Beer snobs- are there any besides my husband?

[cardamon]

btw, perhaps we (beer-lovin' cruisers) can put together a list of brew pubs and brew pub/club nights that could be visited in each of the ports? haven't observed that here, or have been unaware that it existed. would be nice to be able to visit a departure port city and visit with micro-brewers there prior to sailing?! all of the clubs that i've been privileged to visit were very welcoming to visitors.

for example, west central florida:

clubs - Tampa B.E.E.R.S., Brandon Bootleggers

pubs - Dunderbachs, W.O.B., Ybor Brew House, O'Brien's Irish Pub, etc, ect....

ships with craft beer - ???????(RCCL had an island ale recipe that they had crafted in Belgium and sold on Legend of the Seas...was great!)


moose[/quote]
Hi Moose and crewsweeper!
I think the thread with brew pubs in port cities is an excellent idea. Do we start it under this heading? I'll try it as a new thread, so both of you have to keep it going!
Moose, we were not sure what you meant by "prepackaged essence beer". My husband does "extract with grain " brewing- is it the same? He makes great beer! His brew pub often brews the same beer in both grain and extract- few can tell a difference. Thanks for your responses- it has been one way to keep my usband interested before the cruise- he is not looking forward to the lack of beers on the Enchantment of the Seas on 4/2/11. Maybe we should have a brew cruise? Have you ever seen any offered?

[moose the caboose]

hi all,

cardamon: saw the other thread...thank you! the "prepackaged essence beer" that i referred to has been sold in upscale department and housewares stores for a few years now. what is it? well, in the kit you get a plastic brew barrel, plastic bottles, canned malt extracts, yeast packets, malto-dextrins(single sugars), one-step cleanser, and directions. follow the directions and you really can't miss. it is a very simple system...the finished product is much better than the average mass brew and you did it yourself. primary fermentation takes place in the brew barrel (about a weeks time at room temperature), then you fill your bottles with the 'barleywine' and charge with table sugar (double sugar). after another week(at room temperature), put the bottles in the icebox for a couple weeks. after that, enjoy. not wanting to be a commercial for the company that makes them (mr b--r), i will say for those that are shy about doing something like this, it is a cheap way to explore something new. i have, over the last few years 'gone off the reservation' with recipes and flavor profiles of my own using their basic ingredients. having said that, know this, it is not brewing! the only part of the commercial kit that has a cooking process is the initial boiling of the water to accept the malt extracts and malto-dextrins.

so what have i done lately?
2 gal - cherry stout
2 gal - cherry honey wheat ale
1 gal - cherry soda (yes, you can make soda too!)
1 gal - root beer (nope, ya thought that i would include cherry in this too...dinit cha!)

as i continue my journey into the realm of craft beer, i find that it is time for me to step up and start 'brewing' as it should be done. it's time to knock the training wheels off the bicycle... so begins my path to being a little truer to the skills and art of brewing.

cardamon, your husband is lucky man! he is on the path ahead of me, he's already using the ingredients and tools i will soon come to know. is he, per chance, part of a brew club? i visit milwaukee from time to time and through a family member, have been introducted to the 'milwaukee beer barons' brewing club. having sampled many of their club brews...lol! i can tell you that going to a brewer's ballgame at miller field with those guys is an absolute hoot! better outside the park...

i've just found a brew club a little more local to me than the big one across town. they are just getting started and seem like a bunch of really nice people. gonna try and grow with them.
btw, i'm partial to a couple of the trapist monks' ales...your husband will know the ones of which i speak. sometimes, they have them on the ships. as my beer tasting horizons expand, maybe my middle won't.

we are doing allure of the seas in december...might be fun if y'all joined us...hint, hint. always nice to talk brew!


Hi Moose and crewsweeper!
I think the thread with brew pubs in port cities is an excellent idea. Do we start it under this heading? I'll try it as a new thread, so both of you have to keep it going!
Moose, we were not sure what you meant by "prepackaged essence beer". My husband does "extract with grain " brewing- is it the same? He makes great beer! His brew pub often brews the same beer in both grain and extract- few can tell a difference. Thanks for your responses- it has been one way to keep my usband interested before the cruise- he is not looking forward to the lack of beers on the Enchantment of the Seas on 4/2/11. Maybe we should have a brew cruise? Have you ever seen any offered?

moose

[cardamon]

Moose- I had this whole long description of my husband's brewing career- and then lost it- lucky you- so here is the condensed version:
He is an excelent homebrewer, using recipes from various books he has accumulated, including "Extreme Brewing" by his idol- Sam Calgione, owner of Dogfish Head Brewery in Rehoboth Beach DE. We've known Sam since he opened the brewery, and he makes terrific, off-center brews.
Jeff also makes wine- and is improving with each batch. He belongs to 2 brew clubs, one in York,PA and one in Rehoboth Beach, DE. If you have any questions, you can email him at DFH33W@aol.com.
I found a new brew pub this weekend in Baltimore- Alewife. 30 microbrews on tap (they cannot keep DFH beers on tap- go so quickly! Great place to keep on your bucklist.
Anyone else have any favorite planes in any of the departure ports? Ports of Call?

[moose the caboose]

hi all,

cardamon: wow! he's a good friends already!

i've been hoping to visit and tour dogfish for sometime now...got as close as ocean city, md, over the new years holiday. i have family connections and history in rehobeth as well. do you like the french fry place that has been going since 1929? (not 'boardwalk' fries, but the good one in the pier building) when we were there(ocean city), we got the chance to visit, sample and tour!! if you go by, ask les, the manager to show you the 'old' fry cups he received.

moose

Originally Posted by cardamon

Moose- I had this whole long description of my husband's brewing career- and then lost it- lucky you- so here is the condensed version:
He is an excelent homebrewer, using recipes from various books he has accumulated, including "Extreme Brewing" by his idol- Sam Calgione, owner of Dogfish Head Brewery in Rehoboth Beach DE. We've known Sam since he opened the brewery, and he makes terrific, off-center brews.
Jeff also makes wine- and is improving with each batch. He belongs to 2 brew clubs, one in York,PA and one in Rehoboth Beach, DE. If you have any questions, you can email him at DFH33W@aol.com.
I found a new brew pub this weekend in Baltimore- Alewife. 30 microbrews on tap (they cannot keep DFH beers on tap- go so quickly! Great place to keep on your bucklist.
Anyone else have any favorite planes in any of the departure ports? Ports of Call?

[KansasCityTBone]

Originally Posted by cardamon

I tried this before, and got no responses, so I'm trying again. Are there any cruise lines that offer micro beers- and I do not mean Sam Adams, Yingling, Guiness or Michelob? Don't laugh- this is really a problem for me , as I love to cruise and my husband loves to drink- good beers! How do you handle this problem- besides "smuggling"?

Yeah Princess has Alaskan beers (Alaska ships only). They don't liek to sell them because they make better margins on Dos Equis

[cardamon]

i've been hoping to visit and tour dogfish for sometime now...got as close as ocean city, md, over the new years holiday. i have family connections and history in rehobeth as well. do you like the french fry place that has been going since 1929? (not 'boardwalk' fries, but the good one in the pier building) when we were there(ocean city), we got the chance to visit, sample and tour!! if you go by, ask les, the manager to show you the 'old' fry cups he received.

moose[/quote]

Keep his email address and if you ever get down this way, and we are here, he'll be glad to accompany you. DFH is fun to tour- it is getting so big and with all the added construction, it changes all the time. There are several other new microbreweries popped up in DE- I really like Evolution's Menagerie. Haven't done the tour yet, but friends say the 16 mile Brewery in Georgetown gives an excellent tour.
Are you referring to Thrasher's fries? The best. We have terrific restaurants in Rohoboth Beach- and great beer. My poor husband will have trouble surviving our cruise next month- very poor selection of brews.

[2SeaWithMe]

Thanks for all the info on Innis. I'll keep hoping I see it pop up locally.

[roadrunner1949]

Originally Posted by cardamon

I tried this before, and got no responses, so I'm trying again. Are there any cruise lines that offer micro beers- and I do not mean Sam Adams, Yingling, Guiness or Michelob? Don't laugh- this is really a problem for me , as I love to cruise and my husband loves to drink- good beers! How do you handle this problem- besides "smuggling"?

My husband like a good beer and was happy with the Boddingtons beer on board Golden Princess last September. We also had a drink in the bar in Juneau, and really liked the beer, I think it was from a micro brewery.

[moose the caboose]

hi all,

it's been busy...sorry not to have kept up.

cardamon: thrashers? why yes i am!!




"Keep his email address and if you ever get down this way, and we are here, he'll be glad to accompany you. DFH is fun to tour- it is getting so big and with all the added construction, it changes all the time. There are several other new microbreweries popped up in DE- I really like Evolution's Menagerie. Haven't done the tour yet, but friends say the 16 mile Brewery in Georgetown gives an excellent tour.
Are you referring to Thrasher's fries? The best. We have terrific restaurants in Rohoboth Beach- and great beer. My poor husband will have trouble surviving our cruise next month- very poor selection of brews."

believe, me, i can't to get up there again...!

moose

[cardamon]

Moose, you must really be a Thrasher's fan- to take a picture of them! We really try not to eat Thrasher's- because we were getting them every time we went to the boardwalk, and we go too often!We just have pictures of DFH- the restaurant, the brewery, etc. There are several new breweries near here also to visit- Evolution and Milepost 16. Only 22 more days until our cruise. We will check out the beers in Key West an the Bahamas.

[midnightferret]

Ahoy from a fellow homebrewer: yeah, it's me and not my hubby. He's quality control. I brew in stainless with glass carboys as fermenters, 5gal batches. Brit Pales and American IPAs, mostly, with the odd stout or amber thrown in here and there, about 16-20 batches a year.

I'm thinking we'll look for local beers in ports of call rather than attempt to get some Dale's or Ten Fidy on the boat. Thanks for the list, y'all!

[crewsweeper]

Originally Posted by midnightferret

Ahoy from a fellow homebrewer: yeah, it's me and not my hubby. He's quality control. I brew in stainless with glass carboys as fermenters, 5gal batches. Brit Pales and American IPAs, mostly, with the odd stout or amber thrown in here and there, about 16-20 batches a year.

I'm thinking we'll look for local beers in ports of call rather than attempt to get some Dale's or Ten Fidy on the boat. Thanks for the list, y'all!

Went to pick up some Irish brews at the local packie on Wednesday ( no 'Smid-icks'/no O'haras and all the Guiness and Harp were brewed in Canada). Saw a 4 pack of Gubna and grabbed it not noticing that the price sticker ($4) referred to each can Clerk rang up $26 for what I thought was a $9 total (2 Guiness Droaught cans and the 4 pack)!

When I returned the Gubna to the shelf, I noticed that all the OBs were $4 a can!! Certainly not going to try to smuggle that on board.

[LaVagabonde]

Just found this thread. My soon-to-be-hubby and I are definitely craft beer lovers and he is a great home brewer as well. We're having our wedding reception at the Dunedin Brewery.

We belong to the "P.U.B. Guild" (Pinellas Urban Brewers Guild) homebrew club on the Pinellas side of Tampa Bay. The club has some awesome brewers, and welcomes members of any level of brewing expertise. We also belong to the American Homebrewers Association. Bob does whole grain brewing. He made two of the three beers served at my daughter's wedding reception a few months ago (the two that ran out, ha-ha!) and has a delicious trippel aging for our reception.

If you're a craft beer lover, some places to visit in the Tampa Bay area include the Dunedin Brewery (in Dunedin... duh!), which is the oldest microbrewery in Florida, Cigar City Brewing (Tampa), Willard's Taphouse (Largo... small place, but 40 most excellent taps), Tampa Bay Brewing Company (Ybor City), and New World Brewery (Ybor City... they no longer brew themselves, but still offer a nice selection of yummy beers and serve some really interesting pizzas).

We're booked on the Carnival Spirit for an Alaskan adventure for our honeymoon and we're including brewery stops at each port, if possible, along with other adventures. So far, we have plans to visit Skagway Brewing (Skagway, AK) and Alaskan Brewing (Juneau)... haven't researched Ketchikan, AK yet, and we seem to have multiple options when we get to Victoria, BC.

It's sort of a shame that the ships don't cater to the craft beer lovers, but the upside is that our onboard expenses won't be quite as bad. Can you imagine what a bill we'd rack up if there was a good craft beer selection onboard?!?!

[7Flags]

I just read that the brand new Carnival Magic is piloting a Brew Pub and it's own micro-brew called Thirsty Frog Red. Coming to Galveston in Nov.

[BrianAlt]

Originally Posted by serval_girl

I know- the beer selection is sad on the ships. Heck I'd even be happy with Sam Adams if they offered something other than lager. I just smuggle wine on board and use port days to try local beers knowing when I get home there will be some nice sour ale or chicory stout waiting for me.

This is pretty much my attitude. I'll mostly stick with wine while on board and search for a good brewery or brew pub at each stop. Not too many in the Caribbean, but my Canada trip this summer should have some good results.

I also have a beer blog: beervisitor.com . I write about tours of breweries that I've been on. Although I haven't updated it much recently.

[crewsweeper]

Originally Posted by BrianAlt

This is pretty much my attitude. I'll mostly stick with wine while on board and search for a good brewery or brew pub at each stop. Not too many in the Caribbean, but my Canada trip this summer should have some good results.

I also have a beer blog: beervisitor.com . I write about tours of breweries that I've been on. Although I haven't updated it much recently.

Be interested in seeing your blog or review on pubs in Bermuda. In San Juan, I think Old Harbor Brewery on old San Jaun is probably your best bet for at least a stop, used to be the only artesanal brewery on the island. I'd be curious as to your opine on and availability of Bohemia Especial and Ambar Oscura in the D.R. versus the ever present Presidente. However I think the breweries are in Santo Domingo about 2 hours from Samana. In Haiti, I don't think you'll find anything but Prestige.

[BrianAlt]

Originally Posted by crewsweeper

Be interested in seeing your blog or review on pubs in Bermuda. In San Juan, I think Old Harbor Brewery on old San Jaun is probably your best bet for at least a stop, used to be the only artesanal brewery on the island. I'd be curious as to your opine on and availability of Bohemia Especial and Ambar Oscura in the D.R. versus the ever present Presidente. However I think the breweries are in Santo Domingo about 2 hours from Samana. In Haiti, I don't think you'll find anything but Prestige.

Great information! Thanks! In San Juan I was looking at doing the Flavors of San Juan walking tour. But the Old Harbor Brewery looks great! Hmm, will have to give this more thought. I'll have to see what my wife thinks about making the cruise about beer, but I'm sure she'd be willing to have us stop for a couple here and there.

[moose the caboose]

wow! such activity! i've been busy learning new software for work...now i can relax a bit and visit one of my favorite sites!!!

lavagabonde: i'm just across the bay from you...and i joined the 'bootleggers' about 3 months ago. the bay area is alive with craftbrewers and growing stronger everyday. hope to make your acquaintance at some point in the future.

Originally Posted by LaVagabonde

Just found this thread. My soon-to-be-hubby and I are definitely craft beer lovers and he is a great home brewer as well. We're having our wedding reception at the Dunedin Brewery.

We belong to the "P.U.B. Guild" (Pinellas Urban Brewers Guild) homebrew club on the Pinellas side of Tampa Bay. The club has some awesome brewers, and welcomes members of any level of brewing expertise. We also belong to the American Homebrewers Association. Bob does whole grain brewing. He made two of the three beers served at my daughter's wedding reception a few months ago (the two that ran out, ha-ha!) and has a delicious trippel aging for our reception.

If you're a craft beer lover, some places to visit in the Tampa Bay area include the Dunedin Brewery (in Dunedin... duh!), which is the oldest microbrewery in Florida, Cigar City Brewing (Tampa), Willard's Taphouse (Largo... small place, but 40 most excellent taps), Tampa Bay Brewing Company (Ybor City), and New World Brewery (Ybor City... they no longer brew themselves, but still offer a nice selection of yummy beers and serve some really interesting pizzas).

We're booked on the Carnival Spirit for an Alaskan adventure for our honeymoon and we're including brewery stops at each port, if possible, along with other adventures. So far, we have plans to visit Skagway Brewing (Skagway, AK) and Alaskan Brewing (Juneau)... haven't researched Ketchikan, AK yet, and we seem to have multiple options when we get to Victoria, BC.

It's sort of a shame that the ships don't cater to the craft beer lovers, but the upside is that our onboard expenses won't be quite as bad. Can you imagine what a bill we'd rack up if there was a good craft beer selection onboard?!?!

[BrianAlt]

Originally Posted by moose the caboose

wow! such activity!

Glad I could help!

[crewsweeper]

To cardamon, moose, brainalt (are you on linkedin,btw?), lavagablonde, zymologist-from my RollCall, and others:

I've stumble-bummed into an interesting link on a food sight that I follow for its great recipes and interest restaurant reviews--Serious Eats--it's a pairiing "What beer goes with..." thing. Check it out.

http://drinks.seriouseats.com/beer_pairings/

enjoy.

Crew