Grand Cru Rhinebeck

Beer Union recently gathered in Rhinebeck, NY. We were happy to hear from our friend who lives in the small town that he frequents a top notch beer store, Grand Cru, which turned out to be more than I had hoped for. The store had a great selection with a large amount of New York beers. Among the beers we picked up was KK from Pretty Things. We had just heard about this newest beer in their “Once Upon a Time” series, a hoppy black ale based on a 1901 English recipe, and had to grab it. Grand Cru fills…

Beer/Glass Harmony

How great is it when you drink beer out of the glass it’s meant for? Oh Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout, how I love you. – S

Back to Brewing in Chicago: Hard Cider

This weekend, I decided to get back into homebrewing by patronizing a local Chicagoland brew shop and stock up on all the necessary equipment. Instead of jumping into full five-gallon batches right away, we decided to start with Natalie’s drink of choice – hard cider. This decision was for two reasons: 1) cider is in season, and 2) it’s a good way to get back into the swing of things after a two-year hiatus. Cider is not as easy to master as you might expect. There is a lot of information out there posted in forums about experimental batches, but everyone…

Holy Molé! Rogue’s Offerings at the Chile Pepper Fiesta

On Saturday Giancarlo and I went over to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for its annual Chile Pepper Fiesta, a celebration of all things spicy. Of course, we wandered into the beer area, where Rogue was offering its chipotle ale and chocolate stout (you could also get a bowl of chili). Giancarlo got the chipotle ale, while I got the chocolate stout. You know I can’t resist a stout, in any shape or form. The stout was smooth and delicious, not too bitter – just how I like it. For me, the chipotle ale was a bit too spicy. But I…

Meet the Brewer: Pretty Things Beer and Ales Project

Last Wednesday night Sarah and I went to Bierkraft on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope for one of the Craft Beer Week “meet the brewer” events. Wednesday focused on the Pretty Things Beer and Ales Project, a “nomad brewer” run by Dann Paquette and Martha Holley-Paquette. Despite not owning their own brewery, Pretty Things boasts that they do all their own brewing at breweries that they rent instead of contract brewing.  While a crowd of us tasted beer, the brewers explained everything from mixing yeast strains to brewing practices and history. We tasted: American Darling, Jack d’or, St. Botolph’s, Hedgerow…

Cask Ale to Come to the Henry Street Ale House

One of my favorite places for a pint of good craft beer is the Henry Street Ale House in Brooklyn Heights. For those of you who have never been, the only beer available is draft, and British styles tend to dominate the list. I stopped in this recently and had a Captain Lawrence Brown Ale followed by a Wells Bombardier. While sitting at the bar waiting for Sarah to get off work (she works down the street) I stuck up a conversation with the bartender. After briefly speaking about the Wells the bartender told me that that in an effort…