ManekiNeko

ETA: anybody who wants to buy me one of these gets several kegs of whatever kind of beer they want brewed

What if one were to give you some glass carboys instead? Not that I have any to give, but I'm curious what the rewards would be

I strongly suspect I'd be prying the carboy I gave my brother from his cold, dead hands.

{edited so it didn't look like I actually had carboys to give}

{carboy = 5-6 Gallon glass jug}

http://www.mannequinpis.com/

I can't decide if the mouse tracking thing is good or not.

And, keeping with the puerile theme, I point out this place out:

http://doughboyscafe.com/

While the website is not horrific, that logo is.

I'd probably say that would be Goudenband, which they may carry at Birreria (I rarely look past the taps).

They do carry Goudenband, and the peeps at BeerAdvocate would agree with your opinion. Petrus doesn't get shabby marks though. I, too, rarely look past the taps but the wife loves her some Cantillon so we have to see what they have in the way of old school lambics.

I would love to see him get some casks from England, but was told by that it is cost prohibitive. CrescentFresh still thinks it is possible, but I don't remember the details.

I say why bother when there are locals making stuff just as worthy of praise, if not more. Besides, cask ale is kinda fragile: the less travelling it has to do, the better. BP will do a much better job of it than Brick or RFD's since they are able to move the product faster, though.

The Brewer's Art Resurrection on the otherhand was excellent!

Indeed it was, akin to Rochefort 6, but drier. I hope Greg maintains the practice of getting casks of the local brewpubs on a regular basis. While the rosemary garlic fries are to die for, I don't get to Charm City often enough to enjoy Brewer's Art.

I think I may have had the best beer of 2007 last night. Might be a bit too early to say this, but I'm trying to think what could be better than Victory's Harvest Ale. The hops are very very floral and delicate. The malt bill is delightfully grainy and bready. Nothing overpowering, just a delish beer. On tap at Birreria. Get it while you can.

Most recent Penzey's catalogue says Rockville and Falls Church are sites of future DC locations. See p. 3, Christmas catalogue.

The Winter 2007 page 3 screed provides addresses:

1048 Rockville Pike in Rockville

513 W. Broad Street in Falls Church (most decidedly not Tysons)

ETA for both was listed as "Spring"

Edited to add "W." to the FC address

I often bring visiting relatives to the Mitsitam specifically for the Northwest region, certainly the healthiest (and seemingly highbrow) of the offerings there. I love the carrot and parsnip salad and the planked salmon. The food's a bit pricy, but pretty much worth it.

To say goodbye to 2006, I whipped up the Pan-Roasted Tournedos with Wild Mushrooms and Pepper Sauce (it's pimped-up Steak Diane) printed in the 12/27/06 WaPo (recipe from Tood Gray at Equinox). As a side, I made my take on Bittman's Roasted Brussell Sprouts with Garlic that was printed in the Minimalist column in the NYTimes awhile back (I can provide this if necessary since you have to pay to access it). A bottle of 2005 Bigfoot was consumed prior to prep and a dinner bottle of 2006 Stone Old Gaurdian enjoyed during cooking and with dinner (yay Viking gene!!!). Her indoors (i.e. my wife) had 2003 Testal with dinner, whilst I had the barleywine. I can see both working with the meal, but I gotta say the beer won. The pepper in the sauce matched so well with the brashy hoppy bitterness compared to the oak and peper in the wine. Granted the beer is from a world class brewery and the wine was an impulse purchase at Whole Foods (plus, I doubt the vintner's status in the wineworld (good robust red table wine, though)), but still. Add another to Garrett Oliver's win column.

For dessert, we had some Kahlua truffle barlike thingies my stepsister-in-law and her muy guapo hombre made. A dram of Dow's 10 Year Tawny Port was enjoyed along with, mostly because I didn't feel like finishing off the majority of a bomber of Stone's Imperial Stout all by myself (her indoors gets drink off of 1 drink (damn you, reverse of the Viking gene!!)).

Rustico and Birreria Paradiso are the only places that make a point of regularly serving cask beer. Both seem to do it well, though I've not been to the UK to try the real thing. As mentioned, the Union Station Cap City does cask beers pretty much every Thursday, though it's been a gravity pour rather than an engine when I've gone (I can check to see which method he uses if y'all want). Brick and RFD make a stab at it, but I'd make friends with the servers so you can get the straight poop from them about how the beers are doing. The turnover is not fast enough at these places for the beer to get my actual trust.

Old Dominion is probably the best place in the area, IMHO, it's just too dang for out for those within the Beltway to make it out there on a regular basis. New River Pale Ale, Tuppers' Hop Pocket Ale, and the Second Runnings Bitter have all been phenonemal off the handpull engine there. I also had the DIPA from the cask there and it was delish (but not nummo (Lindemann's lambics, I bet, are nummo)).

I'm not 100% certain about Franklin's, but I believe they serve cask ales from Thursday to Sunday, which would make sense if they give a crap about the product, which they do. I'll second that Franklin's is undersung. Their beers have character, which is a good thing.

As to whether cask beer is better, I wouldn't say it always is. It's just different. Some beers definitely benefit from the treatment (most English and Scottish styles) while some don't (Belgian and a lot of American styles). Basically, if the style developed prior to modern refrigeration, it will probably taste better given proper cellermanship (which is not easy to find in these parts).

I couldn't find this posted elsewhere here... and figured this crowd would find this entertaining... a vegetarian of 12 years goes cold turkey (or rather cold pork ) to have 30 days of pork in the Bay area in November.

Here's the beginning of the blog link.

and the 30-day pork calendar.

Awesome quote from Day 20:

"Many people say that bacon is what breaks most vegetarians. I'd definitely agree that bacon was a temptress to me. Some of my vegetarian friends go as far as to say that bacon isn't really meat, but rather, candy. They'll say, "I'm vegetarian except for bacon," acknowledging their hypocrisy with pride."

So I'd like to stock the bar at home and I'm totally at a loss for precisely what to stock it with. I'm not a major drinker of hard liquors or cocktails other than the occasional margarita on the rocks, but I'd like to be able to offer guests something other than beer or wine if neither of those will wet their whistle. The wife likes the occasional dirty martini (meaning we want to see sea monkeys floating in it). So, other than tequila and gin, what other sorts of liquors should I stock? Any recommendations for brands for any? I figure I'll go with Smirnoff for the vodka due to the NYTimes rec, but everything else is pretty much an unknown. I don't mind shelling out for quality since this stuff really doesn't go bad.

I'm personally going for a barebones selection, but I imagine there are others here who might be in the same situation who might have more grandiose ideas so feel free to suggest a selection of bottles that would make Brian Flanagan cry...

I stopped by for the lunch special today. Unfortunately they were out of the lasagna which I was hoping to try. Had the fritto instead. It was delicious and the breading was wonderfully light and didn't interfere with the seafood beneath the coating. The portion size was a bit small, but I probably shouldn't have that much deep-fried goodness anyways (and a restaurant should be able to turn a profit, too). I finished the repast off with the chocolate hazelnut mousse. A rather delicious ode to Nutella (if there isn't Nutella in the mousse itself, darned if it doesn't taste like it). A nice little dollop of white chocolate ice cream accompanied it.

I'll definitely head back for the turkey sandwich. I also want to try the butcher board, which I was told wasn't available for lunch.

My nieces got me this book

Lotsa pretty pictures and some decent recipes. Unfortunately some call for fresh yeast instead of instant or active yeast. Oh well, guess that's what all that math I took in school was for.

Second worst beer I've ever put in my mouth!

What on earth could be a worse beer than that?

The market still spoke. Crazy Ed's is a beer you give to someone as a joke. Call it the "Jackass" effect.

I see bar harbor real ale (yes!), abita xmas (is this any good? never had it), Aventinus (yes!!!) and the Anderson Valley Oatmeal Stout (yes!!), but what are the three bottles on the right?

The labelled bottles are Lees Harvest Ale, but the versions that are aged in casks of various spirits (port, calvados, whiskey). Not certain which ones. The clear bottle with the yella liquid is, I hope, meant to stand in for a lump of coal in someone's stocking. If I'm not mistaken, it's Crazy Ed's Cave Creek Chili Beer.

If the chili beer is meant for you, shogun, and you have not had it: may God have mercy on your soul.

Has anyone been to the Cozy Restaurant in Thurmont, MD?

Umm... yeah. I'd skip the buffet unless you like ones that feature largely fried food (and salty at that). The buffet feels like a timewarp to the late 60's (I imagine... I wasn't alive then). My wife and I used them as our wedding reception caterers and the food they served on that occasion was night and day in comparison. I've not eaten off the menu there, though. If my wedding food is like the menu food, then it might be worth stopping by if you're in the area. I wouldn't make a pilgrimage solely for the food, though.

I've never tried there bread pudding, but I've never been known to turn a bread pudding down

Then get thee to the Four Provinces in Falls Church. Best dang bread pudding I've had in the area. It's an Irish-style preparation using some sort of cream sauce that has flavors of Baileys and steel cut oatmeal.

I've had mixed experiences with cap city mainstay beers (I dig the kolsch, a couple of the others are decent), but some of their seasonals truly shine. Fuel in particular is fantastic (but another high alcohol brew that jake will no doubt cringe at). I find it's a much better plan to eat before you go there, although I vaguely remember having a passable burger there a year or two ago.

I'll give mad props to the Kolsch, too, but you have to bear in mind that the style is one that isn't a 2x4 to the head like a lot of microbrews. Like a lot of brewpubs, it's the oneoffs that are really cool. I find the food to be standard brewpub fare, with maybe a bit of a Cajun emphasis. It's miles above the Brick and RFD, but otherwise nothing to get all that excited about.

I got word from the DC-Beer listserv that the Shirlington and downtown Capitol City are both pouring their take on the burgeoning style of the Belgian IPA (a Belgian take on the American-style of British IPAs (how's that for cross-pollination?)) that reared its head this past year. If you liked Urthel Hop-It or LaChouffe's Houblon, it's worth a shot.

Expect crisp grassy hoppiness with a real dry malt. Should have a big white head with sticky lacing. Oh yeah, it's probably high in abv, too.

With regards to the beers of Fort Collins Brewing Company (i.e. Fat Tire, et al.) it has long been my understanding that the good folks at Fort Collins are absolutely anal about which distributors they are willing to do business with. They place a high priority on shipping conditions, storage conditions, cleanliness and more. Their beer has to be kept refrigerated from the time it leaves Colorado until it actually gets to a retailer or bar/restaurant, they insist on that guarantee. At least this is what I've been told from one long time beer distributor.

New Belgium Brewing Company is the actual name of the brewery. I've not tried Fat Tire, but La Folie is probably the best beer of it's kind made anywhere. God bless their attitude if that is actually true. Getting tied to a distributor is such a one-sided relationship it's sick. What I've heard from others is that they'd rather grow their distribution slowly so that they aren't stretching themselves too thin. They'd rather not deny beer to customers they've had for over 5 years just to be able to say they distribute to the East Coast.

Chucked some mussels into a pot with some beef stock, most of a bottle of Smuttynose Winter Ale, a chopped onion, 2 bay leaves, and a scant handful of sundried tomato slices. I could have omitted the last ingredient, methinks. Sopped up the juices with good bread.

From someone who's had beer only twice in her life: what's the difference between "stout" and "lager"?

Stout is a type of ale, generally characterized by using roasted, but not necessarily malted, barley. They are generally bittersweet like a good dark chocolate. Also a bit roasty like charred wood or burnt toast. Lager is, well, not necessarily a helpful descriptor in a recipe. Beer can basically be classified to two different "kingdoms." Ales and Lagers. The main difference between the two is the type of yeast used and the temperature that the beer is fermented at. Ales are fermented at a warmer temperature while lagers are fermented at a colder temperature and then "lagered" (German for "storing") for a bit. Ales and lagers both run the gamut of flavors one can find in beer.

Generally, when a recipe calls for "lager," you should probably just use some cheap-o macrobrew like MGD since that's probably what the author meant. It's akin to saying "add 1 c. of vegetable" in a recipe. I highly doubt they mean Samichlaus, a 14% abv dobbelbock (a type of lager). I'd shy away from using Sam Adams Lager in cooking since it's fairly hoppy/bitter. That bitterness is only going to get more concentrated as the liquid boils off.

More info on ales vs. lagers:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/

Rampant, inappropriate commercialism!

On whose part? It's a manifesto, basically. It's supposed to promulgate a certain p.o.v. Yes, the authors' restaurants are mentioned in the beginning, but only to give the readers an idea of who is speaking. Having read the statement, I don't see anything too controversial within. Well, I slightly disagree with the Brillat-Savarin quote as I think we'll eventually find a star that has a planet with intelligent life on it, but I like the sentiment nonetheless.

If you pick up the January Food and Wine, you can see the "Marie Rose" recipe.

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon Tabasco

Wasn't that far off. I forgot to mention that it was good, regardless. I'm simply opting for other sauces next time because, like Pokemon, I gotta have 'em all.