This will be the final post I make from Massachusetts for quite some time; from here on out, I will be in the DC area. I could use some restaurant recommendations in Arlington and Washington!
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Day one of a five day road trip with my friend Forrest was, to say the least, long. I worked a 12 hour shift the night before that concluded at 7am, leaving me with less than an hour at home to attempt (unsuccessfully) a nap before Forrest arrived and we took off for Columbus, Ohio. Thus, when we finally arrived in Columbus, late for the baseball game we were going to attend (we went the next day, which was fine), we were both starving and exhausted. Eleven hours on the road will do that to you, I suppose. Thankfully, a little internet searching found us Matt the Miller's Tavern, a small local chain with a lot of good beers, and some damn fine steaks.
Forrest and I both ordered beers, then each went with the 10oz Flatiron steak, a piece of meat that came out looking far larger than its listed weight. Each steak comes with one of three "toppers" (garlic butter, Gorgonzola, or fried onion strings), and one side from a list of about ten. Forrest had the fried onion strings and mixed vegetables, and I went with the Gorgonzola and horseradish mashed potatoes, with mine ordered rare of course.
The steaks came out fairly quickly, so clearly the kitchen is on their game, and our waiter did not dawdle with putting in the order, something we greatly appreciated in our near starvation. Both steaks came liberally topped with our respective choices, with mine having so much Gorgonzola that I actually had to scrape some off, though I used it to mix into the mashed potatoes, which made them better. My steak was cooked perfectly, with a cool, deep red interior and slightly crusty exterior. The beef itself had almost a blackened flavor from the spice mixture that had been rubbed on it, which was unexpected but pleasantly spicy and salty, and the steak clearly of high quality. My mashed potatoes were fine, nothing incredibly special, and the horseradish flavor was non-existent, but the addition of the Gorgonzola was delicious. Both of us powered through our meals and, despite how insanely hungry we had been, were quite full and pleased with the meal when we left.
The draught beer list was not huge, but was well stocked with both local and national level brews, including Ballast Point Grunion Pale Ale. I was looking for a lower alcohol content beer, and was feeling decidedly anti-IPA that day, a rarity for me, so I went with the Grunion, a 5.5% light-in-color-but-not-flavor type. It definitely is what you go for with a pale ale, very lightly malty, very lightly hopped (contrary to what their website says, quite frankly), and just incredibly refreshing. I think Forrest went with a local beer, but I cannot recall.
The beer was not cheap, but the steak was reasonably priced, just $16.99 for a large piece of very good meat, a side and a topping. The setting is nice, and I suspect sitting on their patio is pleasant when the weather is better, but sitting in the bar area was just fine, as they have a few high tops with real chairs in addition to booths and stools at the bar itself. It never got too loud, was well lit, and there were several televisions showing everything from bull riding to the World Poker Tour to the Crossfit Championships, and some more mainstream options as well. I would definitely go back if I find myself in Columbus again, and I immediately recommended it to my friend who moved there the day we left.
Showing posts with label Ballast Point. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ballast Point. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Ballast Point Tongue Buckler Imperial Red Ale
"Wow."
That was the first thing that went through my head, and came out of my mouth, after my first taste of Ballast Point's Tongue Buckler Imperial Red Ale. It is not so much that Tongue Buckler is a great beer--it isn't--or that it is bad--it definitely isn't--it is just that it is the kind of drink that makes you think "wow." I do not really know how to explain it, because I do not love this beer, though I do like it, but it is incredible nonetheless. The amount of flavor packed into it is kind of bizarre, and I think it is the wide range of tastes that threw me off and also keep me from putting it into the pantheon of beers that I crave.
The first thing that hits you is malt, which you smell as the glass approaches your face, and the fact that it is a 10% ABV beer never comes into the equation, from either sense. After the malt comes the wheat, then a burst of hops, powerful and a little citric, which takes over from everything else. Finally, the sweetness of the malt comes back in the aftertaste, while the hops do not really linger. There is a spicy (not hot spicy, but spices kind of spicy) note as well, though I would be hard pressed to tell you exactly from what. It is an easy drinking beer, which is good because it is not cheap, but bad because, again, it is 10% ABV, which means that if you drink a 22oz bottle on your you may need to wait a few before driving anywhere.
It is a kind of strange looking beer; a few people on BeerAdvocate have remarked that it is not a "red ale" in the traditional visual sense, a dark, cloudy, only slightly reddish pour that has a solid head of deep tan. I think it looks good, or at least kind of cool, but it is not quite as "pretty" as some other red ales, like the Founders Red Rye PA. When all put together, it is definitely a beer I will buy again, but I will not crave it the way I do some others.
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On a related note, Ballast Point is rapidly approaching "favorite" status, potentially overtaking Maine Beer Company. The highs (Sculpin, a top three IPA; Fathom, a truly special pale ale; Sea Monster, a beautiful and inspired imperial stout that I did not know was 10% ABV until I just looked it up; and Victory at Sea, one of the most interesting beers I have ever had) are barely behind MBC's Lunch, and tied with or ahead of the rest of the offerings. Neither company offers a bad beer, though the Serrano Pale Ale from Ballast Point was just plain weird, albeit in a way I can appreciate. I see Ballast Point becoming what Dogfish Head has been for so many years; a company with a few tremendous year round offerings, some limited/seasonal beers that people seek out whenever they are released, and a revolving stable of "experimental" brews. Hopefully, those experimental types are a little more successful than Dogfish Head's, but I see a similar level of creativity out of Ballast Point. I really love this brewery, though, and classy San Diego should be proud of them. Thank you to my friend Sean for introducing me to them.
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That was the first thing that went through my head, and came out of my mouth, after my first taste of Ballast Point's Tongue Buckler Imperial Red Ale. It is not so much that Tongue Buckler is a great beer--it isn't--or that it is bad--it definitely isn't--it is just that it is the kind of drink that makes you think "wow." I do not really know how to explain it, because I do not love this beer, though I do like it, but it is incredible nonetheless. The amount of flavor packed into it is kind of bizarre, and I think it is the wide range of tastes that threw me off and also keep me from putting it into the pantheon of beers that I crave.
The first thing that hits you is malt, which you smell as the glass approaches your face, and the fact that it is a 10% ABV beer never comes into the equation, from either sense. After the malt comes the wheat, then a burst of hops, powerful and a little citric, which takes over from everything else. Finally, the sweetness of the malt comes back in the aftertaste, while the hops do not really linger. There is a spicy (not hot spicy, but spices kind of spicy) note as well, though I would be hard pressed to tell you exactly from what. It is an easy drinking beer, which is good because it is not cheap, but bad because, again, it is 10% ABV, which means that if you drink a 22oz bottle on your you may need to wait a few before driving anywhere.
It is a kind of strange looking beer; a few people on BeerAdvocate have remarked that it is not a "red ale" in the traditional visual sense, a dark, cloudy, only slightly reddish pour that has a solid head of deep tan. I think it looks good, or at least kind of cool, but it is not quite as "pretty" as some other red ales, like the Founders Red Rye PA. When all put together, it is definitely a beer I will buy again, but I will not crave it the way I do some others.*********
On a related note, Ballast Point is rapidly approaching "favorite" status, potentially overtaking Maine Beer Company. The highs (Sculpin, a top three IPA; Fathom, a truly special pale ale; Sea Monster, a beautiful and inspired imperial stout that I did not know was 10% ABV until I just looked it up; and Victory at Sea, one of the most interesting beers I have ever had) are barely behind MBC's Lunch, and tied with or ahead of the rest of the offerings. Neither company offers a bad beer, though the Serrano Pale Ale from Ballast Point was just plain weird, albeit in a way I can appreciate. I see Ballast Point becoming what Dogfish Head has been for so many years; a company with a few tremendous year round offerings, some limited/seasonal beers that people seek out whenever they are released, and a revolving stable of "experimental" brews. Hopefully, those experimental types are a little more successful than Dogfish Head's, but I see a similar level of creativity out of Ballast Point. I really love this brewery, though, and classy San Diego should be proud of them. Thank you to my friend Sean for introducing me to them.
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Monday, October 21, 2013
McLadden's Irish Publick House (Northampton, MA)
I first went to McLadden's Irish Publick House's Northampton location after a wedding at the nearby Hotel Northampton, already a bit tipsy from my part of a bottle of Buffalo Trace bourbon, and a shot of tequila was involved, so my opinion was not reliable that night. The second time I went was a much more memorable event, having a late dinner there with my cousin and her boyfriend a couple weeks back when they visited from New York City. My cousin's boyfriend is an up and coming beer fan, and I have enjoyed taking him to a few other local beer hotspots and trying some great beers with him over the last few years, so when my cousin said Rick wanted to go somewhere with good beer again, McLadden's came immediately to mind. With over 100 taps and nearly as many bottled varieties, not to mention a very solid list of Irish, Scotch, and American whisk(e)ys, I figured the food did not need to be that good to still be a good choice. Thankfully, the food held up well, and I suspect that this will be among my go-to options in Northampton in the near future.
McLadden's is a very small local chain, with just three locations (the others being in Hamden, MA and West Hartford, CT), Northampton being the newest. When they opened there was a decent amount of buzz about them, but I heard very mixed, at best, reviews about the food, and with The Dirty Truth a tenth of a mile away, I honestly did not see much need to go there. Following my post-wedding trip, which gave me a view of their thoroughly impressive array of taps, I figured it was worth a shot. They advertise having 105 taps, but not all of them are active at any given moment. When I went with my cousin and her boyfriend, they had 102 running, and because they change options so often they do not have a printed menu; rather, there is a display that rotates through the options, or you can use your smartphone to scan a UPC or to go to a website that provides a full list of the available beers on tap, bottle or can. You can select the beer and it will give you some information about the beer and brewery, as well as where it is available near you.
We arrived around 9pm and still had to wait about ten minutes or so to be seated at one of about ten booths; the place was packed, especially around the bar, but the wait was not a major issue as it allowed us to browse the beer list online and pick out what we each wanted. I went with Founders Brewing Company's Imperial Stout, a specialty beer available as a "winter warmer," while Rick had a Ballast Point Brewing and Spirits Sculpin IPA at my recommendation; I do not remember my cousin Hana's beer selection, but I believe it was a pretty solid choice. Mine was spectacular, similar to the Lagunitas Brewing Company Imperial Stout I had at the 2013 American Craft Beer Fest, but not quite as sour. It was sharp, heavy and deeply flavored, malty as can be, and very much an alcohol-heavy beer but without feeling like it was overpowering the hops and malt that make it such a tremendous beer. It is a 10.5% ABV beer, though, so they served a smaller (I believe 10oz) portion in a goblet, and that was just right to go with my food. The Sculpin was as good as ever, one of my top three IPAs, and really deserves its own review, which I will take care of in the near future.
The food did not quite live up to the beer, but that is by no means a negative; it is very difficult to match an insanely impressive beer list. We all went fairly simple, which the menu seems to do best, mixing some classically Irish dishes and some pretty standard American pub food. Hana had a Turkey Panini, which was delicious, with a small amount of spice, and a ton of flavor from both the bacon and the kale, which for once was not an unnecessary fad ingredient. Rick had the Shepherd's Pie, a childhood favorite of mine (though technically I always had Cottage Pie, I suppose, since it was made with beef), and he enjoyed it a great deal. I went with the Guinness Lamb Stew, served with two pieces of grilled bread, which is perfect for dipping in the gravy. The lamb was tender and delicious, the vegetables soft but not mushy, and the whole thing was just really delicious. My only complaint was that, unlike Hana's giant sandwich and Rick's generously sized dish, there did not seem to be a great deal of food in my bowl. Maybe that was because I had not eaten all day, but an order of truffle oil french fries at The Dirty Truth followed to ensure that I was full.
Prices were properly in line for the beer, nothing out of the ordinary, while the food was a little overpriced for such an establishment. That said, it was not so overpriced as to make me not go there again, I just may not pick it as my primary beer establishment. The service was fine, except that while we were waiting the waitress who said she would be back to get our beer orders never rematerialized, but since we were not waiting an insanely long time that is not much of a problem. All in all, I would highly recommend at least checking the place out, for the beer if nothing else, but the food is a good option as well.
******
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McLadden's is a very small local chain, with just three locations (the others being in Hamden, MA and West Hartford, CT), Northampton being the newest. When they opened there was a decent amount of buzz about them, but I heard very mixed, at best, reviews about the food, and with The Dirty Truth a tenth of a mile away, I honestly did not see much need to go there. Following my post-wedding trip, which gave me a view of their thoroughly impressive array of taps, I figured it was worth a shot. They advertise having 105 taps, but not all of them are active at any given moment. When I went with my cousin and her boyfriend, they had 102 running, and because they change options so often they do not have a printed menu; rather, there is a display that rotates through the options, or you can use your smartphone to scan a UPC or to go to a website that provides a full list of the available beers on tap, bottle or can. You can select the beer and it will give you some information about the beer and brewery, as well as where it is available near you.
We arrived around 9pm and still had to wait about ten minutes or so to be seated at one of about ten booths; the place was packed, especially around the bar, but the wait was not a major issue as it allowed us to browse the beer list online and pick out what we each wanted. I went with Founders Brewing Company's Imperial Stout, a specialty beer available as a "winter warmer," while Rick had a Ballast Point Brewing and Spirits Sculpin IPA at my recommendation; I do not remember my cousin Hana's beer selection, but I believe it was a pretty solid choice. Mine was spectacular, similar to the Lagunitas Brewing Company Imperial Stout I had at the 2013 American Craft Beer Fest, but not quite as sour. It was sharp, heavy and deeply flavored, malty as can be, and very much an alcohol-heavy beer but without feeling like it was overpowering the hops and malt that make it such a tremendous beer. It is a 10.5% ABV beer, though, so they served a smaller (I believe 10oz) portion in a goblet, and that was just right to go with my food. The Sculpin was as good as ever, one of my top three IPAs, and really deserves its own review, which I will take care of in the near future.
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| Guinness Lamb Stew, with Rick's and Hana's dishes in the background |
Prices were properly in line for the beer, nothing out of the ordinary, while the food was a little overpriced for such an establishment. That said, it was not so overpriced as to make me not go there again, I just may not pick it as my primary beer establishment. The service was fine, except that while we were waiting the waitress who said she would be back to get our beer orders never rematerialized, but since we were not waiting an insanely long time that is not much of a problem. All in all, I would highly recommend at least checking the place out, for the beer if nothing else, but the food is a good option as well.
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