The Final Frontier Of Beer: Catering Halls
Beer has definitely arrived. Whether you call it micro, craft or something else, you can often find more than just Budweiser and Coors when you go out just about anywhere you’d expect to find alcohol. The one place where you almost never have any variety at all is in a catering hall.
I’ve been to a lot of weddings in the last couple of years, and excepting ones that weren’t in catering halls, the beer selection is non-existent. Most cases even the hard alcohol isn’t very extensive; I’ve been to places that don’t even have tequila. Beer is often just Budweiser, Bud Light, and/or Coors light. A catering hall’s idea of a broad selection is having bottles of Corona and Heineken. I consider it a coup when I find a place that has something as exotic as Sam Adams Boston Lager.
It’s like the halls give no thought at all to providing quality beverages for their guests. This isn’t exclusive to beer, as you often find catering halls serve generic uninteresting food as well. Perhaps because most of their customers are things like weddings and parties that aren’t often repeat business, they’re not as focused on providing an overall awesome experience. Maybe it’s because many times the customers are there to party, dance and celebrate, not to eat and drink. Or maybe we’ve been so trained to not expect a great meal or a good beer that we no longer demand it.
Tags: beer, beer selection, catering hall, craft beer, final frontier
Transitioning From Beer Douche to Beer Geek
You know the type. That guy who is somewhat new to craft beer, and always is talking about it. He asks the waiter “What microbrews due you have?” and often orders the trendiest one. He (or she) berates your choice of beverage, and seems to bask in the superiority of having ‘discovered’ beer.
The problem is; he doesn’t really like it. He thinks he’s supposed to like an IPA so he drinks it, but his palate isn’t used to the bitterness. He’ll hear about some new super double IPA and have to have it, not prepared for the intense taste. This guy actually is a disservice to beer, as anyone that is trying to follow him into the world of beer may be turned off by the intense flavors. Real beer is not about intensity, it’s about flavor. There is nothing wrong with enjoying a good wheat beer, or a simple pilsner that’s well crafted. Just like some people will never enjoy 100,000 scoville unit hot wings, some people will never enjoy 100 IBU beers.
That’s the transition stage from beer douche to beer geek. But It’s also a good way to figure out what you like. Some people rave about Imperial Stouts. I tend not to like them too much so I don’t order them, even if they’re somewhat trendy. IPAs are acquired tastes, and many people don’t want that much bitterness in their beer.
Another problem is that there are a lot of mediocre breweries out there. They’re usually still better than the Bud stuff, but just because a beer is micro doesn’t mean it’s good. So as someone breaking into beer (and I can see it being pretty daunting these days) just trying new things, it’s easy to find stuff that’s not very pleasant. But as you learn what’s delicious, both in general and to yourself, it’s a world of difference. Sixpoint, Troegs, Brooklyn, and Flying Fish are some of the breweries I trust to make high quality beer ‘around’ NYC.
Tags: beer, beer douche, beer geek, breweries, brooklyn brewery, favorite beers, flying fish, hopfish, sixpoint, trendy beer, troegs
Link: Goose Island Brewpub Review
A friend of mine visited the Goose Island brewpub in Chicago recently, one of those ‘must-visit’ places when you’re in Chicago. Give it a read.
Interesting to note is that while the brewery was sold to Anheuser-Busch, not all the brewpubs were. The brewpub ties in well with my last post about beer menus. Obviously you expect a brewpub to have a solid one, but it looks like Goose Island goes above and beyond. Okay, now I’m thirsty..
Tags: beer, beer menus, goose island, links
When Restaurants Don’t Have Beer Menus
As a fairly normal suburbanite, both here in New Jersey and when I lived on Long Island, I occasionally go out to eat and like to try new restaurants. If I hear about a new place, or am just searching through popular restaurant sites, the first thing I’ll do when I find something interesting is go to their website to look at the food and drink they serve.
Nothing annoys me more than when they leave off the beers. Now, I don’t _have_ to have a drink with dinner, but a cocktail or a beer or a glass of wine is often an enjoyable part of the experience. If a menu leaves off the drinks I assume they’re not interested in that part of the experience, and it often makes me choose a different restaurant. Another annoying habit is if the menu infers that they have beer, but doesn’t list them or elaborate on what type. Beer comes in vastly different flavors and varieties, you wouldn’t list your entrees as ‘pasta dishes’ would you?
Another restaurant menu sin is when they don’t keep it updated. You often see this in newer restaurants that create a website when they are first starting, but don’t have anyone managing it regularly. This is a shame in the day of social media; a Twitter and a Facebook page tweeting current specials and seasonal beers being tapped go a long way to drawing in customers that enjoyed the restaurant when they tried it, but need something to draw them back in. I recently experienced this at a restaurant in South Orange, NJ called the Gaslight Brewery and Restaurant. It’s a local place that both me and my wife enjoyed, with all the beer brewed on premise. However their menu online is out of date, and so is the menu at the restaurant. They had around 15 beers listed, but only actually had about eight of them available. That’s understandable as it’s a smaller place and it’s not always possible to keep up with that many different brews, but simply printing out a new sheet of paper and editing the website would go a long way towards letting customers know what the options are. Even worse is that the website claims they keep the current draft list posted on their blog, but it hasn’t been updated in a year.
The very best restaurants are ones that have a solid base beer list and a couple of rotating taps that they can fill in with whatever seasonals or trial beers they want. This type of setup suggests that the people running the establishment are truly interested in the beers they serve, and want to give the customers a quality brew. A tweet or sign stating that a restaurant has the newest Brooklyn Brewmaster Reserve is often enough to make me plan to have a meal there.
Tags: beer, beer menus, draft beer, eating out, menu sins, restaurant beer menus, restaurant menus, restaurant sins, restaurants, rotating taps, seasonal beers
Autumn Beer Season!
It’s autumn beer season again, meaning Oktoberfests and pumpkin beers. This season is the Christmas of craft beer. It’s the most popular season and comes earlier every year.
I saw Magic Hat Hex as early as three weeks ago, and since then most other seasonals have showed up, including my own. The only popular one I haven’t seen in stores yet is Sam Adams, and I’ve heard that’s out too. Traditionally Oktoberfest, the real one in Munich for the last 201 years, is celebrated for the 16 days prior to the first Sunday in October.
It’s my favorite season as well. This is why I chose an Oktoberfest to brew as my wedding favor. Two of my favorite brands are Sam Adams and Brooklyn, although there are plenty of other tasty and excellent varieties out there. I’m not as big a fan of the pumpkin ales, but I’m interested to try Six Point’s Autumnation now that it’s going to be available in cans that I can get without going to the right bar. Interestingly, the third Google result for Six Point Pumpkin is a post about how if you don’t like pumpkin ales you’ll like this, although it refers to last year’s variety.
So lots of fun and interesting beers to try. I just hope they stick around long enough for me to try enough of them before the next beer season rolls around!
Tags: beer, beer season, beer seasonals, oktoberfest, oktoberfest beer, oktoberfest season, pumpkin ale, pumpkin beer, sixpoint, sixpoint autumnation, wedding beer
Spotting Craft Beer in TV and Movies
I get a kick out of spotting specific craft beers (And non craft beers) in movies and television shows even though they often try to not to specifically focus on the beer label.
Sometimes you can even identify the city early by the beer. This happened in the movie “He’s Just Not That Into You”. An early scene features two people in a supermarket, and one of them is purchasing a six-pack of Clipper City and I knew it was set in Baltimore.
Most recently I spotted Shiner Bock, a famous Texas craft beer, on an episode of True Blood. (In Shreveport, LA) Alcide drank it with the pack leader Marcus.
I have no idea what prompts the producers to use these beers. Perhaps someone on set is a beer lover and they reuse the empty bottles for the show. Maybe they’re looking for something with a little local flair and think it makes a fun prop and they want the character to be a craft beer drinker. Perhaps they’re just annoyed Budweiser turned them down for a sponsorship.
Whatever the reason, whenever I see a different beer can or bottle on my television or in a movie I try to identify it. It’s a fun little game to play, although you shouldn’t forget to pay attention to what the characters are doing. I’ve had to rewind a show many times because of that.
Nine Month Mensiversary: Brunch
Skipping around a bit; i posted earlier about my first month anniversary and celebrating it. We’ve celebrated each month in some fashion, but I haven’t quite written them up yet. Well this weekend was nine months and we celebrated with brunch.
Brunch may not seem like a huge deal, but this was never about being a huge deal. We’d been recommended this place, called The Bethwood, as having good brunch, and we had not been out for brunch together since we’d gotten married. Sunday made for a perfect time to do so. It was a lazy day, just hanging out with each other, eating too much food and relaxing. A perfect lazy married Sunday.
The Bethwood was very good; omelettes, waffles, a Viennese table, carved meats, pasta salads, fruits, vegetables, pastries and bagels and breads and cheeses and all sorts of wonderful foods. We got there early, so it wasn’t that crowded yet. They served a complimentary glass of champagne to start too. This actually disappointed me; they chose a Verdi prosecco, which I felt was too sweet for a breakfast champagne. Still tasted good with a little orange juice splashed in it though.
Tags: 9 month anniversary, anniversary gifts, brunch, mensiversary, month gifts, monthiversary, new jersey brunch, nine month wedding anniversary, prosecco, rainbow cake, the bethwood, wedding annivesary