Football and Beer

One of life’s perfect pairings…

I wasn’t wearing any team colors or crossing any fingers or rubbing a troll doll to root for any particular team for the final four showdown this past weekend. But since I’m still bitter (like a Stone Ruination…) about the Chargers loss to the Jets, I was happy to see the Colts make the Jets running game look more like exercise on a treadmill! The Saints/Vikings game was an entertaining ping pong match. I’m sure fans from both teams suffered heart attacks at some point in the game. Get some Gorilla glue for your gloves, anybody! In the end, the Saints will march to the SB and we’ll have a competition between the two teams that started their seasons with long undefeated streaks.

But the game will really be about the food and beer for me. And speaking of beer, I finally visited the Iron Hill in Media, one of the “final frontiers” of the IH chain for me. I tried the Belgo Black, which sorta tastes like if you accidentally dropped your Hubba Bubba in an ashtray and then decided to toss it in your mouth for more bubble-popping fun. It was slightly ashy and a little sweet and I do it no justice in that description because it really wasn’t that bad. I’ve kissed gum-chewing smokers before, didn’t like it as much… I also tried the Holiday Ale, a hoppy red Merry Christmas to me.

Hit up Teresa’s Next Door for some Dark Horse Crooked Tree and half price cheese day! The Leonora was good but can it get any better than the Truffle Tremor, a semi-soft Humboldt Fog with an earthly punch. I also sampled the Brooklyn Chocolate Stout vertical from 2007, 2008, and 2009. My memories of the beer exceeded the taste but maybe it was just the sample size or temperature…

Finally stopped by Mackenzie’s, another brewpub whose cherry I needed to break. They just had their Belgian dinner a few days before so some special brews were on tap. I was able to sample the Saison Vautour and the Grisette. I really enjoyed the nice black pepper spice of the Grisette; being a low alcohol beer to appreciate at the end of my beer excursion was an added bonus. The Saison Vautour was a little muted for my tastes. A later comparison between a growler of the SV filled this night and a bottle of the SV at the Monday night tasting with the usual suspects confirmed that if you want the brett funk, get the bottle. My only complaint about Mackenzie’s Brew House is that the beers are served at a nipple-hardening temperature. I wish bars- brewpubs especially- recognized what is the best temperature to serve their beer. They do it an injustice by serving an ice cube of good beer that takes 30 minutes to defrost before any flavor really develops.