Drinks »Schlenkerla Smokebeer

from Bamberg, Germany

Schlenkerla Smokebeer is not just some mammy pansy “smoke” beer in name, it truly smells of campfires and liquid smoke – a curious and sublime way to begin a mug of dark, strong beer. According to the website the interesting (and admittedly acquired  taste) is made thusly:


Its smoky flavor is being achieved by exposing the malt to the intense, aromatic smoke of burning beech-wood logs at the Schlenkerla-maltings. After mixing it with premium-class hops in the brew, it matures in 700 year old cellars, deep down in the hills of Bamberg, into a mellow, magnificent-tasting beer, best drunk directly in “Schlenkerla”.
The Schlenkerla they speak of is the original ale house in Bamberg where the beer is brewed – the brewery has been around, under different ownership (of course) since the 14th century! Visitors (which I hope to be one of some day) can still stop by, and who wouldn’t want to after reading the site’s inviting description:

There is far more to Schlenkerla than delicious food and drink. If you would rather drink you beer by yourself, be forewarned: it is almost impossible to avoid relaxed, cheerful conversations at the wooden tables. In everyday life the ordinary Franconian acts somewhat reserved when dealing with strangers, but that characteristic is left outside when entering the Smokebeer paradise.
And that is a tradition. For centuries the tasty, dark brown brew has made our guests happy and loosened their tongues. As in the past, when high clerics sat at the same table with farmers, today the musician from the Bamberg Symphonic Orchestra drinks his beer next to the factory worker. Original Schlenkerla Smokebeer levels the differences between classes. It brings together the stranger with the local.

Click here for the rest of Schlenkerla Smokebeer

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Posted on February 21, 2010

Drinks »Barcelona Round Up

cava barcelonaBubbly Wine, Water and Beer

Cava is the name of the game in Spain and we drank plenty of the bubbly. Much like champagne, cava can be sweet or dry (we opted for dry) and goes perfectly with salty tapas. But we didn’t end with cava as far as imbibing.

Vichy Catalan is the table “agua con gas” and made in the nearby town of  Girona (which we travelled through on the train to Figueres). Unlike the Perrier you might be used to, it’s actually kind of salty and delicious for it.

The tea in Spain is also slightly different from my estados unidos norm. Most restaurants serve a naturally sweet red tea, most of which, I believe comes from Africa and may just be the “bush tea” they’re always talking about in this week’s TV pick.

Lastly, they have a local beer, Moritz, which I’ve never seen in the US. It’s tasty and crisp and actually quite sweet in a non-lemon-wheat-beer kind of way. Quite refreshing.

Click here for the rest of Barcelona Round Up

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Posted on January 10, 2010

Desserts »Young’s Double Chocolate Stout

youngs_double_chocolate_3
Made with Real Chocolate

You imagine a chocolate stout and you think thick, creamy, rich and strong. Young’s version manages to be all that but really quite drinkable as well. I first tried the brew at Berry Park as the snow fell outside, but was happy to find the British import at out local grocer as well. Young’s is a family brewery that’s been around (impressively) since 1831.

That chocolate flavor by the way, comes from real chocolate, added into the brewing process before bottling making it a great after dinner beer in lieu of dessert.

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Posted on December 26, 2009

Drinks »Berry Park

While the weather still permits it, you should try to make it out to Berry Park, the new super mellow rooftop beer hall behind the automotive high school in Williamsburg.

The views of Manhattan are great and the menu of beers is impressive but be warned – a lot of these brews are quite strong. The German dunkels (dark beers) are always a favorite of mine and currently the HB Dunkel is featured on the menu. Some nights the rooftop bar itself is out of service, but the trek downstairs is not a far one. So far, it's never been overly crowded or obnoxious, which is probably the greatest feature of all.

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Posted on October 12, 2009

Drinks »Rusty Knot

Can you fault a place for its douchey clientele? Not when it's The Rusty Knot, which serves such a delightful menu. There are few places that offer so many of my favorite things: spicy beer (cerveza Cubana, their refreshing and flavorful take on the michelada) and sides of pickles and oysters; even in a sea of pleated khakis, halter tops and going-out-pants, we had a great time.

The interior is tight with only a few coveted tables (one of which we hogged for hours) and a stupidly large pool table taking up most of the largest room. The theme is big-time nautical with a Polynesian twist, expect Tiki cups and lots of wood paneling; the drinks are cheap (regular beers start at 99 cents) and the general mood is low key, but any sense of divey-ness is carefully fabricated – the gentlemen behind the popular hangout come from Freeman's, Milk and Honey, The Spotted Pig, and Momofuku; a group well versed in what's hip and how to convey it without seeming to try too hard.

It's a skill that's made them very rich I'm sure, and I don't mind adding to their coffers when they're serving such yummy snacks and drinks – but next time I'll make a wiser decision than to go so close to the meatpacking district on a Saturday evening.

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Posted on August 17, 2009

Drinks »Beer Island

You may want to go the way we did and get bleary eyed over several beers at Nathans before daring to enter Beer Island at Coney. Even with the veil of Budweiser, the cigarette butt strewn, vomit stained, port-o-potty lined box of sand is glaring to the eye and seems like a dangerous place to spend our time. But spend our time we did.

After all, there was entertainment – if you count burly cretins walking around with unsafe pythons (with their faces taped shut with scotch tape because they bite) and parrots that the pythons are trying to eat. Tons of seedy fun.

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Posted on August 10, 2009

Drinks »Hideout

hideout cocktails fort greeneThe atmosphere of the appropriately named Hideout bar in Fort Greene is mellow, dark, inviting and snug. Unfortunately the bartender is none of these things. Why any self proclaimed mixologist would find it becoming to bitch about having to shake three fizzes in a row or bemoan a couple that dared to leave their empty 12 dollar a drink glasses on the table is beyond me, but the din of regular and clinking glass can drown him out, and hey, maybe he was just having an off night.

I won't let it mar the total drinking experience, an experience that included fig tinted cocktails and flowery strong punches. The impressive menu (you'll have a terribly fun time choosing a drink) are courtesy of onetime U.K. Bartender of the Year, Charlotte Voisey. ?br/>
You find the faux speakeasy behind unmarked wooden garage doors on Adelphi St.

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Posted on August 3, 2009

Drinks »Brouwerij Lane

Brouwerij Lane GrowlerThe opening of Brouwerij Lane, the new high end beer store in Greenpoint, was met with much excitement; friends who dropped in to the grand opening said you could hardly move through the crowds clamoring for free beer and expensive imports.

We waited till a later date to see what the store, a former chop shop, had to offer. In what has quickly become a daily tradition, a beer tasting was underway and beer snob clients and staffers alike were a touch on the drunk side (it took too many tries for our selection to be wrung up at the register, with wildly different sums each time). The staff's not quite as friendly and helpful as my newest local obsession, Marlow and Daughters, but that's okay.

The selection is fun to browse and you can mix up six packs with anything you want. Prices on bottled beer are a tad high (many can be found cheaper in Manhattan Avenue bodegas), but Brouweij Lane does offer a number of bottles not readily available elsewhere in the area. Stick to trying stuff you haven't seen anywhere else and you'll feel less foolish the next time you walk into Nature's Garden and spot a bottle of Delirium for less.

But the real draw, and the thing that makes the beer snobbery and high prices disappear is the Whole Foodsesque growler system. For a $5 deposit you can get yourself a growler; for $10 more you ca fill it with anything they have on tap. We tried a great beer called Gruut Belgian Amber, which the tap master informed us would be a staple in the lineup; the other taps change frequently, which is exciting if you love trying new things. You get about four or five glasses of beer from the jug and you can fill it up again and again and again.

I loved doing this at Whole Foods but it was never convenient to bring my growler back for a refill. But now, with Brouwerij Lane in the neighborhood, I can take advantage of this ingenious system much, much more often.

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Posted on April 13, 2009

Movies »Allagash Beer

Allagash Beer Similar to Hoegaarden but even better.
Can also be found at Union Beer Distributors, 1213 Grand St., Brooklyn, NY 11211.

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Posted on November 21, 2005