Monthly Archives: November 2007

Not dead yet.

Posted on November 27, 2007 | 4 Comments

Well, it has been an extraordinary ten days or so for me. I’m not done processing it, and don’t know for sure if I ever will be, and this will likely be the only mention of it ever on this blog, but I feel like I need to say something here.

I was released from the hospital on Sunday, after a lovely one week stay. Turns out what I thought was a bad asthma flare-up was a huge pulmonary embolism. I won’t go into the gory details here, but I was a millimeter (-re for my international readers . . .) or three from being a dead man. No warning signs, no symptoms, just a big blood clot in my pulmonary artery that extended into both lungs for no good reason. They’re not sure how long I was walking around with it, but I managed to set up for and cook a meal for 100 at church with it for certain. So close. Too close.

So, that’s why I’ve been quiet on the blog front. I should be back to drinking interesting stuff soon, and will resume the normal flow of the blog. Glad to be here. Thanks. Sorry for the brief detour.

→ 4 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

News from 33.

Posted on November 15, 2007 | Leave a comment

A visit to Bailey’s Chocolate Bar isn’t complete without a stop next door at 33 Wine Shop and Tasting Bar to visit Jake and see what’s new on his extraordinary beer and wine lists. So, after the Eric’s Ale event, we managed to haul ourselves next door.

I settled on a Schlenkerla Helles, whose light smokiness matched very well with the pepper-crusted artisinal salami we snacked on, while Zac went the Bell’s Special Double Cream Stout route, and Carl couldn’t resist the St. Bernardus Abt 12 on draft.

While we were mulling over the beer list, Jake let us in on a big announcement. Dylan, homebrewer and beerlover extraordinaire, will be taking over responsibility from Jake for the beer list. Given the very high level at which Jake has kept the list, Dylan will have his work cut out to improve it, but St. Louis beer folks should take note that the beer selection at 33 may get even better.

For the wine lovers out there, I noticed a surprising number of ultra rare selections from Sine Qua Non (they’re too cool to have a website) making an appearance on 33′s 700 selection strong wine list. They are for consumption on premises only, but the prices are (as one would expect from Jake) incredibly reasonable. While Sine Qua Non is not my cup of tea, for those who want to try them at a tariff well below current auction prices, or who just want to dull the pain of another year on the waiting list, get thee to 33 before they’re gone.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in 33, Carl, Jake

Tagged , , ,

A fine evening at Bailey’s Chocolate Bar

Posted on November 14, 2007 | 1 Comment

It was a special night at Bailey’s Chocolate Bar last night. Eric Salazar, one of the brewers at New Belgium Brewing was there for part II of a special New Belgium tour of St. Louis (part I was a dinner the previous night at Duff’s which I was not able to attend) with his wife Lauren, also a part of the NBB team.

Eric is famous in beer geek circles for the creation of Eric’s Ale, an experimental brew at New Belgium that has received rave reviews from those fortunate enough to taste it. A keg was tapped at Bailey’s on Monday, and was flowing last night for a really nice turnout of the St. Louis beer scene. Dave Bailey, the proprietor of Bailey’s was there, as were my friends from Beeradvocate (and many other adventures) Carl and Zac, Andy the beer manager of our local Whole Foods, Stephen Hale, the head brewer at Schlafly, Charlie, one of the brewers at O’Fallon, Mike from Stlhops (and his lovely girlfriend “I’m not crazy about beer, but I do drink Two-Hearted” Irene), and a host of others. It was a lively crowd and much St. Louis and general beer talk was had (trivia from Stephen – what is wrong with the label on Schlafly’s Biere de Garde?).

So, how was the famous Eric’s Ale? Simply outstanding. Quite sour, but not pushing Cantillon or even La Folie levels. My analogy was that if La Folie is a punch to the gut, Eric’s Ale was a firm slap to the cheek. There was a wonderful, clean round maltiness to it as well, that gave excellent balance to the beer throughout. There was still a hint of fruit to it, but it was very subtle – more of an echo of peach than anything. I found it very Cantillon in that regard. It was a perilously drinkable beer, with myself putting away four glasses over the course of the evening.

I did have an opportunity to speak with Eric about how he made the beer, and it was a rather fascinating process. It began with two empty La Folie barrels. He wanted to put something in them, so he brewed up a batch that was essentially the recipe for New Belgium’s lost, lamented Biere de Mars (more on this later too), which was his favorite New Belgium beer. This beer was left in barrel for two years. Yes, two years. Eric then brewed up a very strong (he said 17.5 Plato, which I translate to 1.072) Belgian Pale ale using very old hops, which he then blended with the barrel-aged beer, and a peach concentrate. The sugar from the peaches kicked off another fermentation, for which Eric added a lager yeast to finish it off. Wow. Not your everyday single infusion ale. I for one was very glad that he did it, and that New Belgium gives its brewers the support to pursue beers like this.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Carl, Chocolate Bar, Tasting Notes, Zac

Tagged

Cellartracker

Posted on November 13, 2007 | 1 Comment

So you’ve started a nice little collection of wine. Would you like to have a nice utility to keep track of those bottles? How does one with incredibly easy entry of information, web and mobile access, almost half a million tasting notes from other wine lovers, and automatic valuation (very, very handy for insurance purposes, not just for braggin’) sound? What if it was also mostly free? Well, that’s cellartracker.com. It’s the product of ex-Microsoft program manager and wine lover Eric LeVine.

Entry is easy because 40,000+ other users have already entered their wines into the database. I have some pretty obscure stuff in my cellar, and can only remember having to wholly add two wines to the system. The system is quick and efficient, and I entered the 400+ bottles I had at the time I started using the program in a couple of hours. That’s a tiny fraction of the time needed to enter the data in either of the two previous programs I used.

The web access may be the handiest feature for me. You can get to your cellar from any computer (or handheld device), so you’re not stuck wondering whether you’ve already purchased a particular vintage or wine, or whether that bottle you think would match great with dinner is still in the cellar. The fact that you also have access to notes from other users on your wines can also help guide those decisions regarding what to drink for dinner (if you hang out on the wine discussion boards long enough, you’ll also be able to identify the authors of a lot of the notes which adds useful perspective).

I’ve been a very happy user for almost a year now, and can’t think of a better, easier way to keep track of your wine cellar. No affiliation, never met Eric, etc.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Uncategorized

My favorite winter warmer arrives today!

Posted on November 6, 2007 | 10 Comments

I’m such a geek sometimes. Ever since I noticed that Bell’s had brewed the first batch of their Special Double Cream Stout this Fall, I have been eagerly awaiting its arrival in St. Louis. It’s here. I pick up my case from Jake at 33 later this afternoon.

Why is this my favorite? Well, it just is. SDCS is a wonderful combination of richness and drinkability. It’s bigger than your average beer at 6.1% so it warms you up just fine thanks, but it’s not really big like Bell’s fine Expedition Stout, which clocks in at 10.5%. That means you can drink several over the course of the evening. Lots of flavors to complement a late Fall/early Winter evening as well – chocolate, a bit of coffee, and some dried fruit. Plus it’s got just enough bitterness from the hops and roasted malts to balance the not insubstantial residual sugar. I love it. I really do.

So, as if eagerly awaiting the arrival of a beer for a month isn’t geeky enough, you may have picked up on the whole “I noticed that Bell’s had brewed the first batch of their Special Double Cream Stout this Fall” thing. How did I notice? Well, Bell’s has a database on their website which you can query with a batch number that’s printed on the back of their bottles (and on the case boxes) which then tells you what kind of beer you have and when it was packaged. Some of us (and I can say “us” because I got the spreadsheet from someone a year or two ago and have sent it on to at least two other beer people) query the Bell’s database on a regular basis, and keep a spreadsheet of all the batches and bottling dates. So, I knew a couple of days after the batch of SDCS was bottled that it would be making its way through the distribution channels soon.

I also know (from the update I did yesterday), that Bell’s just packaged its rare Oatmeal Stout, the first batch of its marvelous Rye Stout since February of 2006, a new beer called “Harvest Ale” (for which there isn’t a TTB label approval on file . . . hmmm. Anyone got the scoop?), and an Apple Ale, which hasn’t been brewed as far back as the database goes (Jan. of 2004). There’s lots of fun facts to be learned from the information (such as just how damned much Oberon they brew – wow!). Anywho, if you’d like to geek out, I’m more than happy to forward the spreadsheet. Just holler.

→ 10 Comments

Posted in 33, Jake, Tasting Notes

Tagged

Wins and losses

Posted on November 5, 2007 | 1 Comment

I think there’s value in showing the poor as well as the illustrious in my drinking history, so here we go. I was looking for something to open with a somewhat sweet (don’t ask) Chinese-ish dish for dinner. My mind went right to a Spätlese Riesling from Germany. It also went to a particular vintage – 1999 – which have always shown a pleasant seamlessness to their construction that I thought would work well with the somewhat commercial slickness of the dish. Now here’s where things go off track (apart from the entree choice . . . ). I start thinking, well, maybe a need a treat – something a bit nice. The moment I enter the wine cellar, I also hear the kids trying (once again) to finish each other off, so it’s gotta be something nice, but easy to find. No thoughtful pulling out and examining bottles tonight. So I grab the first 1999 I spy – the Haardter Mandelring Scheurebe Spätlese from Müller Catoir.

I haven’t had a 1999 Müller Catoir for quite a while, and I don’t think I’ve ever had Scheurebe that old, but Müller Catoir is a damn fine producer and has an odd specialty in Scheurebe (which most producers relegate to early-drinking guzzlers if they don’t ignore it altogether), so it wasn’t a completely bizarre split-second decision. Anyway, the wine smelled like someone filled a day old grapefruit rind with Diesel, and didn’t taste much better. Plus, it was really sweet. Almost dessert sweet. Ugh. Old German wines have a way of shaking off the funk after a day or six open in the fridge, so I’ll be sure to report on any Lazarus-level heroics, but this was nasty tonight.

So the big win (not the Patriots) was the post-dinner decision to have a dram. I was down sorting through the available bottles when I spied one buried in the corner that I’d forgotten I still had – 12 year old Redbreast Pure Pot Still Irish Whiskey. It’s quite sherried on the nose but with a big, fat, juicy malt middle. There’s some Bourbon-y raw wood, and a touch of coconut too. The big malt richness carries over in the mouth, but then the Irish fun begins. Irish Pot still whiskey literally buzzes around your tongue, and does so with the intensity of no other whisky I know. It’s a great sensation, and lightens up what threatens to be a ponderously rich whiskey. The interaction between the two elements is captivating. Plus, it doesn’t taste like Diesel, so that’s an extra bonus (tonight at least).

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Germany, Irish, Pot Still, Tasting Notes, Whisky, Wine

Tagged ,

Santa Fe – a city where craft beer flows

Posted on November 1, 2007 | 4 Comments

Well, color me impressed, not just by the beautiful scenery in and particularly around Santa Fe, but by the prevalence of craft beer. Sure, the more Mexican-oriented restaurants had mostly, or exclusively Mexican brands, but everywhere else we went it was craft beer central.

Topping the list was the Atomic Grill on Water Street, just a block off the Plaza, with 80+ craft beer options in bottles. The full line from the really good Santa Fe Brewing Company, and Sierra Blanca (didn’t get to try any of their stuff), a ton of Colorado craft (New Belgium, Odell, Left Hand, Flying Dog, Ska, etc.), and a healthy dose from California (Stone (including some of the bombers), Mendocino, Sierra Nevada (more than just the Pale!), Anderson Valley, etc.). Very hard to choose, to say the least.

The surprises began with our first meal in Santa Fe – lunch at The Shed. We had a brief wait for a table, so I made my way to the bar. Thinking (for some reason) that I’d be limited to Negra Modelo at best, what should I spy but a Pilsner Urquell tap. Nice! Much better than expected. Then the bartender moved to take my order revealing two taps from the Santa Fe Brewing Company. Very nice! Their Pale Ale was an excellent rendition with a lovely, Three Floyds-esque juicy hop character, which did yeoman’s work washing down my Carne Adovada plate (and what turned out to be the hottest red chile of the trip – though still pleasant).

Similar scenarios were played out in restaurants throughout the city, and even in the countryside. I was again shocked (it was only our second day) when we stopped at the tiny village of Abiquiú at Bode’s General Merchandise for some sandwiches, only to spy offering from New Belgium and Flying Dog available at their deli.

It certainly did my beer-loving heart good to see craft beer be the rule, rather than the exception as it so often seems to be in St. Louis. In addition to all of the beer mentioned, Santa Fe supports four breweries/brewpubs (none of which we made it to, as we wanted to focus on local cuisine and found plenty of good beer at these places): the afore-mentioned Santa Fe Brewing Company, a branch of the Il Vicino pizza/brewpub chain, Second Street Brewery, and the Blue Corn Cafe and Brewery. So, beer lovers, don’t hesitate to put Santa Fe on your list of potential travel destinations!

→ 4 Comments

Posted in Beer, Santa Fe

Tagged