Bay View Night

Headed down to Bayview last night to meet the boys! I got down there a bit early, so I wandered around a bit. Stopped off at Collector’s Edge to pick up the latest copy of Kabuki: The Alchemy (more about that in another post). Then, down to Outpost Natural Foods looking for calamus for my spiced mead recipe. When I didn’t find calamus in their extensive herbal stocks, I decided to pop by the library to look for more info. Perhaps it had been renamed. A minute of searching turned up the news that calamus oil is extremely carcinogenic (and not just according to the state of California). I guess that explains why I can’t find it. I’ll just scratch that one off of my list, hmm? With more time to kill, I headed over to Palomino for some dinner. They’ve got a wide ranging menu of meaty, vegetarian and vegan options – none of them especially healthy. Unhealthful vegetarian food being my eating specialty, I dove right in to my Chicken-fried tofu sandwich with creamy cole slaw and deep fried tater tots with creamy cajun sauce. Dee-lish! They also have an admirable selection of beers, including one pseudo-house offering: Lakefront Palomino White. It was pretty bland, and didn’t really feel right for a house brew. A house brew should be simpler: a nice pilsener, or a lightly hopped pale ale. Anyway, no one consulted me, which makes sense, since I don’t know any of the people running the place. Further anyway… then on to Roman’s, where I became invisible. The baretender just had real trouble remembering that I’d ordered a beer. No one else had a similar problem, so it must just be me. It was nice to see the guys. I wish it was closer to home so that I could have stayed longer. Jazzy and BA: if Krudser didn’t give you some of my home brews, let me know. I’ll rough the boy up. My beer tally at Roman’s:

Bell’s Best Brown Ale:
a fine example of a brown ale, roasty and delicious, with the special something that I taste in many of Bell’s beers. It must be their yeast.

Great Dane Poor Richard’s Ale:
This is the one I mentioned in an earlier post. Kind of a nation-wide challenge beer in honor of Ben Franklin. Lot’s of adjuncts in here (as required by the contest, since barley malt was heavily taxed), and it showed in the beers slightly resinous flavor profile. Still, it was drinkable, and an interesting little experiment. I’m glad I got to try it.

Fuller, Smith & Turners E.S.B., on the beer engine:BA (a.k.a. The Baby Maker, congrats on the little one on the way!) recommended this one. It was excellent! Lot’s of good ale flavor, nicely hopped, and a reasonable amount of carbonation. So often, beer engine brews have next to no carbonation. Then I have to guzzle it to drink it before it’s unpalatable. This was not the case here. A good one to end the night with.

And quite the enjoyable evening, as well. Thanks for coming out, guys!