What a great gift idea! (hint)
From Baby Brewing
He sure does
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Monthly Archives: November 2010
Santa’s Private Reserve Ale
When Brian, the proprietor of my local beer specialty store down the street told me about Rogue Brewery’s Santa’s Private Reserve Ale, he described it like this. “I haven’t had it, but I’ve heard it’s like their Dead Guy Ale, but a little maltier.” That’s why I like Brian, even when he hasn’t had a beer, he still has something to say.
Usually I am wary of Christmas Specials in general. Just because you put Santa on something doesn’t make it any better- and it usually just makes it more expensive. But I think it is different with beer. In the beer world, the holidays just mean your favorite breweries are now mixing new recipes, hoping you will enjoy a new offering that will help you get through another holiday with the relatives. So with beer, I always look forward to what they are going to mix up come November.
Santa’s Private Reserve is a double-hopped Red. It has a nice, deep red color. Brian was also right, the malt comes through a bit more than in the Dead Guy. But comparing the two isn’t fair, as Dead Guy is a German Maibock and Santa is a Red Ale. In fact, it is a variation of their Saint Rogue Red, but with some interesting differences, such as being double-hopped, and a mystery addition of a hop called “Rudolph”, which is cool. Maybe we haven’t heard of it because the other hops won’t let it join in their drinking games.
Rogue makes such great beer that any addition to their extensive selection is always welcome as far as I’m concerned. Santa’s Private Reserve is one seasonal selection you won’t regret grabbing. That is the beauty of beer—unlike a fruitcake, or a sweater with an enormous snowflake on it—you are going to consume it gladly. Happy drinking.
Beery Serious
Framboise Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry Sauce is a staple at any Thanksgiving table and each year I like to try at least one new recipe. This year I made a Framboise Cranberry Sauce from a recipe in Cooking Light. They said the Belgian Framboise Lambic beer would add an underlying sweetness to complement the cranberries. However, I didn’t find that to be so true and the sauce was quite tart. Next time I would add a little more sweetness with either some orange juice or just some more sugar. (Anyone have any other ideas?)
This was extremely simple to make. Here is the original recipe and a photo of me getting mine ready.
Ingredients
1 (12-ounce) bottle Framboise Lambic beer (such as Lindemans)
½ cup sugar
1-½ teaspoons grated orange rind
1 (12-ounce) package fresh cranberries
Preparation
Bring beer to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar, rind, and cranberries; bring to a simmer. Cook 18 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; cool to room temperature. Spoon into a bowl; cover and chill. (Sauce will thicken as it chills.)
Happy Guinness
Photo © by Scootette on Twitter
(Got a great beer photo you want to share on Hop Talk? Drop us a line!)
Happy Thanksgiving
It’s Thanksgiving today here in the States, a day when we get together with family and friends, overindulge on food and drink, and, hopefully, give thanks for all of our blessings.
We’re doing no less, of course.
Matt, Ron, and I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. Don’t overdo it too much. Don’t let your family drive you crazy. And, later tonight when it’s quiet and you’re having one last beer and reflecting on the day, remember all the things you’re thankful for.
For those of you not in the United States, we hope you have a very nice Thursday.
Beer Garden iPhone App (sucks)
A press release from The Fringe Majority and One Click Pony prompted me to test out their new iPhone app called Beer Garden which turned out to be a piece of crap. In theory it is a social drinking game where you can:
*Collect trophies by sampling a wide variety of craft and hard to find beers.
*Share your location on Facebook so friends will know where you’ve found your brews.
They claim to have 15,000+ beers in their database. My experience was this…
First, it forces you to integrate with Facebook before doing anything. Then, the app is unresponsive, the interface is hard to understand and the app flat out doesn’t work. I tried looking up beers at brew pubs large and small and there are no suggestions. That is if you can get it to even attempt to look something up. I tried logging my own beers and there is no way to get it to complete the entry just to even track your own beers.
And who would want to do this anyway??? Don’t you have something better to do with your time?
I can’t believe I wasted a whole buck on this app… what a waste… DO NOT BUY!
What Every Man Should Have
Lucky 7 beer
I’m told that this was a Dogfish Punkin Ale in a fancy, sugar-rimmed glass. Lucky indeed!
All photos © Scootette on Twitter
(Got a great beer photo you want to share on Hop Talk? Drop us a line!)
Garden State Hudson Pale Ale
My Dad tried to surprise me with a beer I’ve never had before, but alas, Al and I had the NJ State Stout at Oktoberfest. However, he had more ammo… I’ve never had the NJ State Hudson Pale Ale.
I am a Jersey boy too and I think it is great that craft brewers continue to make good beer into good business in the garden state. Right now their distribution is limited to New Jersey, but the list is quite extensive. Their stout was great and this pale ale was also well done; I highly recommend giving them a try.
The Hudson Pale Ale poured with a voluminous head at cellar temperature. The color was clear amber / brass. The aroma was light and fruity. It was clean and easy going down, improving along the way. As the lacing lowered itself down the glass, the bright and well-rounded hop character never took over the beer making it a story with a good beginning and a great ending.
