An ode to widely available craft beer

After a certain point of drinking craft beer you get to the point where you can become easily frustrated by seeing the same draught beers everywhere you go. What I’m saying is that at some point we all become this guy

Source: The Onion

Once you’ve reached that point there’s a few rules of etiquette that I force on myself.

1. Never turn down a beer offered to you and then go buy your own. You drink yours what is offered to you and then buy the next round.

2. Never complain to the bar staff about their beer selection. You know as well as I do they have no control over what’s on offer.

3. Find your staples. Certain great beers will be available almost everywhere in a region. Learn what they are if you plan on being in one place for a while.

These are usually very good beers that come from great breweries, but for whatever reason their more interesting stuff doesn’t have the same commercial appeal. Here’s just a few of my favourites.

Sam Adams Boston Lager

Source: thebeerdaily.com

 

Everyone knows Sam Adams at this point. The Boston-based brewery distributes across the world and as such you can find it pretty much everywhere in England and New England. The flagship lager packs a ton more flavour than most “lagers” you’ll find. But where this company really shines is in their Brewmaster Collection, here’s my favourite.

Source: geografnik.blogspot.com

Lattitude 48 is an IPA hopped only with hops grown on the 48th lattitude. It’s a well balanced and interesting IPA. You won’t find it in the UK at all but if you’re in the States I highly recommend seeing what this brewery is truly capable of.

 

Quick note: Most places where Sam Adams is available you’re likely to find Brooklyn Brewery’s Brooklyn Lager as well. It’s a fantastic malty little number and if you like Sam Adams but find it too hoppy I’d suggest Brooklyn.

Also, they make one of my favourite beers of all time, Black Chocolate Stout.

Source: kingbobyjr.wordpress.com

It’s a 10% ABV punch in the mouth. It’s available in the UK but it’s harder to find. It’s usually around more at Christmas time.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Source: SierraNevada.com

Oh, Sierra Nevada makes me so happy. Out of this list their signature brew is my least favourite, but they distribute their other brews widely in the UK. Of those one you must try and will very likely be able to find (if you’re in Leeds try Tapped or Brewery Tap) is the Torpedo Extra IPA, a strong and bitter IPA that I can’t get enough of.

Source: SierraNevada.com

Brewdog Punk IPA

Source: Brewdog.com

If you’re from or living in Britain then chances are you know of Brewdog already and have definitely tried the Punk IPA. Punk IPA is my favourite on this list, it has an unapologeticly hoppy taste with a strong alcohol kick. It’s available almost everywhere and you can even get it from Sainsbury’s. Punk IPA gets top honours because it has the best flavour and is the most ubiquitous UK craft beer.  Also many cities in Britain have a Brewdog bar. But like all beers on this list, Brewdog doesn’t stop coming up with great stuff just because their flagship is so popular.

Source: BrewDog.com

Meet the Clown King: a knock-you-out-drag-you-around Barley Wine. At a whopping 12% this is definitely a one of the best beers I’ve ever had.

Also, one of the best things about Brewdog is you can buy directly from their site.

http://www.brewdog.com/product/clown-king

 

Bar Profile: Fab Cafe

Fab Cafe is a bar located in the Leeds City Centre that caters to the geek and goth crowds. It’s not much to look at from the outside, in fact you’d likely miss it if it wasn’t for the large sign jutting out into the pavement.

Source: http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk

It bills itself as the “first movie and TV themed bar,” and it is fairly impressive. There’s a great collection of geeky games available to play, including the Star Wars arcade game I wasted my youth (and my quarters) on.

Source: http://www.arcade-museum.com

Fab keeps with the geeky aesthetic throughout. In addition to the aforementioned games the walls are decorated with lots of neat comics, film and television memorabilia including full-size Daleks and Xenomorphs. You’ll also find some niche stuff in mint condition behind the glass cases that most of the memorabilia is behind, including the titular hero of the cult Toxic Avenger series.

The music they play is generally good as well, skirting the line between legitimately good, nostalgic, and ironic. I’ve definitely heard Arcade Fire, Blink-182 and Vanilla Ice in the same evening there.

They often host films on their televisions throughout the bar. Recently their Manchester location has been screening Firefly, which is a nice touch.

Part of what I really like about Fab is their marketing. Fridays are Stir fry-days and are Archer themed.

Overall, atmosphere is welcoming and non-pretentious and their drink and snack selection reflects that. Snacks range from sweets to crisps, but they have meals such as sarnies and fish fingers. If you’re a beer drinker you’ll have to settle for an imported lager or a Guinness if you prefer keg beers, they have a couple of real ales available. But they often seem to run out fairly quickly. On top of the draughts, they have ciders, bottles beers, and your standard alcopops. Cocktails are a bit more where they shine, a big selection of spirits and talented bartenders make it so that you can get almost anything you’d like.

Where it gets a bit rough is the price. You’re buying standard cheap beers and ciders, but you’re paying for the atmosphere. Fab Cafe is definitely a place to visit, but it’s very polarizing. You’ll likely have a blast there, but with evening cover charges, average booze, and high prices it might not become your new favourite hangout.

Dear God, Why?: 5 innovative vodka flavours

On this blog one of the things I strive for is innovation. I try to do cocktails that haven’t been done before, or if they have I try to put a little spin on them. What makes my job easier is when spirit manufacturers decide that they’ve had enough citron vodka and honey whisky and decide to do something strange.  Some of these flavours are delicious and their creators deserve a pat on the back, while others are gimicky and really only drinkable when drowned in mixers. That being said I am a huge proponent of the “throw it against a wall and see what sticks” philosophy when it comes to this.   1. Bakon Vodka

Source: http://www.epicmealtime.com

Let’s just get it out of the way. Holy dang, there’s bacon vodka! Bakon is, like most bacon-flavoured things, vegan. You’re not secretly screwing up your vegetarian friend’s diet by slipping this into their bloody mary. Even if I ate bacon, I would boycott this monstrosity on the sheer principle that bacon has somehow managed to slip into every aspect of our lives. Weird trendiness aside, reviews for the product aren’t terrible  and at least the serving suggestions are primarily bloody mary focused, which is already a savory cocktail.  But they also recommend trying it in a chocolate cocktail, which gives them points for creativity but makes me shudder.

2.  Crop Cucumber, Meyer Lemon and Tomato Vodkas

Source: http://www.cropvodka.com/about.php

Crop Harvest Earth Organic is actually a pretty cool company that uses organic ingredients in their products. The “artisinal flavour” is a bit of a gimmick. It’s just their unflavoured vodka. Of these flavours though I’ve had the opportunity to try the cucumber and tomato vodkas. If you read my previous post you know that I love my cucumber cocktails, and Crop’s veggie-infused vodkas did not disappoint. It was suggested that I try the tomato one in a bloody mary, but that seemed like a waste to me. So I had them both straight up, and then served with ice and soda water.

 3. Vodquila

Source: http://beveragetradenetwork.com/

Vodquila is the answer to a question nobody asked. As the portmanteau suggests it is a blend a vodka and tequila. Best served as cold as humanly possible to dull your tastebuds.  In short, Vodquila is a pointless amalgamation destined to be the highlight of every 2-4-1 night at your local creepy club with unisex toilets.   Vodquila is the laziest entry on this list, it’s not trendy, it’s not creative, it’s just different.

4. Oddka Wasabi

Source: http://jonnymetbird.com/

Oddka appeals to me because of their shear dedication to the strange. And because this is not a post about the tastiest vodkas but the most innovative. I would like to talk about how much I appreciate their strangeness. As far as the quality of the base spirit, Oddka but like I said this is about creativity. 

It’s difficult to find a complete list of Oddka flavours, but this is what I was able to put together.

Twisted Melon

Peach Bellini

Fresh Cut Grass

Salty Caramel Popcorn

Electricity (Some sort of grape thing)

Apple Pie

Wasabi

Some of the flavours make sense, such as Apple Pie, others are just variations on other popular flavours such as melon and peach. Salty Caramel Popcorn is jumping on the salted caramel trend that’s not quite as annoying the previously mentioned bacon trend, but there is some real interesting stuff here. Fresh Cut Grass is basically Bison Grass vodka, but still I’m a huge fan of the fresh and earthy flavours you find in grass vodka (probably because it reminds me so much of gin). I haven’t tried Electricity and the descriptions of its taste are varied, everyone agrees it’s some sort of grape flavour, but some claim that they can taste spice and copper tones in the flavour. 

The real originality of Oddka is in their wasabi flavour. Now, adding spice to spirits is nothing new. Absolut has their Peppar vodka (green capsicums, chili and jalapeno) and New Orleans (black pepper and mango) both of which are delicious, and Southern Comfort has that Tabasco travesty. But Anyone familiar with spicy flavours knows there’s a distinct difference   between the capsaicin heat present in hot peppers and the mustard oil (allyl isothiocyanate) flavour you find in mustard, horserarish and wasabi. 

Other than the brand Indio, a small-batch company in Oregon, Oddka is the only company to make and distribute a mustard oil based vodka. There are no horseradish vodkas available, and other and Indio, no company makes wasabi vodka. 

The obvious choice is to throw it into a bloody mary, but I’d say that’s a waste. Like putting the tomato vodka in one.  Instead I’d suggest playing up the wasabi flavour, maybe try blending it with ginger flavours, or maybe even some soy sauce. I’m going to try to get my hands on some and I’ll post a cocktail once I’ve got one.

5. Three Olives Dude

I’ll make this brief. I gave this the top spot on the list because it is the most innovative flavour of vodka I’ve ever seen. If you can’t tell it’s Mountain Dew-flavoured. They call it lemon-lime, but it’s Mountain Dew. 

That said, I hate everything about Dude-flavoured vodka. The taste makes me gag, the colour is super offputting and the marketing surrounding it is insufferable. These are some of the cocktails on their website. Put bluntly: they are stupid. The Dude-O-Politan: A Cosmo made with Dude, plain and simple, made so that you and your brahs don’t have to worry about getting cooties or something from drinking a cocktail. The Surf’s Up: Dude, Kraken, and lemon-lime soda, so vodka, rum and more Mountain Dew. Cool. Finally, there’s the groan-inducing Bromance. A shot of Dude (ew) dropped into lager. I have no idea who these are supposed to appeal to, and don’t any of them were treated before they were put up on the website. Frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t use crushed Doritos rim in any of these