Thursday, December 22, 2011

A PORTER WORTH SWIMMING UPSTREAM FOR

As part of an ongoing weekly post yours truly will be picking one food menu item and pairing it with one of our 150+ bottle beers from our monster beer menu. Stay tuned each week for an informed, tried and true suggestion.

This weeks' winning couple is:

Mudville's Salmon Burger and the robust St. Peter's Old-Style Porter
 
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The Chemistry:
Before you head off to that faraway, distant home-made meal for the Holidays (or as you're getting back from your food coma), do your body a favor and try out my latest pairing. Yes, it's a burger, but it's a salmon burger. That being said, who doesn't crave something a little different every once in awhile? Take a break from your usual and dip this tasty treat into Mudville's daily fresh homemade tartar sauce. And it's no stretch to see that I've chosen a Porter to mate with this Atlantic Salmonidae morsel.
This porter in particular is very robust. Being that it's a classic British Old-style, there are no bells and whistles here. Simply, WYSIWYG - what you see is what you get. The toasted, almost smokey, malt though is what drew these two together in my head. The brew really draws out the grilled smokiness in the fish without masking any of the notorious fishy flavor salmon is known for. And traditionally porters have that nice hop bitterness in the end. This is no different. Here that hop cuts through the oiliness of the salmon perfectly giving you a nice balanced palate with every round of your bite-sip.


Bon Apetit!


P.s. Add on some delicious grilled asparagus to round out this "lighter burger" meal.


Cheers!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

TROEGS COMES A SCRATCHIN' - TASTING 12/14





We’re at it again in the good ol’ Mudville9 Saloon. This week, Wednesday night, we’ll be joined by the boys from Troegs Brothers out of Hershey, PA (you know, the sweetest place on Earth). We’re excited to be one of few venues in the city, (hell, the country!) to have their Scratch Series of brews on tap for tasting. Usually this sort of thing is reserved for on-premise brew house events only. We feel special...you should too. This kicks off at 6 PM.

NERD WORDS: 

Straight from the horse’s mouth:
“The Scratch Beer series has developed into an experimental beer series where we can tinker with new techniques and brew with non-traditional ingredients. Each batch is extremely small…”

I know, I know. You're wondering...

"Beau, so which out of their long list of concoctions from 2011 will be on handle Wednesday night?"

SCRATCH #50-2011: Belgian Style Brown Ale (Beer Advocate reviews)

ABV: 7.0%
Codename: Belgian Style Brown Ale

 &

SCRATCH #52-2011: T2 ALE (Beer Advocate reviews)

ABV: 6.9%
IBUs: 70-ish
Codename: T2 Ale

Bonus: This is one of the first in the newly designed brewhouse so there's a little more excitement around this one. Here's more info on the adventure. 
Scratch #52 – T2 Ale – is the beginning of a great adventure and a grand experiment. The first brew through the new brewhouse was designed to research yield and extraction rates, test our new boiler system and dial in the hop dosing system and hopback.
The results? Our fermentable extraction rate was higher than expected meaning T2 Ale is a bit higher in alcohol than planned The hop dosing system and new boiling system were equally efficient creating an intense, lingering bitterness stronger than expected.
Scratch #52 will be served two ways – filtered and unfiltered – so try them both. It was 100% naturally carbonated and we are excited to share this first brew with our customers. 

You heard it here first. See you then, friends.

Cheers!



Thursday, December 8, 2011

GOOD DAY, GUBNA

Every so often, yours truly (Beau), will be highlighting one particular beer that we have on tap at Mudville. This craft beer will most likely be complex, hopefully well-balanced and otherwise delicious. This week I've chosen Oskar Blues GUBNA Imperial IPA. 




You may recognize the label design from somewhere else and that'd be their flagship Dale's Pale Ale. Hailing from Longmont, Colorado these guys are known to be one of the first craft breweries in the country to package their delicious brews in can. And backpackers everywhere rejoice!


(A= Mudville9  B= Oskar Blues Brewery)


NERD WORDS: 
  • Description/style :
    The GUBNA is an Imperial IPA. 
  • Packaging :
     12 ounce Aluminum Can
  • Alcohol :
    10% alc./vol.
  • International Bittering Units :
    100
  • Types of Malts/Hops:Brewed with 3 malts (North Ameircan 2-row barley, German Dark Munich and Rye Malt) and 1 hop (exclusively Summit);
Emphasizing that complexity of character can arise from simple elements, this ale is made with 3 malts and 1 hop. Its light amber color and slightly spicy malt character are derived from the use of German Dark Munich Malt and Rye Malt respectively. North American 2-row barley combines with the other grains to lay the foundation for the hop onslaught to come. Summit hops are used exclusively in the boil for bitterness, flavor and aroma but it doesn’t end there. Post-fermentation dry hopping allows the 10% ABV monstrosity to gently coax the citrus rind and grapefruit aroma to join the 100 IBUs already present. This beer will greet you with a pungent citrus blast, provide a spicy yet round middle and finish with a brisk, clean bitterness.
 

If you have a minute or 2, check out an interview here with Dave Chichura, Head Brewer at Oskar Blues. He'll discuss how the idea of the Gubna came to fruition.





    Come in as soon as you can, this beer does not stick around very long. Ask me and I'll pour you a taste to get you started.


    Cheers!

    Wednesday, December 7, 2011

    TERIYAKI, BUT THIS AIN'T NO SAKE

    As part of an ongoing weekly post yours truly will be picking one food menu item and pairing it with one of our 150+ bottle beers from our monster beer menu. Stay tuned each week for an informed, tried and true suggestion.

    This weeks' winning couple is:

    Mudville's Boneless Teriyaki Wings and the silky Cigar City Maduro Brown Ale
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    The Chemistry:

    At Mudville we have it all. Aside from alllll the beer I mentioned earlier, the menu really offers a lot of customization. Between the two types of wings (traditional and boneless options) and all the sauces (11 to be exact), you really should have no problem finding something you like. In fact, you might end up with what I refer to as option paralysis looking at all of it. Wait until you see our tap offering!

    You want the feeling of being in the Caribbean, go for the Jerk. Feeling bold? Wipe your brow and dig into some Super Wow. This week I'm taking you to Japan and Tampa though. Sister cities they are not, but bear with me.
    First let's talk Teriyaki. The best thing about our boneless chicken wings is that the sauce can really soak in. (You know, like when General Tso's chicken is nailed just right.) Well, I can think of no better example than sweet, malty teriyaki sauce to flavor these all white meat morsels. Teriyaki is made with mirin - a rice wine similar to sake (with less alcohol), sugar and soy sauce. That's it! Modern Western recipes add garlic or other spices but these original elements essentially create the unique flavor of a nice piquant teriyaki. Similar then, is the award winning Brown Ale I've chosen out of Tampa, Florida as the mate this week.

    This malt forward Brown, as Cigar City describes, "is a Northern English-style brown ale with some American affectations. Maduro is higher in alcohol than the common English brown ale and features flaked oats in the malt bill which imparts a silky body and works to mesh the roasted, toasted and chocolate components together in Maduro's complex malt profile. The end result is a remarkably full-flavored yet approachable and sessionable brown ale that pairs well with mild to medium cigars."
    Or mild to medium teriyaki sauce perhaps? With all this toasted maltiness going on, you'll find it tricky discerning where the flavor from the food starts and the flavor from the beer ends (and vice versa). There's almost a raisin-like or fig hint to the Maduro which fits perfectly with the sugary teriyaki. Top each bite off with a dip in the bleu cheese dressing and you have yourself a tasty trifecta!

    Bon Apetit & Cheers!

    P.S. Grab a side of seasoned fries too for sopping up that extra Teriyaki!