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Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Martin House Turtle Power Blackberry Altbier Release
Friday, October 7, 2016
Tips for Aging Beers in Difficult Conditions
If you are a true beer snob, you are most likely aging several beers in a cool, quite, tucked away space. But what if you don't have a cool place to age your liquid gold? Here are some hints from DRAFT magazine to help you along.
The general rules of aging beer are, by this point, pretty well-known. Focus on high-alcohol beers and intensely flavored styles like imperial stouts and barleywines; store them out of the reach of sunlight; try to keep them at a constant temperature between 55 and 65 degrees. But for many would-be cellarmen, warm climates and the lack of a beer fridge make following that last decree particularly tough. What’s a beer nerd without a basement to do? For the answer, we turned to Patrick Dawson, an expert on aging beers well. He’s the author of “Vintage Beer: A Taster’s Guide to Brews That Improve over Time” and a regular drinker of ales that are older than you—he once tasted a Bass Ratcliffe Ale bottled in 1869, which had to be poured through a cheesecloth to catch all the chunks of coagulated yeast muck and crumbled cork, but still held up well. Dawson offers several tips for laying down bottles when your environment is far from ideal.
Invest in insulation.
Because so many beers are fermented in a brewery’s tanks at temperatures lower than 70 degrees, Dawson says that’s about as warm as you ever want your cellar to get. “There are certain flavors that could come out at that temperature that the brewer never even realized would come out,” he says. But for the sweltering late-summer months when even “room temperature” nudges near 80, getting above that magic number is unavoidable; you’re going to have to take extra steps to minimize the damage. Dawson suggests using styrofoam shipping boxes (the kind you can pick up at most large liquor stores) or an insulated cooler, which will at least mitigate the temperature swings and allow the beer to age more gracefully. “The whole logic with temperature swings is that there’s an activation temperature for certain chemical processes,” says Dawson. “They’ll slow down or maybe even stop at certain temperatures, so if you’re constantly stopping and starting these processes, the beer’s not going to mature as well. You want to just have that nice, steady temperature so the processes can finish out smoothly.”
Aim for the middle.
Don’t store your beer in closets with exterior facing walls, Dawson explains: They tend to get warmer and go through larger temperature fluctuations throughout the day. Try to find a space for your insulated boxes near the center of your home or apartment, where the AC will have maximum effect and what’s going on outside will matter least.
Buy tougher beer.
“If you have a 55-degree cellar, yeah, age an 8% or 9% beer, but if you’re only able to keep it around 70 degrees, I’d say nothing below 11%,” suggests Dawson. Big, viscous beers with lots of residual sweetness and loads of alcohol flavor are your best bet in staving off the thinning of a beer’s body and reduction in its malty sweetness that naturally occur over time and will be more pronounced at higher temps. He says, “For me, a dream barleywine bound for the cellar is basically screaming hot—like, it just tastes like rubbing alcohol—and it’s thick and syrupy sweet. Over time, that’s going to develop so much more complexity and have enough body that by the time I drink it, it doesn’t feel like a Diet Coke.”
Shorten their slumber.
Higher temperatures make beers age more quickly, so if you’re on the fence about how long you want to age it, err on the shorter side. “It’s always better to have a beer a little bit too young than too old, because once those stale flavors come about, they’re always there,” Dawson says. “If you open it too young, maybe it’s still a little too boozy and all that complexity hasn’t developed yet, but it’s still drinkable and enjoyable.”
The general rules of aging beer are, by this point, pretty well-known. Focus on high-alcohol beers and intensely flavored styles like imperial stouts and barleywines; store them out of the reach of sunlight; try to keep them at a constant temperature between 55 and 65 degrees. But for many would-be cellarmen, warm climates and the lack of a beer fridge make following that last decree particularly tough. What’s a beer nerd without a basement to do? For the answer, we turned to Patrick Dawson, an expert on aging beers well. He’s the author of “Vintage Beer: A Taster’s Guide to Brews That Improve over Time” and a regular drinker of ales that are older than you—he once tasted a Bass Ratcliffe Ale bottled in 1869, which had to be poured through a cheesecloth to catch all the chunks of coagulated yeast muck and crumbled cork, but still held up well. Dawson offers several tips for laying down bottles when your environment is far from ideal.
Invest in insulation.
Because so many beers are fermented in a brewery’s tanks at temperatures lower than 70 degrees, Dawson says that’s about as warm as you ever want your cellar to get. “There are certain flavors that could come out at that temperature that the brewer never even realized would come out,” he says. But for the sweltering late-summer months when even “room temperature” nudges near 80, getting above that magic number is unavoidable; you’re going to have to take extra steps to minimize the damage. Dawson suggests using styrofoam shipping boxes (the kind you can pick up at most large liquor stores) or an insulated cooler, which will at least mitigate the temperature swings and allow the beer to age more gracefully. “The whole logic with temperature swings is that there’s an activation temperature for certain chemical processes,” says Dawson. “They’ll slow down or maybe even stop at certain temperatures, so if you’re constantly stopping and starting these processes, the beer’s not going to mature as well. You want to just have that nice, steady temperature so the processes can finish out smoothly.”
Aim for the middle.
Don’t store your beer in closets with exterior facing walls, Dawson explains: They tend to get warmer and go through larger temperature fluctuations throughout the day. Try to find a space for your insulated boxes near the center of your home or apartment, where the AC will have maximum effect and what’s going on outside will matter least.
Buy tougher beer.
“If you have a 55-degree cellar, yeah, age an 8% or 9% beer, but if you’re only able to keep it around 70 degrees, I’d say nothing below 11%,” suggests Dawson. Big, viscous beers with lots of residual sweetness and loads of alcohol flavor are your best bet in staving off the thinning of a beer’s body and reduction in its malty sweetness that naturally occur over time and will be more pronounced at higher temps. He says, “For me, a dream barleywine bound for the cellar is basically screaming hot—like, it just tastes like rubbing alcohol—and it’s thick and syrupy sweet. Over time, that’s going to develop so much more complexity and have enough body that by the time I drink it, it doesn’t feel like a Diet Coke.”
Shorten their slumber.
Higher temperatures make beers age more quickly, so if you’re on the fence about how long you want to age it, err on the shorter side. “It’s always better to have a beer a little bit too young than too old, because once those stale flavors come about, they’re always there,” Dawson says. “If you open it too young, maybe it’s still a little too boozy and all that complexity hasn’t developed yet, but it’s still drinkable and enjoyable.”
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Bowling? Sure, why the hell not?
Bowl & Barrel Spins Out Vinyl Nights
Half-price beer, upscale bowling and live vinyl DJ featured Sundays beginning Oct. 2
DALLAS (Sept. 29, 2016) – Strike out your Sunday plans because Bowl & Barrel - Dallas is taking “SundayFunday” to a whole new level.
On Oct. 2, Dallas’ premier bowling venue is launching weekly Vinyl Nights. From 8 p.m. to midnight everySunday, guests can enjoy half-price bowling while grooving to the beats of vinyl DJ Wanz Dover.
Of course, drinks must be served for it to count as a true Sunday Funday, which is why Bowl & Barrel is offering half-price beer all night. Partiers may also enjoy one of their popular handcrafted cocktails, including –
· Velvet Mule – Tito’s Vodka, Velvet Falernum, ginger beer, lime juice
· French Kiss – Prosecco, St. Germain, lemon juice, house-made grenadine
· Dr. Funk – Flor de Cana, lemon, absinthe, house-made grenadine
· Four Thieves – Six-Year Bourbon, blackberry, sage, lemon
· Astoria – London dry, lime, mint, violette, ginger ale
· Manhattan – Red River Rye Whiskey, Cocchi di Torino, Temperance Cacao Sagrada bitters
Live vinyl music, boutique bowling, gourmet food, great drinks and beer specials…Bowl and Barrel has it all! So grab the crew and roll on over this Sunday to celebrate the launch of Vinyl Night, and start your newSunday Funday tradition!
What: Vinyl Nights
Where: Bowl & Barrel, 8086 Park Ln, Ste 145, Dallas
When: Sunday nights, 8 p.m. - Midnight
Why: Half-price beer, half-price bowling and DJ Wanz Dover spinning vinyl tunes
Bowl & Barrel is located in the Shops at Park Lane in the heart of midtown Dallas. For more information, visit bowlandbarrel.com.
Beer Serving Temperatures
How often have you seen ads from bars bragging that they have "the coldest beer in town"? And what is your thought when we hear this ad? Is it "mmmmmmm, cold beer" or is it "dumbasses"? We suppose that we could tell you that either is correct, and that temperature is a matter of personal preference, right? Nah, we don't call ourselves beer snobs for nothing. So rather than simply state that we believe the statement is incorrect, we will give you guidelines set for restauranteurs from Craftbeerrestaurant.com.. - Cheers, Bon
"Most Americans are used to drinking their beer at very cold temperatures, but these icy temperatures harm the enjoyment of craft beer. While lighter-styled craft beers should be served cold, it is not necessary or wise to serve them icy cold. Just as too cold a temperature dulls a fine white wine, it has the same effect on a fine craft beer. This is especially important for beer that is served with a meal.
Some of this beer temperature confusion comes from
the popular North American light beers and macro-brewed lagers that are designed
to taste best at around 38–39° F. Accordingly, U.S. beer refrigeration equipment
and draught dispensing systems are designed to hold beer at 34-38° F. In
contrast, even lighter styles of craft beer taste their best a bit warmer than
icy cold and are also more tolerant of warmer serving temperature variations.
Richly-flavored, fuller-bodied craft beer styles
prefer to be somewhat warmer still. Like elegant red wines that are best served
at cool cellar temperature, full-flavored, higher-alcohol beer styles need a
chill but not a cold. At the same time, be careful not to serve full-flavored
beers (or red wines for that matter) at room temperature. Typical room
temperature (72° F) is much too warm for all but a couple of craft beer
styles.
Since all beers will warm up once they are poured
into a glass, this factor can also be accounted for in your bottle-service
refrigerator temperature settings. A room-temperature, rinsed, thin-shell glass
will raise the temperature of beer by about two degrees Fahrenheit. A
room-temperature heavy glass chalice or mug increases the beer’s temperature by
about 4° to 6° F.
Below is a discussion of handling service
temperature for craft beers, first bottled, then draught.
Bottled Craft Beer Service Temperature
Guidelines
Short-term storage of bottled beer at service
temperature will not harm the beer. For proper craft beer service three separate
bottle-temperature zones are recommended. Conveniently, these double up nicely
with wine categories. The temperature recommendations are designed to assure an
optimum serving temperature, accounting for a 2° F glass warming factor. The
three categories are:
-
Cold, no lower than 41° F (5° C) Lighter styles of beer — Sparkling wines/Champagne
-
Chilled, no lower than 46° F (8° C) Most craft beers — White wines
-
Cellar, around 53° F (12° C) Higher alcohol, richly flavored beers — Red wines
Cold – This is for your
lightest styles of craft beer. These include American Pale Lagers and Pilsners,
German-style Helles Lager, lighter American Wheat Beer, lighter summer seasonal
beers, sweet fruit-flavored Lambics, Belgian-style Wit (white ale), and
Kölsch.
Chilled – This workhorse
category works for craft-brewed Pale, Amber, Brown, Blonde, & Golden ales;
IPA, Hefeweizen, Stout; Porter; Dunkel, dark Wheat Beer; Tripel; dark sour ales,
Gueuze, Amber lagers, and dark lagers. This cooler doubles for your white
wines.
Cellar – Cool cellar
temperature (like those in a true, unheated in-ground cellar or cave) is where
you keep your cask-conditioned English Ales & Bitters, double India Pale
Ales, most anything labeled Imperial, dark Abbey
beers, Dubbel, Barleywine, Baltic Porter, Bock and Doppelbock. This
cellar-temperature cooler doubles for your red wines.
Since the so-called best
temperature for drinking a specific beer is also influenced by personal
preference, no easy way exists to ensure that everyone will like every beer at
the temperatures recommended above. However, these recommended temperature zones
are a great place to start, and they are certain to drastically improve beer
service versus simply serving all beers at the same cold temperature.
Test your beer service temperatures with customers
and see where your customers prefer them to be. With so many styles of craft
beer available today, it is difficult to know exactly where each beer will taste
its best. It may take a little trial and error to decide which of the three
temperature categories is right for a specific beer.
Check the thermometer
Don’t depend solely on the cooler’s thermostat dial
markings or digital read out; use an NSF calibrated refrigerator thermometer to
monitor the beer cooler temperature. In this energy-waste-conscious environment,
keeping your thermostat at optimum temperature, and not a degree colder, is not
only good for beer service, it is good for your bank account.
Draught Beer Service Temperature Guidelines
Draught beer is quite a different animal from
bottled beer. The American beer industry has standardized draught beer
dispensing systems to operate at a constant 38° F for optimum performance. This
means that all the beers will dispense at the same very cold temperature,
whether they are Bud Light or a big Imperial IPA. This poses a challenge for any
restaurant concerned about the proper service temperature requirements of craft
beer. Changing the temperature can really mess up draught beer service and is
not recommended. Warming draught can cause excessive foaming, waste and loss of
product.
One way to deal with this uni-temp reality for your draughts is to emphasize craft
beer styles that show better at colder draught system temperatures. You then
balance out the draughts with bottled-versions of the more flavorful craft beer
styles, which you serve at warmer, more appropriate temperatures.
For draught, emphasizing styles such as craft-made
pale lager, Pilsner, (and possibly Dunkel and Schwartz) and lighter ale versions
including Wheat, Blonde, Golden, Cream, Kolsch, and Wit will help you maintain
some service-temperature integrity. In restaurant use, these lighter tasting
styles still provide a good range of food pairing opportunities and situational
compatibilities.
Additionally, always be sure to use room-temperature
beer glassware for craft draughts. The glassware will warm up the beer by 2 to 6
degrees, depending on whether it is a thin-walled glass or heavy mug.
If you do choose to offer more-fully-flavored craft
beers on draught, at least you can rest assured that your competitors are
serving them up at the same cold temperatures. American craft beer drinkers have
learned to be fairly tolerant of draught beer served a little too cold for the
style.
What about the macro-brews?
North American macro-brewed lagers and lights, such
as the familiar Bud-Miller-Coors-Corona contingent, show better at colder
serving temperatures than craft beer. Should you decide to continue selling
them, both kegs and bottles of these should be kept in icy cold refrigeration
set to 35-38° F."
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Fort Worth Flying Saucer BeerFeast 2016
If you have not ever attended a Flying Saucer BeerFeast then you are missing out on a long tradition of fine beer and dining. This year's event is a bit different for this year's BeerFeast at Flying Saucer in Fort Worth on Oct. 8. The festival will, for the first time, be a VIP-only event.
BeerFeast has been a loved event in DFW for more than 10 years. Many people look forward to it every year, and a number of them expressed interest in a VIP festival. This year, BeerFeast will move to Flying Saucer and take place in the bar and on the patio.
Changes include:
- A limit of 600 VIP-only tickets
- More than 120 beers, including an 80-tap takeover inside Flying Saucer and a variety of bottles and cans on the patio
- A new partnership with Bird Café – Chef Scott Curtis will cater in addition to the traditional BeerFeast fare of bratwurst and pretzels
- Live music throughout the festival
- An expanded timeframe (now noon to 6 p.m.)
Friday, September 23, 2016
Del Frisco's Grille and Firestone Walker Dinner
Though the beer dinner thing has gotten kind of stale, this one is well worth considering. Firestone Walker makes excellent beers, amongst the best in the country. Del Frisco's Grille, well, you know, it's frigging Del Frisco's and only $49.00? Yes, count us in.
Del Frisco’s Grille Dallas Announces Firestone Walker Beer Dinner
WHO: Del Frisco’s Grille has partnering with Firestone Walker Brewing Company to present an evening of decadent foods and brews on September 29 at 7 PM. The special evening will come with a three course menu plus passed appetizers. Each course will feature a beer perfectly paired for each flavor palette. Tickets are $49 per person plus tax and gratuity.
Firestone Walker was founded in 1996 by David Walker and his brother-in-law Adam Firestone in Paso Robles, California. The once small Brewing Company now makes more than two dozen types of beers and is known for staying committed to the quality and innovation of their product.
WHAT: Firestone Walker Beer Dinner at Del Frisco’s Grille in Dallas
WHERE: Del Frisco’s Grille Dallas, 3232 McKinney Ave, Dallas, TX 75204
WHEN: Thursday, September 29, 2016, 6:30 PM Reception, 7 PM Dinner
RESERVATIONS: Please call 972-807-6152
Menu
Passed Apps
Scallop Crudo | Watermelon Radish, Fresno Chili
Seared Beef Tenderloin |Tomato Leek Ragout, Ricotta Salada,
Luponic Distortion # 3
Pivo Pils
FIRST COURSE
John Dory “Hot Pot” | Lemongrass, Kaffir Lime
Parabola / Russian Imperial Stout Aged in Bourbon Barrels
SECOND COURSE
DBA Braised Lamb Shank | Stickee Monkee Demi-Glace, Barley Risotto
Stickee Monkee / Central Coast Quad Aged in Spirit Barrels
THIRD COURSE
Olive Oil Cake | Bourbon Caramel Ice Cream
Helldorado / Barrel Aged Blonde Wine Ale
Thursday, September 22, 2016
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