A Monthly Internet Magazine about Beer & Brewing
Among the myriad reasons for some paucity in my posting is that at long last, I’m digging in and studying up for the Beer Judge Certification Program’s exam. Our local brewing club, the Niagara Association of Homebrewers, is sponsoring an exam at the end of April, so we’re also convening most Saturday mornings between […]
One of the sure signs of the impending present holiday season is the arrival of strange beers and packaging. I’m not talking about the release of all the Christmas/holiday style beers- that’s certainly great in- and of-itself. But no, I refer here more to interesting packaging options, which come to us from both […]
What does it take to brew over fifty gallons of Flemish Sour Red? Over 100 pounds of grain, mass hops, 20 gallons of soured starter, not to mention 5 gallons of actively fermenting yeast to get the main batch going, 4 people and about 12 hours. Worth it? Hell Yeah! Click through for the photos and report…
BOV & Family hit the road for Labor day, finally visiting family in VT after promising to do so for far too long. The timing was pretty beer-tastic, because only days before, a new issue of Beer Advocate arrived at my door complete with a focus on Vermont craft breweries in their regular beer destination column. I’m not The Beer Geek or anything, but we share one thing, which is having wives who indulge, even join in with, us when every journey is planned with reference to good beer possibilites along the way. We sampled well, hitting the Long Trail brewery and otherwise quaffing some mighty Rock Art barley wine, Harpoon IPA, Otter Creek 15th Anniversary IPA, Southampton Dubel and Switchback Pale Ale. Click through for the travelogue!
I know, I know… If you were there, you probably aren’t going to hear anything you don’t already know. And if you weren’t there, well, attending beerfests vicariously through a blog post is not exactly living la vida cerveza. But nonetheless, I’m going to go ahead and ramble a bit about my impressions, the beers I tried and liked, and there are at least two reasons to delve deeper into this post than the front page excerpt: I must of course report on the winner of the raffle, and the winner of the BOV vote. On the way, I’ll probably touch on a few things you may have missed, so read on…
People around here just love Wegmans. Really, everyone–even the employees–seems to love Wegmans. What’s not to love? Admittedly, they are a little spendy compared to their competitors in the region, mainly Tops and Dash’s, but that extra you pay at the register is more than made up for by their incredible service and selection. Their beer inventory underscores the point. No, Wegmans is not quite a bastion of the best and the rarest that the world of lovely malt beverages has to offer, but they do better by far than their competitors when it comes to stocking those coolers. For this edition of WAYUPOB?, we’re heading over to the Weggies (we sometimes like to call ‘em Wedge-mans) on Amherst St. I’ll compare with their other city location sometime on down the road.
Let’s start with the cooler as you see it from the end of the cleaning supplies & sundries aisle
A recent post at BR.O piqued my interest, concerned as it was with an as-yet unopened restaurant seeking some advice on a name. I had a vague notion that I knew what place that might be, and sure enough, the discription of the location confirmed it. Now, some time back, the guy behind this effort contacted me through Newell Nussbaumer to solicit some advice on his beer list, and we bounced around a few ideas. The months went by, and as I cruised past the place from time to time, I could see progress, but the pace was glacial. I worried for my friend- would he get his restaurant up before running out of funds? Never having any in the first place might have helped in that regard…
So having read the aforementioned post, I decided to stop by yesterday…
The third installment of this series takes us to 461 Ellicott St, which is where the Washington Market is located. Odd, I know, Washington St. being only a block away and all- but it’s named for this, not for the street it is on. This makes sense, because they are, after all, the first market to operate in downtown Buffalo for some time, and serve a very needy group of pioneers that are making downtown living hip again. When I first got back to Buffalo, they were my market, too, living as I did on the 700 block for just over a year. While I always found their strange closeout Croatian product vibe a little off-kilter, I was grateful for the service nonetheless, and especially glad for their beer selection. No remarkable surprises, but plenty of good brews to choose from.
This beery weekend was finally the day of the long-planned Y.m.p. APA, of which the crafting consumed the majority of Saturday night while Mrs. BOV oversaw the very imp hisself. Whilst prepping for the brew day (read: “cleaning”,) I got a chance to fit in a beer I strongly suspect will be available on Aug 25th. As well, after a lovely Sunday stoll w/ Mrs BOV & Imp, I finally got to drink an excellent limited offering from one of my favorite left-coast breweries, Lagunitas (h.t. Pete B for alerting, and Mike at Coles for stocking it.) All that and some yardwork, too.
By now, you’ve likely already heard of W.J. Morrissey’s, the latest addition to what can only be described as a burgeoning Cobblestone District. Owner Dennis Brinkworth is already well-respected in Buffalo’s craft-beer scene for stocking better-than-usual offerings at Brinks on Chippewa and Colter Bay on Delaware- even the divey Union Bar on Pearl St. has a bottle selection to appease discerning beer-drinkers. You might be tempted to think, however, given W.J. Morrissey’s Irish theme, that the only beers on tap will be the standard Guinness/Smithwicks/Harp selection, perhaps rounded out with classic stouts such as Murphy’s and Beamish.
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