the unequivocal notion

Aftermath Imperial I.P.A.

From Seattle's Hale's Ales Brewery.

NY Times on booze and beer

Just in time for those summer parties.

• Bittman on rethinking the cocktail.
• Cellaring your beer. This is something that I just learned about this past fall, I now have several beers I'm holding on to for a couple of years before popping the cap.
• Summer drinks, by the pitcher.
• Break out that blender. Drinks are going in the blender again w/ several recipes.
• Zombie Punch, it'll knock ya down. Also Beachbum Berry's Zombie.
• Robert Harris "Against Moderation". Definitely an interesting read.

2008 Mountain Brewer's Beer Fest in Idaho Falls

Another year, another Mountain Brewer's Beer Fest to put in the books. Good times... although this year was definitely the coldest (and damn that never ending wind!) that we've ever endured out there, it was still a really good time.

Got to meet up with some fellow Idaho bloggers and drink some mighty fine brews; what more could you want in a weekend?

More pics down below.

Idaho beer festival updates

Sadly; Michael Deeds reported last week in the Idaho Statesman that the Old Boise Brewers Beer Festival has been canceled this year because "... a slow economy, too-few sponsors and the lack of a suitable location". Sad news indeed for Boise imbibers -- but all hope isn't lost for good, they are looking to put it on in '09. We had a great time last year, although last year we were pretty beat after visiting The Reef mid-festival and then heading to the Front Door to close it out.

Not that Boise doesn't have a second, smaller, if not more wacky option. New Belgium Brewery's Tour de Fat will be riding (literally) into town on August 23rd. Looks like you can pick yourself up your very own New Belgium Brewery Fat Tire bike for $500.

But of course, the granddaddy of the Idaho beer festivals, The Mountain Brewers' Beer Festival in Idaho Falls is of course a green light for next weekend the 7th of June. The biggest beer festival in Idaho, The Mountain Brewers' Beer Festival has hundreds of beers from over 80 breweries this year. We've always had a good time at this festival. And for those of you that like to hang around these 'tubes, you're bound to see some of the guys from 43rd State Blues. $20 bucks for all-you-can-drink northwest brews for 6 hours. It's a long trek from the Valley to Idaho Falls, but it's worth it.

And you can't forget, with all three of these festivals, not only do you get to have a good time drinking with your fellow brew lovers, but they are all benefits for various local charities.

Updated

Boise Weekly has a story about the Mountain Brewers Beer Festival in Idaho Falls this weekend.

An Arrogant Bastard on the patio

And no, it wasn't me*.

I've had my fair share of Arrogant Bastard Ales over time, but I've just been getting into this "Oaked" version recently. While I do enjoy Arrogant Bastard, it has never been one of my favorites; there is just something about the oaked version that is really getting me.

As you can probably guess, the oaked version is the same as the regular only aged with American oak wood chips -- and it does change the flavor profile enough for me that I think it is outstanding. And after winning an A+ "World Class" rating from the Bros at Beer Advocate, I'd say that I'm in good company.

On that note, I'm just glad that the weather has finally gotten agreeable enough to be able to sit on the patio, enjoy the fresh air, imbibe a delicious brew and catch up on some reading. Speaking of reading, and speaking of "arrogant".

*beer law dictates that a corny joke must be used when speaking of Arrogant Bastard Ale.

Raise your glass and cheers!

Be it a pint, goblet, pilsner.

Fill 'er to the brim and toast the 75th anniversary of the modification of the Volstead Act on April 7th, 1933 which allowed beer as the only alcoholic beverage in the United States.

The failed social experiment known as "Prohibition" would come crashing down in December of the same year.

If you happen to be in Pocatello you can catch some 10 cent glasses of Portneuf Valley Brewing's new Ligertown Lager. I haven't heard about any brew-centric events in Boise or Nampa... but who knows.

Patrick Orr in the Idaho Statesman has has some back story and how prohibition affected Idaho.

Speaking of... Yesterday residents of South Carolina were allowed to buy beer and wine for the first time ever on a Sunday.

Stores sell beer, wine for the first time on Sundays

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - For the first time in Columbia, stores were able to sell beer and wine on Sundays. Some people didn't waste anytime getting in line to buy.

"You might want to sit back, watch a game or something and drink a nice cold one. Sales will be picking up," said Dennis Best.

I also find it mildly amusing that the bar with the best beer selection in Nampa is "The Doghouse" -- and it is in a guy's basement.

Updated

Serephin of 43rd State Blues fame made it to Portneuf Brewery today for some 10 cent brews...

Brat and brew pic goodness down below.

New local beer blog

Patrick Orr of the Idaho Statesman has started The Beer Nut, a blog about beer on the Idaho Statesman's Voices website.

Weekend Tunes

St. Patty's day edition. It's The Pogues and "If I Should Fall from Grace with God"

My wife's family has quite a bit of Irish in 'em so they like to really throw down come St. Patrick's Day weekend. Which is fine by me, lots o' Guinness, Corned Beef and Cabbage, Jameson and other assorted goodies.

Firehouse Sports Pub in Nampa

My wife and I along with some friends went last week to check out one of Nampa's newer imbibing locations; Firehouse Sports Pub located at Midland and Caldwell Blvd, in the old Chicago Connection building. Sadly, Chicago Connection took their pizza ovens with them, because that is the only thing that the Firehouse needs -- some good food.

The Firehouse is a nice clean, non-smoking sports bar, and it is exactly just what you'd expect from a sports bar -- flat screen TVs (in HD none the less) hang on nearly every corner, there are two pool tables, two dart machines and various other video games located throughout. The beer selection is pretty decent for a Nampa bar, it's got a full bar, your basic domestics, and some of the larger domestic pseudo-micros. Which, I won't complain about at all, it's a sports bar after all -- we went through several pitchers of Coors Light ourselves. Without attracting the ire of the beer police, I have to say their Coors Light was served up the best in Nampa. The glasses seemed pulled from a tank of liquid nitrogen and the pitchers had the ice chute built-in, keeping the Coors Light ice cold, the way it's meant to be.

Food was our only complaint, and they were more than open to talking about the food, they are after all a pretty new place and wanted feedback. The menu consisted of 4 things: Fish & Chips, Chicken Strips & Fries, Steak Fingers & Fries and Hot Wings. Our waitress asked how we liked them (we ordered one of each) and we were completely honest; I'll go ahead and let you assume what we thought about fried food from a bag. One thing that I'll mention, because I found it amusing, is that I had a hot wing that... I'll shit you not, was just slightly larger than a quarter, and not in width, but in height, had I had my camera I would have snapped a pic.

Aside from the current menu (which we were told was going to be revamped and expanded) I thought the Firehouse Sports Pub was a great little place, the staff was wonderful and inviting, the service was outstanding and the Coors Light was ice cold. I do think they will face some tough competition with the established Elliot's Sports Pub and Grill not sitting more than a hundred yards away, but the Firehouse should do fine, a welcome addition to Nampa. We'll definitely be checking it out some more in the near future -- the patio will be a nice place for one of those sub-zero Coors Lights come the heat of the summer, no doubt about that.

Oh, I guess one other thing they could use would be a website -- I can't stress this enough to new bar or restaurant owners; you need a website. However simple, doesn't need any Flash, just some simple HTML, but let people know who you are, where you are and what you serve. In this day and age it is a necessity, it's one of the first things I look for when I hear about a new joint and so do most other people in my demographic. The last thing you want when people Google your place is for the top result to be some blog from some whiny guy.

Amusing...

I found it slightly humorous that Patrick Orr was the Idaho Statesman reporter who put up the story about the guy who chucked a snowball at a Boise police officer Saturday night.

...and don't forget

There's micro brews and live music at the Market in Downtown Nampa tonight.

Good times.

The Statesman on rising beer prices

Good read if you're into craft brews.

I guess if we run out of our domestic hop supply then we can just invade Canada and take theirs. We do it for everything else, why not hops?

Or we can just drink better, drink less (this coming from a guy with a Coors Light picture on his website -- hey, it has its place!).

Extreme brews at the NY Times

"Unearthly I.P.A." -- color me curious.

Speaking of brews. There is going to be a Microbrew Tasting at Market Limone next Friday night from 5-7,  I believe that this one will feature northwest microbrews. We missed the last one due to a concert but rest assured we'll be at this one.

More craft beer coming to the valley

Any guy who names his beers "Black Flag Imperial Stout" or "Highway to Ale" has got my attention. Patrick Orr of the Statesman has a great column up on Pete Ricks and his Beer Valley Brewing company.

Looks like the only place you pick these brews up right now in Nampa is the Albertsons on 12th (the old one). If you're in Boise your options are much, much more plentiful.

Hmm, speaking of Black Flag. Ah, the memories.

You can check out Beer Valley Brewing's website here.

Local booze in the news

Idaho Statesman has two stories this morning about some local businesses furnishing the valley with top-notch quality beer, wine and spirits.

Great story on the origins of Koenig Distillery/Winery in Canyon County who make an excellent vodka, I'm am sorry however to say that I haven't tried their brandy, I'll have to get on that this winter sometime. I'll also note that Koenig Winery makes my favorite Idaho Cabernet Sauvignon.

Statesman beer columnist Patrick Orr has a good write up on Boise's own Sockeye Brewery's limited winter offering; Winterfest. Looks like I'm going to have to try and convince some Boise friends and Co-Op shoppers to grab one (or two) of the only 780 bottles available once it hits the shelves next week. That is unless a certain market in Nampa winds up with a couple bottles, I can't really see it showing up anywhere else in Nampa.

Updated

Last night I talked to a local wine and beer distributor who agreed with my assessment that Koenig does indeed make the best Cab in Idaho. Just in case you were wondering...

Getting closer to opening day

Revitalizator Laurel MacKinnon and her Market Limone were back in the Idaho Press-Tribune this morning, while we didn't learn much more than we already knew -- it was an "appetite wetter" in regards to the market. It did however have some updates on other downtown projects. The article mentioned that the building adjacent to the ice skating rink on 1st and 13th has been updated to 4 floors instead of 2 as originally planned.

And sadly the ice rink won't be open this year, but sometime next summer. So that means you can put those ice skates back on the top shelf of your closet for at least one more winter. I'm sure the wait will be worth it.

Also this was the first time I believe that Regular Joe's has been discussed in print. Regular Joe's will be a small eatery that will occupy the rear quarter of the building that the Urban Shed now resides in. It's also seeming that the alleyway behind 13th is going to make an appearance as a gathering place of sorts once all these businesses are up and running. I'm seeing a common thread between all of them having alleyway access; which I guess makes sense, because the sidewalks out front aren't exactly wide enough for chairs and tables.

I'm getting vibes that next summer in Downtown Nampa will be a memorable one.

Orr on the Old Boise Brewers Festival

Hey, it's almost only 2 weeks late, but better late than never eh?

He does have some valid points and observations so it's worth your time if you attended or are thinking of attending next year.

I put my 2 cents here.

Old Boise Brewers Festival - thoughts and pics

There was good times and good drink in Downtown Boise on Saturday as the 2nd annual Old Boise Brewers Festival took place on the hot blacktop next to China Blue. While it wasn't the mammoth Mountain Brewers Beer Festival that takes place in Idaho Falls every year, it does have loads of potential.

We arrived about 1:30 in the afternoon to get into what was already a line that snaked around sixth street and quickly backed up all the way to Main. Once we were ID'd, tagged and pushed through the gates with our mini beer mugs we promptly got started trying to sample every beer there. My wife and I along with some of our good friends stuck out the whole time spread, 2 to 9, sans a quick retreat to the Reef for some lunch, Mojitos and Pina Coladas.

Overall it was a good experience, it was a bit hot on the blacktop and a notable lack of shade but other than that the organizers seemed to remedy the problems people complained about last year. We had no problems filling our mugs quickly at all the brewers tables and for how small the lot is, it never seemed to get too crowded.

We finished the night out at the Front Door with some pizza and more good brews before taking a taxi back to our final resting place for the night. All in all I was pretty impressed with this still young beer festival in Idaho's capital city. I'm already looking forward to next years installment and I'm excited to see how the organizers plan on improving the brewers festival.

There are more pics down below.

Drinking for a good cause in Boise

So we missed the Mountain Brewers' Beer Festival in Idaho Falls this past weekend (trees and weddings, don't ask), but we haven't lost out on attending a beer festival in Idaho. This year we are going to check out the Old Boise Brewers Beer Festival in Downtown Boise on June 23rd. This is the second incarnation of the recently renamed beer festival and it promises to perhaps be a good time.

All the beer snobs can sit around imbibing 2oz samples of local and semi-local micros and snicker at people waiting in line to get into China Blue. This, does indeed sound like a good times to me.

But not to be outdone, the Old Boise Brewers Beer Festival is for a good cause - all proceeds go to benefit American Cancer Society's Camp Rainbow Gold. So if the 23rd of June is still a bleak white empty space on your dusty desk calender and you enjoy a good brew make sure you make it. The first 300 (which I aim to be one of) will receive a commemorative Pilsner glass.

Deeds Orr, of course, has more.

Details:

Date: Saturday June 23rd
Time: 2 - 10p.m.
Location: Grove and 6th Street

The slow death of a Nampa Bar

Kat's House of Blues is gone. (The day the music died.)

So it's official. Well, it has been official for sometime now, but Michael Deeds mentioned it in his column in the Statesman, so now it's really official. Contrary to Deed's quick blurb on the closing of Kat's, it wasn't due to their specializing in one form of music; no, there were more reasons and far more complicated issues than that.

What once was one of the best bars in Nampa, featuring the best micro-brew selection in town, great live bands on the weekends and great bartenders, Kat's is gone. Kat's House of Blues has gone way of The Getaway, one of Nampa's meat markets specializing in karaoke, crappy cover bands and obnoxious drunks. And I mean this quite literally. The owner of the Getaway along with a partner (a local builder I'm told) bought Kat's from the former owners.

So what happened? How did the best place to grab a cold brew after work in Nampa go down? How did my favorite patio on which to imbibe beer lose itself amongst the rest of Nampa's so-so bars? It became infected with the same disease all other good places in Nampa fall victim to (read: Copper Canyon and House of Kim - my thoughts on these now, lack-luster eateries, later). To me, Kat’s suffered from lack of proper vision, lack of direction and most importantly, lack of quality management. I hate to say such things because I truly liked the former owners of Kat's. Had many a drink with them and immensely enjoyed their bar until the “infection” took hold and ran rampant.

What was once a burgeoning blues bar (the only one in the valley after the Blues Bouquet changed it's name) with a young but refined atmosphere, slowly morphed into part sports bar, part Hip Hop bar (Wednesday nights), and part crappy entertainment bar. And this isn't to say that every band must be a blues band, no, not at all. We saw some amazing blues musicians grace the stage at Kat's House of Blues, yet we also saw some amazing classic rock cover bands as well. There just aren’t enough dedicated blues bands in the area to quench any blues-lovers thirst here. But every now and then we'd get a great band that played a great show, and in the mean time we could always count on at least having some good live bands in between.

First, came the crappy advertisements that the liquor distributors pass out to their customers (which, by the way, are neither mandatory nor desirable décor in a respectable establishment). You may know what I'm referring to; lame Bud Light posters tacked to the wall right next to a framed picture of Robert Johnson. Tacky. Confusing. Cheap.

The second offense was the introduction of the early-model big screen TV. Once this giant projector of American Idol, Monday Night Football, and COPS shows up, you might as well consider your quiet happy-hour sanctuary closed. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against big screen TV's, but they have their place, and a blues bar certainly isn’t one. For some reason ESPN's Sports Center tends to ruin the gritty blues music coming over the satellite during the week (the non-live band times).

Next it was the sports memorabilia. Yeah, I'm all down with Boise State too, I am by no means a sports-hater, quite the contrary, I love football, best sport that there ever was. Time and place...time and place. Let me re-iterate; a blues bar is not the place for Boise State football jerseys hanging on the walls. The blue and the orange just didn't seem to mesh with the dark purple hue of the walls in Kat's House of Blues.

Then, tragically, the wine went away. What was once a respectable wine list for a Nampa bar had been chiseled down, bottle by bottle, until it was weaned to one Albertson's store brand in 4 different varietals.

Lastly, we lost the bartenders (my wife said I had to add this - the ladies always liked Rob, nice guy), the good ones anyway, and Kat's had some good ones. People who we really enjoyed passing the time away with on an idle Tuesday afternoon on any random week. But I don't blame them nor Kat's for that, they have to move on too. What I did have a problem with were the replacements, which were unfriendly and rude. Hey, when you've been going to the same place for quite a while, nothing is worse then the new staff giving you guff.

Speaking of the replacement staff - my wife and I stopped in for an afternoon beer and had to deal with one of the new bartenders, high as a kite. Reeked and acted like she'd been out back puffin' all day long, again I don't blame her for that, “to each his/her own” but... time and place. And to top it off; the beer taps didn't work and instead of a nice cold draft, we were served luke-warm bottles. This got to me, but I can deal with it, I'm by no means a beer snob. That being said, my wife went to use the ladies room and came back disgusted and pissed (no pun intended), no toilet paper, had to leave the stall (which was littered with garbage and cigarette butts) and begrudgingly grab a paper towel. At this point, excuses can only get you so far in life and, well, in business.

Needless to say; that was right around the time we quit going to our beloved Kat's House of Blues. We got tired of getting burned, convincing ourselves to give it another chance, and leaving each time, more and more disappointed.

Now it’s done, Kat’s has been sold and we are no longer welcome in this new environment. Of course we have been down their post-sale only to see black bed sheets hanging in the windows and white ceiling tiles nailed to the purple walls. Classy, ‘eh?

I can’t attest to know what the books looked like at Kat’s House of Blues, nor do I know their financial situation, but this I do know; Nampa lost a great bar. Nampa lost what could have been a corner stone attraction in our soon-to-be revitalized downtown.

It’s now time to move on; we’ve found a new watering hole and it’s working out just fine for us. I just hope that some of the new businesses that start popping up in Downtown Nampa have the fortitude to carry on and successfully execute their plan. Have a nice place, stick to your guns (advertise of course) and the people will come. Nampa’s a little over 80,000 strong now, so if you’re good enough, we’ll come in droves.

Lord knows the last thing we need is a Getaway III.

2007 Mountain Brewers' Beer Festival

If you're game, make sure you head to Idaho Falls next weekend, the first weekend of June for the 13th Annual Mountain Brewers' Beer Festival. It's the most beer you'll ever get for your hard earned green backs and it's for a good cause. I know that I'm surely going to miss going this year, but we're missing it for some good reasons.

Sadly, we won't be making the festival this year, it wound up sandwiched between the activities of two different weddings (thanks a lot guys!). So two years into our traditional pilgrimage to imbibe in Idaho Falls we are breaking it. Next year though, we'll be back.

Make sure you search out our friends at 43rd State Blues, just look for a small group of men wearing Hawaiian shirts and bemoaning about Republicans, that'll be them!  

Marathon tastings

Vinography has a post up on how to survive and garner the most information from mass wine tasting, and it seems pretty on point. Not that we have a lot of options (say the one or two beer and wine festivals a year) in Idaho for large wine or beer tastings, but there was one point that applies even to small single winery tastings:

Don't hog the table, get your wine, spit and move away. If there are spit buckets elsewhere, you can get your wine and walk away from the table to spit.

Amen.

Personally I enjoy the social aspect of any sort of tasting, be it beer or wine, I'm not one to note everything, just the ones I enjoy. Even then it's just a quick mental note to pick the bottle up later, I haven't yet started carting around my own notebook. As some would say, I'm a wine drinker, not a wine taster.

Speaking of marathon tastings; it's getting closer to the  Mountain Brewers Beer Festival in Idaho Falls, only a couple months away.

You know it's spring time

When you walk down the beer aisle at your local market and see the new spring/summer brews starting to appear on the cooler shelves. Last night I picked up Springboard from one of my favorite breweries; New Belgium.

I found Springboard to be delightfully refreshing with quite a bit of body for a blond ale and in line with New Belgium's description of it, Springboard is very, very creamy. It went extremely well with the grilled Spicy Sweet & Sour chicken I made for dinner.

I'm no beer snob (if you have seen my side bar you'd know this), but I do know a good brew when I taste one and I do indeed enjoy the good ones. Time and time again I fall in love with New Belgium's offerings, it is one brewery that always pleases me. In fact it is one of the only breweries that I enjoy every brew they make. So far they've made no mistakes in my book.

Seems like some of the raters at RateBeer didn't enjoy it as much as I did.