Anchor Steam

A little treasure from San Francisco

Beer: Anchor Steam

Brewery: Anchor Brewing Company

Brewed In: California, USA

Style: California Common/Steam Beer

ABV: 4.9%

Price: $2 and some change!

Notes: Year-round availability

Story: This is a beer I bring camping with me.  I’ve heard it is quite phenomenal freshly bottled or on tap too. 

Appearance: The beer is clear golden amber with a thick and creamy head.

Smell: Not very aromatic but this beer gives off a slight scent of caramel malts.

Taste: Flavour is very malty with a little bitterness from the citrus hops in the finish.  Not too much going on in this beer.  It is very balanced though and is easy to drink.

Mouthfeel: I’ve been told this is medium bodied but I would probably consider it more on the thin side.

Drinkability: Like I said above – great beer to bring when you go camping!

The Great Burger Hunt - Fox & Hounds Tavern

Serving the best pub grub in town?

I’ll be honest I never thought I would ever eat the food at the Fox & Hounds Tavern.  It may be my local watering hole, but only for a few drinks, with friends because of its location and the quiet atmosphere, unless it is Saturday night – where karaoke makes the place quite rambunctious.

The Fox & Hounds seemed to always have a buffet on the go, yet Kevin and I never saw anyone eat from it.  It just sat there looking terrible.  Of course I did eat there once.  When a guy came in selling $1 pizza slices.  It was probably the worst $1 I have ever spent.

Then one day I stumbled across a retweet about “the best pub grub in town” – the original tweet was by @StJamesWPGHotel (The Fox).  Huh? The Fox I frequent?  Couldn’t be… could it?

Of course I had to check it out.  So one day Kevin and I ventured down for an afternoon beer and a bite to eat. 

Glancing at their new menu I was impressed.  A very good selection of food and the photos on the menu looked like the food could actually come from the kitchen at the Fox.  Sure they didn’t look very fancy but they looked like actual restaurant food, unlike most places that show fancy photos of their meals and it looks nothing like that.

After Kevin and I ordered our beers we waited a tad longer than we should have considering the waitress knew we were going to order food.  When she came back I ordered a Ground Chuck Burger with chips.  I could have had a salad or normal fries but figured the chips were a good choice.

Like our wait to order, the food took quiet a long time.  They might have cut the chips right after we ordered.  Even though we waited a good amount of time the burger came out piping hot.  The chips were a tad cool though but decent, albeit a bit salty.  A side of spicy dipping sauce that came with them was really good and was pretty spicy.

As much as the burger looked good I was still unsure.  It is the Fox.  Aside from the bun that was a little on the dry side it actually surprised me.  The burger was nothing fancy, just a patty tossed together with very little spice and some fresh veggies on top.  This is something that you would expect when you quickly throw together a burger at home.  Very average but if you do order it it won't really be a disappointment.

For 8.50 this was actually wasn’t bad, not anything fancy at all, but decent for the price point.  I will definitely come back to try other menu items but “the best pub grub in town” might be a bit of a stretch.

What I got: Ground Chuck Burger and chips - $8.50 (before taxes)

Burger Taste: 3/5

Fries Taste: 3/5

Price Value: 4/5

Menu Selection: 4/5

Overall: 3.5/5

Fox & Hounds Tavern

1719 Portage Ave

Winnipeg, MB R2J 0E4

204-888-2341

Fullers London Porter

Thin and dark deliciousness!

Beer: Fullers London Porter

Brewery: Fuller Smith & Turner PLC

Brewed In: United Kingdom

Style: English Porter

ABV: 5.4%

Price: Don’t remember how much I paid for this can but it was around $2.30

Notes: Year-round availability in bottles, cans, and on tap.

Story: This is another beer that I brought back from my trip out to Kenora.

Appearance: Dark dark dark!  Looks almost completely black with a bit of reddish purple at the bottom of the glass.  When held up to the light you can see it is red but it still has a hint of purple.  Head is thick and sticks around for a long time.

Smell: Aroma is mostly roasty chocolate and molasses.  Smells very tasty.

Taste: The flavour is molasses and creamy milk chocolate, although you get more of the creaminess than the chocolate taste.  Also a hint of vanilla.

Mouthfeel: London Porter is very smooth and creamy but surprisingly thin and light-medium bodied. 

Drinkability: This beer is very simple in flavour and aroma but it has a nice balance that makes it a good beer.

The Walking Dead Season Two Review

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

As I said in my review of season one – it felt like a prequel.  This season, honestly, felt the same.  Why?

I guess I will just lay out what I liked and didn’t like.

Likes:

- Shane – his character was fleshed out well and the acting was great.  Nothing to hate on this guy but he had to die.

- The acting on the show in general was really good.

- Character development – most of the main characters got the development they needed this season.  This was something that was lacking last season.

- Keeping the audience that reads the book guessing.  Sure I was pissed that Dale was killed but because that happened it threw a wrench into future storylines that could have happened.  More surprise for me = better.

- Rick being a bad ass at the end of the season.  I was worried they were going to let the Shane death slide into next season.  Glad they didn’t.

- Darryl – a creation for the show only.  He is great.  Part asshole, part hick, part hero, part Rick’s henchman, and part nice guy.  I really hope they keep him around.

Dislikes:

- The character development was good but they lost focus on the story I think.  Finding the jail, well not yet, at the end of the season was perfect timing but mostly the progression of story and how the character development, especially of Rick, was changing wasn’t story driven enough for my liking.  Basically you have to believe he, or whoever, has become this person without showing it.

- Tdog.  Seriosuly.  What is the point of this character!!!

- My biggest gripe with the show is that while they are focusing on the Rick, Lori, and Carl story they are neglecting everyone else, with the exception of Shane.  Andrea, Dale, and Greg did not get enough screen time.  Yes I understand it is a 13 episode season.  But the only character development Dale got was in the episode he died in.

- This leads directely from my last comment – not enough big characters died.  Shane yes.  Sophia, maybe but she wasn’t a character as much as a prop.  Dale, again only because of my connection with him in the books did it feel big.  Next season Tdog will die.  Why.  Because they only have him and Herschel’s blonde daughter left to kill before they start killing off actual characters.

The best parts of the books are the unpredictability of who will die.  Seriously no matter how significant a character is they could die any moment.  I have yet to get that feeling with the show.  This season again, felt better than the first, but still felt like a prequel of what is to come.

Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn Lager

My beer choice while in NYC!

Beer: Brooklyn Lager

Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery

Brewed In: New York, USA.

Style: American Amber Lager

ABV: 5.2%

Price: Just over $3 a bottle

Notes: Available year round.

Story:  The first time I had Brooklyn Lager was actually when I was in New York City for the New York Comic Con two years ago.  Most of the weekend I was drinking bourbon to be honest, since I had a flask (or water bottle filled with booze to be precise) on me at all times, but whenever we went out for food and the restaurant had beer I've never tried I was ordering something new.  The first day there I tried Brooklyn Lager and enjoyed it.  I tried another brew right after that was not as good and I was pretty much only given those two options at most places, unless I wanted the usual mass-market beers. 

Appearance: Initially the beer looks more on the golden side but once fully poured it is more of a clear amber shade.  Holding it up to the light brings back the prevailing gold colour.  It has a modest head that does not stick around very long because of the bubbles from the carbonation.

Smell: Very feint, mostly floral with a bit of malt.  Another beer that does not have much nose to it but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Taste: It is crisp and the taste is mostly malt.  The bitterness of the floral hops doesn’t linger and the sweetness of the malts makes the finish very pleasant.

Mouthfeel: Like most lagers it has a light to medium body.  The carbonation is quite noticeable in the beer when looking at it but you don’t notice it while drinking it.

Drinkability:  I am not a fan of most lagers but this is a beer I quite enjoy, it is very balanced.  It has no overpowering qualities and is a beer I could drink all night long if need be.  This is one brewery I want to try more of their brews.  The Christmas beer they release, Black Chocolate Stout, is superb!

What I did for my birthday

Other than 15 hours of drinking....

My birthday was on the 11th but I had my party this past Saturday.  It was a great evening (well day really) filled with good friends and good fun.  Oh and maybe just a tiny little bit of booze.

Here is another photo essay (photos by Brett Enquist, Adrian Trimble, Alyson Shane or myself):

Breakfast at Stella's with Adrian!

Half Pints at Elements for lunch.

Lunch! And review here!

Dessert.

Huh?

Next stop Yellow Dog.

Before walking Portage and Main.

Popped into Bailey's for an old fashioned.

And admire the empties.

Moved to the place of great beer on tap in this city.

Mmmm King's Head fish and chips (and salad).

Enjoying.

The photographer.

Great friends.

And handsome gentlemen.

Friends sharing a moment.

More good friends.

About to sing some Oasis....

The aftermath of singing Oasis.  Good job Kevin!

The Great Burger Hunt - Elements

Campus food done right!

The fancy new University of Winnipeg science building opened up earlier this year and inside the walls, which are very pretty, opened a new place for students to fill their stomachs – Elements the Restaurant   Of course it took me a year to get down to finally eat there, even with me being on campus at least 5 times a week.  But I finally got to sit down for a meal this weekend with my buddy Adrian in Elements.

This is another one of those Great Burger Hunts that was just spur of the moment.  I sat down and looked at the lunch menu, quickly debated if I wanted a second breakfast, as we went to Stella’s in the morning, but decided I should try something other than bacon and eggs.  Unsure of what I was craving: the Grilled Cheese, Taco Plate, or the Mushroom Almond Burger, I decided to make this trip to Elements part of the Great Burger Hunt.

Adrian ordered The Burger – and you can see what he said about it here, while I went the vegetarian route and ordered the Mushroom Almond Burger.  Elements doesn’t serve fries and it was too hot outside for their homemade soup so I had a side of Mediterranean Quinoa Salad instead. 

The Mushroom Almond Burger is topped with lettuce, tomato, red onion, and jalapeno mayo.  Now I find most veggie burgers dry and that the toppings really make or break the burger – even with a great patty.  This one didn’t quite do it for me.  I felt like it was missing something, which is a shame because the patty was pretty flavourful.  I got the burger on a whole wheat Kaiser bun when I probably should have got it on the Focaccia bun like Adrian got his.  The fresh toppings were good but I think the burger could have used more of the jalapeno mayo to spice it up and combat the dryness of the burger and bun.

My side salad looked and tasted delicious.  Made with organic quinoa, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, olives, feta cheese, pickled peppers, fresh lemon, and topped with oregano dressing, this salad was divine.  I’ve never had quinoa in a salad before.  Think I may need to start using it salads. 

Unsure if we should leave and skip dessert Adrian and I decided to test out the Elements dessert menu as well.  He ordered the cheesecake, while I waited patiently for crème brulee.  And yes it also tasted as good as it looked.   

I will make my way back to Elements one day to try the rest of the menu, and probably the burger that Adrian devoured.

What I got: Mushroom Almond Burger and salad – $9.5 (before tax)

Burger Taste: 3/5

Fries Taste: N/A (but salad was divine!)

Price Value: 4/5

Menu Selection: 5/5

Overall: 4/5

Elements

500 Portage Ave

Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2G3

204-786-9237