The Shop in Troy: A Simple Name for a Place with Big Flavors and Good Drinks

Even before its opening a little over two months ago, I was excited by Kevin Blodgett's new bar/restaurant concept in Troy called simply The Shop. In speaking to the Times Union, Blodgett said, "We want a casual place that's comfortable and affordable, where you can get something other than wings, nachos, mozzarella sticks and burgers." He added, "There's a lack of diversity here in town in terms of food and drink options. We wanted to help change that."

I finally made it to The Shop for dinner and beer a few weeks ago, and though The Shop has been dealing with the loss of their head chef right before opening, I came away fully impressed by every aspect of this establishment. The menu may be limited at the moment--though that should change soon, I've heard, now that a new head chef is in place--but the food was excellent, the beer selection quite solid, and the space gorgeous in its reclaimed-wood and industrially rustic styling.

St. Paddy's Day IPA Roundup: Bell's Hopslam, Brooklyn Blast!, Smuttynose Noonan Black IPA, and Victory DirtWolf

None of these beers are green.  Some of them have some green on the labels.  Is that enough to make this post acceptable for St. Patrick's Day?

It's not like I've ever really subscribed to the notion that one should drink green beer on St. Patrick's Day--I can't recall ever having a green beer, though that might speak more to my social life than anything else.

So for anyone not doing the bar scene today, but still looking to enjoy a nice beer at home, here are a few options, all types of IPAs, all at least good and worthy of trying.

A Glimpse into the Holy Land of Beer, aka Vermont

Heady Topper and Ms. Pac-Man, before The Alchemist brewery closed to the public

A couple weeks ago I detailed the eating portion of my first weekend trip to Vermont, a stroll through Burlington and nearby parts.  Very tasty.  But to be honest, I was looking forward to the beer even more than the food on this visit.  Thankfully, as I mentioned in that last post, there are a number of good restaurants that also serve some damn good beer on tap.

It's interesting: judging from the places K and I visited in Burlington--and the many others I read about online--it seems like a good beer list is just par for the course in restaurants, at least in this part of Vermont.  And why not?  There are so many fantastic local breweries, with residents who seem to appreciate good beer and visitors who are making trips to get those beers, that it only makes good business sense for these restaurants to have good beer on tap.

But coming from the Capital Region, where I've found it challenging to find good beer at restaurants that serve anything beyond standard (or worse) pub fare, it was a real pleasure to find some great beers in restaurants that offered some interesting (and tasty) food items on their menu.  But I've already talked about the food; here I want to talk about the beer--including my first taste of an offering from Hill Farmstead and my successful trip to The Alchemist's brewery to pick up some Heady Topper, just a short time before they closed to the public.

A long post about two days of eating in and around Burlington, Vermont

I've lived here in the Albany area for more than a year now, so I was getting more and more eager to get up to Vermont.  Fortunately, K and I got the opportunity this fall and spent a couple days near Burlington.  It was, of course, the perfect time of year, the fall foliage in full color, the temperatures just right.

I've always subscribed to the belief that Vermont is some kind of uniquely beautiful and special place, and my only fear was having that notion shaken.  Now, it's not like I got the experience of living there, but in our few days around the state (we also headed down to Brattleboro for a literary festival), I found a place that possessed all the physical beauty I could have hoped for, a place where good food and good beer was the norm, and where the arts and creativity seem to be both thriving and embraced, both in the small and large towns of the state.

While I could go on and on about all of that, here I'll focus on the food and beer, especially around the Burlington area.  It was pretty crowded with all the tourists out to look at leaves and some UVM alumni event, but that didn't do much to diminish the experience.  I only wish we had more time to explore: to try out more restaurants, to drink more beer, to hike a little, to take a ferry across Lake Champlain.  But hey, we're close enough--another visit wouldn't be too hard.

Here are some food highlights from this first visit--with a recap of my beer adventures to come soon.

A Sampling of Sierra Nevada's Many Offerings

As a Northern California native, I always feel like I should be more of a Sierra Nevada guy.  The brewery, located in Chico, was one of the major brewers behind the craft beer surge of the past couple decades.  I remember in college hearing excitedly from a couple friends how Sierra Nevada Pale Ale was on tap at some nearby bars and restaurants, yet I just kind of ignored that information.  Beer sucked, at least in my narrow-minded point of view.

Eventually I learned otherwise, but it wasn't when I was in California, where Sierra Nevada is fairly ubiquitous.  Living primarily in the east and midwest since really discovering my love for good beer, I haven't often seen Sierra Nevada on tap in bars--if it is, it's usually the Pale Ale, which I fear I've kind of underrated or overlooked over the years--and when buying six packs or singles, I tend to go for more local beers or ones I deem, for whatever reason, more exciting than the Sierra Nevada available.

But this summer, that changed, in part thanks to my trip out to the west coast in June.  K's family had visited the Sierra Nevada brewery just prior to our visit to their home outside Las Vegas, and had generously saved a few bottles for me to try while out there in the desert.  Those, along with one I picked up at a Total Wine back home in Northern California, and one I grabbed shortly after I returned to Albany, made for a fine and wide-ranging sampling of some of Sierra Nevada's more unique beers.

A West Coast Beer Sampling, featuring Deschutes Obsidian Stout, Port Brewing Mongo IPA, and Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine

As I go through everything I meant to write over the past two months but didn't find the time for, here's a post highlighting some of the best stuff that came back with me after a quick trip to the west coast earlier this summer: the beer.

It's kind of sad to think that, as a California boy, I didn't really get into craft beer until I was long gone from the state, and I've since discovered that there are some really great west coast beers that we don't have access to on the east coast.  I would have liked to have gotten my hands on some Pliny, but there wasn't any available in the areas I traversed--except for the Davis Beer Festival, where Russian River had a tent and was pouring out some Pliny the Elder.  I got a small taste, and yeah, it was very good, but I'd need a bottle to savor at home to really get a sense of how it compares to so many other great double IPAs out there.

But I can't really complain.  I got to try a ton of great beers at the festival, and the beers I was able to try while there--and bring back with me to New York--were varied and all quite good.  I can't talk about them all here (and I'll have a post coming soon highlighting a variety of just Sierra Nevada beers and another on saisons), so I'll pick the three that stood out to me the most.

Eating Boston, Part II: Burritos, Beer, Brick Oven Pizza--and Toscanini's for Dessert

Harvard Bridge into Cambridge

While it was fun exploring the many corners of Chinatown during our recent trip to Boston, circumstance dictated that we move out of that comfort zone for a few other meals during our trip.  That's not a bad thing, even if it meant not getting one of my beloved Chinese roast ducks.  And though I haven't seen them hanging in windows, at least I know I can get roast duck here in Albany.

After three nights in Back Bay, we relocated for the weekend to Le Meridien in Cambridge.  This hotel was smaller, not as nice as the Revere, but conveniently located just off of Massachusetts Ave. near MIT.  One regret we have is that we didn't make it to Baraka Cafe in Cambridge; we'd walked from the T station north of Harvard all the way down Mass Ave. on Saturday and had to stop for sustenance before we got as far as Baraka Cafe.  That meant not having room for some good Moroccan food.  Next time, eh?

But when you try as much good food as we did over the course of the week, you can't really complain.  Here are the rest of the details of our eating adventures in Boston:

Why I Like Healthy Living Market in Saratoga

I'm eager for the day (year?) to arrive when Whole Foods finally opens its doors in the Colonie Center.  But until then, I'm happy that a similar type of market has emerged at the Wilton Mall in Saratoga: Healthy Living Market. 

From where we reside, Healthy Living Market's not exactly convenient--it reminds me of when we lived in Ohio and would drive about 40 minutes to Akron and pick up stuff at Mustard Seed Market.  We'd always try to make a day of it, shop and work in a cafe and walk/hike on a trail that wouldn't leave us too sweaty for the rest of the day, and I imagine that might be what we do once in a while with Healthy Living Market.

Upon our first visit there, we were also reminded a lot of a similar market, Earth Fare, which was about a 10-15 minute walk from where we lived in North Carolina last year.  I sure miss that convenience, I'll admit: taking a leisurely stroll around the curvy, hilly roads of our neighborhood, and then stopping by Earth Fare for some cheese, snacks, or prepared foods.  Sure, we had to then basically climb a mountain with our bags in tow to get home, but it worked out well and limited how much we could buy in one trip.

But enough on that; this post isn't about nostalgia for Boone--I'm saving that for another day--it's about the many little things about Healthy Living Market that make it a fun place to stop when in the area.

Battle Double IPA: Firestone Walker Double Jack vs. Mission Shipwrecked vs. Lagunitas Sucks

In the article I wrote for All Over Albany about a month ago, a sort of "most wanted" list of beers for the Capital Region, I ended up leaning heavily on the Double IPA as a prized type of beer.  From Bell's Hopslam to Russian River's Pliny the Elder, many of the top-ranked beers out there (but not available here) fall into the Double IPA category. 

And for good reason.  These beers take regular IPAs--always popular in their own right--up another level.  Bigger hop profile, higher ABV--I get the sense that the top craft brewers in the country use this style as a sort of measuring stick against each other.  And it's not just about how bitter they can make a beer, or how strong; it's a question of how to include these elements while making a complex, drinkable beer.

So after all that time spent thinking about Double IPAs while researching the article, I couldn't help but pick up a few to take home.  And after I had one, I thought, Why not have these over a few nights and compare what each brewer is doing?  So that's what I did, and here are the results.

More Stouts: Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro and Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout

A week after talking about a pair of very good stouts, I'm back with more.  And I'm not talking about these stouts.  Not this time, at least.  They are adorable, though, aren't they?

The stouts I want to talk about this week are a pair I've had before: the Left Hand Milk Stout (though never before in Nitro form) and Brooklyn's Black Chocolate Stout.  It's not like they're unusual or haven't been talked about by a million or so people on the internet before, but I don't care--they're both pretty great, and the Nitro looked so nice when poured that I just had to share some pictures.  Like the one above.

And take one look outside.  It is definitely still stout weather.

A Dark and Strong Duo: Great Lakes Blackout Stout and Otter Creek Russian Imperial Stout

As I write this, the wind chill here in Albany is currently -3 degrees.  In other words, it's still the season for stouts--maybe imperial stouts, to be specific, with their warming, high-ABV booziness.

By this time next month maybe I'll be making my transition toward lighter beers, enjoying a few Irish red ales around St. Paddy's Day before that natural downswing toward IPAs and eventually witbiers and the like.  But I still have a few stouts left to help myself through this long final stretch of winter, and I'd be remiss to not make a couple recommendations from this batch.

When it comes to Russian Imperial Stouts, I use Bell's Expedition Stout as a measuring stick.  I finally had this beer on tap a year ago and was blown away by its complexities.  So, how do Great Lakes' Blackout Stout and Otter Creek's Russian Imperial Stout stand up to the Bell's?  Pretty well, I must say.

What Might Have Been for St. Joseph's and Ravens Head: Remembering Pittsburgh's Church Brew Works

Church Brew Works in Pittsburgh (left); St. Joseph's in Albany (right)

This might initially seem like a negative post, and in a way it is.  But positives first: Ravens Head Brewing, which had a lengthy dalliance with St. Joseph's Church in the Ten Broeck neighborhood of Albany, has settled on what seems like a great space for their brewery and restaurant--the Cohoes Armory.  So anyone looking forward to tasting Ravens Head's beers in a unique location in the Capital Region can rest easy--we might be able to do so before the end of this year.  And that's a great thing for this area.

But in my typical backwards way of doing things, I want to spend a little time thinking of what could have been, not what actually will be.  And I like to think I have some justification for doing so, in that I lived for a few years in Pittsburgh, where Church Brew Works operates a brewery/restaurant out of a gorgeous old church, and I can speak first hand to just how awesome an experience it was to go there for a meal and a beer.

Here's a disclaimer before I get in too deep: I'm new here, I don't know much about all the politics that govern the Albany area, and I can understand the concerns people had about St. Joseph's being turned into a brewery/restaurant considering what seems like a residential location.

That being said, if Ravens Head could have turned St. Joseph's into anything like what Pittsburgh has in Church Brew Works, we've missed out on something incredible here in Albany.

This is Good Stuff: Kettle Brand Limited-Batch Cheddar Beer Chips

It's a story reminiscent of the Before Sunrise and Before Sunset films; a tale of brief and fleeting embraces that shake your world.  Boy meets girl, they share a brief but meaningful day together--and then they run into each other again (in the sequel) several years later.

Only in my case, it's boy meets potato chip.  Don't judge.

It's been around five years since our first meeting, in a Giant Eagle supermarket (that's Jynt Iggle if you're in Pittsburgh) somewhere in Ohio--Canton or Wadsworth.  Those aren't the details that matter.  What matters is that I stumbled upon a bag of cheddar and beer flavored Kettle Chips.  It was love at first taste.  My whole perception of what a potato chip could be had been altered.

Soon after, I read that Kettle had retired the Cheddar Beer chips.  Just like that--one meeting, and then they were gone.

A few weeks ago, however, I had my own sequel.  I was wandering the aisles of the Wild Oats Market in Williamstown when I turned and spotted a basket of sale items.  In it were the Kettle Cheddar Beer Chips.  Only now, they were labeled as "limited-batch," part of a line of special 30th birthday releases from Kettle.

21st Amendment Sneak Attack: Not Your Everyday Saison

I had a little discussion about Dogfish Head recently with the fuj in the comments section of FUSSYlittleBLOG.  I defended the brewery for some of their missteps with their more adventurous offerings because I think Dogfish Head has demonstrated their ability to do a really solid job with their standards: the 60/90/120 Minute IPAs, the Indian Brown Ale (one of my favorite brown ales), and their Punkin Ale (love it), to name just a few examples. 

So, go crazy, I say.  I love a little adventurousness from breweries or restaurants.  Is it always going to hit the mark?  Nah--and, to be honest, with some of the high prices of the beers Dogfish Head puts out, I'll pick up the bottle, read the description, and put it back without buying it (and then try to remember to read reviews once I get home).  Sometimes you'll get a beer like the Pearl Jam-tribute Faithfull Ale that just doesn't all come together; other times you'll get the Red & White, a strong witbier fermented with pinot noir juice that, at least the one time I had it on tap, blew me away with its complex layers of flavor.

With that in mind, I was drawn straight to 21st Amendment's Sneak Attack Saison when I saw it on tap at PUBLIC eat+drink in North Adams.  It may have been cold outside just after the new year in Western Massachusetts, not exactly saison weather, but A) I'm pretty much always up for a saison, and B) the description of the beer had me raising an eyebrow (in a good way).

A Surprising Sequel: Trader Joe's Providential Belgian-Style Golden Ale from Unibroue

For a few years now, I've eagerly anticipated the annual late fall arrival of the delicious and inexpensive Vintage Ale (brewed by Unibroue) at Trader Joe's.  It's hung around on the shelves a bit longer than usual this winter, with even a handful of bottles there on my last visit to the Albany store a couple weeks ago.  Still--the Vintage Ale is around for two months, if we're lucky.  Then it's always a matter of waiting until November for this great deal on that great beer.

But on that last visit to TJ's, I was in for a very pleasant surprise.  I had to do a double-take--there was a huge display of Vintage Ale in the store once again.  Except it wasn't Vintage Ale.  A closer look revealed a slightly different design on the brown, 750 mL bottle, and a new name: Trader Joe's Providential Belgian-Style Golden Ale.  What a divine little occurrence.

I took home just one bottle, popped the cork on New Year's Eve, and quickly determined I'd need to go back for more.

Bacchus Wood Fired Pizza: Good Food and Good Beer

It's been five months since I moved to the Capital Region.  In that time of exploring the food and drink scene of the area, one thing I've been disappointed in is the lack of interesting, yet casual, restaurants that also serve good beer.  Something beyond standard pub fare.  This is one of the reasons why, with all due respect, I don't fully agree that this is a great beer town, but extended thoughts on that are best saved for another time. 

Now, I don't want to cast a final, blanket statement on these matters after being here for such a short time; there's a ton I have yet to discover, and would love recommendations on places to find both good food and good beer.  I know City Beer Hall is one strong option, and though I didn't agree in my experience, I've seen enough praise for The Merry Monk to trust that there is probably some solid food being served there.  People seem to like Brown's brewpub all right, and I'm looking forward to trying Druthers up in Saratoga.  But the common denominator with all these options just mentioned?  They're beer places first, food places second.

That's fine, and a check in the "good beer town" column.  But on a Saturday night when K and I wanted to A) get a good meal without driving into downtown, B) eat in relative peace (no bands, no crowds of loud folks at a bar), and C) still be able to drink some good beer, we were left feeling stumped as to any options that would satisfy all those criteria.

But then we stumbled upon Bacchus Wood Fired Pizza in Troy. 

My Great Winter Beer Hunt, Part III: Southern Tier's 2Xmas Ale and Magic Hat's Heart of Darkness Stout

It's New Year's Eve, so what better than the next installment of my search for a great winter seasonal beer?  Well, maybe a Champagne review, but that's not happening (though I do recall picking up a bottle of this very tasty Freixenet sparkling wine on sale at Whole Foods back in Ohio a couple years ago that I'd recommend), and my plan for this evening is to open a new beer.  At least it's a corked one.

Back to the winter beers.  This time, one very Christmassy one--Southern Tier's 2Xmas Ale--and a pretty standard, but still seasonal, stout--Magic Hat's Heart of Darkness.  In calling the Heart of Darkness standard, I don't mean anything negative (spoiler: I like it).  It's just that it pales in terms of seasonality, if you will, to the 2Xmas.  Just look at those label designs above.  One sings Christmas.  The Heart of Darkness?  Um, not Christmas.  But it does get bonus points for the literary reference in its title, even if I--as a former English major who was failed in his education of the classics--can't claim to have ever read the book.

My Great Winter Beer Hunt, Part II: Southern Tier's Old Man (Winter Ale) and Goose Island's Mild Winter

I'm going to have to face the facts here: most of the winter seasonal beers I've encountered on store shelves this year do not feature the Christmassy spices of my beloved Great Lakes Christmas Ale.  I've noticed this more in 2012 than in the past several years.  Maybe it's just a coincidence.

Maybe it's not such a bad thing.  The only seasonal I've tried this year that's been all spiced up is Southern Tier's 2Xmas Ale, and I need to try it one more time before I can give my take.  I like it, but I'm not sure yet how much.  The others I've tried?  They may not evoke the holidays or even winter all that much, but each one has been quite satisfying.

The two latest winter beers I tried came on tap at Bacchus, the wood-fired pizza restaurant located in the basement of Daisy Baker's in Troy.  I need to write more about Bacchus at another time, as we were very pleased with the food, atmosphere, and beer selection found there, but for now the focus is on the beer: Southern Tier's "other" winter seasonal, Old Man (Winter Ale), and Goose Island's Mild Winter.

Get This While You Can: Trader Joe's 2012 Vintage Ale (by Unibroue)

When you think about Gateway Beers--those that help kickstart a person's transition into the craft beer world--you're not likely to include Belgian strong dark ales anywhere near the top of the list.  I'm not exactly sure what my Gateway Beer was.  Maybe Newcastle Brown or Bass?  Obviously not craft beers themselves, but better than the mainstream American dreck that never held any appeal for me.

Others might give answers like Blue Moon, or Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.  Maybe one of the big releases from Sam Adams.  Hoegaarden, anyone?  That, just like Blue Moon, is a Belgian style--a witbier.  A witbier is usually light and crisp and not too strong in its spicing, which is often highlighted by the taste of banana or orange, or spices like coriander.  For anyone who doesn't think they like beer, ones like these can certainly start to affect some change to that mindset.

But back to the possibly ridiculous idea of a Belgian strong dark ale, like the 2012 Vintage Ale from Trader Joe's, as a Gateway Beer.  This is a strong beer in the sense that it's got a pretty high ABV--9%.  But what's that to a wine drinker?  If you're not looking to down the whole bottle (750 mL for the ridiculously good price of $4.99), but just drink a glass or two and share with someone else--as you might with a bottle of wine--it's not going to leave you passed out on a floor (unless that's your preferred destination for sleep).  And maybe most importantly, it's a very masked 9%, nice and warming but without any cloying booziness. 

My Great Winter Beer Hunt, Part I: Smuttynose Winter Ale and Blue Point Winter Ale

Artist's rendering of the author.

I've talked before about my beloved winter beer of choice (an obsession, I'll readily admit), Great Lakes Brewing's Christmas Ale, which is a so-called winter warmer (7.5% ABV) spiced generously with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, with a backdrop of honey for fullness and sweetness.  Sure, some folks will automatically call a beer spiced like this (the same goes for pumpkin beers) a bastardization--and sometimes rightly say that it tastes like a scented candle--but I love the way the tastes of Christmas Ale come together; it feels like the perfect beer for cold weather and the holiday season.

Problem is, Great Lakes doesn't distribute their beer to the eastern half of New York, and even if I had a good reason to drive out to Rochester or Binghamton, Christmas Ale is traditionally snatched off the shelves with lightning speed once it appears.  If you're in Ohio, where Christmas Ale is native, that's not a problem at the start of the season.  But as I saw last year when living in North Carolina, pickings are very slim outside the Buckeye State.  I made the two-hour drive down to Charlotte last November--where Great Lakes is distributed--and visited one of the great Total Wine stores in town. When I asked the guys working there about Christmas Ale they just laughed.  "Gone in a day," they said.  "Two if you're lucky."  And guess what: no more shipments.

So until the day Great Lakes starts shipping their beer to the Capital Region, I've decided I need to find a replacement go-to winter beer.  It doesn't have to be spiced in a similar way to Christmas Ale, but of course there's a little bias in that direction (Natty Greene's Red Nose Winter Ale is the best alternative I've found--most brewers just can't get the spicing right--but they don't ship far from their Greensboro, NC, headquarters).  Still, I'm open to anything that's classified by the brewery as a winter or holiday seasonal.  Bonus points if it comes in a six pack and is reasonably priced.

Here are the first two candidates: