Firewaters – A Sure Bet in Atlantic City

Wasn’t long ago that Atlantic City’s slot machines had honest to goodness handles that you could pull in hopes of a payout of a cascading stream of real coins.  The apparent constant sound of metallic waterfalls made you think everyone was a winner on every pull of the handle.  Of course we knew better.  We knew every pull was a hit or miss proposition – usually miss.  

Atlantic City isn’t what it used to be.  The casinos have grown, improved and modernized.  The slot machines have gone digital.  Most of them don’t even accept real coins anymore and the cacaphony of cascading coins throughout the casino floor is just a digital sound file that could very well be pumping through the gaming floor’s sound system from one of the resort VP’s daughter’s iPods.  Real coins aren’t the only things missing from the the slot machines these days.  The slot handles are gone too.

Thankfully, the slot handles have been replaced by tap handles at Firewaters in the Tropicana.  More thankfully, the payout odds with each pull of those handles is far better than the odds upstairs on the casino floor, in fact, the odds are perfect.  Every pull of a tap handle at Firewaters guarantees a tasty payout.

Fifty craft and import brews on tap (OK, there are a few industrial swill spigots) and 101 bottled varieties. More than a handful of the available brews when I visited were impressive.  A large selection is nice but a quality selection is far more important.  I had a Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard and a Founders Breakfast Stout and if I was staying there that night I might have sampled a few more from the wall of taps which boasted Lagunitas, Great Divide, Left Hand, Smuttynose and plenty of others.

As an added bonus, the bartenders know their hops.  Call me crazy, but I think you should know what you’re pouring, especially if you’re filling the glasses with some world class beers.  You wouldn’t select a bottle of wine from a sommllier that raves about Sutter Home so you should expect the bartenders at a place with a respectable beer selection to respect the selection themselves.  Anyway, our bartender, Sherri, knew her stuff and told us that management requires the staff to take tests on beer styles and brewers. Good for them.  Good for us.  Good for business.

So there are now 2 legitimate beercentric bars in Las Vegas’s poor step-sister city:  the Tun Tavern Brewpub and Firewaters.  Here’s hoping that the list grows!  While hoping for that I’ll be sampling the bottled  selections at Firewaters (to be certain there really are 101).

~Cheers!

Evil Accounting or Something More Sinister?

On Thursday, November 6, Anheiser-Busch released its annual revenues of $666 Million.  In an earnings season which has proved devilish across practically every industry, A-B’s earnings figure appears to be right on the mark.

Rolling Rock may never come clean about their mysterious “33″ but A-B’s “666″ needs no interpretation – or confirmation for that matter – you can taste the number in every painful sip.

Hoppy Holidays!

It may be too early to stuff the holiday stockings but it’s not too early to start stocking the beer fridge with great holiday ales.  Nothing says the holiday season is approaching like the sight of the first few Holiday and Winter seasonal brews on the shelves.  This is my favorite time of the craft beer drinking year because so many interesting and flavorful beers are released.  I’ve always been a huge fan of Anchor’s holiday offering – “Our Special Ale”.  This year’s vesion was released on November 3rd and started hitting shelves along with a few of the other early holiday brews including Avery’s Old Jubilation and Red Hook’s Winter Hook.

The Trappist Monks have a good gig going over in Belgium but they have nothing on the Elves when it comes to brewing Holiday Ales!  

Do yourself a favor and tell Aunt Millie not to bother with that scrumptious home made fruit cake this year and to pick up a six pack of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale or Deschutes Jubelale instead.  If she insists on forcing her way into the house with one of those sticky cinder blocks anyway, make sure you have enough of your favorite holiday brew on hand to help get it down.

Cheers!

The Crafting of a Craft Beer Geek

 

Oak Creek Brewpub in Sedona, AZ

Ask me almost anything about beer and there’s a pretty good chance I’ll know the answer.  “What’s the difference between dry hopping and continuous hopping?”  I know that. “Does chocolate malt really contain chocolate?”  I know that too, and – no, it doesn’t.  “What’s Fritz Maytag’s claim to brewing fame?”  Yeah, I know that and it doesn’t have anything to do with inventing a combination Maytag dishwasher/brew kettle.   “Who brews Pliny the Elder Ale and what styles of beer pair well with Thai food or Texas BBQ?  Yes, I can tackle those as well.  The list goes on and has gone on at beer tastings and other events for a while now.  I’ve been a proud bearer of the beer geek tag for a good 5 years.  I’ve hosted countless beer tastings, reviewed hundreds of beers and sampled hundreds more and given purchasing advice to a handful of owners, buyers and beer managers at local liquor stores but one question has evaded even a poor answer despite many attempts:  “when did you become a beer geek (or beer nut as the question is usually posed)?”  For far too long, the best and most honest answer I could come up with has been, “I don’t really know.”  Absurd, how could I not even know enough to take a weak stab at such a basic and obvious question?  Well, never one to be comfortable with not knowing the answer (especially to something so seemingly simple), I sat down with a contemplative pint or two of Great Divide Yeti Oak Aged Imperial Stout and determined to come up with something better than “I don’t really know.”

When it came to beer in the first place I was late to the tap handle, not having my first one until midway through my second semester of sophomore year at Syracuse University.  A self-imposed goodie two shoes I can honestly say that I never had a drink at a high school party and I didn’t even thought about sneaking a little something from my parents bar.  Throughout Freshman Year I never uncapped one of the Haffenreffer’s my future roommate, John Chawner, and his future wife, Cathy, were so quizzically partial to.  When I did start to accompany my college buddies to the bars adjacent to campus I tended to stay away from beer completely – just hated the taste of it and couldn’t understand why anyone would drink it.  Embarrassingly, I would usually be caught with a vodka Collins in those days but that’s another story.

Happy Birthday Stone!

Birthday celebrations are always something to look forward to – especially if the party’s host is pouring some great beer, but when the guest of honor brews the great beer we look forward to enjoying at everyone else’s parties the celebration taps up another level or two. Stone Brewing, famously of North County San Diego (Escondido), CA turned 12 a couple weeks ago and they’ve invited all of their most Arrogant Bastardly friends to join them.

This year the Stone gargoyle protects a Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout which promises to pair well with cakes, candles and carousing. Their 11th Anniversary Black IPA didn’t last long on the shelves and I don’t expect this one to stick around for more than a handful of weeks so you should be reaching for the car keys right about now…..

Don’t fret; however, at the dwindling supplies of this limited brew because its shelf space will soon be replaced by Stone’s Vertical Epic 08.08.08. Timing is everything.

Pull up a stool!

Unless, of course, you’ve allowed the marketing evil geniuses for the domestic Big 3 macro conglomerates (Budweiser, Coors, SAB Miller) to convince you that their swill actually tastes good. In that case, there’s a smokey, tobacco stained bar just down the road from the hunting lodge where you can get your fill of $3 Bud Light pitchers. If; however, you’re already a devoted craft and import brew fan or if you’re open minded, curious and appreciate the value of true quality and skill over marketing and blind product loyalty (not limited to beer), then we’ve got a spot at the rail with your name on it and the tap handles are primed.

Weclome to the Alemonger’s (mostly) craft brew blog. We probably won’t make the world a whole lot safer but our pint glasses will surely be tastier!