Dayton Brew Ha-Ha Blends Education, Libation, and Fermentation

Picture a science classroom with a large pot of water, held at a stable temperature, steaming away on a burner. Given supplies of malted grains, hops, and other ingredients, students are offered the opportunity to select a mixture of their own to steep, boil, and eventually ferment. With a set of basic instructions and the guidance of a mentor, the students proceed through the steps of bottling tasty concoctions of their own creation. Sounds like a dream class, right?

Due to personal liability concerns and pesky state & federal laws, such a lesson likely will not be part of the science curriculum at the Montessori School of Dayton anytime soon. 

 However, MSD will be opening its doors on January 31^st to the community for the 4^th-annual Dayton Brew Ha-Ha, the school’s now-annual craft beer fundraiser. Adult brewers from across the state of Ohio will be demonstrating their individual masteries of the brewing process.

“The Brew Ha-Ha contributes to the capital improvement fund and has contributed to much-needed upgrades such as a new gym floor, energy-efficient windows, and a new HVAC system,” said Kevin Gray, co-founder of the event, alpha beer writer at the Dayton City Paper, and parent of three students at MSD. “Also, you can drink beer in an elementary school!” 

Gray, along with two other MSD parents -- Brandy Gorham and Mike Taylor -- tri-chairs and coordinates the event. They see the Brew Ha-Ha as an opportunity for community members to mingle, sample, and learn about the worlds of craft brewing and Montessori education. “It’s fun to be able to describe beer to people and see their faces when they taste something new for the first time,” added Gorham. “I also enjoy the look on my friend’s faces when I tell them that my kid’s school is having a craft beer festival as a fundraiser, then being able to explain Montessori to them…that it’s not just a place where children go to ‘play’ all day. ” 

The Montessori education model revolves around “discovery-based” lessons where students are offered a personal choice of subject matter, an array of materials, and the freedom to explore and create within a broad set of boundaries. There are no objective letter grades and students learn at their own pace. Assessment is based on accomplishment and a student’s demonstration of skills and maturity. 

 “For example,” proudly explained Gorham, “my son is gifted in math. He is learning algebra in fourth grade, but when he started first grade, he was behind in reading, so they provided him a tutor. Now he reads at a fifth or sixth grade level. They also teach very concretely. Math is taught [to young children] by working with beads and understanding physically how it works, not just writing numbers on paper…toddlers use items from shelves [in their lessons] from left to right and top to bottom, which prepares them for reading.” 

MSD was seeking a fundraising opportunity for the aforementioned improvements to the facility, so parents at the school followed the spirit of their childrens’ classroom experience, where collaboration and common interest so often lead to inspiration.   

Why something beer-themed? Montessori education has more in common with craft brewing than it might initially seem. As anyone who’s ever stood over a brew kettle can tell you, craft brewers follow a similar learning-by-doing process as they’re honing personal techniques and building beermaking skills. (Traditional definitions of “maturity,” however, are typically considered gauche among brewers.) 

“There are a lot of craft beer geek parents at the school,” Gray related. “In late 2011, some likeminded parents and the school administrators decided to try our hands at a beer tasting. It came together in about 8 weeks and we held [the first Brew Ha-Ha] in January 2012. Although the first one was modest, [everyone had] a lot of fun and it was well received by the community. Attendance has steadily increased and last year, we saw our first sell-out crowd.”

While the somewhat mischievous notion of legally sampling beers in a school setting undoubtedly adds to the appeal of the event, the real draw is the beer. “We’ve always focused on regional beers…the first two years, we featured beers from the Great Lake states. [We invited brewers] from Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Indiana,” said Gray. “Last year, we realized that the Ohio market was so strong that we could pit it against the legendary MI market and had our first Ohio vs. Michigan showdown.”

The continued explosion of the region’s craft brewing gave the Brew Ha-Ha crew the opportunity to score a special distinction. The 4^th Annual Brew Ha-Ha is the first beer festival in the Buckeye State to feature an All-Ohio lineup of breweries. “The state now has about 103 breweries, and we’ll be featuring 40 of them,” Gray added. “The Miami Valley breweries will be there, and many are reserving or brewing up special beers for the event. We are also excited to feature a number of breweries from around the state that aren't readily available in Dayton.”

Over 40 craft brewers will be participating in this year’s tasting, including Dayton-area brewers Carillon Brewing Company, Dayton Brewing Company, Fifth Street Brewpub, Eudora, Hairless Hare, Lock 27, Lucky Star, Star City, Toxic Brew Company, Warped Wing, and Yellow Spring Brewery. 

One of the pleasantly unique elements of the event was initiated last year and expanded upon this year is the Brew Ha-Ha’s focus on education for craft beer newbies. “I try to remember how intimidated I felt when I first started learning about craft beer,” mused Taylor as he explained the event’s ambassador program, “The ambassador looks for people who seem confused or don't know what to try next. We engage them in conversation to find out what they like and direct them to another selection or introduce them to a new style they may have never tried. I still get a kick out of seeing people try new things and really enjoying the recommendation.” This year, the ambassadors will provide guides to the event broken down by beer flavor profile, so attendees who find a quaff they truly enjoy will be able to easily locate other selections which may tickle their fancy.

In addition, Gray uses his near-encyclopedic knowledge of beer to get the other parent volunteers up to speed on what they’ll be pouring. “I have [the volunteers] try a representative sample of the styles of beer we'll be serving and I give them some information about the beer styles, process, etc. I run through the full list…so that the servers can talk about the beers they are pouring and can recommend other beers.” The parental volunteers are then paired with representatives from the event’s sponsors, which are all well-known Dayton craft beer supporters.

Dayton’s largest local homebrew club, The Dayton Region Amateur Fermentation Technologists (DRAFT), also gets in on the act. DRAFT volunteers talk with attendees about the brewing process and act as an avenue for prospective homebrewers to get more information. BrewTensils, the area's largest homebrew shop, created “clonebrew” recipes for homebrewers to replicate some of the event’s featured beers.

While the number of attendees has grown each year, ticket sales are capped at 400 to maintain the boutique feel of the event and to allow attendees to converse with the ambassadors and learn from the representatives of the various brewing operations. “I think this level of knowledge and interaction has set us apart from many of the other massive beer tasting events,” Taylor said with a smile. “I think our attention to detail, supporting local, and providing craft beers that are accessible here in Dayton [and beyond] makes me feel proud. We have worked hard to make our event a ‘must attend,’ and I think we've been successful.”

All three chairs acknowledged the challenges of trying to put together a large event like this are magnified because the small organizing team have their other full time work and familial responsibilities, especially right after the holidays. “Kevin and I used to do everything,” Taylor explained, “But now we’ve learned you need lots of help. The event has grown from 167 people to nearly 425 last year. We now coordinate 45-50 volunteers, sponsor table volunteers and all the various vendors and distributors. With so many Ohio breweries self-distributing, this has added a new level of coordination, but in the end I think it will all be worth it to bring 40 Ohio breweries together in one location.” Gorham added, “I’ve been a volunteer for the event ever since the first year, and every year my responsibilities have increased.  Last year I noticed that the guys were struggling to get everything done, so I volunteered to help take on some of the burden on as well,” said Gorham, “I’m an engineer, so my strength is in project management. I also ensure that we are meeting as a committee on a regular basis.  Nothing like a meeting to make sure we all have our action items done from the last one!”

Even though the kids at the school are not directly involved with the event, they find other ways to participate. “They love the idea [of the Brew Ha-Ha] but are bummed that they can't participate in some way,” said Taylor. “We give them small tasks like making pretzel necklaces and helping to wash all the tasting glasses, which we hope makes them feel somewhat involved.” Gray says that his three kids love the event and get excited every year. “We usually have the gym set up Thursday or Friday before the event and it's exciting to hear my kids come home and tell me about how it looks.” Gorham puts on the volunteers’ after-party, which her two kids take great pleasure in “hosting.” “Any volunteers that are interested show up for some social time.  We all talk about the event and share what went well.  My kids love having everyone over to ‘their’ house.”

Tickets for the event are $35 – which includes admission to the event, a half-pint tasting glass, and ten tasting tickets. Taylor, who heads up the publicity and promotions for the event, is quite pleased by the Brew Ha-Ha’s expansion. “We started with ten sponsors and a 50/50 raffle which has evolved into 15 sponsors, a [considerably larger] silent auction and, new this year, games of chance -- a spin to win cash game and a beer bottle ring toss.”  Fresh pizza by the slice will be made on-site by Spinoza’s. During the last hour of the event, MSD will be providing complimentary coffee and desserts. Bottle sales and growler fills will also be available at this time. 

The Montessori School of Dayton is located at 2900 Acosta Street, Kettering. For more information about the event or to purchase tickets, go to the Dayton Brew Ha-Ha website at http://brewhahadayton.com/

This story also appears in the Dayton City Paper.

Red Roost Tavern -- The Cincinnati Hyatt's new concept

The Cincinnati Hyatt Regency hotel is in the process of a $20 million makeover. Like many of Hyatt’s other properties, the upscale hotel at 5th and Elm is going for sleeker, more modern décor. That momentum includes the former Champs sports bar space, now converted into the Red Roost Tavern, a modern-themed “farm to table” style restaurant. Earlier this week, the Hyatt hosted a “blogger dinner” for several members of the Queen City’s online writing community.

First impressions walking into Red Roost? Gone are the neon signs, bright colors and pub grub from the old Champs. In its place are cleaner lines in greys and earth tones. Some of the accents and tabletops are repurposed from the local area. For instance, the paneling wrapping the entranceway columns are from a nearby old barn. The space is split roughly in half between the bar and restaurant sections. The bar section is still, in their words, “media friendly” with plenty of TVs, but the vibe is considerably more low-key. The dining area features an open kitchen line at all three meals and comfortable seating. The private dining area is still currently without its walls (perhaps an unintentional tribute to Les Nessmann?).

Reclaimed wood tabletop. (Photo courtesy Hyatt Regency Cincinnati)

According to Meghann Naveau, account exec at Fahlgren-Mortine -- the public relations firm handling the opening of the restaurant, “More than two dozen farms, distilleries and purveyors throughout Ohio and Northern Kentucky supply the restaurant with hormone-free meats, organic produce and high-quality beer and spirits.”

The restaurant incorporates some local flair into its offerings. Produce comes from Carriage House Farm in North Bend, OH; cheeses from Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese in Austin, KY, Boone Creek Creamery in Lexington, KY, Trader’s Point Creamery in Zionsville, Indiana, Swiss Connection Cheese in Clay City, IN, Capriole Cheese in Greenville, IN, Lake Erie Creamery in Cleveland; charcuterie meats from Smoking Goose in Indianapolis; and gelato & ice cream from Madisono’s in Cincinnati. The beverage list gives a nod to local breweries. Beers from Cincinnati’s Mad Tree, Mt. Carmel, Rivertown, and Christian Moerlein breweries, Lexington Brewery (makers of Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale), and Cleveland’s Great Lakes and Fat Head breweries all make the beer list. Not all of the ingredients and produce are sourced locally. (I don’t think we have a local source for halibut and quinoa!)

On the dinner menu, soups and salads are $6-7. Flatbreads, appetizers, and vegetarian entrees range from $5-15. Meat-centric entrees go from a free-range chicken at $22 to the grass-fed ribeye at $38.

(Photo courtesy Hyatt Regency Cincinnati)

The restaurant’s tagline is “Thoughtfully sourced, carefully served,” so I was interested to discover the concoctions they chose for this preview. In what I assume was an attempt to stick with the “local flavor” theme, our six small-plate courses were paired with the local draft beers instead of wines. I’ve got nothing against a beer-pairing dinner. Done properly, well-paired beer can be just as good with food. It does, however, take a certain amount of care – and a fairly extensive beer selection – to get everything right. There are 10 beers on tap (six were the local drafts we had with dinner) and 25 bottled beers. The wine list includes 28 selections available by the glass or bottle, none of which are from local wineries.

Our first course was a crab cake served with a slaw and honey-chili mayo, paired with Rivertown Jenneke Belgian Blonde Ale. The crab cake was quite flavorful and was mostly crab meat, in stark opposition to the bready mess many “crab cakes” become. The blonde ale was a good pairing – since the honey flavors in the blonde ale played off the honey in the mayo. This pairing was, for me, the highlight.

Dining room at Red Roost (Photo courtesy Hyatt Regency Cincinnati)

Next up was a sweet corn soup finished with a smoked tomato jam paired with a Mt. Carmel nut brown ale. The soup was sweet and straightforward. The tomato jam gave the soup some depth. The beer pairing didn’t work as well as I expected. The sweetness of the soup turned what would have been a slightly sweet beer quite bitter.

[Side note: At this point, I asked the sous chef -- who had been coming out to describe each course – how he arrived at the various food and beer pairings. He stated that he hadn’t been involved in the selections and that the managers had made the decisions. I asked one of the managers who was there, and he gave an answer about “the flavor profile meshing with the food” without giving many specifics.]

The third course was a quinoa salad with summer squash, walnuts, and an herb vinaigrette with a Rivertown Helles Lager. The salad was subtly flavored – and the vinaigrette didn’t really do anything to help with the beer’s flavor, which turned very sharp together. Salad courses are always the toughest to pair.

At this point, we got a “palate cleanser” of limóncello made in Columbus. While I like Limóncello as an after dinner drink sometimes, it seemed a bit odd here. Rather than cleansing my palate, it coated it in cream and alcohol. Again, I understand the “local” angle – but forcing an after-dinner drink in the middle of a meal felt a bit odd.

The fourth course was a take on “fish and chips” – with a piece of halibut filet and fried elephant garlic chips, served with a malt vinegar reduction. This was paired with the Mad Tree Psychopathy IPA. Disappointing. My fish was over-seared and extremely dry. The chips were basically burnt. The IPA, solid enough on its own, was done no favors by those flavors.

Fifth was a slow-roasted pork tenderloin with a port cherry reduction paired with a Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. The cherry reduction connected nicely with what is usually not one of my favorite beers. The pork, on the other hand, was fairly tough and dry. Not so dry as the halibut, but still overdone. The beer at least made the pork palatable. (Also, one of the managers made sure we knew that they’d swapped the beers for courses 4 and 5 right before the meal after “going back and forth on that all day.” The pairing they went does make more sense, but I wish they'd been a little more thoughtful with the pairings instead of just shoehorning the local selections.)

Finally, we had an organic corn ice cream with salted caramel sauce from Madisono’s with a Rivertown blueberry lager. The ice cream was delicious. The blueberry lager was good. Together? It just didn’t click.

I will give high marks to the service. The wait staff was extremely pleasant and efficient, and they provided a good team approach to the meal. The presentation was attractive and the atmosphere was good. I can’t, however, recommend this place for spending your “going out” money – at least not as the menu currently stands. (Since the menu is seasonal, perhaps they’ll change it up soon.) The current concept – from meal selections to décor – felt like an easily duplicated frame with a few accents thrown in to get a “locally sourced” tag -- something that I could see conceivably ending up at other Hyatt locations. I imagine, at this stage, they’re still getting the kinks worked out in the kitchen and making more connections with local vendors. There’s room for really positive evolution in those areas.

Flights of Fancy

I love doing flights of almost anything. A “flight” usually refers to a set of small samples of wine, but can be beer, whiskey, cola, orange juice, coffee…you get the idea. In general, I differentiate “doing a flight” from a “tasting” since there’s almost always a fun, social aspect involved.  Comparing notes with your slightly-buzzed nearest and dearest across a table strewn with glassware is good times, yo. 

I returned recently from a vacation in Oregon (And there will be future column inches devoted to the delicious wines of the Willamette Valley. Oh yes…). As a day in Portland drew to a close, I realized I’d downed four wildly different sets of liquid tapas:

Flight #1 – The Morning Meditation

After shaking off the previous evening’s revelry, the Sweet Partner in Crime and I left our hotel (the Monaco…a cool place!) for a day-long meander around the city. While Portland has a world-class public transportation system (in the eyes of practically everyone except dillweeds like Ohio’s Governor John Kasich and U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot), the city is eminently walkable. Our plan was to have a look around Old Town and buzz through Chinatown for some lunch before heading over to the Pearl District.

Lan Su Chinese Garden, Portland

After an intentionally aimless stroll, we turned a corner on the edge of Chinatown and came upon the Lan Su Chinese Garden. Portland is best known for the Rose Garden and the adjacent Japanese Garden – but we’d read (correctly) that the Chinese Garden was also not to be missed. From the outside, one wouldn’t know just how peaceful and beautiful this place plopped in the middle of a major city was. On one corner of the garden stands the tea house. Since lunchtime was still a bit away, we stopped in to discover that they offer flights of loose leaf teas. Since I had little notion of good tea beyond Celestial Seasonings, I was intrigued.

Ready for takeoff.

Careful now...careful...

Our server, Martin, was very patient and helpful as he explained to us the differences between the various offerings. We opted for a flight of three “old growth” teas – two green teas from different mountain regions in China and a black tea from Vietnam. I drink a fair amount of “normal” tea. I’d never thought much beyond a basic “tea” flavor – and I’d never really associated terroir with tea. But there it was. The flavors of the Chinese teas were quite different – one was earthier, the other a bit more tannic. And the black tea was another beast altogether.

More important was the preparation ritual, which I clumsily attempted to emulate. Quiet, contemplative, peaceful – looking out across lovely intricate patterns of water and stone – we lost ourselves in tea and serenity for over an hour. Marvelous.

(We ended up checking three small ziplocs of the leftover loose tea. We were half-expecting those aromatic little packets to be confiscated by the TSA, but they made it home.)

Flight #2 – Magnificent Midday Mold

Our walk resumed, our delicious Chinatown lunch was at a pan-Asian bistro called Ping. I had a fabulous kuaytiaw pet pha lo (a Thai-Chinese combo of a duck leg stewed in mushroom broth over fat fresh noodles). The SPinC enjoyed her yam yai (“big salad” in Thai). The food was delicious, but I was mesmerized by the discovery that Ping offered flights of shochu, which I’d always wanted to try.

Shochu is a Japanese alcoholic beverage. Like sake, it’s clear and can be served hot or cold. That’s where the similarities end. Sake is generally made from rice, is brewed in a similar process to beer, and is usually around 13-15% alcohol.

"I've smelled moldier in my sock drawer!"

Shochu can be made from basically any substance that contains convertible starch – rice (including leftover grain from sake production), buckwheat, sweet potatoes, molasses, potatoes, and so on. The raw material is steeped in water, steamed, and cooled. The resulting glop is treated with a mold called koji. The koji breaks the starches down into fermentable sugars. After several days of fermentation, the product is distilled, producing clear, 50-ish proof liquor with a distinct flavor.

I did a flight of three shochu: one made from rice, another from buckwheat, and a third from molasses. (I think the idea of a moldy drink scared the SPinC.) How were they? None of them will replace wine in my beverage rotation anytime soon. I did like the one from molasses, which maintained a bit of that blackstrap sweetness. Next time I’ll try the sweet potato shochu. It was still a little early in the day with the Pearl’s breweries still in front of us.

Flight #3 – Beer! At last, Beer!

We hoped to hit the Pearl’s “Brewery Blocks” for afternoon flights of local beers. As my beer drinkers know, there’s some good beer from Oregon. Alas, we discovered that, like the Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, “Brewery Blocks” now apparently refers to the former tenants of those buildings. The former brewery spaces are now largely retail spaces and upscale condos. We went looking for ales. We found Anthropologie.This gentrification was nicely done, mind you – but fantasies of little beer tasting rooms were dampened.

Slightly disheartened, we headed back towards the Monaco. Rounding a corner on our circuitous route, we saw a bar-front for “Tugboat Brewing Company,” but our bubbles burst as we discovered the door locked. Frustrated, we turned around and – to our joy and relief – saw a sign for “Bailey’s Taproom” directly across the street. With a giant flatscreen menu of 20 Oregonian beers on tap, we’d struck gold. We shared a flight – a couple of IPAs, a cask bitter, a hefeweizen, and a framboise. Since we’d been doing a limited-carb diet leading up to the vacation, these were the first beers we’d had in a month. I might have given thumbs up to an Old Style at this point. They just tasted GOOD.

Beer. Glorious Beer.

Flight #4 – The Plan of Attack Comes Into Focus

Before we headed off to dinner at a highly-recommended-but-ultimately-disappointing meal at a Peruvian place, we stopped at Oregon Wines on Broadway, a wine store and tasting. Wine tasting was heavily on the agenda for the remainder of the trip. We had names of a few places from friends and travel guides, but we weren’t as familiar with the geography, which winery specialized in what style of pinot noir, etc. Eager to learn, we bellied up to the tasting bar and our tastress Emily (who sported some of the most stylish body art you’ll ever see) lined up six Oregon pinots for us from producers large and small.

This sloth loves Oregon pinot. Really.

Emily explained (while cracking us up repeatedly) how Oregon wines were more terroir-driven than other domestics. Unlike California’s more consistent weather, Oregon’s changes markedly from year to year. A very warm year like 2009 leads to noticeably fuller and rounder wines than more subtle flavors of a cooler year like 2010 from the same vineyard. (How Euro!) Also, Oregon’s soil varies greatly – from clay to sediment to volcanic ash, all of which can sometimes be found in the same field of grapes. We picked out a couple of samples we particularly liked for flavor and structure -- “Patricia Green” and “Libra.” Emily gave us a map of the Willamette Valley and said, “If you like those – try these!” Within a few minutes, our itinerary was fleshed out. The adventure began…

Cincinnati Bigfoot Sighting

From my pal Danny Gold at Party Source:

This St. Patrick’s Day, we are gathering up our shillelaghs to squash the famed Sasquatch, known as Bigfoot. Sierra Nevada has come out with some amazing beers and this year’s release of Bigfoot has left a big impression on us and we want to share it with you. Come join us March 17th, as we pass out a bit of gold from our Kegerator Bigfoot style. We’re passing out samples of the 2009 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot for $ .50 and growlers for $8.99 (normally $16.99). Join us as we set up shop at eQ here at The Party Source from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm or until we run out of this impressive release.

Bigfoot is tasty stuff...

Throwing the Maine Breaker

A shorter sprout of the Vine this week, as I’m finally starting to catch up at work and otherwise after our trip Down East in Maine. I’d once crossed the border of Maine briefly several years ago to be able to say that I’d set foot in the state (I’m missing only North Dakota in the Lower 48). This time around, I took my time, spent over a week there, and our vacation was nothing short of wonderful. To wit:



But this isn’t a blog for ramblings about my vacation. (Although if you want to see more pictures from the trip, go here.) Needless to say, I didn’t get a chance to do my weekly tastings to share with you. I do, however, have a few quick notes:

* Since we find ourselves personally panicked and paralyzed if we’re not able to travel with wine, we made sure that we picked up provisions along the way (especially with the new FAA “regulations” about liquids and such on planes). A must-stop if you’re ever in Portland, Maine: “Old Port Wine Merchant.” Excellent selections, great prices, and the proprietor, Jacques, is an absolute hoot.

* Wines we enjoyed on this trip, all falling into the Naked Vine Official Price Range: Borsao Rioja Tempranillo 2003, Domaine de la Mordoree Cotes-du-Rhone 2004, “Our Daily Red” 2005 (which is a very temperamental wine from Nevada, varying wildly from bottle to bottle), “Goats Do Roam” 2003 (South African), and Jacob’s Creek Shiraz 2004. All of these were evening wines, or stuff we had with various snacks. I didn’t do tasting notes, but they were all friendly and sluggable.

* “Local wineries” in Maine. I didn’t expect anything along that line – Maine is best known for microbrewed beer (more on that in a minute). Two stood out. “Sow’s Ear Winery” in Brookville – we discovered this place while driving down to Stonington. They make fruit wines there – and I normally find fruit wines pretty repulsive. However, Sow’s Ear does dry fruit wines, rather than the syrup you’ll get at many places. The best of the bunch, in my opinion, was a dry white made from rhubarb and a surprisingly tasty blueberry wine. He also did a traditional sparkling wine with the rhubarb, which had a unique nutty, earthy flavor I enjoyed a great deal. When we pulled up, the proprietor was sitting on his porch, barefoot, reading. My kind of place.

Also, “Sweet Pea’s Farm” in Bar Harbor. Sweet Pea was, apparently, a very lovable cow. These Bar Harbor Cellars wines are also quite friendly, and relatively inexpensive. The winemaker (also associated with Atlantic Brewing Company) planted his vines a few years ago – but decided that they weren’t ready yet. Harvesting grapes too early in the life of a vine is the death of many a batch of wine. Many people who get into winemaking try to rush the process initially, so the quality suffers. This winery is doing it right. They made several very decent wines made from imported grapes, but the star of their current selections was an apple wine – but one that was well-balanced after being aged for two years. It reminded me strongly of a good Riesling.

* Microbrews. Mainers love their beer (and few things go better with fresh lobster) – and they do a great job making their own. There are several microbrewed beers from Maine that are available outside that corner of the country. If you have a chance to pick up some Shipyard IPA, Atlantic Brewing Company’s Real Ale or Blueberry Ale (trust me on the blueberry – it doesn’t taste like blueberries, and it makes a great version of a black and tan with Guinness called a “black and blue”), Geary’s Autumn Ale or Stone Coast’s “Knuckleball Bock,” you’ll be doing yourself a favor. And speaking of microbreweries…

* Pubquest. Possibly one of the most useful websites I’ve run across in awhile. (Hat tip to Vine Reader John E. of Cincinnati, whom we had dinner with in Maine. His wife made the world’s best seafood stew.) Go to the website – select your city, and the site will give you locations, maps, and links to all of the brewpubs in the surrounding area. Need a microbrew in Hastings, Nebraska? Pubquest will lead you to “Murphy’s Wagon Wheel.” You get the idea. An absolute must-add to your favorites.

And seafood’s awfully darned good when it’s just pulled out of the bay.

More wine recommendations next time around.

Until next time…keep your shell on…