The Hold Steady, Craft Beer, and great cheese!

If you would have told me when i was 22 years old that a great life would have been a Subaru in the driveway, steady and gainful employment, and simple peace and quiet I probably would have kicked your ass out of my apartment. On the same lines, had I heard an amazing Saturday night consisted of great beer in the box, a massive iTunes file, your dog sleeping on the couch, and blogging I would have had a shit fit and not wanted to grow up. Well, i am now 30 years old and this is where I am. My dog is out on the couch I used to spend hours watching hockey on, I am enjoying my 3rd Summit Saga IPA, and am writing a blog. And yes, mu Subaru is in my driveway.

Life is very routine now a days and I like it that way. Days start at 5:30, shower, daycare drop-odd at 7, check in at the office, call on my accounts until 4, rinse and repeat. The weekend breaks up the monotony and that is what I am up to tonight. I have recently become a devoted fan of The Hold Steady. Y'know how Bill Walton follows The Grateful Dead? That is me with these guy's. Okay, maybe not to that extent but you get it. Here is what I like about them. First, they are a Minnesota band. They may have formed in Brooklyn but Craig Finn graduated from Breck High and that is good enough for me. Not to mention they consider First Ave to be home! Second, their music is killer! They have amazing guitar riffs and very non-traditional song progression. None of this "verse/chorus verse/chorus" crap. They are unbelievably unique in their song structure. Third, their lyrics are borderline Bob Dylan. 9/10 times I don't really care about lyrics but this is really how they hook you in. Craig Finn is an amazing story teller. He incorporates characters, places, and themes throughout different albums. I have never heard this done before.


I have put their discography on my iTunes and just sat back and enjoyed. I always thought the lead in to that popular album from The Offspring was strange when he talks about sitting back in an easy chair with a glass of wine and listening to an album. I have my feet up on my desk with a bottle of Summit Saga and am taking it all in. I guess in a way I am still the 11 year old in his room listening to music and playing video games and I can't find a single thing wrong with that. Take it from The Hold Steady themselves when they sing, "we're good guys but we can't be good every night." I may have a rough morning tomorrow.
I mentioned cheese as well. I am sitting with my very own cheese plate right now. I am obsessed with cheese. I always have been, the sharper the better. On this plate I have extra sharp provolone, red Leicester, 10 year old cheddar, and fontina.. Don't act like your not impressed! The cheese makes me want the brews a bit more and it is just good stuff. 22 year old me is really pissed off right now!

Oye!

Whew! Back to craft beer after a little break, a scare rather. Lets just say I have learned how amazing a loving and understanding family can be. I have started a new job recently and am getting the lay of the land and haven't decided how I feel about it. Am I writing concert reviews for Rolling Stone or a professional Beer Reviewer for a publication? No. Am I flipping burgers at Burger King? No. It is somewhere in the center, but the center is a dangerous place because you can become complacent and sedentary.

I am drinking some Craft Beer to get back to normal. I am only sampling on the weekends in deference to my new employer. For me, beer drinking is not about addiction or dependence, it is simply about having a beer. So here I am in my glory. up late in front of the computer, Summit EPA open and 5 more in the beer box, The Hold Steady on iTunes, and writing. I am content as hell right now. I am listening to Banging Camp on The Hold Steady's "Separation Sunday" album and just have it on repeat. Just one of those nights.

         
    

I have been thinking about beer a lot lately as a viable hobby. I attended a social media conference today as my new boss wants me to be a sort of community manager for the company because no one else there gets social media as a concept. I digress, I made a connection with someone who is loosely connected to the beer scene in the Twin Cities. That is a kind of Craft Beer Mecca, its like going to Napa or Sonoma for a wine weekend. Sh knows the folks who put out Growler Magazine. Apparently they want to expand into the Duluth Area for distribution and content. Good idea since Duluth has 36 local Craft Beers to its name. Starfire Pale Ale from Fitgers Brewery is far and away the best. I would love to be a contributor, if nothing else, have a beer with them. Hopefully it works out.

                 

Sampling

I have been doing a lot of mix-a-sixing lately. I am a little disappointed at the lack of single bottle selection in Duluth. I get it that a liquor store is making its bank on the swill beer that the college crowd is going to pick up on but it is about specialty. Northern Minnesota is all about the craft beer so why not cater to it a bit more? Well, enough whining. As I sit and write this I am enjoying a FANTASTIC EPA from Odell Brewing called St. Lupulin. Now, Summit Brewery has no worries about my allegiance straying but this is simply amazing. It is a lot more floral than bitter and the bottle is just cool. After continuous sampling from Odell including their Cutthroat Porter, 5 Barrel, 90 Schilling, Red Ale, Isolation Ale, and the current, I could use a trip to Colorado.


A find I was excited about was Big Eddy's Baltic Porter from Leininkugels Brewery in Chippewa Falls WI. For me, Leine's has always been a flop. Their brews have been boring and don't bring much to the table but stale flavors and shoddy craft and their stupid Honeyweiss is the main culprit.I digress, Big Eddy Baltic Porter was a step up although not the greatest beer. I am comparing it to Surly Smoke Baltic Porter which may not be a fair side by side since Surly has a very different take on craft beer than most. Big Eddy was not as flavorful as i would have liked but packed a punch with 8.5% alcohol. I will be on the lookout for their Big Eddy genre for a while.


It is my favorite beer season though. Fall is when I really get back into beer. I have had some awesome fall brews and a new beer event. I kicked off the Oktoberfest season with Surly Fest. This may have ruined me for traditional Oktoberfest's. As I said earlier, Surly seems to have a different take on Oktoberfest than anyone else. The add a lot of hopps to the brew. They hit up a really great recipe. I am fortunate to live down the block from a liquor store that has a lot in stock that no one buys. Other noteworthy Oktobers have been Summit, Schell, New Glarus, and The Brewhouse in Duluth. All of these are pretty traditional recipe's that fall into the Marzen line.


I was lucky enough to get out for the night and hit up Duluth Oktoberfest at Tycoons Alehouse in the old City Hall building in town. It is an old building built in 1910 by the Freemasons. I met up with some friends from the Minneapolis area and we had a great night. We enjoyed Oktoberfest from The Brewhouse and Capitol Brewery. The Capitol wasn't the greatest. It was a lot like Point Oktoberfest which is lame because they make it all year. Way too malty. We had chicken and potatoes and beer brats which were amazing as well. We watched a stein holding contest and saw old people doing polka like Mack-10 Crip Walks.It was a great night!



As fall turns over to winter my beer journey continues. Winter Ale's here I come!!

Northern Waters Smaokehaus

There is a big thing in the lifestyle of a young(ish) professional, and that is where you have lunch. Could we go to McDonald's or Wendy's and simply fill the hole? Sure, but not only do Wendy's and McDonald's really suck, they have no local flavor (or any flavor for that matter). I want a place with some character, local art on the wall, a smell you can smell from 20 feet away, a line out the door so long you will be late getting back to work, and a picture of Guy Fierri enjoying the fare on the wall. OK  last one is a stretch in most cases but not in this one. The Northern Waters Smokehaus is just that place. Located in the historic DeWitt Seitz building in Duluth MN Canal Park District (and a convenient 1 minute walk from my office.), the Smokehaus is dishing out some of the best smoked fish you will find. Most notably The Cajun Finn. I could eat this 3 times a week and be very happy. Here is the low down, A home-baked ciabatta roll slathered in scallion infused cream cheese, red peppers, banana peppers, kale, and THE best smoked salmon you will get. Like I said, I could eat this 3 times a week and be very content. 

The have a menu a mile long but that is your best bet. Aside from restaurant sando's, they have a shop as well. All of their smoked fish, bacon, pancetta, capicolla, assorted lunch meat, cheese (and I mean Cheese!), imported crackers, and local art is available to take with. Now, what does this have to do with beer? On the whole, nothing. But if you take home smoked salmon at $20 a pound and a wedge of Red Leicester cheese for $10.95, are you really going to wash it down with a Coke?

Gitchee Gummi Brewfest 2012

What a great event. 35 brewers (most local), 125+ brews, and 1200 Northlanders. How could anyone who remotely likes beer stay away. Well, I was no different. It was a perfect set up; Pre-ordered tickets, check. Babysitter, check. Designated driver who gets in free, check. Drinking mates, check. Northland brewfests are always a major amalgamation of all sorts. Hippies, hipsters, jocks, intellects, drunks, friends, enemies, and what have you all come together for a drink......or 50. Everyone is friends for about 4 hours or so. That is fact because there is a fest-wide toast every ten minutes or so where you hold your tasting glass in the air and chant for a while.

I find the best thing at a big brewfest is to have a plan of attack. Get your priorities straight because this is not a Napa Valley wine tasting, meaning no spit buckets so you will be intoxicated at some point and the beers will all run together on you. We walked into the arena and Summit Brewery out of St Paul my right. Normally I don't visit their stand but they were tasting a new beer which hadn't been released yet. Summit summer is going to make this one a little brighter. If you can get a beer at a liquor store, there is no real point in having it at a brewfest but I have never part taken in a pre-release before so it was kicked off well!

The stand outs were surprising. The smaller breweries had the biggest impact on me and gave me a new GI destination list because a lot of these places are restaurants. Angry Minnow from Hayward WI had a Saison Olivia that really surprised me because the 2 SAisons I have tasted in the past were black like a stout. This was golden amber and was very wheaty, which I hate normally but this was fantastic.Tallgrass Brewery from Manhatten KS who is really making a name for themselves, had an ESB of sorts called 8-Bit which bit you in the throat on the way down. It was bitter like an IPA but more of a malt flavor than hops. A little risky here because we like our hops up here. It was a big hit.Rock Bottom Brewing from Minneapolis had the most unique beer of the day. It was called Smoking Goat. I have to imagine they used liquid smoke in the recipe because it was exactly that. The brewmaster described it as a smoked cheese flavor and it was close. I don't think I could drink too much of it for too long but it was a new experience for my pallet.

There wer many bombs that went right to the spit bucket. Having a Miles Finch moment would have been better than some of these. I ws dragged to the Leinenkugel's (Chippewa Falls, WI) booth to which i went with a bad attitude. I view them as severely over rated and boring.I sampled their red ale and it was as tasteless as the rest of their line up. The 'bro's' were lined up for their Honey Weiss and the girsl for their Summer Shandy. I sampled a Rye Ale from Sierra Nevada (who I like a lot) but it was very barley heavy and I was very dissappointed. You also had the Horney Goat Brewery there from CO. Just the sultry name alone deflates the experience.

All in all it was a great day. Brew Fests serve as one of the best people watching experiences you will have and this one did not disappoint. The beards and 'ironic mustaches" are definitely the funniest thing there. Wild facial hair is a Northland  staple and has been since the 1800's. The guy's today do it because they want to show people they are so out of style, they may just be cooler than you. If you have a chance to attend one of these soiree's, by all means do. It is a GI experience you won;t forget!

I know what your thinking, don;t you eat cheese with wine? I thought so as well but apparently this is not the case. Historically, cheese and beer have been a more common pairing. There are still some pubs in England who will offer you a cheese plate with your pint. Can you imagine how freaking popular that would make a bar if that happened here? This was good news to me as i am a huge fan of cheese. And for me, the sharper, the better. I found this at my local butcher shop. They have it in all the grocerey stores but I felt it was an endorsement by the butcher who I trust with my most important (and expensive) meals. This comes in a rally big brick and is so firm it crumbles off the knife. I paired it with my perennial favorite, Summit EPA and watched Dave Matthews Live In Central Park. It was a great combination as I hit my relaxation  tri fecta.

Oh man! This is everything I love about beer in one bottle!.The balance of hops to the rest of the beer was near perfect. It was not a dry beer either, you really taste the thing after you swallow it. The foam sticks to the glass the whole way down. I tried this on my New Glarus flite, round 2. I actually went and bought more of this later on which I don;t typically do but this is a definte keeper. Again, re buying it is saying a lot because anything from New Glarus is a destination for anyone in MN because you have to go to WI to get it. Granted it is a whopping 15 minute drive to get it but still, you have to go with this mission in mind. hearty Hop will be a WI staple anytime I am over there. I had 3 of these the last time I ate at The Hammond Steakhouse. It is kind of funny I have to walk to a downstairs bar to get it myself but hey, when your in WI what more can you expect. They suck at politics, they have some of the most obnoxious sports fans in the country, but they do beer very well!

 

OK.......by sheer force of habit and my un-dying devotion to all things Minnesota, Summit EPA remains my perennial favorite. 90 Schilling from Odell is a close, close second. This brew if fantastic. I read about this brewery in a Beer Advocate Article (yes, I am a geek) and wanted to try their beers for a while. I was excited to finde a few of them on a one-off sale at a local beer store. This is a fun one to pont out to people who don't know about this brewery. It is probab;y like a Californian  showing off the new winery they 'discovered'. I had one of these at The Reef after a UMD Bulldogs hockey game with 2 close friends. It was a great thing to sit in a bar and relax as I have turned into a 'beer a night' guy. The 2 friends i am referring two are not exactly beer heads. One is a wannabe whisky drinker and the other is a Cap 'n Coke guy. Not that its a bad thing, they just didn;t care for this beer. Chalk up the O'Dell brewery along side of the Surly Brewery, The Robert Mondavi Vinyard, and The French Laundry of bucket list destinations after finding this gem. After having it in a bar I will say it bodes well with popcorn.

Laughing Fox

This was my 2nd beer from the Austin Powers, New Glarus pairing. This one was a pleasent surprise. I will be honest, I picked it for the label. There was about 7 choices on this mix shelf and had I seen it was a Hefe-weitzrn I would ave passed it up hastily. I am not a wheat beer fan. I don't know what it is about them but I don't care for them. I would grab a frost brewed Coors Light before most Hefe's. Something about not tasting it until you swallow it I cannot get passed. This was different for whatever reason. It had a lot more flavor to it than any other Hefe out there. I was expecting the sourness of Wheat Monkey or the tragedy that is Summit Hefe-Weitzen. This was almost floral. I would gladly buy this again and enjoy it. It is just a matter of getting back to Superior as I am a creature of habit no matter how hard I try to deny it.

A home-freakin'-run from the great folks at New Glarus. I have gotten burned by their awfully over-rated Spotted Cow and ran a foul of them for a while. I picked up a few NG beers when I was in Superior WI. For some odd reason, New Glarus cannot be purchased in MN. I am sure it boils down to some Vikings/Packers thing but I am openly speculating here. I digress, I was in Superior spending the morning chasding my daughter around the Superior Gymnastics center because I wanted her to take a nap later that afternoon. I swung into a local liquor store to see what I could find and low and behold.....mix-a-six new Glarus for $7.99! Well, no need to look any farther. later that evening I was feeling a little nostalgic and popped in the old Austin Powers movies, which are still funny! I was really pleased with this brew. I am a bock fan but this one was a little more on the crisp side of things and had an awesome brown color. Plus, the beer shop gave me a free Coors Light Rose Bowl glass so, hey......drink up!

I never quite know what to think when I am about to try a New Belgium brew for the first time. I have had so many good beers from them and a few duds and this one fell into the latter. I am not entirely sure what is going to separate a Belgian IPA from a normal IPA and I have a feeling it is going to take a hipster in a scarf and black glasses to tell the difference. New Belguim seems to be my go-to brewery when I am un decided in the beer store.This was not good to say the least. It is like they packed a lot of yeast into their Hoptober and slapped a Belgian Style tag on it. Polish a turd all you want and it is still a turd, guys. OK, that may be a bit of a stretch but you get the point. I am just going to forget this one ever happened and move on. I heard they have things in cans now?

2 Pull from Granite City

This was a fun beer to enjoy. I was in Fort Wayne Indiana with my Wife, Daughter, Mom, and Aunt. The men in the family had stayed back to watch James Bond movies and I didn't drive all the way to IN to watch TV (all though a JB movie marathon is nothing to hate on!). We were shopping all day, literally, all day and stopped for lunch at Granite City Brewery. These are everywhere and is not exactly a local haunt. I checked in on my 4 square account the night before and was getting reccomendation after reccomendation of things to try. I got an overwhelming amout of props alluding to the 2 Pull ale which is a bock/ale blend. I thought blends were regulated to wine, but what the heck. It was a bit waterey but the maltiness of the bock played well with the hops from the ale. It was a perfect thing to wash down the amazing bleu cheese burger and mountain of fries that came with the meal.

Pours warm brown with hues of red. The generously tall and creamy tan head takes some time to sink into nice lacings.

Dry; black coffee, dark chocolate and faint vanilla. Caramell malt, roasted, holding some sweetness. It was surprisingly malty for Sierra Nevada. Rich smooth coffee and dark bitter chocolate flavors are in there as well.. Hops but far from the powerful American-style as Sierra Nevada usually use; very mild citric and piney notes. Body is full while carbonation is held back. The aftertaste is long and almost like what you would expect from an ESB. This was a pleasent surprise from Sierra Nevada where their hops usually take over the whole experience. This is perfect for crisp fall evenings around a bonfire or those last few weekends at the lake where fleece jackets and sweatshirts give way to the cold night air. This will be a must and it is unfortunate this the only true seasonal they put out.

Odell Brewery (Ft. Collins CO) Isolation Ale

This is a really good beer. The nose and flavor is packed with great hops quality. The malt side, however was a little disappointing for a winter seasonal when one expects big, bold, malty beers.The head of Isolation Ale is dense and white. Its body is clear dark copper. The aroma is bursting with floral and spicy hops and malt. The hops steal the show in the taste where the spicy and floral trend continues.There is a malty sweetness balanced against average bitterness. I am not the biggest winter beer fan out there so this was a treat. I have become a really big fan of the Odell Brewery. They rarely disappoint. I am excited there is a beer store in Duluth that sells these bottles one-off so sampling is easy. I strongly reccomend this for people who are coming into winter brews for the first time

Odell Brewery (Ft. Collins CO) 5 Barrell Pale Ale

I went in to this one in a very non-combative way. Pale Ale's are my favorite beer type so I am always eager to try a new one. This was my first foray into anything from Odell and this was a good intro. The color was semi transparent copper/amber and it poured about 3 fingers of head. Nice flavor of caramel, toasted malt, fair cream, and light nuts. Fairly complex, decently balanced and built. It was very wet and smooth but could have been a little more crisp. I don't much care for dry beers but this could have been a touch drier. I would definetley have it again, and certainly plan to.

**Pairs well with a good burger or your favorite bar snack.

New Belgium (Ft. Collins, CO) Snow Day

This was a great way to start the winter. New Belgium hit a home run with this winter ale. I usually expect a winter beer to be a lot heavier and very bitter. This was not. This had a great hoppy presence with the carmely after taste you expect from a winter beer. The color was VERY dark. When poured in a glass, it has the color and consistancy of cola with about a finger and a half of head. It was very light bodied and one could enjoy more than a couple without filling up. New Belgium is very consistant and you can never go wrong with six of any of their brews. If you are like me and like to sample, grab a Folly Pack.

**Enjoy with a hearty dinner or some good cheddar cheese while watching TV.

I Think I am on to Something Here.......

Surly (http://www.surlybrewing.com/) will always be known as the brewery which got me interested in beer. I was working in a liquor store when I first sampled it. To that point in my life (mid-college) I drank the basic swill beer; Budweiser, Michelob, Coors etc. Definetley quantity over quality. I hate to admit it,but I bought it for the label. It is unique to say the least It is distributed in 4-packs of pint cans, as opposed to bottles with very bold designs with an animated avitar, so to speak on them. I decided to give it a try and I sampled their flagship "Furious" and was blown away. It was the most flavorful beer I had ever tasted. It had a pine-needle aroma and tasted very bitter-sweet. I had no idea what hops were until that point but I had a crash cousre after that beer. The beer had layers to it as opposed to a malty-watery easiness about it. I found a new flavor after each pull and was ready to explore.I realized that beer was something that could be appreciated instead of just guzzled back like water on a hot day. I am excited to share my samplings, tastings, pairing ideas, and beer experiences.