Beer Hear!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Worthy Burger

WFMU's Beer Hear! with Bob W. and B.R. from 1/9/2013

Over 15 years ago Dave Brodrick founded one of New York's most beloved beer bars, The Blind Tiger. Beer-heads from the world over know that it's a mandatory stop on any visit to NYC. Now Dave has created a different kind of beer destination, this time in the New England picture-postcard hamlet of South Royalton, Vermont.

We saw 10+ accidents within 50 miles on rt. 89, even though traffic was going under 10mph!

The establishment, just over a year old, is called Worthy Burger and while all 14 beers on tap are of laudable distinction, it's the burgers that are the main focus of his new joint.

Driving into South Royalton in January... snow.

The concept is pretty simple. Serve the best quality burgers, fries and other bar food, with as many locally sourced ingredients -- from family farms -- as possible, who happen to be investors in the business, as well. They feature grass fed local beef, local produce, artisanal cheeses, homemade pickles and kimchi, and beer from small local breweries. Put that together in a rustic old railyard freight building in the middle of a Vermont town that looks too real to be real, add in a wood-fire grill, and there you go!

Mmmmmmm.....

14 awesome beers -- 5 of which from Hill Farmstead!

Worthy Burger has turned out to be a popular spot with the locals, who appreciate the unique flavor imparted by grilling food over an open wood fire. The students from the law school just on the other side of the town-green are steady regulars, and it's sure to become a destination for beer travelers, too, especially when the new brewery around back opens up. Patrick Dakin, formerly of the Norwich Inn Brewery, is opening up Freight House Brewing in the old railyard, next to Worthy Burger.

One Worthy surprise was oysters on the half shell. "Oysters in Vermont?!?" you say? Well, when one of your restaurant partners operates the best fish delivery business in the state, picking up freshly unloaded seafood at 3am in Boston Harbor three times a week -- YES! Hear all about it in this week's podcast!

Snow appetizers are on the house!

The porch room's heater.

Custom made wood-fire grill.

Imagining a Pullman Coach pulling up for refueling.

Salmon burger with pickled green beans.

Bob, B.R. and Dave.

Oyster po boy with pickled asparagus.

Pickle station -- help yourself!

Rustic, warm, inviting.

Homemade condiments.

Entrance to Worthy Burger.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Bruery Smoking Wood

[link to podcast page]

WFMU's Beer Hear! with Bob W. and B.R. from 12/27/2012

A few days before Christmas while at the local good beer shop, I noticed a case of Brooklyn Brewery's Black Ops in 750ml bottles on the floor by the check out. I asked how much they were going for, and was told something like $20. Hmmm... that's a lot for a bottle of beer from across the river. Though a few days later, when shopping for some special brews to enjoy on Christmas day I ended up dropping $28 on bottle of the same size. At least that bottle had to travel from Orange County, CA!

The 2011 label.

The Bruery's Smoking Wood is a 13% abv imperial smoked porter. They describe it thusly:
"Brewed with beachwood and cherrywood smoked malt, and aged in rye whiskey barrels, Smoking Wood is a delicious demonstration of what wood has to offer when it comes to beer. This imperial smoked porter is brewed with a hefty amount of rye malt, contributing to a full body and light spiciness. Toasty oak, caramel and vanilla flavors balance the smokiness, contributing to an intense yet refined flavor profile"

Smoking Wood is an incredibly well put together beer, that has a smoked quality so subtle that it's hard to detect in the aroma, yet gently discernible on first taste, melding with the roasty malty chocolate flavors. It's robust malt flavor profile easily masks the whopping 13% alcohol strength. Hear all the details in this week's podcast!

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Hospoda Czech Pub

[link to podcast page]

WFMU's Beer Hear! with Bob W. and B.R. from 12/22/2012

Last October we did a short blog post on Hospoda, the Czech bistro located in the Bohemian National Hall at 321 E. 73rd St., between 1st Ave. and 2nd Ave. The building also houses the General Consulate of the Czech Republic, and hosts many cultural events and activities. But more importantly, the building houses the freshest, tastiest Pilsner Urquell this side of the Atlantic!

Check out the podcast to learn about the four distinctly different ways that they serve Pilsner Urquell -- the flagship beer of Hospoda. Also in the podcast Hospoda manager Filip Trcka explains the newly implemented methods of transport and distribution of Pilsner Urquell (known in Czech as Plzeňský Prazdroj) which ensures the freshest Pilsner in America! (Well, up until when the bar receives the beer -- how they handle it after that determines the beers final condition).

Hospoda manager Filip

The walls of Hospoda feature a wood-cut mural...

created by a Prague graffiti artist Masker.

And now for some trivia and history... it's been estimated that 90% of the beer consumed worldwide owes it's origin to the "original Pilsner." One of the most famous cousins to Pilsner beer, of course, is Anheuser-Bush's Budweiser. And while many know that "Bud" was inspired by Böhmisch Budweis aka Budweiser Budvar aka České Budějovice, many don't know that American Budweiser was originally a contract brew, made for Carl Conrad in 1876. Conrad, who was a liquor importer, discovered Bohemian Pilsner beer while traveling through Europe.

Conrad contracted with his St. Louis business colleague Adolphus Bush to make a similar beer for the American market. Bush had sold brewing supplies prior to becoming a brewer, when he married into the Anheuser family, which operated a brewery. It turned out that cloning Czech Pilsner was an extremely difficult thing to do at the time. Getting a hold of Moravian malt wasn't a cost effective option, and the American two-row barley wasn't exactly perfect for cloning the newly invented beer style. Pilsner was invented in 1842 by Josef Groll, a Bavarian brewer who was contracted by the town of Pilsen to formulate a new high quality beer to replace the dreck that the townspeople rejected in protest in 1840.

The distinct rings mean clean glassware!

Bush consulted with his brewmaster, experimenting with different ingredients and techniques, and finally hit upon using rice -- by a ratio of 1 lb of rice for every 21 lbs of barley -- as an adjunct to attain the flavor, texture, color, and characteristics that he sought. The beer was decoction mashed, and used a yeast strain imported from Bohemia. And, interestingly enough, at the time it was more expensive to use rice in place of barley -- it was used to provide the light color, body and flavor, not as a means to save money.

A few sips into a Creme or "Hladinka".

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Final Pumpkin Podcast!

[link to podcast page]

WFMU's Beer Hear! with Bob W. and B.R. from 11/8/2012

Our third and final Pumpkin Podcast Panel was recorded in two parts. The first part was recorded on the evening of Oct. 29, shortly after we lost power and heat, thanks to Hurricane Sandy. With our battery powered recorder, an emergency LED light and some candles, we tried Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale and La Citrueille Céleste de Citracado (The Heavenly Pumpkin of Citricado), a "collabeeration" between Stone, The Bruery and Elysian.

Smuttynose was one of the most "beerlike" pumpkin beers out of all 11 pumpkin beers we tried, with discernible hop characteristics. Smutty's fell close in line to the standard pumpkin pie spice flavors that defined versions by Bluepoint, Post Road, Wolavers, and Captain Lawrence, though they all had their distinctions.

La Citrueille, a 5% abv ale, was one of the more non-standard pumpkin beers, with one of the more esoteric list of ingredients: yams, sugar pumpkins, fenugreek, lemon verbena, rye malt (both regular and dark), brown and honey malts, C-15 dextrine malt, birch bark in the whirlpool, New Zealand Motueka hops. It was earthy and a bit herbal, and intentionally far from the pumpkin pie spice characteristics of other pumpkin beers.

In the second part, long after both electricity and heat were restored to our home, we finished the panel with three outstanding beers. We started with the Midnight Sun T.R.E.A.T. (The Royal Eccentric Ale Treatment) which wasn't very big on the pumpkin pie flavors, but was rich, dark, heavy, complex and delicious. It's billed as a 7.8% Imperial Chocolate Pumpkin Porter. This one's going to end up in the fridge again!

Then, a favorite of mine and a non-favorite of B.R.'s, the Southern Tier Pumpking! This 8.6% seasonal Imperial Pumpkin Ale is a sweet, almost buttery/creamy, gingerbready desert of a beer. It is the quintessential pumpkin pie beer. It's pretty much a love it or hate it kind of beer. And while it's not what I'd reach for on a hot summer afternoon, I'm happy to drink it from October through November!

We finished up with a beer from a brewery which you might assume makes nothing but pumpkin beer -- Jolly Pumpkin. Out of the 15 beers they list on their website, only one, La Parcela, is made with pumpkin. Jolly Pumpkin is known for their sour beers, using open fermentation, oak aging and bottle conditioning. La Parcela, which we had from a growler filled at Good Beer, definitely had sourness. But it was a mild sourness, mild spiciness, complimented by earthiness and bitterness -- delicate and complex. This was the lightest bodied beer in the entire panel, and probably the most refreshing.

Hey! An actual pumpkin beer from Jolly Pumpkin!

Out of the entire panel, the La Parcela, Carton, La Citrueille, Oak Jacked Imperial, and Treat were the most "un-pumpkin" pumpkin beers. Smuttynose edged away from the pack with it's unique hop bitterness. For the beers that aimed towards pumpkin pie, Pumpking was a stand out. It was interesting to see how some angled towards nutmeg flavors, others towards cinnamon, and yet others steered away from standard pie spice all together. The variety of the beers -- in color, from pale yellow to near opaque, in ABV, from 5% to 10.31% -- demonstrated that there's a wide range in everything when it comes to pumpkin beer!