Thoughts on Beer

This past weekend, two friends and I took a road trip.  We had a few other friends who were riding RAGBRAI, the annual bike trip across Iowa.  There were a couple of towns close to home, including the town of Manchester on Friday.  So, on Friday, we drove up to hang out with our friends.

After a long night listening to The Nadas and having a good time with our friends, we slept.

The next day, we awoke around 10, and after we cleaned up, we continued on our trip.

Our first stop was The Irish Shanti in Gunder, Iowa, to take part in what has become a local legend in Northeast Iowa: eating the Gunderburger.  The Gunderburger is a one-pound burger, topped with whatever you want.  Even if you don’t want a one-pound burger, the regular burgers are a half-pound.

All three of us ordered the Gunderberger: I had bacon and cheese, one of my friends had the cheese only Gunderburger, and my other friend had the “loaded” burger with cheese, bacon, grilled mushrooms & onions, lettuce & tomato.  After about 20 minutes, we each successfully finished our respective Gunderburgers, along with our fried cheese curds.  It was delicious!

Since we were on a tight schedule to get to our final stop, the New Glarus Brewing Co. in New Glarus, Wisconsin, we took off to drive the remaining 2 hours to get to the brewery.

The ride was pleasant, and the weather was perfect.  It wasn’t too hot, and it was clear.  It took us just over two hours to arrive at the brewery.  We first arrived at the New Glarus Riverside Brewery, where the brewery began in 1993.  We took a look around, and since the parking lot was empty, we knew we might not be in the right place.  The flyer in the window told us where the brewery had moved to.  As soon as we found the right place, we knew we were in business.

About a mile up the road, the new Hilltop Brewery was a fantastic place.

We first went to the tasting room, to sample a few of the offerings.  I had heard the Wisconsin Belgian Red won several awards, so, while my friends sampled a couple of the standard brews, Stone Soup and Totally Naked, I had a pint of the Wisconsin Belgian Red.

All I can say is, “Wow!”  It had a ton of flavor, and I can only best describe it as a cherry explosion in your mouth.  I can understand why it had won so many awards.  Next, I had Spotted Cow, New Glarus’s flagship beer, while my friends tried Moon Man.

Lastly, we got one more refill to take on the self-guided tour.  I was very impressed.  Talk about state of the art!  There was a lab, quality assurance room, as well as what you’d expect in a brewery, including kettles, fermentation tanks, and a bottling line.  The coolest thing in the brewery was the room where the wheat beers were open fermented.  The tops of the tanks were completely open, and the overflow was collected.

The tour took about a half an hour, and we could bring our beer on the tour.  What other tour can you do that?

After the tour, since New Glarus is only sold in Wisconsin, we bought some beer to take home from the store, then headed home.

All in all, it was a great trip, and now that we know the brewery is only a few hours away, I foresee many day trips to the brewery in our future.

Have you ever been to New Glarus?  What did you think?

On a recent trip to Detroit, I was pleased to find a carry-over from the winter seasonal beers in the form of Stone Brewing Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout.  Since we don’t yet have Stone’s beers in Iowa, it was an extra-special treat.

The stout poured black, and had very little head.  It smelled a lot like roasted chocolate.  It was very smooth, and tasted like a dark chocolate, and continued with a slight bite at the finish.

It was a very nice and mellow beer, and I look forward to Stone arriving into the Iowa market, whenever that may be.

Have you tried the Stone Brewing Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout?  What was your experience?

I had a chance to try the Millstream special release Weizenbock.

This reminded me a lot of the Millstream Dopplebock.  It poured nice and thick, with a small head.

It smelled sweet, with a bit of caramel and a bit of bread.  It was nice and smooth, and had a bready-sweet flavor to it.  You could tell it had a higher taste of alcohol, but it was nice, and it finished with a bit of sweetness.

Have you tried the Millstream Weizenbock?  What did you think?

Now that I’m back, it’s back to real life, and the variety of beer in America.

One slice of that variety is part of the Boulevard Brewing variety 12-pack: the Boulevard Brewing Amber Ale.

It’s a nice amber ale, but didn’t seem to have a lot of flavor.  It replaces Lunar Ale, a dark wheat beer and one of my favorites, in the mix 12-pack.

I wish I had more to say about it, but it was rather unremarkable.

Have you tried the Amber Ale?  Does your opinion differ from mine?

This is our final day on our honeymoon in Ireland.

On our last full day in Ireland, Grace and I got up, had our breakfast, and bought our tickets for our Hop On Hop Off bus tour of Dublin.  We were advised to take the bus with the live-action guide, and they did not disappoint.  We rode the bus, only getting off the bus at our must-see sights first, the Guinness brewery and the Kilmainham Gaol (Jail).

Our first stop was the Guinness Brewery.  It was an interesting tour, but there wasn’t a lot of new info for a seasoned brewer like myself.  As a basic tour, it was worth the trip.  At the top of the tour, there was the Gravity Bar, which gives you a 360 degree view of Dublin, plus a free pint.  After we took the tour of the brewery and got our free pint in the Gravity Bar, we walked around the block so we could see the original St. James’s Gate (pictured).

After we stopped at the Guinness brewery, we hopped back on our bus tour and visited the Kilmainham Gaol.  This was the large jail that was built in 1796, and saw a lot of public executions, and was one of the first jails to employ the new idea of rehabilitation, which included quiet quarters and isolation.

The jail holds a special place in Irish history because the cells held many of the most famous people involved in the campaign for Irish independence. The British imprisoned and executed the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising here, and after the leaders were executed, public sympathy increased for the Irish Republic.

The tour was great, and it was amazing to think that Ireland only gained its independence from England less than a century ago.

After the tour of the Gaol, we hopped back on the tour bus.  We saw several stops, including the Dublin Zoo and the Wellington Monument.  As we passed the Wellington Monument, the tour guide told us that the monument was raised because the Duke of Wellington, an Irish native, defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, but it was said the Duke wasn’t too fond of Ireland.  To this, the tour guide said, “… and we weren’t too fond of him, either.”  It was pretty amusing.

On our tour, we passed by the General Post Office, which was the headquarters for the uprising’s leaders.  Most of it, except the front of the building and the columns, was destroyed by fire in the uprising.  If you were to look close enough at the pillars, you can still see the bullet holes.

Next up, we visited the historic Trinity College, and saw the historic Book of Kells, a copy of biblical gospels, transcribed in Latin in the 9th century.  We also saw the library, which is a very long corridor, and has a ton of ancient books.

After visiting Trinity College and the Book of Kells, we decided it was time to visit a few famous Dublin pubs.

Enjoying Ryans Pub

The Stag's Head

The Long Hall

The first stop, and one that was on the bus tour, was Ryans Pub.  It was a good lunch, and that’s when we decided to check out a few more of these pubs around the Temple Bar area.  We quickly checked out O’Donoghue’s and M. J. O’Neill’s, but stopped at The Stag’s Head, with a great big moose head on the wall, for a pint.  After we checked out the historic pub, we walked by the Dublin Castle, but couldn’t take the tour because they were full for the rest of the day.  We continued on to The Long Hall, which was named for the long hall that ran the length of the bar.  In the early days, when women weren’t allowed in the bar, they would order their drinks from the hall, and had them passed through small doors.  (Click on the photos to view larger versions)

Before we called it a day on our tour of Dublin, we crossed the Ha’Penny Bridge, which at one point was the only way to cross the River Liffey in Dublin, to pass from northern to southern Dublin.

After we had finished our touring, we headed back to the bed and breakfast to pack.  Once we had everything put away, we needed a change of pace, so we went to a brewpub near our bed and breakfast, Porterhouse North (not the one in the heart of Dublin, but the one on the north part of town).

The food was good, and we each had a nitrogen-infused red, but unfortunately the service was pretty slow, and not very attentive.  It was our only sub-par dining experience on the entire trip.

To bring us back on a high note, we ended the night at our favorite pub, John Kavanagh.  While we were there, we talked a bit more with Eugene Kavanagh, and he even brought his daughter, the eighth generation, to meet us.

At the end of the day, I had six more Guinness pints, and a Porterhouse brewing Red, to bring my Irish Guinness pints to 32 in 6 days.  We finished the trip with a ton of memories, a lot of Guinness, and enveloped ourselves in a lot of Irish history.  Thanks for joining us on our honeymoon!