hungry for living a little bit o' this and a lotta bit o' that

this weekend we hit up one of our fave places – the Twin Light Taphouse – in search of a lil’ som’somn you wouldn’t find at just any old restaurant

the list of beers on tap had me tossing around what to order to go with dinner – but i knew as soon as i saw it on the list what i’d be ordering for dessert

Southern Tier Brewing Company’s Choklat Stout – Imperial Chocolate Stout

The Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Maya, unfolds a complex web of mystery around a beverage known as xocoatl (ch-co-atle). At Southern Tier, we’re not surprised that hieroglyphs of the ancient Maya depict chocolate being poured for rulers and gods. Even through the many voyages of Columbus, the mystical bean remained nothing more than a strange currency of the native peoples.Moving through centuries, the circular journey of cacao has been realized in our brewing house, encompassing the complexity of the darkest, bitter-sweet candy together with the original frothy cold beverage of the ancient Maya to bring to you our Blackwater Series Choklat Stout. We have combined the finest ingredients to tempt your senses & renew the power & interrelation of history in every bottle.
11.0% abv • 195º L • Imperial Chocolate Stout • 22 oz / 1/6 keg
2-row barley / caramel 60 malt / barley flakes / chocolate malt / bittersweet Belgian chocolate / kettle hops: chinook & willamette

when the waitress came over and said it smelled like a tootsie roll, i could not disagree. it almost tasted like someone dumped an awesome beer into my hot chocolate. i had to hold myself back from drinking it too quickly so i could savor every sip… kinda wishing i hadn’t waited until dessert to order this bit of goodness!

and yes – this one is DEF being added to the BEER PAGE :0)

choklat stout Imperial Chocolate Stout the ancients called it ‘food for the gods’

The Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Maya, unfolds a complex web of mystery around a beverage known as xocoatl (ch-co-atle). At Southern Tier, we’re not surprised that hieroglyphs of the ancient Maya depict chocolate being poured for rulers and gods. Even through the many voyages of Columbus, the mystical bean remained nothing more than a strange currency of the native peoples.Moving through centuries, the circular journey of cacao has been realized in our brewing house, encompassing the complexity of the darkest, bitter-sweet candy together with the original frothy cold beverage of the ancient Maya to bring to you our Blackwater Series Choklat Stout. We have combined the finest ingredients to tempt your senses & renew the power & interrelation of history in every bottle. 11.0% abv • 195º L • Imperial Chocolate Stout • 22 oz / 1/6 keg 2-row barley / caramel 60 malt / barley flakes / chocolate malt / bittersweet Belgian chocolate / kettle hops: chinook & willamette

this past weekend we hit up our usual awesome-sauce spot - Twin Light Taphouse… i heard they had some pumpkin ales on tap that had to be tasted

first up was Flying Dog Brewery‘s ‘The Fear – Pumpkin Ale’

i asked our waiter ‘between the two pumpkin ales on tap, which one would you recommend?’, he replied ‘well, since the other keg just got kicked, i’d go with the Flying Dog! it’s got a hint of chocolate with the pumpkin’

chocolate AND pumpkin = SCORE!

when my glass came i could smell the spices right away – kind of like pumpkin pie in a glass, took a sip and the chocolatey/graham cracker flavors hit me, then once you swallow the pumpkin seems to sneak up on you. LOVEd it = added to the BEER page

~*~

next up, was Carton Brewing Company‘s ‘Boat Beer‘

the description on their site had me at HELLO with ‘a whack of grapefruit‘ – what a kewl flavor to add to beer, and i do love me some citrusy beers. def could be added to the list of an ‘every-day beer’ like they say. it was light and flavorful, which went nicely with our dinner. also - added to the BEER page

AND THE BEST PART of the night = our apps came out and this guy walks by our table, i thought to myself, ‘i think i know him from somewhere’… he returns moments later, from the loo i assume, stops at our table and goes ‘is that a Boat Beer?’ –> me: celebrity struck ‘YES it is, and hey, aren’t you one of those Carton GUYS?!?!’ … i def blushed when I realized Augie and his family were dining just a couple of tables over and talked to us about his beer for a few… TOO COOL!!!!

we all know what that means:
grab your orange hat & strap on your lederhosen
for the next month you will be feasting and drinking anything and everything under the sun that can become pumpkin and spice flavored

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. -Stanley Horowitz

i really love this time of the year, not only the crisp feeling thats in the air, but the beautiful displays of art mother nature has created for us, and the pumpkins – who could forget the pumpkins?!

i talked about the tasty bit of brewed goodness PumpKing three weeks ago… wow, really?! three weeks?! time sure is flying…

anyways, with the arrival of Oktoberfest comes the arrivals of delicious new beers to try out. so when we were at the Twin Light Taphouse the other night, I of course wanted to try all of the special brews they had on tap for the occasion, but limited myself to: LOVEing one and LIKEing another… the LOVEd one won my heart and my taste buds for the night :0)

so lets start with the LIKE:

i didn’t order my own pint of this, but i did have quite a bit of ‘tastings’ from cuzz’s glass, just to make sure i got the full effect

Blue Point Brewing Company’s
OKTOBERFEST

it was good. it wasnt great. and it def was not one of my favorite ‘oktoberfest-ish’ beers. but, if i was given a free sample, i would not refuse… i probably wouldnt buy my own though

and now the LOVE:

Victory Brewing Company – thank you for never letting me down with your flavors and beer-ing experiences. when i looked at the draft board and saw the slew of ‘oktob-er’ and ‘fest-er’ and ‘whatnot-er’ beers, i didnt know where to start, but i did know that Victory and me have a good history together… so i decided to order the FESTBIER… and am VERY happy i did. it had me at ‘hello’, with the smooth taste and medium body, i felt like i got transported to a pub in Germany – this one’s DEF being added to the BEER PAGE

so skip on down to your local brew-joint or liquor store and see if you can track this baby down. you will NOT be disappointed :0)

always on the hunt for something new to taste, a family friend was spotted saturday night with one of these in hand

and i couldnt help but ask him – sooo, where’d you get that from? are there more?!

to the fridge i went where i was happily surprised to find, for one of the first times EVER, i didnt have to go to the manufacturer’s website to check the ingredients list!!

printed clearly on the bottom
“Ingredients: Nothing but Barley, Hops, Water & Yeast”

SCORE!!! and yes, i did do a little jump for joy, then quickly popped the top off to enjoy the tasty hoppy-ness it had to offer.

THANK YOU Stone Brewing Company for making my life that much easier (other brewers, feel free to follow suit)

the write up on their page says it all:

An “India Pale Ale” by definition is highly hopped and high in alcohol – you’ll find our Stone India Pale Ale to be true to style with a huge hop aroma, flavor and bitterness throughout. If you’re a hop-head like us, then you’ll love our Stone India Pale Ale! Medium malt character with a heavy dose of over the top hops! Generous “dry hopping” gives this beer its abundant hop aroma and crisp hop flavor.

this one is for sure being added to the BEER PAGE

while making my rounds at the liquor-super-store this past weekend (a couple of bottles of wine to restock the wine fridge – check, JC’s beer – check, Mel’s beer – check … and no, i dont think we are alcoholics!)
i saw this beer displayed on one of the endcaps

being i already knew that the Southern Tier Brewing Company has tickled my tastebuds in the past, i decided to pick up a bottle to try out

A+ in my book – it kinda tasted like pumpkin pie in a bottle, but not too overwhelming that you would get sick of the taste after a while…

from the brewer’s site:

this one’s def being added to the BEER page for references on future consumption

get it while it’s HOT – its only a seasonal brew for the autumn!!

this past weekend i was hunting up and down the aisles of our local spirits megastore in search of an IPA that the pa dukes would like … usually this isn’t a big deal as he has a wide range of favorites, but i had this ‘needed to be in a can’ parameter that was greatly limiting my options (no glass is allowed inside of the speedway – i wonder why?!)

one flustered call to the Bro-front and i had the info i needed:
does dad like this one? nope… okay, does he like this one? no… alllllright. how about this one? yeah?! he’s tried it!? you KNOW for sure he likes it?! okay, thanks bro, catch ya later

enter the catch

Snapperhead IPA by Butternuts Beer & Ale

i wish i took a picture of my dads face when he opened up his personalized cooler filled with a six-pack of this at the race saturday night… i think the comment went something along the lines of ‘never in my life did i expect my daughter to hand me a beer with a name like this!’ :0) I have to admit, they have some GREAT marketing people on their hands!!

it had such an interesting taste that i have yet to experience in an IPA, a little nutty and definitely a summer beer in my books, as its really smooth, yet hoppy, and probably would go really well with a bbq chicken salad or something hot off the grill…

it’s been added to the BEER page – check out some of my other faves here

FEILE - pronounced FAY-LAY… yeah, it only took me a handful of times going to this place and butchering the name (fay-eee-lay, fai-lai) until i finally asked the waiter how to pronounce it the other day…

located conveniently steps away from Penn Station in NYC, it has become one of our favorite places to have lunch on those fridays that you are just craving for the weekend to begin early. their beer list is what had me at ‘hello’ – many pages long, new flavors i have never heard of, all waiting for me to try them out!

Victory Golden Monkey was my latest victim, and has since made it’s way onto my BEER page… it kind of reminded me of the Blue-Moon-ish citrusy aftertaste, with a bit of a hoppy beginning, just the right blend of goodness if you ask me :0)

i will definately be ordering this one again… 9.5% alcohol content may have you buzzing a little sooner than you had planned on, but some days it’s totally worth it isnt it?!