TravelSips

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Mass’ Newest Brewery… for a few minutes. (Boston)

There they are. See them at the top of Kinsale’s draft list? Four beers that quietly announce the opening of a mini-nano brewery in Norton called Bog Iron. With new craft breweries opening seemingly weekly around here, Bog Iron is special for two reasons.

First- in these growingly absurd times of extreme this and imperial that- Bog Iron launched with four fairly low alcohol brews, including a tasty, clean, gimmick-free mild properly served from the cask by hand pump. Bravo!

Second- full disclosure here- one of the three brewers is Brian Shurtleff. The same Brian Shurtleff descended from that early Massachusetts transportation cartographer you ask? Why yes! But that’s got nothing to do with beer. Back in 2008 when I was president of the Wort Processors, Boston’s fantastic homebrew club, he was the pres of another regional club of beer makers called South Shore. I’ve spent many an evening at his and wife Courtney’s splendid house bar- tasting batches of aptly named “ass beer” (he went through a nasty period of forgetting to bleed the last of the sanitizer out of the lines) to some really lovely one-offs. He and two others from the club (pictured below, Brian center) all with serious day jobs- decided to dump all of their free time, money, sanity, and talent (possibly in that order) into a brewery. My only contribution was to suggest the flame on the logo. Come on- it’s cool!

The other three beers were a refreshing black steam beer, an IPA, and a blonde. I am torn between the steam beer and the mild as my favorite- but it doesn’t matter because all four kicked on launch night. So if you want to try the beer, it looks like you’ll have to visit Brian’s too!

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February 20, 2013 · 5:29 pm

January 29, 2013 · 4:55 am

The Jeff Challenge (Boston)

Winter is a time to hibernate in my urban lair. Sipping Pretty Things East India Porter with Frans Silanpää and Joe Venuti, simmering something meaty while building sushi out of LaQ pieces- good times.

But every six months or so my suburban-living high school friend Jeff comes to town with a beer present (Duck Rabbit) and a challenge: show him a new great place to drink craft beer.

After 30 years we have completely different lives. He’s teaching his eldest to drive and watching golf in his spare time; I don’t ask what he’s reading and I don’t tell him about my pathetic LaQ habit, which only recently replaced my Pocket Frog habit after collecting glass chromas of every breed.

But we sure can eat and drink together.

We scored the best end-of-bar seats at JM Curley’s– a rustic cave of a restaurant near the Common with an ideal view of the falling snow. They have six constantly rotating well chosen craft beers on tap and plenty of excellent bottles. My guy’s guy of a friend scrunched his nose at the Dark Horse blueberry stout, “I don’t like fruity beers.” The bartender insisted he try it. Thank goodness.

The first sniff is a Jordan Marsh muffin- and then all hint of blueberry is gone. What remains is a super rich, wonderfully complex and hearty beer that was perfect with the spicy popcorn frog legs, hot & sour snail soup, and foie gras french toast bites.

The breakfast bites were so delicious we were a little stunned- and giddy. Jeff asked for a to go bag for the wisp of sauce left on the plate.

Another successful challenge!

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Filed under Boston

Tagged as Boston, Dark Horse, JM Curley

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Last Minute French Beer Class!

JUST got a call from Cambridge Center for Adult Ed asking me to teach a three-part class on French Beer, starting tomorrow, Thursday, Jan 17, from 8-10pm. (Someone backed out last minute- yay!) Of course I said yes! (See all posts in this blog under “France” to see why.) There are a few spots left- join the class to try some beer I brought back that’s not available here! PS- It will not be in French as they originally planned. My French is getting better, but it’s not that good!

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January 16, 2013 · 12:28 pm

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Bitter Challenge (Cambridge)

How do you keep a talented bartender on her toes? Bring your own homemade bitters and ask her to come up with a couple of cocktails using them.

That’s exactly what I did at Belly Wine Bar in Cambridge when I met my bitters-experimenting friend for oysters and house-aged ribeye. He brought his latest amazing bitters. We really wanted to try them immediately in a drink.

She created two fantastic cocktails that we liked so much we asked for the recipes:

No telling what she’ll do with the saké/cedar bitters I’m working on!

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January 13, 2013 · 4:22 pm

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Bear offal led me to Newburgh Brewing Company

How would you respond to the following statement?

“My brother bagged a bear and saved the heart and kidneys for you.”

A. Absolute disgust
B. Complete elation

There isn’t much in between when it comes to offal. When I asked a chef friend if he had any advice for preparing it, he said, “No, but I am paralyzed with joy for you.”

So when the person who offered the offal- let’s call him Brian- told me about a brewpub he stumbled on that “had pretty good beer” (waxing for him) I had to try it.

I approached the Newburgh Brewing Company with a heavy heart returning from an unexpected funeral in Philadelphia. It’s sort of half way to Boston if you take some odd turns. The pub is in an old factory built into the side of a hill, so you enter on the third floor and go upstairs to the fourth. (See top photo). I ordered one of the four staple beers- a saison. Pretty gutsy to have a saison as a staple- and to my absolute astonishment it was delicious! The other staples are a cream ale, a brown, and an IPA.

The vibe is warm and friendly- I got the sense that everyone is pulling for the brewer and will do what they can to help the place succeed. I didn’t meet him, but the bartender has known him since they were kids. He bragged about his childhood pal’s stints at a French culinary school and eight years at Brooklyn Brewery (ah-ha!) just before I met Charlie Benedetti, head of sales. I never would have guessed that- he was slinging beer behind the bar like everyone else.

Charlie gave me the grand tour and chatted like a proud parent about the history of the building, the brewing equipment, his favorite beer (Unkel Dunkel- he being the uncle himself…) and the brewer’s passion for curing meat in the basement. (See photo below, with the rock-wall crowding into the room) I wonder what he would do with bear heart and kidneys?