The Heart Groweth Fonder

I’m sure in communications classes it is taught that a good title is one with brevity and focus. This title has neither of those things, but this post is as much about our return to the Tacoma blogosphere as it is about the focus of the post. It’s been nearly a month…what the hell? I don’t even know what happened. There were a couple vacations in there, some empty wallets, and a lot of unexpected sunshine. A siesta of sorts, or a power nap. There’s no stopping us now.

It has been nice to take a short break. We’ve matured (that’s with a “t” sound, not a “ch” sound). After a long disheartening conversation with a well known local restauranteur, I have a different perception of what it is we do, as well as social media in general. We make an impact for better or for worse. We hope the impact we make is a positive one, but all we can do is try. Our goal is to promote that which needs promoting (and that which is just too awesome to ignore), and when it comes down to it Adam and I just love the hell out of food. We have fun doing this and we’ll keep doing it until it ceases to be fun.

To hell with it. Let’s drink beer.

A Taproom for the Weary Traveler

We did find time amid the sun breaks and Tacoma events to attend the grand opening of Wingman Breweries’ taproom. Still relatively new on the scene, Wingman Breweries is nothing if not persistent. The first we ever heard of them was last summer when they were pouring at the Tacoma Craft Beer festival. Since then we’ve seen them in restaurants, coffee shops, and our favorite bars in town. Admirably brewery-first, the new taproom is tucked into a converted industrial building across from the bus terminal on Puyallup Ave. The long rectangular room is a shotgun of space with the absolute bare minimum in patron-focused amenities. The walls white, the counters were minimalist block freshly covered in contact paper, and the light fixtures sawed open kegs and exposed bulbs. Beer was plentiful, but if you were looking for food you would have had to visit the neighboring food truck invited by Wingman for the occasion. The back two thirds of the store were reserved for brew space and a single brew kettle stood in the open floor – a sign that Wingman is certainly planning for growth.

The event itself was clearly a celebration of Wingman Breweries with lots of familiar faces and smiling patrons. The young owners were very visible and understandably thrilled to be serving their hand-crafted beer to a thirsty and smiling populace. The bar was sufficiently armed with an arsenal of the Breweries’ beers and a Randall pouring a Belgian Dubbel through cedar chips and raisins. The Spring Ale was surprisingly dark and hoppy with a fair amount of yeasty malt mixed in. I’m still getting a touch of the homebrew taste from somewhere, but the beer didn’t suffer for it. The Dubbel through the Randall was surprisingly nice. A clean and sweet Belgian that was very drinkable, it doesn’t stay on your palate an uncomfortably long time as with other American made Belgians that have a tendency to overstay their welcome…like that houseguest you can’t seem to shoo out the door, or the Occupy Tacoma folk who did mysteriously vanish right before the Daffodil parade. Hmmmmm…..

The Wrap

The fate of Wingman Brewers does not fall on this taproom, it falls on the quality and distribution of their beer. The taproom, while nice, is simply a place to sample that beer and fill your growlers (for only $8). It’s appropriately minimal, and is the perfect addition to Tacoma’s newest craft brewery. Do yourself, Wingman, and Tacoma a favor and visit the taproom. It’s a brewery worth supporting.

It’s good to be back Tacoma. For better or for worse.

***

As always, mention us and get…a growler fill for $8…which just happens to be the regular price.

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One of the best things about being an American is the shameless appropriation of other cultures’ holidays. Whether it’s sucking down a cool margarita on Cinco de Mayo, pounding a Marzen at Oktoberfest, or throwing back a Guinness on St. Patrick’s day Americans love getting loaded in honor of cross-cultural celebrations. And why not? Thanks to many of our ancestors’ non-discriminatory romantic proclivities, any given person’s potential for Irish blood in this American “melting pot” (or “salad bowl” as it is more recently being referred to) is just high enough that we can all say “hey, I’m probably a little bit Irish according to my grandmother….or was it my grandfather?”

“Kiss me, I’m potentially Irish.”

Today everyone’s a little bit Irish. We happily promote stereotypes by way of consuming mass quantities of meat, potatoes and Guinness, surely making the world outside Ireland jealous of our pseudo heritage – even our beer is green with envy. This St. Paddy’s Adam and I celebrate the only way we know how, at Doyle’s public House.

Doyle’s Irish Pub was clearly the place to be 11:30 Saturday afternoon. While gates were being arranged outside the door and bands sound checked in the adjacent beer tent, the interior of Doyle’s was already bustling with a heavy lunchtime crowd fueled by Guinness and corned beef. Moods were good. Beyond good. Even the brutish looking rugby players projected on the big screen looked in good spirits on this most holy of holidays. We didn’t waste any time, immediately ordering a round of Guinness and Jameson. The two seem made to pair with one another. The smooth (if slightly flavorless) body of a freshly poured Guinness just begs for the hot throat coat of a Jameson shot. Oi!

For food we went traditional. Adam started with the shepard’s pie. A good ratio of potatoes to meat and veg, this concoction was anything but traditional. There must have been an herb shortage in old Ireland, because any cursory look at a traditional recipe for this dish involves at most a tablespoon or two of total spices for an entire pan. This small bowl probably had almost that. This pie was loaded with spices and herbs that gave the meat and potatoes some life on this most lively of days. If I had to hazard a guess I’d say coriander, parsley, basil, caraway….whatever it was, it was delicious. Doyle’s needs to keep this on the regular menu.

Following the world’s tastiest shepard’s pie was my corned beef sandwich. I’m not sure why, but I absolutely love corned beef. It may just be on par with my general love for all things pickled, but I can’t get enough of the stuff. Doyle’s has a good track record with corned beef sandwiches – after all, they did score highest in our Reuben Showdown last summer – and this was no different. The bread was fresh and perfectly toasted, the meat moist and flavorful, and the horseradish light and creamy. I would have however preferred a thick cut of corned beef, instead of the thin deli slices, particularly on a day like today. Ah well, delicious regardless.

We left Doyle’s before things got crazy, our minds and waistlines intact, but can only imagine the fun that was had late into the evening. If you were in the trenches Saturday night, leave us a comment, we’d love to hear about it. We hope everyone had a wonderful St. Paddy’s day.

***

Beer!

We have spent some quality time writing about beer this week, our faces illuminated by more than just our monitors, fingers constantly missing their intended targets due to the subject of our inquiry. How did Michael Jackson do this for so many years, and so well? If you’ve never read the Shakespearian beer reviews of Michael Jackson (beer god, not pop god) please read them as soon as you’re sober enough to do so.

One article in particular, written by Jackson in 1998 about an IPA offered by London’s famous Fullers brewery, described the style as little more than the remnants of the British-Indian trade relations of times past, concluding a rather impressive article with a declaration that “until something more characterful is on offer“ he’d stick with the Mango Lassi. Something with more character? Too bad he hadn’t been reviewing an IPA from the Pacific NW. The Brits may have created a style out of necessity (the additional hops helped the beer survive the long warm journey to India) but American brewers have turned it into an art. And I like to think that no region has done more for the style than the hop-rich Northwest.

Fish Double Hodgy Double IPA

The Fish Double Hodgy is proof that the style has evolved considerably since the dark days of beer. At an unbelievable $10/pint, this beer is brazenly marketed as something special, and mostly lived up to the hype. The beer is freaking huge. An enormous malt and alcohol base (9.5% ABV) takes front stage to a musty floral hop profile that isn’t notable for its freshness, but seems somehow fitting for the chewy malts. This is a sipper, but not at all difficult to drink. Dangerous.

The Double Hodgy is interesting for its persistence. Like the Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA, this isn’t as overwhelmingly bitter as you might think, although I’m sure the IBUs are through the roof. It has a cloying feel that is comforting, and hard to put down, as each mouthful brings with it a warm swell of malty hops that is missed when washed away. A dangerous combination when the beer costs a Hamilton.

What beautiful words might Michael Jackson have crafted about the Double Hodgy? We’ll never know, but we can assume one thing: it packs way the hell more character than a mango lassi.

*****

The Parkway was especially packed tonight- maybe due to their Randall Wrecker Mondays, possibly due to Washington Beer Week, or perhaps because it’s the parkway and it’s a fantastic spot to find yourself on any given evening.

Since it was Randall Wrecker Monday AND Washington Beer Week, they were kind enough to pump some local malty delights through the Randall (For those liberal minded: think hop-bong or for the more conservative crowd: a French press of hops) – tonight was the Harmon’s own Black Tartan (which makes me think of a co-worker’s utilikilt , go ahead a let your mind wonder on that one)

Anyway, it tasted better than what might lay below the nether regions of the kilt on a warm summer day. In fact, a lot better (no personal experience- just conjecture). It had rich and dark roasted malt with a hint of chocolate, without being outlandishly sweet and syrupy- perhaps due to being drawn through the Randall (adding a light bit of cascade hoppiness). For those of you who know Harmon beers, it did still have the same medium malty flavor that pervades every one of their beers, but I really enjoyed the creamed smokey espresso flavored American Black Ale. Way to go Harmon and as always, way to go The Parkway.

Stouts are the vegetable soup of the beer kingdom: you throw a ton of crap in the kettle and out pops something that is usually delicious. The more stuff, the better. For this WA Beer Week offering I take a closer look at the Black Frog Oatmeal Stout from Snoqualmie Brewery, had on NITRO at The Red Hot.

A Shout Out for Stouts

Stouts get a bad wrap. Non-beer drinkers whine about the strong taste, health fanatics whine about the caloric content, and beer geeks whine about the lack of finesse it takes for a brewer to churn out a good one. I must admit that I at one point in my life fell into category #1, but in hindsight it was probably a bad idea to begin my drinking career with a six pack of Obsidian Stout, which at the time tasted like essence of ass. The worst part was the intended effect of said beer – inebriation – was surprisingly elusive. This was because I, like many novice drinkers, thought dark = high alcohol content. Nothing seemed darker than Obsidian! I was gonna get loaded! Not so.

Surprisingly, stouts are actually relatively low in alcohol content, because the base malts that get converted into alcohol are roughly the same as a pale ale; It’s the specialty grains that make the stout pitch black, which apparently contain non-fermentable sugars. (Thank you brewbeeranddrinkit.com!) These specialty grains contain a ton of flavor and sugars, resulting in thick, tasty, dark ass beer with a lower ABV than you’d think. Obsidian Stout ranks right around 5.9% ABV – about the same as Busch Ice, the beer overwhelmingly preferred by any discerning WSU frat member, but considered gross by the rest of the world.

Snoqualmie Black Frog Stout (NITRO)

Now that college has vanished entirely in that rearview mirror, drunkenness is more of an annoying side effect than a goal. I’ll never use that goddamn spittoon at a wine tasting though. That is a level of douchiness I don’t ever want to attain. I love all categories of beer, but I’ll always have a place in my fridge for a great stout. My favorite stouts are creamy and full of chocolate and espresso with enough hops to keep things interesting. The Black Frog is all these things: light espresso with an excellent creaminess brought on by the nitro, and 28IBU worth of hops. The beer is never bitter or astringent like Guinness – the Gold Standard of Irish stouts – can sometimes be. This beer is so drinkable the glass goes down as quickly as most pales on the board and will nicely accompany any dog on the Red Hot menu.

The Wrap

A fairly frequent flyer in town, Snoqualmie beers are not hard to find. The Black Frog stout and Steam Train Porter are both worthwhile buys. Look for them next time you’re in the mood for something dark, just remember what GCF taught you:

• dark = flavor
• dark = calories
• dark = drunkenness
• Busch Ice = nasty*

Second, start this in another browser and let it play. You’ll need the ambient music to get you in the mood.

Made sure the volume is just loud enough to hear it, to take your senses away from your computer and toward to dark club. A dark club that you just entered- you feel a new sense of danger, a new sense of self- feeling that you are the most powerful and yet the most vulnerable person in the room. You take your chances to see which way this will play out and you take a seat at the bar.

The bar tender asks what you want- normally it’d be a domestic or an import- those stella and dos x commercials are awfully enticing, but tonight you want something new- something as new as your sense of entitlement. Tonight, you try a Washington beer… maybe you try more than just one.

You glance over your shoulder to see this creature’s eyes darting across the room over a tall skinny glass, one that compliments her figure, you eyes lock and you can tell she’s wondering exactly what your made of. You have to choose your drink quickly, so you chose one that has a definitive name: the Schooner Exact Pale Ale. The name comes out of your mouth as quickly as the glass is handed to you and as you raise the golden ale to your lips. Your eyes glance up to see the reflection from the mirror behind the bartender to see her approaching, with resolve in her eyes.  You take the bait.

She introduces herself and appears to be another “actress/model”- one that might be a little less interested if you weren’t wearing that tux you rented. In the course of your slightly awkward, tension-filled conversation, she trails off hoping you’d jump in, her eyes looking deeply into yours and your soul. You reply, but can’t stop thinking about how she isn’t a beer drinker. Just another cocktail girl. But who are you, not one to judge- and why should you?! It isn’t like Washington beers are some of the best in the country. Your mind is all a flutter because you take a sip, another, and another of the pale ale. Crisp, bright, malty, and yet nothing special, much like your newly found company.

And then it happens, she orders another mango-saffron infused mojito and  glancing over her shoulder at you, giving you your chance to “put it on your tab.” But you pause. Your glass is empty.  You’ve lost interest and just as quickly as your drink went down with passionless taste, your desire to continue this charade with the bland pale ale, and cocktail girl, comes to a close. Your eyes dart around the room wondering what you’re next move will be.

And just like your decision tonight, Idiot IPA, from Elysian. Intoxicating delight, fear, excitement and embarrassment fill you all at once. How could this be possible? You look down and your glass is full, but different, this isn’t like the other. You move in for a closer look and smell. Deep and dark, the floral tones hit you right away, like cupid’s arrow piercing your heart. You know immediately you need to put it to your lips. You close your eyes. The invigorating taste fills your mouth, malt, hops, citrus and is that passion fruit? Your body tells you yes and your mind says no- how is it possible for an IPA to be so smooth, rounded, bitter yet sweet. The Nelson Sauvin hops whispers in your ear, like a lover beckoning you to follow. Impassioned you take another long draw from the glass, then another.

Minutes later, you open your eyes, to see the model/actress had moved on to someone taller, darker and sipping on a drink as fruity as his hair looks. Not a problem though, tonight you will stick with bold flavors that capture your tongue… And heart.  Elysian Idiots Sauvin, the Ryan Gosling of beers- even if it’s not Oscar award winning, it’s still damn good.

I’d kick this thing off with an allusion to Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Animal Sanctuary, but any reference to South Park would just be too low brow for our audience. C’mon, what kind of digital rag mag is this? Big Al is actually Alejandro “Big Al” Brown, the president and head brewer of Big Al Brewing, and he is most definitely not wearing a neckerchief in the photos I’ve seen of him. Though someone should really bring the neckerchief back.

Big Al serves up six year-round brews and a couple seasonals from his South Seattle brewery. Distribution is to the greater Seattle area, and you can find Big Al in several Tacoma hangouts. The beer on tap at The Red Hot is Papa Charlie’s Pale, and judging by this flavor snapshot of Charlie, he liked to live the quiet life. Here’s the breakdown from the Big Al site:

Papa Charlie’s Pale Ale: A clean, enjoyable NW-style Pale Ale with herbal, spicy, and citrus-fruit hop flavors. Named in honor of Charles McElevy, the man who brought Craft Brewing to White Center.
Ingredients: Malt = Pale, Crystal 80L, Victory.
Hops = Nugget, Sterling, and Cascade.
Yeast = Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale
Specs: ABV = 4.2% O.G. = 1.047/11.7P IBU = 39

The IBU on this is 39, which is actually pretty standard (if you would like a comparison Sierra Nevada’s Pale is 37), but the bitterness seems a touch low. Maybe it’s the hop selection or portioning, or maybe this was an off batch…didn’t catch any of the spicy citrus, and just a touch of the herbal. Maybe Charlie is a tea drinker? The malts are standard too, but aren’t giving the beer enough body to make up for the hops’ shortcomings. A bit tangy, a bit sweet, but no personality.

Sorry Al. At least the Hop Villain seasonal looks intriguing!

*****

Derrick and I (Adam) hit up The Red Hot last night to pour more delicious amber liquid down our soup coolers. Sergio Leone’s  spaghetti western Once Upon a Time in the West was being projected for movie thursdays, so the already limited seating was, well limited. But standing has never detoured us from beer, we ordered our brews and enjoyed.

Speaking of enjoying, if you haven’t seen the movie, go check it out. It is pretty epic… also, they just don’t make them like they used to… see Claudia Cardinale. Now, back to beer. 

Personally I was delighted to see Diamond Knot IPA on tap. It’s a medium bodied IPA with a fantastic balance between the Columbus hops, citrus, dry taste and its perfectly drinkability. It’s not the slap in the face IPA that you can only have a thimble of, but rather the “I could have a few of these because I’m not driving and I’ve got nothing to do tomorrow” type of beers.  I love a cloudy beer and when the florescent beer signs radiate their soft magical light it diffracts nicely… aka looks cool when photographed. Oh and they taste nice too.

There was much discussion amongst other TRH goers about beer making processes, hops and all things beer, which I know nothing about. All I know is that some beers taste good, some don’t – which probably isn’t the best for a small town food critic, but alas that taste buds know what they like, and that would be the Diamond Knot IPA. I don’t see it too often in the South Sound, so get down to The Red Hot while it’s still on tap. Don’t drive through Lynnwood. It’s the Lakewood of the north.

Tacoma Drinks Washington Beers Week

While the rest of America celebrates National Margarita Day over salted rims and brightly colored straws, we raise a frothy mug of Washington beer in celebration of the fantastic breweries that call the Evergreen State home. The Red Hot and The Parkway Tavern are hosting a fantastic event this week designed to showcase the incredible offerings from our neighboring beer producers.

From now through Wednesday February 29th, both establishments will be pouring a wide range of Washington beers including such brewers as Wingman, Pike, Fish, Diamond Knot, Big Al, Harmon, Schooner Exact, Elysian, Snoqualmie, Boundary Bay, American, 7 Seas, and Black Raven Breweries. There will also be an unveiling of a new Chocolate Rye Stout – a collaboration of Wingman and Airways Brewing, and brewer nights at both establishments (check the Flier). Each patron will be given a card with brewers on it. When you buy a beer you get a stamp. A completed card earns a super stylish mini growler. C’mon you can do it! If you take into account the free space it’s only 19 pints. Just be careful around Carla at the Red Hot, she won’t put up with your crap.

For our first foray into this most excellent of celebrations, we will take a closer look at one of the few IPAs on our list, the Two Beers Evolutionary IPA.

Two Beers Brewing Co.

Two Beers is a small brewery with humble roots in Fremont (now with a brew space and tasting room in SoDo). The history of the brewery makes for a fun read, but suffice it to say that the place is still small, but growing. The Evolutionary IPA is not by any means the rarest of the Washington beers on The Red Hot’s board, as one can find it canned or bottled at any good local beer distributer, but I was in the mood for an IPA and this seemed as good a time as any to try it.

Two Beers produces 12 different styles, 7 seasonals and 5 year-round offerings including the Evolutionary IPA. The beer selection is pretty standard, which is probably a good move for a young brewery, but a few beers on the list stood out like the Heart of Darkness CDA – a Cascadian Dark Ale, or the SoDo Brown brewed with 7 different grains and only a single hop variety. We’ll have to keep our eyes fixed on the Red Hot tap list and let you know when these babies are available.

To the beer!

Evolutionary IPA

This IPA pours a nice reddish amber with a minimal head. Aroma is clean floral hops – not too flowery or grapefruity. The beer has an initial kick that all good IPAs should have, but tapers off quickly into a malty residual that gives it nice drinkability – I bought an entire growler, and could easily polish it off tonight. My assumptions were proven correct when I checked the website and saw that this was dry-hopped, something Washington brewers seem to do best. I didn’t predict the hop varieties though – this is brewed with Yakima Simcoe, Amarillo, and Centennial hops, then dry-hopped with more Simcoe and Columbus hops. But honestly, who could have identified THAT? This Guy?…the ability to identify hop varieties is true beer geekdom. I can only aspire to that *sigh*

The Evo IPA lacks body compared to some California IPAs and at 70 IBU probably won’t satisfy the palates of some hop fanatics out there, but it’s a well rounded crowd pleaser. A very solid Washington IPA I’d buy again.

The Wrap

Go be patriotic the best way you know how: drink local beer at the Red Hot or the Parkway tavern today. Don’t forget to get your card stamped! Only 6 days and 18 pints to go…

***

The Parkway Tavern…best beer selection in Tacoma. ’nuff said.

…

On Historical Landmarks Not So Historical

You know, I in good conscience could have ended the post there. The Parkway beer selection alone is good enough to make it a worthwhile destination. Even if the place had only one bathroom, wobbly tables, and a staff consisting of one Brett Michaels I would still consider it a wonderful stop along the Gritty City Express. Not long ago that was a frighteningly close description of this bar-in-a-house, but the Parkway has become so much more in just the past eight or nine years in which I’ve been privy to its existence. Once a grimy space-challenged room with few taps and low popcorn ceilings, the Parkway is now a shiny cathedral for hop worshippers to pay homage to the religion that is craft beer.

Oat Soda

The beer selection at the Parkway is fantastic. The rotation is usually host to more than a few excellent seasonal taps (I was delighted to see some of my favorite barley wines on this visit), some interesting imports, and a large selection of NW favorites. There are usually one or two beers on tap that have never before graced a Tacoma beer list, and It’s certainly a rare day that you will step into the Parkway and not see something new. The enormous gap between the Parkway and every other bar in Tacoma has been considerably lessened by the ever expanding tap list at The Red Hot, but I am always consistently surprised by the shear number of Amazing beers at The Parkway. This tap list is still tops in T Town. Don’t even mention the Alehouse. That place is nasty.

Food

I would call it “bar food” if not for that fact that in Parkway verbiage bar equals excellence, which this is not. This can just be called “food.” If it were examined completely out of context we might say it’s passable, but we’re holding this place to a higher standard. The cheeseburger dip is ok and the quesadilla is as good an alcohol sponge as any, but it’s just nothing special. Over the years I’ve had just about everything on that menu, and just about everything has the same eau de canola oil. Why Parkway? Why must you taunt us with such marvelous drink only to provide us with such humdrum eats? Everything else about this place is special, but the food just isn’t. If you find yourself three quarters of the way through a Great Divide Old Ruffian and need some food to help sop up the mess, go with the chicken quesadilla. If you’re sticking with the lighter drink get the corn.

Shindigs

In addition to simply being the purveyors of fabulous beer, the Parkway is also host to regular brewers nights and seasonal beer celebrations like the summer IPA festival. The events have become hugely popular affairs, and we definitely recommend getting here early to get a table.

The Wrap

Oh Parkway, let me count the ways:

1. Your beer selection is godly. F**k wine, Jesus would have turned water into beer had he visited the Parkway first.
2. You have embraced the bizarre in your wonderfully out of place zebra room. Was your interior designer chasing the dragon that day, or is there a deep seeded lust in you for the safari?
3. Shuffleboard. So much fun.
4. The badass cathedral ceilings and bar.
5. You events are rockin. Keep it up.
6. Big Buck Hunter
7. Your hipster bartender’s moustache, although not as impressive as it once was
8. The people that frequent the Parkway, including the very helpful folks we caught up with. Thanks guys for imbuing us with your immense Parkway knowledge.

***

As always, mention us and get…nothing! But corn is only $2

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