drinking – Page 3

Beer Blurb 9/20/14 – (Asgard, Toscanini’s, and Grapefruit)

October 26, 2014 by Taco

Its time again for another Beer Blurb. Though these are quickly becoming more about beer and food than just beer, but the title shall remain.

This one is actually being written the day after, largely because I’m sick and haven’t felt like doing much.

Anyways, down near Central and Kendall squares there is a legendary place known as Toscanini’s. Its an ice cream shop, but its been called the best ice cream in the world by entities such as the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the London Herald. I have no idea if its the best ice cream in the world, in fact its probably doubtful that it is (its all subjective anyways), but praise like that makes one curious doesn’t it?

So, we decided we wanted to try out their ice cream and we planned our dinner around our dessert. Kind of the opposite of what you normally do, but whatever. SB found a place pretty much immediately adjavcent to Toscanini’s called Asgard. It was an Irish pub. I’m not sure why an Irish pub has a Norse name, but we won’t split hairs. I was sick and didn’t really care, so we headed out into the unseasonably cold temperatures. Once we got there (it was far enough that we needed to take a bus) we found that the place was absolutely packed. There was some sort of 5K Race registration/packet pickup going on. There was also no host in sight. Right about the time I decided I wanted to leave, the hostess came over and took our name. It wasn’t that long of a wait from there and we ended up getting seated fairly quickly.

I was sick, but that didn’t stop me from getting a beer. Our selection:

1. Carlsberg Danmark – Carlsberg Beer

2. Cambridge Brewing Company – Cambridge Amber

If you have a really good memory, you’ll notice that I’ve had the Cambridge Amber before. If you’ve followed the blog since its earlier inception, you’ll also know that I’ve had Carlsberg before. The Amber, is, as before, a nice Ambery beer with good malt tones. The Carlsberg was a Carlsberg, complete with its unique little twang of an aftertaste. If you’ve never had a Carlsberg, you really need to try it. Of course once you’ve had a beer straight from the brewery, its kind of ruined for you, even on tap. (If you couldn’t figure it out, the CBC is the dark beer in the photo).

We also had some really good food. SB had some macaroni and cheese (shells) with white cheese, Brussels sprouts, and corned beef. I had a corned beef sandwich, a salad with honey lime vinaigrette and onion soup (which had a piece of melted cheese over it). The food was really good.

They had lots of ruinic stuff on the walls and windows as a design element. One of them said “Yay”.

I have no idea what it really said, but I see Yay. Overall Asgard was good, it was a bit pricey (for us, not for the area), and the Irish theme seemed to be way under the Norse them, but a good experience nonetheless.

After that we headed across the street to Toscanini’s. I had read many times that the lines for this place can be HUGE. However, it was way cold for the time of year (think about 15 degrees below normal) so while there was a line, it was not out the door and down the block or anything crazy. They have 32 flavors each day, which rotate, they also have coffees, cakes, and the like.

We both got two scoops, SB went with Nocciola (Hazelnut, basically) and Heath Bar. I went a little more crazy with Burnt Caramel and Gingersnap Molasses. Again, while I can’t say if its the best ice cream in the world, it was very, very good ice cream. I favored the Gingersnap Molasses over the Burnt Caramel. I was actually expecting it to go the other direction, but the Gingersnap Molasses really surprised me. SB liked the Nocciola more than the Heath Bar, primarily because it was more unique. If you really want an idea of the kinds of flavors they have, I suggest looking at their rotating menu (click the “Today’s Flavors” button up top). Their prices were not bad at all for the location and the amount of ice cream you got.

Finally, closing things out, today I got a six pack of beer while we were out running errands. It was at a new liquor store that I had never been to before. It was sadly just as expensive as my regular liquor store, but the selection was different. They were really bad about pricing things, in that most things had no price tag (which seems to be a woefully common issues out here at smaller marketplaces). However some of them were marked. One of which was a grapefruit wheat beer. Yeap, you read that right. I struggled with the cost for all of 10 seconds then decided I had to buy it.

3. Binding-Brauerei AG – Schöfferhofer Grapefruit Weizen-Mix

So I like grapefruits and I like wheat beers. I also like oranges in my wheat beer. So I didn’t figure grapefruit would be too much of a stretch.

I have to say, I was very, very impressed. Its undoubtedly one of the best fruit beers I’ve ever had. It reminded me of Leinenkugel’s Orange Shandy, except it was even better. The Germans are just good at mixing fruit and beer, that is really all there is too it. It was a nice balance between an unfiltered wheat ale and well.. grapefruit. I think that even if you didn’t like grapefruit, but like wheat ale that this is worth trying. Conversely if you don’t like wheat ale but like grapefruit, its worth trying. SB was very impressed as well. She seemed to really like it, though she is a fan of a good shandy-type beer. Definitely marking down the Schöfferhofer Grapefruit Weizen on the “Do Drink” list.

Until next time,
-Taco

Beer Blurb 9/13/14 (Cambridge Queen’s Head)

October 20, 2014 by Taco

If you are wondering what the heck “Cambridge Queen’s Head” is, then you are in a good company. Until today I had literally no idea this place existed. In fact, I’m not even sure how I stumbled across it, but I did.

To answer the question, its a pub, or some people would say a college bar. Its affiliated with Harvard, and by affiliated with Harvard I mean Harvard owns it (Harvard owns more than one pub, interestingly). Not only that, but you have to be a Harvard affiliate just to get in, or at least be an affiliate of a Harvard affiliate who is going in with you. Confused? Nah didn’t think.

Anyways, this place is in the middle of the action, but is pretty much out of sight. That is because its underground, or in a basement rather. Its under the Memorial Hall, which looks like a giant church and is actually a building built in honor of Harvardians who died fighting on both sides of the American Civil War, so its a fairly old building. It does not look like the kind of place that would have a pub under it, but it does.

(The rather inconspicuous spot above is the entrance)

SB and I decided to try it and it was a bit of a mixed bag.

First off, when we got there (which was harder than than it should have been since 1/2 of their doors were locked and said they were closed), their menu was pretty much just a few appetizers, nothing else. We were told that this is because they had just opened three days prior after their long summer-season hiatus and also that pretty much their entire staff was brand new. Ok, fair enough, but it would have been nice if you advertised that fact on your website. However, since we were hungry we decided to stay, since the appetizers were advertised as being half price from 5 to 7 on Fridays. Nope. Apparently when appetizers are their entire menu that doesn’t apply. Strike two.

Fortunately that was the last of the strikes. The Cambridge Queen’s Head redeemed itself enough to warrant another visit (after some time has passed, of course) simply because they had a good selection of beer and the beer was cheap (for the area). Interestingly enough, they only have beer and wine, no liquor. They only serve liquor if you rent the place out for events. I am fine with this, but I found it interesting. They also have a really cool “Don’t Tip” policy, I read they pay their servers more to compensate, no idea how that works out on the whole, but for me its a good thing. Anyways, the two drinks we tried with out appetizers/dinner were:

1. Harpoon Brewery – Harvard 1636 Ale
2. Harpoon Brewery – Craft Cider

Ok, so two things. First, yes I get that the Cider isn’t a beer, SB got that one. Second, because its not a beer I had to link “Rate Beer” rather than “Beer Advocate” which I generally don’t like doing since Beer Advocate is vastly superior in my opinion.

Anyways, the Harvard 1636 is actually an exclusive beer for the Queen’s Head. Harpoon brews is just for them and just on tap. It’s the official unofficial beer of Harvard (since a University having an official beer might not be the best PR). Its called 1636 for a reason, any idea why? [Hint: Its pretty obvious] Its a Dark Wheat Ale and I have to say that it stood up to the “Dark Wheat” motif. It was very stout, in fact one of the more stout wheat ale’s that I’ve had. But it was quite good and the price was definitely right. I also found my pinky raising itself while I was drinking it. SB’s Cider was well, cider. Harpoon is a solid brewery, and its not because they are in Boston, I liked them long before I even knew where the heck they were at.

[Ok weird side note, there must be some huge ship coming up the Charles River because I just head an epic foghorn]

Anyways, Harpoon is good, so both drinks were good. My preference is soundly with the 1636 Ale, but the cider wasn’t bad by any means, it was just more “middle-of-the-road” in that it tasted a lot like most standard ciders do. I’m not sure what the “Craft” was supposed to reference.

So all in all a good Friday evening from a drink and price perspective. The food was just ok and it was pretty limited, they also didn’t honor their half price stuff. Like I said, we’ll go back to give it another chance, if only because of price, but we’re going to give it several weeks before we do.

We did get cool cow wristbands to show that we were 21 though, that was awesome.

Until next time,
-Taco

Beer Blurb 9/5/14 (The Thirsty Scholar)

October 17, 2014 by Taco

Alright, so this Beer Blurb is actually being written about two days after the fact (I’m writing this on 9/7). What can I say, I’m a law student, I’m busy.

Anyways, for this past Friday night out SB and I went to a nearby pub called “The Thirsty Scholar.” It was slightly above our price range, but not terribly so, and it was the end of the first week of classes so we treated ourselves. The food was pretty good, SB had an “Irish” BLT which was pretty much a Ham Lettuce Tomato and I got a Sweet Potato Black Bean burger with ham and split pea soup. We enjoyed both dinners. But this isn’t about the food, its about the beer. We had three different beers, two new, one relatively new.

1. Sea Dog Brewery – Sunfish Ale

2. Allagash Brewing Company – Allagash White

3. Boddington’s Brewery – Boddington’s Pub Ale

You’ll notice the Beer Advocate link for Sunfish Ale doesn’t actually link to the standard page, but rather an announcement page. I’m not sure what is up with that, maybe its sort of fallen through the cracks. Either way, you can at least read about it.

Above you can see Allagash White and Sunfish, I don’t think its too hard to figure out which is which. Boddington’s is not pictured, obviously.

Our beer selection started off interestingly. I asked about Sunfish Ale and the server pretty much told us it sucks. She gave us a sample (before checking our IDs, which she only did after serving us alcohol, haha) and it did not suck. It tasted a lot like Leinenkugel’s Orange Shandy, which is a good thing. SB ended up getting the Sunfish, I went with the Allagash. I had actually had it before, at least I think I have, somewhere since we’ve moved. I can’t recall where though. Anyways, both the Sunfish Ale and the Allagash White were good. The Sunfish was very much on the line between ale and shandy, and not necessarily in a bad way. The Allagash looked like it would be light and refreshing, especially with the lemon, but it was actually a very hearty wheat bear. Overall, we were impressed with both of them.

No so with the Boddington’s. I had been wanting to try it for some time, but it was oddly expensive for coming in a can. Now that I’ve had it, I wholly agree with “The Bros” (founders) from Beer Advocate, its awful. It was a weird pungent, creamy sort of ale, and yeah, I can’t say I’d get it again. It was interesting though, for possibly the first time ever SB liked a beer more than I did (the other notable instance of this is Blue Moon). She didn’t seem to think it was as bad as I did. Regardless, I finished it, because it was a sin not to. I spent the next couple of hours feeling pretty good since I was very much on an empty stomach when I downed the Allagash, so the Boddington just exacerbated things.

Still, two out of three ain’t bad.

Until next time,
-Taco

Beer Blurb – 8/27/14 (Narragansett)

October 11, 2014 by Taco

So, I only have one beer to talk about this time around, Narragansett. I’ve never had this beer before. I’ve heard of it, but never tried it. I actually didn’t even pick it out. I’m in the middle of law school orientation (as I write this, not necessarily when it gets posted) and I requested that SB get me some beer while she was out. Its not that orientation is overly stressful, but its not really fun either. Anyways, my only stipulation was that it was A: Cheap and B: Light enough for her to carry home alongside the soda. She was probably going to get me another Yuengling Light but they were out. So she went with Narragansett.

1. Narragansett Brewing Co. – Narragansett Lager

You’ll notice its in cans, see instruction A. My initial reaction to the beer was a bit lukewarm. It wasn’t bad, but boy it was not unique at all. I have to admit though, its grown on me as I start drinking the second one, but that is arguably true for most beers. To be fair though, I only poured the second one into a glass, the first was from the can, so that is a very probable issue. Anyways, Narragansett seems to be named after Narragansett, Rhode Island, which is itself named after the Narragansett Native Americans. They aren’t really forthcoming with this information for whatever reason. The brewery has a bit of a “fallen from grace” vibe, in that since its founding in 1890 it seen a rise to the top of the New England beers (a region of fierce competition) to a descent into a narrow market sector. Its slogan is “Made on Honor, Sold On Merit” not sure what the story is behind that, but they definitely didn’t take merit as payment.

Anyways, I had their Lager, the standard for the brewery. Its technically an American Adjunct Lager, which is a fancy way of saying its a light bodied beer, resembling piss, that came about after the American prohibition (which f*cked up our beer in a lot of ways, thanks conservatives). While I normally tend to be a bit more “nice” than Beer Advocate, this is one of the times where I don’t find myself agreeing with their relatively lofty (for a macro) ratings. Its not that Narragansett is bad for an American Adjunct, its just not special. I think if you put this and a PBR next to each other, you’d be hard pressed to tell a huge difference (its there, just not huge).

I’m not even sure how widely available Narragansett, but I’d probably have to recommend at least trying it for the price. This is especially true if you are a Red Sox fan, since this was apparently their official beer for 30 years. I looked but I couldn’t find their current official beer, though my guess is Sam Adams simply because that makes sense on a lot of levels.

Worth checking out, but not too memorable. Cool name though, even though they don’t seem to formally acknowledge its etymology.

Until next time,
-Taco

Beer Blurb – 8/24/14 (Samuel Adams Rye Märzen & Yuengling Light)

October 8, 2014 by Taco

Time for another beer blurb, this time we are checking out an extra special beer that I can all but guarantee you have not had, and may never get a chance to. We’ll also examine Yuengling Light, which is far less exceptional.

Without further ado, the beers.

1. Samuel Adams – Rye Märzen
2. Yuengling Brewery – Yeungling Light

You’ll notice that I did not link to Beer Advocate for the Sam Adams, that is because it doesn’t have a page. Why? Its an experimental beer, which means it does not exist outside of the walls of the Boston Brewery, well, except for the people who have bought growlers. The second beer is slightly more standard, but it was still my first time having it.

As I mentioned in this post, SB and I visited Sam Adams’ oldest brewery. After the (free) tour you have a chance to purchase some of the beers that they either have on tap or are experimenting with. I naturally chose the experimental beers and went with the Rye Märzen. A Märzen is a pale lager, which literally means “March Beer” in German. These are traditionally strong beers, but lately its more of a flavor style as opposed to being a strictly strong beer. Sam Adams took a Rye spin on things.

[Big Side note: Want to know what makes a good beer glass anatomy? The Samuel Adams glass above is actually a good example. A good beer glass will have the following. 1.) It will either have a narrow base with thicker glass, or it will have a handle. This keeps your hand from warming the beer. 2.) It will have a wide mouth to allow the beer to aerate and to release more aroma. 3.) It will have an imperfection in the base of the glass (often laser etched) to allow a build up of carbonation that keeps the beer active and fizzy. 4.) The top most portion of the glass will flare outwards, this delivers the beer to the proper place on your tongue (the front, where you perceive the sweetness of the malt) rather than the back of your tongue, which is where you perceive bitter flavors. 5.) There will be a tiny lip around the rim that creates turbulence to release more flavor and aroma as you are drinking the beer. Believe it or not your glass does matter, beer is no different from wine in that regard. Sorry college people with your red plastic cups.]

It wasn’t quite as strong as I was expecting, but it had a nice smooth flavor. Even SB enjoyed it and she isn’t a huge Sam Adams fan. Since the growler doesn’t last long anyways, especially once opened, we went through the whole thing in one night. It turned out to be around 5.5 beers in all, which at a price of 9.95$ I absolutely cannot complain. I really hope this one passes the tests and gets distributed, though I’m sure it will never taste as good as it did fresh from brewery.

Next up is Yuengling Light.

Now, with Sam Adams the night before, why would I get a beer like this? Because it was cheap. Believe it or not I’d never had a Yuengling until we moved to Boston, let alone a Yuengling Light. Now, Yuengling is apparently America’s oldest continuously operating brewery, having been producing beer without pause since 1829. If you are wondering how they made it through prohibition, they produced “near beers” which were beers with very low (0.5% or less) alcohol content. Since they are located in Pennsylvania and an entirely American owned brewery (like Sam Adams) I had to give them a try. I had previously had the regular Yuengling and it was just ok. Now that I’ve had Yuengling Light, I have to say, its just ok. I’m not sure its as bad as the 66 its garnered on Beer Advocate, but its not really memorable. It kind of tastes like Budwesier, which is pretty much the same way the standard Yuengling tasted. I’ll certainly have it again, but likely because of price rather than taste.

So, between the two beers the Sam Adams wins by a huge margin, lets just hope it doesn’t vanish from the face of the Earth. Yuengling Light, meanwhile, will be a nice go-to cheap beer.

Until next time,
-Taco

Beer Blurb 9/20/14 – (Asgard, Toscanini’s, and Grapefruit)

Beer Blurb 9/13/14 (Cambridge Queen’s Head)

Beer Blurb 9/5/14 (The Thirsty Scholar)

Beer Blurb – 8/27/14 (Narragansett)

Beer Blurb – 8/24/14 (Samuel Adams Rye Märzen & Yuengling Light)

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