Bruisin’ Ales is closed today. The driveway is being uncooperative after last night’s snowfall and now the icky slushy nonsense that is going on is just making it worse. Judging from the coverage at AC-T, we’re taking the “safer than sorry” route by avoiding the secondary roads. Please be careful  out there if you have to drive.

Just for fun, here is the most disgusting thing we’ve ever seen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We found this awesome recipe while perusing the Beerinator forums today. SellTibet—who, by the way, drove all the way from Raleigh with friends to get Baptista—designs a nice little winter meal with the missus.

Ingredients:
5 shallots, peeled and chopped
1 head of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
3 oz dried Bing cherries
3oz dried tart cherries
2 pork tenderloins, unwrapped
1 tsp each salt & pepper (estimated)
1 tsp dried rosemary (estimated)
12 oz Bell’s Cherry Stout

Combine all the ingredients to your favorite slow-cooker and cook for ~6 hours on Low (should take less time on High).

[edit]

We made a meal out this by adding 1 cup of whole wheat couscous to the remaining liquid stew in the cooker, turning the cooker on to high, and cooking for an additional 10 minutes until the couscous was cooked. Flavor-wise, this turned out quite well though the pork was a little dry at the time it was served. If we make this receipe again I will use some of the liquid in the crock-pot to cook the couscous separately and pull apart the tenderloin to let it soak in the rest prior to serving.

Bruisin’ Ales was fortunate to get invited to a little pre-to-do over at Asheville’s new Belgian beer bar, The Thirsty Monk last night. The beer list is too numerous to mention, but a few teasers: Kasteel Rouge on tap, Fantome Saison in bottle. Owner, Barry, and manager, Caroline, put on an impressive show with a wicked selection of Belgian cheeses. We love cheese! Official opening is next Wednesday, June 23. Even niftier? Barry’s brother owns The Stumbling Monk in Seattle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday’s are our favorite days in the beer store because it brings out all the locals on happy weekend time and the beer people that drive from near and far to stock up things they can’t get where they are. But today, we had two very cool visitors that came by with their Ashevillian friend—Joe and Kim Carroll of Spuyten Duyvil in Williamsburg, New York (just outside Brooklyn). Spuyten Duyvil (pronounced “SPITE-uhn DYE-vuhl”) is the #1 beer bar in New York City and #2 in the entire United States. Its name comes from “a subsection of the Riverdale section of the Bronx in New York City” and literally means spinning devil. (See Wikipedia) Ever passionate about beer, we chatted them up and send them off with a couple beer•lan•thro•py tees and a box of local brews, including some Pisgah Pale, Pisgah Baptista, French Broad’s Wee Heavy-est, Highland Cold Mountain, Highland Imperial Kashmir, and some Duck-Rabbit Baltic Porter. They’d already done their rounds and picked up a Flanders Abbey from French Broad Brewing Co. and a keg up Terrapin’s Wake-n-Bake they got at Brawley’s in Charlotte. Very cool, yes? If you’re ever up in The Big Apple, make the trip over the bridge and visit this little place. You will not regret it.

From NYMag.com:

No bar in the city pays more loving and thorough homage to beer—specifically Belgian beer, arguably the world’s best—than Spuyten Duyvil. In a neighborhood where $2 PBR rules the day, it’s built an almost cultlike following around obscure imported microbrews. Beer geeks from Manhattan, Jersey, Connecticut, and beyond make the trek for a stunning selection of Belgian brews that’s broken down by region—Flemish and Wallonian. After that, there are twelve more countries to sample, and a grand total of about 140 often-rare bottles, plus a rotating hand-pulled cask ale. The simple mahogany bar offers the best view of the voluminous chalkboard beer listings and a chance to chat up passionate owners Joe and Kim Carroll. Snacks—plates of cheese, meat, and Brooklyn-made pickles—stand up well to that $19 bottle of rare Wallonian Blaugies.

Image: Robert K. Chin/NYMag.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now this gives us warm fuzzies inside: The famed Dixie Brewery of New Orleans—which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina and then horrendously looted in the aftermath—is brewing again. Yup, Dixie is back and Dixie Blackened Voodoo arrived today. Good for them! Just last week someone came in and asked about this particular beer and we had to tell the sad story of Dixie’s temporary demise, but now we can celebrate! With a beer! Dixie is currently being contract-brewed at Joseph Huber Brewing Co. in Wisconsin. Dixie is Louisiana brewing. You can read more about the Bruno’s story on NPR.

Just for fun, here’s what Blackened Voodoo looks like under a microscope.