Alas the End...

I've noticed that kegged beer seems to flow through my body quicker than bottles. ABA met it's end tonight, but that leaves an empty keg?

TnDC Field Trip #14 Cont'd

Breakfast at Tupelo Honey Cafe was a fantastic start. Great coffee and of course samples of supreme honey. Snagged the baseball tee. Then onto the Mast General Store. This place is sweet. Full of old signs and products, cool new clothing and of course a sh'ton (that's a shit ton, non-metric measurement) of honey products. Got some great wildflower honey at a nice price. Then for lunch...Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company. Pizza was great then time for some Shiva IPA. Oh what a brew. Made with pale, Munich and wheat (of all types) malts then hopped with Columbus, this beer had a great fruity citrus bite. Met one of the assistant brewers, Peter, that gave some great advice on brewing. Had to have a growler for the road! And for the evening we went to Thirsty Monk and appeased one of my greatest curiosities. A place that started as a true Belgian only bar and expanded to the upstairs (oh yes it was in a basement to begin with, Belgians ONLY).
1st beer up for Merry was Hansenn's Lambic Experimental Raspberry 2009 matured in oak barrels. The nose of tart raspberries and Brett, with a clear deep ruby color hits the palate with a sourness of acetic acid (vinegar) and a tart of oak that reminds me of drinking dill pickle juice as a kid... it was a risk then but so rewarding... compared to Lindemanns lambic this is the Ferrari of lambics. The initial profile makes you suck yourself into your own head, then as the first impression lulls you awe for more. 100% Belgian.

2nd My choice, Highland Seven Sisters abbey-ale dubbel 6.5%. Double the grain bill and Belgian dark Candi, slap some Trappist ale yeast with a great ester quality, made with Pilsner, Pale, Extra Special and Chocolate malts. Sweet aromas with a hint of nuttiness makes this limited a definite keeper. Hopped with Hallertau Hersbrucker and German Spalt.
3rd up is John John (which means technically I'm staying rogue for the time being). This beer is a collaboration between brewmaster John Maier and John Couchot the master distiller. In this one they take Dead Guy and put it in Dead Guy whisky barrels. Being first in the John John series a 3,100 gallon batch of John John Ale produces 1357 cases of beer. 6.5%abv and deep honey color with a strong vanilla oak flavor and quick dissipating head makes this beer the best and most complex I've Rogue had.

4th be Heavy Seas Siren Noir English style imperial stout! Man they fermented and flavored with Belgian chocolate nibs! It pours an opaque black with slight malt nose, taste is full with little to no roast or toffee but great caramel vanilla slightly hanging on the plank I call my tongue 8%
Finished the night at The Bier Garden with a great meal and some local beer that at this point I can't really remember, Appalachian? Catawba Valley? It was all good, best St. Pat's ever!

TnDC Field Trip #14 Cont'd Biltmore Estate

Biltmore Estate is a house on 8000 acres of land that has a 2-lane bowling alley, 70,000 gallon indoor swimming pool, 250 rooms, 65 fireplaces, 4 floors, 175000sq ft of living space, with winery, river, hunting land, greenhouse, ad nauseum, and all of it built 1890-1895. 43 indoor bathrooms, most houses had none. And I would live in some of the servants rooms! Built by the Vanderbilts of old railroad fame, I was amazed when Menonhead wanted to go to this place. Initially I thought it's just a house but 3 hours and 11 miles traveled around the entire property later, I could probably do my summers there. Of course the winery pulled us in and we sipped some of the following: Cab Sav Blanc de Noir, Chenin Blanc ($), Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Merlot, Century Red, Limited Release Merlot, Limited Release Malbec, Cab Sav ($), Limited Release Tempranillo, Limited Release Chenin Blanc, Cardinal's Crest Red, and finally Syrah. ($) denotes wines that we would buy and we snagged a bottle of Century Red and Limited Release Merlot.

St. Paddy's 2010 TnDC Field Trip #14

Came to Asheville for St. Pat's this year and it was a blast. Junk met the Melon and I over here for a little R&R and a few pints to boot. Lobster Trap, the home of Oyster House Brewing was our 1st stop. Had a flight of Patton Ave Pale Ale, IPA, Moonstone stout and an offering from French Broad Brewery of their Kolsch (we think). The Patton Ave Ale is made with bittering of Chinook, Columbus and Magnum followed by Simcoe and Cascade. At about 5%abv it was a nice brew. IPA was good! No info on the website concerning recipe. Then there was Moonstone Stout, yikes! Junk and Melon quaffed this stuff up. Made as a dry Irish stout with 5lbs of fresh oysters (shell and all). Low abv at 4.5% with calcium and seas salt this one is not supposed to taste like oysters. However, for me it did twang of a certain fishy brininess. Not across my teeth again. Stopped into Bruisin-Ales , a boutique beer shop with over 800 types of brew. Met the owner Jason Atallah and bought a few brews, including some that will appear on the blog soon. I even got a free pint glass. To finish up the night our choice was Jack of the Wood. The Irish music was phenomenal and the company couldn't have been better. We only tried one of their beers, 11th annual Green Man Stout, 6 or was it 7 pints of it:) Salud

You Got Irish Peeps?

This is by far the best site I have found that gives a family name history. Ever wondered if names like Mitchell, Garrett, Hartley or Middleton had "micks" in their past?

Ides!

Ides traditionally is the 15th of our MMJO months, all others are the 13th. Remember there is one market week between the Nones and Ides and from the Ides to the end of the month there were exactly 2 market weeks. "March, May, July, October, These are they, Make nones the seventh, Ides the fifteenth day." So now we know how to number the months based off of the Roman calendar and how it relates to March. I know, this has been more straight-laced and informative than usual but interesting for me.

Asking for Beer

I have always been a fan of languages, so to help make sure you get your favorite bevvy no matter where you are this Pat's Day here are a few of my favorites:
Arabic: Bira
French: la bie`re
Japanese: Biiru
Latin: Cerevisia
Russian: Pivo
Spanish: la cerveza
Turkish: Bira
Yiddish: biyr
AND of course Irish: beoir
If you want to know more hit and sign up for travlang.com .

Our Tastes-- Kells Irish Style Lager

Irish Style Lager by Rogue brewery pours an amazing light straw. I should have guessed it by the style. Smells like...lager, a bit skunked yet tastes decent. Bready on the mouth and that's all I have to say about that. Made with Great Western Pale, Crystal -15, Wheat & Acidulated Malts, hopped with Sterling and a departure from PacMan yeast using Czech Pils yeast. In 1998 John Maier created this brew after 4 test batches just so he could float Guinness on it perfectly. Maybe Guinness would make taste a little better, who we kiddin', of course it would. Guy on the front is some famous Irish flutist with a great looking tam!

Our Tastes-- MBP Vanilla Bean Stout Firkin

MBP has brought back Firkin Thursdays! We missed last week's Goat Hill Pale Ale on Columbus hops but this week, fresh vanilla bean stout! It poured up an opaque black with great lattice. Jamie brewed a short test batch and it is phenom! Slight toffee low coffee notes with a caramel lip stickiness that has a good bit of vanilla on the aftertaste. No info on this one, it's not 100% legal in AL.

Nones!

Alright continuing to try and improve our blather during the greenest of months while we urge and educate others to dark beer, today is the Nones of March. So we know that The Ides always falls on the 1st and is based off of the Julian (or pre-Julian) calendar. The Nones is a related market day. This one is a little harder to follow because this day comes from the nundinae, which is the 8th day of the "8 day market week" that occurred every 9 days (yeah they took a break), not our 7 day week system. From the Nones to the Ides is one market week or 8 days. Easy children's poem: March, July, October, May; The Nones are on the seventh (every other month they fall on the 5th only). Whew, I think I have typed myself into a beer!

Our Tastes-- Smoke Ale

My confidant tonight is unrelenting! Smoke Ale pours a pure orange hue with white hanging head. Aroma is HEAVY spiced mesquite. Mouthfeel is full but burps a slight 69cents Taco Bell taco Sunday hardshell. Taste is exactly as the label describes, a smoky wood beer. Grains_ Great Western Harringon, Klages, Munich & Hugh Baird Crystal, Carastan 30-37 & 13-17, Chuck’s Alderwood Smoked Munich and Smoked Bamberg Beechwood then hoppied with Saaz and Perle. This beer celebrated the fall of the Berlin wall. 14.5 Plato and 48 IBUs then 5.9%abv makes this a nice sweet smokey keeper.

Our Tastes-- HazelNut Brown Nectar

On it with another tonight, man it's hard to have a lot of beers to try for the greater good of Beer-dom. HazelNut Brown Nectar pours a medium to slightly dark brown with considerable particulate. Nose is heavy sweet hazelnut through and through! Head is medium tan and compact frothy. Aftertaste is bittersweet, creamy mouthfeel hazelnut. Lacing is very nice. Made with Harrington, Klages, Munich, Hugh Baird Brown, Carastan 13-17, Crystal 70-80, Crystal 135-165 & Beeston Chocolate and hopped with Perle and Sterling with a specialty addition of hazelnut nectar. 12 Plato and 28 IBUs, with 6.2%abv this brew is a nice offering this time of year for me when all things need be darker than usual.

Our Tastes-- Half-E-Weizen

Still Rogue'n it, Half-E-Weizen is the next chosen tonight by The Enabler. It pours a cloudy dark straw typical of it's class, with a great nose of banana and clove, we presume from the yeast used. Head is thick and white yet dissipating. The taste is remarkable yet expected. I could drink a torpedo of this stuff during the summer. It has a great well balanced palate. Formally know as MoM Hefeweizen it is made with Great Western Harrington, Klages and Wheat, hopped with Saaz only and the special taste comes form our friend corriander and ginger. 3 Plato and 34 IBUs make this a good'en.

Man Room!

As the man room takes shape in the days that I am off and free to build the Empire at Woodland Creek, a lone beacon of light shines through the darkness......of beer:)

Our Tastes-- Monk Madness Ale

When I cracked the crown on this well aged beauty, there was slow rise of head that crept up the neck of the bomber. I poured myself 25cL in my new Piraat tulip that my bro-in-law gave me and the color is a deep orange brown hue, with slight cloudiness and off-white thick head. The aroma literally jumped at me when the bottle was opened before even pouring and was that of sweet plums and raisins. The taste is a great balance of 5 malts and hops as the bottle says. There is a heavy bitterness that sharply enters the mouth after the slight malt leaves. Until I poured this up and did a little research I didn't realize this was a retired beer from Rogue. Brewed with 2-row Pale, Belgian Munich, Belgian Special B, Weyermann Melonoidin, and Amber Malts then hopped with Belgian Nobles, Chinook, Amarillo, Centennial, and Summit Hops. This beer would explode with some strong cheese or a spicy dish. The difference between nose and palate is profound. To smell this American Strong Ale and taste it is a universe apart. 18Plato and 7.4%abv. For $4.49, I wish they'd make it again, only problem is that I can't remember where I legged it from. Monk Madness Ale is a keeper, wonder if it's named after a man who swore off of women?

Kalends!

Today is the kalends of March. Basically a designation of the Roman calendar. I'll be going old school again this year to teach the gospel of St. Patrick's Day. I'll try not to cover previous entries such as rainfall, Maewyn himself, etc. And lest we not forget that on a side note Castle Bravo was detonated today in 1954 which was the 1st hydrogen bomb with the worst radioactive fallout in history as seen in this pic from the Bikini atoll.