I was thinking a few days ago about how odd it is that Ommegang Hennepin rarely shows up on tap around town, and then it appeared at The Porter this week. A very good rendition of a Belgian farmhouse saison, it boasts a richer body than many saisons, with some nice light fruitiness, grassy hops, some spice, subtle yeasty funk, and a lingering bitterness. I think this is a beer that would appeal to serious beer drinkers and novices, while also being great for food pairings.
We stopped by Kirkwood Public House as business was winding down last night. Apparently a lot of people noticed the beautiful new painted sign and stopped in to check it out so they had a great weekend. It's good to hear that the transition has started successfully.
Update 1/25: As commenter Leslie (coincidentally also my girlfriend) pointed out, I forgot to mention the most important part of our conversation with the owner. Though because of stupid distribution laws no bar can buy straight from a brewery, in keeping more with the farm to table concept of locality he wants to focus on American beers. I love Belgians, but there are so many great American beers that I think it's a good idea to highlight that. There's probably a limited market for expensive, rare Belgians and I think that part of the market is pretty well taken care of by The Porter and BSP. I'll take a Stone or Jolly Pumpkin any day.
Showing posts with label Kirkwood Public House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kirkwood Public House. Show all posts
Monday, January 25, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Kirkwood Public House
Yesterday I mentioned that it seemed that Kirkwood Vinocity had become Kirkwood Public House. I stopped in today to get the scoop and was lucky to find the owner, John Turpin, behind the bar and we talked for awhile. Apparently my speculation was correct. The Vinocity sign came down Monday and the new sign started being painted yesterday (Wednesday). The official re-unveiling to the public will probably be January 30th. He confirmed that they had a new chef and before I realized he was the owner I told him the old food was inedible. The new kitchen is completely farm to table. It haven't eaten there yet so I can't comment on quality, but the few words I've heard around have been positive.
As for the important thing at this site, they have expanded their beer list. The have 11 beers on tap (technically 12, but one will always be occupied by Miller lite for the football watchers) and will soon have 38 bottles for an even 50 beers, which will be more than their wine selection. They'll still offer 38 wines by the glass though. It was clear that John is still more of a wine guy than beer guy, but he also clearly wants to run a good beer bar. As I hope is clear, everything is currently in transition, so I'm not judging anything yet. On the bright side they had Allagash Tripel, Highland Oatmeal Stout, Clipper City Loose Cannon, and a tap will soon have Terrapin Hopsecutioner. It seems that having the Terrapin Hopsecutioner, Clipper City Loose Cannon, Dogfish Head 60 minute, and Sweetwater IPA is quite a bit of overkill on highly hopped IPAs, but hopefully we'll see more of a balance of styles soon. Of the 12 taps he said that only the Guinness, 420, and Miller Lite would be regulars and the rest of the taps would rotate, which to me is the mark of a good beer bar.
A little complaint: I don't mind if smaller places don't go to quite the lengths of The Porter and BSP in providing every beer in its own glass, but I would like to taste something like the Allagash Tripel in a goblet instead of a pint glass. I realize I'm a beer snob, but hey, we all have issues and it really does make a difference in the flavor and overall experience. It's hard to complain too much about the glass though when you're getting 12 oz of a good trippel for $5.00.
I'll be checking back to see how the transition goes.
Update 1/22: fixed major typos
Update 2/10: I've eaten here now and since this is a beer blog didn't think that food warranted a whole new post. This is a vast improvement over the old chef. I just got a burger and fries and they were both good examples of just letting ingredients shine. It was a simple burger, but well seasoned, well cooked, and somehow very meaty. The fries were nicely crunchy and potatoey and some of the best I've had in the city, maybe only behind The Porter (some would disagree...The Porter's are loaded with herbs and garlic and come with an awesome charred onion mayo, all of which can be a little polarizing). Beer list leaves something to be desired to be a beer destination place, but at least there's Allagash Tripel.
As for the important thing at this site, they have expanded their beer list. The have 11 beers on tap (technically 12, but one will always be occupied by Miller lite for the football watchers) and will soon have 38 bottles for an even 50 beers, which will be more than their wine selection. They'll still offer 38 wines by the glass though. It was clear that John is still more of a wine guy than beer guy, but he also clearly wants to run a good beer bar. As I hope is clear, everything is currently in transition, so I'm not judging anything yet. On the bright side they had Allagash Tripel, Highland Oatmeal Stout, Clipper City Loose Cannon, and a tap will soon have Terrapin Hopsecutioner. It seems that having the Terrapin Hopsecutioner, Clipper City Loose Cannon, Dogfish Head 60 minute, and Sweetwater IPA is quite a bit of overkill on highly hopped IPAs, but hopefully we'll see more of a balance of styles soon. Of the 12 taps he said that only the Guinness, 420, and Miller Lite would be regulars and the rest of the taps would rotate, which to me is the mark of a good beer bar.
A little complaint: I don't mind if smaller places don't go to quite the lengths of The Porter and BSP in providing every beer in its own glass, but I would like to taste something like the Allagash Tripel in a goblet instead of a pint glass. I realize I'm a beer snob, but hey, we all have issues and it really does make a difference in the flavor and overall experience. It's hard to complain too much about the glass though when you're getting 12 oz of a good trippel for $5.00.
I'll be checking back to see how the transition goes.
Update 1/22: fixed major typos
Update 2/10: I've eaten here now and since this is a beer blog didn't think that food warranted a whole new post. This is a vast improvement over the old chef. I just got a burger and fries and they were both good examples of just letting ingredients shine. It was a simple burger, but well seasoned, well cooked, and somehow very meaty. The fries were nicely crunchy and potatoey and some of the best I've had in the city, maybe only behind The Porter (some would disagree...The Porter's are loaded with herbs and garlic and come with an awesome charred onion mayo, all of which can be a little polarizing). Beer list leaves something to be desired to be a beer destination place, but at least there's Allagash Tripel.
Picks for the week
I was driving down Hosea Williams and saw that the sign for Kirkwood Vinocity seemed to be down and that "Kirkwood Public House" is now painted above the door. My girlfriend and I gave up on Vinocity months ago after trying a few times because the food was so bad. I just read that they got a new chef in November (formerly at Rathbun's) and now it looks like maybe it's going to be more of a beer place. Possibly just wishful thinking (it's about a mile from my house), but it's an awesome spot that I think would thrive as a beer bar and I want to check it out.
Elsewhere, not a lot new to report, though it didn't interest me much last week, the Smuttynose takeover at The Porter looks good now. A lot of it is still there and they have a few sour offerings, Brett & I, and Strawberry Weiss (a Berlinnerweisse, which tend to be mildly sour).
An even more interesting sounding sour beer is at The Brick Store, a collaboration between Bell's Brewery in Michigan and De Proeff in Belgium called Van Twee. Beers can get their sour flavor from sour fruits, a bacteria (usually lactobacillus or pediococcus), or a yeast (generally Brettanomyces). Van Twee gets its sourness from sour Michigan cherries and Brett yeast. Only 1,000 liters were kegged, so this will probably be your only shot to get it.
Finally, a crew from the great Canadian brewery Unibroue will be at The Grange in Decatur January 26th with some of their beers on tap. They must have been the first brewery on this side of the Atlantic making Belgian style ales. They released their first beer in 1992 and Ommegang, in New York, didn't open until 1997.
Elsewhere, not a lot new to report, though it didn't interest me much last week, the Smuttynose takeover at The Porter looks good now. A lot of it is still there and they have a few sour offerings, Brett & I, and Strawberry Weiss (a Berlinnerweisse, which tend to be mildly sour).
An even more interesting sounding sour beer is at The Brick Store, a collaboration between Bell's Brewery in Michigan and De Proeff in Belgium called Van Twee. Beers can get their sour flavor from sour fruits, a bacteria (usually lactobacillus or pediococcus), or a yeast (generally Brettanomyces). Van Twee gets its sourness from sour Michigan cherries and Brett yeast. Only 1,000 liters were kegged, so this will probably be your only shot to get it.
Finally, a crew from the great Canadian brewery Unibroue will be at The Grange in Decatur January 26th with some of their beers on tap. They must have been the first brewery on this side of the Atlantic making Belgian style ales. They released their first beer in 1992 and Ommegang, in New York, didn't open until 1997.
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