting up as I got down around Pittsburgh and I didn’t see any more the rest of the way south.
Tucker and I stopped at the same Red Roof Inn in Statesville on the way back, this time though I made better time and decided to get some BoJangles chicken for dinner. Their chicken with a biscuit and coleslaw hit the spot and I pared it with a beer that the Maestro had given me as a Christmas gift, the St. Bernardus Christmas Ale. And I have to say it was one of the better holidays ales I have had.
The next day, Tucker and I left early and except for the bumper to bumper traffic on I-95 in South Carolina, made it back home in relatively good time. I unloaded the truck while Tucker re-familiarized himself with the backyard. Then I took him for a walk so he could let the enemy know that hostilities were resuming. When we got back in the house we began relaxing on the couch and just chillin’, which gave me a little time to reflect, something that writing this lengthy epistle has also done.
I originally was going to tie this in with Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol by retelling the trip and tying it in with beers sampled over the last year, then it connecting to the present with my current troupe of beer bacchanalians and our sojourns in and around Gainesville, then finish it off with a list of predictions for the next year related to beer.
Instead, I have found myself connecting with Dickens tale in a different way. By traveling to area I grew up and visiting the different areas that affected our lives with my sisters, like our old house and the schools, and stopping by my parents graves, I was able to make a connection to the past and remember how things were, strengthening the bond with my sisters.
In the present, I was able to appreciate my friendships before I went on the trip, strengthened the bond with family while we were visiting, and re-invigorate myself by reconnecting with everyone.
And the future was represented by my nieces and nephew. They are the next generation of my parents’ progeny and will represent our bloodline in the future. Being able to see how much they develop in between my visits is always a joy but being able to share the past with them means a lot too.
Dickens tale was meant to inspire mankind to forgo the hunt for riches and to instead share the wealth with your fellow man to better enrich all life on earth.
Mine is not so grandiose in its attempt to inspire. My message is simple: Family and good friends are everything. As long you have those, you really don’t need anything else…
So last Friday (November 13th) our group of Craft Beer enthusiasts decided to gather together at the BrassTap on Archer Road for our regular Friday Happy Hour. The Maestro and the Doctor both made it there first. They talked Allen (the owner) into taunting me with a picture of a beer (see below), saying “Here’s looking at you.” Now I was already on my way and didn’t recognize the number so I didn’t reply. By the time I arrived they had started to head for the patio and claim a table outside. Not long after me Rowdy showed up and our Philosophying began for the evening.
My first craft beer that night was a Dunkles Hefe Weizen from Tucher Brau. It was a very good example of a Dunkel with a nice roasted malt flavor and a smooth aftertaste.
Allen pulled up a chair and joined us and not long after the Deck-Orator arrived as well. So we put another table alongside ours so discussion was not hindered by any inter-table distances. We began catching up with each other and finding out what was new.
My second draft of the evening was a Hop Nosh IPA from Uinta Brewing. The IPA lovers in the group thought this was pretty good and while I thought it was okay with a nice smooth aftertaste it was a little hoppier than I care for.
My third choice of drafts was the Jefferson Stout from Lazy Magnolia Brewing. It was supposedly going to have a little sweet potato flavor but I couldn’t taste any. I did taste a light stout flavor but that was all.
As we were working on our last round I mentioned that I was going to Florida Brewer’s Guild Barrel-Aged & Sour Beer Festival the next day and asked if anyone wanted to go with me. Rowdy said she would go but I had to agree to go to the PJ Pub crawl for the Gainesville Roller Rebels.
I agreed, though I was reluctant to do so because the idea of wearing PJs in public bothers me. But I agreed at any rate and said I would text her in the morning and let her know where we would meet up for the trip. Everyone else in the group had other plans.
So I met up with Rowdy at Hogan’s Heroes Sandwich Shop on NW 13th Street and found her paying attention to the most well-behaved dog I have ever seen in the back of a strange pick-up truck. This little guy was not chained or leashed and would not leave the bed of the truck, but he was happy to be getting the attention that Rowdy was giving him. And as we turned to go inside he stayed right where he was and ducked back down under the truck side to stay out of the sun.
We wandered inside the sandwich shop and walked back to the bar to order our sandwiches. If you have never been to either of Hogan’s Heroes locations then you owe it to yourself to do so. In my opinion, they have the best subs in Gainesville. Both of them have a sandwich shop in the front half of their respective buildings and a little bar at the back end. The décor is World War II related and being a Veteran feels nice to me. During the work week if I come in for lunch I never make it to the back, but after work or on the weekends nothing goes better with one of their sandwiches than a nice cold draft. Most of the draft beer selections are the normal American Lager variety, but they do have one or two local brewery fares along with Newcastle Brown and Guiness on tap as well as some European brews in bottles.
Rowdy and I each ordered a sandwich combo which included an 8 inch sub, choice of chips and a drink. We both ordered the same sandwich but she had a cider with hers and I ordered a Stump Knocker from Swamp Head with mine. It wasn’t long before our orders arrived and we enjoyed a nice little lunch before heading out to Jacksonville.
When we left I followed Rowdy back to her place and she retrieved her traveling accoutrement, jumped in my truck and we headed out to Jax. I decided to avoid the traffic associated with driving from Gainesville to Jax by the normal route of going through Starke and instead headed up 121/231 through Hidden Lake, Brooker, Lake Butler and Raiford until we reached I-10 and then headed east into Jax. It was a lot less traffic and much more scenic. We listened to the gator game as it was playing while we drove.
When we got into Jax I knew I had not been to Intuition Ale Works before and wondered what kind of area it was in as parts of Jax aren’t too bad and are in fact really nice and others you start looking for the fastest way to the interstate. As we left the interstate it started to look like we weren’t necessarily in the best part of town. Like most new craft breweries starting out, Intuition started their location in an industrial section of town in an older warehouse. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but sometimes these areas are surrounded by not so prosperous housing. As we headed down King Street we came upon a set of railroad tracks and literally, on the opposite (notice I didn’t say “wrong”) of the tracks was the warehouse where intuition is located. Right after you crossed the tracks they had the road closed off with a vendor truck and you could see a crowd back behind it.
I turned left there and found a parking spot not too far away where it looked like other attendees were parking as well. Then Rowdy and I grabbed our beer sampling gear and headed out. We went to the check in and received our sampling glass and the list of breweries and their available wares (see pics below)
Then we walked around and began sampling and talking with the various vendors on site. below are some pics from the event.
I can tell you that there were a lot of great barrel aged beers there. And I was really surprised at how good the sour beers were. Most of the sours beers I have had up until that event were so sour that you really couldn’t taste any other flavors. That was not true with most of these.
The following is a small sampling of those that really stood out to me:
Darwin Brewing Co., Bourbon-barrel-aged big Deal; Due South Brewing, Barrel Aged Mariana Trench; Engine 15 Brewing Co., Barrel Aged Simcoe; Funky Buddha Brewing, Cabernet Barrel Aged Nikolai Vorlauf; Intuition Ale Works, Tres Brujas; Orchid Island Brewery, Citron – Cabernet Barrel Aged Saison; Proof Brewing Co., Fruit Punch Blind Fate – Berliner Weisse; Tampa Bay Brewing Moose Wood – Barrel Aged Barleywine & Capt. Skully – Rum barrel Aged Imperial Pumpkin Ale; Tomoka Brewing Mint Julip Southern Sour; Zeta Brewing, Cabernet Michaelmas and their Bourbon Michaelmas; an what I consider the two best examples at the fest, both from Wynwood Brewing, NSDLA – Barrel Aged Barleywine and BA 100 Barrel Aged American Strong Ale.
Please keep in mind that as we sampled more we were probably being a bit more lenient but the beers kept tasting better and better.
We decided to get some food before we left and stopped at the FunkaDelic Food Truck. Rowdy got a fish sandwich and I got a burger and we split an order of fried beets. The sandwiches were good but I have to say I have never enjoyed beets so much in my life as I did the ones they served.
We started our trek back to Gainesville around 5:30 and got back around 7:00.
After I dropped Rowdy off I headed back to the house to check on Tucker, my dog, and rest up a bit before heading out to meet her and the Doctor downtown for the PJ Pub Crawl. To be honest, after I took Tucker for a walk, I settled down in the recliner and he jumped up and snuggled with me. It was enough for me to fall asleep for a bit. Rowdy’s text telling me where to meet her and the Doctor is what woke me up.
So I jumped up, took off my clothes and put on my PJ’s and a robe (it was chilly out) and headed for downtown. Now the previous year’s Pub Crawl had a Lumberjack theme which I can slide into very easily. I’m a middle-aged white guy with a beard, work boots and jeans and all the plaid shirts I could want. I even own a couple of axes so Lumberjack is an easy theme for me to do. But PJs in public is not my cup-o-tea. So along with the t-shirt and PJ bottoms I wore my silk Kimono, going for the Hugh Hefner look. I actually got more than a few complements on it.
The pub crawl started at the Midnight on Main Street at 8:00 and we got there around 8:30. The Pub Crawl hits five downtown bars, with 45 minutes at each bar and one complimentary draft beer at each. So we got at the Midnight with enough time to check in with the group and finish a beer. As I recall we had three to choose from and I ordered the Shock Top Belgian White.
Our next stop was Tall Paul’s Brew House just up around the corner on 2nd Avenue. I had a little disagreement with a bouncer about whether or not I had to pay a cover charge to get in. I ended the disagreement by saying “Dude, I’m with the pub crawl! Look at the way I’m dressed! Would I put this crap on to go out on the town??!!” Luckily, he saw my point and we didn’t have to get any deeper into the disagreement. Unfortunately, the beer they selected for us at Tall Paul’s was the Narraganset Lager, or as Rowdy likes to call it, Nasty Ganset. I don’t know who chooses the beer for these things, but that one just has to go. And if you’re a Narragnaset fan good for you, but leave that in Boston where it belongs.
From Tall Paul’s we meandered over to Loosey’s where they were also having Karaoke. A couple of the roller derby gals and one of our gents tagging along sang a couple of renditions. At least here they served a decent draft beer in the form of a Yuengling Lager. Of course that is just my opinion. And being a PA boy it is only natural for me to like that beer.
The next stop on our tour was one of our old standbys, Gainesville House of Beer. HOB is also one of the gathering places for after the derby matches and one of the Meetup groups I belong to meets there after their monthly meeting as well. Not to mention our occasional treks to there (See last blog about Homecoming). I knew HOB would have a good beer available for the group. Especially since Rowdy had already discussed the beer list with Alex, the manager. I had a stout from local brewery First Magnitude, I believe it was the Drift but I’m not certain.
The next and last stop of the crawl was supposed to be the High Dive, which is where we ended up last year and a lot of dancing took place. But I looked at Rowdy and said, “I think I’m done.” She looked at me and nodded her head and I knew she was done too. With the all the beers we sampled earlier and the last few on top there was definitely no dancing in my future. The Doctor said, “See… That’s why I didn’t go the beer fest with you.”
Let me end this article by saying that I don’t regret going to either event, doing both in the same day can be taxing, especially when you get to my age. Next year I hope the Pub Crawl falls on a day when there is no nearby beer fest. But if it does it could be another long day.
I hope this little story is an entertaining Thanksgiving Eve respite. Enjoy your holiday and drinks some beers. I will write again after the weekend is over.
