I could not have asked for a better birthday. Big ups to Gary for putting together a food and beer filled adventure. (Small deduction on execution for making me walk ten blocks in very high heels after running around in that same pair of shoes for five hours at a work event.) We hit Amada for a ten course chef’s tasting lunch and a pitcher of sangria. Then we were off to The Boilermaker (sorry no website that I could find) where we made friends with the bartender Matt -- great guy who knows his beer. The Boilermaker -- typically a light beer and a complimentary shot -- is a new (only open two weeks) craft beer bar. Forty drafts (twenty-eight downstairs and twelve upstairs) and I think there were around ten different boilermakers. I couldn’t resist - I had the California. Quite tasty! I have two new beers to review as a result of that trip. The Boilermaker is from the same group that brought us The Farmers Cabinet, which if you're reading this blog...you know I love!
A third beer was had but it was Jolly Pumpkin’s Fuego del Otono, which translates to Autumn Fire. Kudos to Gary for translating before seeing the bottle. It caught our eye with its description of being a biere de garde brewed with chestnuts. It was indeed nutty and spicy and quite delicious. I didn’t take notes on it because I knew it was out of the running for a review. I crossed Jolly Pumpkin off the list when I reviewed the Madrugada Obscura several weeks back.
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Tonight is a summer beer kind of night -- Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy is the drink of choice. It pours a bright, hazy and appropriately lemony yellow with a small head. It smells strongly of lemons and tastes like lemonade and a light wheat beer had babies. It’s not going to challenge you but it will refresh you. Leinenkugel’s website describes it as their take on a traditional German radler. A radler? Prepare for some knowledge. A radler is a traditional German beverage that pretty evenly blends beer and German-style lemonade. Check out the wikipedia page for more information than you’ll ever need on radlers and shandies.
And on that note I’m off to break into my growler of Alla Spina from Victory Brewing. So far year 37 is treating me quite well. Cheers!
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