October 2009 Archives

Yesterday, J.P. scoured all the equipment and then set about to brew from the Rogue kit.  For the most part, everything went really well.  We had been concerned about the yeast because we forgot to refrigerate it when it arrived.  We smacked the Pacman yeast packet and popped the inner pouch and after a few hours, it had expanded to the point where we thought it was going to explode.

Beer?  Everybody like beer! 

Ok, that might not be entirely true but a good beer is really something people should like.  A number of years ago, we had the pleasure of going to visit my sister out in Portland, Oregon, otherwise known as Beer-vana.  While we were primarily interested in the wines of the area, we did take time to try out some of their fantastic beers.  And then my sister got us a set of various Rogue ales for Christmas and I was hooked. 

Luckily we can from time to time, get some of the Rogue beers out here in Boston.  This summer we tried the Hazelnut Brown Nectar which quickly became one of our favorite beers.  J.P. is a big fan of browns and this one was gorgeously balanced with a nice malty-nuttiness without being too fat and sloppy. 

It reminded us that it's been a while since we tried brewing our own beer.  Two weekends ago, J.P. went down the the basement to haul the 5-gallon carboys upstairs.  We need to get more tubing, a new filter, a wand and some airlocks but hopefully we should be in back in action in a few days.  We are wimping out with our first foray back into the brewing world by using a kit (gasp) but it is a kit for the Hazelnut Brown Nectar complete with Rogue's special Pacman yeast and we thought it would be better to start easy rather than diving in with grinding grains.  Wish us luck!

Whenever we travel, J.P. and I really like to find local foods and drinks, things we can't get at home.  That's how we discovered Cape Cod Beer.  We got a growler of the Harvest to go with our grill session at the cottage in PTown.  The Harvest is described as an Oktoberfest style beer.  It was delicious and very nicely balanced.  Very drinkable and perfect for a crisp fall evening.  We decided to hit their retail store in Hyannis on our way home to get a refill. 



We got there and discovered (to our great delight) that they do tastings!  We got 1-2oz tastes of all of the beers they currently have.  All the beers were so fresh and clean.  Some matched our tastes more than others but we were impressed with their knowledge of their craft and willingness to chat about it.  We ended up getting two growlers, one of the Dunkel and one of the Red.  Yum!

I have to admit that in the past, I've only mildly been interested in lobster rolls.  I am generally skeptical of anything that is bound together with mayonnaise (not particularly a favorite condiment of mine).  I've had them in the past where they were too mayonnaise-y, with too many filler items or too mangled to discern that I was actually paying for lobster and not some processed pink/red product.  I thought I might like the lobster rolls with butter instead but after trying that at Red's Eats in Maine, that was a bust as well.

But we were on the Cape this past weekend with Finn and I decided to give it another shot.  After browsing the web a bit, we gave the roll at Moby Dick's on Route 6 in Wellfleet a try.  We were pleasantly surprised when the waitress brought to our table, a beautifully buttered and griddled bun filled with lobster chunks only barely licked by mayonnaise and dusted with paprika and with one leaf of lettuce between the meat and the bun.  It was very tasty.  The lobster was still mostly in chunks and the mayo did not overwhelm it.

The next day we headed back to Boston.  On our way home, I wanted to try another lobster roll after the success at Moby Dick's.  We hit the Friendly Fisherman in Eastham.  Wow!  While I have limited experience, it was clearly the finest lobster roll I have ever eaten.  It was so filled with lobster that I could barely find the bun.  Again, the bun was beautifully buttered and griddled.  The lobster was just kissed by mayo, enough to lightly dress it and actually accentuate the lobster's sweetness.  The lobster meat itself was so fresh and succulent.  It was perfectly cooked, tender with a wonderful briny sweetness.  I could go on for days about how wonderful it was.  Oh, yes...  And they were actually really friendly there too.