Kenji's Profile
Bad beer trends.
I'm with you on...well, all of that.
Ipswich Oatmeal Stout is my favorite New England beer, if not my favorite beer full stop.
Bad beer trends.
The Anchor Bock is tasty, I agree. If I sampled it blind, I'd never dream it was a bock, but the brew is agreeable on the palate.
Bad beer trends.
Magic Hat has at least one IPA, their Blind Faith. I'm not familiar with the Otter Creek lineup.
Bad beer trends.
I don't know of any brewer of black IPAs (I prefer the term India Dark Ale; it's more concise and less contradictory) who does not also produce IPA.
Best beer to pair with waffles?
I've never tried that pairing, but my instinct would be to go with a stout.
George Howell Cafe (re-)opening in Newtonville
I had my coffee "awakening" at the Harvard Square Coffee Connection in the mid-80s.
Sierra Celebration 2011 WTF?
There were a couple editions of CA in the 90s whose hop presence seemed to me, after diverse samples, a tad soft. But generally speaking, the brew is remarkably consistent.
The ale may have started out with a slightly lower gravity than the 1068 it has long maintained. One of Jackson's books ascribed an OG of 1060 to it.
Rachel Ray and Guy Fieri together?
Alright, just so long as you remind the youngsters to wear their glasses on the other sides of their heads.
Rachel Ray and Guy Fieri together?
I actually rooted for Guy when he was a competitor on "The Next Food Network Star." But he has become -- no doubt with encouragement from FN higher-ups -- a cross between a clown and a cartoon.
And the way he eats -- taking freakishly huge mouthfuls of the item, then taking another monstrous mouthful before he has chewed the first, smearing cheese and grease all over his facial hair and skin -- is disgusting. And then, worst of all, he starts babbling with his mouth full. If you want to accuse me of snobbery in objecting to all this, first ask yourself if you encourage children to develop these sorts of habits.
Finally, much of Guy's expressions of praise for dishes -- e.g., "That's off the hook!" or "That's on-point!" -- don't really make sense.
Bourdain's anal obsession
Yes, the ostrich egg omelette (cooked for a seeming eternity directly on ash) was in the same episode (Namibia?) as the warthog rectum. They ate beetles in the show as well, which AB seemed to genuinely prefer to the aforementioned delectables.
Bourdain claimed the warthog part was the worst meal of his life, though he's said that about various things.
Rachel Ray and Guy Fieri together?
Is this another contest? "Most Annoying FN Personality," perhaps?
Bourdain's anal obsession
Not just ticks but deer ticks. Bourdain has mentioned them -- and his fear of finding them engorged on his scrotum -- twice, in an African episode and an Italian one. The references stood out for me because I've had unpleasant encounters with the nasty parasites.
Bourdain's anal obsession
I could do without the scatological references, but it's not as if Bourdain makes them constantly. I remember his claim in the San Francisco episode that he had come to the farmer's market at the Ferry Building prepared to deposit a "sizable and snarktastic Cleveland Steamer" on the scene -- but that the quality of the free food samples and the general niceness of the people changed his mind.
Don't I recall that he strongly disliked the warthog rectum and ate it just to avoid being rude?
The Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs (Episode 6 "Food Auction") [Spoilers]
I agree with you; I can't stand him. It seems to me that when his and Symon's judgments clash, Symon tends to prevail.
Sierra Celebration 2011 WTF?
Bigfoot is a fantastic barleywine, with, as you say, lots of great malt and hop character. Last year's edition was good as ever.
One for the Hopheads!
Were they still tinkering with the beer at the time of that post, I wonder? Every bottle of Torpedo I've seen listed the ABV as 7.2%, while the website says the brew has 65 IBUs.
One for the Hopheads!
I had always taken the "Extra IPA" subtitle as an allusion to the beer's additional hopping process.
Acme IPA, which I used to encounter on the west coast, had 7.2% ABV, precisely the same alcohol content as the Torpedo, and no one familiar with this brew ever suggested it was anything other than an IPA. (The brewers of Acme IPA have since brought the ABV down a touch.)
Sierra Celebration 2011 WTF?
I had my first sample of the '11 Celebration Ale last night. It was perfectly good.
Generally speaking, and in spite of the annual pronouncements of the beer's downfall, I think CA has been very consistent in recent years.
Favorite IPAs?
Yes, that's just how the porter was. Very chocolatey, and with a touch of smoked malt.
Favorite IPAs?
I remember the Grant's beers vividly because they were among the first that I explored upon discovering the world of flavorful beer -- and I continued to drink them as long as they were around. The Imperial Stout never had more than 6% ABV from my first sample of it in '88 or so -- but research convinced me it had previously come in higher ABV versions. It was my favorite in the Grant's family.
The Celtic Ale was in the 4% ABV ballpark, as I recall -- as was the tasty "Perfect Porter" which appeared relatively late, in '94the or so.
Sierra Nevada and the arms race....
I liked that too. I used to encounter it in the late 90s.
The Maine Micro Brew Culture, the best in the US?
Alright, but since you appear to be replying to me, I just want to be clear that I didn't suggest "one [beer region] is great and the other is a joke"; indeed, I tried to indicate that I found Maine a good place for beer, even if it doesn't have the quality & variety of some other parts of the country.
Best Lager beer in the World!
I haven't encountered it in a while, but St. Christoffel pilsner from Holland is certainly among the best lagers I've ever had. I love classic Czech pilsners, but St. Christoffel has got to be my favorite example of the style ever. It's unfiltered, on the strong side (6% ABV) for the style, and full of beautiful hop flavors and aromas.
I'd love to try the same brewer's Robertus bock as well; I'll bet it's amazing too.
The Maine Micro Brew Culture, the best in the US?
I visited one of the Gritty McDuff's pubs while passing through Maine. I thought their Blackfly Stout and IPA were both good but not exceptional.
Geary's beers also strike me as good but not great.
Allagash, on the other hand, strikes me as an exceptional brewery.
I do not think, based on my (admittedly occasional) trips to Maine that its beer culture comes close to those of Northern CA., the Pacific Northwest, or Colorado.
Best IPA
I dispute that hops were "all there was for flavor" when the American microbrewery movement started. Sierra Nevada's pale ale, porter, and stout all sported a beautiful hop-malt balance. Anchor's lineup -- especially the porter and Old Foghorn -- had plenty of good malt flavors. Grant's Imperial Stout, Scottish Ale, and Celtic Ale, while hoppy, had fine malt backbones. I could go on but hopefully you get the idea.
No, the "hop bombs" are a relatively recent development.
Best Lager beer in the World!
Not to be contentious, but Glissade has all the characteristics of a lager; pale bocks are traditionally lagers; and -- finally -- Sierra Nevada _does_ say that the Glissade is a lager (look the beer up on their website; what yeast is it made with?).
Best Lager beer in the World!
Do you mean, perhaps, that Glissade is a golden bock rather than a _pilsner_?
I've never had a pale bock that wasn't a lager.
Qingdao Garden MARCH 2ND RE-OPEN
I'm with you on the five spices pork.
The lamb with scallions is also good.
