My Halloween beer list

I'm Paul Roszkowski and I approve this message...Happy Halloween everybody. I'm trying to post this early in case you wan to run out and find some of these.

This year I've chosen a mix of classic Halloween horrors. Any of these brews will treat you right whether you're hunting ghosts, brewing up something in your cauldron or taking the little ones door to door (recommend enjoying the beer after you return home with the kids - check out this article for recommended alcohol and candy combinations)

Witches' Brew - This live ale only comes in 750ml bottles. I haven't tried it yet but I will when I get home from work. It comes from Belgium.

Yeti - Great Divide's Imperial Stout is always pretty good to me. If you can find one of their aged versions of this brew even better. It is black as night, perfect for watching scary movies as little ghosts and goblins come to your door.

Four Witches - Double bubble, toil and trouble this black saison pours with great flavors. By the click of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.

Scarecrow - This English pale ale reminds me of Autumn with flavors of apple and an amber color...now if he only had a brain.

Zombie Dust - Just the thing for a Walking Dead marathon this beer could reanimate any corpse. Board up the windows and doors and make sure you have plenty of this brew in your supply stash.

Another reason I avoid InBev products when I can

A friend of mine shared a great article with me today. The Plot to Destroy America's Beer focuses on how InBev acquires and cost cuts their brands and why once good brews like Becks, Hoegaarden and Goose Island are no longer produced in their respective cities (though Hoegaarden did bring their brewery back).

InBev argues that even though Bass and other brews are no longer brewed in their original locations they are still using the same recipe. Any homebrewer knows that even with the same recipe you are going to change the flavor of the beer when you brew it somewhere different. Now you can make the local water closely match the original location but it will still be different.

Another argument made in the article is that now the beer is arriving to stores fresher and that is why the brews taste different. While this may be true it should make it taste better...not worse as most people have claimed.

While InBev cut 6% of the American workforce at the Anheuser-Busch after taking over the St. Louis brewery other craft brewers are growing. This is an opportunity for craft beer drinkers. Make sound choices in your beverages, support job growth and the growth of local breweries...tell your friends.

My hurricane beer list

As Sandy blows around outside my door I thought I'd post a little piece some of the beers I'll be enjoying through the storm.

I like to do theme drinking every once in a while. In this case I've gone for some beers that make me think about the weather.

Red Sky at Night - Red sky at night, sailor's delight, red sky in the morning, sailor take warning. This beer goes out to the Coast Guardsmen working during the storm. Bring 'em home safe guys.

Whirlwind - You could do a whole weather themed night with Victory Brewing. They have Whirlwind, Storm King, Helios and Baltic Thunder. This beer is for all of the weathermen and women out there keeping us informed.

Long Trail Imperial Porter - It's always darkest before the dawn. This beer goes out to those who are dealing with blackouts from the storm.

Apollo - Bring back the sun. This one goes out to the clean up crews out there to help after the storm is over.

Wilco Tango Foxtrot - just shack your head and have a pint. This beer goes out to the reporters and others standing out in the worst of the wind and rain...what the hell is wrong with you?

Besides these I've been having some stouts and other dark beers...it's cloudy and gloomy here in Elizabeth City and I wanted something to match the mood. Now if I only had one of these...Haier 26 Bottle Wine Cellar - Black - Wine & Beer Coolers in the living room.

Everyone stay safe and dry.

Midnight Sun Brewing Company

While I was in Anchorage I had a chance to visit the Midnight Sun Brewing Company for some food and beer.

It was a very windy but beautiful day in Anchorage and my travel companion and I decided we needed to go for a hike and some beer. A recent spout of heavy rain had caused flooding around the area and we had doubts about going to Eagle River so we set off to find some alternatives. After a brief stop for some coffee I popped into the visitor center for some advice.
After some discussion we decided to try hiking Flat Top.

Located in the Chugach State Park, Flat Top has some great views of Cook Inlet and Anchorage and is criss crossed with miles of trails.

After nearly getting blown off the top of the mountain several times, several hours of hiking and some windburn we decided to go get some lunch.

Oh, if we knew then what we know now...
The Midnight Sun Brewing Company wasn't giving tours that day and we had no idea they served food. The place is off Diamond Blvd near the Diamond Center Mall.

We bellied up to the counter and ordered some custom tasters. Midnight Sun makes some great, award winning beers and we had 12 of them as samples that day. Their beers are as wild and wonderful as the land they're made in.

The menu is seasonal and local with sandwiches and a daily hot special. I was a little hungry so I ordered the brewer's plate with meat to go with the beers. This had to be the best cheese and meat plate I've ever had. The food other patrons were eating looked just as good. Both of us wished we had waited to eat lunch.


I highly recommend visiting if you're in Anchorage and if you're not at least try and get some of their beer. You can't go wrong with an Oosik and a Panty Peeler.

If you don't know what an oosik is check this out...I've seen the oosik collection at Chicago's Field Museum. It's not on public display.

North to Alaska

Headed up North to Alaska to give training which means I get to check out some great breweries in the Last Frontier. I purposely avoided drinking Alaskan Brewing products in Anchorage and instead focused on the local brewing scene.

If you've never been to Alaska you're missing out on amazing scenery and experiences and each area of the state brings a different adventure to the table.

Anchorage has a number of great breweries for the beer adventurer.

Glacier BrewHouse is located in downtown Anchorage on 5th ave and H St. This warm and inviting restaurant brewery was packed when I showed up at 9:30 pm on a Wednesday. I found the last seat at the bar and ordered a sampler and some food. The menu had some great looking and tempting choices including pizzas and seafood. The guy sitting next to me had some amazing looking seared tuna. I ordered a very tasty thai chicken sandwich.

The beer was tasty and the food was great. I recommend stopping here for a nice dinner if you're in town.

The Snow Goose Restaurant and Sleeping Lady Brewery is located two blocks down from the Hilton on 3rd street. The views from the restaurant and bar of Cook Inlet are nice and on a clear day you can see the 20,000 foot tall Denali (Mt. McKinley) 160 miles away. Their food is okay, the halibut tacos I had were watery and my companion's food was okay too. Nothing really to write home about. Their beer sampler wasn't bad but they were out of their stout.

Humpy's Ale House is a local and tourist place at the same time. Their Kodiak Arrest Challenge has been featured on Man vs Food and consists of 6 pounds of Alaskan King Crab legs, reindeer sausage and salmon cakes. When we were there one person was finishing the challenge. It was to say the least, disturbing. That said their food was good and they have a great beer list featuring local brews and breweries on tap and in the bottle. Don't forget to get your "Beer Geek" or "Beer Snob" t-shirt.

Ketchikan - Go for the hiking. This cruise ship port is home to a lot of jewelry and craft stores. There is some great hiking at Settler's Cove. Visit Creek Street to see the old red light district. While there are no distinctive beer places here the food was good at Annabelle's. Just remember that this is a tourist town.

Back to San Juan...again

Had to go back to San Juan one more time. The land of beaches and sun called me back and I went. Since this meant I was working again it also meant that I didn't have much time to explore. I did get to check out a couple of new spots on top of visiting some of my favorites from the last two trips. In case you missed those posts check out here and here.

One of the first places I ran into was next door to where I had dinner in Condado. The Small Bar is just as its name implies, small. It's a dive wedged between a tattoo parlor and a Chinese restaurant. The bar is tiny so don't expect to find seating or even a place to walk but they have a good selection of bottles from all over. grab one and stand out front and enjoy watching the people.

Bar Gitano was amazing, a gastro pub that had good beer and was getting new stuff all the time. This is a tapas bar and is well worth the visit for some great food. I had a taste of several of the appetizers and had a small pizza all were worth writing home about. Their beer selection was small but decent.

The Place had just opened between my last visit. This burger and beer shop in large and airy and has the game on if you need to watch it. The burgers are ok coming on artisan buns and they have sweet potato fries. The saving grace for this place is their beer selection but even his had issues of the three beers I ordered they were out of the first two or they hadn't come in yet. Don't put it on the menu if you don't have it. 

Brew Camp closed - temporarily

It’s one of those clarifying moments where we step back and realize that, though it’s been legal since Carter was President, homebrewing is still a grey area for legislators in some states. Case in point - Brew Camp, a Chicago homebrew store recently posted this to their facebook page:

Hi, everybody. Thanks for your concern and the amazing support the past few days. I’d like to clarify a few things:

First of all, we simply need the correct license. We did our best to understand the city’s requirements when we started up. Over the past year, representatives at both the city and state levels have expressed that they don’t have a clear picture of “how to deal with homebrew shops” because we “aren’t a typical business.” There are hundreds of bars, restaurants and grocery stores throughout the city–all of which have clearly established licensing protocol–and only a handfull homebrew shops.

We are, essentially, your grocery store. And you should be protected when you buy stuff that’s going through your body. This is a good thing.

Secondly, we aren’t complaining. We’ve been treated fairly. In fact, the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (the business license folks), the Department of Public Health, the Department of Buildings … they’ve all been very friendly, efficient, and helpful the past few days. I believe they recognize we made a mistake and that we’re working diligently to fix it.

Thirdly, we’re fixing this. We spent Friday and today at City Hall working to make this right. Meantime, we’ve stopped selling online and in the shop. The homebrew community is scrutinized enough already, and we only want to contribute to a positive reputation of the hobby. 

This is going to take some time. Don’t storm the castle just yet - let’s give this a chance to work out. The city is just making sure we’re all safe. We’re all anxious to get back to work, but we’re more interested in making sure we do it right.

I can only hope that this most excellent resource returns to help the spread the gospel of homebrew soon. This leads to a great question and a potential good discussion. Why did this happen? Granted, as Brew Camp points out partially this is their fault and kudos to them for pointing the finger at themselves first, but why, when homebrewing has been legal for more than 30 years do cities still not know how to license and regulate them?

Thoughts?

Chicago

Kuma's Corner

There are so many great beer places in my hometown and each visit limits me in time as to where I can go visit. We hit up a few old favorites and one or two new places while I was in town for a break recently. 

My first stop is always Binny’s Beverage Depot…while it’s a mega booze store they have a wide selection of both my two favorite things…beer and port. After filling my larter for the week and emptying my checkbook by a hundred dollars I was off to explore the city.

I always have a few stops I always need to make the first is Central Gyros. While this is not a beer nirvana it is an awesome greek restaurant near my house that my family has been going to for many years. A greek beer, some egg lemon soup, some flaming cheese and a gyro are a great way to start a visit home. 

Paterno’s is the place for a tasty treat called an In-cred-a-ble. This sandwich can be italian beef, italian sausage or both on garlic bread with melted cheese…my mouth is watering just thinking about it. It’s a bar so while you’re there grab a 312 by Goose Island or a Leinenkugel’s both wash this sandwich down nicely.

If you’ve never done the Half Acer Beer Company tour you should. People line up down the block for the opportunity to get inside and tour this small craft brewery near Lincoln Square. They have been canning for a couple of years now and they make some great beer. 

We stopped at Atlas Brewing, a new neighborhood brewpub, to give it a try. Problem was it was so new that they didn’t have their liquor permit yet so no beer for us…bummer. Which lead us to Goose Island. 

The Goose is loose used to be a reality. I remember when you could get some great chips, food and beer at Goose Island before heading next door to play mini golf. Times and the neighborhood have significantly changed. The beer at this landmark brewpub has changed over the years. Some great brews have come and some have gone. Since they have recently been bought by a big beer company we have noticed a change in quality. It hasn’t gone downhill per-say but it is starting down a slope…let’s hope this is not a trend.

Finally, I had an opportunity to visit a triple-d location. For fans of Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives you may recognize Kuma’s Corner. Their massive burgers, great food and beer selection make this a very popular place for lunch or dinner. They have several rules which need to be obeyed:

1) We do not take reservations.
2) We will not “put on the game, bro”
3) No music requests.
4) No Minors after 10pm.
5) Our kitchen is only 16×6. Please be patient.

Just order a cold one, something hot to go with it and enjoy. This town is a must visit.