Fleming's Beer Dinner - This Saturday, Oct. 27th!

Hey everyone, just wanted to announce a beer dinner this Saturday at Fleming's.  I helped Chef Gongora pick out some fantastic beers from the International Wine & Spirits and he did the rest with the appetizing food pairings. 

The beers feature a lineup of really nice brews starting with the Southampton Double White, which is considered the 6th best Witbier in the world according to BeerAdvocate!  From there the Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge, a deliciously tart sour beer out of Belgium and then the Clown Shoes Clementine 1.5, which you can expect to see on an upcoming Feature Beer Friday post... spoilers, it scored in the 80s from all four reviewers!   The main course features a signature Barleywine from Maine's Shipyard Brewing, and then an Imperial Porter from Beer Olympics standout Brouwerij De Molen.  Finishing it all off is the world class Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast.  If you're interested, definitely check it out, I know the food will be just as good (if not better) than the beer!  Check out the details below, and contact Fleming's for reservations.

Saturday October 27, 2012

6:30pm Start Time

$70 per guest (not including tax & gratuity)

 

Starter

Roast Duck Sliders

 Pickled Vegetables, Fresh Herbs, Crispy Skin

Southampton Double White

Salad

Mixed Greens Salad

Pork belly, Fresh Fruit, Blackberry Vinaigrette

Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge

Seafood Course

Grilled Shrimp Tacos

Roasted pineapple salsa, Black beans and rice

Clown Shoes Clementine 1.5

Meat Course

Pepper Crusted N.Y. Strip

“Loaded” potato skins, Coffee and peppercorn sauce

Shipyard Pugsley’s Signature Series Barley Wine

&

Brouwerij de Molen Tsarina Esra Imperial Porter

Dessert

Dark Chocolate Turtle Cake

Espresso Chocolate Ice cream

Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast

Two Beers I Barely Remember From Mikkeller & Ommegang!

In my quest to try 365 new beers this year, I wanted to write a little something about all of them.  Whether it's a review of the beer, a post about the event I tried them at, or even the place I tried them I wanted to mention every one.  Well, I tried two new ones that Dustin Davis brought over on National Homebrew Day and all I have to show for it is a blurry photograph.  Yes!  I rock!

Here's what I think I remember... the Mikkeller Black Hole Imperial Stout was awesome.  I say this mostly because I've never really had a beer from Mikkeller (@mikkellerbeer) that wasn't good.  I've also never tried a beer from Mikkeller that wasn't expensive.  That's to be expected though... craft beers and import tend to run a little higher than domestics and Mikkeller is both an import and a craft brewery. And I use craft brewery very vaguely here because they are actually something called a 'gypsy brewery' or 'phantom brewery' in that they don't have their own physical brewery.  They come up with the recipes, oftentimes in collaboration, and have other breweries brew the beer for them.  It's an interesting way to do things, and the beer is delicious, so they have that going for them!

I also tried the Ommegang Abbey Ale, I know this because I have a blurry picture on my phone.  You've probably heard of Brewery Ommegang's (@breweryommegang) hometown, but not because of the brewery.  They hail from Cooperstown, NY and specialize in Belgian-style ales.  See, they even put the 'brewery' in front like the Belgians so!  I've tried a few of their beers over the years, always impressed, but had never tried the regular Abbey Ale.  It's one of their flagship brews and is considered a dubbel in style. One day I'll have to try it again when I'm done with me 365 in 2011 quest!

 

 Cheers!

Review: Mikkeller All Others Pale

I'm going to skip over the Saint Somewhere beers I tried before this one and save some time to cover all three in one post... which means I'm on to the Mikkeller All Other Pale, a pale ale from the guys over in Denmark.  I picked this one up at Martin Wine Cellar over on Perkins Road.  One of the odd things about Mikkeller is that they don't have their own brewery!  All of the beers are created by the now single-man operation and contract brewed by different breweries and collaborators around the world.  Even on the website they refer to themselves as a "gypsy brewer" which is a pretty interesting concept to me.  Enough about that... on to the beer!

First off, this is a good looking beer! I poured it from a half-liter long-neck bottle into an imperial pint glass. It's a cloudy amber color, bubbly white head with great retention and lacing. Attractive brew that makes me want to dive in.

It has a delicious malt aroma with a honey caramel smell... not too bold on the hops but there are a little there. The sweet honey smell is what really grabs you.

The taste is more of the same except that the hops come out a little more. Wow... a potpourri of malt flavors and hop hits and roasted flavors. What really stands out here is the burnt malt flavor on the aftertaste. The honey malt is first, then the bitter hops, then a burnt caramel flavor. Really a nice complexity to it.

I only wish I'd bought a few more of these... APAs are quickly becoming one of my favorite styles and this is a top notch example.  Next time I see them I'll grab several, as this is now my favorite new beer of 2011!

My Rating: A+

BeerAdvocate: B+

American Pale Ale

Denmark - Carlsberg & Mikkeller

Just about everyone reading this blog surely knows about Carlsberg, and with good reason.  They are a huge brewery, and said to be the 4th largest brewery group in the world, I'm sure following the real giants AB-InBev, SABMiller, and Heineken International.  In addition to sheer size the Carlsberg company is an aggressive sponsor of soccer around the world, including the Euro 2008 tournament, and teams like Liverpool and FC Copenhagen. They use the advertising slogan "Probably the best beer in the world" and really, among the big boys, they might be close.  

The flagship brew is the Carlsberg Beer, with the trademark Carlsberg logo and green labeling.  (Not pictured, oddly enough...)  It's a German-style pilsner, with a moderate 5% abv, and hints of noble hops.  Like all green-bottled beers it's prone to go skunky but as far as the type goes, I do enjoy a good Carlsberg.  Especially on tap when visiting Ireland and I'm feeling like something other than a Guinness.

 Another brewery worth mentioning in Denmark is Mikkeller, an 'extreme' microbrewery that are constantly pushing the notions of style in beer.  I know these guys are available at The Cove (but not cheap!) and retail at Calandro's, and maybe a few other places in town as well.  Be ready to drop a few bucks, but if you really want to try something different and possibly mind-blowing in the world of beer, grab a few and give them a go. 

Back to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Beer Tour main page.

The Bite And Booze World Cup Tour.

Sources:

Wikipedia

Mikkeller

Carlsberg

All Beer Flickr