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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Beer Types

brief explanation

Ale
Any beer made with a top fermenting yeast, can be made to a huge variety of styles including Bitter, Brown ale, Indian pale ale, light ales, old ales, scotch ales

Stout
An extra dark top fermented brew made with highly roasted malts, Irish Stouts are essentially dry often containing unmalted barley

Lager
Any beer made frrom bottom fermentation. Usually associated with being golden in color. Pilsner Urquell was the first golden lager in the world (1842) until then lager was dark. The term lager in German speaking countries and the Netherlands usually denotes the most basic of beer


Porter

A London style that derives from Convent Garden, very similar to stout. Stout ales are stronger, heavier and were originally called stout porter


WeissBier/WeizenBier/Weiss

It is top fermenting, so therefore an ale/ Often a fruity, tart taste with a hint of cloves or bubblegum

Trappist
This appellation is only available to the Trappist order of monks, there are six breweries in Belgium and one in the Netherlands. All the beers are strong in alcohol or flavor (6-12%) top fermenting using candy sugar and are bottle conditioned.

Abby, Abbaye, Abdij
Imitating the Trappist style often made under license from an abbey.

Altbier
A top fermenting beer from Germany. Generally found around Dusseldorf, classically copper in colour, only barley malt and cold matured. Alcohol 4.5-4.7% ABV.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Summer Drinks

Drinks from the films

A list of some of the greatest drinks that feature in the films

No.10 - Groundhog Day– Sweet vermouth on the rocks with a twist

During the day that Bill Murray has to repeat over and over again, he takes Andie MacDowell to a bar. At first, he orders a Jim Beam on the rocks, a solid drink for any man. She orders this drink and then launches into a monologue about how it makes her think of Rome. The next time Murray orders her drink and impresses her by launching into the same reasoning.

Recipe
Sweet vermouth
Lemon wedge

Fill a double old-fashioned cocktail glass with ice. Pour the vermouth, stir and twist lemon over the glass. Serve with the lemon twist as garnish.

No.9 - The Nutty Professor (original version) - Alaskan Polar Bear Heater

Buddy Love, Professor Julius Kelp’s alter ego, orders this at a bar. Of course, the bartender has never heard of it, so Love laundry-lists the ingredients. The bartender smirks: “You going to drink this here, or are you going to take it home and rub it on your chest?” While the movie meant it to be a joke, the drink has actually entered drink culture. Despite its annoying ingredients and bitter taste, it’s drinkable. It gets points for originality, but honestly it’s not that tasty.

Recipe
2 shots of vodka
A little rum
Some bitters
Smidgen of vinegar
Shot of vermouth
Shot of gin
A little brandy
Lemon peel
Orange peel
Cherry
More scotch
Mix it nice

Pour it over ice in a tall glass.

No.8 - Cocktail - Red-Eye

From the most pivotal bar movie of the ‘80s comes this doozy. When Brian Flanagan (Tom Cruise) walks in to ask for a bartending job, Doug is mixing up a Red-Eye. Later, when Flanagan is trying to cure a hangover with pizza, his mentor explains the ingredients. Various drinks use the name, but it’s conceivable that Cocktail launched this variation into the world. It actually does help hangovers, as long as the egg doesn’t make you too nauseous.

Recipe
1 oz vodka
6 oz tomato juice
1 can of beer
1 raw egg

Into a tall frosty mug, pour the vodka and tomato juice. Pour in the beer, then crack the egg into it. Do not stir.

No.7 - The Seven Year Itch - Whisky Sours

This film has one of the most iconic images from all of cinema: Marilyn Monroe standing over a subway grate as her dress is blown up. The film also features the best recipe for a breakfast of champions. Richard Sherman, the man trying not to cheat on his absent wife, tells his secretary: “I'm perfectly capable of fixing my own breakfast. As a matter of fact, I had a peanut butter sandwich and two Whisky Sours.”

The first published account of a Whisky Sour is from an 1870 newspaper in Wisconsin. Another tale claims an English steward invented it after opening a bar in Peru around the same time, inspired by the abundant limes from a nearby grove.

Recipe
1 1/2 oz bourbon (or rye, or Irish whiskey)
1 1/2 oz lemon juice, fresh squeezed
1/2 - 3/4 tsp sugar
Orange slice
Maraschino cherry

Shake with ice and serve over ice in an old-fashioned glass. Garnish with the cherry and orange slice.

No.6 - It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World - Old Fashioned

In a classic scene from this screwball comedy, Tyler Fitzgerald (played by the actor who was Thurston Howell III) decides he needs a drink as he’s flying Benjy Benjamin (Buddy Hackett) and Ding Bell (Mickey Rooney) to their destination. “Make us some drinks,” he says. “You just press the button back there marked ‘booze.’ It's the only way to fly!” The FAA may disagree, but Old Fashioneds are perfect if you’re sitting in first class.

One of the first drinks to be called a cocktail, it dates back to the turn of the 19th century.

Recipe
2 oz bourbon
2 dashes bitters
1 splash water
1 tsp sugar
1 cherry
1 orange wedge

Serve over ice in a short round tumbler glass, then garnish with the cherry and orange wedge.


No.5 - Bonfire Of The Vanities - Sidecar

When Bruce Willis’ character, Peter Fallow, meets with Arthur, the husband of gold-digging southern belle Maria Ruskin (Melanie Griffith), the old man orders a Sidecar with Courvoisier VSOP. Due to his health, he’s not supposed to drink, but since his wife is in Italy she won’t know. The drink is so delicious, Arthur is willing to tempt the fates of his health and have one anyway.

The exact origin of the Sidecar is unknown, but it appears to originate around World War I in either London or Paris. One story credits its invention to an American Army captain in Paris, who rode in a motorcycle sidecar to and from the bistro where he drank.

Recipe
1 ½ oz Courvoisier VSOP
1 oz Triple Sec
1 oz lemon juice
Lemon slice
Granulated sugar

You can use a cheaper cognac if you wish, but it won’t be a true Bonfire Sidecar. Wet the rim of a cocktail glass and dip it in the sugar. Combine the first three ingredients with ice in a shaker. Pour everything into a martini glass and garnish with lemon.


No.4 - Casablanca - French 75

Numerous cocktails fill the days and nights of Casablanca. Centered around a bar called Rick’s, the characters in this love story swill regularly. However, no drinks are as interesting as the French 75s ordered by Yvonne and her Nazi suitor.

A bulldog of a cocktail, it gets its name from the 75-millimeter M1897, a light but gnarly gun that became the mainstay of the French field artillery in World War I. Some sources say Franco-American World War I flying ace Raoul Lufbery created the drink after complaining his champagne needed more kick. More than two of these delights and you’ll be kicking down your ex-girlfriend’s door, calling her Ingrid Bergman.

Recipe
2 oz London dry gin or cognac
1.5 oz of fresh-squeezed lemon juice
5 oz of chilled champagne
1 tsp. superfine sugar
1/2 oz lemon juice

Shake with ice, except the champagne, in a chilled cocktail shaker. Pour into a Collins glass half full of ice and top off with champagne.


No.3 - Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas - Singapore Sling


This cloven-footed sweet taste of thunder launched Hunter S. Thompson on his journey in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. In a flashback to the beginning of the journey, Raoul Duke (Thompson’s alter ego) explains they were “sitting in the Pogo Lounge of the Beverly Hills Hotel... in the patio section, of course, drinking Singapore Slings with mescal on the side.”

Not just a clever name, the drink was invented in Singapore at the Raffles Hotel around 1910. This original recipe fell into disuse, but decades later the hotel did their best to recreate it from interviews and found notes.

Recipe
1 1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz Cherry Liqueur
1/4 oz Cointreau
1/4 oz Benedictine
1/3 oz grenadine
1/2 oz lime juice
4 oz pineapple juice
Dash of bitters

Serve over ice in a highball glass. Add a side of mescal, a long cigarette holder and a briefcase full of drugs for the true Fear & Loathing experience. Garnish with a maraschino cherry, pineapple chunk and orange slice.

No.2 - The Big Lebowski - White Russian

The New York Times ran an article last year attributing the resurgence of this drink almost exclusively to the cult hit Coen Brothers film. While it bombed in the box offices, the slacker staple is now in every male DVD collection. The Dude drinks White Russians (aka Caucasians) throughout the film and has inspired fans to do the same. It’s the best-known movie cocktail combo since the James Bond martini.

Named after an anti-Bolshevik group from the Russian Civil War, the Oxford English Dictionary cites a 1965 newspaper from Oakland, California as the drink’s first mention. Popular in the late ‘70s, it became uncommon until The Dude revived it.

Recipe
2 oz vodka
1 oz Kahlua or other coffee-flavored liqueur
1 oz light cream

Depending on personal taste, any milk or cream will do. The Dude, at one point, even uses powdered nondairy creamer. Serve in an old-fashioned glass over ice.


No.1 - Casino Royale - Vesper

This began the “shaken, not stirred” craze, but the Vesper is still relatively unknown. Bond author Ian Fleming invented this recipe, or at least named it. Daniel Craig orders one Casino Royale: “Three measures of Gordon’s; one of vodka; half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it over ice, and add a thin slice of lemon peel.” On the fly, he names it after double agent Vesper Lynd. “Because of the bitter aftertaste?” she asks. “No, because once you've tasted it, that's all you want to drink,” he answers.

In Fleming’s day Gordon’s gin was 94 proof. Now it’s 80 proof, so look for a 94 proof gin like Tanqueray to stay authentic. Likewise, buy 100 proof vodka, Bond approves of Stolichnaya, for the classic taste. Unfortunately, Kina Lillet, the French aperitif wine that gives this cocktail such a unique flavor, is no longer available in its original blend. Lillet Blanc is the closest thing.

Recipe
3 oz London dry gin
1 oz vodka
1/2 oz Lillet Blanc

Shake with ice until chilled, and serve with a thin slice of lemon peel “in a deep champagne goblet” because as Bond says in the novel: "I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made.”

Looking for more movie trivia? Check out our Top 10: Buddy Scenes and our Top 10: Movies Your Father Loved.

Beer Songs

Acdc Have a Drink on me...
Thin Lizzy whiskey in the Jar
KISS - "Cold Gin"
Sublime - "40 Oz. to Freedom"
Snoop Dogg - "Gin & Juice"
Semisonic - "Closing Time"
George Thorogood & the Destroyers - "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer"
The Beastie Boys - "Brass Monkey"
The Dubliners- "your Drunk"
Jimmy Buffet - "Margaritaville"

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Recession Busting in Galway

Sally longs
€3 for there own lager

The cellar
drinks promos every night

Fibber Magees
two for one cocktails

Oslo
€3 for craft brew

Recession Busting in dublin

The Gingerman
40 Fenian Street Dublin 2
2 litre pitcher of red, weiss or larger €13
the red is from the Franciscan well brewery

Messers Maguires
€4 a pint

bull and castle
€4 a pint

ICB Beer of the year

this is the Irish Craft Brewers awards..
ICB Beer of the Year 2010
Goods Store IPA
by Carlow Brewing

1st Runner-up
Galway Hooker Irish Pale Ale
by Hooker Brewery

2nd Runner-up
Clotworthy Dobbin
by Whitewater

Beer of the Festival
Raven Black
by White Gypsy

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Alchol and Weight

1 bottle of wine(12%) = 8 S.D = 550 Calories = Hamburger + medium fries
1 pint cider = 2.3 S.D = 200 Calories = 1 packet of minstrels
1 pint beer/lager = 2 S.D = 165 Calories = Two thirds of a mars bar
1 pint stout(4.3%) = 2 S.D = 165 Calories = 5 Chicken McNuggets
1/4 bottle of wine = 1.8 S.D = 140 Calories = 1 Doughnut
1 longneck alchopop = 1.2 S.D = 200 Calories = Small McD's Fries
1 bottle beer/lager = 1.1 S.D = 95 Calories = 1 milkey way
1 small glass wine = 1 S.D = 75 Calories = 10g pat of butter
1 measure spirits = 1 S.D = 80 Calories = Digestive Biscuit
1/2 pint beer/lager = 1 S.D = 80 Calories = 2 finger kit kat
1 measure
cream liqueur = 0.5 S.D = 120 Calores = ½ cup of baked beans

**** SD = standard drinks