Sunday Sips: Kenzinger

Beer Name:  Kenzinger

Brewed By/In:  Philadelphia Brewing Company / Philadelphia, PA

Best Served In:  Stange Glass from the tap

ABV:  4.5%

Characteristics:  Perfectly golden straw color, white head that lasted for a minute releasing some hoppy and floral aromatics.  Splashed with a slightly hoppy bite onto the palate and finished sweetly.  The light body was crisp and refreshing as you tasted hits of citrus.  

Food-pairing:  Tasty Kake Butterscotch Krimpet Tiramisu (I wish I had a photo to share)

Overall:  8.0 - For a beer whose name seems to refer to a frightening part of Philadelphia, this brew is certainly anything but that.  It sat well with my meal at Bridget Foy's of South Street.  By the way, this drink was included in the Restaurant Week menu.  Thankfully, this year-round beer can be enjoyed again - I have high hopes that sitting on my porch with this chilled will make for a great evening.  I am going to preemptively recommend this as a summer session.  I am proud to know that Philadelphia has a plethora of outstanding brewers - even if the water sources may be the Delaware or the Schuylkill.  I will continue to support the PBC and the many brewing companies of the City of Brotherly Love.    

If you have not gone out yet to enjoy Restaurant Week in Philadelphia, by all means, do it.  It is a great way to feel fancy without paying the full, fancy prices and many establishments like Bridget Foy's offer a complementary drink!  Today begins week 2 of the event for this season.  See all of the participating restaurants through OpenTable!  See what others are saying and join the conversation on Twitter.  

(Image provided by Google Images)

Treat Yo'self January 25th

My dinner tonight is dedicated to the few, the proud - beer and burrito lovers.  As I stood in line at the local Chipotle, I anxiously awaited my turn to the assembly line of fixings.  After my usual was loaded up - a burrito with brown rice, chicken, black beans, corn, hot salsa, and gauc (because I deserved it) - I hurried home to crack to open a Yard's Philadelphia Pale Ale and unwrap the foil.  On this January evening with a slight chill in the air, this burrito brew combo hit the spot without a doubt.  Slainte!

"MmmHop IPA anyone?" - Zac Hanson

Zac, Ike, and Tay are back.  This time, not with a shamefully catchy tune but instead a beer!  Fifteen years ago, I was wearing Jinco jeans and my copy of Hanson's album rested in my CD player.  MmmBop maintained the #1 spot on the music charts for over 3 weeks and sold over 700,000 copies.  It seems that Hanson is not so much focused on financial success but producing a quality product.  MmmHop, a play on the 1997 hit, will be produced in India Pale Ale style and ready for sale in early 2012, as announced in the United Kingdom recently.  According to Zac, they want fans to "have a greater experience."  To have a great experience of your own, please enjoy the over-sized, short-sleeved, button down shirts and long, blonde hair in the original MmmBop video.   Hanson joins the ranks of other rock bands in alcohol production including Train, Kiss, and Def Leppard.

  

Sunday Sips: Downtown Brown

Beer Name:  Downtown Brown

Brewed By/In: Lost Coast Brewery / Eureka, CA

ABV:  5.0%

Best Served In:  The bottle

Characteristics:  Nutty aromas seep from the bottle.  Once on the palate,the flavors follow the smell - nutty, roasted coffee, almost-like-chocolate goodness.  Full-flowing mouthfeel yet neither very hoppy nor bitter.

Food-pairing:  Pan-seared scallops, light/white dessert

Overall:  7.5 - Although an easy-drinking and dark, this American Brown Ale filled me with only one bottle down.  Long Coast Brewery has a warm, comforting taste.  No wonder, considering the brewery was started by 2 extraordinary women.

My brothers and I sipped our brews while enjoying an wondrous night of Mario Party 6 mini-games and laughter.  So let's raise a glass to a basking in a true bro-mance!

(Photo provided by Google Images)

Professor of Pouring

Craft breweries provide about 100,000 jobs across the United States.  Not just any ol' Beercan Bobby applies and is hired though.  Craft implies a certain degree of art or finesse.  And in order to hone your craft, you must be trained or mentored along the way.  Believe it or not, those programs exist throughout North America and Europe.  Learning the differences in hops and malts (and WAY more), students then facilitate the transformation of ingredients into a fine, pouring libation.  

Below you will find a few links to a sampling of North American university programs and their department descriptions.  I guarantee all of these professors have the best rankings and hot tamales on RateMyProfessor.

Central Washington University - Craft Beer Trade Certification Program

Colorado State University - Beverage Business Institute OR Zymurgy Institute

Oregon State University - Fermentation Science

University of California, Davis - Extension Program

Niagra College Canada - Brewmaster & Brewery Operations Management

Other organizations offer extensive seminar-based classes that result in an institutionally sponsored certificate, expertise in an area of craft brewing, or simply a greater breadth of knowledge.  

American Brewers Guild - Craft Brewers Apprenticeship and Intensive Brewing Science & Engineering

Master Brewers Association of the Americas - Beer Steward Certificate Program

Beer, Beer, and More Beer - Beer Judge Certification Program

Unfortunately for me, many of these programs not located in the greater Philadelphia area, but I am determined to pursue one of these or many of the online programs that exist.  Upon completion, be sure to be on the look out for an update and I will try my best to avoid using snooty jargon.  Let's raise a glass to beer literacy.  Slainte!

(Image provided by blogs.citypages.com)

Sunday Sips: Dead Guy Ale

Beer Name:  Dead Guy Ale

Brewed By/In:   Rogue Brewery / Newport, OR

ABV:  6.5%

Best Served In:  Pint glass from the tap

Characteristics:  Cloudy, honey color.  Has a spiced smell but not overwhelming.  Medium mouthfeel - satisfying but not weighty; good carbonation.  Has a roasted taste when first splashing on my tongue but finished light like caramel.

Food-pairing:  Spicy foods

Overall:  8.5 - I was surprised how much I enjoyed this brew.  I have not given Rogue enough of a chance but I will definitely change my ways after sipping this skeleton-donned libation (see tap-topper).  I, without a doubt, could have had a second and would have felt just as satisfied.  With a little research, I have found that Dead Guy is in the Maibock style - more to come on what this means and what other beers are brewed in this style.  

I apologize for leaving you Sips-less since 2011, but I am feeling recharged and ready to continue sipping and blogging all the way through 2012.  Slainte!

(Image provided by Google Images)

Welcome to 2012!

In lieu of Sunday Sips, I thought I would bring you into my living room for New Year's Eve.  While the final moments of the year 2011 drew near, in the midst of hummus and other homemade fruit and buffalo dips, some of my favorite people and I pinged our glasses together with a fruity concoction.  Although the photo is not completely clear (my fault - I hastily tried to sneak a shot on my cell phone between Lady Gaga's performance and Dick Clark's countdown), trust me when I say the glass had a vibrant hue and a cloy hit to the taste buds.   And yes, I thought a margarita glass was the most stylish way to serve this treat.  Two parts sparkling grape juice mixed with one part Landeman's Framboise Raspberry Lambic puckered the lips up for the New Year's kiss.  The acidic tartness of the berries paired with the sweet, champagne-like qualities of the grape juice awakened the palate at midnight.  I would certainly recommend this quick, cheap duet of flavors for your next gathering.  So let's raise a glass to a new year and to new endeavors.  Make 2012 the best year yet.  Slainte!