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QUOTE (Bux @ May 18 2004, 07:08 AM) Here in the PNW, its not at all uncommon to see a pretty decent beer list at the higher end restaurants. Craft beers have had a presence here since the early 80's. There is a culture of beer drinkers here that restauranteurs have recognized and attempt to provide for. Likewise, you can go into the skankiest of shacks here and usually find a micro on tap. Might be old as shit Redhook, but hey I've also noticed that most hardcore beerdrinkers (such as the current Q & A kids) don't "do" wine. How many people are into both? Surely I'm not that much of a rarity. And here's another thing about Beer & Food: I can't do beer after a large meal. I can do dessert wine, or a port (especially if its Prager Aria that stuff is like a drug) till the cows come home, but I just can't do beer after a meal. Foods that go with beer: Spicy foods (thai, indian, mex, szechuan), German food (bockwurst & mustard YES) Foods that demand wine: French, Italian, (ok, so I spose pizza and beer is an exception) Spanish... now this is a toss up. Personally I'd probably be having fino sherry if were having tapas in San Sebastian. so, wine but I can see beer going with this. Anything "haute", or elaborately prepared, no matter the ethnicity, wine, definitely.

I scoured and asked around for some decent location for a quality beer while in Miami Beach last week, and the resounding recommendation was The Abbey Brewing Co., at 16th St. just below Alton Rd. I was also advised not to let the appearance deter me. What a great place. Cozy as a sitting room, knotty pine and old wood, just 4 booths and about a dozen barstools,friendly as all hell, with some terrific beers on tap, 4 of their own (brewed in Melbourne, FL, their IPA and Bock were sensational) and many guest taps, including the only handpump in South Florida, serving up Old Thumper. The inauspicious exterior. The tap selection, including 3 of their own, some Germans and Belgians Lovely stained glass behind the bar Beer bric-a-brac The beer menu, best as I could photograph it, it was physically pretty large Old Thumper, and it was! Clever wood carving above the taps They also had a small food menu, consisting of pizza, wurst, and homemade empanadas, which were quite good. I only wish I could have spent more time here; it was so un-Florida, so relaxed and sure of itself. And the best part: it's open from 11AM-5AM. Bartender said their busiest time is between 4-5AM. A fabulous dump.

When I spent some time in Nepal, one of my favorite evening meals was a plate of momos and a mug of tungba. Tungba is essentially a fermented millet drink, served by combining the fermented millet and hot water in a mug and then sipping it through a straw made to filter out the millet grains. You can generally refill the mug 2 or 3 times before needing to change out the millet. The taste is reminiscent of sake. I've not seen the stuff outside of Nepal and am wondering about trying to make it. The descriptions I've seen have essentially been to soak the millet in water put it in a burlap sack and leave it in the closet for a month. I spoke with the owner of a local Nepali restaraunt who was talking about making some but apparently the millet here is all wrong and I imagine the cost of shipping it out is rather prohibitive (as, I suspect, are Washington's wacky likker laws). I'd love to try my hand at making the stuff but am not really sure where to begin. Any thoughts?

This summer I am determined to explore the wealth of both summer beers and summer-friendly beers. So far, I've been grooving on: Flying Fish Farmhouse, Cherry Hill, NJ, crisp, bursting with hop and herb notes. Sly Fox IPA Series, Phoenixville, PA, being made with 9 different hop varities; so far the Kent Goldings, Styrian and Cascade varietals have been spectacularly puckery and floral. Pilsner Urquell , Czech Republic, has been popping up all over Philly (and is on tap everywhere in Miami Beach), and on tap you realize what a truly great, tangy beer it is. I'll be on the hunt all summer. Suggestions?

This makes me indescribably happy. ====================== Bottleworks Newsletter June 2004 Edition 1710 North 45th St. Suite #3, Seattle, WA 98103 Hours: Sun-Mon 12-7, Tue-Wed 11-8, Thu-Sat 11-9 Telephone: (206).633.BIER (2437) Fax: (206).632.1057 Email: newsletter@bottleworks.com It all started with three coolers and a couch . . . Many of you have been coming to Bottleworks for years and remember our humble beginnings. We would like to thank you for your patronage by welcoming you to be our first guest at our new location. It is called Brouwer's Café, a Flemish Grand Café located at the center of the Universe, ( 35th & Phinney in Fremont) a unique restaurant with over forty taps, two hundred bottled beers, wine (yes, I said it) as well as a definitive list of spirits from the house aperitif to the after dinner scotch or grappa. Brouwer’s Café will offer it all, from mid-morning coffee and jazz to late night live music, pomme frites and beer. Brouwer’s menu will offer the regions finest seasonal selections from mussels in hop court bullion to mouth watering kaas croquettes. Due to open by year’s end (Dec.?), Bottleworks will keep you up to speed on the development and e.t.a. In other news, Bottleworks continues to bring in the beers and here they are in no particular order. - De Zwarte Ruiter Mestreechs aajt - an oak aged Dutch sour brown blended with dry pils, is dat weird ? - ‘T Smisje BB Bourgondier - a complex dark Belgian beer, with fruity esters and a crisp hop smaak - Harmon Brewery (Tacoma) Brown’s Point ESB -hint of rye malt, with a pleasant bitterness. - Harmon Brewery Point Defiance IPA - a caramely malt profile with a floral hop character. - Lagunitas XS Ale - gives the finger to low carb fanatics, otherwise, a bitter amber ale. - Dogfish Head Aprihop Ale - 7% IPA brewed with fresh apricots. - Bear Republic from Healdsburg, CA. We’ve waited for years to get these beers! - XP Pale Ale a smooth pale ale with a big hop profile from Cascade and Centennial hops. - Racer 5 IPA . . . Go Go Go a bigger version of the Xceptional Pale Ale - Red Rocket Ale, a bottle conditioned Scottish Amber Ale with an aggressive hop flavor, of course. - Hop Rod Rye, a strong ale with big hops and 18% rye in the malt bill - Big Bear Black Stout, a hearty stout with a caramel sweetness also in stock we have these summer releases. . . - Alaskan Summer Ale - Eel River- Pale, Amber, IPA, Porter - Elk Rock IPA, from Oregon - Sierra Nevada Summerfest Coming Soon. . . - Bison Beers from Ca. - Also J.W. Lees Harvest Ale will be available in a four varieties of oak aged vintages. Bottleworks June Tasting Schedule 6/16 Specialty Beer Services (Brain Child) 6/23 Dick’s Brewery 6/30 Pike Brewery Summer Brewfest Father’s Day weekend at St. Edwards Park will be this June 18th - 20th. Tickets are available at Bottleworks for $18 or $20 at the door. Find out all the details at www.washingtonbrewfest.com See You There ! Seattle International Beer Festival is July 30th at the Seattle Center. Over 100 beers from around the globe- find out more at www.seattlebeerfest.com All About Beer Magazine is hosting a Brew Cruise this Summer. This seven night journey aboard the Hubbard Glacier takes place from July 30th - August 6th. Check it out at www.magichappens.com The Great Canadian Beer Festival is Sept 11th & 12th in Victoria B.C. This is a great, fun festival. Book your rooms early. Tickets will be available at Bottleworks. www.gcbf.com Cheers from Vern, Bonney, Kevin , Tom , Danter, and Bill the dog

I bought a 6 pack of Lion Stout yesterday and im about ready to crack one open. If you have tried it, what do you think of it? The guy at the liquor store told me it was a light stout and he has had a lot of requests for it.

all of you beer-aficionados probably know about fat tire, boulder colorado's favorite beer. while drinking a glass of it with my lunch yesterday i read the label carefully for the first time, and noticed that in addition to the capsule brewery history, genealogy of the name "fat tire", alcohol content, best-by date etc. they also list the optimum temperature at which to drink. can't remember now what that is (45 degrees f?) but am wondering how common a practice it is among craft-beer makers to put temperature recommendations on their bottles. and do any of you actually get out a thermometer to check?

I brewed beer a few times in college. I have begun again and this time I am force carbonating the beer into a homemade kegerator system. Draft beer is so much easier than cleaning all those bottles. The last couple of batches I made (english pale ale, american pale ale) have been lackluster in results. It just doesn't taste as crisp and hoppy as I am used to in say a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Any suggestions on what I could be doing wrong. I purchased kits with liquid yeast from http://www.morebeer.com Please Help!

Holy shit, Sam was a Hagar Slacks model?? I'm not sure what is the bigger news, that, or the beer. Also of interest in these beer news items sent to me by a very good friend was the notion of Lew Bryson mud wrestling. Let's see... Lew, mud wrestling... Sam, modeling Hagar slacks... That's a tough call. But I'll say given the choice, I would be eternally grateful to anyone who can link me to a Hagar Slacks ad featuring Sam.

two colleagues and i drank three pitchers of something called annapurna amber ale at the southern sun microbrewery/bar on thursday night. we selected it after sampling two other brews (one rye, i forget now what the other was). the others were good too, and we'll probably hit one of them the next time out, but the amber was really, really good. it was great by itself and also as an accompaniment to a fairly decent mushroom-swiss burger and fries. i always like to try the porter if a microbrewery brews one, but the one on the night (i don't know if their selections are fixed or change--everything was written on a chalkboard) was infused with an unholy amount of coffee, and i wasn't in the mood to stay up all night. i'll probably go through everything southern sun has on tap before moving to the next brewery--if there is interest i can report my findings here.

There is something special that unites those who love beer, and in my experience it is different than the bond among wine officiandos, food enthusiasts in general, and other communities of people sharing interests. Several years ago I met a bunch of great beer friends online, met some of them in person, and have since kept in touch with many online and a few in person. What fine people they are, and so generous when it comes to sharing sought-after beers. Several weeks ago my husband and I sent one of these beer friends a check for two cases of beer that we might have missed if he had not bought it and held it for us. We planned to pick them up when we traveled to Delaware for closing on the sale of our house up there. Last week was settlement, and on the way home we met Lloyd to pick up our cases of Old Dominion Millenium and their spring brew, an Imperial Pilsner. We appreciated that, and knowing Lloyd, imagined that he would throw in a couple bottles of something else as a treat. Wow! Imagine our surprise and joy when this was his gift of beer to us... A 750 ml bottle of Deus Belgian Ale!! A pint of 2003 Alaskan Brewing Co. Smoked Porter 2 bottles of: Clipper City Small Craft Warning Uber Pils 2003 Anchor Brewing Co. Merry Christmas Happy New Year OSA Troegs Mad Elf Holiday Ale Victory Storm King Stout 2003-04 Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout Old Dominion Oak Barrel Stout Dogfish Head Aprihop Heavyweight Brewing Old Salty 2003 Barleywine Allagash Grand Cru This is truly an awesome selection of beers. Thank you so much, Lloyd!

Does anyone know where Fullers London Pride Ale can be found in the southern states? I cant keep going to London just to have one or two

Anyone ever go out there and take a tour? I thought about stopping by.

Well as the title reads, I have finally developed an Irish Carbomb Ice Cream. I was sitting at home the other day stare-ing at my Cuisinart Duel Qt maker and the tiny little light bulb above my head went off. I bet I could make some ice cream. So I run to the liquor store and get some Guinness, Baileys, and a bottle of Jameson. Well 7 hours and three qts later I figures it out. I did a Guinness Base, a Baileys base and a Jameson Caramel swirl through them both. I also added chocolate chunks for some other texture. MMMMMMMMM,MMMMMMMM

This doesn't suprise me too much. I think I may have posted this either here or at Webtender, but one of Cleveland's most popular Warehouse District watering holes started a buzz during their very lawerly/ad agency/accountant happy hour following. Mondays were the day for "in the biz." Specific promotions for food and drink and it quickly became *the* night to hang with fellow bar and restaurant troops. Then came the problem of the draging, dead business on Tuesdays. The solution? PBR and Jim Beam teamed up with this local hot spot. For a specific price (I forgot) one purchased a can, yes a can, of PBR and a shot of Beam. Table tents were everywhere for this and many a yup could be seen standing around with a can of beer in their hands. It worked and became nearly as busy at the cash register as the booze guzzling fellow servers, barbacks and bartenders on Mondays! If I'm not mistaken, this was also a big Classic Rock music night as well. Made me scream with laughter to see these new college grads (this bar attracts the young and beautiful), all of about 23 years old, suited up in their Brooks Brothers best suits, albeit wrinkley from a long hard day at work, jamming to Stairway to Heaven and swilling down a can of beer. Article here. Cheers! edit: grammar

Darwin's in Chicago has some cool ideas with selling those microbrews. Highlight "blurb" here. I've seen those champagne stems in the stores during the holidays and thought they'd be rather inconvenient for guests. (They cannot put them down anywhere....) But quite clever for their restaurant! And that Beer Float sounds fantastic!!! Cheers!

Old Dominion has just bottled their oak barrel stout. I'll be picking some up later today (It's about 2AM Sunday), to see how it compares to the tap version.

I've been hearing radio ads for this lately. Supposedly in stores the same day it's bottled. Anyone tried it yet?

Press release here. Yum. Cheers!

I've been advised by more than one English person that Guinness mixed half-and-half with Champagne is called a Black & Tan. However, there are some people, of various origins including English, who insist that the half-and-half Guinness/Champagne drinkie is a Black Velvet. Both are nice enough names. But which is correct? I don't want to be calling my drink by the wrong name tonight right in front of the beef braised in Guinness and the salad with Irish cream dressing and the brown soda bread, do I.

Story here. Cheers y'all!

In the UK's annual Budget today, a tax exemption on small breweries was extended. This will help small breweries (which generally make interesting beer) against larger ones (which often don't). I think this is the kind of tax cut we can all agree on. Here's is the response from the Campaign for Real Ale.

This year's Tours were a lot of fun, with great weather, utterly pleasant tour-goers (from as far away as Kansas, Pittsburgh, upstate NY, Delaware and Maryland), and terrific food and hospitality, covered briefly in today's Philadelphia InquirerFood Section. Between myself and perennial Tour-goer Mike Gates and his nephew, Dave Cook, here are some pics to give you some idea: Debarking from the vans at our initial stop for lunch at Ludwig's Garten. Yes, we even had someone on crutches (!) who felt the overwhelming need to drink beer. She received the Big Brass Ones Award that day. Bellying up and tasting those first beers before lunch Charlie "Mummer" Mayer displaying his obvious passion for the day Some of the 25 taps at Ludwig's Garten The rathskeller bar at Ludwig's, which smelled funky last Saturday, so we high-tailed it to their airier second bar Beer writer Lew Bryson speaking at lunch I'd love to show you our next stop, McGillin's Old Ale House, but on March 13, it was overrun with early St Paddy's Day revelers, and looked and smelled like a college-age mosh pit. I hope to have pics of our March 20 visit to McGillin's soon. Some brave folks wandered in for a bit, but most stayed back at Ludwig's for an additional glass of German joy. We arrive at Mcmenamin's Tavern in Mt. Airy More of the crowd The tap lineup at McMenamin's, which also included that day, 2002 Samichlaus! (from l. to r.) Tavern owner PJ McMenamin, and Lew Bryson's big old butt.

This being more or less the season of bock beer festivals, does anybody know where to find a beer poker, like that one used here: http://www.globaltony.com/loggerhead/asb.shtml. I once saw Julia Child using a buffalo iron to keep pasta water hot, and it looked like it might be very useful to poke beer, but I've been unsuccessful in finding one. Regarding the poker at the Schell's fest, people I've called at the brewery have no clue how it was obtained. As it is, I've been using big fat iron screws from the Home Despot, but it doesn't keep the heat like the pokers! Any suggestions?

On my way home from work, I stopped by to see if the Old Dominion spring seasonal was on tap, an imperial pilsener this here. It was, and I experienced beer nirvana today. I have already had my favorite new beer of 2004. Imagine Tupper's Hop Pocket Pils on steroids. I found nothing wrong with this beer. Perfect body, perfect hoppiness (and they wanted to make it hoppier), and not overly alcoholic, though it weighs in at 8.5% ABV. They will be bottling it next week. Malarkey, if you read this, the offer is still open to send you some.