Musings on a 6 day sojourn to Denver and San Diego
This trip originated as a visit to see my parents, was then augmented by an offer to attend the GABF in Denver. Along the way much food and drink consumed, so I thought I would review a few of the places we went to.
The Denver experience was great, time with my brother and sister-in-law and her cousin and wife. Mucho thanks for hosting. I really enjoyed Boulder, we made several trips there, including a wonderful Italian dinner, but the highlight had to be the Avery Brewery/tasting room. Since it was GABF week, they had special rotating kegs on all week. Many were versions of sour beers, infused with Bret, many were good, a few awesome, the bottled one Dave bought (Sue Generous) was a good example, well soured with plenty of flavor behind. Despite the industrial park setting, they have a nice outdoor cafe, lots of seating, well worth a stop when in Boulder. The other pubs we tried there were so, so, forgettable and now I have.
The GABF was wild, some 5,000+ folks each session on the floor of the Colorado Convention Center. We got there at the 5:30 opening time for the last session on Saturday and the line was at least a 1/2 mile long. In the end even though we got in 40 minutes after opening we still had plenty of time. Must have sampled 50+ one oz. tastings. Some decent pub type food. Huge floor area, lots of brewers were down to one offering, nowhere near the 2100 offerings at the beginning, never go again on Saturday. Highlights from Allagash, Dogfish Head, Southhampton, New Glarus, The Bruery, and many more. Tried to take notes, impossible. But the winners were announced by then, we tried to hit them to see what the judges were thinking. A must event once for beer lovers, as I've learned since the off site events make a big difference, we'll hit more next time.
We tried to stay in nominal shape, did a nice hike in Boulder, rode a $2K lovely bicycle in San Diego, and had a long walk in SD. Overall I gained weight but only a pound or two.
San Diego, recently named top beer city by Men's Journal, included The Blind Lady, Tornado, and the Linckery. All outstanding in their own way, Toronado a killer place. Some 30 beers on tap, and on Mondays all are $3.00. Amazing. Great local selection which I was seeking, decent Belgian offerings, great atmosphere, top notch.
Overall, I'm still liking the Chicago scene for food, and we did make 5th in that MJ poll, but I would swap our beer scene for SD. It's getting closer though with the recent additions of Metropolitan Brewing, Half Acre, and Publican.
Showing posts with label bar food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bar food. Show all posts
Friday, October 2, 2009
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Rock Bottoms - Not All the Same
I was reminded on a recent visit to the Rock Bottom brewpub in River North, that this chain has a good setting wherever you go, but the quality of the local brew master makes or breaks the actual quality of the beer offerings. I was specifically reminded again that Rock Bottom Chicago has a stellar brew master in Pete Crowley.
The regular offerings from RB on the little plastic sheet are regular, average beers for the non-discriminating crowd. I suppose a few Rock Bottoms only have these choices. The interesting ones are on the chalk board behind the bar. I counted about 6 on a recent evening. I quite enjoyed the just released Maibock, malty and full bodied, with a slick mouthfeel. As well the Belgian strong made a good accompaniment for the chocolate cheese cake, yummy! Unfortunately, because they are a chain the website is no help, you can't see what's on tap unless you call or go there. Not so good.
Anyway, I give the Chicago location an A-, for offering good food, really good beer, and I do love the mug club which gives you special treatment including full imperial pints! Had one visit to the location in Lombard, give it a B, the food was similar, but the beers not.
The regular offerings from RB on the little plastic sheet are regular, average beers for the non-discriminating crowd. I suppose a few Rock Bottoms only have these choices. The interesting ones are on the chalk board behind the bar. I counted about 6 on a recent evening. I quite enjoyed the just released Maibock, malty and full bodied, with a slick mouthfeel. As well the Belgian strong made a good accompaniment for the chocolate cheese cake, yummy! Unfortunately, because they are a chain the website is no help, you can't see what's on tap unless you call or go there. Not so good.
Anyway, I give the Chicago location an A-, for offering good food, really good beer, and I do love the mug club which gives you special treatment including full imperial pints! Had one visit to the location in Lombard, give it a B, the food was similar, but the beers not.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Ann Arbor goodies, a Midwest Detour Worth Taking
Ann Arbor - home of the University of Michigan, and a solid food/beer location. Musings from our recent trip to a neighboring Midwest town.
We stayed west of town in a non-descript, Best Western hotel, it did have a pool, a fridge, and free breakfast.
On arrival mid-day, we were looking for lunch - and right by the hotel we found a great surprise place - the Zingerman's Roadhouse. Now, I knew about their original store, the great deli in downtown Ann Arbor. Asked the waitress, she said the Roadhouse has been around for about 4 years. Anyway, they have great above normal roadhouse type food, including burgers of course, but also home smoked pulled pork and brisket, fresh fish, salads, and a long cheese list from their own creamery. They even had some on-tap locals, with sm/med/large glass prices - I enjoyed a nice pale ale (forget the brewer) with pulled pork, and all we had was enjoyed. Now that said the prices here are steep, considering the portions are modest (actually what they should be everywhere not so over the top). The burgers start at $10 and go up fast with additions, my pork platter with sides was ok at $11.50, but overall a pricey place for lunch. Rate it a solid B, very good quality offset by once a month prices (if you were a local).
In the afternoon stops included Bello Vino and the Main Street Party Store. BV is a specialty grocery store with an extensive wine collection and in the far back a very good beer area. Heavy on Michigan beers (why I was there, including Dark Horse, Bells, Jolly Pumpkin, Stoudts), and a good representation of others including Belgians, the best part was the singles rack with fill your own six pack cardboards. Found the last (apparently) Bells Batch 8000, as well as a few others I just wanted to try. A- for this store, great selection, good pricing. The MSPS was equally impressive with some singles as well. A- here. Overall, the only beer maker I couldn't find was Kuhnhenn's, one of my targets.
For dinner we located the local branch of Cottage Inn, famous for Ann Arbor pizza. We shared a sausage/onion regular crust combo, very good. The atmosphere here was just ok, no liquor service, try the original Cottage Inn if you want the full experience, for this branch by the hotel a B-.
After our college tour and meeting with the diving coach at UM, I made the 8 mile run to Dexter to visit Jolly Pumpkin. Their brewery is in a tiny off-road location near downtown Dexter, I was guided in by Laurie Jeffries, the brewer's spouse and head of marketing I believe. They are only open noon - 6pm on Fridays, and were serving on tap both Bam Biere and E.S. Bam. They were selling five different styles of their bomber bottles at wholesale pricing! As it is cash or check only, I ran out of money buying my big format favorites as well as a few Biere de Mars Grand Reserve's, a special offering which is barrel aged for 27 months! I wasn't able to question Ron, but Laurie confirmed that all of their offerings are ales. I've read that all production here uses open (read wild) fermentation, but this traditional method does not impart sourness. The sourness (prevalent in most of their beers) is produced by barrel aging. The barrels harbor both wild yeasts and Lactobacillus among other bacterias. This is why they can't share barrels with "normal" producers. Because of barrel variation, some beers are blended, and they post a bottle log on the website so you can track your particular bottle. Do they use Brettanomyces? Not sure, but whatever they use keep it up. Now ranked the 8th best brewery in the US by BeerAdvocate. Thanks to Laurie for great service, and to Ron for keeping this great brewery running, solid A.
For dinner we tried the noisy Ashley's, self-described as Michigan's best multi-tap. With 70 beers on tap, 15 rotating regularly, and decent bar food with good burgers for the price, I couldn't complain. And the back area wasn't even smoky (we are getting spoiled here in IL). Kids (under 21) allowed until 9pm. You can find to your liking on the tap list, overall a great college bar, comparable to sticking a combination Maproom/Clark Street/Twisted Spoke together in Evanston at NU. Solid A.
We stayed west of town in a non-descript, Best Western hotel, it did have a pool, a fridge, and free breakfast.
On arrival mid-day, we were looking for lunch - and right by the hotel we found a great surprise place - the Zingerman's Roadhouse. Now, I knew about their original store, the great deli in downtown Ann Arbor. Asked the waitress, she said the Roadhouse has been around for about 4 years. Anyway, they have great above normal roadhouse type food, including burgers of course, but also home smoked pulled pork and brisket, fresh fish, salads, and a long cheese list from their own creamery. They even had some on-tap locals, with sm/med/large glass prices - I enjoyed a nice pale ale (forget the brewer) with pulled pork, and all we had was enjoyed. Now that said the prices here are steep, considering the portions are modest (actually what they should be everywhere not so over the top). The burgers start at $10 and go up fast with additions, my pork platter with sides was ok at $11.50, but overall a pricey place for lunch. Rate it a solid B, very good quality offset by once a month prices (if you were a local).
In the afternoon stops included Bello Vino and the Main Street Party Store. BV is a specialty grocery store with an extensive wine collection and in the far back a very good beer area. Heavy on Michigan beers (why I was there, including Dark Horse, Bells, Jolly Pumpkin, Stoudts), and a good representation of others including Belgians, the best part was the singles rack with fill your own six pack cardboards. Found the last (apparently) Bells Batch 8000, as well as a few others I just wanted to try. A- for this store, great selection, good pricing. The MSPS was equally impressive with some singles as well. A- here. Overall, the only beer maker I couldn't find was Kuhnhenn's, one of my targets.
For dinner we located the local branch of Cottage Inn, famous for Ann Arbor pizza. We shared a sausage/onion regular crust combo, very good. The atmosphere here was just ok, no liquor service, try the original Cottage Inn if you want the full experience, for this branch by the hotel a B-.
After our college tour and meeting with the diving coach at UM, I made the 8 mile run to Dexter to visit Jolly Pumpkin. Their brewery is in a tiny off-road location near downtown Dexter, I was guided in by Laurie Jeffries, the brewer's spouse and head of marketing I believe. They are only open noon - 6pm on Fridays, and were serving on tap both Bam Biere and E.S. Bam. They were selling five different styles of their bomber bottles at wholesale pricing! As it is cash or check only, I ran out of money buying my big format favorites as well as a few Biere de Mars Grand Reserve's, a special offering which is barrel aged for 27 months! I wasn't able to question Ron, but Laurie confirmed that all of their offerings are ales. I've read that all production here uses open (read wild) fermentation, but this traditional method does not impart sourness. The sourness (prevalent in most of their beers) is produced by barrel aging. The barrels harbor both wild yeasts and Lactobacillus among other bacterias. This is why they can't share barrels with "normal" producers. Because of barrel variation, some beers are blended, and they post a bottle log on the website so you can track your particular bottle. Do they use Brettanomyces? Not sure, but whatever they use keep it up. Now ranked the 8th best brewery in the US by BeerAdvocate. Thanks to Laurie for great service, and to Ron for keeping this great brewery running, solid A.
For dinner we tried the noisy Ashley's, self-described as Michigan's best multi-tap. With 70 beers on tap, 15 rotating regularly, and decent bar food with good burgers for the price, I couldn't complain. And the back area wasn't even smoky (we are getting spoiled here in IL). Kids (under 21) allowed until 9pm. You can find to your liking on the tap list, overall a great college bar, comparable to sticking a combination Maproom/Clark Street/Twisted Spoke together in Evanston at NU. Solid A.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Durty Nellies in Palatine
What used to be considered a "dive" in suburbia has gone upscale. You can even bring the kids and have a B+ bar-type dinner. The owner is a veritable beer lover, and he stopped by to check on us, always a good sign.
Apparently this spanking new looking location opened in Dec 2003, the old one was divey for sure (and was torn down in 2004). Always considered a rock music center for the NW suburbs, not known for food. It has two levels and the upstairs was closed on a recent Saturday eve for a private party.
Lots to offer on the menu, our dinners came quickly including an above average fish and chips (tastier batter than most, and solid cod), Belfast bombers (three nice little burgers), and the shepherd's pie (needed some catchup, otherwise solid), all well enjoyed.
As for the beers, a long list is provided, and posted on the website. In addition, our perky waitress was knowledgeable. On her recommendation I had the Two Bros. Northwind Imperial Stout, very smooth, lacking big coffee or chocolate notes but an easy / smooth drinker at 7.5% (B rated), and the wife and I split a bottle of Founders Blushing Monk, quite refreshing, not overly sweet (listed in the menu at 9.5% abv, the bottle said 12.3%!!), a B+. We were shied away from the St. Louis (Belgian) Kriek suggesting it might be a bit sour for us.
Now, as for the list itself, the beers are nicely organized by type, and on the back by bottles vs tap. As noted, while some of the selections are marked limited, others are marked "coming soon". Alas, my first choice Sierra Nevada BigFoot, fell into the latter category and was not available. As this is a February list I cannot fault the logic (other than it was March 1 on our trip), and they do need to move onto new seasonals. As an example, on tap we had several solid American Stouts, proper for the season (a cold February at that).
On the downside, the bottle selection is hap hazard, many macros available for the bailout (our neighbors were drinking bud light or some such). But it's hard to complain, most likely the best list I've seen in this region of Chicagoland. I will certainly be going there again.
Apparently this spanking new looking location opened in Dec 2003, the old one was divey for sure (and was torn down in 2004). Always considered a rock music center for the NW suburbs, not known for food. It has two levels and the upstairs was closed on a recent Saturday eve for a private party.
Lots to offer on the menu, our dinners came quickly including an above average fish and chips (tastier batter than most, and solid cod), Belfast bombers (three nice little burgers), and the shepherd's pie (needed some catchup, otherwise solid), all well enjoyed.
As for the beers, a long list is provided, and posted on the website. In addition, our perky waitress was knowledgeable. On her recommendation I had the Two Bros. Northwind Imperial Stout, very smooth, lacking big coffee or chocolate notes but an easy / smooth drinker at 7.5% (B rated), and the wife and I split a bottle of Founders Blushing Monk, quite refreshing, not overly sweet (listed in the menu at 9.5% abv, the bottle said 12.3%!!), a B+. We were shied away from the St. Louis (Belgian) Kriek suggesting it might be a bit sour for us.
Now, as for the list itself, the beers are nicely organized by type, and on the back by bottles vs tap. As noted, while some of the selections are marked limited, others are marked "coming soon". Alas, my first choice Sierra Nevada BigFoot, fell into the latter category and was not available. As this is a February list I cannot fault the logic (other than it was March 1 on our trip), and they do need to move onto new seasonals. As an example, on tap we had several solid American Stouts, proper for the season (a cold February at that).
On the downside, the bottle selection is hap hazard, many macros available for the bailout (our neighbors were drinking bud light or some such). But it's hard to complain, most likely the best list I've seen in this region of Chicagoland. I will certainly be going there again.
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