OK, before I go too far into my take on NYC I must be honest and say that I spent a whole two days there and didn’t see much outside of Manhattan. “Well you didn’t see NYC then!” Yeah this is mostly true but I’ve been hearing about the wonders of NYC since I was a young little furball. Yet, to be frank I wasn’t all that impressed. (more…)
This past weekend I took advantage of one of my own tips, and found a cheap flight to Newark, NJ to visit my sister and brother-in-law and their adorable son, whom I met for the first time. While there we were able to do some touristy things. To be honest I only wanted to go to NJ so that my wife could finally meet her nephew and didn’t care if I had the opportunity to see NYC, my sister-in-law had other plans for us and so the sight seeing began. (more…)
Type: Beer – American Pale Ale
Name: Southern Tier Brewing Company – Phin & Matt’s Extraordinary Ale
Price: $1.79
Made: Lakewood, NY
Alc/Vol: 5.7%
“Brewed with 3 varieties of hops and 3 types of malts.”
When you slap a name like “extraordinary” or your beer, you pretty much are leaving yourself open. It’s like saying I’ve got really big balls and not expecting someone to give you a cup check. That would be a wee bit of a love tap to the groin in case you were curious.
Well, was it then? (more…)
Type: Beer – Dubbel Ale/Belgian Ale
Name: Ommegang Abbey Ale
Price: $6.99 – 1 pt.
Made: Cooperstown, NY
Alc/Vol: 8.5%
I seem to have found another corked beer, and again this one is a good one. Maybe those who cork their beer give a little more into it to produce a better quality beverage? So what does this beer have to say for itself?
“Is a Belgian-style abbey dubbel yielding a rich, fruity, and aromatic, Burgundian brew…
Ommegang abbey dubbel is inspired by the centuries-old brewing traditions of Belgian Trappist monks. Named after Belgium’s oldest medieval fest, every bottle of Ommegang is cause for celebration.”
A celebration indeed, for a beer is worth a cheer in most if not all occasions. At least, that is for me and this one certainly brought along a whole party. The flavors were rich and complex, mixed with cinnamon and spice. The beer poured a deep chestnut color, so much so that I held it up to the light just to see if I could see through it…and I couldn’t.
The nose wouldn’t give away the complexity of this drink, there is something there but not in a sense of cheap spice casually tossed on top. Once you take a sip of this beer the first reaction is wow. It is different and not something I can easily compare it to however I can say that their inspired Trappist beer did not falter in quality and complexity.
“Brewery Ommegang is 3,264 miles from Brussels, but its heart is right in Belgium. It was created out of our devotion to the unique ales brewed by the county where brewing is an art and partaking is a passion.”
As a beer with 8.5% alc/vol you would expect a bit of that to come through in the taste, but instead you taste the rich malts, deep fruits and I don’t know why but I was getting a coffee-ish like taste. It wasn’t coffee or toffee, a rich oatmeal – deep creamy texture of a taste that I just can’t name. Due to the complexity it is hard to pick out all the characteristics. However there is a hint of sweetness masked in the complexity of this beer before the rich aftertaste comes through. It has a thick mouth feel with a lingering aftertaste and semi-dry finish.
And remember “the most profound joy has more of gravity than gaity in it” -montaigne
Overall this was a wonderful beer, however 1 pint of this beer had me feeling the alcohol. It is a deep rich creamy beer with a sweetness to it that is not something I can see myself sipping on all night, let alone on a hot summer day. This is something I can see myself enjoying as I sit next to a fire, or out camping at night. I give this beer 4 1/2 bananas out of 5. It is an amazing beer, which coming from the Duval family of ales that shouldn’t be a surprise.
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Type: Beer – Red Lager
Name: Dundee Irish Red Lager
Price: $1.49
Made: Rochester, NY
Alc/Vol: 5.5%
“~Malty and Mellow~”
“A sheep painted red … Cruel joke, right? Nope. Farmers in Ireland and Scotland have been painting sheep for ages—makes ‘em easier to find. Thankfully, you won’t have any problem finding our new Irish Red Lager. Its malty backbone and rich, off-white head—some say it’s “cappuccino-like”—are unmistakable. Not to mention that big, beautiful color. Which, unlike the sheep, is 100% natural.
(All due respect to the sheep.)”
I love Irish red style beer so I had to have a friend try this one out with me so that my rating of this beer wasn’t biased. It also just so happened that my friends fridge had some Killians Irish Red so I took it upon myself to have a comparative analysis. (I love being able to use words that make drinking lots of beer sound like research) Although what I found at the end of my ‘study’ brought a slight different result than what I was expecting.
