Results tagged “Beer, Wine, and Spirits2007/08”

While in DC the previous weekend we decided to dive deep into the beer menu at the Brickskeller. Our favorite selections from our visit belonged to Green Flash Brewing in Vista, CA, particularly their hop Head Red Ale and West Coast IPA. We were back in town in time for all the "OMG! BIG STAR IS OPEN!!" twittering going on. We went to Big Star last week and made sure not to use any tasty adjectives that would draw the ire of the Twitterati.

Get this beer while you can. Van Twee is the long-awaited collaboration between De Proef and Bell's breweries. MAde by De Proef's Dirk Naudts and Bell's John Mallet, Van Twee is a porter-dubbel hybrid, with Michigan sour cherry juice and brettanomyces in the secondary fermentation.

Craft breweries may receive (deserved) recognition for the inventiveness they're using to raise the profile of beer in the marketplace. It's wise to remember that today's brewers are merely dusting off techniques that date back generations, to those first groups of friars who discovered that fermenting malt made for a nice loophole to their fasting. The brewing history of the De Landtsheer family starts in the 1600s, but Emmanuel "Manu" De Landtsheer's Malheur (French for "misfortune") listed his first beer for public consumption only 12 years ago. The Malheur brews we'd shank a man with a sharpened toothbrush handle for are the ones brewed in the "methode champenoise" style.

Head to Red and White (1861 N. Milwaukee Ave) tonight from 6-8 for a free tasting of Vin de Constance, a rare dessert wine from South African winery Klein Constantia.

Our biggest issue with pumpkin beers is an imbalance between the flavor of pumpkin and spice, usually favoring the latter. Ideally a pumpkin ale should bring to mind memories of good pumpkin pie. You know, with the graham cracker crust and all, some gingerbread or some cloves balanced delicately with the flavor of pumpkin. In short, If you're going to make a spiced ale, make a spiced ale. we want to taste pumpkins in our pumpkin beers. Southern Tier gets it right with Pumking, one of Karl's favorite beers this time of year. Pumking will blow your mind, you'll ask for ice cream for an a la mode.

One of our more versatile wine rack staples is Sofia Mini Blanc de Blancs 187ml cans. The beauty of these little beauties is it allows you to dole out the right amount of bubbly without worrying that you will be left with a half empty bottle that may go flat.

                     

There's more to Lynfred Winery than being the state's largest and oldest continuous operating winery. Its expansion eight years ago involved expanding their tasting room and retail operations to include a bed and breakfast that makes for a beautiful daytrip. Marketing Director Christina Anderson-Heller took me for a tour of the operation while we waited for Winemaker/GM Andres Basso to show me the winemaking plant.

Wine dinners abound throughout the city. 312 Chicago is hosting a dinner tomorrow night at 7 p.m. featuring the latest release from Hewiston Wines' "Mad Hatter" shiraz. It's part of a national tour promoting the 2006 vintage just hitting restaurants and wine shops right now. Winemaker Dean Hewiston will be in attendance.

               

"We had a booth at the Windy City Wine Festival last month and I told plenty of people who don't own a car how easy it is to reach the winery by train," said Lynfred Winery marketing director Christina Anderson-Heller as we met at the Roselle Metra stop. "Almost all of them asked, 'What train?'" And it is a fairly painless trek, although navigating Union Station during morning rush is something out of the Divine Comedy. When my train stopped at Roselle, Anderson-Heller was there waiting to drive the final mile to the winery. I've long had an open invitation to tour Lynfred's facilities, and last week they received a 30-ton shipment of petite syrah grapes. "Would you be interested in seeing the grapes being processed? Maybe help out in the winery and taste out some barrels?" Anderson-Heller asked.

Pop-open the bubbly - It’s Wednesday! The holiday season is upon us and in typical true-blooded American fashion we begin the season of over-indulgence - more food, more booze, larger waistlines. We also take the opportunity to pick up an extra bottle of something special - maybe a nice bottle of bubbly.

If there was a world without beer (perish the thought) and we had to drink wine all the time, we'd go with a good rioja all the time. Well, most of the time.

Our nose was assaulted by the scent of apples and spices from the moment we opened a bottle of Two Brothers Avalon. It was the olfactory equivalent to hearing Christmas carols in October, but much more pleasing. Avalon is another in Two Brothers' "Artisan Bottling" series — Bonfire Dunkle Weiss is part of that series. get past the nose of this beer and you'll immediately pick up a pretty serious hop flavor to Avalon. Most beers or ales brewed with apple cider or must err on the side of malt. Since there is a fair amount of spices in Avalon, the hops work to complement that aspect of the taste profile.

    

Back when we visited Half Acre's Lincoln Square brewery in April, one of the construction projects still in progress was the buildout of a retail space. Gabriel Magliaro's plans were to have an in-wall draft system featuring Half Acre selections, special brews and guest beers; bottles and merchandise.

• Today:Don't Forget that tickets are still available to Nourish: Meals on Wheels annual celebrity chef ball, 6-10 p.m. at Macy's on State Street.
• Saturday: Lycée Français de Chicago's Fall French Market takes place from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. (Sunday hours are noon-4 p.m.). Experience the tastes, sounds, art and antiques of a traditional French marketplace. $10 per child or $15 per family with a recommended maximum of two hours. (Lycée Français de Chicago, 613 W. Bittersweet Place)
• Sunday:The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is hosting a benefit wine tasting at Geja's Café (340 W. Armitage) from 1-5 p.m. The wine tasting will be moderated by Patrick W. Fegan of Chicago Wine School. $50

This being the harvest season, we'll be dedicating the next three weeks selections to brews that reflect in-season fruits or flavors. One of those flavors that we live for this time of year is honey crisp apple. Anthony even showed readers how to incorporate honey crisps into a cocktail. Honey Crisps also make a damn good cider.

We created a monster here at Chicagoist on July 13, 2006 with a review of Trumer Pils, which we cheekily dubbed our "Beer of the Week." It's a series that shows no sign of stopping soon due to the sheer breadth of brew options available to us. But Trumer will always hold a spot dear to us for being the beer that kicked off the series.

At one point in their lives, almost all beer enthusiasts have dropped in to the local liquor store to pick up a single foamy beverage. Many liquor stores, convenience marts and other booze barns sell single cans or bottles of beer in all shapes and sizes. For consumers, single cans are an alternative to grab a quick drink instead of investing in a six pack or full case. For retailers, selling them is a way to cash in on broken cases or on locals interested in a more portable intoxicant. That is exactly what some townspeople in north suburban Arlington Heights want to change.

The last time Sam's Wine and Spirits had a warehouse sale we made out like bandits, buying nearly $600 worth of wine for just over $100 after discounts. They're doing it again from October 14-25, slashing up to 75% off of their inventory. Some lucky shopper will also win a six liter bottle of Reignac Rouge Bordeaux 2003, which will be given away in a raffle

From the time the monks of St. Francis of Paula brewed the first doppelbocks in Bavaria, it's been a custom for breweries to end the names of their "liquid bread" in "-ator." Abita named their Helles Doppelbock, Andygator, a "creature of the swamp." Unlike many doppelbocks, Andygator is brewed to have a dry finish and emphasize a balance between hops, a pleasant light citrus flavor and bready yeasts. It pairs well with hearty sandwiches, like a blue cheese-crusted burger we made last week at home. Andygator should also pair well with anything cajun-related, blackened and fried. It's also a wonderful departure from the everyday Abita releases.

Continuing its year-long celebration of ten years in business, BIN 36 is serving $3 cheese flights throughout the month of October. The promotion also coincides with the rollout of BIN 36's new cheese menu.

Taxim, the Wicker Park restaurant that has received overwhelmingly positive reviews (in our opinion it's probably the best new restaurant to open this year) for its innovative take on Greek cuisine, is teaming up with one of Greece's best wineries to put together a dinner that, on paper, is going to blow diners away.

Oktoberfest formally ends tomorrow, but that isn't stopping Rick Gresh from celebrating a few days after. The Executive Chef at David Burke's Primehouse is also an avid homebrewer and he'll be featuring a few of his creations at a Sunday dinner kicking off Primehouse's "OktoBEERfest." The selections Gresh and the Primehouse staff will be pouring include I-PAC (an IPA infused with chamomile); a wheat ale brewed with Seedling Farm peaches called "Stoned Wheat" and one beer Gresh calls "Working Man's Champagne."

We were at otom last week checking out some of the offerings of new executive chef Thomas Elliot Bowman, who's slowly but surely transformed the menu from the moto light of his predecessor Daryl Nash to the more traditional bistro fare originally envisioned for the restaurant. otom has a $25 Tuesday tasting menu that is the very definition of value. For an extra $15 you can add wine pairings or you can pair one beer with the menu for $6.

Ever stumbled in to your neighborhood Walgreens to grab a six-pack before realizing, "Dammit, they don't sell booze at Walgreens!" Your troubles will soon be over, friends. The Deerfield-based company has announced that within the next 12-to-18 months, beer and wine will be available at its stores once it completes the complicated licensing process. [Fox 32]

A couple weeks back a friend purchased Chicago Gourmet tickets via the half-price special Groupon offered. She asked for advice to prepare for the festival. We told her to pack a lunch.

Like most, our personal budgets have tightened significantly over the past year or so. Not that cash burned a hole in our pocket before. It's just that we're being even more cognizant of closeouts and deep discounts at the wine shop than ever before. Rare is the wine that we'll buy at retail.

It was Labor Day Weekend and we just finished watching "Inglourious Basterds" downtown. Nowhere to go and nothing to do we wandered around and found ourselves at Jake Melnick's (41 E. Superior, 312-266-0400, jakemelnicks.com). Within minutes we were wolfing down their burger of the month and begging not to be served the Budweiser they give away for free with the burger. The bartender went out of the way to comp us a Surly Bender. She poured us a Surly Furious, instead.

Half Acre Beer Company's construction is nearing completion and with that comes some wonderful news for beer geeks everywhere. Gabriel Magliaro announced yesterday that Half Acre's long-planned retail store at their Lincoln Square brewery will open to the public October 5. In addition to whatever Magliaro and brewer Tommy Nicely are brewing at the moment, Half Acre will also have selections from other local breweries on hand, as well as spirits and liqueurs from Koval and North Shore distilleries. Magliaro even told us that Half Acre will be selling growlers. [Half Acre Twitter]

Oysters and beer: a combination so simple but perfect. Jimmy Buffet wrote a song where he wished for oysters and beer for dinner every day of the year (only one? Color us shocked!), and as we reach autumn the oysters harvested probably taste better than they will at any other time of year.

• Vocalo was at the Chef's Collaborative Summit this week and filed interviews with Judith Schad of Capriole Goat Cheese, the Signature Room's Patrick Sheerin and Cleetus Friedman of City Provisions. [Vocalo 1, 2, 3]
• Soup and Bread: The Cookbook is on its way in December. [Soup and Bread]
• Over at Drive-Thru, Whitney Merritt's ongoing interview series of food bloggers focuses on Marathon Val [Drive-Thru]