Coaster: Duvel

Still one of my favorite beers of all time, I picked up this Duvel coaster in Belgium as the dual Flemish/French tag  line gives away. Roughly translated, "Shhh...here we serve ourselves Duvel." It's a play on the slogan on the outside of the Moortgat brewery in Breedonk, "Shhh....here rests the Duvel."

Tasting Notes: Lancaster Kolsch

Brewery: Lancaster Brewing Company
Style: Kolsch
ABV: 4.8%
Date Poured: August 2010 


Tasting notes from the growler of kolsch I picked up fresh from the Lancaster Brewing Company brewpub/restaurant in Harrisburg, PA.

Pours a lustrous golden yellow with a generous frothy snowy white head. Smells strongly of noble hops, grassy and herbal. Some sweet pale malt present as well.

Crisp and light. The grassy hops take over quickly and add to the wonderful crispness and lightness of this beer. Just a hint of biscuity malt and lemony citrus. It's a refreshing ale and perfect for a hot summer day. According to the brewery's website, it's available in cans too, a point in its favor.

Great little summer beer, even better fresh from the brewery (I'd imagine...).


Lancaster Brewing Company

Beer Travel: GrowlerQuest 2010! (Part 2)

On our way back through Harrisburg, heading west, I navigated a tangle of junctions for Interstates 83, 283 and state road 322 to reach the Lancaster Brewing Company, a restaurant bar that serves all the offerings from this brewery. I am a big fan of their Milk Stout but has not had a chance to try any of their other offerings. I went in, was directed back to the bar area and promptly was given a few samples.

Now, this was early July when the entire US east coast was sweltering through a heat wave. And coming in out of that 100+ degree heat, the Milk Stout, IPA and even the Hefeweizen all paled in comparison to the Lancaster Kolsch. It was crisp and lightly sweet with a wonderful flowery hop aroma. It was just what the doctor ordered. I ordered up a screw top growler full, paid the barkeep and moved on.

LBC of Harrisburg was a homey little restaurant and bar whose menu tries to skew to the upscale side of the normal pub fare. I'll have to get back here for a fuller experience.

As always, tasting notes to follow...

Cooking With Beer: Samuel Adams Pale Ale Corn Bread

No, this is not the most complicated recipe but I am, in fact, the world's worst baker. So this recipe seemed about my speed. Here it is, from the Samuel Adams website:

Pale Ale Corn Bread

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Samuel Adams® Pale Ale or Samuel Adams® Summer Ale
2 cups flour
1 cup cornmeal
¾ teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar

Instructions
Preheat oven at 350. Combine all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and bake for 40 minutes.

Now the notes...

• I was fresh out of pale ale, Samuel Adams or otherwise. I substituted a bottle of Rogue Brutal Bitter.
• The recipe does not specify what kind of flour. I used 100% whole wheat flour which will have an affect on the bread later.
• I used cornmeal from the (relatively) local Nora Mill located in Helen, GA.
• Since I am the world's worst baker, I don't have a loaf pan. I went with a 9" pan I have used for corn bread in the past.

Basically, combine the ingredients...

Pour it into the pan...

And bake. I made this as a side for a pork loin I barbecued on my charcoal grill with potatoes and peppers. I decided to have a Sea Dog India Pale Ale, a malty, English-style IPA from Maine.

Because of the wheat flour, the bread didn't have the classic yellow/golden brown color of normal corn bread but it tasted good just the same. We're calling it a success but next time I'll try it with white flour.