BeanBoy's Profile
Beer Newbie needs recommendation
Wasn't talking about Ol' Rasputin, but why not?? It is very drinkable, especially if you find it on nitro, yum yum!!!
Old Number 38 is their straight up stout, great with a sharp cheddar cheese!!!!
Beer Newbie needs recommendation
Try Damnation, you'll be happy you did. It is an American/Belgian style beer.
I find their other stuff good, but not consistently, jaw-droppingly good. Every time I have a glass pulled from a tap or pop open one of their bottles I am constantly happy with it.
North Coast Beers are quite good too. Their stout or their Brother Thelonius are both spectacular!! (Another great spot to make a trek to as well!!)
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Russian River Brewing Co.
725 4th St, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
North Coast Brewing Co
444 N Main St, Fort Bragg, CA 95437
Favorite Hard Cider
They have some amazing stuff, I can only seem to get it at Whole Foods here in the Bay Area. Any place that uses apples and no carbonation or sweeteners for their cider is bound to be good!!
Have you ever had Farnum Hill?? It looks like Farnum Hill is starting to get some distribution out West. I'd be psyched if I could get my hands on a bottle of that stuff without having to fly back East for a change. . .
Favorite Hard Cider
Link
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Wandering Aengus Ciderworks
6130 Bethel Heights Rd NW, Salem, OR
French/Norman Cidre
Really wish that we could make a good bottle of cider here in the US. I've only found one place that makes cider with actual apples and natural fermentation: Farnum Hill in NH or Wandering Aegus from Salem, OR. Crisp, dry and complex. . .
Can't stand the stuff made from apple concentrate like Magner's, Woodchuck and the like, can you?? It is a bit like comparing Mad Dog to carefully mad wine though.
The next best thing to good Calva is Clear Creek's apple brandy. Quite nice stuff, especially the 8 yr. . . :)
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Farnum Hill Ciders
98 Poverty Ln, Lebanon, NH
Clear Creek Distillery
2389 NW Wilson St, Portland, OR
Wandering Aengus Ciderworks
6130 Bethel Heights Rd NW, Salem, OR
Clover Machines?
Late to work today, held my nose and went into Buckey's on Market & 3rd for caffeine. I was pleasantly surprised that they have a clover machine going now -- it helped out even the Starbuck's beans that they shoveled inside. The coffee seemed to open up and I could taste flavors I'd never imagine I'd taste inside a Starbuck's paper sippy-cup.
This experience made me wonder where else around the city one might find a clover machine, in a cafe serving nicer beans. . . .
Also, what do other's think of the clover? Is it all hype or is it worth every penny of its $11,000 price tag?
(I shall now say seven hail Blue Bottles, on my Chowhound Coffee-snob decoder-ring for praising Starbucks.)
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Starbucks Coffee
7 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94103
The Ups and Downs of Breakfast @ Café Leila in Berkeley
Has the service and the attitude of the owner improved (ie. become more welcoming) at all?
Favorite Hard Cider
Not a huge fan of Ace. It is way too sweet. If you ever get a chance to try some Normandy cider, cider from smaller producers in England or Farnum Hill, GET SOME!!
Favorite Hard Cider
If any of you Northeasterners haven't tried Farnum Hill Cider yet, you're missing out.
They grow cider apples, and make the bet dry apple cider I have ever had.
I am not a huge fan of Woodchuck or Fox, they taste too much like alcoholic Juicy-Juice. :( Farnum Hill is hard to find, but I go out of my way to find it whenever I am back east. Hope a few bottles start finding their way out to California soon...
http://www.farnumhillciders.com/
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Farnum Hill Ciders
98 Poverty Ln, Lebanon, NH
Berkeley - Guerilla Café Wi-fi and waffles
I just had to give this place a bit thumbs up.
I've been going here for the past 3 years or so. Always loved the food and coffee but tolerated the cold, unwelcoming staff. I have always loved the food here, loved the decor and the art. . . but have never been a regular even though its in my neighborhood. I guess I just never felt comfortable there and the staff always seemed to be unhappy. . . espresso sans joy de vivre?? No thanks.
Today three things happened that have totally changed my mind about this place:
1) The workers smiled when I walked in the door and said, "hello."
2) They made a minor mistake and actually apologized!! :)
3) When I left they said "goodbye" and "thank you."
Rum that you can sip??
Does anyone have a good recommendation for deep, round, smooth, tasty rum that you can sip?
I have tried some here and there and all rums seem to have a bitterness that hits me in the back of my tongue.
I've dropped cash on Pyrate OX, tried Zaya, had Appleton's Estated Xv and they all were yummy with a little sparkling water and lime juice, with coke or a biting ginger ale. But why can we sip scotch, enjoy its round flavors but we don't ask the same from our rum?
I imagine a rum that is able to be drunk neat, has a wide complex flavor that passes over the tongue without making me cringe as it makes its way down to my stomach. I'm almost embarrassed to say that the closest thing I've found is actually a $12 bottle of Bacardi Añejo. It doesn't come in as cool a bottle as Pyrate, it's a little simple, but not half bad.
I can think of nothing inherent in rum that would make it unable to be as enjoyable as a fine single malt. Why drop $40 or $50 on a bottle of rum that you can only stand to drink mixed with a bunch a soda that's supersaturated with sugar or corn syrup??
How do you feel?
Ode to a Misty Masse's Morning Bun
Yea Masse's cakes look just a little too fancy to eat for me.
If you go there, make sure to get a couple of cookies for later. They do cookies and breakfast pastries well!!
Thanks for the link :)
Sharffen Berger
I wonder how long the bricks of that building will reek of chocolate :D
Sharffen Berger
yea . . . about the factory tour.
Just called them and they have decided to stop doing the tour. You can now only do a virtual tour of the factory online.
Half of the joy of the tour was to leave reeking of chocolate for the rest of the day.
But you can still visit their store. . . HOW LAME!! Grrrrrrrr.
Call and complain!! (510) 981-4066
Beer vs. Wine (Round 2)
There has been an interesting conversation going on on a couple different boards and I thought I'd try give this discussion its own space.
Is beer as suitable to be paired with food as wine has been traditionally paired with food?
If so, is beer more suitable for some foods than wine and is wine more suitable for some foods than beer?
(Where does saké -- technically closer to beer than wine -- fit into this equation as well??)
**Ding**
Food Pairing with D/Head 120 IPA
Why is it an issue what the general public thinks??
I thought the discussion was about how well beer matches with food?
I would agree Chi., that most people view wine as a better match for food, at higher class, even as superior to wine. But simply because public perception is pointed one way, doesn't make it so. Look at how many people voted for Bush in 2004 thinking he would be the best thing for our country. :P
Sharffen Berger
Sad but true. Hershey's is closing Sharffen Berger's factory.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/28/BU2F15I9DV.DTL
Who else is going to open their chocolate factory doors to the public??
Hope that Hershey's doesn't mess up the good thing that Sharffen Berger started. I doubt that they will be trying anything innovative.
Ode to a Misty Masse's Morning Bun
Thanks. I'll have to check them out.
Wish I knew where morning buns came from. I never encountered one until I moved here about a few years ago.
Ode to a Misty Masse's Morning Bun
La Farine's are great. Gooey and crispy. Masse's are a different than others I've had though. They sort of have a different style of croissant dough and a different approach to morning than most other I've tried. Could do better on presentation, but why mess with something that tastes so good??
I'll have to write more about other morning buns. Have you tried Café Fanny's morning bun?
Food Pairing with D/Head 120 IPA
Did you look at the chart I linked to before?
If you want detailed suggestions take a look:
http://www.beertown.org/education/matching_chart.html
beertown.org also lays down interesting ideas of how to pair beer with food.
http://www.beertown.org/education/matching.html
I tend to like the general advice (the second link) than the specific. Gives me a little wiggle room to make my own mistakes and learn what I like and can't stand. he he.
Food Pairing with D/Head 120 IPA
he he he. I TOTALLY agree about DFH 120. Perhaps it gets mellow with age. I am glad that DFH is really going out there and experimenting with just what a beer can be.
There is almost twice as much alcohol in 120 IPA as there is in some wines. I have a couple bottles that I'll crack open in a few more years. Was NOT a huge fan of how the 2008 120 IPA tasted a few weeks ago . . . though the effects were super-mellow and nice for a chilly winter night.
The right beer poured at the right temperature and in the right way can MOST CERTAINLY be as delicate and subtle as wine to me. Especially the higher alcohol tripple fermented Belgian style ales.
But taste is subjective. Maybe its the setting and the fact that I am oo-ed and awed by things like wood paneling, interestingly shaped glasses, or the ritualistic way that Belgian beer is poured. . . but fancy beers seem to taste better at places like The Trappist near where I live.
I feel like I get more bang for my buck with fancy beer vs fancy wine. We seem to devalue drinks like good beer, expertly fermented cider because they don't have the same mystique built up around them.
Best Baklava in San Francisco
Zatar in Albany is OK if you catch it right (ie. if it is fresh, not always a guarantee at this place.)
They usually have three different types of baklava.
Food Pairing with D/Head 120 IPA
Forgot your list. Sorry:
http://savorcraftbeer.com/breweries.html
10 Best Scotches
good luck in your search. Hope you like it. If you don't, don't come seeking revenge. :P
Food Pairing with D/Head 120 IPA
I would have to say that all craft brewers do this. Beer is food after all.
I don't share your supposition that an alcoholic beverage is only suitable to drink with a meal if its maker had that meal in mind when he made it. I also have been known to thoroughly enjoy a wine with a good burger and the right beer with the right piece of cheese.
Putting flavors together that please the palate should take a little imagination sometimes. This is not a test. There is no one right answer.
I know of plenty of chefs that build meals around a beverage, be it beer, wine or cider. Just google the word "Gastropub"
It seems a bit cliché to think that beer is for chest thumping masses and wine for the educated worthy few. The flavors of a good beer can be as delicate and subtle as any decent wine.
There are folks that DO put quite a lot of thought into this:
http://www.beertown.org/education/matching_chart.html
Food Pairing with D/Head 120 IPA
Don't wonder. Read up on it if you're curious.
There are plenty of books and great articles out there. Some vague notion of what is proper doesn't really tell anyone very much.
10 Best Scotches
I've seen it at Bevmo. They have a bottle of it every now and then. I might check some of the other specialty places.
It sells for about $30 at Bevmo, seen it only 2x there in the past 6 months.
10 Best Scotches
I have recently been ooing and awing over a bottle of Ardmore whiskey.
http://www.ardmorewhisky.com/index.aspx
It is a single malt, JUST released this year by a distiller that was only producing spirit to be blended into Teacher's Whiskey.
Good, drinkable peaty, under-priced stuff. But very hard to find as they've only released a few cases this year.
If you see it, BUY it (But only if you don't live in the SF Bay Area!!! ;).
You won't be sorry.
