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Big Sky Brewing Company: Buckin' Monk Tripel Ale
2010/03/24,20:24

There is a reason this beer comes in only 750 ml bottles and a cork; this beer has some serious carbonation. And not in a bad way. I popped the cork, and began to poor into a standard pint glass, and immediately it began to foam. In fact the first pour was nothing but foam. To empty the bottle into two pint glasses, it took about 20 minutes, but it was definately worth the wait. 

 It's likely that there will only be 3000 blog posts about this beer, as it was a Limited Edition. And I know that it's a limited edition because it's hand numbered on the back "1459 of 3000". If you see a bootle of this in the store, buy it. It's THAT good. Once the foam settles, you are in for a treat as the sweet malts and barley give this beer an almost candy flavor but with a nice alcohol finish to remind you that this is a strong beer (10% Ach/Vol).  

You may be thinking, Big Sky, haven't I seen that name around before? In fact you have. These are the same people that bring you wonderfully mass-produced bottles of Moose Drool, Trout Slayer and Slow Elk. This beer is not of that ilk. It's a beautifully crafted beer that makes the mouth sing for joy and thanks you for not giving in an buying PBR. 

Four Firkins still had at least a couple of these on the shelf last week, I'm hoping we can be lucky enough to find one more.

 

Lift Bridge and New Belgium's Lips of Faith
2010/03/13,20:38

It should be noted that K and I don't drink regularly, or heavily. However, we do try to drink interestingly, and then I write up my or our opinion on the beverages we quaff. 

Before a trip to the Lakeville LifeTime Fitness for some swimming, we drove over to our favorite beer store, Four Firkins in St Louis Park. While browsing around the isle (there is only one), we picked out a bottle from the Lips of Faith series brewed by New Belgium Brewing (more on that later). We also bought a Rogue Kells Irish-style Lagar and a Big Sky Brewing Buckin' Monk Tripel Ale. So you can look forward to those reviews. 


Had dinner at Pizza Luce in St Paul this evening. Luce has the second best pizza in the Twin Cities; and third place is not even close. And to wash down said slices, K and I both enjoyed a Lift Bridge Farm Girl Saison. This was sort of a whitewashed unfiltered wheat. Heady, cloudy and light in flavor and a great finish. This is typical for any saison-style beer. We didn't really match our pizza and our beer particularly well. But I enjoyed enough of it before I started my meal that I'm definately going to give this beer a second bottle or perhaps a third bottle, before I finally make up my mind. 

After putting the kids to bed, I cracked open the Biere de Mars. This was the beer from New Belgium that I mentioned earlier.  As they say, it's an "ale brewed with spices" and I believe them. They also say it's an "Orange-hued Ale, Citrusy Lemon Verbena and"...something else. The results of this collision are underwhelming. I taste cloves and orange peel and beer; and that might sound good, but the bitter peel isn't balanced with the other flavors. I also forget I'm drinking beer, which is a little disappointing....because I like beer. As suggested by some other words on the bottle, this is an experimental brew, and I applaud New Belgium's efforts. However, I can't applaud their results.  Better luck next time. 

 

  

Food and Beer and Windfall
2010/03/13,08:56

So I made shredded BBQ chicken for dinner last night. It really wasn't anything THAT spectacular, it was really just surprisingly easy. 

 

  1. Boil three chicken breasts until completely cooked
  2. chop chicken into large pieces and place into large sauce pan
  3. add one bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce (in this case Arthur Bryant's Sweet Heat) 
  4. Cover and Simmer for about an hour
  5. If simmering for more than an hour, add 8oz of light beer (optional)
Yep, it's that easy. 
 

 

 

K and I found a little bit of extra cash laying around and splurged on two beers normally out of our price range. 
 
The first was an Issaquah Brewery Menage a Frog. Issaquah is part of the Rogue Alliance of Beer; which, from my perspective, means a certain winner. This beer did not disappoint. Menage a Frog is a Belgian-style Tripel ale. Its been my experience that belgians don't have a very long shelf-life if not properly chilled. Finding a domestic brewer that can make a good one is solid gold. This beer has everything you'd expect, lots of foam, flowery scents, and delicious flavor. This is a beer that is perfect early spring beer. It will be hard to drop $17 for another one, but I'll definitely have to think twice before passing one the Frog in the beer isle.
 
The second beer we splurged on was a Danish Barley Wine style Ale. Called Little Korkny Ale from Norrebro Bryghus (or here Shelton Brothers ) this beer packed a flavorful wallop. Bottled in 2006, this was aged and then shipped to America, so it's easy to understand the $25 price tag. I'd hoped that after bring this home, that I wouldn't be pouring my money down the drain after making such an investment into a brewery that I'd never heard of. Again, I was not disappointed. This beer is Rich, carmel-y and strong (12% ABV). And while strong in flavor and alcohol, it was very VERY good. We didn't have sniffers to savor our brew, so we had pint glasses which served us well. If you looking for something a little bit exotic for your next get together, try this beer. But at $1/oz it's likely not to be a regular addition to your fridge. 
 
 

 

Sauce and Beer
2010/01/17,08:24

While making Stir Fry last Thursday, I realized that we did not have any teriyaki sauce. A quick search on the internets, found that it's a surprisingly each to make on your own. He's the recipe( along with my adjustments) 

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup sweet rice wine (sangria)

 1 tsp sugar (honey)

Pour all ingredients into a small sauce pan and bring to light boil, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add to stir fry. 

 

 

Kirsten and I purchased a 32 oz bottle of Left Hand Brewing Company's Widdershins, a barleywine beer. As I''ve had with other Left Hand beers, this was delicious. Light, sweet, with a Great creamy head. All in all, a phenominal beer, I'll be buying more of this one. 

 

Another Left Hand selection I made a couple weeks ago was a Milk Stout. It being Winter, I'm hibernating with some heavier beers, and this had the looks of fine way to settle down at the end of the evening. I think what confused me was the label. The words 'Milk Stout' on the label where printed in light brown; this immediately made me think of chocolate milk (stout). So I was shocked to find this was not chocolaty stout at all. Drinking this beer out of a glass avoided the mental block I had, and was able to enjoy this beer immensely.  Dark, creamy, maybe a hint of smoke, but no chocolate or coffee flavors in this one. Good beer, but maybe I'll stick to other stouts. 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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