The Beer Tent

Irish Death by Iron Horse Brewery.... It is 85 in the PNW today, nice to have a cold beer

 

You may wonder at first why I am posting this in the Beer Tent, but just bear with me. My wife and I just had a wedding anniversary. I asked her what she wanted for her anniversary and she said she wanted to go somewhere cool. The Med has been locked in a heat wave this last month and it was running in the mid to high 90's and even hit 100 a couple of times. Which is stifling hot for Cyprus. So I told her to find a place that was cool in August. She started Googling and found the average temperature in Ireland in August is 68 degrees. I had some time off from work so we booked a flight to Dublin.

We arrived about lunch time and after checking in at the hotel we went out looking for a pub to have lunch. I love Guinness beer, it has always been one of my favorites. But I have been told numerous times by Brits, Scots and the handful of Irish people I have met that it just doesn't "travel well". They said that a pint of Guinness just doesn't taste as good anywhere else outside of Dublin. I determined to test that hypothesis.

I asked everyone from the taxi driver to the hotel desk clerk and doorman where to go to get good Irish pub food and a Guinness beer. I was told the same two places several times. I was told that one pub has good food and another draws a good pint. What difference does it make which pub I wondered. I found out that it did indeed make a huge difference.

We were only there for 4 days so we stayed in Dublin and of course the first place we went, as we always do wherever we go, was to the Dublin Harley Davidson store. The next day we went to the Guinness Storehouse as they call it, the brewery at St. James Gate in Dublin.

The entire building is shaped like a pint glass. It is round with each of the 7 floors getting wider and wider. At the top the entire floor is one huge round room with glass walls that offers a spectacular 360 degree view of the city. In the center is a large round bar where half a dozen bar maids are pouring tourists their complimentary pint after completing the tour. I found out that the term "it doesn't travel well" refers not to it being shipped around the world, but it refers to the distance it travels from the keg to the tap. Many pubs are very small and don't have room to put the kegs under the bar so they are stored in the basement and hoses ran through the floor and to the tap. Some have small rooms just behind the bar where the kegs are stored and only a few have the room to store the keg directly under the taps. The further it "travels" the more Co2 it takes to push it and the sharper the taste. So the shorter the travel the better the beer.

The other, and most important factor is the draw. It takes a real tap-master to pull a good Guinness. There is a whole technique to it. The symbol for Guinness is a golden harp, and you will find this on all the pint glasses. The first pull is drawn slowly with the glass tilted until the beer reaches the bottom of the harp. Then it is set aside and allowed to settle. The Co2 bubbles out and it goes from a milky color to coal black. Once this takes place, usually after 2 or 3 minutes, then the second draw brings it up to the top of the harp. It is again allowed to settled for a couple of minutes. Only once it is all black is the last draw made that gives it the trademark creamy head. The entire process takes about 10 minutes. It is not a beer that can be rushed.

The reason it doesn't taste the same outside Dublin, I was told, is more to do with the temperature. It has to be kept at a constant, perfect temp, which is nearly impossible when being transported around the globe.

So we get to the bar and I wait the ten minutes for my perfect pint. We found a small table next to the window and I have to say that the theory is proven absolutely true. I have drank a lot of Guinness beer, all over the world, but that pint, poured by a master tapster, in the brewery where it was made, was the best beer that has ever passed my lips. My wife doesn't like beer and she certainly doesn't like dark beer, but she enjoyed it too. She didn't finish hers which I gladly helper her out with.

I have had the great fortune to have traveled much of Europe and have sampled some really great brews. I was in Munich for Oktoberfest last year and drank some great German beers. I have been to a couple of monasteries where the monks brew their own beer from age old recipes. My all time favorite, only recently knocked to the number two spot, was the Augustinian monastery/brewery in Salzburg, Austria. Their beer is brewed from pure alpine water, served in stone, one liter mugs, cooled in a fountain of ice cold alpine water. It was heavenly! But that pint of Guinness knocked it out of the top spot.

I will continue to drink Guinness beer, I have several in the beer cooler now, but I know that I will always be comparing it to that one in Dublin. And to be honest that was the best, but I had many really good pints those 4 days. And it was easy to tell a difference in the different pubs and restaurants.

I have to go get a towel and dry my keyboard now. I seem to have drooled all over it. Cheers!!!!

 

Very jealous over here MM!! I would have to say that trip would definitely be a "bucket list" adventure for me to accomplish as well!!!

 

Yes you're right about the N2/CO2. I was anxious to get to the top and the complimentary pint. I wasn't paying close attention to the tour!! I didn't have a bad pint anywhere but some places were better than others. It is much better there than abroad for sure. I thought that was a wives tale but nope, it's definitely a noticeable difference.

 

Yeah, I've been there. Get smashed, get in a fight, pass out. I guess pigs are more like humans than we knew!

Pig in Australia Steals 18 Beers from Campers, Gets Drunk, Fights Cow | Gadling

 

Happiness is a well stocked beer cooler!!

 

Has anyone seen those Jack Daniels and Cola cans in the US? I have only seen them overseas and was wondering if it was available stateside. They are pretty good. I still like to mix my own but these are easy to just grab one and go. Perfect mixture too.

 

I cheated yesterday......accidental highly recommended

Citra® Slicker Wet Hop IPA (Elysian / Bale Breaker Collaboration)
Wet Hop IPA - 6.0% ABV | 61 IBU

This hop harvest, the seasoned big-city brewers from Seattle's Elysian Brewing made the trek over the Cascades to team up with the farm kids from Bale Breaker Brewing Company to brew Citra® Slicker Wet Hop IPA, the new Yakima brewery’s first collaboration beer. While it took Elysian brewers Dick and Steve two hours to get to Bale Breaker, the hundreds of pounds of wet Citra® hops picked fresh from the fields that morning traveled just five minutes from farm to kettle. Heavily dry-hopped with Mosaic™ and Equinox™ while light in color and body, this beer is all about these fresh, farm-grown hops!

Taproom Release: Wednesday, October 1

Availability: Fall Seasonal

Package Types:
- Draft (1/2 barrel & 1/6 barrel kegs) - Kegs not available for taproom retail sale.

- See more at: Our Beers - Bale Breaker Brewing Company


Our Beers - Bale Breaker Brewing Company

 

I will have to keep an eye out for their beer.... had not heard of them before. I like Elysian offerings...they are tasty

 

Getting ready for the football game today!! Prepping ribs for the crock-pot.... and experimenting with a new micro-beer. Very tasty indeed!!
I had to try it in salute to my Monkey brothers and sisters...

Flying Monkey Pale Ale made by American Brewing Company in Edmonds, WA.

 

Fresh Squeezed IPA - Craft IPA by Deschutes Brewery

One of my favorites if I have a beer.

 

I had a Georgetown Bodhizafa IPA the other day. I highly recommend it. They are out of Seattle, Wa.


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