But
it was now a road trip, and so we stopped at Table & Vine in Springfield
for some bottled treats (i.e., Victory’s Bourbon Barrel Aged Otto and Goose
Island Juliet) on our way to Armsby Abbey (http://armsbyabbey.com/) for dinner. Armsby Abbey is one of Draft magazines top spots,
with a great mixture of imported and microbrews on draft. Tonight was no exception, with Mikkeller’s
Texas Ranger, a Chipotle infused porter and Allagash’s Bourbon Barrel Aged
Black Ale. Both were excellent, although
the heat from the Texas Ranger became a bit overpowering. Christopher enjoyed some local brews, Pretty
Things Meadowlark IPA and High & Mighty Don Cornelius, a brown ale aged in
bourbon barrels. For food, the Abbey
offers slates, kid of an upscale ploughman’s, and I decided to be adventurous
with getting the pickled slate. It had
pickled beets, picked string beans, picked eggplant, and pickled ferns (the
only edible kind I was told). They came
with a habenero sauce that was killer.
We made it to Chris’ in time for the draft, and I had fun introducing
Jacob to the experience (he did take Vick on me, that rascal) through Skype. It was a great evening.
The
next morning we got on the road for our adventure, starting out at one of my
(and Draft magazine’s) favorite destinations, Deep Ellum (http://www.deepellum-boston.com/). The food is great, and the beer selection was
awesome. I had poached eggs with some
homemade corned beef hash to go with my Castelain Diversey & Lille, a
collaborative ale with Two Brothers.
Chris went with falafel (no jokes, I had pickled fern the night before)
with a Slaapmutske Triple Nightcap, a huge Belgian Triple from, well
Belgium. Christopher went with the manly
burrito with his Stone 16th Anniversary Imperial IPA. It was a great first stop, but there were
many more, and we needed to get walking down the street to the Sunset Grill.
Sunset
Grill (http://www.allstonsfinest.com).has over 100 taps,
with a selection of local microbrews that is truly impressive. They are also recommended by Draft magazine,
and since they were in walking distance of Deep Ellum, it was an easy stop to
make. They had a Boulevard/Pretty Things
collaboration called Stingo, a tribute to an English Old Ale that was very well
done. Chris savored a Lost Abbey bourbon
barrel Angel’s Share, a rare beer that is even rarer on draft. Christopher went local, a Jack’s Abby Ginger
& Juice, a spiced beer of ginger and grapefruit juice. The bartender was great, someone who loved
beer and knew the different spots around town.
It was fun just hanging out and talking, but we needed to go and take
the green line down to Fenway for our next destination.
We
go to Fenway for a game each year, except this one when we took my folks to a
Phillies game. What I missed was the
opening of a Yard House (http://www.yardhouse.com/MA/boston-restaurant/) there, a great
restaurant with a huge tap selection.
Jenn and I had gone to another location in Vegas for dessert, that is I
got some beer and she got some chocolate.
Their selection was good, but I stayed with the house beers since they
were brewed by Firestone Walker. My
sampler included an IPA, Hefe-weizen and a Honey Blonde, as well as a house
Belgian Amber Tripel from Belgian brewer’s Saison De Silly. They were all solid, and went well with a
bowl of French Onion soup. It is a nice
bar, and worth a visit (check out the chalkboard specials), but my favorite
Fenway watering hole is just down the street, and we were heading there next.
The
Boston Beer Works (http://www.beerworks.net/home/index.html)
is Jenn and my favorite place to stop when we go to a game; in fact she took
the kids over to Yawkey Way while I tried a few beers (she is a great
wife). We sat at the bar, and I got the
August sampler; Boston Garden Golden, Patriot Pilsner, Victory White, and Beantown
Nut Brown. The atmosphere here is the
best, and when the Red Sox are out of town, you can always get a table. We were still hungry (more likely the
munchies), so we got an order of chicken nachos to split (heavenly). We were having fun, but becoming saturated
(was it really wise to start with the high octane beers?), so we decided the
best plan was to head to our next stops by foot.
A
walk across the Charles was in order, and we were rewarded with a gorgeous view
on a beautiful day. It was about two miles
from Fenway to Meadhall in Cambridge Center, taking the Harvard Bridge and
cutting through MIT. Meadhall is a
little swanky for me, but they have a great beer selection and the food looked
good. The guys went for the raw oysters
to go with their beer (a Wormtown Birthday Beer #2, an Imperial Red Rye) and I
enjoyed a Jack’s Abby Jabby Brau, a pale lager (I don’t do oysters, sorry
Pop-Pop). We were all starting to wind
down, drinking more water than beer, and we decided we had one more stop to
make.
That
would be the Cambridge Brewing Company (http://www.cambridgebrewing.com). According to Christopher, the place hadn’t
changed in ages. I sipped their Heather
Ale, and we chatted about the day. We
decided to call it day (sorry Lord Hobo and Redbones, we’ll visit you next
time), and took the Red Line back to the car at Alesmith (perfect name for
today) station. And God smiled on us,
parting the Friday evening traffic so we made it back to Chris’ without
incident for some pizza and water (sorry, we were a bit beered out).
It
was a good day, even if it was a bit tiring.
We agreed that it shouldn’t take football season to get together (I
think there is Fantasy Baseball), and that next time we’ll make the tour in the
reverse order to share the love with different establishments. Those who know me know that I’m a giver. –
6097/12658
“Well
you see, Norm, it’s like this… A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the
slowest buffalo. And when the herd is
hunted, it’s the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed
first. This natural selection is good
for the herd as a whole because the general speed and health of the whole herd
keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way the human brain can only
operate as fast as the slowest brain cells.
Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally it takes the slowest and
weakest brain cells first. In this way
the regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells making the brain
a faster and more efficient machine.
That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers.” – Cliff Claven of
Cheers
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