My Life On Craft

Salsiccia pizza at Kesté

Mary — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:01:05 +0000

I finally made it to Kesté last night and it lived up to it’s reputation. We arrived around 7:30 on a Thursday night and only had to wait about ten minutes (there were several two-tops open but we were three). It was around 30∘but waiting on the sidewalk was easy thanks to the heater mounted outside. We split the Fresca salad, very tasty, and I ordered the Salsiccia while my friends ordered the Salsiccia e Friarielli and the Prosciutto e Arugola. All were delicious, though I am happy to admit I enjoyed mine the most – I was just in a sausage mood last night. The sausage was mild and melded perfectly with the cheese and sauce – all supported by the nicely charred crust. We also had a half liter carafe of the Gragnagno, which along with Lambrusco is my favorite wine to drink with pizza. I need to go back and have the Regina Margharita as well as the Padrino (soppressata is my favorite pizza topping) but I firmly recommend Kesté. You’ve got a lot of pizza choices in the Village, with several on Bleeker alone, but this is definitely a stand-out – highly recommended!

Kesté
271 Bleecker St b/w Jones & Cornelia, NY, NY
A,B,C,D,E,F,V to W 4 St-Washington Sq or 1 to Christopher St-Sheridan Sq
M-Sat: 12-3:30 pm & 5-11 pm
Sun: 12:3:30 pm & 5-10 pm
no reservations

Earth Bread + Brewery visits Brooklyn

Mary — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:56:28 +0000

Tom Baker and Peggy Zwerver, owners of Earth Bread + Brewery, brought six of their beers to Spuyten Duyvil Monday evening. I’ve been able to visit the brewpub in Mt Airy twice since it opened last October and have enjoyed Tom’s beers both times. I began with two half pours – the Terre Fume and the brand new Oyster Pale Ale. I’ve had the Terre Fume before and it didn’t disappoint this time – satisfyingly smoky yet light enough to be refreshing. Tom used a 50% wheat/50% smoked malt grain bill for this 4.5% ABV ale. This beer was inspired by a Grätzer, an old northern German/Polish top-fermented wheat ale which you can read more about here. This is the third smoked wheat beer I’ve had and a style I’d like to see more often, especially for the summer months. I was very glad to have ordered the Oyster Pale Ale early as the keg kicked less than two hours into the evening. 40 pounds of oyster shells from Blind Tiger’s Pacific NW fest were cleaned, bagged and boiled for two hours to produce this nicely drinkable IPA. English hops and American ale yeast give this beer a clear refreshing hoppiness. My last Earth beer was the Alehoof Gruit, a more subtle gruit than others I’ve had with the herbs melding nicely to create a delicious beer. Tom used a Belgian yeast along with six herbs – ground ivy, juniper, Queen Anne’s lace, sweet myrtle, yarrow and mugwort. This is another style I’d like to see more often. Tom mentioned that Earth is going to be making their own soda, dedicating one of their taps to carbonated water then mixing in house-made syrups the old-school way. Sounds like a fine excuse for another visit to Earth in the near future. I tasted the Non-Profit Porter and the Barely Wine, but the Terra Fume and Alehoof were the standouts of the evening for me. It was a privilege to chat with Tom and drink his fine beers in my borough.

Redstone Meadery in NYC

Mary — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:43:54 +0000

Redstone Meadery made its debut in NYC this week. I had the pleasure of meeting David Myers, Chairman of the Mead, and tasting his delightful beverages at beer table on Tuesday evening. Mead is an ancient fermented beverage, probably a bit younger than beer, made from honey. I was first exposed to mead a few years ago at New York City Homebrewers Guild meetings and found it delicious. Unfortunately, I’ve found that most commercial versions do not compete with the homebrewed stuff. Redstone’s meads are an exception. David is an entertaining guy – ready with the jokes and very knowledgable about his products. Redstone Meadery was the first company in the US to offer a line of draft meads and is the only meadery with a carbonated line (I didn’t even know carbonated meads existed!). They produce two primary lines – purple labels indicate an 8% carbonated nectar while yellow labels are 12% mountain honey wines. A very limited Reserve mead is produced every other year and is available only in the tasting room in Boulder, Colorado or on the website.

The tasting began with two of the nectars, the Sunshine Nectar and the Black Raspberry Nectar, moved on to two mountain honey wines, the Traditional and the Juniper, then ended with the special Nectar of the Hops on draft. My favorite of the bunch was the Sunshine Nectar, a light but complex drink that is a perfect aperitif. Apricots are added in the process to give this a more traditional dry flavor. My second favorite was the Nectar of the Hops, which I found had less depth than the Sunshine but a very nice citrus hoppiness which balanced the sweetness of the nectar. This nectar is dry-hopped with 50% Amarillo and 50% Centennial hops. The Black Raspberry is the flagship product and the first mead Redstone sold, debuting eight years ago. The Juniper honey wine has lightly-toasted French Oak added to give a tannic balance to the mead. All of the meads tasted were quite good and I am quite happy that we have a quality commercial mead available in New York City.

First taste of Montreal

Mary — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:56:45 +0000

I adore poutine and was ready for the real thing after a lengthy day of travel. Luckily, we’re staying a few doors down from the closet-sized Patati Patata, a restaurant highly recommended by Montreal Poutine. I took a seat at the counter and ordered the Poutines Classique and a 10 oz pour of Boréale Rousse. The poutine was delicious – the perfect meld of frites, creamy gravy and firm cheese curds. The beer washed my palette clean nicely between bites. Our hunger satisfied, we headed north to Dieu de Ciel. There was a Japanese beer event scheduled for that night and the place was packed. We fought our way to the bar and ordered beers. I went with the Ochamena Bi-Ru while Tom chose the Chaman, both brewed by Dieu de Ciel. The Ochamena was quite tasty though I could not discern what made it so. It was listed as Ochamena au Sarrazin et Thés Japonais, which turns out to be buckwheat and Japonese tea. Very interesting flavor qualities – I’d like to try it again with a fresher palette. Tom’s Imperial Pale Ale was also very drinkable. We grew tired of being jostled by the crowd and headed back towards our lodging. We decided to duck into Reservoir, a brewpub around the corner from our apartment. Tom enjoyed the IPA while I ordered a small Blanche. The Blanche reaked of sulfur which impaired the drinking experience greatly. I ordered a small cream ale next while Tom had a stout – both were served on nitrogen. The stout was the best of the bunch in our opinion. We headed to bed after that. Mondial next and a return visit to Dieu de Ciel…

Blue Plate Special at The Mermaid Inn

Mary — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:02:19 +0000

When the e-mail announcing The Mermaid Inn’s new Blue Plate Special appeared in my inbox on Monday, I took notice. A lobster sandwich, fries and a bottle of Blue Point Toasted Lager for $20? Count me in. I’ve enjoyed several meals at Mermaid Inn in the past and found the food delicious, the atmosphere charming, and the service excellent. So Wednesday evening I met my friend and fellow degustation advisor, Chris Cuzme, at the East Village location. I had made reservations but we opted to eat at the bar instead. The bartender was attentive and our orders were quickly taken. Tasty crackers are provided to take the edge off of your appetite and the beer bottle is served very cold with a small water glass to drink out of. Blue Point’s Toasted Lager is a clean beer with a subtle toasted maltiness and enough hops to balance but not distract. I consider it a great food beer as it pairs nicely with almost anything. Mermaid’s lobster sandwich is no exception. The lobster salad is on a brioche roll instead of the traditional bun and is served with fries seasoned with Old Bay. This is a tasty combination – the sweetness of the lobster salad melding nicely with the buttery bun and contrasting with the spiced saltiness of the fries. And it washes down nicely with a swallow of the Blue Point. In lieu of a dessert menu, a small pot of chocolate pudding is provided at the end of your meal along with a Fortune Teller Fish, a novelty that I remember fondly from childhood. This was a delightful meal.

What you need to know: The Blue Plate Special is available from 5:30-7 pm daily and sounds like it will change monthly. The restaurant filled quickly around 6 pm – I recommend making a reservation on OpenTable just in case. You can always choose to sit at the bar if there is room. The special is available at both locations – the original in the East Village and the newer on the Upper West Side. How good of a deal is it? The sandwich normally costs $26 and I’m guessing the beer runs $5 or 6 (I forgot to check), so this is a heck of a bargain. I’ll be returning several times before the end of the month and I recommend you do the same.

Fifth Annual Blue Point Cask Festival

Mary — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:42:38 +0000

My first beer festival video! It’s not perfect, but I hope it captures the feel of the fest and the fun everyone was having.

This was my first time attending the cask fest and I was quite impressed. There were over forty casks pouring, with representation from every Long Island brewery as well as several regional brewers and two local homebrew clubs. The Fest is held annually at Blue Point Brewery in Patchogue, easily accessible from NYC via the Long Island Rail Road. We arrived just after the opening and although there was a line, it moved quickly. The Fest is held in a series of heated tents attached to the brewery. Although it was quite cold on Saturday, I was quite comfortable in a coat. The main tent was crowded, but not uncomfortably – there were always gaps to stand in around the periphery. Fest admission included a half-pint glass and six tasting tickets. The pours were generous and I usually saw full glasses handed back – and there were virtually no lines to get your beer. Live music was performed, port-a-potties were clean and accessible (again, no lines), and food was available for purchase in the back tent.

I had a terrible head cold and was able to try only a few beers, but the ones I did try were quality. Some of the stand-outs were Brooklyn Brewery’s Black Ops (the first cask to kick), Black Forest Brew Haus Chocolate Doppelbock and Captain Lawrence Brewing Company’s Captain’s Reserve Imperial IPA dry-hopped with Simcoe. I wish I had been able to taste more beer but there are more cask fests in my future.

This was a well-run festival that I would recommend to anyone in the NYC/Long Island area. It’s a great chance to try a large variety of locally-produced real ale.

If you missed the Blue Point Cask Festival, there are several upcoming cask fests in the area:

This Wednesday, Rattle N Hum will have four casks of the Harviestoun ‘Ola Dubh’ beginning at noon. This is a rare opportunity to try 12, 18, 30 and 40-year firkins of this renowned beer. Downloadable tasting notes can be found here.
The 17th Brooklyn “Cask Head” Cask Festival takes place at Brazen Head on February 6-8.
March 20-22 sees the return of the 3rd Manhattan Cask Festival at Chelsea Brewing Company

More information about cask ale can be found on Alex Hall’s site.

Dogfish Head Dinner at East Village Tavern

Mary — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:30:18 +0000

Chew N’ Brew

Mary — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:38:15 +0000

I attended a fantastic beer event at The Diamond yesterday! Chew N’ Brew, dreamed up by owner Dave Pollack, pitted six teams against each other in a homebrew and food pairing competition. Each team brought a homebrew and a “snack” to go with it. A donation of $20 to East Village Farms bought you a ticket worth one each of the six pairings plus two repeats of your choice. Everyone put a lot of thought and work into their pairings and it showed.

Team Vices & Virtues paired pan-fried butternut squash and goat cheese ravioli with a Belgian saison.
Esoteric Order of H.P.D. assembled sopes with pork, Anasazi bean puree, pickled radish, crema and cilantro with their spicy Black Saison.
Dirty Hands, Clean Conscience cooked up a lamb shepherd’s stew with Asiago croutons, paired with a classic porter
The Missings Smiths featured cheese ravioli with pumpkin-sage cream sauce and a French oak-aged European Bock.
Drunken Butchers brought shrimp and crab end-of-summer rolls with an IPA
Bockstars served up home-smoked ribs with their Bock Fiddy

Everyone who attended voted for a favorite. Esoteric Order came in first, winning a trip to Stoudt’s Oktoberfest Festival. Second place went to Bockstars and third was Vices & Virtues. I was blown away by the quality and variety of both the food and the beer, kudos to all of the teams!

This was one of my favorite beer events this year and I truly hope Dave repeats it in the future.

Harpoon at Logan airport

Mary — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:18:25 +0000

The business meeting finished early and now I’ve got time to kill before my flight. Luckily, I’m in terminal A at Logan Airport in Boston and there’s a Harpoon bar here. I’ve convinced four coworkers to drink local and we’re now sipping a beer or two. I enjoyed the Octoberfest and have moved on to the darker side with a Munich Dark. The beers are served a bit too cold but I love being able to drink local craft beer in an airport.

Harpoon bar
Near gates A20-22
Logan airport in Boston

Draft list at The Gate

Mary — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 23:31:47 +0000