Category: Breweries

Jameson Irish Whiskey Tour

Posted on by David Cox

We had the opportunity to be in Dublin for a couple of days on our last trip to Europe, and we decided to use the opportunity to visit the Jameson Distillery. We debated whether we would rather visit the Guinness Brewery or the Jameson Distillery, but Jameson won out because I’ve done a few brewery tours, but never a distillery tour. The Jameson tour didn’t disappoint.

We walked to the distillery from our hotel, which was about a 20-minute walk, and even though you would assume that a distillery would be in a gritty industrial zone, it was in a lovely area with brick and stone buildings and cobblestone streets. From Bow Street, we walked through an archway and into the Jameson complex.

Bar in the lobby

Inside the Jameson Complex, there is a small plaza with a gift shop and a restaurant. We skipped those and went straight into the distillery. The building has a modern loft feel, where the building seems old but fresh, with brick bones and lots of black iron and wood finishes. The color that brightens the room is an endless supply of green Jameson bottles.

Jameson Distillery sign near tour entrance

We went straight to the ticket counter to buy a ticket for the tour. The Bow Street tour is a 45-minute tour, and it currently costs € 26. Luckily for that price, there are some drinks that are provided. Once we paid for our tour, they sent us to the bar to get our complimentary drink before the tour began. Since I was there to fully experience Jameson Whiskey, I ordered a Jameson neat.

Workers used to be rewarded for their labor with glasses of whiskey

I’ll be honest, before this tour, I had never tried Jameson Whiskey. I had developed an affinity for American bourbon, and given how much bourbon is available in the US, I hadn’t even thought about trying Jameson. I took a sip and immediately noticed the caramel notes. It was also surprisingly smooth and gave me a pleasant, warming sensation. Ok, Jameson, you have my attention.

View from the waiting area before the tour

We waited around at the bar as the other guests began to join us. They were mostly Americans who were in town for the Steelers/Vikings game that happened the previous day. When the tour began, we were shuffled into a round brick room with some seats around a table, where the tour guide began to tell us the history of the Jameson brand. There was also a video that was artfully projected upon the table in the center of the room, which also helped explain the history of the distillery.

The projection on the table tells the history of Jameson

After the history of Jameson had been discussed, we were then moved into another room where we were asked to group up and stand around one of a series of display tables. Each of these tables had exhibits of various elements of the process, showing color development as well as demonstrating aromas that come from the maturation of the whiskey.

Demonstrations of the development of color and aroma in the whiskey

There was another video projection on the wall. This time, they demonstrated the process that they use to make Jameson Whiskey. This included the triple-distilling process as well as the maturation process in the barrel. This also included how they pick the barrels themselves. These barrels are reused American bourbon and Spanish sherry barrels, which add to the flavor and color of Jameson Whiskey.

Video showing the method of making Jameson whiskey

Finally, after the demonstration of how the whiskey is produced, we were ushered into a third room where we were given a tasting set. The guide walked us through the tasting notes of the three different whiskeys sitting in front of us. There was a classic Jameson Whiskey, Jameson Distillery Edition, and Jameson Black Label. There was also a glass of water there to cleanse your palate.

I enjoyed all of the samples, and again was pleasantly surprised by the quality of Jameson Whiskey. I had come into this experience thinking that it would be wildly inferior to the American bourbons that I’ve had, but it compares favorably. It’s definitely not better than some of my favorite bourbons, but I have to say it was better than some of the $40 bourbons that I’ve had. At the price point around half of that, it’s a solid whiskey.

Tasting three different versions of Jameson’s Whiskey

Jameson opened my eyes a little on this tour, and as I write this, I’m having a glass of Jameson right now. I learned that I don’t necessarily have to spend over $40 for a decent bottle of whiskey. It’s definitely not my favorite whiskey, but for its price, it’s very good.

I would recommend taking this tour to any Whiskey lover who finds themselves in Dublin. It was extremely informative, had great demonstrations, and a fabulous tour guide. The fact that I was able to consume some of that delicious whiskey is pretty nice, too.

Hofbräuhaus – Munich’s Cathedral of Beer

Posted on by David Cox

I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t that excited about going to Hofbräuhaus. It just seemed like something that we had to do to check it off our Munich to do list. I just assumed that it was going to be crowded, kitschy and most likely mediocre. Being a bit of a beer aficionado (perhaps a beer snob), going to Munich and not visiting what is essentially the cathedral of Munich beer culture is almost criminal, so of course, we went.

Germans take their beer seriously. During the Middle Ages, beer was made from any number of ingredients. Beer basically needs 4 things – water, a source of sugar (to ferment into alcohol), something to balance sweetness, and yeast for fermentation. In the middle ages, the source of sugar could be fruit, beets, malted barley or wheat. That sweetness from the sugar would be normally balanced by some kind of bittering herb or flower. I imagine that with brewers using all kinds of ingredients (especially in an unscientific age), beer was probably wildly inconsistent and perhaps even poisonous if the wrong herb was used.

Copper washbasin with a inscription.

William IV, Duke of Bavaria adopted Reinheitsbebot (German Purity Law) in 1516 which regulated beer production to water, barley and hops. Yeast was an unknown ingredient in 1516, since microorganisms were unknown at that time, but was later added to the law once it was discovered to be the engine of fermentation. So why am I mentioning this? Well Germans take their beer so seriously that they have a law regulating the ingredients – they’re not messing around. To be fair, if you violated the law you wouldn’t be executed or anything, but your beer would be confiscated and presumably destroyed.

The ceilings of the beer hall are stunning.

I’ve been a home brewer for over 20 years. I also visit at least one brewery every week, without fail. Many of the beers I drink and many of the beers I have brewed, violate this law. Sometimes, the beers I’ve brewed completely ignore it. Some of my favorite beers contain coffee, vanilla, fruit, chocolate and even chili peppers. American microbrewers treat Reinheitsgebot like a lame suggestion by their parents. They brew big, strong flavored beers pushing the envelope at every turn, squeezing as much flavor into one glass as they possibly can. The results are aggressive, bold and normally not very “sessionable” beers. You will not get any beer like this at Hofbräuhaus, or for the most part, in any typical beer garden in Munich.

Monument to Reinheitsgebot in Viktualienmarkt in Munich

Instead, Munich lagers are delicate, balanced and crystal clear. They are the result of centuries of perfecting just a handful of styles and getting it precisely right, every single time. The traditional Munich Lager is a golden colored and slightly on the malty side of balanced with a hint of floral hops. The Munich Dunkel is similar, except they use some roasted malt to add a dark color and caramel flavor to the beer. Both of these styles were available for our visit to Hofbräuhaus as well as Radler and Dark Radlers, which are when you take the Munich Lager or Munich Dunkel and mix it 50/50 with lemon soda or lemonade (a great way to keep your wits when drinking from a 1 liter mug). There was also a Weissbier on the menu, which is made from wheat, and violates Reinheitsgebot, but for some reason everyone gives wheat beer a pass on the law.

Munich Dunkel is one of my favorite beer styles

When you walk in, it’s impossible not to notice that it is an absolutely gorgeous, and enormous beer hall. Traditional wood tables in rows everywhere, obviously meant to maximize attendance. We were lucky enough to be able to get a table outside in the beer garden, which is essentially a huge courtyard. They sat us down at a table for 8 next to a group of 3. This is something, that as an American, is weird. It’s not unpleasant, but if you go to a restaurant in America and there is an open table for 8 and you walk in with 4, normally they’ll wait to sit you until a table for 4 is cleared. You don’t share tables, ever. In Germany, this happened to us multiple times, and frankly, it was fine, I could get used to it.

Käsespätzel
Pork Knuckle and Potato Dumpling

We ordered a lot of the traditional German dishes, Käsespätzel, Pork Knuckle and some fried Perch. Both Jenn and Emma got the Käsespätzel, which is sort of like German mac and cheese. They both thought it was pretty good, not spectacular. I had the Pork Knuckle, which I really liked. It had a super crispy skin, the meat inside was tender and the gravy was rich. The side for that was a potato dumpling, which I believe was probably cooked perfectly, but I didn’t care for it. It was just bland with a strangely dense and sticky texture. I asked Alex about his perch and he just gave me a thumbs up and kept eating, which is about as descriptive as he ever gets.

Arched frescoed ceilings, dark wood panels and rows of tables and benches make for a prototypical beer hall.

We, of course, ordered the 1 liter beer, because it’s almost required at Hofbräuhaus. The enormous mugs they serve these in are unique in beer culture. Nearly all beer glasses are designed to highlight a style, whether it be a tall glass for a Pilsner to highlight the clarity of a Pilsner or a fluted glass for a Belgian Dubbel to hold in aroma, glasses are designed to enhance the experience of the drinker. Not the 1 liter beer steins for Munich Lagers and Munich Dunkels. They are designed to be carried, in bulk. They are built for Oktoberfest, when servers are feverishly serving mug after mug after mug of freshly poured beer. If you are at Hofbräuhaus long enough, you will see a server carrying an obscene amount of beer to a table. In all honesty, liter beer mugs are insane, they are heavy and unless you are on a bit of a bender, that beer is going to get warm before you finish it. It is, however, super cool and that’s why everyone orders their beer that way. I mean, who wants to be the loser who only drinks a half liter of beer, right?

So is it really worth it to visit Hofbräuhaus? Well, the beer was really good and were perfect examples of Bavarian beer styles. we also enjoyed the food which from what I can tell were great examples of Bavarian cuisine. However, the real secret here to the success here is the beer hall itself. It’s an absolutely beautiful beer hall with a great beer garden. Even though I was apprehensive about the visit, we enjoyed it so much that we skipped a visit to a different beer garden in order to come back a couple of days later for a liter of beer and pretzel. Its definitely a place you have to visit when you visit Munich.

Dos Sirenos Brewing – San Antonio Texas

Posted on by David Cox

On the last day of my trip to San Antonio, I had the pleasure of going to Dos Sirenos Brewing. It’s a brewery with a sort of nautical/mythological theme in the area around a mile south of the downtown/Riverwalk area. I walked down there along the Riverwalk (the part that to the south that is more park like and less commercial). After trying it, I probably would’ve walked 5 miles to get there.

I walked up to the building, and it’s pretty funky, with a couple of mermen drinking beers painted right on the front of the building. It’s definitely an interesting choice but I actually like it. When I walked inside there was a lot more of the theme, especially with the large mural on the back wall. This is gonna be interesting.

I sat down at the bar and ordered an Atlas Strong Ale. It’s an English Strong Ale and as usual for me, if you have an unusual beer style at your brewery, I’m probably going to order it. Now, I’m not an expert in this beer style so I can’t tell you whether it was appropriate to the beer style but I can tell you it was delicious.

I also ordered the Hera DDH IPA and again it was great, just a really great example of what a double dry hopped IPA should be. I finished my beer tasting with the Sea Turtle Stout, which is a turtle chocolate candy inspired stout and it was a great dessert beer, and capped off my meal wonderfully.

The beer was the best of any of the breweries that I tried in San Antonio, but I really don’t want to talk about that because, you see, I had a life-changing meal at Dos Sirenos. Ok, so life-changing is an exaggeration, but still, DAY-YAMN it was good.

On the menu, there was something called Pork Belly and Grits. The description was “Crispy Pork Belly, Parmesan Grits, Tomatillo Succotash, Salsa Macha.” I was confused. How in the hell do all of these things work together? These ingredients seemed to me to be completely unrelated. Ok, sure, I get the pork belly, but I’m an ignorant Yankee, parmesan grits? Grits can be flavored with parmesan cheese? And what is tomatillo succotash? I love tomatillos and it’s never occurred to me for it to be in succotash. Also, I love all kinds of salsa and I have no clue what salsa macha is.

Pork Belly and Grits

I was intrigued and asked the bartender about this dish. He told me it was the chef’s favorite dish. Ok, that solidified it, bring me this weird ass dish, I’m super confused by this and I need it to make sense.

This bowl shows up and it’s a whole heap of of tomatoes and corn in a tomatillo sauce sitting on a base of parmesan grits with a ring of this salsa macha and a few chunks of pork belly on top. The first thing I did was taste the grits and I was instantaneously enraged. It’s delicious, creamy and with a perfect amount of parmesan goodness. Why am I mad? Because I know plenty of southerners and they kept this from me. You named these grits? You know that you named this deliciousness ‘grits’ to keep us Yankees from eating this. How did you not call this dish ‘super creamy corn yum-yums’ or something? Grits? That’s what you went with? I avoided these for 48 years because it sounded nasty. Not a single one of you ever said me “psst, they’re really not gritty?” C’mon!!!

There is a massive amount of outdoor seating that was going unused that afternoon.

Next, I grabbed a spoonful of the succotash, grits, and the salsa. They went together perfectly. The succotash is bright, flavorful, and acidic with the tomatillos adding the acid. The salsa is spicy and a touch oily, which since I was unfamiliar with salsa macha, was unexpected, but it added a perfect amount of fat and spice to the bite. Overall, it felt fairly light because of the succotash and grits but the pork belly added some additional crispiness and fat to the dish to balance it all out. It was a perfect balance of textures and flavors and it was just unbelievably well done. Honestly, it’s probably the best meal I’ve had in years.

The back wall of the brewery has a massive mural covering the whole wall.

This dish was dreamed up in a mad scientist lab somewhere and it’s just off the charts. I actually went home after this and learned how to make salsa macha, parmesan grits and tomatillo succotash so I could continue to eat this, since I don’t live in San Antonio. It’s probably the best thing I cook now, but it still isn’t as good as the original. Seriously, if you are within a 1 hour drive of Dos Sirenos Brewing, just stop what you’re doing and go there now, before the chef takes this off the menu. Of course, who knows what insane thing this chef might do next. You can find out what they’re up to at https://dossirenosbrewing.com/.

Back Unturned Brewing Co- San Antonio, Texas

Posted on by David Cox

I walked into Back Unturned Brewing company in the early evening having not had a proper meal all day. The place was a little dark and industrial. The color scheme is one of a lot of black, deep reds, stainless steel and grey, There was a lot of original art on the walls and the lighting was dim. Oh, this place is edgy, trendy and I most definitely am not. I’m middle-aged, milquetoast, boring, you know, the kind of person that uses the word “milquetoast.” But I needed food and I wanted a beer, so I was gonna stay, even if I wasn’t cool enough to be there.

Dark as Helles Lager – oxymoronic name, delicious beer.

I sat down at the bar and ordered a Dark as Helles Lager which they had listed as a schwarzbier. I took a sip of this an immediately said to the bartender “Are you sure this is a schwarzbier?” I didn’t mean that as a criticism, it was absolutely delicious but it was rich, malty and had lots of roasted flavor. Frankly, it was too flavorful to be a schwarzbier because they tend to be run a little more muted. Honestly though, I don’t care how they classified this beer, it was damned delicious.

Red subway tile and LED lights make for a sharp looking tap station.

I took a look at the menu and decided on a margarita pizza. I order margarita pizza somewhat regularly, especially when I know I’m going to be eating out a lot. They usually satisfy my hunger but since they’re vegetarian, they tend to not weigh me down the same way a sausage pizza would. One problem with ordering them at restaurants is that margarita pizzas are made a lot of times by people who don’t cook vegetarian very often and forget that you need to season vegetarian dishes more aggressively, because there isn’t any meat to do the seasoning for you. This was not a problem at Back Unturned, however. This pizza came out with a perfect flatbread crust, and it was properly seasoned. The chef had laid each pizza piece with a tomato slice and a leaf of basil and most importantly he put enough salt on it to balance the tomato. It was so good. It was definitely the best margarita pizza I’ve had in a long time.

Mmm margarita pizza – and look at that char, perfect!

I also had their Wrath of Marz(en). Which was a very well done märzen style beer. The bartender was extremely friendly and was willing to chat a little in between pouring drinks, which I appreciate when I’m sitting at the bar by myself. Overall, it was a great experience and I would definitely return, even if I’m not really cool enough to be there.

Pro tip: If you walk into a place with a sketch of Anthony Bourdain on the wall, order food.

For more information on Back Unturned Brewing Co, visit their website at https://www.backunturned.com/beer.

Roadmap Brewing Co – San Antonio Texas

Posted on by David Cox

I was in San Antonio for a work conference and between the flight, checking into the hotel, and standing in an insufferably long line to check in and get a lanyard for the conference, I was a touch cranky. Alas, there is generally a solution for my crankiness, beer, so I wandered over to the closest brewery I could find – Roadmap Brewing Company. It’s a little less than a mile walk from the main Riverwalk touristy area, but definitely worth the walk.

Looks like a fairly inaccurate map of Texas highways and interstates. Still a nice touch, though.

Roadmap plays up the classic road trip theme. For a microbrewery, it is a good size with a decent amount of seating. It has a industrial feel, with concrete floors and high top tables that are made of wood and black pipe. The stainless steel brewing equipment is right out in the seating area and not in the back room, which I like, but might make for some overpowering smells on brew day. The music was playing at a comfortable volume, mostly a combination of pop punk and rock. I believe there was a food truck parked outside, but I didn’t pay any attention to that, I just wanted a glass of ale.

I love this logo!

I ordered a Craven Cottage, which is a classic amber English Pub ale. It was a really solid and tasty version of the style. It’s not usually my go to style of beer, but it’s also a fairly uncommon style for American craft breweries, so of course I was going to try it. It was well-balanced with toasty biscuit and caramel notes, very drinkable. Craven Cottage is definitely the kind of beer that you could have a few. I also had the Minivan Dad, which is a double IPA at 7.9% ABV. I thought it was another well done beer, which was malty enough to hold up to the fairly aggressive hopping. I thought they did a pretty good job of balance on this one, and I definitely enjoyed it.

Sister breweries posted on the wall. The road signs look is a nice touch.

Hey Gen-Z, Did You Know?

Roadmaps were mapping systems, like Google Maps or Apple Maps, only they were printed on paper. Some of these were for cities or states and would be on large (approximately 3′ x 3′) paper that would be folded up so that it could fit into a glove box. Others would in the form of a road atlas, where a collection of roadmaps would be bound with a spiral binder. You can still find road atlases either shoved under Grandpa’s truck seat or between his WWII books and his Tom Clancy novels in his “study.” If you are lucky enough to find one, it is usually marked up with highlighters and stained with tears. These roadmaps were normally paired with the passenger in the shotgun seat that would relay instructions to the driver. Together this made up the Passenger Seat Navigation system.

Differences between Phone Navigation (PN) systems and Passenger Seat Navigation (PSN) systems:

  • While PN systems warn the driver 10 miles before an interstate highway exit, PSN systems let the driver know about their exit 300 feet before the exit, causing the driver to cut off 2 lanes of traffic.
  • PN systems can anticipate road construction and route drivers around traffic issues while PSN systems typically just scream “I told you that you should have taken [other route] but noooo you never listen to me.”
  • PN systems are typically polite, while PSN systems refer to the driver as “dickhole”
  • Unlike PSN systems, PN systems require no human interaction and frees passengers up to nap and eat Munchies.
  • PN systems give minute by minute updates on expected arrival times, while PSN systems occasionally blurt out “Ugh, I’m gonna be dead by the time we get there.”
They ordered the menu from low to high ABV, I’m detecting a little OCD.

Overall, I really liked Roadmap Brewing Company. The vibe was cool and it definitely seemed like a great place to relax. They had a really nice selection of beer on tap, not only because they had 16 taps, but they also hit quite a few beer styles on the menu. It looked like, based on the collection of cans they had on top of one of their coolers, that they probably rotate out their beers fairly frequently, which should keep their regulars coming back. If I lived in San Antonio, this would definitely be a regular customer at this brewery.

If you would like more information on Roadmap Brewing Company, why not visit their website at https://www.roadmapbrewing.com/?

Baja Brewing Company – Cabo San Lucas

Posted on by David Cox

The main brewery in Cabo San Lucas is Baja Brewing Company. It was founded in 2007 in San Jose Del Cabo. In 2009, they opened a second location in Cabo San Lucas on the seventh floor of the Corazon Cabo Beach Resort, which looks like an amazing beach hotel perched above the sand at Medano Beach. Follow the signs through the hotel to find the brewery. On the seventh floor, the elevator door opens to a beautiful unobstructed view of Medano beach. There are clear views to the east and west stretching for miles along with a view of Lover’s Beach. There cannot be a better view of the area around Medano Beach than this.

Baja Brewing Company is an open air rooftop bar with a very large pergola/sunshade covering to protect from the relentless Baja sunshine. It is a fairly large bar and restaurant with about 25 to 30 tables and a large bar. There is a great view from nearly every seat. I cannot say enough about the view from this bar, it is absolutely amazing. On top of that, we were in Cabo San Lucas in January, when the high temperatures were 76 to 79 degrees every day and the breeze was fairly gentle. I cannot imagine a more ideal place than this on a winter’s evening.

I emailed Baja Brewing Company a couple of months in advance asking for a reservation along the glass. I wanted to have a sunset dinner with my lovely wife on our 25th Anniversary. I apparently am not that great at geography, because you can’t see the sunset from here, but it was beautiful nonetheless. They did not disappoint and arranged a nice table right on the glass for us.

There were 3 cruise ships anchored in the bay outside Medano Beach. From what we could gather, there are always cruise ships parked there. If you plan to come to Baja Brewing Company, I would suggest you make a reservation in advance, if you want to sit by glass. Both nights we were there, there were available seats, but all of the seats near the edges were reserved.

The beer was, and keep in mind that I’m a tremendous beer snob, pretty good. Every beer I tried, which was a red ale, a stout and an IPA, was solid. There wasn’t any beer that I tried that blew me away, but there wasn’t any beer that disappointed me either. It was good microbrewery beer.

The food we had was also okay, not great. I believe I had the Fish and Chips and Jenn had Fish Tacos, neither of us were thrilled or offended by the food, it was fine. It seemed like pretty standard bar food that you would order at a microbrewery.

That being said, it was such an amazing place that even though the beer and food were just okay, we did return a couple of days later for a couple of beers. The atmosphere is just too good to pass up. Honestly, if you like beer at all or food for that matter, you need to stop in if you are in Cabo just for the views. It’s just too good to miss.