Dogfish Head Bitches Brew Beer Review

Kevin is back in the house and we are reviewing Dogfish Head's new release: Bitches Brew. Kevin gets technical about the beer, so stay tuned for the details.

Marcus Guiliano, Chef and Owner of Aroma Thyme Bistro located in Ellenville, NY in the scenic Hudson Valley. Aroma Thyme is know for their "stealth health"(Zagat). The Bistro has an award-winning wine list from Wine Spectator Magazine and over 200 beers. Aroma Thyme is certified green by The Green Restaurant Association.
Support Hudson Valley Restaurants.

My Central Channel:
http://www.MarcusG.tv

My facebook
http://www.facebook.com/AromaThymeBistro

Twitter for my restaurant:
http://twitter.com/Aroma_Thyme

My personal Twitter:
http://twitter.com/healthychefdude

My Restaurant website:
http://www.aromathymebistro.com/

My restaurant YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AromaThyme

My wine & beer YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/chefhbeer

Smuttynose Beer Dinner at Aroma Thyme Bistro | Hudson Valley Restaurants

Smuttynose Beer Dinner in the Hudson Valley at Aroma Thyme Bistro
Friday September 17th 2010, $49 per person
Join us along witrh Pat from Smuttynose Brewery for an awesome five course dinner paired with incredible beers. To save your seat call and reserve today at 845 647 3000. Smuttynose was founded in 1994 by the folks who started the Northampton and Portsmouth Breweries. All fvie beers are available at the bar without this menu for $18.

1st Course
Shoals Pale Ale
Seafood Chowder
Our interpretation of a classic English beer style is copper-colored, medium-bodied and highly hopped. Its flavor is delightfully complex: tangy fruit at the start, with an assertive hop crispness and a long malty palate that one well-known beer writer has compared to the flavor of freshly-baked bread.

2nd Course
Farmhouse Ale
Local Cheese Plate- Local Fruit
Farmhouse styles resulted from years of evolution, refinement, interpretation and re-interpretation of the simple, rustic ales once brewed on farms in Flanders and Wallonia.

3rd Course
Big A IPA
Spicy Szechuan Local String Beans
Big A IPA has everything you’d want in an India Pale Ale, only more: more hops, more malt & more flavor. Now it’s available year-round, so you can enjoy this big, flavorful beer any time you want. Na zdrowie!
4th Course
Robust Porter
Lamb & Roasted Butternut Squash
This hearty, mahogany colored ale is brewed to evoke the dark, full-bodied ales that were a favorite of dockworkers and warehousemen (hence the name “Porter”) in 19th century London. It is a good bet that when Dickens’ Mr. Pickwick sat down for a pint, we would have been drinking an ale much like our Robust Porter. This is a smooth and very drinkable beer, characterized by its well-balanced malt and hops, plus subtle notes of coffee and chocolate.

5th Course
Pumpkin Ale
Chai Spiced Cheesecake
Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale is our homage to the craft and heritage of America’s brewers. Recipes calling for the use of pumpkins in beer date back to early colonial times, when brewers sought to extend their supply of costly imported malt with locally grown ingredients, such as squash and “pompions.” In that spirit, we brew our ale with the addition of pumpkin to the mash, along with traditional spices to create a delicious American original.

Cask Beer Night, Troegs Pale Ale, September 10th 2010

Cask Beer is back Friday September 10th, 2010 at Aroma Thyme Bistro in Ellenville NY. Chef/Owner Marcus Guiliano is pleased to announce the second Friday of every month as Cask Beer Night! The tapping starts at 3pm and goes until the cask is empty. Aroma Thyme will we serving Troegs Pale Ale.

COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
Tröegs Pale Ale is an American style Pale Ale that is aggressively hopped with Northwest Cascades and balanced with Belgian crystal malts to create a hoppy, copper-colored crisp ale. An excellent example of a classic American Pale Ale.

Availability: Year Round
Brewed By: Troegs Brewing Company, Pennsylvania, United States
Style: American Pale Ale (APA)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CASK-CONDITIONED BEER ('REAL ALE') IN THE U.S.A.
What exactly is real ale?
Cask-conditioned beer, often referred to as 'real ale', is brewed from only traditional ingredients and allowed to mature naturally.

The unfiltered, unpasteurized beer still contains live yeast, which continues conditioning the beer in the cask (known as 'secondary fermentation'); this process creates a gentle, natural CO2 carbonation and allows malt and hop flavors to develop, resulting in a richer tasting drink with more character than standard keg ('brewery-conditioned') beers.

Real ale is always served without any extraneous gas, usually by manually pulling it up from the cellar with a handpump (also known as a 'beer engine'). This is the traditional way of brewing and serving beer; only a few decades ago did filtered, pasteurized, chilled beer served by gas become normal.

The only place in the world where cask-conditioned beer is still commonly available is Britain.
Is there much difference to keg beer?
Keg beers are generally sterile filtered and pasteurized as part of the brewing process. This kills the yeast, preventing any further conditioning, and the beer is then racked into sealed, gas-pressurized kegs. Such beers generally taste blander than their cask-conditioned counterparts, and the use of flash-chillers or cold rooms (*very* cold!) is standard as part of the serving process. That said, some microbrewers rack cask beer into kegs - though these are usually served with extraneous gas.

In many common brands of keg beer, cheap ingredients ('adjuncts') such as rice or maize are mixed with the malt to cut costs, but resulting in a 'light' beer with hardly any aroma or flavor. Chilling and the absorption of extraneous gas jointly mask the lack of flavor - with carbon dioxide you get an unnaturally fizzy pint; with nitrogen (or mixed gas with a larger nitrogen ratio) you get a pint with an unnaturally smooth and creamy head - either way these beers are always refreshing but usually taste of very little. Micro-breweries generally avoid the use of cheap adjuncts, so their keg products usually taste far superior to the nationally available brands. Also, all beers imported from Germany are required by that country's laws to be free of non-traditional ingredients.

I'm not criticizing all keg beers, simply outlining the often little-known qualities of real ale by comparison. There are many really tasty ales which are 'keg' (but plenty more which aren't tasty!), though well-kept cask versions of the same brands would undoubtedly be found to be even more flavorsome if compared side-by-side.
But keg beer is 'normal' -
what's it got that real ale hasn't?
Keg beers have a much longer shelf life, especially when compared to a partially full cask. Real ales have to be manually vented and tapped, and left to settle (or the customer gets a cloudy pint due to the presence of yeast and protein - though harmless if drunk like this). Also, real ale will start to taste of vinegar (known as 'oxidising') if left in a part-full cask for too long. This is caused by acetic acid forming from a reaction with oxygen in the atmosphere.

Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Black Barley Wine craft beer review

Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Black Barley Wine craft beer review with Eric and special guest. Sierra Nevada is on their third limited anniversary release and we got a hold of it on draft and in bottles. It's a massive beer and I like it.

My facebook
http://www.facebook.com/AromaThymeBistro

Twitter for my restaurant:
http://twitter.com/Aroma_Thyme

My personal Twitter:
http://twitter.com/healthychefdude

My Restaurant website:
http://www.aromathymebistro.com/

My Central Channel:
http://www.marcusg.tv

My restaurant YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AromaThyme

My wine & beer YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/chefhbeer


Marcus Guiliano, Chef and Owner of Aroma Thyme Bistro located in Ellenville, NY in the scenic Hudson Valley. Aroma Thyme is know for their "stealth health"(Zagat). The Bistro has an award-winning wine list from Wine Spectator Magazine and over 200 beers. Aroma Thyme is certified green by The Green Restaurant Association.
Support Hudson Valley Restaurants.

My Chef H Rating System

100 pts perfection, most likey not available because I will try to buy everything that is available
95-99 pts- this beer rocks, go out of your way to get some
90-94 pts- awesome beer all around
85-89 pts- solid beer, but maybe lacking one quality like finish, body, nose
80-84 pts- depending on the price it's a toss up. This beer is just ok and may be lacking two qualities like finish, body and/or nose
70-79 pts- not recommended, has no like-able qualities
under 69 pts- just a mistake or maybe stored wrong. off notes and you will most likely pour it down drain

Southern Tier Porter Craft Beer Review | Craft Beer Tasting & Rating

Eric and I are in the studio with Philton tasting Southern Tier Porter. This is currently on tap at Aroma Thyme. We love Southern Tier on general. They make some awesome beer here in NY State.

My facebook
http://www.facebook.com/AromaThymeBistro

Twitter for my restaurant:
http://twitter.com/Aroma_Thyme

My personal Twitter:
http://twitter.com/healthychefdude

My Restaurant website:
http://www.aromathymebistro.com/

My Central Channel:
http://www.marcusg.tv

My restaurant YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AromaThyme

My wine & beer YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/chefhbeer


Marcus Guiliano, Chef and Owner of Aroma Thyme Bistro located in Ellenville, NY in the scenic Hudson Valley. Aroma Thyme is know for their "stealth health"(Zagat). The Bistro has an award-winning wine list from Wine Spectator Magazine and over 200 beers. Aroma Thyme is certified green by The Green Restaurant Association.
Support Hudson Valley Restaurants.

My Chef H Rating System

100 pts perfection, most likey not available because I will try to buy everything that is available
95-99 pts- this beer rocks, go out of your way to get some
90-94 pts- awesome beer all around
85-89 pts- solid beer, but maybe lacking one quality like finish, body, nose
80-84 pts- depending on the price it's a toss up. This beer is just ok and may be lacking two qualities like finish, body and/or nose
70-79 pts- not recommended, has no like-able qualities
under 69 pts- just a mistake or maybe stored wrong. off notes and you will most likely pour it down drain

Blind Tasting Blue Point Toasted Lager | Beer Review

Here Eric and I are tasting one of our best selling tap beers when we have it, Blue Point Toasted Lager. It's has more body than a traditional lager but not nearly the body of an ale. It is a great beer for someone who is just getting involved in bigger tasting beer.

My facebook
http://www.facebook.com/AromaThymeBistro

Twitter for my restaurant:
http://twitter.com/Aroma_Thyme

My personal Twitter:
http://twitter.com/healthychefdude

My Restaurant website:
http://www.aromathymebistro.com/

My Central Channel:
http://www.marcusg.tv

My restaurant YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AromaThyme

My wine & beer YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/chefhbeer


Marcus Guiliano, Chef and Owner of Aroma Thyme Bistro located in Ellenville, NY in the scenic Hudson Valley. Aroma Thyme is know for their "stealth health"(Zagat). The Bistro has an award-winning wine list from Wine Spectator Magazine and over 200 beers. Aroma Thyme is certified green by The Green Restaurant Association.
Support Hudson Valley Restaurants.

My Chef H Rating System

100 pts perfection, most likey not available because I will try to buy everything that is available
95-99 pts- this beer rocks, go out of your way to get some
90-94 pts- awesome beer all around
85-89 pts- solid beer, but maybe lacking one quality like finish, body, nose
80-84 pts- depending on the price it's a toss up. This beer is just ok and may be lacking two qualities like finish, body and/or nose
70-79 pts- not recommended, has no like-able qualities
under 69 pts- just a mistake or maybe stored wrong. off notes and you will most likely pour it down drain

World's 'oldest beer' found in shipwreck

(CNN) -- First there was the discovery of dozens of bottles of 200-year-old champagne, but now salvage divers have recovered what they believe to be the world's oldest beer, taking advertisers' notion of 'drinkability' to another level.

Though the effort to lift the reserve of champagne had just ended, researchers uncovered a small collection of bottled beer on Wednesday from the same shipwreck south of the autonomous Aland Islands in the Baltic Sea.

"At the moment, we believe that these are by far the world's oldest bottles of beer," Rainer Juslin, permanent secretary of the island's ministry of education, science and culture, told CNN on Friday via telephone from Mariehamn, the capital of the Aland Islands.

"It seems that we have not only salvaged the oldest champagne in the world, but also the oldest still drinkable beer. The culture in the beer is still living."

Juslin said officials had talked to a local brewer about whether the new-found beer might be able to yield its recipe after experts decipher the brew's ingredients.

The newest find came as divers unearthed bottles separate from the earlier champagne find. While lifting a few to the surface, one exploded from pressure. A dark fluid seeped from the broken bottle, which they realized was beer.

All the cargo on the ship -- including the beer and champagne -- is believed to have been transported sometime between 1800 and 1830, according to Juslin. He said the wreck was about 50 meters deep (roughly 164 feet) in between the Aland island chain and Finland.

The cargo was aboard a ship believed to be heading from Copenhagen, Denmark, to St Petersburg, Russia. It could have possibly been sent by France's King Louis XVI to the Russian Imperial Court.

"Champagne of this kind was popular in high levels [of society] and was exclusive to rich groups -- it was not a drink for common people then," Juslin said.

Experts estimated the exclusive bubbly to be worth tens of thousands of euros per bottle. The value of the beer has not been determined. It is also unknown whether the beer went flat while sitting at the bottom of the Baltic for such a long time.

Some of the bottles of champagne were originally produced by Juglar, a premium champagne house no longer in existence, according to Juslin.

He said the cold sea water was a perfect way to store the spirits, with the temperature remaining a near-constant 4-5 degrees Celsius (around freezing temperature in Fahrenheit, or 32 degrees) and no light to expedite the spoiling process.

Investigators and historians have not yet unraveled the mystery surrounding the exact origin of the ship or the date when the ship went down.

Juslin said other artifacts were still lying in the shipwreck, but it would take several months to lift them out of the wreck.

The islands are at the entrance of the Gulf of Bothnia, in the Baltic Sea. They have Swedish-speaking people, though the island itself falls under Finnish protection. The Aland chain forms a Nordic archipelago of more than 6,000 skerries and islands.

Blind Tasting Dogfish Midas Touch | Beer Review

My beer blogging partner, Eric are back from a couple week hiatus. Sorry to are biggest fans. Today we are reviewing Dogfish Head Midas Touch, in which we did a blind tasting. Here is the commercial description of Midas Touch; Take a look at the video for our opinion.

Midas Touch Golden Elixir is a beverage based on the residue found on the drinking vessels in King Midas' tomb. Our recipe highlights the known ingredients of barley, white Muscat grapes, honey and saffron. Somewhere between a beer, wine and mead, this smooth, dry ale will please with Chardonnay or I.P.A. drinker alike. (Ratebeer.com)

Thanks for tuning in! Cheers!

My facebook
http://www.facebook.com/AromaThymeBistro

Twitter for my restaurant:
http://twitter.com/Aroma_Thyme

My personal Twitter:
http://twitter.com/healthychefdude

My Restaurant website:
http://www.aromathymebistro.com/

My Central Channel:
http://www.marcusg.tv

My restaurant YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/AromaThyme

My wine & beer YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/chefhbeer


Marcus Guiliano, Chef and Owner of Aroma Thyme Bistro located in Ellenville, NY in the scenic Hudson Valley. Aroma Thyme is know for their "stealth health"(Zagat). The Bistro has an award-winning wine list from Wine Spectator Magazine and over 200 beers. Aroma Thyme is certified green by The Green Restaurant Association.
Support Hudson Valley Restaurants.

My Chef H Rating System

100 pts perfection, most likey not available because I will try to buy everything that is available
95-99 pts- this beer rocks, go out of your way to get some
90-94 pts- awesome beer all around
85-89 pts- solid beer, but maybe lacking one quality like finish, body, nose
80-84 pts- depending on the price it's a toss up. This beer is just ok and may be lacking two qualities like finish, body and/or nose
70-79 pts- not recommended, has no like-able qualities
under 69 pts- just a mistake or maybe stored wrong. off notes and you will most likely pour it down drain

Captain Lawrence Captains Reserve IPA tap vs bottle | Craft Beer Review & Tasting

So it is no secret the Eric and I love Captain Lawrence. I don't think we have ever had a beer that we didn't like. Today's mission is to decide if if there is a difference in the keg vs the bottle.


My facebook
http://www.facebook.com/aromathymebistro
Twitter for my restaurant:
http://twitter.com/aroma_thyme
My personal Twitter:
http://twitter.com/healthychefdude
My Restaurant website:
http://www.aromathymebistro.com/
My Central Channel:
http://www.marcusg.tv
My restaurant YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/aromathyme
My wine & beer YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/chefhbeer

Marcus Guiliano, Chef and Owner of Aroma Thyme Bistro located in Ellenville, NY in the scenic Hudson Valley. Aroma Thyme is know for their "stealth health"(Zagat). The Bistro has an award-winning wine list from Wine Spectator Magazine and over 200 beers. Aroma Thyme is certified green by The Green Restaurant Association.
Support Hudson Valley Restaurants.

My Chef H Rating System

100 pts perfection, most likey not available because I will try to buy everything that is available
95-99 pts- this beer rocks, go out of your way to get some
90-94 pts- awesome beer all around
85-89 pts- solid beer, but maybe lacking one quality like finish, body, nose
80-84 pts- depending on the price it's a toss up. This beer is just ok and may be lacking two qualities like finish, body and/or nose
70-79 pts- not recommended, has no like-able qualities
under 69 pts- just a mistake or maybe stored wrong. off notes and you will most likely pour it down drain