WHISKY YER THE DEVIL! BUT LET’S HAVE DINNER ANYWAY.
January 27th, 2010Now please do tell me how evil incarnate in the liquid form can be whisky. I thought that sustenance as we know it physically did not exist in the spirit world. Well however it may be, let it be known that we are going to have four devilish tastes paired with food that represents four regions of the Celtic World. Yes we are hosting a whisky and food pairing that is being held on Saturday, February the 13th starting at 5pm. Please call and make your reservations. The service will be a la carte style so you can pick and choose as you like to experience what you will but I recommend that you enjoy the 4 pairing options. I mean where else can you go in this immediate area where you have fine food paired with wonderful whisky? This night is going to be great and here is the lineup of the 4 devilish morsels (not in specific order and the food menu is still in the works):
Welsh Single Malt- Penderyn, this malt is all about the oak. The first part of the palate is semisweet/oak and flows into smooth oakiness on the sides of the tongue finishing with vanilla on the back.
Irish Single Malt- Connemara peated whiskey, dry and peaty malt that flows to a smoked tobacco and finishes whith a salty earthy smoke.
Scottish Single Malt- Ardbeg Uigeadail cask strength whisky, this is a big whisky with a full bouquet. It is sweet and smoky with a lot of peach and pear notes. This is a true Islay malt with its bitter smoke layered in vanilla.
Breton Single Malt- Armorik Single Malt, yeah that’s correct it is from Brittany. I have never heard of such a malt either but I am excited to see what the Celts of France can produce. This is a whiskey that eminates peppery spice with a maple dipped nutty tone. Sounds delicious.
So come on out and try these and let me know what you think. I am looking forward to it and I hope you enjoy it. We will see you soon and I hope that you enjoy the drink!
Jeremy
Bells Hopslam & Oaked Arrogant Bastard hits the Keg Room!
January 19th, 2010Special Offerings
January 13th, 2010If you like history or all things archaic then you will enjoy cask conditioned ales. Ok, if you enjoy “special offerings” then you probably enjoy trying beers that are in the bottle on draft and furthermore if you enjoy beers on draft then you enjoy beers that are cask conditioned. Now there are some fine establishments within a 100 mile radius that offer cask brews but they are consistently the same thing. I have had Fullers London Porter in Chicago as well as the lovely offering that Steve has in Benton Harbor at the Livery. Steve’s cask ales are great and I highly recommend them to anyone venturing to that location. But, and it’s a big but, if you go to Bell’s, Three Floyds, or New Holland you cannot get their beers on cask. Well here is a solution. As many know we have a firkin and today I just tapped a newly available cask and that is Mad Hatter from New Holland. It has evolved at a crawling speed but this is now the fourth brewery offering that we have had in the cask.
The past is now the future. The specialty beers from microbreweries are becoming exhausted because it is easy now to find bourbon barrel aged stouts and porters, imperial IPA’s, strong ales, and the like… But, like I said it’s big, where can you get a cask conditioned ale except where it is offered and the Mad Hatter is here in perfect timing since the new Tim Burton film of “Alice In Wonderland” with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter is about to come out. If you like a nice, bitter, IPA with a smooth body and hop presence you have got to try this beer on cask. We have taken all the steps to serve this beer with all propriety. So please come and enjoy, while it lasts of course.
If you have any requests for cask conditioned ale please let us know. We, with your requests, will do all within our power to get in what you want if it is available. Enjoy the drink!
Jeremy
The Guinness Mystique
January 8th, 2010There exists many rumors, some true and some false, that surround Guinness. Such as dead rats are in the brewing pots, Guinness is owned by Budweiser, the Irish serve it warm over there… I have even had people tell me that there are underground lines from St. James Gate leading to all the pubs in Dublin and that is how the beer is distributed. Stupid, really stupid, I couldn’t get into it then and I won’t now. Here is another, Guinness is better over there than it is here because it is a different beer here in the US.
Now I have had my fair share of pints in Dublin and in the US and I look to a couple of aspects. The first is freshness. Take cookies for instance. Do you prefer them fresh out of the oven snatching them right off the cooling rack? Or, maybe a week later from the cookie jar? It is the same product and the ingredients haven’t changed but there is something about warm, soft, gooey chocolate chip cookies. But, can you dip them in milk? Ahh, that is delectable as well. The room temp cookie that is made soggy by a glass of ice cold milk. Either way these are both desired experiences. Now I have only had Guinness in Dublin but I suspect there are some pubs that might not serve the freshest pint like maybe in Cork where Murphy’s is brewed. Murphy’s being local may have more of a market saturation as well as local support. Is there a taste difference in the product when it is the height of the tourist season versus when only the locals are around? Budweiser is the biggest import to Ireland and I have met many Irish who don’t even drink Guinness, yes, they drink American imported mega-brews.
A second aspect is experience or overall collective experience. When one walks into an establishment he or she has an overall perception and has typically prejudged the scenario. Or he or she has a pre-conceived idea of what one is getting exposed to. Do you see what I’m getting at? Guinness in Dublin or Guinness at a “bar” in the US that only serves one keg of Guinness every two months and their biggest seller is also what you can get in the can at your late night liquor store for $1.75 per 40 oz. No this is not a sales pitch it is a reality pitch. If you go to an establishment that regularly cleans the lines once a month, pours a substantial amount, has clean glassware (20 oz. Guinness glasses of course), has proper temperature control from keg to glass, and of course does the proper 2 part pour with the pretty pride of the rim, subjectively there is nothing wrong with that pint.
I know that when I walk into an establishment I can pretty much tell what my experience will entail. A neighborhood bar will yield a different encounter versus a downtown eatery and each have their negative and positive values. Be aware of what you drink and where you drink it. Bottom line is that at the Hearth we serve the perfect pint and the more it flows the fresher it is. If you remove the “mystique” and are aware of the many aspects that surround your consumption then it will be most enjoyable. Enjoy the drink!
Jeremy
Stone Cali-Belgique Returns!
December 31st, 2009California meets Belgium with three different varieties of hops and Belgian yeast! Hmmmmm!
‘Tis the season
December 18th, 2009With the weather what it is and where it is going this is the time for nice hearty ales. As songs play of roasted chestnuts and cozy fire I can only think of roasty porters and hearty, smoky scotch ales and heavy bitters. When time allows I pop open an imperial porter or stout and wrap my tongue in taste. Right now at the Hearth we have the Edmund Fitzgerald porter from Great Lakes in Cleveland, OH. This is one of my favorites as it offers a nice full body and has a great roasty flavor that is not overwhelming at all. After a few of these you don’t even need a fire. I also enjoy Fullers London Porter which we have on draft most of the time. Last year I had the occasion of tasting Fullers Porter on hand- pull in Chicago and man was it amazing. That experience reminded me of when we started offering cask ales and we had Bells Porter. I don’t believe we have seen it since. That sure would be nice. On that note, I hope you got to experience Bells Double Cream Stout on the cask. Now that was amazing! What a smooth beer that unsurprisingly did not last long but we did in fact get another cask that I put on this past Wednesday. The past two days it has been shared by many so I don’t believe it will last through the end of Friday. We tried to prepare for the run on this tasty morsel but what was delivered to us was the cask conditioned Bell’s Two Hearted. But anyway back to porters…
The porter was the favorite style of George Washington and he even left his personal recipe to be brewed after his death. There is a brewery in PA, I think in Philly, that brews according to this recipe so let me know if you’ve had it. Bottom line is that there are so many porters and stouts, imperial or not that are so fitting to the weather. I hope that you enjoy a few of them and share with all of us what and why you enjoy the wonderful full taste of a porter.
Enjoy the drink,
Jeremy Nicely
Good Stuff Yeah…?
December 12th, 2009Man what a night! I already spoke of my jealousy but every pairing was wonderful. I am so proud that we are an establishment that facilitates such an experience. For those concerned I in fact did get to try everthing but it was very limited. I had a sip of each beer along with a single mouthful of each complimentary dish. I would be amiss by getting inebriated before handing out all the tasty pairings as well as not being able to perform my managerial duties. All in all the night went great! I cannot wait until the next event.
So what did you think? Did you like the pairings and the selections? I have had people tell me what they enjoyed the most and it varies from dish to dish, beer to beer. I personally enjoyed the smoked trout along with the Southern Tier Unearthly IPA and was surprisingly amazed at my enjoyment of the duck breast along with the Ommegang Flemish Rouge. A good amount of people were taken back by the intense tart body of the Flemish Rouge but I think the beer had an overall dry finish that allowed the duck to fill in as needed. The Unearthly IPA tasted so fresh that it seemed like the oils from the hops were easily coating the tongue. After the night was over the lovely people of City Wide Liquor gave me a dram(or two) of my favorite whisky, and that is Lagavulin 16. I love this scotch (and so does Johnnie Walker black label) and I will discuss my love for it later in another category because I need to get to bed. Thanks for your feedback and support and I hope that this blog will continue to be helpful to you and your pursuit of taste. Enjoy The Drink! Jeremy
Beer Night Is Here
December 10th, 2009I don’t know about everyone else but I must assume that there is a lot of excitement and anticipation around the beer dinner tonight. The 5 brews that will be available starting at 5pm are rarely seen on tap unless you actually go to the specific breweries. I have had a few of them in the bottle and have never been disappointed but working tonight and not being able to fully enjoy them in draft form makes me a little jealous. So if you would please give me some feedback on your collective experiences tonight. That would be greatly appreciated. This request goes if you just try one or two of the brews without trying the dishes planned to complement them or you do the full five courses. Here is a little reminder of what will be flowing soon tonight at the Hearth: Ommegang Rouge Red-is a red Flemish ale brewed in Cooperstown, made with hints of tart cherries, mature balsamic, and Belgian yeast then it is aged in Oak Barrels; Unibroue Trois Pistoles-Belgian dark strong ale with hints of cherry and chocolate followed by a caramel malt sweetness and a spicy herbal finish; Southern Tier Unearthly IPA-this is a complex double IPA that is brewed with Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook hops. It is smooth with pine, grapefruit, and a deep oak finish; North Coast Old Rasputin-who doesn’t love a good Russian Imperial Stout, I mean especially this time of year. This beer is roasty and smooth dancing chocolate, coffee, and caramel on your tongue; Founders Backwoods Bastard-this one is similar to their Dirty Bastard but they went and added hints of bourbon to the already perfect scotch ale.
The food that is going to accompany these brews is going to be phenomenal. There will be breast of duck, smoked trout, and a mocha creme brulee along with some other tasty morsels. This is of course pending any last minute changes. And again I do not get the pleasure of trying all the pairings so I beg you to take notes and post them just to add/refer to the many things we will discuss as time goes on. Cheers!
Jeremy
Welcome!
December 8th, 2009Hello to all and welcome to our new blog about whisk(e)y and beer. This is a new platform for us to extend our services outside of the pub to assist you in enjoying the tastes and pleasures that fine beverages of choice may bring. Tell me what you are trying and why. Do you like it or dislike it? What drives your choices in beverage and what are your influences? This is an open forum to discuss all things wonderful in the world of whisk(e)y and beer so come join us and have at it.
Right now I am enjoying a Cragganmore Distillers edition. It is a fine Speyside single malt that has a nice little twang cupped with hints of caramel and vanilla. It goes great with dark Belgian strong ales. Enjoy your drink and I look forward to a continuous conversation. Jeremy.