Stumbling across some beer press

I'm used to actively pursuing my beer coverage. I have my blogs that I read, my magazines that I subscribe to, and the regional beer rags that I pick up whenever I'm at a bar or restaurant that has them around. Also, the AHA's Tech Talk forum has just started sending out a daily compilation of headlines and links to interesting articles from around the world. Yet another reason to sign up for your AHA membership.

The Tech Talk forum recently hipped me to this article about a dude who's set up a small scale hop farm in upstate New York. New York State was at one time the premier hop growing region in the states until disease wiped out the farms (downy mildew, I believe - don't quote me on that). So I was pretty psyched when I read about someone who's not a brewer by trade bringing hop farming back to the region. Even if it is in a very limited and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants capacity.

I'm not used to just randomly stumbling across beer coverage, however. That's why I was surprised when I browsed to one of my favorite recipe sites and saw a big colorful spot for an article on beer and food pairing - complete with a big Ommegang bottle right smack in the middle. This article doesn't cover any new territory for those of us in the know, but it is pretty cool to see something like this getting front page coverage on a very reputable cooking site. And they do tell the truth:

"Beer may actually be more food-friendly than wine is."

"Dark Beers" from Upstate NY

It's been a while since I posted. Took a trip up to Portland and Burlington with R this past week, so I was a bit out of commission. More on that, including the Vermont Brewer's Fest, later. In the meantime just to get something up here I figured I'd post on the beers I've been making my way through tonight. After our last trip up to the Binghamton and Ithaca areas I brought back a bunch of beers. The last of the bunch have to go to make room for the beers that came back from Portland and Burlington. I saved the darkest for last...

Oh, and I haven't done one of these posts in a while. I'm not too into the whole business of people doing full blown BJCP style score sheets for all of the commercial beers they try online. So this is just how I do. Sorry if there's a lack of flowery langauge around these descriptions.

Lake Placid Ubu Ale: I'd describe this as an American-style Brown Ale. Has some citrusy American hop character in the nose. Some fuity esterage. Has some chocolate to it, which becomes much more dominant in its flavor. Doesn't go down as strong as the 7% ABV that it's listed as, but it's a bit too fizzy for my taste - carbonation seemed to make this beer rather filling.

Ithaca Nut Brown Ale: Borderline black. Big nose of chocolate and roast. Definitely stradles the line between what you'd think of as Brown and a Porter. Sweet malt up front in the flavor with chocolate and roast in the finish. Very little hoppage going on. Bitterness is spot on and well balanced with the malt flavors.

Middle Ages "The Duke": Chocolate and roast up front with some vinous notes. This is definitely a porter. Very roasty in flavor and super-dry. I'm imagining a grain bill with a lot of black malt and/or roasted barley. There's a little earthiness in this beer that could be from hops or possibly age - no fault of the brewery if it's age. Bitterness is restrained which is a good thing considering the high roast factor.

Cooperstown Benchwarmer Porter: Quick aside - this is one of my favorite beer labels in the world. Anyway... a ringwood beer, and surprisingly little diacetyl in the nose. A lot of roast going on, and a lot of esters too. Shocked at how much fruit is going on in the nose of this beer - and not necessarily in a bad way. Strawberries, grapes. Flavor is much more about roast, coffee, and some dark fruit, like red grapes. Diacetyl starts showing up in flavor, but is pretty mild. Finish is highly bitter. Was not expecting this much complexity out of this beer.

Cooperstown Strike Out Stout: Was a bit concerned about this one when it poured relatively flat-looking. Perhaps the 5% flaked oats explain that. The beer has a very restrained coffee, roast, chocolate aroma which is quite refreshing in light of the last couple of roast-bombs. Some malt sweetness up front with a smooth malty and roasty finish. Not surprised that there's oats in this one. Looks totally unappetizing and flat in the glass, but may have been the tastiest of all. By the way, very little diacetyl in this one, considering that this is another of Cooperstown's ringwood offerings.

Adventures in the Southern Tier

Took a trip with R up to the Binghamton/Ithaca area for a few days, so I've been away for a while. All in all, it was a fun time. A few general observations first:

Had a lot of fun at the B-Mets game, the Ross Park Zoo, the Kopernik Observatory, and a few other little things here and there. But trying to find something to do in Binghamton is quite a chore. Sadly, it's a pretty run-down place. Which made it all the more remarkable that just about every one of our dining experiences was great - Crepe Heaven and Whole In The Wall stood out.

Owego and Ithaca are very cool towns. Owego is very small, but packs a lot into its downtown. And we definitely could have spent another day or two in Ithaca. Plenty to do there, both indoor (restaurants, bars, antiques, miscellaneous unique stores) and out (the falls, the TOTALLY AWESOME Sapsucker Woods Bird Sanctuary, Buttermilk Falls State Park).

But this blog is about beer, so here we go with the beery things from our trip...

Labatt's and the Guiness trifecta: I know we were technically "upstate", but it still didn't feel like we were that far from the general NYC area. So it came as a bit of a surprise to me that Labatt's was so pervasive up in that area. And, it seemed like every bar or restaurant that we went to in Binghamton had a promotional display for the Guiness/Smithwick's/Harp trio. Strange.

Cyber Cafe West: We checked this place out one night on a whim. Besides, R loves anything "cyber".We were looking for something to do, and I happened to recognize the name from beeradvocate's Binghamton directory. Turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Got a couple of wraps for a late dinner which were pretty tasty, and they had the latest Sly Fox hop project on tap, which kind of blew me away. It was the Polish Marynka hop. Interesting beer, though not a great pale ale hop. Reminded me of black grapes. And the Cyber Cafe West also turned out to be kind of a weird little place for people watching. Thumbs up!

The Belmar: We drove past this place in the middle of an afternoon in broad daylight. We were stopped at a light and again, I noticed the name of the place from beeradvocate's Binghamton directory. I was trying to look in the open door of the place to get an idea of what it was like inside when a fella standing out front smoking a cigarette told me to "just drive your car, don't fuckin' look over here". Needless to say we didn't stop in. Thumbs down!

Doc's Homebrew Supply: Had to show the LHBS some love while we were in town. Assuming that the guy working there was indeed Doc, hell of a nice guy. Picked up some supplies and asked for a recommendation for a beer bar, and after a shared lament over the complete absence of brewpubs in the area, Doc suggested the Ale House in Vestal....

The Ale House: The beeradvocate comments on this place were all generally positive, but most did caution that several of the three dozen or so taps would be out. This turned out to be true, unfortunately. What I was impressed with was the concentration on local beers. A bunch from Ithaca and Cooperstown on tap, as well as other NY brews (Saranac, Blue Point, can't recall the others right away). I also recall a (somewhat rare for the area) Great Lakes offering. A small but friendly place, definitely the best beer selection that we could find in the Binghamton area.

Sam the Beer Man: I always find the upstate NY beer stores to be a bit of a trip. Being in NJ, it's very weird to walk into a store that sells just beer. I came away from here with mixed twelve packs from Cooperstown and Middle Ages, and two six packs from Lake Placid. And, quite impressively, the Belgian selection rivaled anything I've seen in Manhattan.

John Barleycorn Tavern (aka Josh Barrelcorn's): Meet the locals in Owego! Stopped in for one beer at this place and found Cooperstown on tap again (amazing that this brewery does not appear in NYC at all. Ever.) Seemed like a nice crowd and had a pretty cool deck out in back looking over the river.

Tioga Trails Cafe: Not really a bar, but had a few craft taps and a bunch of the Ithaca beers in bottles. Interesting space. They had a pretty large stage and some couches and lounge chairs. Not sure what the nightlife is like in Owego, but something tells me that the Tioga Trails Cafe is probably one of the more upscale spots. Could be wrong.

Maxie's Supper Club: This was definitely my favorite restaurant in Ithaca (sorry, R, but the Moosewood was totally disappointing). I'm a sucker for both oysters and New Orleans style cooking, and Maxie's did both well. Throw in some craft beers on tap (I had a Stone Pale Ale and something from Abita, I think... shame on me) and I'm a happy boy. By the way, the oysters were malpeques and wellfleets.

Ithaca Beer Company: We stopped in the brewery for a tasting - no tours on weekdays. Mike treated us great as he took us through the flight, with the very hoppy pilsner being the highlight for me. I came home with a mixed twelve pack and three bottles of their Excelsior series. It was also great to see them supporting the scene and selling homebrew supplies from the tasting room.

Six Mile Creek Vineyard: OK, so we're finishing up with wine and not beer. Sue me. Six Mile Creek is the closest winery to Ithaca proper, and it was totally worth the short drive if for no other reason than to stroll the very scenic property. We tasted six different varieties each. I'm no wine guy, but the white wines were striking a chord for me. The Reserve Riesling was dry and minerally as advertised, and I could totally see myself polishing off a bottle and passing out in the pond out in back. Which is why I didn't think it would be a good idea for us to break out one of the bottles to bring it down to the gazebo for an early evening drink.

Getting your money's worth

Had a blast at Brewtopia on Friday night. Working the NYCHG table was a lot of fun. It was great to get such positive feedback on the beer that I brewed and served, and also fun to talk to some new people about homebrewing. Hopefully we'll get some new people interested in the hobby.

As for Saturday...

One of these days I'll learn that I don't need to drink every drop of beer I can get my hands on at these beer festivals. I went with R on Saturday afternoon. The two tickets were pretty expensive - came to about $130 - and somehow I think we actually managed to get our money's worth. By the time we left, the fates had determined that Saturday night and Sunday morning would be shot.

This was the second year in a row for Brewtopia at the cruise ship terminal, and this year definitely went better than last year. They made much better use of the space available and there seemed to be more tables - meaning fewer lines. They also set up a specific area for food and made it much easier to get food quickly, though the quality was nothing to write home about (probably being generous here). It's really expensive, though I think we'll probably go back again next year.

Speaking of tickets to fun events...

After being given quite the hard time while tailgating before the Giants game due to my condition (paying for Saturday), the game itself was a blast. Always fun to see those Cowboys fans leave Giants Stadium with their tails between their legs. Does it get on anybody else's nerves that all of these asshole Cowboy fans who come to Giants Stadium are all from Jersey? I mean, these people aren't flying up from Dallas to take that kind of abuse.

Also got tickets to the Cunningham vs. Adamek Cruiserweight championship at the Prudential Center in Newark on 12/11. I can't wait for this. I've never been to a prize fight in person before, and I've been looking forward to it for a long time. Thankfully the Prudential Center has a (small) craft beer selection.

And the mystery trip was to... Woodstock!

Took R to Woodstock for the weekend to celebrate her birthday. We stayed at the Skytop Motel which, conveniently enough, is right next door to the Skytop Restaurant and Brewing Company. The accomodations are about what you'd expect from a roadside motel off of a New York state highway. Good enough to spend a night.

The food at the Skytop was very good. Pub grub, but done very well. The altbier was the highlight of the beer menu. A nice malty beer that went well with the meal. The lagers had a bit of a sulfury quality to them that was either a product of fermentation or the water - I did notice that the water in our motel room smelled like matches. The scotch ale showed that it was brewed with smoked malt.

After lunch we went in to town. This was my first time ever in Woodstock and I have to say that it reminded me quite a bit of New Hope, PA. Saw some lifer hippies wandering around town - one who we affectionately referred to as "Merlin" every time we saw him. I'm sure you can guess why. But the highlight of the trip was in the evening...

Went to the Midnight Ramble at Levon Helm Studios. This was a real treat. Levon plays these shows at his studio/home for a crowd no bigger than 250-300 people. He's got a great band that includes Jimmy Vivino (brother of Uncle Floyd) and Mike Merritt from the Max Weinberg 7 on guitar and stand up bass, respectively, and the incredible Brian Mitchell on piano, keys and accordion. They run through some blues standards, some country/folk tunes, and some classics from The Band catalog and play for close to three hours. We wound up standing on a balcony about ten feet away from Levon's drum kit with a clear view of the show. Really amazing. Billy Bob Thornton's band (The Boxmasters) opened and Chris Robinson from the Black Crowes sat in on Shake Your Money Maker. They were standing right by Levon's kit watching the show, and at one point I looked down at Levon Helm, Billy Bob Thornton, and Chris Robinson all within a couple of feet of me rocking out and thought, "wow, this is kind of weird". No photography allowed in the studio... sorry.

The next morning we ate at the Garden Cafe in Woodstock, which we would recommend highly. They do the organic, sustainable, vegetarian thing, and they do it very well.

NYCHG August meeting wrapup

Karl, the Operations Manager for the Brooklyn Brewery, was the special guest speaker at Tuesday night's NYCHG meeting. He regaled us with some very interesting tales about the fire up at the F.X. Matt Brewery, where Brooklyn Lager and Pilsner are produced. If you don't feel like reading up about it on the Saranac site (link above), rest assured that all is now well.

A couple of years ago I went with R to a wedding up in Utica, so we took the opportunity to tour the brewery. It's a huge facility, so the tour of the production areas doesn't really hold much charm, but it finishes up in their tasting room, which is truly one of the most unique and charming places we've seen in our beer-related travels. There's a beautiful old bar and an attached room with a player piano and tables made from barrels. A really neat spot that, apparently, is only used at the end of the tour and for the occasional private party. Karl assured us that the tasting room was not damaged in the fire.

Karl was also nice enough to bring along some rare treats from the secret Brooklyn stash. The highlight was the 2000 Brooklyn Monster that was poured. A great big barleywine with alcohol, vanilla, and caramel flavors - I've got two bottles of this in the fridge myself, so I now know what I have to look forward to.