WVRST Toronto - Queens West - Visit with Family

As previously chronicled, I had a very tough week of travel a few weeks back.  I was in NYC over the weekend, then went to Minneapolis and Toronto during the week on business.  The flights for each of these trips was delayed, between 5 hours and an hour each.  Talk about bad luck.

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law and their young child recently moved to Toronto and we had been up to visit them just 3 weeks before.  Since I knew I would be arriving early enough to catch a meal we decided to check out WVRST in Queens West.  It was featured on Layover by Anthony Bourdain and well reviewed on Yelp.  Since my sister-in-law had to work that evening, it turned out to be just the boys.

My nephew is quite a handful, but he is cute as a button, and generally a good kid.  He was very interested with the food.  My brother-in-law and I can both eat and drink, and we did a good amount of that.  We each had two sausages, I had elk and a traditional bratwurst, he had a rabbit and german sausage as well.  My nephew had himself a chicken sausage, unfortunately there was a bit of spice to it, which he abhored.  We shared an order of fries cooked in duck fat that were divine.  We both washed that down with 2-3 beers each and had a great time.  I had a Dieu du Ciel Peche Mortel and a couple of local IPAs.

The tables are set up communal, beer hall style and the place was packed for a Wednesday night.  We quickly found a table and were fine though.  I highly recommend checking this place out if you are from Toronto or find yourself there with a hankering for sausage and beer.  Americans, take advantage now as the CAD is quite weak versus the USD.  Prost!

Me and him.

Surly Blakkr @ Mill City Tavern, Minneapolis Airport

I was in the midst of flight delay on the way home from Minneapolis and stopped in at the Mill City Tavern in Terminal G.  Really nice restaurant with solid options for food and tons of great local beer.

Blakkr is a Double Black IPA, a style I haven't really seen around.  Black IPAs awfully similar to hoppy porters and generally a style that I quite like.  I wasn't totally sold on a 10% Double Black IPA, but like I said, there was a flight delay, and I wasn't getting home until midnight.  Not to mention that I had been delayed and only arrived in Minneapolis at 2am in advance of an 8am meeting.  And I was staring down the barrel of a board meeting at 8am the next morning, then a flight to Toronto the next evening for another 8am meeting.  A pretty trying week!

I liked the beer quite a bit.

Boston Beer Haul: Trillium Artaic + Others, Night Shift Santilli, Singlecut plus Oysters

Growing up in the suburbs of Boston, the city is what I consider my "home town" and its one of the best culinary city in the country, by all regards.  Two things Boston does really well are beer and oysters.  Trillium Brewery is doing amazing things in Boston's rapidly gentrifying Fort Point neighborhood in the South Boston Seaport.  Very easy access to the financial district and lots of open space are a recipe for surging real estate prices.  Trillium focuses on hoppy beers and they are one of the most coveted breweries on the beer trading forums around.  Artaic is a Double IPA brewed with honey, very clear and transparent in contrast to many of Trillium's other brews.

Trillium recently opened a secondary location in suburban Canton, MA and are now offering limited distribution through the state.  I was in a prominent liquor store south of the city and picked up a couple bottles including their flagship Fort Point Pale Ale and Scaled IPA.  I also grabbed a Singlecut beer that was quite nice, although I can't remember the name of it, nor can I make it out from the picture.  It used NZ hops though and was surprisingly good!  Finally, I grabbed a 4 pack of 16 oz cans from Night Shift Brewery, out of Everett, MA.  Their Santilli IPA is one of the handful of beers they distribute and is a good every day value, although definitely inferior to Trillium or Tree House out of Western Mass.

A visit with my parents meant that I was grabbing a dozen oysters to enjoy with my dad and cracking a beer or two.  These oysters are from Duxbury, MA's Island Creek Oysters.  Lucky to have such easy access.

Beer Mail - Russian River Pliny the Elder/Damnation and a Holiday Beer it Forward!

Participated in a couple of beer trades/swaps over Christmas time



Fresh Pliny the Elder and Damnation



Nice haul from a fellow Styleforum member!

Hill Farmstead Flora B/B

I was in the mood for a single nice beer on Friday night after having hit it pretty hard the night before.  Usually when I am in a mood like that I will generally reach for either a stout or sour, since they are more complex than the IPAs or hoppy ales I usually drink.  I have two of the Hill Farmstead Flora B/B's hanging in my cellar, so before dinner I popped this in the fridge to cool it down a bit. I typically prefer water or wine with food, so after everything was cleaned up, I popped open this bottle.  An approachable 375ml that Hill Farmstead uses for its lower yield beers, attractive label, pours a nice fruit purple/red with moderate foam.  The foam dissipated fairly quickly.  Lots of HF funk on the nose, some fruits.  Taste was pretty nice, fruit is restrained, unlike some American wild ales.  I contemplated this over the 45 minutes or so I drank it, and really enjoyed it the whole time.  I look forward to my next bottle.

Sante Adairius (SARA) West Ashley

As described by Sante Adairius themselves, West Ashley is "orange, lactic, and bursting with apricot aroma, West Ashley is built for consideration and conversation. While Ashley starts as a simple Saison, careful aging in French Oak Pinot Noir barrels with apricots, our house microbes, and warm encouragement transform her into a tart, complex and delectable beer."

I opened this beer up on a Friday after a long week at work and I wanted to drink something special.  I have had the beer before, but only split between 4 friends at a tasting event.  The beer is very apricot centric, but it is definitely does not have the same bitterness of a typical american wild ale like Duck Duck Gooze.  I would classify it as a funky saison with apricots added, however "classifying" a beer like this is kind of foolish as it really is in a class of its own.  

Great ratings on Beeradvocate and hard to trade for, but worth seeking out!

Trip to Hill Farmstead April 2015

Last weekend my wife and I made a trip to one of our favorite places in America, Vermont.  My primary desire was to replenish my stores of Hill Farmstead Brewery.  This brewery is widely considered the best in America, and some would say the best in the world.  Sean Hill, the brewer, is not a specialist, he makes world class hoppy ales in addition to sour, dark, farmhouse and everything in between.  He is committed to a sustainable business that can support itself and although he has grown rapidly, there is a target size for the company that he does not want to exceed.  This goal allows him to focus on doing the best possible work he can, which results in amazing beer.  He utilizes growlers so that he can ensure that his beers remain fresh. I much prefer to support a "local" brewery than one of the large conglomerates.  Also, Sean goes to great lengths to respect his community and helps support other local businesses.  He takes great pride in working in a remote area, and although you have to actually go to the brewery to buy his beer, he avoids wasting resources on things like distribution to stores.

The brewery

My haul

Edward - Flagship Pale Ale

Single Hop Pale Ale - Mosaic

Society & Solitude #5 Double IPA

Recent New England IPAs: Gray Sail Captain's Daughter, Lawsons Sip of Sunshine, and Trillium A Street IPA

Gray Sail Brewery out of Westerly, RI is a relatively new brewer who has struck quite a hit with their Double IPA, Captain's Daughter.  Pretty hoppy, but still drinkable.  Only available in MA/RI, as far as I know, but I enjoyed it!

Sean Lawson of Vermont's Lawson's Finest Liquids most famous beer is Double Sunshine, his double IPA produced in extremely limited batches.  When Mr. Lawson decided that he needed to scale the business a bit, he set up an agreement with Two Roads Brewing on Connecticut to brew his modified Double Sunshine recipe as Sip of Sunshine.  Originally packaged and sold only in kegs and 22oz bombers, the transition to 4 packs makes a ton of sense, especially in light of local competition in Vermont and the superior QPR of 16 oz cans.  This is brewed monthly in CT and then distributed in both CT and VT.  Great beer, comparable to Heady Topper in my opinion.

Trillium Brewery, in my view, is Boston's response to the Vermont beer scene's relentless quality.  While Boston and the vicinity has a number of good breweries, none are truly great, especially when it comes to producing the renowned IPAs that are coming out of Vermont.  I have had a number of great beers from Trillium, including Melcher St IPA, Congress St IPA, and Fort Point Pale, which drinks more like an IPA.  Unfortunately, A Street, does not live up to the others or its $10 price tag.  Still a good beer, but nothing special.  

Weekend Beers and a Bottle of Bourbon

Weekend beverages.  I really love sour and funky beers and decided to crack a couple from my cellar this weekend.  Bottleworks XII is a sour imperial wit, with raspberries, vintage 2013.  Pretty strong funk and sour character and the raspberries are very prevalent.  I can't say I enjoy the wheat aspect of the beer, but it adds a unique character.

Yazoo's Embrace the Funk is not the most widely acclaimed sour, heck its practically unknown.  However, it is absolutely delicious.  Very complex and tart golden sour beer.  More substantial than some offerings, but had a lot of depth.  Won in a BIF, so I doubt I will acquire more, but really darn good stuff.

My parents came to my new apartment to visit, and I offered to open a bottle of wine or split an interesting beer, but my father only drinks American adjunct lagers and my mother didn't want to crack a bottle of wine at 3PM.  He indicated that he would love a glass of whiskey if I had it, but unfortunately, I had not replenished my holdings in quite some time.  I had cleaned out a bunch of recyclable bottles and cans into my car over the weekend in a clean up effort, and decided to use those proceeds to cover 10% of this bottle of bourbon.  A single barrel, barrel strength offering from Four Roses in their OBSO recipe, selected by Table & Vine, a Western Massachusetts alcohol institution.  I love that place, best natural wine selection for the price in MA, bar none.  Anyhow, looking forward to trying this soon, and will share with my pops the next time we hang out.

Drie Fonteinen Brewery: Oude Kriek

Drie Fonteinen is one of the traditional lambic brewers/blenders out of Belgium.  They are located near Brussels in Beersel, BE.  Gueuze is produced by blending aged and young lambic.  Kriek is similar, except that cherries are included.  This 375ml beauty is incredibly tart and sour, while still being drinkable and interesting!  I love this beer and always buy it when I see it on the shelves, even though it is not a cheap purchase.

Hill Farmstead Brewery: Society & Solitude #4

Hill Farmstead is one of my favorite breweries in the world.  They make amazing ales in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, a bucolic region of Vermont, populated equally by cows and humans.  They don't specialize in a single variety of beer, but produce many different styles.  Notably hoppy beers like IPAs and Pale Ales, Farmhouse Saisons/Wild Ales, and Stouts.  Beer geeks around the world covet their beer, as it is not distributed and sold in a normal retail environment, you must travel to the brewery and purchase it directly at the source.  None of the hoppy beers, that are meant to be consumed fresh, are sold from the brewery in a standard bottle, instead they are sold in 750ml or 2L growlers.  Bottles are sold regularly and include a regular rotating cast of beers named after the brewer's ancestors, as well as several other series named primarily based on philosophical texts.

The beer today is called Society & Solitude #4.  This series, named after the writer Ralph Waldo Emerson's text is an exploration of experimental Double IPAs.  The #4 is a combination of Double Citra and Double Galaxy.  These two beers are fantastic, featuring juicy hops, and the combined concoction is pure hop nirvana.  This beer packs quite a punch at 8%, so the 750ml growler was just enough for me.  A friend of mine picked this growler up for me while traveling in Vermont.  I intend to repay the favor when I am back in April.

Lawson's Finest Liquids: Farmer's Market 3/15

My wife and I made our first trip to Vermont for the last Lawson's Farmers Market.  We didn't know exactly what to expect, other than from the information Sean posts on his blog and the Beeradvocate forums.  We left Western Mass as the sun was coming up around 6:30 AM and arrived in Montpelier around 9:00 only to learn we were #172 in line and would likely miss out on many of the beers brought for the event.  I was a little bummed out, but certainly not devastated by any means.  I met up with a Beeradvocate friend who had secured some Heady Topper during the week and sold it to me at his cost, what a good guy.  Next, we traveled down to Main St and ate at the Skinny Pancake.  The crepes were amazing and we really enjoyed it.  Then we headed over to the Hunger Mountain Co-op to check out other local VT products.  We found a few things and headed back up to the market.  We had a really good time checking out the other vendors that were there and purchased a bunch of delicious meat and Vermont products.  Since it was still not time for us to pick up the Lawson's bottles we went and got lunch at the Mad Taco.  I was really disappointed with that place and sincerely think Chipotle tastes better.  Finally got our Lawson's bottles at the market, 8 Double Sunshines and 2 Maple Tripples and were on our way back to Massachusetts.  My lovely wife was exhausted and slept most of the way home.  We were back by 3:30pm.

This coming Saturday we are at it again, this time with an experience under our belt we have a more coherent plan.  Get there as early as possible, get our number, head to the Skinny Pancake for breakfast.  I am gonna hurry over to the Co-Op and try to secure some Heady Topper cans, then back to the market at 10 to check out the food vendors and wait our turns for Lawsons bottles.  Then on the way home, I have a few thrift stores in mind to hit and check out both in Vermont and Western New Hampshire.  I would love to stop at The Worthy Burger in South Royalton, but burgers are not really my love's favorite food, so we shall see if thats in the cards.  I will attempt to take some photographs during the trip.

Anyone else making a similar journey?

Three Floyds (FFF) Zombie Dust Review - Hoppy American Pale Ale

Three Floyds is known for their aggressive beer names and cool artwork.  Zombie Dust is rated #6 on BeerAdvocate's Top 250 Beer and #1 on their Pale Ale list and for good reason.  This beer has everything going for it, and is reasonably priced at $11 a 6 pack at retail or $35 for a full case straight from the brewery in Munster, IN.

Appearance:  The bottle is extremely cool, featuring the zombie graphic as well as the other information about the beer.  It includes a bottle date, this one was 2/18/14 so the beer is about 2 weeks old, as I am reviewing it on Sunday 3/2/14.  It pours a hazy light gold, and is 75% opaque.  There is some great lacing after a vigorous pour and a solid creamy head.

Smell: you take a whiff of this beer, and you smell fruity citrus hops.  Much less of the piney smell you sometimes get.  Since I have been partaking in a lot of the Alchemist's hoppy offerings lately, this smell does leave something lacking.

Taste: Amazing pale taste.  This is the perfect pale ale for IPA lovers and pale ale lovers would consider it an IPA.  Tons of floral and citrus hops that coat your mouth, but don't linger as long as Heady Topper or some of the other DIPAs.  It is not as astringent and is easy drinking.

Overall:  Awesome beer, very drinkable, reasonably priced.  A+

Thanks to a generous trader!

Victory Brewing: DirtWolf Double IPA

Victory Brewing out of Philly has a penchant for awesome hoppy beers. Some that I have loved in the past include Hop Wallop and Hop Devil. When I heard that they were releasing a new Double IPA, I was certainly intrigued. For all Hop Wallop fans, Victory is temporarily putting that beer on hold in favor of DirtWolf, but don't worry you will not be disappointed. I call/visit my local beer store every week on delivery day, and I made sure to pick up a 4 pack, at $10.99 as soon as it became available.

Typically, I try to limit beer consumption to the weekend, but sometimes you are just jonesing for a beer in the middle of the week, and that was the case. The Red Sox happened to be in the playoffs, which is just another excuse to drink a delicious beer. So, I popped open the first bottle and poured it in my trusty tulip (see above). My wife, who is not a beer fan, immediately commented on the aromas. Tons of juicy hops, including Mosaic, which is one of my favorite varieties that has been gaining popularity of late. Color is hazy, and light brown, standard IPA. Taste is ALL hops, there is a solid backbone of malt, but there is little balance. Hops on the finish as well.

I quickly finished my 4 pack, and picked up a second at the grocery store last weekend. Highly recommended, great value.  Receiving a 96 on Beeradvocate, others agree as well.

I also grabbed a Dogfish Head Bitches Brew.  Solid beer while watching the Sunday Night Football Manning v Luck matchup.

New Kittens & Random Stuff

I haven't posted a ton lately, life has been extremely busy.  Work, working out, cooking, and Marina's school keep us extremely busy.  Couple that with taking a bunch of trips to the Boston area, leaves me with little time to blog.  So for this post, I decided to pull some shots out of my iPhone and post them.  

I was in Boston last weekend at my parents, and they recently acquired two new cats.  Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye are the names of the two brothers.  They are so cute and frisky.  Very friendly cats, I totally am smitten by them.

Marvin (left) and Otis (right)

Otis on my lap watching our Yorkiepoo Rosie

Marina is not a HUGE cat person, but I can tell she likes these two

Frisky devil

Marvin and me enjoying coffee and NCAA tournament

Marina and I checked out a local sushi restaurant.  Osaka Japan Northampton.  Prices are quite fair and I had the sashimi lunch special with a buddha roll, we will be back.

Obligatory beer picture.  Fantome Hiver.  Good, but not worth $17.

Tonight, I picked up a bottle of Pretty Things Fluffy White Rabbits.  A hoppy tripel that clocks in at 8.5% ABV.  I really like this beer, it has a great creamy mouthfeel and a hoppy finish.  Very unique.  #1 seed Indiana currently losing dramatically to Syracuse. 

Green Flash Palate Wrecker

Green Flash is a great West Coast brewery, and I always enjoy their offerings.  I had heard rumblings of Palate Wrecker on the Internet and had to check it out when I saw a four pack available at my local store.  Touted as an Imperial IPA, this is an absolute hop bomb that checks in at 9.5% ABV.  This beer is obviously extremely hoppy, which as regular readers of my blog know, is my favorite style of beer!  The smell and taste run the gamit of hops, piney and resiny in taste, long finish, fantastic mouthfeel.  I would give this beer an A- as it is just a little too over the top for me to give a straight A.

Recent Beers: Stillwater Of Love & Regret and Oude Gueuze Tilquin

Christmas Beer Haul

Stillwater - Of Love and Regret - a little too floral/spicey for me, did not love it

Oude Gueze Tilquin - dry and sour, great gueuze $11.99 though :/

Frank Pepe's Pizza and Beer

Frank Pepe's is a New Haven Pizzeria that makes in my opinion some of the best pies in the world.  Thin sliced, cut in a ridiculous fashion, and cooked in a wood oven.  You can accompany this pizza with cheap red wine or beer.  I chose to go with an IPA on its last legs, given as a gift from my brother on Christmas.  He doesn't know that IPAs need to be super fresh to really be top notch, but I cant blame him.  The head is certainly wrong on this pour, but I let it cool down while digging into the pie.  Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest Wet Hop IPA and a Pie with Cheese, Bacon, and Mushrooms.

Christmas

Christmas is great, family, gift-giving, basketball, food, and drink.  Cold weather outside, warm clothing inside.  Everyone in good spirits.  College kids on break.  People returning to their hometowns.  Silent Night.

My wonderful wife gave me a bottle of De Proef x Hair of the Dog Flanders Fred and an Ibex Shak.  Looking forward to enjoying both of these great gifts!

Celtics won convincingly.

Bloody Maries were consumed, with sriracha.

200th post...

Craft Beer: 4 Packs >>>

Ahhhhh the 6 pack, a lofty goal to many fitness enthusiasts and a man's best friend to many others.  The Beer Nut is a local blogger, based out of the Worcester, MA area.  He talks all things craft beer, and I frankly almost always agree with both his tastes and his points of view regarding the industry.  Recently, he posted about his gripes regarding 6 pack pricing.  I tend to agree with this view.  It is neither a large enough quantity to warrant a significant discount or a small enough quantity to warrant the increased price.  Unfortunately, it is the most popular distribution model for craft beer.

I tend to prefer purchasing single bottles or 22oz "bombers" when I only want to try something.  That way, I don't get stuck with 5 bottles of beer that are mediocre.  If I want to pick up something for sessions, I am probably going to go with a craft beer that is available in 12 packs, which offer significant savings for a small quantity increase.  Great for a long weekend, and not so many beers that you are inundated with beer, like with a case of four 6 packs.

However, my personal favorite is the four pack.  It is a large enough quantity that you are able to sample a beer multiple times, but not a commitment to six.  I typically only have one or two beers a night, so this is an appropriate amount for me to sample over several days or even weeks.  I understand that I will be facing a premium, but for the beers that typically come in four packs, which are made with often better or more ingredients and resulting higher gravity, the value is there.  There are tons of $10 six packs that I am not interested in, in the slightest, while a $10 4 pack means just $2.50 for each great beer.  It is the superior distribution model.

I always love the Sixpoint 4 packs, recently picked up several Green Flash 4 packs, and another favorite New England Brewing Ghandi Bot comes in 4 packs, when you can find it.  Let's support this movement with our wallets!