the latest road trip.
So ... attended the NERAX festival this weekend; that's the New England Real Ale eXhibition for those wondering. About 40 brewers from all over New England, Scotland, Wales and England (the old one) were there.
The niche was that all the beers served were cask conditioned which I could get technical explaining but I won't because it's rather boring. Casks are those big wooden (usually oak) barrels that you always see Friar Tuck lugging around in all those Robin Hood movies. Basically it is the freshest beer you can possibly get your greedy little hands on. The beer finishes fermenting in this cask and there is no storage time or loss of anything intended due to transfer to bottles etc etc .. It's good, and there is a world of difference if you know what you are dealing with.
To tell you the truth we didn't have too good of a time there. The three beers I had were alright, nothing I would go hunting for, and my traveling comrades weren't so lucky. They ended up picking three dogs. Too old, too new, too much of one and not the other. (Beer snobs like myself would understand that.
The place was tiny, and there was way too many people in that one room. The festival has been getting bigger and bigger each year and they really need to find a larger hall or an outside venue.
Oh by the way it was in Sommerville, MA, which is outside of Boston near Harvard and Cambridge. And also worth noting that we did in fact get lost both on the way to and the way home. Whoever designed the road system in Sommerville I equated to a retarded gorilla with a severe quelude problem. 5 way intersections every corner? No wonder Boston drivers are maniacs.
After my third taste, I went outside for a smoke, there was a line waiting to get in that went around the corner of this street. There had to be about 300 people packed inside, and another 150 waiting to get in. John and Wayne pop out and tell me that we aren't going back in and that the new plan is to find RedBones BBQ which is one of the sponsors of this event. RedBones is supposed to be one of the better beer restaurants in New England. A high priority on our radar screen.
A quick stop at one of the local package stores which was also noted as one of the best in the region and we were not disappointed. We found some very unusual stuff in there. A honey Mead being the most notable. (D&D players rejoice!!)
So off to RedBones. Another line outside the door. Another half hour wait. Not bad though, we can wait downstairs at the bar.
OH MY GAWD!
I love the paintings on the walls down here. Unreal!
These bizarre skeleton family picnic types of murals on each and every flat surface in the place. The colors of the paintings just jumped right at you, it was an incredible atmosphere. It was rather dark down there mostly due the the black color of the drop celling, but this effect just brought out the brightness of the paintings. Taking a look behind the bar to see what they had to offer I was as near to heaven as one could be. I saw a many members of Beers' Royal Family back there in that wondrous fridge of theirs. Chimay (Rouge and Blu), Cellis Grand Cru, Duval, Rouge, Allagash, Ommegang, Stone .. the list goes on, it was awesome.
So we get our seats in the upstairs dining area and we are again sardines. Hard to enjoy a meal when the main jist of my view consists of the wait-staffs' ass or crotch in my face depending on which way they were heading. Service was fast and polite at least, I ended up getting my appetizer of fried sausage for free because it was a different flavor then advertised. Funny though, when I asked the waiter what the sausage of the day was he wasn't sure because they had just made a fresh batch; which oh yeah, they make here daily upon demand .. pretty cool. Not two minutes later a server comes over to the table and plopps a plate of you guessed it sausage in front of me, along with a side of fried potatoes that I actually did order. The first guy comes up just after and apologized for the discrepancy on the specials board and tells me that he will buy the plate for me.
Damn they were good too!
I was a little gun-shy about them being jalapeno/chipolte flavored as I am a total whimp about hot food, but they were not that bad at all. I can't say the same for poor Wayne and the spiced beef thing he'd gotten. Tears fell from his eyes after the first few bites. Feeling brave I took a tiny nibble. That nibble lasted me about twenty minutes and a half piece of (homemade) cornbread to go away.
As you may have guessed, this was a southern fried BBQ place. Catfish, which John ordered and was awesome, deep fried anything, gumbo, brown rice dishes, you name it, if it had a drawl, they made it.
All and all a good place. Fantastic beers which is always our first draw, and a cool vibe at least in that basement bar. There was a regular full service bar off to the right of the upstairs dining area but we didn't get to see that. maybe next time.
So we got lost again on the way home and ended up all but circling the outskirts of Boston, but eventually made it home to finish off the night with bad karaoke and a pool game or two.
What's next .. ? Black Crowes up at hampton Beach.
The niche was that all the beers served were cask conditioned which I could get technical explaining but I won't because it's rather boring. Casks are those big wooden (usually oak) barrels that you always see Friar Tuck lugging around in all those Robin Hood movies. Basically it is the freshest beer you can possibly get your greedy little hands on. The beer finishes fermenting in this cask and there is no storage time or loss of anything intended due to transfer to bottles etc etc .. It's good, and there is a world of difference if you know what you are dealing with.
To tell you the truth we didn't have too good of a time there. The three beers I had were alright, nothing I would go hunting for, and my traveling comrades weren't so lucky. They ended up picking three dogs. Too old, too new, too much of one and not the other. (Beer snobs like myself would understand that.
The place was tiny, and there was way too many people in that one room. The festival has been getting bigger and bigger each year and they really need to find a larger hall or an outside venue.
Oh by the way it was in Sommerville, MA, which is outside of Boston near Harvard and Cambridge. And also worth noting that we did in fact get lost both on the way to and the way home. Whoever designed the road system in Sommerville I equated to a retarded gorilla with a severe quelude problem. 5 way intersections every corner? No wonder Boston drivers are maniacs.
After my third taste, I went outside for a smoke, there was a line waiting to get in that went around the corner of this street. There had to be about 300 people packed inside, and another 150 waiting to get in. John and Wayne pop out and tell me that we aren't going back in and that the new plan is to find RedBones BBQ which is one of the sponsors of this event. RedBones is supposed to be one of the better beer restaurants in New England. A high priority on our radar screen.
A quick stop at one of the local package stores which was also noted as one of the best in the region and we were not disappointed. We found some very unusual stuff in there. A honey Mead being the most notable. (D&D players rejoice!!)
So off to RedBones. Another line outside the door. Another half hour wait. Not bad though, we can wait downstairs at the bar.
OH MY GAWD!
I love the paintings on the walls down here. Unreal!
These bizarre skeleton family picnic types of murals on each and every flat surface in the place. The colors of the paintings just jumped right at you, it was an incredible atmosphere. It was rather dark down there mostly due the the black color of the drop celling, but this effect just brought out the brightness of the paintings. Taking a look behind the bar to see what they had to offer I was as near to heaven as one could be. I saw a many members of Beers' Royal Family back there in that wondrous fridge of theirs. Chimay (Rouge and Blu), Cellis Grand Cru, Duval, Rouge, Allagash, Ommegang, Stone .. the list goes on, it was awesome.
So we get our seats in the upstairs dining area and we are again sardines. Hard to enjoy a meal when the main jist of my view consists of the wait-staffs' ass or crotch in my face depending on which way they were heading. Service was fast and polite at least, I ended up getting my appetizer of fried sausage for free because it was a different flavor then advertised. Funny though, when I asked the waiter what the sausage of the day was he wasn't sure because they had just made a fresh batch; which oh yeah, they make here daily upon demand .. pretty cool. Not two minutes later a server comes over to the table and plopps a plate of you guessed it sausage in front of me, along with a side of fried potatoes that I actually did order. The first guy comes up just after and apologized for the discrepancy on the specials board and tells me that he will buy the plate for me.
Damn they were good too!
I was a little gun-shy about them being jalapeno/chipolte flavored as I am a total whimp about hot food, but they were not that bad at all. I can't say the same for poor Wayne and the spiced beef thing he'd gotten. Tears fell from his eyes after the first few bites. Feeling brave I took a tiny nibble. That nibble lasted me about twenty minutes and a half piece of (homemade) cornbread to go away.
As you may have guessed, this was a southern fried BBQ place. Catfish, which John ordered and was awesome, deep fried anything, gumbo, brown rice dishes, you name it, if it had a drawl, they made it.
All and all a good place. Fantastic beers which is always our first draw, and a cool vibe at least in that basement bar. There was a regular full service bar off to the right of the upstairs dining area but we didn't get to see that. maybe next time.
So we got lost again on the way home and ended up all but circling the outskirts of Boston, but eventually made it home to finish off the night with bad karaoke and a pool game or two.
What's next .. ? Black Crowes up at hampton Beach.