Riding out the storm: Syracuse, NY

I'm reporting in from Northeast where they are currently experiencing the first freeze-your-balls off storm of the season.  Thankfully it is staying south of my current position so I might get lucky and avoid the snow all together for this trip.  All Syracuse, New York is something of a refuge from the insanity of the rest of the region, something I think most locals would admit that they don't hear a lot.

Speaking of locals, I was working with a crew from Syracuse and we soon found out that we had a common love for fermented barley and hops.  Once we finished our tasks for the day, it was suggested that we all go down to Walton Street in downtown Syracuse.  There is quite a vibrant microbrewery scene here because, as one of my crew members said, "It's Northwestern New York.  There's nothing to do but drink beer."

Fair enough, even if that is my choice activity wherever life happens to drop me.

Three pubs were pointed out to me as choice establishments for the exploration of New York beer.  I only had time to visit two out of the three, but I will mention the third here.  The Blue Tusk is one of those bars that apparently has a ridiculous amount of beer on tap.  I talked about one such bar a few months ago, the Falling Rock pub in Denver, CO.  I always mean to include more beer bars in this blog, but I always seem to get sidetracked... much like a am today.  So anyway, it is up to another wandering soul to seek out this particular site for now.

Instead we opted to go in for dinner at Empire Brewing Company, suggested because it supposedly had the best food.  Without having a couple meals at each establishment, I don't think I can confirm that, but I will say that the food was pretty awesome.  It was mostly Cajun and southern inspired dishes often taken one step beyond their traditional ingredients.  To put it another way, one item on their menu is a pheasant sausage po-boy sandwich.   Enough said.  Personally, I went with the grilled fish tacos, and they were excellent.
I only had a couple of beers at this bar, opting to actually enjoy a beer in a social setting as opposed to my normal habits of getting a small sample of each and then consuming myself with making notes.  I started with the Empire Cream Ale.  It was a nitrogen beer so it had an incredibly smooth and full mouthfeel.  The sweet creamy flavor is punctuated by herbal hops and a slight lemon flavor. 
Keeping with a theme, I had their other nitrogen offering, the Black Magic Stout.  This is a traditional dry Irish stout very much in the spirit of the quintessential Irish drink, Guinness.  This, however, had a very sharp flavor from the dark roasted grains.  That, in and of itself, is not a bad thing, but when combined with the heavy herbal hop load in this beer the result was a very full, creamy beer with long, unpleasant aftertaste.

I bid goodnight to my new friends and made one last stop before I called it a night, the Syracuse Suds Factory.  The difference between the two microbreweries is striking.  By looking at the menu and their beer selection, it looks like Empire is one of those brewpubs that specializes in the subtle art of pairing food and beer flavors.  Syracuse Suds is the place to grab a pint and watch the game.  This is also probably due to the fact that it is Halloween weekend and Syracuse Suds is gearing up for a party.  As I type this, ghouls, ghosts and goblins are piling into the bar for the part of the night that they will remember.  There is a DJ rapidly setting up, and all I can do is sigh and quickly down a few pints before bed.
That being said, the beer available at Syracuse Suds is weirder than they give themselves credit for.  I started with the Blackberry Lambic.  Not a true lambic, in that it is not spontaneously fermented, but not one of those overly sweet wine coolers posing as a lambic either.  It had a dryness and a aroma made me think of a carbonated Merlot.  There was just a hint of bitterness at the back that came as a bit of a surprise, but was not an unwelcome addition.
Next was the Irish Red, and this is where it gets a little strange.  I picked up a lot of strawberry or cherry in this particular beer.  It was slightly tart with almost no detectable hops.  At first I was convinced that the Lambic had ruined my palate, but as I worked my way through the pint, those flavors never faded.  About halfway through I started detecting some roasted malt flavors, but it was mostly dominated by a light fruit sweetness.
Finally I had their Pale Ale.  After one taste I swore the woman working the bar had misheard my order and brought me the wrong beer.  The smell was heavy on clove and banana.  The flavor was the same with some malt sweetness that melts to spicy hops that complement the clove and banana flavors and ended with a banana-nut aftertaste.  It was pretty good, but it had more in common with a Belgian whit beer than an American Pale.  The bartender confirmed, however, that this was their pale ale.  Overall this beer was like Syracuse Suds itself: very good, just not what I was expecting.

Quick turnaround this week.  I'm heading back to Detroit next weekend.  I have no idea if I will have time to add to this blog or not.  I guess we will have to wait and see.
Cheers!

The Beer Makes You Hoppy: Davenport IA

I'm passing through Davenport Iowa today on the banks of the Mississippi River. I've passed through many times before. Usually Davenport serves as a herald that the miles and miles of Iowa cornfields are coming to an end and the Illinois cornfields are beginning. It's quite the change as may imagine.

Today I stopped fir a breather at the Front Street brewing company. It was hard to locate this particular day. Road construction of some kind had closed the street in front of Front Street. "I don't know why, for the life of me," said the bartender, "Been a bitch for business though." The bar sits across the street from the Mississippi River, so I thought the high river levels might be to blame, but it turns out that the road is just being resurfaced... Very slowly.

If that is true then there must be quite a wait when there is a paved road to the bar. Even with the road construction, the restaurant was full of local color on a Sunday evening.

There menu was mostly what you would expect with a few strange selections thrown in. I had a curried chicken pita that was pretty good and went really well with the Octoberfest beer they had on tap.

Front Steer Octoberfest:
Their seasonal offering. The aroma was Light malt and wheat with just a hint of citrus. The favor was light on the malt sweetness and finished bitter. Didn't have as much malt as I usually like in this style. There are better versions of this style out there, still very drinkable.

Ragin River:
This is their flagship beer and, strangely enough, the closest thing to an IPA that they make. Strange considering every brewpub I visited in this country produces their own version and is usually very proud of it. This beer starts with pine and floral hops on the nose. This is a very well balanced beer British hops provide a nice bitter back for just the right amount of malt. Not hoppy
by any means just pleasant all around. Probably lacks the bitterness for a true IPA and is probably closer to an amber or pale ale. Fantastic session beer whatever the style. This is one I could happily drink all night.

Motor City Beer: Detroit MI

Back when I worked in news around the time of the economic collapse, Detroit was kind of the poster child for financial woes.
Sitting in my hotel looking for some local refreshments I came across another sad story in Detroit's anthology of misery. King Brewing just went under a couple of months ago. Oh King Brewing, we hardly knew ye... Okay I didn't know ye at all, but the sentiment is the same.

Though we raise a glass to a fallen soldier in the Craft Beer Revolution, the glass we raise is filled by another still fighting the good fight. I had to dive a few miles from where I was staying, but I found myself in Royal Oaks. On a Friday night the streets of this downtown area were packed, a far cry from the urban decay that surrounds it. It was the birthplace of everyone's favorite B-movie actor, Bruce Cambell and Tim Allen kicked off his career within the town's clubs and bars. It's also home to Royal Oaks Brewing Company.

Overall nothing especially noteworthy about this place; pretty much your typical local brewpub. I will say this, the food here was very good especially considering the price. There us a general mix if Asian, Italian and Cajun cuisine all for in and around $15.

Pretty standard beer selection. The one wild card was a cask aged version of their ESB. Their everyday version if this beer ended up as my favorite of their selection. It has a nice roasted malt flavor with just the right amount of pine and floral hop bitterness to make a wonderfully drinkable beer. Their cask version, however, is something else entirely. It has an aroma that smells just like peach yogurt. The flavor was similar and followed fast by bitter English hops that stick to the back if the throat. It was defiantly interesting, but I don't think I would order a full pint of it.
Their Red Ale was another stand-out. It was surprisingly full and malty with a touch of sharp roasted flavors and ends dry with bitter pine hops. Another very good, drinkable beer.
Cheers, see you on the road.

Radical Brewing on the Beach: Rehoboth, DE

I was out on the East Coast this week on a little romantic get-away with my fiancé. Our travels took us to the Delaware Beach area. When the locals found out that we were on vacation in the area, they would often ask, "Why did you come to Delaware?". Answer: The beach area there is beautiful and the state is home to the mad scientist of microbrewing.
Much has been said about the head brewer Andy Tveekrem and his brewery. He even had a show on the history channel that is worth seeing. Opinions about his experiments in fermentation vary greatly but no person could argue that these beers are not unique. I am personally a fan of beers that feature strange ingredients and bizarre brewing techniques. There is no shortage of those types of beer at this brewery.


Punkin Ale:
I started with a pint of their seasonal brew. I have talked to a few people who really dislike this style and I admit it is always hit or miss for me. This one was a definite hit. The nose has some mild cinnamon and clove aromas and the flavor blends those spices with some light malt sweetness and ends with slightly bitter hops. Very enjoyable beer to kick off the autumn months.
Pangea:
This beer is brewed with one ingredient from every continent on Earth. This includes crystallize ginger from Australia, moscavado sugar from Africa and basmati rice from Asia. The nose has a light, fruit smell mixed with ginger. The flavor is surprisingly mild, with some light malts mixed with ginger and a hop finish. Essentially a complex version of a ginger beer, but pretty good.

Rasion D'être:
This is a Belgian ale brewed with green raisins. It had lots of fruit in the aroma including strawberry and melon strangely enough. The flavor had a lot of fruit with some nice roasted flavors. The 8% alcohol creates a nice warm mouthfeel. Not their best offering, but not bad either.

Indian Brown Ale:
A cross between a brown ale and an IPA. The aroma is all espresso. The flavors mix coffee and chocolate and is followed with a surprisingly dry hoppy finish. I liked this one a lot. It's a good example of what can happen when two styles play nice.
Chickory Stout:
I liked this beer because it is full of deep roasted malt flavors with a dry slightly bitter finish, and it does all this while remaining surprisingly drinkable. I have not come across a lot of dark beers that I would consider 'session beers', but his one nails it pretty well and keeps those warm toasty malt flavors that make a stout what it is.
Back on the road for now. The work season is ramping up, and it is time for me to get some serious time on the road.
Cheers!

German in the Twin Cities: Minneapolis, MN

 When I left off last week, I was on the road from Chicago to Twin Cities by way of Wisconsin.  As the adjacent photos suggest, Wisconsin lives up to it's title as 'America's Dairyland.'  Wisconsin is basically like Nevada in that every building off the Interstate serves a duel purpose.  In Nevada every establishment is a Casino/ [insert building type here].  A casino/ hotel, a casino/ truck stop, a casino/ restaurant.  I think you get the idea.  Replace casino with cheese and you have the trans-Wisconsin experience.  I actually found a coffeeshop that sold cheese.  I have provided photographic evidence because, like Bigfoot, nobody is going to believe this story without a photo to back it up.  But I digress, time to keep heading West.

It's a little known fact outside this region of the United States, but the people of Minnesota and, indeed, Wisconsin love their beer.  They will have a beer.  In a big glass.  A quick search of Minneapolis/ St. Paul yielded an impressive assortment of local flavors to choose from.  Sadly, I'm short on time so I'll highlight one.

Once again, I am traveling with Jeff, the crazy old bastard from Kokomo, Indiana pictured here living out his Marilyn Monroe fantasies over a Minneapolis air vent.  I used his opinion at my stop in Chicago and I will add his reviews here because he has a very simple, yet profound style.  I imagine this is the way I sounded before I became pretentious and started describing beers as having "a citrus nose with lots of tropical fruit, nut, berry flavors... etc.

Today we visit:
Herkimer Brewing Company
 This brewery located in uptown Minneapolis specializes in German-style beers.   They brew several varieties of lagers including a couple of styles I had not run into yet.  For example:


Sky Pilot Kellerbier: Translated from German, this 'cellar beer' is an unfiltered light or amber ale.  It is a style that dates back to the middle ages.  It is so named because the beer kegs were stored with the bung unscrewed from the barrel so that the beer was exposed to air.  Consequently, the result was a beer with little to no carbonation.
So as far as the style goes, the beer was a pale, cloudy, straw-colored lager, so that's one-for-one so far.  Unfortunately, or (maybe fortunately?) the beer was carbonated.  No doubt if this beer had arrived flat, most people would send it back and get into a loud and sustained argument with the brewmaster.  The flavor was very light with just a little citrus and coriander spice with lingering hop flavor.

Jeff says:  It smells like banana!  It doesn't?  *Takes another whiff*  That's banana!!
(I don't know why he smelled banana, but he seemed so sure I didn't want to argue the point.)
Toolers Weiss:  While I was down in the cellar with the Sky Captain,  Jeff had himself a pint of the Toolers.  It was a pretty standard German wheat beer.  It was a deep yellow color with a good amount of head with the banana and tropical fruit flavors from the yeast.  I also picked up a little peach in the flavor.  It was a good beer, but nothing remarkable.

Jeff says: I don't know.  Maybe I should have another.  (Yes, yes you should.)

Dunkle Wiess: In the dark bar, this beer appeared pitch black.  The aroma was wonderful, the German wheat yeast combined with the roasted malts for a smell that can only be described as a chocolate covered banana.  The flavor was a little disappointing, it didn't hold any of the dark malts that were in the aroma.  It had a lot of fruit, but the malt was lacking.
Jeff says: Tastes like dirt.  (I think dark beers may be a lots cause on my friend from Indiana.)

Alt Bier: While Jeff continued with the Toolers, I moved on to the last beer they had on tap at the time.  This had a light aroma of date or raisin.  There was a touch of clove or coriander spice off the top of the flavor profile, but this beer was sadly lacking in flavor as well.  It seems to be a bit of a problem with this particular brewery.  It ends with a goodly amount of pine hops.

Jeff says: It... It... *spends a moment letting the beer sit on his palate* It sucks.  Yeah, that's it!

Sadly that's the last I will see of Jeff for a while.  I look forward to featuring him at a later date when we meet up.  As for me, I am still in the lazy days of summer.  I get a few more weeks to contemplate the meaning of Life, The Universe and Everything before I get back on the road.  I might do a feature here in Nebraska, but we will see.

On the outskirts of Chicago

Greetings from Chicago... Sort of. I'm working somewhere in the endless suburbs surrounding the city. I'm also traveling with a friend of mine. His name is Jeff and, as you will see, he has a way with words.
Together we explored Emmett's Tavern and Brewery located in Palintine Illinois. The place has a nice atmosphere with the feel of an old East Coast or English Pub. They have a nice selection of house beers. I started with the Victory Pale Ale and Jeff had a pint of their seasonal wheat.

Victory Pale Ale:
I thought this was pretty good, but too many hops for a pale. I'm convinced it was hitting IBUs that are usually reserved for IPAs. It tasted good with the spicy chicken wings I was eating at the time as the bitter hops helped to cool the fire. It had some slight malt off the top before mooing to cascade hops and it finished dry and the bitterness really lingered.

Jeff Says: Nothing. He took a sip, his face truly erupted into an impressive array of muscular spasms, then he slowly, but firmly, pushed the beer back to me.

Seasonal Wheat:
I didn't think I would like this one as much as I did. The aroma was all tropical fruit and bananas, flavors that I find can be really overpowering. This was not the case, the tropical fruit flavor was balanced with some pear and malt character and finished clean and slightly dry. This one easily made my #2 spot for this brewery and is the perfect beer for a warm summer evening.
Jeff Says: Just a damn good beer.


Double Barrel Stout:
I moves to this beef next and it easily was the best beer. It had a smokey and black liquorice aroma with a lot of chocolate and roasted malt flavors with bitter bite at the very end. I could easily drink this all night.

Jeff Says: It tastes like beer filtered through an old tire tube. (He wasn't as impressed as me)

Centennial Amber Ale:
This one had a nose of citrus hops with a hint of cherry. It had some malt and light fruit sweetness that was followed with pine and herbal hops. It finished surprisingly clean and didn't linger hardly at all.
Jeff Says:It tastes like beer poured down a pine plank, man.
Munich Lager:
Jeff finally stopped nursing his wheat beer long enough to try another. This one had s subtle sweetness of corn and light fruit. It is surprisingly smooth and finishes sweet making for a very drinkable beer.
Jeff Says: Smells like Captain Crunch.

I'm actually writing this on the road passing through Wisconsin on my way to my next destination, Minneapolis. I'll report from there.
Cheers!

Bar Crawl of Tulsa, Oklahoma

Back down in the Southwest this week, this time in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  The list of breweries in this part of the country is short, but distinguished.  Oklahoma City has a respectable brewing community, but that will have to wait for another day.  Today, we're in Tulsa and there is only one game in town; Marshall Brewing Company.

Now, I am used to and dearly love the quintessential American brewpubs that have sprung up in every town in this country.  This is not one of those.  If you go to the brewery at about 9:00pm at night, like I did you are simply going to find yourself in an industrial section of Tulsa in the middle of the night sitting outside an empty brewery.  If you go there during the day, I'm not sure it will be any different.  I couldn't find any information about tours or anything like that, so I imagine they would give you a list of the fine establishments that carry their beer before politely telling you to take a hike.

So where do you find the beer here?  The simple answer is, nearly everywhere in Tulsa.  After I had hit a dead end at the brewery, I retreated to a nearby Irish pub to have a pint and plan my next move.

Killkennys Irish Pub

Basic Irish theme bar located in downtown Tulsa.  The atmosphere is nice and quiet and the staff is really friendly  It was pretty packed while I was there, but they took what time they could.  It struck me a little pricey, two beers ran almost $12.

They have a pretty good beer selection including, to my surprise, Marshall's Atlas IPA on tap. It was a little like being an explorer looking for the Lost City of Gold, sitting down for a rest in the jungle and then getting up only to find that I had just put my butt on a block of solid gold.

The Atlas IPA:
A fairly average IPA in my opinion.  It had a lighter flavor than I typically like in and IPA.  It had a light, roasted malt flavor right off the top, then smoothed into herbal and pine hop flavors.  It was drinkable, but nothing I would run back to have again.

So that was one down, but Marshall's still had three more beers out there somewhere.  It could be said, in a very overly-dramatic fashion, that I had a mission.  It was getting increasingly late, however, so I had to find a short-cut.  Violating the Code of the Man, I asked the bartender for the best place to find the other three beers.  I had to hand over my Man Card, but I did manage to find this bar.

James E. McNellie's Public House.
This was the type of place I was looking for.  It is truly a beer-lovers bar in a place not typically known for having a lot of beer-lovers.  The atmosphere was nice and laid back.  The staff were good although not exceptionally knowledgeable, but they were very friendly and kept the beer glasses full.

They had a lot of Oklahoma beers available here, including the rest of the beers from Marshalls.



 
McNellie's Pub Ale:
I didn't actually make a connection between the name of the bar and this beer until I sat down a couple days later to write this, so I feel like my perceptive qualities are very much in question at the moment.  That being said, this was an okay beer.  It can probably be classified as a pale ale given the hop content.   Pretty simple beer, but it has a lingering aftertaste of the hops that I really didn't like.  I think this is the one beer that I wouldn't order again.



Pavillion Pilsner:
Nice light pilsner.  It had slight lemon flavor in the aroma and the flavor.  Like the rest of their beers they used herbal hops for this beer, and I think they added just a touch too much for the style.  There just wasn't enough malt in this to balance out the hops.

 Sundown Wheat:
I think this was my favorite of their offerings.  Like the rest of the beers by this brewery, it's all about simplicity and it really works for this beer.  The beer is such a pale yellow color that it borders on just being the color of cloudy water.  The aroma and flavor is almost exclusively citrus and lemon flavors.  Adding a lemon wedge to this beer would be redundant.  On a blazing hot weekend in Oklahoma this beer was blessedly refreshing and highly drinkable.


As it stands, I'm heading off to Chicago next week, and then I'll be spending some time in St. Paul.  I'll catch you all up then.
Jones out.