Tag: beer | Anne Brockhoff

Braking at Blanc

So, if Revocup revved me up, then I found the brakes at Blanc on The Plaza. Weekday, lunchtime beers aren’t usually my thing, but on this day, I couldn’t resist. After all, Blanc had just tapped a firkin of Stone Brewing’s Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale—and a double dry hopped version at that.

What’s so special about a firkin? Here’s how Josh Eans, Blanc’s former chef, explained it to me: a firkin’s a smallish keg (about 10.8 gallons) with an old-fashioned closure, something like the kind used on kegs back when they were made of wood and beer was naturally carbonated. Continue Reading

One foot on the brake and one on the gas

I’ve logged hundreds of miles in recent weeks in pursuit of good drink, so I couldn’t help channeling Sammy Hagar last week. I was sitting with the husband, sipping a lunchtime beer and describing a morning spent with one of my favorite coffee roasters when he started in on the song. Maybe I was suffering… Continue Reading

Templeton on the Boardwalk

During Prohibition, the thirsty drank almost anything they could get their hands on, as long as it carried a kick. But Al Capone preferred rye, especially that from Templeton, Iowa. Which is why Templeton Rye’s featured in Sunday’s season two premier of Boardwalk Empire. It’s hard to say where the product will pop up, but… Continue Reading

A Shandy Sort of Mood

I used to think beer should be consumed unadulterated, plain and cold. Then I moved to London and had my first shandy. It was only lager and lemonade (the fizzy, off-dry English sort) mixed half-and-half, but I loved it. Shandies weren’t an everyday sort of drink, but rather the perfect low-alcohol choice for lazing in… Continue Reading

Valentine’s Chocolate

Boulevard Chocolate Ale may be this year’s prestige Valentine’s gift. Not because it’s expensive—at around $10 a bottle, it isn’t. Rather, it was impossible to find. I wish I could crow about my own wily strategy in procuring a single bottle, but, truth is, I just got lucky. Now, I’m not writing all this to… Continue Reading

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