October 12, 2009
Oktoberfest is generally associated with Germany as an enormous gathering of beer drinkers. Now, I have yet to visit Germany during this holy time but I’m pretty sure Maryland’s Oktoberfest is the furthest thing possible from that. And I don’t mean by distance. Don’t get me wrong it was still fun and I couldn’t wait to write about it.
The event I visited was this: DAS Best Oktoberfest. Basically, this is for the Maryland’s micro brewers to come and show off their goods. It was interesting because the state is not known for its awesome beer. Which is a shame as there were some worthy (and some really interesting) beers on display.
Before I get to the brewers let me go through some mechanics of the show. I took the Baltimore light rail to Timonium Fairground. The fest provided us with a shuttle bus from the station. Very nice of them. On the bus they, appropriately, played the movie ‘beerfest’. Poor driver had to listen to that movie all day. A 5 minute ride, just enough to see the best part where the drunk guy hooked up with a woman at the bar. Since Maryland is public transportation challenged lots of people had to drive in and hence there were two entry lines: designated driver and regular. Drivers get cool beads which make them look like they’ve been 
flashing people all day. The regular ticket gets you a four ounce plastic glass and six tokens. Each token is worth one dollar and buys you one sample. More token could be bought inside but I found that six is plenty. If you think about it, $1 for four ounces of beer is pretty pricey.
The event was very popular and I occasionally had some problems getting through the crowds; especially toward the end of day. Unfortunately it seemed that there were less breweries than other exhibitors. There were a few cigar shops, cigarette companies, a bus company and even a rescue squad (we’ll excuse them because they brought some awesome dogs). Quite a few food places, but I didn’t mind that. In the spirit of Oktoberfest there was plenty of German food, potato pancakes and BBQ pulled pork were absolutely delicious. In addition to that there was one German band and a stage with various other, I’m guessing local, bands. And, of course, this wouldn’t be a Maryland event without crabcakes. Pretty much any fish food goes well with beer, so this was a pleasant sight.
Even though there weren’t that many breweries to choose from, there was definitely enough for a day’s worth of tasting. DuClaw was there, but that’s expected. It is an extremely popular one around the District. If you ever visit Maryland, the brewery is absolutely worth a stop because they have plenty of good specialty brews. DuClaw generally has mild brews that don’t really stand out much but are quality made with interesting tastes. The bars are sport themes and tailored for the college/yuppie crowd. It’s also a good place to come for food and work parties. Most of their establishments are in mellow malls in the safety of suburban life. I avoided them because by now I’m just bored with the beer and I thought it was a shame that they had the longest lines. I’m sure most of those people frequent their happy hours. So I spent most of my time trying other breweries that are not as accessible from DC area.
Most of the good breweries were from Frederick, MD. Maybe the proximity to Pennsylvania helps. The photo on the left shows the “Brewer’s Alley.” I tried their Oktoberfest and Kölsch. Both were excellent crisp beers. Barely any after taste. Kölsch was a little lighter than Oktoberfest but it had a more complicated taste. I’d say Kölsch tasted better but a very close call. Both are definitely above average and you can actually enjoy them on regular basis with any kind of meal. Not the most popular at the fest, nonetheless the lines were long and it seems that many people returned for more.
Somewhere along the walk though the exhibits I managed to try an organic beer. I’d admit that the beer was not the reason why stopped at the table. The ladies were wearing these really sexy outfits, for example Miss oktoberfest. I mean who in their right mind wouldn’t stop? But, honestly, I felt a bit sorry for the girls because they had to stand there all day, half naked without any heaters. The girl that poured me a sample was definitely cold and not happy. The show had quite a few girls dressed like that walking around. Getting back to beer. Organic is good, but I still don’t know what makes beer organic. For some reason most of the organic beers I’ve ever tried have come up short. They are nice, crispy and refreshing. But, for some reason, just as your taste buds have started to enjoy the flavor it disappears like a tease. So, one ends up feeling disappointed. Makes me wonder if that’s how beer tasted in the 1800’s before the non-organic was invented.
And now for the best brewery at the show: Barley and Hops. They are also from Frederick, Maryland with the slogan:
Life is too short to drink bad beer
With a slogan like that the bar is set high before you even try the beer. When you do, you realize that they cleared the bar with room to spare. My favorite was the Annapolis Rick Pale Ale a very subtle taste but full of flavor. Your taste buds are literally caught by surprise as this crispy ale makes them tingle with pleasure. Initially it doesn’t seem much but a few moments later you realize that it is rich and refreshing. The only sadness is I only had a four once glass. Encouraged by this experience I went right back in line four times! And, I was not disappointed.
Overall, if you are a beer person then do make your way up to this event. Hopefully they’ll have a bigger selection in the years to come, but then I’m not sure if there is enough time to try them all. Just make sure you come late enough to stay for the Miss Oktoberfest contest.
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February 8, 2009
Drinks of any kind are fun to review, but that fun comes from the joy of drinking them. And of course the better the drink the more fun there is. Talk about something obvious, right? That is one statement that is not worth mentioning. But this is - the place matters and makes the drink. You can have your favorite beer, but if you aren’t in with the place you’ll feel uncomfortable, annoyed and probably not get lucky in the end. The place, be it a bar or a pub or a dirty old Moe’s, must provide you with your favorite drink and with a good atmosphere; it must play on all your senses. Its hard to find those kinds of places which is why everyone is spending so much time going around choosing place after place or sifting through numerous review sites (if you are such a person, welcome!) or bugging all your friends.
Now, since it is so hard and so important to find a good place to have your drink, we, the authors of this site, will try to help you. The name of the place is “The Ten Bells” and it’s located at 247 Broome St in New York City’s one of the best neighborhoods for outing LES. Be careful when you look for it, it’s inconspicuous location is further disguised by its entrance that sports dark doors and no house number in sight. But its there, looked very closed and abandoned from outside when I was looking for it. Yet once you enter, you are welcomed into a warm friendly atmosphere that you usually find at French establishments. Cozy with muted lights Ten Bells has a bar in the center and a few tall commune tables in the back all littered with empty wine and champagne bottles. The bar section sports this nice sushi enclosure that is filled with, what else, but cheese.
The beer selection is, obviously, very limited. If my memory serves me correctly, when inquired about the choice of drafts, the list consisted of maybe 4 items of some local brews. Well… you don’t go to a French place to sample beers do you? Worry not, the wine selection is great. Food selection is superb too. But the gem is and have always been in pairing wine with food, or cheese. If you are anything like me, then you don’t know much about wines, just the basics and the names you like. Thank fully the staff knowledgeable and capable in pairing. Find a big round guy with a beard, he’ll give you good drinking sequence that you and your other will enjoy. While you enjoy the wine served to you in a professional French tasting glass you will notice young lively crowd that is on the Asian side. Being so close to the Chinatown’s dirtiest has its advantages or disadvantages (depending on your taste).
All in all, its a good place to take your date to or have a simple romantic evening with your significant other. Just look for a table in the back with flowers and the bottles. You will be sharing with others, but its not crowded and no elbowing around.
The only major con is that the Ten Bells is cash only. They do have an ATM right outside, but its just so inconvenient. A box of matches is always available at the entrance in a big wine glass.
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December 16, 2008
I know, it’s been a while since my last post. But, I’ll try to compensate by presenting you with a special feature.
Recently I was fortunate enough to spend a week at Breckenridge Colorado. For those not familiar with Colorado, Breckenridge is a small resort town a couple of hours west of Denver. Now, unlike other winter resort towns, Breckenridge actually started off as a real town in the old west, a mining town, and only recently was converted into a resort town. As far as I know there are no operational mines in the actual town and the mountain peaks (all 10 of them) are left to the skiers and snowboarders. It’s a really pleasant place to spend a week in.
Did I mention that the town is about 9600 feet above the sea level (that’s almost 3 kilometers!)? This apparently requires special cooking methods and affects the taste of just about everything. Even the US Department of Agriculture has something to say about that. I’m sure this gives the Colorado brewers some extra challenges.
For this post I picked two beers that seem to be available only locally. At least, I haven’t seen them anywhere else and they are immensely popular in the area. These beers are: Fat Tire and Single Track. Initially I was planning to just talk about Fat Tire but decided to review them together because at one place I asked for Fat Tire and was offered Single Track as a substitute with the claim it was very similar.
First let’s talk about Fat Tire. The beer looks awesome, complete with a cool bottle label. It’s actually an Amber Ale. It has a nice orange-brownish color, a little bit of a head which goes away pretty quickly. Interestingly enough, Fat Tire is very gaseous. I attribute it to the altitude (I found out a lot of things get attributed to that, whether or not it’s accurate). Unfortunately it does not look like I’ll be able to compare it to low altitudes anytime soon, I’ve yet to find Fat tire on the east coast. Now, it has a see-through perfect look, but can it live up the expectations?
Here’s what the brewers had to say about it (on the bottle):
FAT TIME Amber Ale’s appeal is in its feat of balance: toasty, biscuit-like malt flavors coasting in equilibrium with hoppy freshness. Named in honor of Jeff’s mountain bike trip from brewery through Europe.
FAT TIRE is still crafted following the original home brew recipe that Jeff brainstormed on this cycling trip.
The beer has a chocolaty after taste and until just now I didn’t quite make the connection, but I guess that’s what they mean by “biscuit-like malt flavors.” Fat tire is pretty light and feels crisp as it goes down. There is some bitter taste to it, but not enough to turn away the bitter haters. However there really isn’t anything special about it, it’s something nice to drink. Fat Tire is not particularly strong or heavy, so you can actually drink it casually and enjoy it. After a full day of snowboarding it is definitely a welcome taste.
I had Fat Tire at two different places, albeit maybe one block apart: Whale’s Tale and Gold Pan. Both on Main street of Breckenridge and both very cool places.
At Gold Pan you see things like this (photo on the left). Yes, it is a stuffed deer’s butt on the wall. There’s also a DJ and a small dancing area for the dedicated. Gold Pan is one of the first and oldest bars in the town and it shows. There is big game on the wall (Buffalo’s or Bison’s head) and an ancient coal stove that is no longer in use. The place is as dark as you’d expect of any bar except for what I can only call a game room. It is an adjacent room that is fully lit with two pool tables and Foosball. Clearly a modern addition. I have yet to figure out what the deal with the cover charge is, but it does look like a popular destination for the young crowd.
Whale’s Tale, on the other hand, doesn’t really leave much of an impression. It’s mostly just another bar/restaurant place with absolutely amazing chicken wings. The above photo of Fat Tire was taken there.
On the way back to the East coast I spent quite a lot of time at Denver International Airport. It a very nice airport and probably the size of Manhattan. But, while there I decided to refresh my memory of Fat Tire and perhaps start writing about it. There was a nice brewery there, Boulder Beer Company, but I was greatly disappointed to find out that they did not serve Fat Tire.
Instead, they served me Single Track. The bar tender said it is very similar to Fat Tire and I would not be disappointed. I wasn’t disappointed but it wasn’t exactly what I would call ‘very similar’. Similar, but not very. Although I find it funny that the representing pictures are very similar. Perhaps that’s the ‘very similar’ part.
Anyway, the beer was mildly good. Not quite as well balanced as Fat Tire. There’s just too much bitterness for such a light beer. It’s more bitter than Fat Tire even though it’s just as light and crispy. The look is just about the same, maybe a little lighter… but that most likely just the lighting in the airport versus a dark bar. Single Track has practically no foam and, just like Fat Tire, it goes very well with meaty foods such as burgers or chicken wings. Unlike Fat Tire, Single Track is a Copper Ale.
I must say though, sitting at a bar in the airport for a couple of hours listening to those security announcements really got me scared of the threat level ‘Orange‘ and I realized that I cannot, for any reason, accept packages from strangers!
If you ever get a chance to visit Denver or its surrounding area then do it. It’s definitely a nice place with a big selection of good local beer.
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September 2, 2008
Now there is a beer that does not live up to its name. After all, my skull has not split. Perhaps it became politically correct by the time it reached the North American east coast. This beer is far away from its Scottish home. It was brewed by the Orkley Brewery. If you were like me and thought that Orkley is just a name of some brewery then you are wrong. Orkley is actually a set of islands off the coast of Scotland (Orkley Islands). Here’s what the bottle has to say about them:
A small group of Islands off the northern tip of Scotland, shrouded in magic and mystery, was the home of Thorfinn Hausakluif (Skullsplitter) 7th Viking Earl of Orkley around 1000AD.
I call it beer, but it actually is a very strong ale with 8.5% alcohol content. Thanks to Hollywood I picture Vikings as these crazed warriors on ships and land (although I’m sure they were normal people), so it came with no surprise to me when I discovered that the beer is slightly more bitter then Guiness and has red looks to it. As a side note, I think everyone should know that while Columbus opened Americas to Europe, the Vikings were the first Europeans to map the North American land (Wikipedia).
Skull Splitter must have beer produced before refrigeration was invented because it tastes great even warm. This is true for most beers coming from the United Kingdom, although chilling generally significantly improves the taste of those beers. This is not the kind of beer you’d want to drink at or bring to parties. The alcohol content is pretty high, not good for light weights. When drinking it feels light and refreshing, but don’t be fooled it’s a dark and filling beer. The after taste will persist for sometime. From what I understand most people prefer water like qualities for parties. No, this one is not for some mindless party. This one is for settling in front of a TV after a long day and enjoying its very rich taste.
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