Since I wrote about stouts earlier in the week, I can only add – praise the engineers who developed the pub draft can! It may not be as good as draft, but it’s pretty darn close, and I can enjoy it in my living room (at least until we install that tap system I’ve been dreaming about for some time now).

As I understand it, the little widget in the pub draft can is basically a pressurized container which shoots a blast of nitrogen into the beer when the can is opened. It seems to have started with Guinness, but fortunately a number of good beers are available in pub draft these days. A good number are available here. Unfortunately, those of us in Pennsylvania can’t take advantage of this, but maybe you can.

If you’re interested in more information about how the thing works, you can even take a look at the patent.

Post from: EveryJoe

More on pub draft beer

I was surfing for interesting things to report on while trying to decide on a beer to drink when I stumbled across this article about stout from the lesser of my two hometown papers. Fortunately for me, I have both Beamish and Murphy’s stout in the pub draft version in my basement right now, so as I write this I’m enjoying the former while looking forward to the latter.

The Beamish is a nice smooth drink, an Irish stout from Cork similar to those listed in the article. As with many well-known brands, the brewing company, Beamish and Crawford plc, has made its way through a number of different, ever-larger owners, the most recent of which is Scottish and Newcastle. The Beamish doesn’t have the character of some other stouts, like the Left Hand Milk Stouts I’ve written about before, but it’s just what I was looking for this evening.

image from Wikipedia

Post from: EveryJoe

A good night for a stout

I haven’t done a recipe for a while, but how can you resist a brownie made with stout beer?!?

image from doriegreenspan.com, and another darn good looking recipe (albeit without beer) here

Post from: EveryJoe

Mmmm, brownies

Last weekend I managed to finally make it to the new incarnation of the Dock Street brewpub, which is pretty pathetic considering I had planned to go when they first opened. For those who don’t know, Dock Street was a Philadelphia-based pioneer of micro-brewed beers back in the 80s, at one point vying with Sam Adams for tops in the market.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I expected a slightly too slick and slightly too large brewpub along the lines of a Triumph or the former Dock Street locations in Center City Philadelphia. This one has a much more down-to-earth and slightly gritty feel. Don’t get me wrong, the furnishings were clearly carefully picked out, and the brewing equipment gleams brightly in the corner of this spotlessly renovated old firehouse. Underneath it all, though, there’s an interesting and varied public enjoying beers and food from bartenders well-versed in the beers they are serving.

The beers, too, were quite well brewed. There were five of us, all seasoned beer drinkers , and we tried every beer on the list. It was easy to reach a consensus on the beers – our favorites by a long shot were the Rye IPA and the Imperial Outmeal Stout. Be forewarned, though, there was a one to two hour wait for a table, so if you’re hungry be prepared to sit at the bar or wait.

All things being equal, the new Dock Street’s new West Philadelphia brewpub was my favorite Dock Street brewpub experience yet.

image from malcolmxpark.org

Post from: EveryJoe

A Dock Street

Over the holidays we made a day trip out to Gettysburg, to get all of us out of the house and to give the kids a little something to look at. For those of you who’ve never been to Gettysburg, it’s a charming small town in the southern part of Pennsylvania, not all too far from the Mason Dixon line.

Trust me, this post does have something to do with beer. Before that, however, I want to mention that those of you who have an interest in seeing the battlefield at Gettysburg, really seeing it, should consider visiting on a cold winter’s weekend (or better, weekday). There are no tour buses and very few cars, and you can really look at the place and contemplate the incredible battle which took place.

Ok, so what does this have to do with beer? Well, right at the cusp of a small hill overlooking the town and battlefield stands a church and some other historically significant buildings, near which is the Gettysburg outpost of the Appalachian Brewing Company. It’s a very logical end to a tour of the battlefield, and a pleasant one as well.

The brewery itself is not in a particularly distinguished building, and the brewery in the basement is no great shakes either. The Jolly Scott, a Scottish ale, was very enjoyable, however, and had my children not melted down completely I’d have bought a growler to bring home. The stout was pleasant enough, although I preferred my wife’s porter (and, of course, the Scottish Ale). The food was quite good, and the brewery seems to have a steady stream of special events and specialty brews. It’s the perfect cap to a tour of the battlefield or just a trip through the Pennsylvania countryside.

NB – We’ll be in Harrisburg later this month, most likely, so I’ll let you know about Appalachian’s flagship brewery there once I’ve checked it out.

image from Appalachian Brewing Company

Post from: EveryJoe

Battle of the brew and the grey

In a brash but enviable crime, the BBC reports that a man managed to cart off over 36,000 pints of Guinness from the Guinness brewery in Dublin. And how did he manage this trick? Why, he drove a truck onto the brewery grounds, hooked up a fully loaded trailer, and then drove back off. They’ve since found the trailer – empty.

That must have been a helluva party.

Post from: EveryJoe

Make that 6000 six-packs to go …

There are a lot of blog contests in our food channel, but many of them don’t lend themselves to beer. One which does, and which is quite timely coming as it does after Halloween and before Thanksgiving, is this one from choclatebytes. And the question is … drumroll please … what chocolate product are you thankful for?

So easy, that one, it’s chocolate stout. Many chocolate stouts, such as Brooklyn’s Black Chocolate Stout, carry that moniker not because they contain chocolate, but because they use a dark malt which resembles chocolate. More sophisticated palates than mine also claim a certain cocoa taste in the resulting beer as well. Some, however, such as the Double Chocolate Stout brewed by Wells & Youngs, contain real chocolate. Either way, a good solid stout, with or without chocolate, is a fine way to end a good meal during this time of eating and merriment. Maybe I’ll get a couple of bottles for our post-Thanksgiving meal drink.

As an aside, a Stephen Colbert Wag of the Finger to Brooklyn for a website which doesn’t appear to be compatible with the Safari web browser.

Photo from Phillips Candy House

Post from: EveryJoe

Yum, chocolate

So, I took the plunge at my local distributor and purchased a case entitled “Mountain Mixer,” which is a combination of different brews from the Left Hand Brewing company. I had praised Left Hand’s Oktoberfest in an earlier post, so when I saw the assortment case I couldn’t resist.

I’m not sure if there are different configurations in the miced case, but this one includes the Sawtooth Ale, Jackman’s Pale Ale, Black Jack Porter, and the Milk Stout. I’ve had one each of all of the beers except the Pale Ale, and my preliminary reaction is that the Sawtooth Ale is good but unremarkable, the Porter is quite tasty, and the Milk Stout is simply divine. The stout is smooth and clean, and was by far my favorite of the beers thus far. Now, I’m pretty certain the Pale Ale isn’t going to change that, but if it does I’ll let you know.

Photo from the Left Hand Brewing Company website

Post from: EveryJoe

All Left Hands