Cure Me I'm Irish

Some of the readers on Brew England know about a very special boy named Will Lacey; however, I’m sure most of you don’t. Will Lacey is a six year old boy from Braintree, MA who was diagnosed as an infant with a very rare and currently non-curable cancer called Neruoblastoma. Will’s parents, family, and friends created the Friends of Will Cancer Foundation, a 501(c)3 public charity to help save the lives of children with cancer. More specifically, to BEAT NB!

The Friends of Will Cancer Foundation's sole mission is to raise money to help create treatment options for children with Relapsed Neuroblastoma. Unfortunately, once the disease comes back there is no cure.

You may be wondering why we bring this up on a beer blog….well, I’ll tell you.

For the past three years, the FOW have put on an event called “Cure Me I’m Irish”, which has been a huge success in raising funds for Will and other NB patients. Last year, Sarah and I happily volunteered during the event, selling raffle tickets, selling merchandise, and we even donated a pair of Bruins tickets for the silent auction (which believe me, was pretty bad ass- the auction that is). We did such a small part to help out, but honestly had so much fun!






I can’t explain how awesome it was to be part of this event. There were dozens of volunteers, and approximately 400 of Will’s closets adult friends enjoying their evening at the Tirrell Room in Quincy, MA. There were Irish step dancers (the ones who danced with the Dropkick Murphy's), a DJ, an endless line at the bars, but an all around great night. This year's event is shaping up to be even bigger and better!

A few month’s ago, I was introduced to Will’s father Pat. He had heard it through the grapevine that Sarah and I ran BrewEngland.com and go around to a ton of breweries. Figuring we may have made some brewery contacts on our adventures, he asked us to help him out with a portion of the 2011 Cure Me I’m Irish event. Naturally, we said “of course!”

I am VERY excited to announce that part of the upcoming Cure Me I’m Irish event will include a Beer Tasting, set up by BrewEngland.com! There will be New England breweries represented, and I’m sure you have probably heard of some of them. The confirmed breweries to date are:

Mayflower Brewing Co. – Plymouth, MA
Cape Ann Brewing – Gloucester, MA
Blue Hills Brewery – Canton, MA

I have been in contact with other MA and VT breweries, which I should hear back from shortly; however, we are extremely happy to have these three breweries on board already and I’m sure you will be too!

So, now you’re probably wondering how you can get in on this beer tasting, and the other exciting parts of the Cure Me event. Here are all the details.

When: Saturday March 5, 2011 from 7pm – Midnight
Where: Lombardo’s – 6 Billings Road Randolph, MA
Why: To BEAT NB and celebrate with a purpose!


Ticket prices currently start at $60 and tickets can be purchased at the Cure Me I’m Irish event webpage. After February 15, 2011 the ticket price will increase to $75 per ticket. The admission price includes a Full Open Bar beginning at 8pm; however, it is likely that the beer tasting will take place from approximately 7-9pm and is included in the price of admission. Appetizers as well as deserts will be served. Also, this year the band Joshua Tree will be performing live at the event.

I strongly encourage you all to come and join us at Lombardo’s on March 5th. This will no doubt be a great time for everyone there, will be a good opportunity to come and support our 1st ever beer tasting, and support a wonderful cause.

If you are a brewery and would like to pour samples at this event, please contact Adam at brewengland@gmail.com ASAP. Space is extremely limited, and will fill up fast!

Please pass on the word of this event, and as the final breweries are confirmed I will update the website!

Cheers!

Adam & Sarah

Brew England Visits: Chicago, Part II

You can't really tell, but that's Adam under the Navy Pier sign

Sarah and I had made a feeble attempt to go to Navy Pier on the day we arrived in Chicago. As it turns out, it was far too cold to venture any closer to the lake. When we arrived, it was around 22 degrees and windy, unlike in Boston where it in the 30's or near 40 degrees. Anyway, when you have the protection of the buildings in downtown Chicago, it tends to block some of the wind coming off Lake Michigan. It makes a HUGE difference!

Because we never made it to Navy Pier on Wednesday, we decided we would head there there next morning. It certainly didn't seem any warmer that morning when we walked over, but fortunately it got a bit warmer as the day progressed. Possibly registering a balmy 28 degrees or so.

We walked through the shops at Navy Pier, and then headed back out into the elements. We have to imagine that it is spectacular in the warm weather months as they have a giant Ferris Wheel, beer gardens- you can actually walk around the entire Navy Pier area with your drinks, and other fun things. We'll definitely have to make it back to hit Harry Caray's!



See, here is where we attempted to take our pictures in front of some weird glass that distorts your body. Pretty awesome, eh?



Anyway, we got some great pics of the skyline while we were there.



Did you know they have a giant macaroni noodle there?



For our safety, they put up this sign. They don't mess around!



We also got some of us goofing around.


Sarah frolicking with children at play


Adam receiving some counseling from Bob Newhart

We decided we would head down to the Art Institute after our time on the pier. We hopped in a cab and were there in no time!


Sarah outside the Art Institute


The Grand Staircase @ the Art Institute

The Art Institute is right at Millennium Park, and could not have been nicer. Truthfully we weren't there for more than a few hours, but we had a great time. We've been to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston several times, which is absolutely amazing. We also visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art a few years ago, which was spectacular. The Art Institute of Chicago was equally as impressive and this visit made us want to go back. There are some truly great pieces of art there...

Notably, "Water Lilies" by Claude Monet,



"A Sunday on La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat (which was much bigger than we expected),



"Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper,



and "American Gothic" by Grant Wood.



We always thought the woman in "American Gothic" was the dude's wife, but as it turns out, it's supposed to be his daughter. The story behind the painting is awesome, and if you're in Chicago you should stop by to see it!

Equally as nice were "American Windows" by Marc Chagall,



and "Picture of Dorian Gray" by Ivan Albright.



This was one of the most bizarre and psychedelic paintings I've ever seen! Sarah hated the painting, although she loved the book. I thought the painting was pretty cool, though I'd hate to be looking on this if I were tripping on LSD. I'm sure that shit would freak me right out!

When we had our fill, we headed to the gift shop for a few things, before heading off to find some lunch. We were initially going to hit the Goose Island Brew Pub in Clybourn, but it was going to take us a while to get there. We really had no idea where we were going to eat, but we just decided to walk.


We could have been walking for a while...

Fortunately, we stumbled on the Berghoff Restaurant, located on West Adams street in the Loop! It's considered a historical landmark in Chicago, and is a great German restaurant. Their menu is substantial, yet not too big; however, it made it really hard to decide what we wanted to eat.



Although they aren't a brewpub per say, they do make their own beer. We were instructed by our very friendly server that their beer is brewed in Monroe, Wisconsin, and according to Wikipedia it's a contract beer brewed by the Joseph Huber Brewing Company. Nevertheless, we decided to get the beer flight, so we could give all of their offerings a try.

All of the beers were really good! In all, they had five beers on tap: Berghoff Seasonal - a dark malty winter, Prairie Lager - a standard at the restaurant, Sundown Dark - malty, smokey, and nice, River Red Ale - slightly bitter, nice dark color, and Hefeweizen - light, somewhat sweet, and crisp. It was nice to get a taste of local brewed beers, other than Goose Island. The beers complemented our food nicely too!

We hope you enjoyed Chicago Parts I-II...Chicago Part III will be up soon!

Brew England Visits: Chicago, Part I

Chicago….wow. If you haven’t been there, you are definitely missing out! I’ve wanted to go to Chicago for at least the past 10 years, with hopes of making it to Wrigley Field to watch a Cubs game. Over the past five or so years I’ve wanted to visit the city to experience all the culture, food, and of course the great beer not readily available in the Boston area. Sarah and I found a deal too good to pass up on airfare through South West and decided it was time.

This was my first time flying out of Logan Airport in Boston since probably 1986 when I first got on a plane to Orlando, FL, but I was really glad we decided not to fly out of Manchester (our typical point of departure). We decided we were going to take advantage of the public transportation on our trip, so we caught a cab to Quincy Adams around 6am, so we could hop on the Red Line. This would be our first experience with the Silver Line, which we picked up at South Station. It was easy enough as it took us right to the airport, and direct to our terminal (of course after stopping at the first four). Easy peasy.

Of course we were at the airport almost two hours before our flight was to take off, so what else to anxious travelers (read: Sarah) do at 7:45am? Well, we hit our first bar of the trip – Beer Works at Terminal E.



I managed to get a few tall pints of freshly brewed beer, and Sarah opted for a few Bloody Marys before boarding the plane.

Fast forward a few hours, and we landed at Chicago’s Midway Airport.


From there we took the “L” to our hotel, all the meanwhile admiring this new (to us) city.



Now, Sarah is a globetrotter. She’s been to Lebanon, London, Paris, spent a summer in Kenya, and more. Me…not so much. Granted this was my second trip of the year which required air travel, as I went spent four days in Winter Haven, FL with my buddy PJ visiting his parents; however, I have kept mostly to the east coast – or at least Eastern Standard Time. Until Chicago, I had never been in another time zone, or west of Cleveland, OH, so this was kind of a big deal for me (NERD ALERT!).

At any rate, Sarah and I were both PUMPED to be in Chicago!

We ventured out to find some lunch, but didn’t make it very far, as we stumbled on what would be come our local hangout – Timothy O’Toole’s. We were expecting a small Irish Pub, but it turned out to be a good sized sports bar. Not too big, but it had plenty of room at the bar…which shouldn’t have been a surprise because it was a Wednesday afternoon. We quickly became big fans of this bar.

They had a fantastic beer line up, and it was EXACTLY what we were looking for. I quickly ordered a New Belgium Brewing Fat Tire, and Sarah went with the Goose Island Sofie.



We had our lunch and ordered a few more beers, the Goose Island Matilda for Sarah, and the Great Lakes Brewing Edmund Fitzgerald Porter for me.



We quickly struck up a conversation with our bartender, who turned out to be a really nice guy. We talked beer, chatted about the Blackhawks and how we wanted to go to the game that night, and other things Chicago. As it turns out, we were simply too tired to go very far, but ended up going back that night for a few more beers and some pub grub.

Stay tuned for Chicago, Part II tomorrow....

BrewEngland invades Chicago!

Tomorrow morning, Sarah and I take this show on the road. For the first time, we will be visiting the great city of Chicago. Sure, it's December. Sure, it's cold. But, we're true New Englanders and can tolerate the weather.

I've been wanting to visit Chicago for the past 10 years or so, but haven't had a good excuse to go. Not that I needed one, but oh well. We got a great deal on air travel through Southwest Airlines, and couldn't pass it up. It also helps that Sarah's cousin Paul and his wife Christie live in the city too.

We plan on hitting the Goose Island Clayborurn brewpub, possibly Small Bar Fullerton, and definitely Kuma's Corner. There may even be a trip to Milwaukee in the mix too for a stop at the Milwaukee Ale House. We're also going to see the Chicago Blackhawks take on the Dallas Stars tomorrow night at the Madhouse on Madison to boot. Granted I'm a die hard Boston Bruins fan, I'm still a hockey fan. That should be fun!

We'll be without our computer for the next four days or so; however, we'll each still have our Blackberry smaht phones at our sides, so we'll be checking in on foursquare and tweeting up a storm. We'll have our camera too, so we'll make sure to recap our adventures next week!

Follow us on Twitter! Adam/BrewEngland at @brewengland, and Sarah at @pinkshoe. We'll be updating our Facebook Fan Page too, on occasion; however, we're likely to tweet more than anything else.

Tuesday Night Tasting - Thanksgiving Edition

Greetings from BrewEngland.com! In celebration of Thanksgiving, we decided to review and recommend four New England craft beers that would pair well with all of your feasts.

Recommendation #1:



Mayflower Brewing Co. - Plymouth, MA
Cooper's Series: Thanksgiving Ale
Packaged on 10/18/10, 1pt 6oz

This beer was Mayflower Brewing Co.'s take on an English-style Old Ale. Per the brewery's website, this is a combination of an American Strong Ale and English Old Ale. Though we don't have any English-style old ales to use as a comparison, we think you will be pleased with this beer.

This brew pours a magnificently amber fluid, with a nice touch of cranberry. The head is lightly reddish, but is minimal and doesn't hang around very long. But that's okay, because it's so inviting you'll want to go right in for a sip.

The aroma is sweet, malty, and has a little hint of maple. This is likely as the beer is aged on toasted American white oak (likely chips, or in wood barrels). The flavor accentuates the nose as the maple really shines through. It's sweet, but not overpowering. It has a bit of tart cranberry flavor at the finish. Undertones of clove and nutmeg coat the tongue. It has a full mouth feel and a smooth full body, without being too strong.



It's definitely a drinkable beer, and would probably go best with the turkey. Enjoy a pint at the beginning of your meal. We think an addition of sweet potatoes would be splendid with the beer as well.

Recommendation #2:



Long Trail Brewing Co. - Bridgewater Corners, VT
Brewmaster Series: Centennial Red
Imperial Red Ale, 7.9% ABV, 1pt 6oz



We first tried this beer two weeks ago when we visited the Long Trail brewery & pub. It is the latest edition to the Brewmaster Series of beers, that also includes the Coffee Stout, Double IPA, Imperial Porter, and Pollenator Pale Ale. We must say, it's an excellent addition.



The beer pours a dark amber red, is lightly carbonated, and has a nice fluffy head. It lingers for a little while, and coats your glass as it dissipates.

This beer is full of aroma! It features a caramel and malty scent, with an earthy essence. It's body is rich and malty, and is somewhat on the bitter side; however, it's not overpowering like some pale ales and IPAs. As indicated, it's 7.4% ABV, so it packs a punch. It does mellow out a bit, as it warms.

It has a medium mouth feel, and isn't all that dry. But, we think that's good as you'll definitely want to keep sipping on this enjoyable Red.

We feel it will pair best with your appetizers. It would be great with some sharp cheeses, and also some pepperoni.

Recommendation #3:



Wachusett Brewing Co. - Westminster, MA
Wachusett IPA
5.6% ABV, 5o IBU, 12 oz

We actually featured this beer as our Tuesday Night Tasting on August 4th, which you can read here, but we felt that it would be an excellent addition to your holiday drinking choices. It's bold, flavorful, and just a fine craft beer.

Enjoy it before, during, and after your meal!

Recommendation #4:



Harpoon Brewery - Boston, MA & Windsor, VT
Harpoon Helps: Grateful Harvest Cranberry Ale
5.9% ABV, 25 IBU

While searching for swag to give away at Blogtoberfest, we stopped into the Boston brewery where were lucky enough to sample this beer just prior to its release. On top of that, we enjoyed a pint while visiting the Riverbend Taps and Beer Garden, located within the Windsor brewery two weeks ago.



The bottle pours a glowing, warm chestnut hue. It has a medium head, and slowly dissipates. It has a slightly sweet aroma, with a nice hint of fruitiness. In fact, it's similar to a fruity, aromatic red wine, with a hint of berry. It's possible to notice tones of shortbread as well.

The flavor is light in its body; however, it is definitely flavorful! It doesn't way you down, and finishes smooth. It has a great, slight tart/cranberry ending, but is not - I repeat NOT a typical "fruit" beer.

If you can find it in your local package or liquor store, definitely get a six pack. It's a limited release, not to mention a charitable beer, and will go great with your entire meal from start to finish!

We hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving! If you've had these beers before, or you decide to get any of these beers, please let us know how you enjoyed them!

Baking with Beer - Whole Wheat Snickerdoodles

I was looking for a relatively healthy cookie recipe to make the other night. I had a hankering for snicker-doodles and had most of the ingredients for them, only not. Instead of sugar I had splenda. Instead of butter I had I Cant Believe Its Not Butter. And instead of all purpose flour I had whole wheat flour. But with some tweaking and some hope, I came up with these whole wheat snickerdoodles.

While they do not contain any beer, they are the PERFECT accompaniment to beer especially any red ale (They were perfect with the Whistling Pig Red Ale we featured the other night) or spicy beer (Harpoon Winter Warmer). They come together in a snap and taste great!



Whole Wheat Snickerdoodles
1.5 cup splenda
1 stick I Cant Believe Its Not butter
2 eggs
2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 tbsp Turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw, or use regular sugar or brown sugar)
2 tbsp Cinnamon

Combine splenda and “butter” and beat until fluffy. Add eggs, beating after each addition. Combine dry ingredients minus the sugar and cinnamon. Gradually add it to the liquid mixture while mixing.

Combine Turbinado and cinnamon in small bowl. Roll the cookie dough into one inch balls, dip and roll into the cinnamon sugar mixture and place on ungreased cookie sheet. You can flatten them out a little with a fork if you want but I like them the way they are. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Adventures in Homebrewing - 5th Edition

As you may know, I began brewing my own beer almost a year ago. When I first got my brewing equipment, I probably brewed on average of once per month. I was really into it, even though a few of my batches weren't all that great. I picked up stuff to make two more batches in April, but the weather changed, school picked up, and I got too busy to brew. It also didn't help that I lived in a third floor apartment.

At the end of the summer, I formed my own homebrewer's club called Boston Brewin'. I figured this would get my ass in gear, and force me to brew. But, the weather was too damn hot to hang around a stove for a few hours. I also ended up moving in mid-September.

I ended up having some free time recently, so I figured it was time to finally brew. I stopped off at Stop & Shop to get some filtered water, as the filtration system attached to our refrigerator is as slow as the day is long. Nevertheless, buying the water was an inexpensive (at only $5 for 5 gallons), and quicker way to go...

So I've had an IPA kit for a while. I figured I would brew this one, as I haven't attempted any pale or India pale ales yet.

Some quick stats:

Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Ingredients:
2 cans of Unhopped Muntons Amber Malt Extract
1lb of Crystal Grain
1 oz. Cascade Hops
1 oz. Chinook Hops
1/2 ounce of Heavy Toasted Oak Chips
1 packet of Muntons Ale Yeast

I typically brew with close to three gallons of water in my concentrated boil, though I never really measure it as I would fill up my kettle from the Britta filter. This time however, I decided to simply use one of the 2.5 gal jugs I got. About a half gallon more is added to the boil though, as I try to get every drop of liquid malt extract out of the containers they come in. Usually hot water and some stirring gets the last of it.

Well, I have to say that using a gas stove is where it's at! Don't get me wrong, if you have an electric stove that DOES NOT mean you can't brew your own beer. I thought it would be very hard to do on an electric stove, but that is not the case. It does take a bit longer to heat up the water initially, but once it's boiling it's boiling - so don't let that be a deterrent! Anyway, the gas stove was nice, and it took maybe 20 minutes or so to get the water to a rolling boil.



My only issue is that since moving, I have misplaced my list of instructions/ingredients for my kits. Fortunately, Beer and Wine Hobby has the same lists on their website, so I just brought it up to follow.

I'm always looking for ways to speed up the process of brewing. Typically I put the kettle in a batch of ice water to drop the temperature, but this time I changed it up a bit. I did put the pot in the sink, but I opted to add my other 2.5 gal jug of water to my primary fermentation tank, and then add the wort to the bucket.



This rapidly dropped the temperature, as the water had been sitting outside for a few hours in 45 degree air. This way, I was able to add the yeast much quicker, and get on with my night. Another new addition to this batch was the Toasted Oak Chips.



I simply steamed them for about 10 minutes, before adding them to the cooled wort.



It's always a good sign when you see bubbles in your airlock, which I found the next day when I came home from work.



I will be taking my first gravity reading today, to see if it is almost time to bottle. The temperature has been a bit low in my basement and in the house, so it might have to wait a few extra days. We shall see, but I will post an update when it's time to drink! I'm hoping it comes out alright.