Preseason football = lousy tailgating

Headed over to the stadium tonight for the Giants preseason finale vs. the Pats. Nothing like a 7PM game on a Thursday night to get you psyched for football! I can't wait to rush out from work, fight the traffic, get home nice and late on a school night, etc...

What really bums me out the most though is the lame tailgating. When you have to run out of the office just to pray that you make it into the parking lot an hour and a half before kickoff, it doesn't really give you the opportunity to get anything going. Just grab some sandwiches and beer, and fly as fast as you can. And that's not really what my crew is about. We tailgate properly, so nights like these are kind of an embarrassment. We'll have to make up for it on opening day.

Check out this article on beer floats. Yes, beer and ice cream. My world renowned oatmeal stout is due to be brewed shortly and I will be certain to try it with a few scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Session beers

I've always had a problem with the term "session beer". This is a phrase used to describe beers that are easy drinking and lower in alcohol. A beer that you can drink three or four (or more) of and not fall off the ol' bar stool.

But just what is a session, anyway? "Hey pal, care to join us in a beer drinking session?" This event where you sit around and drink a few rounds of these beers would seem to be the session that's referenced. And I don't know about you, but I've never heard anyone refer to this as a session. "OK, Ethel, I'm headed down to the Blarney Stone for a session." No. Nobody says that. And don't get me started on "sessionable".

Alas, this curious phrase appears to be the lexicon. So we'll go along with it against our will.

Why bring this up? The New York Times ran a very interesting piece on the trend towards producing more of these types of beers in the American craft brewing scene. There are quotes from microbrewers all over the country talking about how there's a real need for some lighter beers to balance all of the big giant strong beers being produced out there. I couldn't agree more. However, as usual, this isn't just about market need and craft and all that wonderful feel-good stuff. Malted barley, hops, and most importantly, the gasoline used to ship them to the brewery cost more than they even have. A coincidence that everyone has suddenly recognized the market need for beers that use less raw material at the same time? Right.

Thanks to the NYCHG for influencing the author today.

Sometimes beer makes people commit murder

New York State Beer Night

Tonight unexpectedly turned out to be a New York State beer night! I brought back a mixed twelve pack from Cooperstown Brewing after our recent trip to Woodstock. I haven't had any of their beers in a while, so I figured I'd dive back in. Also, we went to the Giants preseason game against the Browns last week and picked up the Saranac summer mixed twelve pack on the way. I had a few left over, so here we go...

Cooperstown Brewing Nine Man - Pours deep golden with a white head. A light aroma featuring some sweet malt, no hops, definite diacetyl. Flavor is malt balanced still, with diacetyl present. Hop flavor and bitterness are low. Pretty full bodied. I know that they use Ringwood yeast, which explains the diacetyl and the seemingly low attenuation. An easy drinking beer, though this is not their best offering.

Saranac Hefeweizen - Clear golden beer with a white head. Has the standard banana and clove aromas that you expect in this kind of beer, clove increases as it warms up. There's more of a bubblegum ester in the flavor. Toasty malt flavors come through in the finish. Very lightly hopped and highly carbonated, as to be expected. This is fairly mild as hefeweizens go, since the yeast qualities are somewhat muted and the wheat doesn't show as much as the malt. I'm not the biggest hefeweizen guy in the world, so it suits me just fine.

Saranac Belgian White - Cloudy gold with a quickly disappearing white head. Aroma is of orange zest, pepper, and with a slightly sugary note, almost like marshmallows. Orange is strong in the flavor, along with sweet malt and bready grain - can't tell if I pick up on the wheat and oats or not. Hops barely noticeable. Medium body, fairly high carbonation. Not as mild an example of the style as the hefeweizen, but not overwhelming either.

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.

Gearing up for the mystery trip with a homebrewed barleywine

So I'm taking R away for the weekend - and she has no idea where. Wednesday was her 30th birthday. It's overnight (one night only) and in driving distance of Jersey City. I apologized in advance for lodging that may not be the most glamorous, but did explain that at the very least it's connected to a brewpub. Other than that, I've offered no clues. Any guesses?

In the meantime, we continue to whittle away the Maine stash...

Shipyard Brewer's Choice Royal IPA - Brilliant amber beer with a thick off white head. Nose is balanced with citrusy, floral hops and toasty, sweet malt aromas. Diacetyl is in the house. The flavor is much more hop balanced with a strongly bitter finish. Full bodied, fairly high carbonation. It's a good beer, but there's a hop pungency there that would probably keep me from ordering another. According to this article, the hops are East Kent Goldings, Challenger, and Target. I don't usually associate EKG with this kind of pungency.

And in other happy news... my six month old homebrewed barleywine is finally carbonated. I brewed this beer about six months ago. It was a three gallon batch that came in over 10% ABV. I aged it on oak cubes for a few weeks before bottling, and when I finally popped one open - probably around May - it was almost completely flat. When we came back from the wedding and it was still flat, I decided that it was time to pop them all open and add some healthy yeast. So I rehydrated a packet of dry yeast and dropped some in each bottle and (R) recapped. Well, it seems to have paid off.

And if I subject the pros to it, I must do the same to myself...

Tom E's Oak Cube Aged Barleywine (or maybe since I'm so fond of naming my beers after streets in Jersey City, how about "Bowers Booze") - Clear mahogany with garnet highlights. Thin tan head. Nice looking beer, though probably a lot darker than "the brewer" intended. Rich, caramel malt aromas with some citrusy hop notes. There's also a pleasant smoky aroma in there reminiscent of bacon, though "the brewer" swears that he did not use any smoked malt. Alcohol hits right up front on the tongue and lasts through the finish. Sweet, caramel malt flavors dominate mid-palate. Moderate bitterness. Very full, oily mouthfeel. Carbonation medium to low. An enjoyable, strong beer, though a bit underattenuated.