Sometimes life gives you lemons, and you’re forced to make lemonade. Other times you’re handed blood oranges, so you combine them with lychee, malt and hops to make a friggin’ awesome beer! That’s the case with a new brewery in Newmarket, NH, called Deciduous Brewing. Because I’m lucky enough to have married somebody with connections, Winey Woman and I were treated to a special hour and a half with the owner and brewmaster extraordinaire, Dave Sakolsky. He was more than happy to welcome us into his less than finished brewery and tasting room to give us a once in a lifetime “behind-the-behind-the-scenes” tour of the project that has consumed the past two years.

We were also treated to samples of his Auroral Berliner (the above mentioned blood orange and lychee), along with samples of the three brews that will be available for opening but aren’t finished yet. I said he could package what was there today and it would be an instant hit, but Dave was adamant that they would be MUCH better once “finished.” If the midpoint product is this awesome, the final offering is going to be phenomenal. Getting to experience a brewery in it’s infant, pre-opening form is simply amazing. No hustle and bustle of customers, no noise except for the occasional mechanical whirr, just a man and the dream that he’s bringing to life. It was truly an honor, and I can’t say thank you enough for the experience. Oh, and the final, super awesome icing on the cake — being handed a carboy of the Berliner to take home.

You’ve made one exceptionally happy beer drinker, and if you need somebody to taste beer again, just say the word and I’m there!

<>BM

Today we are going way back- to the back of the fridge and the back of the wine cabinet.

We will start with the wine: a red table wine from Lucas Vineyards in the finger lakes region, 2005 vintage! You don’t need to age your table wines, so we had no idea what we should expect when we pulled the cork and poured the first glass.

You could tell by the color that it was a wee bit old. Just a tiny brownish tinge around the edge indicated the Tug Boat Red’s age. No gnarly smell, so we went for it. What we have is a delicious and sweet red wine with almost no alcohol remaining, which is fine. This ten years young wine is a delcious after dinner sipper that we would love to try a more recent vintage of. This vineyard is still producing this particular table wine, and we plan to grab a more recent vintage and update our review.
– Winey Woman 🙂

For our #WBW beer edition we have Foley Brothers Brewing, Brandon, VT

For this week’s Way Back Wednesday, I’ve unearthed a bomber from Foley Brothers, their Fair Maiden Imperial IPA. I wasn’t sure what to expect, as this is my first beer from Foley. I have to say, I’m really impressed. It’s a big deal to be able to make a good beer, and to pull off a well-balanced Imperial that has flavor to go along with the bitter takes real skill. Foley has done an impeccable job in keeping the bitterness in check. There is a nice resin flavor going on, and a slight orange citrus breaks through as the temperature comes up. Overall I’m extremely happy with my first experience of Foley Brothers Brewing, and I can’t wait to try more of their offerings.

Beer Man

I have lately fallen in love with old vine zinfandel. My torrid affair with old vine zin began while vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard with my second family and closest friend since we were three years old. We had a few different old vine zins and I didn’t find one I wouldn’t have kept drinking until I reached the bottom.

Tonight’s OZV is another delicious old vine zin that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It’s dry and smokey and fruity and you just want to keep on sipping it. It’s as good with food as it is just on its own.  Let it breathe a little and you won’t regret the wait. It blossoms after it gets a little oxygen and it is even good the second day (just be sure to store it in the fridge).
If you like a dry wine with smokey tones, you will probably like this wine. If you lean toward the sweeter wines this is probably not for you.

Winey Woman 🙂

Want a fruity delicious beverage on a hot summer afternoon? Look no further than Haunting Whisper Vineyards’ Blackberry fruit wine. Served chilled, it’s a ripe, berry – filled, sweet/tart syrupy  wine that is full of flavor.

Haunting Whisper is a small vineyard located in Danbury, NH. So far, Beer Man and I have not had a single wine from this vineyard we did not enjoy. I will be sure to post on some others soon, but this is first bottle of theirs we’ve cracked in a few weeks (we’ve been enjoying our Wine Awesomeness deliveries lately). The vintner is extremely personable and really knows his wine. We have enjoyed several tastings there and always bring our friends along to experience and fall in love with the wide selection of wines. To top it all off? Most bottles are priced around $13! You can’t go wrong with these wines. This vineyard is also setting up a spirits distillery and we will be sure to report on that when they are up and running.

Winey Woman 🙂

Time to dig something out of the back of the refrigerator!

Sniff tested by Jensen the Cat

“A Liquid Poem To The Glory Of The Hop” — is how Stone introduces this wonderful brew. They’ve taken four varietals of hops – Centennial, Citra, Simcoe, and Azacca – and brought the best of each to the party. There is an incredible amount of tropical and citrus flavor going on in this one. Everything from orange to lemon. I’m also sensing a slight apple note, possibly from the Azacca hops, a variety I’m not familiar with. Stone has, yet again, come up with a rather tasty brew. I do think, however, the standard Ruination may be better than this Double version.

BM