October 23, 2009
First on my list of Flying Dog beers is the Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale. It lives up to its name: it certainly is a classic pale ale. More on the American Pale Ale side than an English one though. Has a nice amber-copper color. It is super crisp with a ton of hops and a little hint of orange and the piney hoppiness at the end. Solid but didn’t knock my socks off. Would be nice outside on a hot day.5.5% Alcohol.
All beers in this series were tasted from bottles, not draught, at fridge temperature and poured into pint glasses before tasting.
October 22, 2009
I had talked about ethics in an earlier post. So it was interesting to see that in early October the Federal Trade Commission ruled that bloggers who made endorsements had to disclose any payments they received from subjects of their reviews. Those that did not could face penalties of up to $11,000 per violation. Of course the first thing that springs to mind is how difficult it would be to enforce this, especially with the millions of blogs that are out there. However I think it’s important that this issue at least be recognized. As noted I’ve been looking to sell out for years, but so far nobody’s been buying so as of now everything I review has been paid for by me.
Full Washington Post article here.
October 21, 2009
No- It’s not that I have reservations about Volt it’s getting them. My parents just tried to make a Friday night reservation at Volt and there was a six week wait! Fabulous. I wish Bryan, Hilda and the whole staff all the success in the world- it looks like they are getting some serious Top Chef buzz . What’s it going to be like if he wins?
October 20, 2009
Black Ankle Vineyards is having a lot going on over the next month. Winemaker for a day on October 24th, a Sunday evening pasta & wine dinner on November 15 and most intruiging to me: “Leafstone vs. The World” on November 8th. From their website:
We have asked 7 of the best wine merchants in Maryland to recommend Syrahs that are comparably priced to our 2007 Leaf-Stone Syrah. Black Ankle’s Ed Boyce will lead a blind tasting of eight wines, including the Leaf-Stone. The tasting will be accompanied by discussion of strenghts, weaknesses and interesting points of each wine. Once the identies of the wines are revealed, we will look at when, how and where they were made and how their cultivation has affected the finished wines. This is definitely a five star day for the serious (or aspiring) wine geeks out there!
$75 a head seems a little dear to me , but I’d love to go anyway except I think I’m going to be out of town that weekend. Darn
Also saw that Moxie Cafe and Bakery on North Market Street has opened. I’ll have to stop by and let you know what I think. Sigh- my to do list gets longer by the day!
October 18, 2009
A few years ago Flying Dog Brewery came to town. Originally a small brewpub in Aspen, Colorado it morphed into a brewery in Denver. In 2006 they bought the old Frederick Brewing Company and since January 2008 all of their production has been made right here in Frederick. As you know I’m a big fan of local stuff and I have enjoyed their beverages from time to time. Well I was pleased to see that at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival (which is the Superbowl of Beer) held at the end of September in Denver, Colorado, besides giving them a bunch of medals for individual beers, named them the Mid-Size Brewery of the Year.
So in light of that I decided to go back and taste a few of their brews. I will post my impressions here over the next few posts.
UPDATE: Reviews of Old Scratch Amber Lager; Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale; Road Dog Porter
PS they have tours every saturday. It has been on my to do list for quite some time. Has anybody gone?
October 14, 2009
Loyal reader(s?) may remember my review of the book The Billionaire’s Vinegar. As a follow up to the story I saw that the venerable British wine critic Micheal Broadbent settled his libel and defamation suit against Random House, the publisher of the book. The book was less than flattering to Mr. Broadbent. The amount of the monetary settlement is undisclosed, but Random House issued an apology and has agreed not to distribute the book any more in the United Kingdom. The New York Times story can be found here. Decanter (which he writes for) had a different take on it but did say that he was going to celebrate with a magnum of 1990 Mouton while pondering whether to seek an injunction about the film based on the book.
October 9, 2009
With the legislative session just around the corner here is an organization worthy of a look by readers of this blog: Marylanders For Better Beer and Wine Laws. As most of you know it is illegal to directly ship wine to an individual in Maryland. Ridiculous and crazy I know and something I have railed against for a while. So what is one to do? Have a close friend who lives in West Virginia and whose wife is a stay at home mom who can sign for packages? Well that’s one solution, but the real answer to the problem is to get involved. Every year for the past few years a bill has been introduced to change the law and every year the bill dies in the legislature. The wholesalers have deep pockets and do not want to see their monopoly broken so it is an uphill battle.
I will update readers as the session goes on but one great way is to join and support organizations like MBBWL.
October 7, 2009
All of us in the Fred household have been following Top Chef religiously. Actually we have watched the show as a family since season 2. Since we TIVO it I have been ducking the front page of the Frederick News Post on Thursday mornings and my office is forbidden to discuss it in my presence. Of course we are rooting for the local boy and there has been much cheering at Bryan’s victories. In fact a promise was made that if he wins Top Chef the whole family is going to Volt.
Here is an interesting Las Vegas blog that gives the official odds. Bryan is in 4th place according to the bookmakers after week seven. Not surprisingly Michael is in first. NOTE: the blog contains spoilers so don’t look at it unless you are current with Top Chef.
October 6, 2009
After all this time I finally got a chance to visit Black Ankle Vineyards. They have been open for about a year if I recall correctly and on my list of places to visit since I heard of their opening. So one recent weekend Mrs. Fred and I along with my brother and sister in law headed off to check it out. First of all the setting is really beautiful; after you drive down a very rural Black Ankle Road and then the gravel driveway you come to the tasting room, set on a gently sloping hillside nestled amid the vineyards. The building itself is also fascinating. For the full story check out their detailed description of the tasting room here. In short the building was built as much as possible sustainably and out of local materials. Grass roof, huge fireplace, timber from the farm itself are all some of the details. Also be sure to check out the tasting room counter if you go! They have a nice breezeway with large garage-style roll up doors and a large patio. All of us had the same reaction: what an amazing place for a party or wedding! I also saw that they have regular sunday wine dinners. In keeping with their philosophy they use local seasonal ingredients. This is certainly on our to do list.
On to the wines. The tasting fee was a very reasonable $5 and the staff was very knowledgeable and answered all of our wine nerd questions. All in all the consensus was that the wines were very good. My brother who lives in Massachusetts confessed later that due to his experiences visiting the local vineyards in his area he had very low expectations. He said he was extremely surprised by the quality of wines we tasted that day and I agree. It’s always awkward when you taste a wine at a winery that you really dislike and the staff is there staring at you like a proud parent. Well no poker faces needed here. Our favorite reds were the 2006 Crumbling Rock and the 2006 Syrah. On the white side there was less consensus on a clear cut favorite with everybody liking something different. I liked the 2007 Bedlam best. Several bottles were purchased to add to the cellar.
Value note: lets face it: at prices ranging from $22-40 these wines aren’t a stupendous value. However they rank up there with the best wines from this region that I have tasted. The wines are quality wines and you won’t be embarrassed serving these or giving them as gifts. As someone who strongly believes in supporting local agriculture these wines will continue to enjoy a place on our table.
2008 Grotta del Sole Gragnano Penisola Sorrentina. This was interesting and we enjoyed drinking it. A blend of the Aglianico, Piedirosso and Sciasinasso grapes, it is a mildly fizzy (frizzante) red wine that is recommended to be served cold. With its dark purple color it looks very much like sparkling concord grape juice and is what is considered a “new” wine: bottled as early as November following the fall harvest and meant to be drunk young. With fruity flavors and a touch of sweetness this was a fun wine meant to be drunk (liberally) and not thought too much about. More like a soft drink than a serious wine it was worthwhile from a perspective of adding something new to my mental wine database, but at $18 a bottle it out of the everyday drinking price that we felt a wine of this quality should be. Get this around $10 per bottle and it would be a great everyday wine, especially for somone who likes more fruit and less acid.
