| Rochester Real Beer Week, 2013 | |
We are really getting the outdoor itch as spring is finally coming into it's own here in western New York. As we excitedly look forward to the summer, one of the great local beer events is on the horizon: Rochester Real Beer Week! It's probably more accurately described as a theme than it is a singular event as great craft beer establishments set up their own events between June 14th and June 23rd.The Rochester Real Beer Expo is the centerpiece event, happening on Saturday the 15th. They close down Gregory Street outside the Tap and Mallet, set up a bunch of tents, and a bunch of breweries serve great beers. Each brewery in attendance is encouraged to bring as many casks as possible to embrace the real beer portion of the title. This year's event is the third incarnation. We skipped last year's after being disappointed with the first one. It was overly crowded, there weren't enough bathrooms, and food options were lacking, but the beer was great! We decided to grab tickets again this year and see if they made any improvements. We are hopeful! Read more... |
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| Topic(s): beer events rochester real beer week | |
| By Mike on April 29, 2013 at 6:15pm EDT | Add Comment |
| Happy New Year! | |
It's 2013! That means we've been messing around with this blog for two years! We're excited to move into the new year continuing to enjoy great food and pursuing a healthier lifestyle. As posted earlier we're trying out a gluten-free diet for virtually the entire month of January. I hope it will lead to us finding a great balance that will make us both healthier. That said, we couldn't pass up a beer event at Tap and Mallet on New Years Eve. In case you didn't know, beer is not gluten free. A vintage beer social at our favorite pub was the perfect last hurrah before going into a beerless January.I knew we had family coming to town for the holidays so I had been searching for a good event for the New Year. Most in the area are significantly expensive, so walking in with a group of seven doesn't really work. I was happy when Tap announced a beer social. $18 a person for a great beer sampling and pay-to-play food from their regular menu is hard to pass up. They were even kind enough to give me a reservation, guaranteeing us a table! Read more... 
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| Topic(s): beer holidays tap and mallet events restaurants | |
| By Mike on January 9, 2013 at 4:42pm EST | Add Comment |
| Beer Off! State vs. State vs. State | |
Which state has the best breweries? With the onslaught of the craft beer movement and the fact that all of our friends and family seem to be into it an idea struck me this past spring. We are always arguing about which state has the best beers. Our friends Emily and Andrew are from Michigan so they are always claiming dominance. My sister Kelly recently moved to Pittsburgh so she's always singing the praises of her local breweries. Heather and I, of course, love all of our New York options. Being the nerd that I am, a party game seemed like the perfect solution.Here's how it worked. After some deliberation, I decided on four categories. They were session, IPA, stout/porter, and wild card. Session beers were defined as any beer at 5% ABV or less. The IPA and stout/porter categories were style specific. Finally, wild card could be anything at all. Heather and I had to choose the competitors for New York, my sister Kelly for Pennsylvania, and my friends Emily and Andrew for Michigan. We all met on our back deck along with some other impartial friends and the competition was on. Read more... 
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| Topic(s): beer events michigan pennsylvania | |
| By Mike on August 8, 2012 at 7:47pm EDT | Add Comment |
| Ithaca Pairing Dinner At The Owl House | |
Beer pairing dinners are one of our favorite ways to spend an evening. We've been to several, the vast majority of which were hosted at Tap and Mallet. Our love for The Owl House has been well documented on the site. When an opportunity to see how they handle a pairing dinner during Rochester Real Beer Week came up, we had to take advantage. In a strange coincidence, the dinner took place one day after our three-year wedding anniversary and it was a nice way to celebrate. Stranger still, the featured brewery of the pairing was Ithaca Beer Company, the same brewer that we featured in our beer selection at our wedding. The menu featured four courses and six beers. They also did two seatings, at 6pm and 8pm. We opted for the later one which was interesting. We got the impression that the kitchen and wait staff may have gotten some of the kinks worked out. Sadly, the Ithaca representative did not stay for our seating so we didn't get any nice introductions to the beer or food. Read more... 
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| Topic(s): events pairing the owl house restaurants beer ithaca beer company scallops short ribs le bleu | |
| By Mike on July 2, 2012 at 7:26pm EDT | Add Comment |
| Garrett Oliver Pairing Dinner | |
A bit ago, I received a copy of The Brewmaster's Table as a gift. It's written by Brooklyn Brewery's Garrett Oliver and is a really interesting book. Written in 2003, well before the craft beer boom in the US, it acts as both an incredibly informative book and a bit of a time machine. Every single type of beer is touched on. Histories are described and of course, food pairings are recommended.Toward the end of April, Tap and Mallet announced that their next pairing dinner was only a few weeks away and it would feature pairings by Garrett Oliver himself. Having written the book on beer pairing and recently been nominated for a James Beard Award, attending the event would surely be a treat. Heather and I rushed out to get tickets at the bar the day they went on sale and we were able to secure some. Read more... 
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| Topic(s): beer events brooklyn brewery garrett oliver tap and mallet pairing blast wild one mary's maple porter pierogies black ops | |
| By Mike on May 20, 2012 at 4:39pm EDT | Add Comment |
| Founders Pairing Lunch | |
If you like bold flavored beers, then you'll most likely love Founder's Brewing Company. We were first introduced to them right at the source in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We went to pre-wedding party there and were urged to try the Breakfast Stout that was wonderful. The Taproom is in an old train station where one whole side can open up to outside seating and their menu boasts handcrafted sandwiches. Very fun and yummy place! Founders does not distribute to Upstate NY unfortunately. Luckily we have a couple of friends from Michigan and family in Pittsburgh (where they do distribute) that hook us up once in a while. We savor every bottle and have been lucky enough to even have Kentucky Breakfast Stout a couple of times. Read more... 
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| Topic(s): beer events pittsburgh founders sharp edge curmudgeon's better half szrp of doom creme brulee pairing | |
| By Heather on May 18, 2012 at 9:48pm EDT | Add Comment |
| Sly Fox and Pork For My Birthday | |
As you may have read, Heather made me an amazing birthday dinner. I absolutely loved it. What you may not know, is that it didn't actually happen on my birthday. It happened the day before. The reason? Tap and Mallet had a nice little event planned and we took advantage. I had two amazing birthday dinners.It was a Sly Fox total tap takeover. This isn't the first total tap takeover that Tap has thrown on a Saturday, but it was the first one for us. My awesome sister (bringing some great Founders beer with her as a gift) made the trip up from Pittsburgh to go with us. Some of our closest friends also made it a point to meet us there. It was a great evening. Read more... 
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| Topic(s): beer events tap and mallet pork sly fox restaurants | |
| By Mike on February 8, 2012 at 6:15pm EST | Add/View Comments (1) |
| Nathaniel Square 12 Beers of Christmas | |
At the last minute I found out about a pretty cool little event coming out of Nathaniel Square Corner Store. Thanks to a tweet from Jaime Barclay earlier today, Heather and I were able to shoot over there and grab the final bundle of beers to try.The event is quite simple. They put together a selection of 12 different beers, put them in a paper bag, added a guide showing which evening each one should be enjoyed, and sold it for an affordable price. Now we get to enjoy a different beer each night between now and Christmas. There is a hash tag to use for Twitter based discussions of the beer as well as a Facebook group. This lets everyone out there discuss what they liked or didn't like about each particular beer. Such a great idea! Read on to see our thoughts on each beer. This post will be updated every evening for the duration of the event! Read more... 
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| Topic(s): beer shopping events #nscs12 nathaniel square | |
| By Mike on December 13, 2011 at 9:43pm EST | Add Comment |
| Belgium Comes to Cooperstown Day 2 | |
We woke up to some much welcomed blue skies on Saturday, the main day of Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. VIPs like us were able to get in to the 3pm-7pm tasting a half hour early, so we were counting down the moments until 2:30. Several partiers walked by our little canopy and asked us why we weren't drinking yet. Why weren't we? Because we weren't stupid.Thankfully, the Ommegang gift shop opened at 11am for shopping and tours, so we had something to do to kill the time. Strangely, we really haven't been on many brewery tours. Checking out Ommegang may be the first official one we've ever done. Read more... 
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| Topic(s): beer events belgium comes to cooperstown ommegang ithaca brewing | |
| By Mike on August 5, 2011 at 10:03pm EDT | Add Comment |
| Belgium Comes to Cooperstown Dinner | |
We were extremely lucky to get VIP tickets to BCTC. They sold out in 11 seconds this year! This was our first time to this beer festival. We’ve heard really good things about it and couldn't wait! We got to the camp grounds around 4pm and our dinner started at 6pm. It didn't take long to set up even with carrying all our gear from one field to another in the humid, rainy weather. If you don't mind camping in really close quarters with loads of beer fans, then it won't be as unusual for you. The shade canopy was a must and made for a relaxing time despite our crazy neighbors. After setting up we were ready for good beer and food! The massive white tent was simple but beautifully decorated with a wood sculpture that meandered above our heads. The music was charmingly fitting with the Horseshoe Lounge Playboys playing blue grass. We really appreciated the Menu’s at our tables so that we could look at it at each course in anticipation; check it out in the photo section. Read more... 
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| Topic(s): beer events belgium comes to cooperstown ommegang duvel pairing | |
| By Heather on August 4, 2011 at 10:33pm EDT | Add/View Comments (1) |
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