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Brews News Online Had a good brew lately? We have. Here are a few we'd pour again. Beers with the lizard logo are on the Winking Lizard World Tour of Beers, 2010
3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze: This rust-colored Lambic has a huge head and funky, strong cheese aromas. It's very tart-almost sour-and effervescent on the tongue. (Geuzes are blended Lambics, sometimes called Belgian "champagne.") Many people enjoy these best with food. Paired with strong, creamy cheeses like a Stilton or even lobster tails in butter, this one will take your taste buds to Europe and back.
Life and Limb: This amazing collaboration between Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head will bring a rush of pleasure on even the nastiest of March evenings. So deep-colored it's almost black, its roasted malt aroma jumps out of the glass with a hint of the richness to follow. It's sinfully decadent, creamy and thick, with mild bitterness and a touch of sweetness from the birch and maple syrup used in the brewing process. Hard to find, but grab one if you do.
Duchy Originals Organic English Ale: The Duchy brand was established in 1990 by Prince Charles in order to promote organic food and farming. This traditional ale, a deep ruby-amber color, has a sweet malty aroma and creamy texture. Crisp and bright, it's mildly hoppy with a subtle yet distinct banana nuance.
Great Lakes Brewing Company Conway's Irish Ale: It just wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day without this beer, named after Patrick Conway, grandfather of brewery co-owners Pat and Dan Conway. As the label states, Grandfather Pat was a "meat and potatoes" kind of guy, and this is a "meat and potatoes" kind of beer. Rich, toasty and malty, still rooted to the heartiness of winter fare. It may be St. Paddy's Day, but usually - around here anyway - there's still a bit of snow in the air.
- Sarah Jaquay and Donna Marchetti Brews News
Imagine the perfect beer. If you are a lover of hops, it would be a hop heavenly dream. If you are person who can put chocolate on anything and enjoy it (I have been seeing a lot of chocolate-covered bacon lately), then putting whole melted chocolate bars into your beer would be ideal, huh? When you brew your own beer - and lots of people are doing it - you can make your perfect pint. It's a relatively easy process, so once you have all the proper equipment, do some research and experiment a bit, you can be brewmaster of your household! To make a full-bodied, unadulterated lager, all you need is water, barley, hops and yeast. Now, which to use from each of these food groups? I like to use water from the region where I am, so I go with local tap water. Next the barley and malt. There are many kits available at retail stores and online that include liquid or dried malt extracts that are basically the wort in concentrated form. Put that into your water to boil, and add the hops of your choice. (Cascade is very popular; different varieties have different flavor nuances.) Hops are available in dried pellet form as well as fresh. Then you allow the beer to ferment, either in open-top containers or in the bottles of your choice. But if you bottle ferment, make sure the bottles are able to withstand the pressure building inside. These are very basic instructions, so you'll need guidance. Do research, visit a store that sells beer-making supplies, take a class, ask lots of questions, dream up your perfect beer then make it. Most recipes yield about six gallons, so invite everyone over for the grand opening. Brew Well.
- Manny Nieves
Northeast Ohio sudsheads are cheering the return of Akron native Andy Tveekrem to the Buckeye state. After a five-year stint as brewmaster at Dogfish Head in Delaware, Tveekrem is coming back to his roots to join with Bier Markt's Sam McNulty in opening a new microbrewery on Cleveland's West 25th St. near the West Side Market. Tveekrem isn't new to the neighborhood. He spent nine years working at Great Lakes Brewing Company and was brewmaster there when he left in 2000.
Market Beer Garden is slated to open in June 2010 with Tveekrem at the helm. He plans to offer 10 beers at the starts, including seasonals, and will continue to build the beer list gradually from there.
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Cocktail Recipes
The Lounging Gourmet
There's a new taste in mixers making its way around the state. The Lounging Gourmet Floral Elixir Collection, the brainchild of Cleveland native Nora Egger, is a line of all-natural, small batch floral mixers in four flavors: Antillean Hibiscus, Damascan Rose, English Lavender and Andean Fire Orchid ($14.95/250 ml; $22.95/500 ml). Intensely flavored and very exotic, these add a new dimension to cocktails, or even to sparkling wine, which is how we tried them. Our favorites were the Damascan Rose for its delicate, natural flavor and the Andean Fire Orchid for its spicy kick. Egger plans to offer online sales at www.thelounginggourmet.com .
Here are some of Egger's cocktail recipes using her elixirs:
Lavender Martini
Black and Lavender
Hibiscus Elixir Mimosa
Rose Cosmopolitan
Lava Lamp Elixir
Tropical Sour Whiskey
Tequila Sunrise
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