Rare and Extreme Beer Tasting (Syracuse Beer Week)

Rare and Extreme Beer Tasting

Syracuse Beer Week

J Ryan's Pub

Extreme beers = extreme hangovers... ugh.  I can't say I didn't have fun though.

Here's the background story: Jason had me pick him up from school around 7:45 so that we could get there right at time at 8.  Unfortunately he decided it would be a good idea to turn off his phone during class which lead him to not know what time it was... so around 8:15 he finally showed up, after leaving me in the car for a half and hour anxiously awaiting him.  He was able to keep all his fingers though because I didn't miss any beers.

My camera phone apparently had a hard time taking clear pictures.

While Extreme Beers has the hefty price tag of $50 it continues to be well worth the investment.  We tried some outstanding beers that we would have not had the opportunity to have tried before, enjoyed some cheese and crackers, got to drink all the leftover beer (can you say, pitchers of Ommegang's Adoration??) and got to take all the free glassware we wanted.

Cheese Platter!

And, free glassware!

You're rare and I love it:

De Struise Brouwers (Belgium)

Struise "Tsjesses" Reserva

Belgian Strong Pale Ale (10% ABV)

Belgian Christmas Ale.  Really good but I was too excited to get a beer to write a review about.  Also was a little anxious after we stormed into the event panting and yelling while someone was giving a speech... oops.

Brewery Ommegang (New York)

"Adoration Bourbon Barrel Aged"

Belgian Dark Strong Ale (10% ABV)

Spicy and bourbony.  Like drinking whiskey and candy corn at the same time.  Really intense flavor, really kicks you in the ass.  I mostly blame my extreme hangover on this beer.

Jolly Pumpkin (Michigan)

"La Parcela"

Oak Aged Sour Pumpkin Ale (5.9% ABV)

Starts out sour but has a less sour and more sweet, mellow finish.  All of the beers that Jolly Pumpkin makes are sours, which means I'm going to have to start making trips to Dexter, Michigan (where they're located).  I really liked this one.  Not as harshly sour as I would have expected from a sour beer but that's what makes it well balanced and enjoyable to drink.  Little hint of spice in there but I don't take it too much and I would have liked to have tasted more pumpkin in the beer.

Bryggeriet Djaevlebryg (Denmark)

"Gudelos"

Imperial Stout (8.9% ABV)

Rated99 on Great Beers.  Delicious, roasty and dark.  Super well balanced and has a little bit of a burnt taste to it.  Plus, I enjoy the humor of the beer being named "Gudelos" or Godless and that it was brewed with the Danish Atheist Society.  Jason calls this one a "dangerous beer" because it's high in alcohol but it's hidden so you can't really tell that you're drinking a big beer.  Lovely mouth feel.

Stone Brewing (California)

"Russian Imperial Stout" Vintage 2007

Imperial Stout (10.5% ABV)

Really sweet and to me it tastes too much like bourbon.  Jason and I both prefer the Gudelos better.  We also were able to try their 2011 Russian Imperial Stout which tastes about the same but only weaker.  It reminds Jason of Ithaca's Dark Humor.

Mikkeller (Denmark)

"Texas Ranger"

Barrel Aged Chipotle Porter (6.6% ABV)

Son of a bitch... they totally stole my idea.  Not as peppery as I would liked... so I win this round, Mikkeller.

Dogfish Head (Delaware)

120 Minute IPA

Super IPA (21% ABV)

I've had this beer a few times and my response to it whenever someone asks me about whether or not I like it is, eh.  Here's my issue:  when the ABV on a beer is extremely raised it starts really tasting like whiskey and since I don't like drinking whiskey on the rocks or straight up, I have a hard time drinking a beer that resembles those flavors.  But, I do have to say that at least there's enough hops in this beer to somewhat mask the intense whiskey flavor.

Hoppin' Frog (Ohio)

"B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher"

Oatmeal-Imperial Stout (9.4% ABV)

Bourbon!  Give me a rocks glass, turn me 80, put a cherry in it and call it a day.

Dogfish Head (Delaware)

Pearl Jam "Faithfull" Ale

Ale Brewed with Currants (7% ABV)

So one day Dogfish Head went up to Pearl Jam and said, hey we want to do a beer after you guys... what do you normally drink on tour?  Pearl Jam responded with: Red Wine & Corona.  I probably would have walked away at that but Dogfish Head did not so therefore I give you "Faithfull," which tastes like red wine and corona.  I'll take your finest and cheapest Cabernet...  Does not do it for me, blah.



The Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co.

The Great Dane Pub & Brewing Company

Location: Madison, WI

Rating: **** (4/5)

I found my notes from our roadtrip home from Colorado, yayy!!  I thought they were lost for good but apparently not.  So our roadtrip home consisted of leaving Denver and heading Northeast to South Dakota.  Turns out there's nothing in South Dakota but this really weird, Dr. Seuss looking landscape and pheasants that like to play Frogger with your car.  No breweries for day 1.

South Dakota

Day 2 we hit up Madison, Wisconsin which is beautifully located on Lake Monona and is home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  They have an extended street full of shops, restaurants, Starbucks and bars which could use some TLC but is quite nice.

 Lake Monona.  Check out that gnarly beard.

We had the pleasure of drinking and eating at The Great Dane Pub & Brewing Company.  This brewpub has this really sophisticated, 1940s, newspaper and reporter feel to it that's kind of hard to describe but is very unique and really cool.  Their menus are made like actual newspapers which was probably my favorite part (well played sir).

Go fetch! (yourself a sampler...):

Tri Pepper Pilsner: (****) Really spicy but not too overpowering; has a very malty yet light fragrance.

Praguer Lager: (***) German malts; sweet and fruity; light; refreshing; dark but clear amber color; crisp.

Texas Speedbump IPA: (***) Cask Conditioned; thick head; pine tasting hops; fantastic mouth feel; weak aroma; more of a British style IPA because the hop flavor isn't so strong; nice & bitter but could be a little bit more balanced between hop and malt flavors.

Black Water Scotch: (***) Sweet, smokey taste and aroma; could have a better mouth feel; smokey "bacon" taste isn't overwhelming; smooth; we say, nitro it!

Mr. Natural's Organic Nut Brown: (**) Bland; none of the flavors really grab me; super light maple flavor; little aroma; not bad but the flavors need to be more pronounced; it is an organic beer... whatever the fuck that means.

Stone of Scone Scotch: (**) Really light for a scotch; sweet, yet still has that sharp alcohol burn (but still, very light); little aroma; nothing special.

Emerald Isle Stout: (***) Light and watery; need to increase the mouth feel; really nice, buttery finish; needs bigger starting impact.

Hop Jack IPA: (****) Cascade & Chinook hops we believe; thick mouth feel; bitter (American style); strong hop aromas; bitter, lingering aftertaste; sweet, crisp malt taste.

great food... great beer... Great Dane!

The Banjo Brewing Company

*The Banjo Brewing Company*

Ladies & gentlemen, I am proud to announce to you the beginning of The Banjo Brewing Company.  Sole-Proprietorship will be in effect shortly and we will be going into business.  We are hoping to sell our beer on a short scale to friends and family and possibly (if allowed) at the Farmer's Market (CNY Regional Market).  We're hoping to start small, grab some attention and build from there.  We're in the process of nailing down some of the recipes that we hope to sell.  Here's a sneak peak of the bottling process of three of our test batches for three different types of stouts:

Updates soon to come, we thank you for your support.

Beer Review: Lake Placid

"I'll Take Your Finest, Cheapest Chardonnay"

Beer Review: Lake Placid

The view from Jason's family's cabin in Tupper Lake.

Yayyy, fall leaves!

There are a few things in life that I live for.  One of them is fall time in the Adirondacks.  Unfortunately, scheduling difficulties only allowed us to catch the very end of the fall, leave changing, season, but we made it and celebrated by drinking up in Lake Placid.

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Lake Placid Pub & Brewery

Lake Placid, NY

*** (3 out of 5)

P.J. O'Neill's (Lake Placid Pub & Brewery)

This pub/brewery in Lake Placid though is one of my favorite places to hit up when I'm visiting the 'Dacks.  It's a little confusing, however, because they have an upstairs bar area and then a downstairs bar area called P.J. O'Neill's (Irish Pub).  I'm not sure why there are two split bar areas in one building but I'm also not that worried about it.  Has a nice mountain, ski lodge kind of feel to it which is what you expect from a pub/brewery in this area.  They could work on updating the music though: a lot of 70s and 80s hits with a splash of Foster the People... really.  We hung out downstairs at P.J. O'Neill's and got ourselves a delicious sampler:

Eric enjoying his own personal sampler.

Festbier:  Smooth, creamy, malty, somewhat mild.  I really liked it and it was an easy pub drinking beer.

Ubu:  We actually have this beer now where I work so it was interesting to have it straight from the pub.  Hardy, dark, roasty, finishes with a nice bitter taste that doesn't stick too much on your palette.

Lake Placid IPA: Bitter, lingering bitterness on the palette, light, hoppyyyy.  Bitter throughout the whole tasting experience.

Free popcorn, yes!

Hefeweizen, bottle only.

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Great Adirondack Brewing Co.

Lake Placid, NY

*** (3 out of 5)

Stealth, horrible, photo of the inside of the restaurant.

The most ridiculous looking table in the restaurant: (Eric) Damon, (Eric) Altman, Chris (Senor Cristobal), & Jason.

If you like your beer with a side of class then this is your place.  I have to warn you though: their prices are steep (for both beer and food).  Last year out of drunken stupidity, Jason, Eric and I visited this brewery/restaurant and splurged on Maine lobsters, 24oz filet mignons, plates upon plates of steak fries, beers and pint glasses (which we didn't ask for but received anyways).  What can I say, I like de best.

This year, most of us were hurting a little bit in the finances department so we took it a bit easy.  Except for Senor Cristobal who spent about $60 on one lobster, drank it with a glass of Pinot Noir, followed up with Makers Mark on the rocks.  Eric (unlike last year) enjoyed free bread, a piece of butter, and leftovers from Chris's lobster carcass.  I splurged on a $26 sirloin, which I apparently read the description wrong because it was ground sirloin, shaped back into looking like a steak... (I should have gone with the lobster, gahh!)  So this year we did try to opulence it up as much as possible but I don't think the people who were dining around us enjoyed our table manners, loud jokes and picture taking.  Our waiter though was hilarious and a good sport, so that we really appreciated.  But, in general, this place has Lake Placid rich ski bum written all over it.

Chris with his opulence meal: lobster & pinot noir.

Eric with his unopulence meal: butter

and...

lobster carcass.

I will say this: their beers are pretty good and delicious but nothing that is so spectacular that they deserve the prices that they are.  I'm pretty sure the sampler that we received was around $16 (kind of high) and when we asked about buying a growler it was something like $34 for the growler and the fill and then $15 for refills.  Something absurd like that.

Love the sampler trays!

Hefeweizen:  Medium mouth feel which is really thick for a hefeweizen, made with 50% wheat, almost a little tart.

Adirondack Abbey: Alcohol taste, hardy, little burn, Ommegang-esk, ABV is weak but the beer is mild enough to make it very drinkable.

Saison:  Little sour, fruity, light, tart, could be more tart, somewhat spicy, weak aroma.  Good in flavors but left me wanting more punch from it.

Whiteface Stout: Malty aroma, med-thick mouth feel, roasty, dark, really well balanced.  Both my favorite and Jason's favorite from the night.

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And just because I know you're curious, here's some pictures from the rest of our debauchery from a another ridiculous weekend in the Adirondacks:

Altman, Jason & Chris hiking up Mt. Jo in the High Peaks Region of the 'Dacks.

Summit of Mt. Jo

Ad-Rock (from the Beastie Boys) and Mr. Potato Head (from childhood).

First night in Tupper Lake, hat party!

A bunch of city folk in a townie bar...

You can't see it, it's electric! You gotta feel it, it's electric!

Jason in the back, Altman on the left, muah (Krysten) in the middle & Chris on the right.

(Eric) Damon & (Eric) Altman at Lake Placid Pub & Brewery.

Knives in bars, totally okay.

"Hey guys, watch me try to slam this piece of Swiss cheese with Sweet Baby Rays on it into my mouth..."

Mario D. (Chris) likes to eat Swiss cheese.

Stump: the true American Adirondack drinking game.

(1) Find log (preferably a stump).

(2) Put in a nail for each person.

(3) Flip hammer one time, catch it, and immediately try to nail someone else's nail into the stump.

(4) Drink a lot and try not to hurt yourself.

Other fun games we came up with include:

• Pierre Chardonnay Palms (think Edward Scissorhands but with Chardonnay bottles).
• Jorge Tequila Manos (think the same, but with tequila).
• Mr. Whiskey Shot (aka bring Chris to a bar with you if you enjoy endless whiskey shots)

Beer Review: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Bland Crappids or Grand “Time” Rapids

Beer Review: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Jason & Eric were in Grand Rapids for a history conference a few weeks ago.  Jason went to present at the conference hung over. Here is how that happened:

HOPCAT

Voted third best beer bar in the world by Beer Advocate. They brew their own beer too but I would say go there for their awesome craft beer selection.  Get there early if you want their daily special beers because they run out.  The place was pretty cool. They have food there too but there's a sick pizza place a few doors down that is really good (ever have fully loaded baked potato zaa? I did). 

Courtesy of the HopCat website

Courtesy of the HopCat website

Courtesy of the HopCat website

BREWERY VIVANT

Awesome location. It is in the church of a funeral home which became a day care and then a brewery. Great beers and ciders all made with Belgian yeast. If you like it sour go with the Farm Hand:  French Style Farmhouse Ale, classic and delicious. The Sgt. Peppercorn Rye has a really good aroma and aftertaste of peppercorn, not too much though, and well balanced.  Their Heavy Handed: Double Chocolate Stout seemed to be the beer they were most proud of at the time. They claimed that it takes 5 min to pour because of the thickness and the head of the beer because “perfection cannot be rushed.” The problem is that it’s far from perfect. There was a distinct metallic irony taste that seemed unintentional. I couldn't tell if it was a problem with the taps or just a flaw in the beer. I enjoy really wonky shit, but this was just unpleasant. Everything else was very good. Try some ciders even if you’re not a cider kinda person. The one I had was dry hopped.

Eric's Pictures

Eric's Pictures

Eric's Pictures

Eric's Pictures

FOUNDERS BREWERY

Apparently the oldest brewery in town. Food was very good. All sandwiches which you order from a window and pick up there later. The servers are only for beer (real beer wenches!). The breakfast stout was yummy. My fav was the “Backwoods Bastard” which was an oak aged scotch ale.  The one I had was 11% and the alcohol, malt, caramel and wood flavors went together real nice like! They have a nice big tap room with live music. The only problem: they charge for peanuts! WTF, who charges for peanuts! George Washington Carver would be ashamed!!!

 Courtesy of Pure Michigan

Courtesy of Beer Rhetorics

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On a radomnly buzzed note, check out Eric's pictures from Grand Rapids "ArtPrize:"

And then...

Battle Cat!

"Designed as a very different art competition, the goal is for the general public and artists to collide, exchange ideas and come away changed...

• Grand Rapids, MI USA
• $474,000 prize ($250,000 to 1st place)
• Top 10 entries receive a prize
• Artists can submit one entry
• Any property in downtown Grand Rapids can be a venue
• Venues choose the artists they exhibit
• Anyone attending the event can vote
• Winner is determined by public vote" (Courtesy of ArtPrize)