The Annual Guinness Irish Festival is coming to Syracuse's Clinton Square, September 9-10, 2005! The Peelers and lots of other great bands will be playing. Syracuse has a huge - and proud - Irish population, and this festival is always jam-packed and a lot of fun, with Irish music, beer, and vendors.
Cousin Don reports the following:
I have read some wonderful news about Rogue.For what it's worth, I think Rogue has the most consistent, delicious, and innovative beers west of Syracuse. (In Syracuse, Middle Ages definitely takes the crown!).1: All xs ales will be produced in 750ml swingtop black ceramic bottles
2: New for 05, Morimoto Black Obi (a darker version of the Soba Ale), Juniper Pale Ale (sounds like the best of both worlds to me), Uber pils(100% Sterling hops)
3: Soba Ale got a bottle facelift, Hazelnut Browns origonal bottle is back and Youngers special Bitter is now in 22oz bottles.
4: Chipotle Ale
5: New six-packs; American Amber (03,04,05 world champion at the world beer championship), St. Rouge Red, and the best news of the day BRUTAL BITTER in sixers.
6:Rogue Rum made in the only rum distillery in Oregon
7: Last but not least, John's Private Locker Stock which is a special line for the head brewer, John Maier , to create new brews and to bring back some classics like the always pleasing Mogul Madness which is now available for a limited time.
Well that's about it.
Here's to the Rogue in you, the Rogue in me, the Rogue in all of us
During spring break, I took my daughter and her cousin to Chicago. I'd never been there and I was really looking forward to the experience - a visit to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs, a trip to a blues club for some city blues, and museums galore.
Well, the Cubs game was rained out, though we did go to Wrigley and have a good time anyway. We also visited the Art Institute of Chicago Museum, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Navy Pier Chicago Children's Museum.
For blues, I found my way to Buddy Guy's Legends, where I got to see the excellent Michael Coleman, a funky guitarist and singer with a charisma even bigger than his considerable physical size. Beer here was a typical national brands selection augmented by a couple of different Goose Island beers on tap (an amber and a summer ale) as well as Guinness, Bass, and (I think) Harp.
I also go the chance to visit Rock Bottom Brewing and Mickey Finn's Brewery in Libertyville. The former is a chain - something I didn't know until after I ate there. The beers in the sampler were average at best, though the Kolsch style was quite good. The buffalo fajitas were excellent. Mickey Finn's was quite a drive (especially in Friday rush-hour traffic) but worth the trip. The food and the beer were very good.
I have pictures and more details, but my time is very limited these days. I hope to put them up here soon!
NPR had Michael Jackson (the beer hunter) on yesterday and they did an on-air tasting. It was not a tremendous revelation for a beer aficionado, but still interesting to hear it on the air. There is more information at the bottom of the linked page, including several other NPR beer-related stories.