Beers, Wines, And Spirits, what do you drink with your food

Right now, I'm drinking Goose Island Summertime beer. It'll definitely put some hair on your chest.

Goose Island is a local microbrew in Chicago.

http://www.gooseisland.com/

CR, you're not supposed to drink the whole batch by yourself, surely. Supposed to fix that when a few of us are around to help out

Rose most of the sugar turns to alcohol or is strained out in the straning process... this makes a very very good smooth cordial, not something to be slamming down by the glassfull LOL! It is so smooth you would not know it had alcohol in it....it ends up about 120 proof.

Now this is how much I know about the sugar process in making drinks.

I am not much of a drinker, but when I do I like a good cold beer and I drink it fast to keep it from getting warm and I can put down several!

Wine? A glass or two, that's it. And usually with Italian or seafood.

Spirits? Don't like the stuff, usually. But I might like that cordial you describe up there Shadows and if I did, I would want a glassfull!

Shadows, tell me again what beers or ale you like and recommend.

Mike, I don't want hair on my chest, so I won't be trying your Goose Island brew.

The Jolly Scott ale is the closest thing I can find to McEwan ale on this side of the pond without paying an arm and a leg for it! I like both.
I also drink Lord Chesterfield Ale - Yingling breweries ( oldest brewery in the US).
Day to day beer consumption is Genesse...16oz returnables.

Thanks Shadows! That helps a lot.

Anybody had Ardbeg whisky? It is distilled on the Isle of Islay and wondered if anybody liked it. I heard it is really expensive though.........like $50.00 a bottle!

Used to live in Argentina and Spain so love the wine from there.

Gin and tonics for summer, and a good single malt scotch for winter.

Guiness always nice during the highland games......

You wanna hear about expensive liquor?

Cristal champagne, the one that's favored by the hip hop artists, costs $500 a bottle!

And must be nice of them to be able to afford it too, eh? I'll stick with beer!

"Anybody had Ardbeg whisky? It is distilled on the Isle of Islay and wondered if anybody liked it. I heard it is really expensive though.........like $50.00 a bottle!"

Ardbeg is one of my all-time favorite whiskys. Islay malts are very smoky and peaty, not to everyone's taste, and Ardbeg is one of the more robust. Around here, 10 year old Ardbeg and Laphroag is about $40.00. 12 year old Lagavulin, another very peaty Islay single malt (and quite possibly the best, IMHO) is about $80.00 (if you can find it), 15 year Laphroag and Ardbeg about $70.00. Talisker, from the isle of Skye, is also about $70.00 as I recall. That's about the price range for a good bottle of single malt whisky.

Since it was a long holiday, I took a trip to Cooperstown, N.Y. to replenish my beer supply.

First, I stopped at Cooperstown Brewery, in Milford and sampled a new beer named after the owners dog, Striker. It was a light version of a Porter. If you like Porter but don't like to drink it on hot days, this beer is perfect. Very smooth and light in flavor.

I brought home four cases of a mixed case of all of their beers.


Then I drove a mile and half up the road to the Ommegang Brewery, http://www.ommegang.com/ and I was talking to Larry Bennett, Marketing Director. I commented that they must be really cranking out the beer, since the last time I was there. Ommegang has since added more vats and other equipment. Larry said that, that was just the beginning of the expansion. A whole new building, which will be bigger than the present building and plenty more vats and storage.

I left with a few four packs of Hennepin.

Here's an article that I found from the Cooperstown Crier newspaper.

Ommegang has expansion plan
By JIM AUSTIN
Editor
MIDDLEFIELD - In response to increasing demand for their beers,
Brewery Ommegang is planning an expansion project which will
boost production capacity by 40 percent.
"We're selling every drop of beer we can make," said Ommegang
marketing director Larry Bennett.
The eight-year-old brewery on County Route 33 recently capped
its five millionth bottle and is having trouble keeping up with
customers who want more of its Belgian-style beers and ales.
The brewery was purchased by Duvel Moortgat in January of
2003 and since then they have slowly been putting to together a
strategy, said brewmaster Randy Thiel.
That strategy has paid off and demand continues to increase.
"We're struggling to meet demand for our beer. Things have
really taken off," Thiel said.
The expansion project will feature the addition of a fermentation
vessel outside the brewery building.
Thiel compared the stainless steel fermenter to a dairy bulk tank.
The 9,000 gallon tank will be vertically oriented and stand 35 feet
tall - the same height as the roof of the brewery.
The tank will be located on the east side of the building and not
visible from the roadway, Thiel said.
Because of the frigid winter temperatures in Central New York,
the tank will have three inches of insulation to prevent the beer
from freezing.
The tank will be connected to the main building by way of an
enclosed walkway to allow brewers access to the business end of
the tank without having to go outside, he explained.

The other exterior component to the expansion is a grain silo to
store the barley malt used in brewing.
"As we brew more beer, it makes good sense to bring in a silo,"
Thiel said.
Currently the barley malt comes in bags, but with the silo
deliveries will be make in bulk.
The silo will be more slender than the fermenter, stand 30 feet
tall and hold 50,000 pounds of barley malt. It, too, will be located
on the east side of the building.
Inside the brewery, a wall will be removed to add more space to
the cellar where the beer is bottle conditioned and a new steam
boiler for the building will be installed.
Thiel said no additional storage space is anticipated at this time
because much of their product is warehoused in New Jersey.
The brewery plans to stick with its five main beers because it
can't fit anymore into the commercial pipeline currently. When
the expansion of their production capacity is complete, it may
allow them consider some others, Thiel said.
In the short-term, the expansion will not result in more
employment, but ultimately there will be more jobs and that's
good thing, he said.
"We're gaining momentum and will probably have to turn around
and think about more expansion," Thiel said.
The Middlefield town planning board will conduct a public hearing
in regard to the expansion plan next Tuesday, April 12, at 7:15
p.m. in the town hall.

Holy cow, Emmet! That is a lot of money for a bottle of whisky! Goodness! I guess I won't be buying any as I am too cheap.

Mike, sounds like you got a lot accomplished beer-wise!

"That is a lot of money for a bottle of whisky!"

That's what I prefer to drink...I hate to admit it, but my usual bottle at home is Lochindaal, an Islay malt I get for $15.00 a bottle.

Yeah, well you get what you pay for, eh? The Highland games I am going to in a couple weeks will have a whisky tasting, but I am going to miss it cause I can't get up there at that time. Oh well.

I pipe for our whisky tasting every year; the Dunedin Brewery makes a seasonal "Highland Games Ale", and I pipe out the first keg every year at the whisky tasting. I can always count on a bottle or two from their table in consideration of my efforts; this year it was an unopened bottle of Talisker. Last year, Dalwhinnie. Once the evening's done, a select few take the keg back to the brewery, where we sit out on the back porch 'till the wee hours, smoking cigars, passing numerous flasks around, playing pipes and draining the keg. May not be high paying, but the perks are great!

I used Talisker when we "christened" our new home - a snog and a blessing as we entered each room. It was my first Islay, and it had a good taste and smell of smoke, but not too overpowering.

Laphroaig, on the other hand, is a beast not to be tackled by the timid. I once read that Laphroaig was lovingly referred to as a mixture of iodine and diesel fuel. To say it is "smoky and peaty" is an understatement, and yet it should be attempted/enjoyed by everyone at least once.

I haven't tried Lagavulin yet, because I've since then stumbled upon The Glenlivet and have found heaven on earth. I have enjoyed a number of bottles of their 12 year (around $35 at my local store), and am currently enjoying their 18 year (around $45).
I did not enjoy their 12 year French Oak. If I win the lottery I'll tell you about their 1959 vintage.