Boulder Kinda Blue

My buds at ABBEY decided to take the Blueberry concept to a new level.  Where the defacto idea that many bars rely on is to throw some blueberries into the bottom of a glass filled with a blueberry beer to add a flair to the fruity brew.  Throwing blueberries into a Randall and infusing the beer with fresh blueberries is new to me and I was excited to try it.

http://www.boulderbeer.com/

Now, where this idea really benefits is that Boulder Brewing's offering is much lighter and drier than most blueberry beers and adding fresh, natural flavors really make more sense in this type of beer than in the heavier Kool Aid versions.  

If you are not already familiar with the label, the Boulder Brewing Kinda Blue is a recently-released product, premiering just last year.  This is the 10th beer in the brewery's Looking Glass Series, which represent slightly "larger" beers than their traditional core line that the brewery began with.  

On the Randall, the flavor of blueberry intensifies in much the same way as the addition of hops adds to a beer infused the same way.  It gives it a freshness that is simply impossible to gain straight out of the keg.  In much the same way that you could ask "why not just have a hoppier beer" the question is answered in much the same way.  The additional berry flavor is certainly a welcome addition, but to simply add more blueberry to the beer at the brewery would not have the same effect.  As a blueberry beer, I dig it.  As a Randalled blueberry beer, I really dig it!

  

A Discussion with Bob Sylvester - Saint Somewhere

Any whiskey drinker would leap at the opportunity to travel back in time to sit with Mr. Jack Daniels himself not long after he discovered his river/cave, began making his unrivaled Tennessee Whiskey, and share a glass of his product with him.  Any wine drinker would love to have walked the Tignanello fields with Piero Antinori and sampled him famed wine when it was in its infancy.

I recently had a chance to sit with a man who could one day reach fame and fortune on the backs of his Belgian-inspired brews, Mr. Bob Sylvester of Saint Somewhere Brewing.

This lucky opportunity came on a whim as I was leaving Dunedin, Florida and headed to a client in Tampa when I saw a check-in on facebook from Bob.  The brewery was closed this day and I figured I'd ask if he was going to be there for a bit.  As it turns out, he was just doing a couple of things to catch up after a busy week of brewing and invited me to come on over.  I had never actually been to the brewery, although I had met Bob several times and carried all of his beers in my ABBEY ownership days.  This being the case,  I was just excited to see the brewery itself and say hi to the man himself.

Saint Somewhere is located in Tarpon Springs, Florida, a beautiful town sitting on the west coast of the state and home of the famous "spongdocks."  The brewery itself has been around for a few years, but their line of brews is consistently on my go-to list.  To describe their beer, the description on their website puts it best - "Saint Somewhere Brewing Company is a brewer of traditional Belgian style Ales.  We are small batch brewery, using only the finest ingredients available.  Belgium malt and wheat, whole noble hops and open fermentation add to the complexity of our ales.  Our beers are unfiltered and re-fermented in the bottle.  We brew simply and authentically, the way beer was brewed 100 years ago."

As for the Saint Somewhere brews:

Saison Athene is a 7.5% Farmhouse Ale which was the first I was ever able to try.  We carried it in the 750 ml bottle when I owned ABBEY and it gained a serious cult following.  The wonderful thing about this beer was that it appealed to wine drinkers as well as beer drinkers with its crisp apple aromas and dry finish.  Every time I go back to his one, I'm reminded of those days and it just makes me smile.

Lectio Divina was the much-anticipated second offering to come on-board and once again was a smash at ABBEY.  An 8% Strong Pale Ale and slightly darker in color than the Saison, this one offers a little more dark fruit with a ton of additional complexity as the beer warms in the glass.  Another great offering that did not disappoint.

Pays du Soleil was the last one to be released and I was lucky enough to have this one straight off the tank during this visit.  A nice, funky 8% Belgian Dubbel, the Pays du Soleil just blows you away with crazy complexity, fruit tartness, and a balanced yeastiness.  Off the tank, hanging with the brewer, weather was great, birds were chirping - you get the point.

While we were enjoying our glasses of Pays and sitting in Bob's office, he explained something to me that I had not known in all these years serving his brew, but that is endlessly fascinating.  Apparently the labels to his beers, which are beautiful in their detail, we actually used but the state of Florida to bring visitors to the state.  While I had always seen these labels as fantastical and Tolkien-ish, they are actually depicting scenes that are taking place at springs in Florida.  A whole new perspective that perfectly ties the beer to this locale and a note that I wish was more common in knowledge.  The story itself is enough to sell more of this brew!

If you are ever in the area, please take time to visit the brewery and see what hands-on means.  How Bob has time to do all he does, I have no idea.  I'm just glad he does.



St. Somewhere Brewery
1441 Savannah Avenue, Unit E
Tarpon Springs, FL 34689
ph:  813-503-6181 

Lazy Magnolia Event at Ella's Americana Folk Art Cafe

So sometimes you get to work an event at a place that you would just as soon be at anyway.  Of course, in the lucky instances you have to perform, buuuuuuuut let's just say it ain't really work when you can have a Vegan Bloody Mary while your performing.  In this case, the locale in question is my personal favorite place in Florida, my beloved Ella's.www.ellasfolkartcafe.com/

Now with this particular Renegade being a "pescetarian," it hurts to see a Bloody Mary walk out garnished with an actual bbq rib and not be able to enjoy that smoky goodness.  It hurts equally bad to watch a plate of Chicken and Waffles (see enclosed HILARIOUS scene, only if you are not too P.C.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDJch1iaiGw  walk by and not be able to sink my teeth into it.  BUT, this guy has decided to stay away from the meat no matter how tempting it may be and I'm a slightly thinner man for it.......  

Ella's was kind enough to bring in a brew from Lazy Magnolia that, for some reason unbeknownst to me, is not currently available in the Tampa market, the Lazy Magnolia Jefferson Stout.  I brought down four kegs for them of this sweet potato enhanced stout.  They also put on the Southern Pecan, so we had two of their taps dedicated to Lazy Magnolia, which was very kind of them.  The brews go well with their theme, so the interest was high as I sampled out the Southern Pecan for those who walked outside to share some brew with  me on this windy afternoon.

For lunch,  I of course had the Catfish with greens and cheese grits.  Can't get enough of catfish lately and my whiskered friends did not disappoint at Ella's.  I can always judge how good a fish is with how little additional flavoring it needs.  For my money,  I will always add some pepper vinegar even before I touch the fish, but if I have to go no further, that is money.  Needless to say, I did not need to add anything else to the filet and left my plate scraped clean.  That with a side of Jefferson Stout and Todd's a happy man.

The folks at Ella's have always been good to me.  Stephanie, who was tending bar today, was exceptionally cool and I marveled at how calm she was under pressure.  This place gets packed and the demands on the bartender is insane with a massive amount of great classic cocktails on their menu.

The crowd at Ella's is also always full of a great and eclectic mix of people.  It reminds me of my all-time favorite spot, Dinosaur BBQ in Syracuse, where you can find a biker sitting next to a nun sitting next to a dude in a suit.  The food transcends common walls we build around ourselves and for a little bit we get to see what humans are capable of when they are not busy hating each other.  Makes me smile just thinking about it.

The long and short of it is - if you are in the Tampa area and do not visit Ella's, well you're just letting the best in life pass you by........