MT Pub Guide for the World

[exile]

We use all fruit for our berry wines with a carefully calculated alcohol contents between 18 and 20 percent.

Whoa, that is mighty!.

At our place you could find a dessert wine pared with smoked spring salmon and whole grain wafers, cheeses and pates or just plain old snacks over by the spa. And you likely won't get a headache or hangover in the morning.

What is it Arni says? "Mmmmm, I'm getting hungry..."

I can wear whatever I want, it never closes ... who could ask for more?

And that's the best part, eh?

Dogfish Head 60 minutes IPA is a great, great bitter style beer. I slightly prefer the Stone Ruination Ale, but that's just because I like extremely bitter beer and SRA really overdoes the hopping. DH 60 has become a great American classic bitter. Another one in the same style, also very good, is Bell's Two-Hearted Ale. I'd be curious to know the impressions of people who've tried both, enough to form a sense of what the differences between them in terms of flavor are. Bell's also makes an overhopped beer, HopSlam, which is like the Two-Hearted Ale on steroids... yum, yum! If you can find it, definitely try it, it's superb.

One thing that a lot of American microbrewers are very good about is leaving the yeast in the bottle, so that the beer is constantly conditioning up to the point you pour it. Bottle conditioning is a big issue over in the UK—once upon a time it was a very rare bird, and certain beers, Worthington White Shield in particular, were legendary because of it. Bottle-conditioning almost went the way of the dodo during the dark days of the 1960s, but it's come back in a big way there. In the States, it seems almost to be the default for the micros. So that's another thumbs-up for us... the problem is, you can't get any of these great beers on cask, served by handpump. Even where the bar serves them 'on draft', it's not really draft—drawn by air-pressure—but rather shoved out the tap by C02 pressure. As soon as carbon dioxon meets yeasts, the yeast dies and the beer's no longer live. It's a real pity, because the Dogfish Head or Bell's or Stone would be scary-good if you could get them as real ales...but the only pubs in the US which use handpumps are the brewpubs themselves, for their own beer... :waah:

 

[Sukerkin]

Being more of a wino than a beer drinker these days, Georgia's home-vintnering is great to read of. One of my workmates makes his own wine and it sounds a fascinating process (tho' it does sound like you need a bit of room for storage and so forth).

Those alcohol percentages seem really high, tho' Georgia; doesn't it negatively affect the flavours? Then again, some of the worst tasting wines I've ever drunk have been the weak ones from the bad harvests in Germany (about 11%) so maybe the alcohol level is integral to the taste?

 

[exile]

Those alcohol percentages seem really high, tho' Georgia; doesn't it negatively affect the flavours?

A very alcoholic wine can give you a subjective sense of something like... heat, I guess. If the vintner is clever about it, that can be balanced out by other flavors. That's why a higher priced wine with strong alcohol content is going to be not just way better, but way way better, than a similarly strong wine that's much cheaper... part of what you're paying for there is the craftsmanship that can tame all that alcohol.

This was one reason I never cared much for Zinfandel—it was always made much too alcoholic, and very few Zin winemakers knew how to balance that element of the flavor.

 

[exile]

Back to pubs: if you're ever in Utrecht, do not rest until you've found, and sampled a few of the 40 or so Belgian ales served (many in draft form) at De Pintalier. This is strictly a beer tavern: no food or anything fancy like that. Relatively small, warm polished wooden interior—it actually seems to glow, though that could be the effect of all those 10% beers :lol:—very very welcoming, extremely friendly staff who know their beers inside and out. My Dutch is pretty rudimentary, but as elsewhere in Holland, the population is essentially 100% fluent—scarily so, in fact—in English—they have a better command of the language than a good many of our native-born OSU undergraduates, alas—so you're never at a loss for words, so to speak. They have a bunch of specials that don't show up on their gorgeous, work-of-art menus—these are free, and framable, and I brought one back and did just that with it. The place is a beer drinker's Garden of Eden, and those Belgian brews... most of them are ones no one in this country's ever heard of, and they're so good that even confirmed hopheads don't mind giving up their fix of bitterness for an evening or two (or more... )

 

[theletch1]

Belgian beer (at least a good deal of it) is an acquired taste. I just can't handle a lambic. Any pub that gets Bob bubbling about it as in the above post has got to be good though so I'd not have a problem sitting and trying a few different brews out there.

 

[exile]

Belgian beer (at least a good deal of it) is an acquired taste. I just can't handle a lambic. Any pub that gets Bob bubbling about it as in the above post has got to be good though so I'd not have a problem sitting and trying a few different brews out there.

Lambic's not my cup of tea either, actually (that sounds very odd to say, but there it is...) It's definitely an acquired taste and I've never thought it worth the trouble to acquire. There are a lot of Belgians that are kind of mailed-fist-in-a-velvet-glove—fruity, soft, light but not thin in texture... and 11% or more!!?? :erg: Even the 8%+ kind have to be treated with respect. Duvel is a great beer, but it's too good: that sort of mild pear-ish flavor and warmth make you think, well, one is good, two will be even better... and it's downhill from there...

One thing that's nice about De Pintalier is that they don't give you a huge amount in any glass. That way, you can try a few without having to worry that you're going to wake up the day after tomorrow...somewhere you've never seen before, in a completely different set of clothes than you sat down to drink in :lol:

 

[shesulsa]

Being more of a wino than a beer drinker these days, Georgia's home-vintnering is great to read of. One of my workmates makes his own wine and it sounds a fascinating process (tho' it does sound like you need a bit of room for storage and so forth).

Very educational for the kiddos, too.

Those alcohol percentages seem really high, tho' Georgia; doesn't it negatively affect the flavours? Then again, some of the worst tasting wines I've ever drunk have been the weak ones from the bad harvests in Germany (about 11%) so maybe the alcohol level is integral to the taste?

You really have to have more fruit than the average table wine which usually has about 7-9 percent. 18-20 percent is really for the headier, sweeter fruits like blackberry (and the other dark, sweet berries and cherries), white plum, muscats and dessert whites. Any fruit with some acidic properties will have to be lower as to not kill the taste nor allow the PH to overwhelm.

A very alcoholic wine can give you a subjective sense of something like... heat, I guess. If the vintner is clever about it, that can be balanced out by other flavors. That's why a higher priced wine with strong alcohol content is going to be not just way better, but way way better, than a similarly strong wine that's much cheaper... part of what you're paying for there is the craftsmanship that can tame all that alcohol.

This was one reason I never cared much for Zinfandel—it was always made much too alcoholic, and very few Zin winemakers knew how to balance that element of the flavor.

Many of the zin makers (*cough - California - cough*) used artificial aging methods to speed up the process and thin out the juice. Antifreeze is one of those agents. Now, antifreeze is illegal to use in the wine industry in some states.

 

[Makalakumu]

Bell's Two Hearted Ale is some yummy stuff. I was drinking that exclusively at a little brew pub up in Ely MN. It was new and didn't have its brewery up yet so they had Bell's on gravity pour. Very good.

I can't wait to see how their beer turns out.

Belgian pubs. I've haven't been to Belgium yet, but I did go to a great pub in Christchurch that was run by two brothers from Belgium. The atmosphere was very international inside there and the beer was way too good. I was walking sideways out of that pub.

 

[exile]

Bell's Two Hearted Ale is some yummy stuff. I was drinking that exclusively at a little brew pub up in Ely MN. It was new and didn't have its brewery up yet so they had Bell's on gravity pour. Very good. I can't wait to see how their beer turns out.

Whoa, lucky you!!! Probably very, very few folk have gotten to drink Bell's DH as a real ale...

Belgian pubs. I've haven't been to Belgium yet, but I did go to a great pub in Christchurch that was run by two brothers from Belgium. The atmosphere was very international inside there and the beer was way too good. I was walking sideways out of that pub.

Yeah, that's probably the main problem with Belgian beer... and the worst part is, you probably thought you were walking straight ahead... has a very serious effect on one's sense of space and time, it does... :lol:

 

[crushing]

Bell's Two Hearted Ale is some yummy stuff. I was drinking that exclusively at a little brew pub up in Ely MN. It was new and didn't have its brewery up yet so they had Bell's on gravity pour. Very good.

I can't wait to see how their beer turns out.

There is a lovely beer garden at Bell's Brewery too. I think they usually have live bands out in the beer garden on Fridays and Saturdays. Just a wonderful atmosphere. Bell's Two Hearted is up there on my list of IPAs. At the top is Shorts Huma-Lupa-Licious and Founders' Centennial. Founders had a nice festival with live music a couple weeks ago. The beer was excellent and I was feeling REALLY good. I've become partial to IPAs. I had some Magic Hat #9 last weekend at the ROTHBURY Music Festival and could hardly choke it down. It is supposed to be a great beer, but I think my hopped up drinks of late have Ruinated my taste for other beers.

A buddy I went golfing with this morning brought me a growler of Bootlet IPA from the Hideout brewery in Grand Rapids. Good stuff too!

 

[kailat]

OH my, this is going to be one of my favorite post ever..LOL.. MY FAVORITE PUBS and BREW PUBS.. are you ready?

MUNCIE, IN:

HEOROT PUB; absolutley one of the country if not the worlds finest whole in the wall pubs.. KNOWN for thier pizza... and over 300 different selections of brew... over 100 on tap selection

http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/indiana/muncie/the-heorot/1525.htm
http://www.myspace.com/atticheorot

FICKLE PEACH and MORTONS IRISH PUB; actually all 3 locations serve nothing but import and micro brew beers. over 300 different selections of beer.

BLOOMINGTON, IN:

UPLAND BREWERY; http://www.uplandbeer.com/ not only do they have a good list of brew's but the food is awesome... just great..

One that I have not been too yet.. but love thier beer is BELLS BREWERY in MICHIGAN I love Oberon! ; )

But their are many other great breweries in and or around the area.