More Rogue Beer!

So, Rogue is a brewing company I've been interested in trying for a while. I've heard good things about them going all the way back to college, and they have a great rep in online beer review sites. Also, they have nifty names like "Daddy's Helper", "Dead Guy", and "Shakespeare Stout".

With this in mind, I gave their Hazelnut Brown Ale a try. It poured a nice even brown, out of a formidable bomber. It smelled like most brown ales I've had before, but with more clear notes of nutty flavor. The first sip was a wash of hazelnut, with a strong undertone of earthy flavors.

There was an odd sour flavor that I'm working on processing. It made me think of slightly sour fruits, but more pure. Maybe an acidic flavor? I'm not 100% sure, but it was tasty, and emerged more as the beer had a chance to warm and breathe.

Overall a very tasty beer. Not that extreme, but a very good iteration of a nut brown ale. I can't really see it working well with anything other than bread or crackers, but luckily it's very good by itself.

Recommended if you're a fan of nut brown ales, but nothing that made me sit back and go "wow".

I have a couple bottles of wine waiting to be tried and reviewed, but it'll have to wait til next time. Til then, Cheers!

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

update: a lot of other reviewers noted some chocolate tastes; I'm thinking the sour flavor may have been bitter chocolate. It confused me because I wasn't expecting chocolate in my brown ale :-P

More catch up - Making a great burger

This one is for all you burger lovers. I’ve searched high and far, and found some pretty consistently delicious burgers, which I thought I’d share with you here. Make 'em yourself or try them at a restaurant, these are some of my favorites.

First is the Black and Blue. Sadly, a lot of places get this wrong, charring a burger then throwing a little blue cheese on top. They suck though. This burger is rolled in Cajun seasoning (the blackening), and then topped with a heaping amount of blue cheese, which is allowed to get gooey and delicious. The cool and bitter cheese plays exceedingly well with the spiciness of the burger, leading to a beautiful match. If you’re feeling extra adventurous, try a little spicy mayo on the bun, and maybe some fresh lettuce. Simple but delicious.

The second has many names, although I like The Aloha Burger. It’s a burger, topped with pineapple, basted with soy sauce. The soy is salty and savory, and mixes well with the sweet pineapple. The burger is a nice method for delivery here because it provides a firm foundation and the tastes mix well with the meat. If you feel the need to use cheese, only American. Any kind of strong cheese here would conflict with the pineapple and the soy, and ruin the purpose. Red Robin does a killer iteration of this burger, which I would have to recommend.

Finally is a burger yet to be named, points if you can come up with something good. This burger involves mixing in EITHER onion powder, garlic powder, and season-all into the meat, OR mixing in onion soup mix (those little packets) into the meat. Either way you end up with an incredibly juicy and savory burger that tastes of all the best spices. Despite not being some arcane combination of ingredients, both of these recipes produce a fantastic burger, good with any combination of toppings. This is a make yourself kind of deal, and has produced the best burgers I've ever tasted.

Anyway, go forth and try these recipes! And Enjoy!

More Dark beer and Max's goodness

Max's Taphouse really is one of my favorite places to go in Baltimore. During the week it's busy, with a cosy bar atmosphere, but not so crowded that the bartenders can't find you. Speaking of, the bar staff are quick and courteous. It's also quickly become my place to go when I'm in the mood to try some odd beers.

First though, I feel like owing to the title of my blog, I should mention their burger. It's a bit on the pricey side, with any of their options coming in around $11 after tax. But, as pub food goes, it's a darn good burger. It's juicy and fresh, and they cook is just long enough to make the cheese gooey. The bun is a little stiff, but it doesn't actively interfere. It also comes with their seasoned fries, which are darn tasty.

More importantly though, their beer! They have so many odd brews, it was almost impossible to decide which to try. I was paralyzed, but finally went with my instincts for the first two, and was justly rewarded. My first beer was Brew Dog's Zeitgeist. A Scottish Black Lager (and we all know my love of all things Scottish), I wasn't totally sure what to expect. Thankfully, it was delicious. It tasted like a stout, but drank much lighter, like a lager. It had a delicious taste of coffee, but with a creamy finish that my friend Stark described as Cafe au Lait. It was a deliciously dark beer, pitch black, but it was surprisingly light and refreshing. Needless to say, my brain was confused, but my taste buds were thrilled.

I moved on to a similar sounding beer, Thirsty Dog's Stud Service Stout. A dry irish stout, I expected something similar if not quite as good. It poured so as to be almost indistinguishable, but it's lovely tan head stuck around far longer. It had a similar taste of coffee, but far more milky and rich, almost like milk chocolate at points. It was definitely a stout, sitting nice and heavy, but was smooth and creamy as well.

Either of these I could've had a pint, easily. But I was in the mood to try some more beers. Tragically, around that time my stomach caught up and demanded a burger. Now, I talked about the burger above, but I wasn't sure any of my odd beers would pair well. There were a pair of 8% stouts, but I was worried they would clash with the savory burger. So, I went out on a limb.

Failing to find any sufficiently interesting lagers, I went with Hitachino's Red Rice, a Japanese rice ale. Sadly, I just couldn't enjoy it. It had some flavors of fruit(apricot?) and licorice, and had a full taste of a cinnamon or ginger flavor, but as a whole it just didn't do well. Ah well I say, lesson learned. My friends and I agreed, one to try with the baking.

I definitely recommend Max's to anyone who wants to get out and try some odd beers; they always have new beers on tap, and they're guaranteed to confuse and delight. Until next time, may you be blessed with good beer and good spirits.

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

The Scottish Wonder

So, wow. I was buying beer for my formerly mentioned Halloween party, picking up some single bottles to enjoy and just try different things.

I'd tried Belhaven's Scottish Ale before, and was suitably impressed. I saw a 500mL at my local liquor store of their "Scottish Stout". Now, I love Scottish beers and I love stout, so it was a pretty easy decision.

Still, this beer has overwhelmed me and exceeded my expectations. It pours dark, rich black, with a gorgeous tan head. The first taste is a bitter coffee, but it's followed by an almost tangy flavor of smoke and bitter chocolate. At 7% abv, it drinks like a guiness, and is good by itself. I dearly desire now to try and pair it with a meal and see how it handles.

All in all, from the first sip to the last drop, it was a delicious beer which I thoroughly enjoyed. Almost without effort it cracked my top ten favorite beers, maybe even my top 5. A fantastic choice, which I recommend to anyone who likes there stouts.

A Halloween to Remember

Oh how I love Halloween. I won't regale you with too many tales; save to say you're never too old to scare the crap out of children and eat delicious candy.

On to the alcohol! I had the good fortune of trying a lot of different things this weekend. From absinthe (liquory licorice, eugghhh) to limoncello, from bad wine called "vampire" to jello shots that were about 49% vodka. Really though, nothing terribly important to result. Most of it was pungent, tasted like a sucker punch, and left me begging for chaser.

My wonderful friend Stark hosted a shindig during which she served many of her fruity and delicious infusions. Her apple cinnamon is one of the better liquers I've had, but many of her others were too alcoholic for my pansified tastes. Sue me, but I don't have much love for hard liquor or cheap vodka. (although good whiskey has it's charms)

But the beer, oh the beer.

First thing first, I will eventually get around to writing about Woodchuck. They make delicious ciders, in many, many varietals. They have a decent amber, a horrific pear/fall seasonal, a fascinating granny smith, and a delicious dark and dry. However, those all will have to come later, because this is about their Oak Aged.

It tasted sweeter than a lot of ciders, but had a nice crisp taste with a deliciously fruity finish. My favorite part was a dark, rich taste that permeated the whole drink (the oak no doubt, in effect). Overall I rather enjoyed it, finding it to be one of their better ciders.

I also had the good fortune to try a bottle of Rogue's Dead Guy Ale. Rogue is a brewery I know precious little about, but have heard nothing but rave reviews. Look for me to try many many more of their offerings in the coming months.

Their Dead Guy Ale was powerful and complex, not a beer to be trifled with. This is no Sunday afternoon watching the game, drinking a bud kind of beer. This beer perplexed me, teased me, rebuked me, and delighted me, all throughout the course of an evening. The ale itself was light enough to be pleasantly drinkable, but not lacking a quantum of flavor. A very impressive beer, which deserves more analysis.

Halloween was an excellent adventure, and I picked up another stout to try from an old favorite, Belhaven. More on it as I try it, that's all for now.

-The Unabashed Ungourmet.

Pub Dog

First of all, damned be to Baltimore. Everything here seems to close by like 8:30pm. Why is there no delicious quick food open late at night?

More importantly, beer. And not just any beer, Pub Dog beer. For those who don't know, Pub Dog is a Baltimore restaurant which makes both pizza and beer in house. For my money, it's one of the better local breweries. Not exceedingly complex or adventurous, but damned tasty.

I was at my local liquor store, checking out the bombers, when I spied a bottle of Pub Dog, Dog Fest. Dog Fest is their fall seasonal, an oktoberfest style beer, which I'd never tried. Further, I'd never seen their beer in the bottle, so needless to say I was excited.

The beer was a little rough at first, somewhat bitter, though that might have been the food. Either way, I poured a second glass and let it sit, as well as having finished my dinner, and was left with an excellent beer. Very drinkable, with a nicely spiced aftertaste. It's not quite as crisp as some beers I've tried, but the color is wonderful, a beautiful golden-amber. I see this more as a beer you'd sip in the evening, rather than a beer you'd have with friends, or with dinner; though I'm still working on why.

Either way, quite tasty, and highly recommended.

-The Unabashed Ungourmet

An aside, and more beer!

So, I promise I'll stick to my format, but a brief side note.

Turkey is a surprisingly easy to use meat. A little healthier than beer (who cares?), and more importantly a little cheaper. It's also a pretty bland meat by itself, so it absorbs other flavors well. It's less fatty, so you'll need to use a little oil or other fat-type-thing to make it adhere while cooking, but it's well worth it. I recently made turkey meatballs and a turkey burger, and they were delicious :-D

Also, sauteing garlic. Tougher than it seems. It needs a much higher temperature, but also burns unfortunately easily. I'm working on ways to make it work, but I'm 0 for 1 on the "throw it and butter into a pan at the same time" idea.

But what do these things have to do with burgers and beer you ask? Nothing! But this is my blog, so suck it. I will occasionally tangent off about whatever cooking thing I'm trying. Feel free to skip it if you are terribly offended.

Back to the point, more catching up!

The first beer I'm recounting was the Three Philosophers beer. I had been aching to try this since I heard about it. I studied a lot of philosophy in college (hahahahah oh god why?), and thought the name was just too funny. Little did I know what I was in store for.
The brewer of this beer, Ommegang, is a New York brewer that makes Belgian style beers. For those who don’t know, they tend to be a bit fruity, a bit spicy, and somewhat strange.
Three philosophers was all of that, in delicious form. The spices were palatable without being overwhelming, and worked well with the fruits to create a very interesting and entirely unique taste. I do not have a complex enough knowledge of beer to appreciate all the flavors, but I can tell you this much: this beer is way smarter than you. The best you can do is acknowledge that, and enjoy it anyway.

Also; a second, and sadly worse beer. This account will discuss a most unusual beer, which has greatly vexed me. I was out at a local bar, and saw that they had a Crème Brule stout. It sounded delicious, and I decided that I needed some. The first sip was fantastic. It smelled like the delicious desert, and I enjoyed it. It was the first beer I tried by Southern Tier, and I was suitably impressed.
But then, alas, it turned on me. The sweet smell became almost cloying, and made the beer taste more and more bitter. Combined with the potent alcohol content (something close to 9%), I was eventually struggling to choke down the bitter, alcoholic beer, all its former glory gone.
It may be my taste buds are just not mature enough yet, but this beer was altogether pretty bad. It started great, but the smell was in too sharp of a contrast to the flavor of the beer itself. A sad, sad day for stout lovers.