And Finally, Beer

It's been a week since I bemoaned the recent "all work and no play" trend, but we finally got in a visit to one of our local pubs to enjoy some good beer and food. As our friend Checkered Flag recently lamented, "We need to get back into our fun routine." To that end, Wednesday evening we headed over to Park Lane Tavern for their Breckenridge Vanilla Porter, on nitro, Steal the Glass event.

It's been a while since we visited Park Lane, and I was pleased to see they've expanded their "rotating taps" list, now with 5 beers, plus a cask selection. As much as I was looking forward to the nitro Porter, I was tempted by some of the other selections. Well, maybe I'll have a second beer...

The Breckinridge Vanilla Porter poured a deep chocolate color with a think mocha head, with the attractive nitro carbonation slowing rising to the top. This was a very handsome looking beer. I could hardly restrain myself while Colleen grabbed a photo. The aroma is very faint, with vanilla and milk chocolate notes. The flavor is mainly sweet milk-rich coffee and vanilla. The mouthfeel was extremely smooth and creamy. The beer goes down easily and quickly. At just 4.7% ABV that's not a problem though. 

I've had this popular beer before, both from a bottle and a standard tap. I've found it a touch too sweet for my tastes typically. It's not a beer I could drink more than one of in a sitting. It seemed to me however the flavor this time was less cloying that I recall. Perhaps that's the effect of the nitro, but in any case it was quite tasty and indeed. If there weren't other beers to try, I would have had another!

In the food area, I had my mind set on Fish & Chips for dinner, planning to combine it with the nitro-poured Porter for hint of Ireland. (I've sworn off Guinness in the U.S. after enjoying it in Ireleand.) However, Park Lane was featuring a Wild Game Bangers and Mash entrée that was especially tempting. The bangers were made with elk and venison. So I switched food plans and went that dish. I'm glad I did. The meat was very tasty, as was the accompanying "mash" and other vegetables. 

To go along the Bangers & Mash I ordered a pint of Anderson Valley Winter Solstice Seasonal Ale. This reddish-copper colored ale had a rich caramel malt flavor enhanced with subtle spices. The spiced ale was a very nice compliment to the herbs and spices in the sausage. Colleen and Checkered Flag both ordered glasses of the cask selection, New Holland The Poet. Poured into a large snifter, the from-the-cask serving came out at just the right temperature. (Sadly, I've accepted the fact that most beers served in America are set out too cold and require patience before enjoying.) I stole a couple few many sips from Colleen's glass. This Oatmeal Stout was rich in roasted coffee and copious oatmeal, along with a hint of citrus hops in the background. I may have to order this one for myself next time.

We had a very enjoyable evening at Park Lane. We're frequent, but not regular visitors to the pub, but it seemed to me they've stepped up their beer game a notch, and my entrée was one of the better meals I've enjoyed there. Oh yea, those infamous "kilts"? They seem to be gone. I realize the "mini" kilts on the girls were a gimmick, but neither those nor the usually-too-long kilts on the guys were very authentic. The black pants on most of the employees we saw this week gave a much more professional look. I can't say I will miss the "kilts." I do realize from reading the comments on the Facebook that I'm probably in the minority with that opinion. I look forward to visiting again and seeing what happens next.

A Breckenridge Evening

Our dishwasher is broken, so being a thoughtful husband, I felt I should lend a helping hand on the dishes, or, we could go out to eat. Tuesday happened to be "Steal the Glass" Night at Capital Ale House, featuring Breckenridge Brewery, so...

Two beers were featured this evening, 72 Imperial Chocolate Cream Stout and 471 Small Batch IPA. Each beer came in its own glass; the Stout in a logo shaker pint, and the IPA in and attractively etched snifter. I started off with the IPA, while Colleen kicked off the evening with the Stout.

The Breckenridge pub was a regular stop for me when I was traveling to Denver on business, and I've enjoyed many a pint of the Small Batch IPA, although I seem to recall it being served in a full "pint" rather than the 10 oz snifter. The beer is technically an Imperial, or Double, IPA. Checking in at 9.2% ABV, the beer is full of rich malt, and pine and citrus hops. At the opposite end of the flavor spectrum, the Imperial Chocolate Cream Stout was quite tasty as well. This flavor is am enjoyable balance of coffee and dark chocolate without bitterness. The 7.2% ABV earns it the "imperial" designation, but the alcohol is well-hidden in a smooth and creamy beer.

We enjoyed our beers with an appetizer of smoked salmon and hash brown potato cakes drizzled with dill sauce, from CAH's special St. Patrick week menu. All of us, our son included, remarked we could have each enjoyed ordering that dish as our main course. Instead, we ordered another round of beers and our entrées. This time we each chose the "other" beer; after all we needed a matched set of glasses!

For the main course, two of us had seared flat iron steak marinated in a Guinness and malt sauce, served with a spinach soufflé and potatoes. It was quite tasty, and I found it went quite well with the Imperial Chocolate Cream Stout. Our son enjoyed a classic cheeseburger, with Capital Ale House's frites.

All in all, it was a enjoyable and tasty dinner, and as Colleen noted, "No dishes!"

Another Colorado Brewery Considers the East Coast

Breckenridge Brewery in Denver, Colorado, is at capacity production at its current location. The brewery is considering building a new brewery to handle increased demand. Breckenridge also operates a brewpub where its beers are be sold. Under current Colorado law a brewery producing more than 60,000 barrels a year cannot also operate a brewpub. Breckenridge is approaching that threshold. A bill that was under consideration would have raised the limit to 300,000 barrels. Unfortunately the bill was dropped without consideration by Colorado legislators.

According to the Denver Business Journal, "large brewers and beer distributors complained that allowing a brewery making more than 60,000 barrels a year to operate restaurants and sell its own beer out of those locations would give it an unfair competitive advantage."

So now the brewery is looking at other options. According to Breckenridge President Ed Cerkovnik, those options include building a brewery on the East Coast. The new brewery would employ 50 - 75 people and involve a $15 million investment.

One can't help but wonder if the recent expansions of Oskar Blues and New Belgian breweries to the East was in part forced by the same Colorado brewpub rules. If Breckenridge does indeed consider the East Coast, I hope Virginia is among the states considered. We've missed out on three West Coast brewery moves recently, perhaps it's the Old Dominion's time to win one.

See "Breckenridge Brewery will take new brewery, jobs to East Coast" for more on this story.

A Few Evenings in Denver

I spent a few days in Denver this week on business. As I usually do, I managed to work in some beer stops as well. On Monday evening, my first stop was the Great Divide Tap Room. There I enjoyed a Hercules Double IPA. Hercules is one of my favorite beers and since Great Divide is no longer available in Virginia, at least one stop at the Tap Room is a must anytime I'm in Denver. There's no food at the Tap Room so my visit was cut short by a need for food. I walked down to the Breckenridge Brewpub for dinner. There I opted the Breckenridge 471 ESB and a buffalo burger. I started playing football bingo and got sucked into Monday Night Football. I only managed to get through the first half since the time zone difference was catching up to me.

Tuesday evening started out with a quick dinner of Empanadas and a Great Divide Denver Pale Ale at Buenos Aires Pizza. One of my beer goals for this trip was to have Russian River Blind Pig and Pliny the Elder, both of which I've never had before. I strolled over to Falling Rock Tap House where I had been told both beers are on tap. Unfortunately the Blind Pig was out but they did have Pliny the Elder. I was very surprised by just how smooth the Pliny was. It was not as "extreme" as I had expected. There was no clue, in the taste anyway, that this is an 8% ABV beer.

On Wednesday, my last evening in Denver, I headed over to Great Divide once again. Even though the official release party wasn't until Friday evening, they did have this year's Fresh Hop Ale and Hibernation Ale available. (Thanks to The Full Pint for the heads up.) I enjoyed a bottle of Hibernation. This limited release beer has a mild toffee aroma with a hint of chocolate. The taste was mildly sweet malt with the hop bitterness coming through in the finish. I enjoyed it very much but there was time for only one. I did also have a sample of the Fresh Hop Ale. Since I had originally expected to miss the release of these two beers this was really a surprise treat.

After the short visit to Great Divide I caught the light rail to meet up with Josh Mishell of Flying Dog Brewery for dinner. Josh and I headed over to Great Northern in Denver's Tech Center. The beer list at Great Northern is pretty impressive, especially for a restaurant, and the food is excellent. I enjoyed another new-to-me beer, Deschutes Green Lakes Organic Amber Ale. The Amber Ale was smooth malt up front with a moderately bitter hop finish. We were joined by Neal Stewart, also from Flying Dog, and enjoyed a very pleasant evening talking about beer, Twitter, blogging, and many other topics.

I had a great time in Denver, as always. As luck would have it, I was there the week before the Great American Beer Festival. This timing of my trip to Denver is not unusual. Last year I ended up with a trip to Denver the week after the GABF. That's okay, there's always next year.

And now to rest for a day before heading to Durham, NC for the World Beer Festival.

Denver Trip - Beer Dinner at Duo Restaurant

My visit to Denver coincided with a beer dinner held at Duo Restaurant, a small restaurant in the Highlands section of the city. I attended the dinner with Josh Mishell from Flying Dog Brewery. Josh also writes the BeerDinners.com blog so I knew I was in good company for the event.

The three course dinner featured six beers, three from Tommyknocker Brewery and three from Breckenridge Brewery. As a welcome beer we were served Tommyknocker Ornery Amber Lager. A nice American Amber Lager, it had a mild sweet caramel flavor and a light hop presence. We sipped on this while folks were getting settled and the first course was being set out.

Our first course was a spicy Seafood Curry consisting of shrimp, mussels and calamari over rice. I'd probably pick this as my favorite dish of the evening, although all the food served was absolutely delicious. Two beers were paired with the dish, Tommyknocker Jack Whacker Wheat and Breckenridge Avalanche Ale. I thought the two-beer pairing was an interesting way to show the diversity of beer-food pairing possibilities. Jack Wacker is a spicy American Pale Wheat Ale with a strong lemon grass flavor and a mild hop bitterness. The beer worked very well with the dish and calmed the spiciness but did not overpower or wash it away. The Breckenridge Avalanche Ale had a mild caramel malt flavor that did not stand up as well to the strong flavors of the curry and seafood.

The second course of the evening was maple glazed Prime Rib with a shallot jus, served with crispy potato skins and a horseradish sauce on the side. The beer selected was Breckenridge 471 Extra Special Bitter. The ESB had a strong sweet malt flavor, along with a slight alcohol warmth. It seemed more like an English Barleywine than an ESB. The Breckenridge web site describes the 471 ESB as having a "complex hopiness balanced with traditional English Ale maltiness." I did not note much in the way of hoppiness. Unfortunately, even though it was a tasty beer, I found it much too sweet for the steak dish. Perhaps a traditional ESB might have fared better. The prime rib itself was nicely prepared.

For the third and final course we were served Panna Cotta with a strawberry compote. Two beers were chosen for pairing with this dish as well, Tommyknocker Tundraberry and Breckenridge Vanilla Porter. I've never been a fan of fruit beers, so I was not expecting to find this pairing particularly attractive. The Tundraberry has a strong fruity aroma and the dominant flavor is a sweet berry blend. It's not a flavor profile that I search out in a beer. However, the creamy dessert had the effect of moderating the fruitiness of the beer and I found the combination to be very pleasing. This particular pairing truly shined. The other beer offered with the dish not work as well for my taste. The Vanilla Porter had very prominent vanilla flavor which I found too strong. I left the rest of the porter in my glass and went back to enjoying, to my surprise, the fruit beer with my dessert.

I enjoyed this beer dinner very much. The event was the last of a series of three small beer dinners the restaurant hosted this Spring. The dinners were well-attended and the restaurant will be holding more. The small dinner concept works very well. Having just three courses keeps the cost reasonable and pairing multiple beers with a dish helps to exhibit the diversity of choices when matching beer and food. It also offers options for different preferences in beer that folks may have. All of the food was extremely well-prepared and I look forward to returning to Duo again, even if it isn't for a beer dinner.