The Nobler Beer Garden

When fellow Nobler and blog contributor, Dan Sicina, proclaimed “I love beer just as much as you love Whiskey”, I should have known this past Saturday was going to be epic. Tucked away in his Park Slope garden, time seemed to stand still as we opened bottle after bottle of unbelievable brew and chowed down on some fantastic grill season food. While certainly, tasting and evaluating these delicious beers was a part of the fun, the core of the Nobler Gatherings (and a bottle of Weller) were always present. What a friggin’ day.

I won’t go through every beer on this post because frankly, I can’t remember… which is why instagram has become my personal memory depository. We started the day off  with this Southampton Saison which was light, crisp, and really interesting; just like a good farmhouse ale should be. Next up this Sorachi Ace from Brooklyn brewery simply blew my mind. The story goes, that one of the brewmasters came across this unique strain of hops from Japan and had to find a place for it in the Brooklyn arsenal of beer. It’s a good thing they did, because this Sorachi Ace is exactly like they describe it on their website: “Sunshine in a glass”.

Two of the most unique beers we had on Saturday were this Southern Tier, Creme Brulee Imperial Stout and the Otto Ale from Victory Brewing Company. The Otto, most distinct because of the use of smoked malt was absurd, confusing, and delicious. The smoke was more prevalent than I had envisioned it would be, and all I wanted to do was bite into a few tender and bbq lacquered ribs. Luckily we had those…

But the Creme Brulee Imperial really left its mark. At first I was sure I would hate this one as the sweetness, I assumed would be overpowering. Instead, the delicate flavors of the vanilla and caramel malt are rounded out perfectly by an addition of lactose sugar that make this stout the perfect dessert beer. There was some rumblings of pouring this over ice cream, but you can keep your ice cream. Just give me a glass of this, and I’ll be perfectly content.

With the awesome grill grub of ribs (mentioned earlier), flank steak, grilled vegetable potato salad, cole slaw, and pickles this has to go down as one of the most glorious Gatherings to date. Thank you Dan for hosting, and it looks like it’s going to be a good summer for the Noblers…

A Shot and a Beer with Statler and Waldorf

While there are a myriad of moments where ordering a shot and a beer are appropriate, there is nothing like the solo stop off at the bar. It may sound weird to some, but one of the things I was most excited about when I hit the working world years ago, was dining alone on travel. I used to work at a French Restaurant connected to a boutique hotel in Wayne, PA and was always so intrigued by the solo guests, sitting at the bar, digging into a martini and a rib-eye. I’m not much of a martini drinker, but I certainly don’t mind a good rib-eye.

But as a replacement for the vodka or gin, a shot and a beer has always been my go-to. The back and forth, sip by sip, experience that the shot and a beer provides is like no other. Plus, when you are dining or drinking alone, there is something kind of inviting about the combination. Some of the most interesting (sure, and also some of the most bizarre) conversations can occur when you are the bar by yourself. So whether with the bartender, or with some other patrons, you’ll want to give off a vibe of normalcy. I’ve always found that the shot and the beer provides this.

This past Friday, for example, I hit up Tracks in Penn Station, before heading out to Long Island to prepare for our Derby party. Tracks is one of my favorite NY spots because it is always filled with characters. The extremely long bar is packed with folks waiting for their trains, and I’ve starting making a point to arrive about 25 minutes early for my take-off to make just enough time for one round. After my Guinness and Jameson arrived, almost immediately on cue, the two old ladies next to me got me engaged. While I’m sure my ridiculous good looks had something to do with it, they were more interested in chatting about their day visiting the big city. It may have only been 15 minutes or so but they were pretty hysterical. Like Statler and Waldorf, they had a great back and forth rapport that I couldn’t help but get a kick out of. As I sipped my drinks, timing my departure perfectly with six minutes to spare, I hoped that there was another shot and a beer waiting for me on that train. There wouldn’t be. So with one final slug of the Jameson and one final crack by Statler (or maybe it was Waldorf), I made a point to appreciate yet another great solo experience with a shot and a beer. It was a good train ride.

New Summer Ale Giveaway!

It’s time for the Cow Thieves to get back to work as we get set to create our first summer brew. This last batch of pilsners has been wildly successful and despite a slight issue of over-carbonation in the Garage Pale Pils, leading to a minor explosion of two bottles, there wasn’t much I would have changed about this go around. Particularly not the labels!

So it was perfect timing that the team over at Serious Drinks posted this link on 5 Refreshing Beers for Warm Weather Drinking. Acting as a little inspiration and a source of reference for our upcoming shopping trip, this guide points out a few necessities for our summer style beers. Both the Cow Thieves Pilsner and the Garage Pale Pils are crisp and refreshing but not exactly “light”. They pack a delicious punch making them perfect for a spring night cooking by the grill. Sitting in the summer sun and heat, pounding a few of these guys on the other hand could lead to some interesting/potentially dangerous situations.

I am envisioning us cracking into these new brews as we float in the water digging for clams and avoiding the constable at our annual Southampton extravaganza. You’ll notice, all of our traditions have lavish names and involve a heavy focus on booze. Take note if you suffer from a lack of tradition in your life! But in order to be an effective clammer, a life jacket can not be worn. Whether you “dive and swoop” or prefer to clam as a “toe digger” buoyancy in this case is not your friend. But trust me, I would definitely need a life jacket after a few of the pilsners.

So what should our summer brews taste like? Or what are some of your favorite summer beers that we can try to reference? Leave a comment and you are automatically in the running to win a 6 pack of the Cow Thieves next delicious batch of beer! You normally pay $8-$15 bucks for a six pack…and all I’m asking you to do is contribute…seems fair to me!

Free Pour!

After three days in the scorching heat, we all came to one completely unexpected conclusion. One of the smartest things about Coachella is their limits on drinking. No, no, I’m not suggesting they are running sobriety tests (trust me, they are not), but rather, there are designated drinking areas throughout the polo fields and only in those locations can you purchase and enjoy your booze. Originally, I was somewhat annoyed. How was I going to enjoy a show without an ice-cold beer in my hand? But pretty quickly, the reality set in. For three days, we spent our time shoulder to shoulder, cramming in to see some of our favorite bands perform, and with the exception of one idiot with a rat-tail, there wasn’t a single asshole confrontation to report. Now imagine if all of us had drinks in our hands during the shows. Drunk muscles and spillage isn’t exactly conducive to a peaceful experience. Nice work Coachella folks…

So does that mean we didn’t drink? Of course not! But no matter how much I wanted to, it was not bourbon I was ordering; turns out my love for a good bourbon dwindles as the mercury rises. Instead I found myself on a steady pace of Heineken (pretty much the only beer you can order there) and greyhounds. A greyhound, or less ridiculously called a “vodka grapefruit” is one of the most refreshing drinks out there and was perfect for those long hot days. Especially the ones from the “cold bar”.

We dubbed this liquor stop-off the “cold bar” because it was one of the few spots that had some serious air conditioning pumping. Of course I used this to my advantage as a means to convince the others we should stop in. “You guys look hot, we should stop at the cold bar…”. But more importantly to me was the free-pouring bartender serving up those delicious greyhounds. You see, at the other bar we often frequented, every bottle of booze was topped with a “exact pour” spout. These spouts, while an interesting idea, really tick me off. Here’s the thing: the exact pour could be viewed as a win/win for both the bar and the consumer. Exact measurements guarantee proper usage from a flavor and efficiency stand point and on the drinker’s side, there’s no questioning the “strength” of your drink. You know you aren’t getting jipped. But this effectively removes any and all interaction with the bartender as a person, and creates a  robot like relationship I’m not down with.

To elaborate further, think about it this way. One of my favorite parts (and I know I’m not the only one) of heading up to the bar for the first of many drinks is to make an impression on the bartender. Sometimes its subtle, sometimes its simple but when this relationship builds appropriately, this is where the real win/win comes into place. And I’m not talking about dropping unnecessarily large tips in the meatpacking district. I’m talking about a mutual respect for what makes us all tick. At the “cold bar”, my drinks got stronger as the days went on. At the others, they stayed exactly the same. Sure it could have gone the other way, but that’s part of the fun.

So if you are using exact pour spouts out there, unlock the booze and free pour!

The Cow Thieves are Here to Stay

That’s it. I’m hooked. After our first batch of beer, I professed how awesome the experience was; how I could see beer making becoming a maybe annual enterprise more or less so I could continue working on my labeling prowess. But after this second batch of pilsners, which we had our first taste of yesterday, I’m all in. While our first two brews, an American Pale Ale and an IPA came out pretty good, these guys are simply fantastic.

In my post on the magical world of yeast, I alluded to our variable selection this time around. But that wasn’t the whole story. While we did choose to use two distinct hop varieties we also added one extra wrinkle. For one batch we used a process known as “dry hopping” which requires a percentage of the hop base to be added during the fermentation, rather than during the boiling of the mash. The outcome was really obvious. For the dry hopped “Garage Pale Ale”, the hoppy notes are more bright and forward. Which makes total sense. But that’s not to say its necessarily better. The standard hopped “Cow Thieves Pilsner” is complex and bold in flavor making a perfect pairing. They both ended up being a bit on the strong side but that’s fine by me! I can’t wait to share these beers with the Noblers.

Larry and I are already planning our Summer Ale to be debuted at the annual Southampton Extravaganza. Clamming and Cow Thieves never sounded so good!

From Sugars to Booze, We Thank the Yeast

Our second batch of Cow Thieves is almost ready to pop and I’m really excited to get into these guys. Just a few more days in the bottle, and they should be fully carbonated and delicious! We sampled a bit of the “pre-bottled” batch and these pilsners came out really exciting. This time around we chose two distinct hop varietals to use for each batch of one common pilsner recipe. This is just one of the seemingly endless variables beer makers can play with to produce all sorts of good stuff. Thinking ahead to the next production, I’m thinking we might look towards the yeast selection as a means to get even deeper. Considering fermentation has been around for all of humanity, it’s pretty ridiculous that it’s been less than 200 years since we’ve been able to fully explain it…

Fermentation is the process in which microorganisms convert simple sugar molecules to carbon dioxide and alcohols. For thousands of years, humanity was experimenting with the production of alcohol without this fundamental knowledge. Because while I may head down to the hipster beer store in Brooklyn and have my choice of hundreds of commercially packaged yeast varieties, fermenting microorganisms also happen to live everywhere. Ancient cultures were most likely pleasantly surprised that their grape juice and honey waters started to bubble and rendered them a bit more tolerant of the day-to-day, but I can only imagine how quickly that curiosity turned into obsession.

With little more than good old trial and error, the proper conditions of temperature and oxygen availability were analyzed as batch after batch of alcoholic beverages were produced. I don’t imagine they were as picky in the early stages but as wine, beer, and booze production became common place, it’s absurdly impressive how far along the industry was at the time fermentation was finally fully defined in the 1850s by Louis Pasteur (seen above).

So why do we even need all those varieties at the hipster beer shop?

It turns out, all micro-organisms are not made alike. This shouldn’t surprise you so much considering we as humans are all so unique and special. But these little guys have all sorts of distinguishing characteristics (most of which sound familiar). From the food they prefer to their ability to create and then subsequently tolerate levels of alcohol, individual strains of fermenting yeast have the ability to really impact the final product. 

Sounds like I’ve got a lot of experimenting ahead of me…

Happy New Beers Eve!

In December of 1933, the 21st amendment was ratified, officially repealing the ban on alcohol. But the beer lovers had a bit of a head start!

April 7th of the same year marked the re-legalization of the sale of beer producing lines at all the local taverns and pubs. I have a pretty strong deterrence to any bar that makes me wait in line these days, but that is a line I would have loved to experience. The energy must have been intoxicating! In fact probably much more than the beer itself.

Unfortunately, the alcohol content of the beer for sale had to remain under 4% alcohol by volume. For context, PBR is listed as 4.74 % ABV. And how many PBRs can you drink? But maybe it was for the best. Probably a good thing to ease back into it!

It’s been almost 80 years since that fateful day, so be sure to celebrate! And get started tonight. There may not be a giant ball dropping in times square, but I’ll be sure to cheers at midnight. Happy New Beers Eve!

Bitters, Pilsner, and a Nobler Giveaway

Larry working on our Cow Thieves Pilsner

I’ve finally managed to organize myself and get together all the ingredients for my homemade bitters project. 3 weeks from now, I’ll hopefully be reporting back on a wildly successful venture. But to be clear, that’s not really why I’ve been finding myself on a major DIY kick. Having just finished up the brewing of a second large batch of Cow Thieves Ale (with some exciting changes), and having worked on my own blended scotch for Steve, it’s exciting to know that my enthusiasm for the “homemade” stems completely from plain and earnest curiosity.

Is it more economical or more convenient to purchase a bunch of ingredients to make a batch of bitters for cocktail making? I mean probably not. Or is it cocktail crucial for the bitters to be homemade? Of course not. But I’m not looking to be the world’s best bitters maker or convince you that you haven’t lived until you’ve made everything on your own. There’s just simply no better way to learn, than to do it yourself (or by reading about it here). So check back as I write about the process, the results, and even the very first Nobler Experiment giveaway!

On an even more exciting note…you must be wondering what’s more exciting than a giveaway!…The warm weather afternoons of outdoor drinking have arrived and I can’t friggin wait. Enjoy the weekend and hopefully a Bertha Palmer!

Cow Thieves Ale Mustard

I’m gearing up for another weekend of home-brewing as we’ve finally come to the end to our stash of Cow Thieves Ale and the Mustache Maker IPA. While, admittedly I finished my portion some time ago, mostly consumed at the Nobler Gatherings, I managed to keep one bottle stashed away for my very first attempt at homemade mustard. It’s surprising how easy this process is and even more exciting how delicious the outcome is. Just like with the home-brewing, it is easy to see how little tweaks here and there, additions of new ingredients, and a little practice can get you all sorts of different outcomes. But I have to say, I was pretty damn happy with this first batch of Cow Thieves Ale Mustard. Anyone have any soft pretzels?

Cow Thieves Ale Mustard

1 12 oz bottle of beer (I obviously used cow thieves)

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 small onion (minced)

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp sweet paprika

1 tsp turmeric

7 tbsp mustard seeds

In a small sauce pan, bring the first 6 ingredients to a boil and let simmer for 15 minutes until reduced by half. Meanwhile, in a spice grinder (or a mortar and pestle), grind 3 tbsp of the mustard seeds. Add the ground mustard seeds to the remaining mustard seeds in a small bowl. After the liquid portion has reduced, pour over the seeds. Cover and let sit out for 24 hours. At this point move the mixture, covered, to the refrigerator. After another 48 hours, blend the mixture in a food processor and bottle for use. Keep in the refrigerator. 

Note: Be sure to use a sterile container to keep the mustard as long as possible. I used an old glass container that I boiled in water for 5 minutes.

Christmas Was Good to the Nobler Experiment!

Our two homemade brews, Cow Thieves Ale and The Mustache Maker turned out great. The IPA has just enough bite and the Cow thieves is nice and light. I’m excited to let some of the Noblers give these a shot.

This blueberry, cardamom, and vanilla cocktail inspired by some friends was the perfect Christmas eve starter. I’ll post the recipe this week for sure.

The Nobler Christmas haul.

Digging in to some Monkey Shoulder with one perfect ice ball.

A little bubbly for Christmas dinner.

And dessert…

And lastly, a recovery day cocktail of tamarind juice and rum by the fire…