This beer* has me perplexed and I’m not sure how to rate it.  I liked it,  but I found the taste so distinctive and big that it really clashed with the food I was eating.  It had a very complex set of flavors: bread and yeast,  with fig and banana sweetness and a lot of floral notes. I think that with its big distinctive flavors it is really  more of a beverage meant to be sipped on its own.  I can’t imagine what food this would go well with.  It’s also very noticably alcoholic (10%!).  I think I’m going to have try this again.  You can age this in the cellar (it is aged for three months before bottling) so I think I’m going to buy a few and try it.  Overall rating:  perplexed.

* Even though this is called a barley wine it is technically a  barley wine style ale since it is made from grains not fruits.  Read all about it here.

Other reviews in the Flying Dog series are:  Old Scratch Amber Lager; Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale, Road Dog Porter , In Heat Wheat and Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA.

on Top Chef that is.  Hopefully not Volt.  I certainly called that one wrong.  There was much disappointment and some disbelief last night.  The let down was soothed by the fact that all of the final three were really top-notch chefs.  As one of them said last night: on any given day anyone could beat the other two.  Looking forward to more enjoyable meals at Volt.  Not because he’s a celebrity but because the food is great.

PS saw in the Washington Post today that the brothers are working on a cookbook.

At the risk of turning into the VNN (Voltaggio News Network) a source once removed from this writer confirms that brother Michael is in town for the viewing party.  To me this indicates that Michael didn’t win and there is a high liklihood that Bryan did.  We’ll see.

Was walking up Market Street yesterday and saw that they were putting up some big tents on Volt’s grounds for what I assume will be a viewing party for the Top Chef finale.  Snapped this crappy picture with my cell phone.   Fred’s mailbox has no invitations to the party!   Even if I could somehow come up with an invite in I would probably have to pass as it would certainly cause some major friction at stately Fred Manor if I was anywhere but on our couch at 10 p.m.  We’ll certainly be cheering for Bryan!  On the other hand I have reservations there tomorrow for lunch with some friends so things could be interesting if he wins!  I’ll keep you posted.

For those who have followed me waxing poetic about the joys of Prosecco over the years here is an opportunity to try a great producer for free.  I saw that Frederick Wine House is pouring Riondo Prosecco Saturday, December 12th from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. as part of their complimentary tasting.  This is one of the Proseccos we consistently go to as it is delicious and represents a great value.

Frederick Maryland Online (longtime resident on the links list to the right)has scooped me on some news but I thought I would pass it on.

First there is a new restaurant called Magoo’s Pub and Eatery locating at the place where the defunct Jackson’s restaurant used to be.  (West 2nd Street)  The website looks to be a work in progress.  One of the commenters on FMO claims this is Jennifer Dougherty’s new project.  Let’s hope the food is better than her last restaurant.

More exciting to me is the report that there is supposed to be a new wine store opening up across the street from Volt.  Allegedly they will be opening right after the first of the year.  Unfortunate timing if you ask me since I know that, like most retailers, the holiday season accounts for such a large chunk of revenue for liquor stores.  I shall definitely check this place out and report back.

I really love pizza and I have talked about my fondness for the stuff here before.  My strong preference is for thin crust New York style pizza.  In fact it’s fair to say I loathe the Chicago deep dish style.  So a couple of weeks ago while perusing HowChow’s excellent blog (which I have raved about before) I came across his review of Coal Fire Pizza in Ellicott City which he rates as one of the best pizza joints in Howard County.  Excitedly I put the address in my GPS as I knew I was going to be flying back into BWI from a trip just around dinner time in a week or so.  Alas the pizza gods did not smile on me and  things got delayed with the end result of no Coal Fire pizza.

However I did notice yesterday that the Washington Post did a quick review of the place and liked it.  They noted the wonderful thin crisp crust and that they make all their Mozerella in-house daily!  Of special interest to me the was that the article concluded with the note that “a second location is scheduled to open in Gaithersburg in February or March, says Sharoky, and the partners are considering branches in Frederick, Baltimore County and Northern Virginia.”  I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

UPDATE:  Check out Ian’s comment below.

The armchair tour of Flying Dog Brewery’s offerings continues.  A tough job but someones got to do it.  Up this time is the Flying Dog In Heat Wheat Hefeweizen.  Hefeweizen is a German style of wheat beer which typically uses at least 50% wheat in the brewing process and is usually cloudy in appearance due to the yeast (Hefe) remaining in the beer.

As anticipated the beer was, in fact, a cloudy yellow in appearance and had a nice thick white head.  Strong nose of citrus and cloves and it tasted exactly like it smelled.  This was my least favorite of all the ones I have sampled so far.  I found the taste of cloves predominated over everything and unfortunately cloves are not one of my favorite flavors to begin with.  Light bodied and 4.7% alcohol.

Other reviews in the series are:  Old Scratch Amber Lager; Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale, Road Dog Porter and Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!  My favorite holiday since its about food, drink, family and gratitude.  Dinner for 12 at stately Fred Manor:

 Appetizers:   Cheese Plate & assorted munchies

To drink:  assorted bubblies: La Marca Prosecco, Soligo Prosecco and Conde De Subirats Brut NV Cava

 Soup:  Sweet Potato Bourbon Soup

To drink:  assorted bubblies: La Marca Prosecco, Soligo Prosecco and Conde De Subirats Brut NV Cava

 Mains:  Roasted Maple Lawn (Fresh, local & natural from the Common Market) turkey

            Butternut squash and cheddar bread pudding

 Sides:  Garlic mashed potatoes

            Traditional stuffing

            Corn pudding

            Cider-glazed Brussels sprouts

            Green Beans with citrus-walnut vinagrette

 Bread:  Homemade cornbread with cranberries

            Dinner rolls (a nod to  the traditionalists)

 Relishes & Sauces:   Canned cranberry sauce (a nod to  the traditionalists)

            Turkey gravy

            Mushroom gravy

            Homemade cranberry relish

 To drink:  2003 Virna Barolo Riserva

            2006 Jean Louis Chave Offerus St. Joseph

            2007 Chehalem Dry Riesling Reserve

            2006 Neyers Zinfandel Pato Ranch

 Desserts:  Brown sugar-pecan cupcakes with caramel frosting

            Other desserts to be brought by guests

 To drink:  coffee, tea or port.

Just received word that the magazine Edible Chesapeake is ceasing publication.  That’s sad as I always looked for it at the Common Market and enjoyed reading it.  From the release: 

I will no longer be publishing Edible Chesapeake magazine. The decision is the result of much reflection on how best to balance the needs of my family and myself as a small business owner, with the needs of the local food community of which Edible Chesapeake has been an important part since 2005. The recently published Fall 2009 issue, with the incredibly scrumptious apple cider donuts on the cover, is the last of my tenure as publisher and editor. It is uncertain at this time whether Edible Chesapeake will return under a new publisher.

Frederick Wine House is having a number of interesting looking wine classes over the next month.  The Champagne and sparkling wine course looks great!