kuala lumpur outings - 2014

i only managed a couple of nights out on this trip to kuala lumpur - no real sightseeing as in my prior visits here in 2013 and 2011.  but i did manage to get in some single malt scotch tasting at the whiskey bar, craft beers at taps beer bar, and some dining along jalan alor - spicy frog & ginger (not quite frog porridge, but very good) and bbq stingray :D

here are a few photos:

blue tractor bbq & brewery, ann arbor

i followed up yesterday's dinner at the jolly pumpkin café & brewery with lunch at the blue tractor bbq & brewery.  these two brewpubs are w/in a couple of blocks of each other - and blue tractor is on the same street as the ann arbor brewing company and the grizzly peak brewing company (which had been my initial lunch destination, but was closed today and tomorrow for renovations).

as it turned out, blue tractor was a great place for lunch (and beer).  i sampled 6 of their selections:

bearded pig pilsner
bumper crop ipa
smokehouse amber
simply the zest (belgian wheat)
demonic black ipa, and
the pitmaster porter.

the sixpack of 5 ounce samples was served up in cupcake pan - with a pint of water on the side ;O

i'm awed at the sheer number of brewpubs here - and conveniently concentrated in - downtown ann arbor.  i've already lined up a new pair to check out for parents weekend in october :D

jolly pumpkin cafe and brewery, ann arbor

last night we had dinner at the jolly pumpkin café and brewery.  it was my second visit to a brewpub in as many visits to ann arbor (last time we checked out the arbor brewing company).  i've been into jolly pumpkin saisons for a long time - ever since i was first turned on to them back at a sour beer tasting a jimmy's no. 43 in the village, way back in 2010).  so when in rome... i opted to sample their sour beers :D

my sampler, inspired by the suggestions of the server, include:

luciernaga ("the firefly")
bam noire
la roja
oro de calabaza
and, tamicon 5 saison (the new collaboration with arbor brewing)

here's the description for tamicon -  "From its red-pink color to its floral, tart, funky aroma, this Jolly Pumpkin / Arbor Brewing Co. collaboration beer has a mouthwatering start, a very tart and sour middle and a funky, peppery finish. Whoa!"

tamicon, which was released just last week, was certainly the highlight!  it wasn't available when i visited arbor brewing less than 3 months ago!

pat did not taste any beers (belgian style, or otherwise).  she, instead, saved her calories for belgain waffles at the "waffle shop" :D

the next brew pub i'd like to check out in ann arbor is the grizzly peak brewing company - stay tuned...

arbor brewing company, ann arbor michigan

our trip to ann arbor wouldn't have been complete without a visit to a local brew pub - the arbor brewing company.  as expected, it was packed when we got there around 7 on friday night.  while we waited to be seated i had a bottle of their "phat abbot" belgian tripel at the bar. 

had i realized the size of the sampler that awaited me when we finally were seated at a table, i certainly would have rethought my initial beer selection!  there were a total of 11 selections from the tap in 4 ounce tasting glasses (it set me back $17).  i worked my way around the tray from light to dark - but when i finally reached #11, the steamroller russian imperial stout, i had only enough room for a sip!

it was a great and exhausting selection!  as for food, i opted for a reuben and pat went for a burger.  and, despite all the beer, there was still some room left for a slice of cheesecake... which was an excellent finish up the tasting :D

puck fair: a soho craft beer bar

yesterday todd and i checked out puck fair, on lafayette, just south of houston street. as a bonus, it's conveniently located just 4 blocks west of the whole foods beer store :D  puck fair is the most recent in a string of bars that feature a decent selection of craft beer that we've visited (said list includes, mudville 9, the ginger man, the waterfront ale house, the pony bar, the blind tiger ale house... to mention a few).

i started with an aventinus, a dark german wheat beer.  actually, it's even a darker version of the traditional dunkel weiss style - a doppelbock.  it's one of my favorite beers.  if that had a high abv (8+), the brooklyn black chocolate stout was off the chart with a 10% abv!  the chocolate stout had some great flavors, but i couldn't get past the high alcohol content.

afterwards, todd took the opportunity to check out the whole food beer store :D

captain lawrence brewing - cuvee de castleton release :D

our trip to captain lawrence for the release of cuvee de castleton (along w/barrel select cherry and barrel select rasberry) was preceeded by a 2 hour (12 miles) run at rockefeller state park. the park was a 5 minute drive from the brewery, and we arrived just after 10 for the 10:30 opening - only to discover that all the numbers had been pulled! with none left, it meant we wouldn't get to buy any of the new releases!

but, with plenty of beer to taste while we awaited some form of divine intervention, we decided to stick around and see what happened. and just like miracle tickets at dead shows - yes this stuff does happen! - a complete stranger offered me 2 numbers (259 & 260) - but immediately asked for the second one back when his girlfriend wanted it!

regardless, because like charlie's golden ticket into wonka's factory, anthony and i could get in the door. even with the limitations (2 per person for barrel select, 4 for the castleton) we could each get a bottle of the barrels selects and 2 of the cuvees. as it turned out, by the time we our number was called, they had sold out of ALL the barrel select - but, we each got to purchase 4 bottles of the curvee!

while i was happy with the curvees, i had really wanted the barrel selects (especially the cherry). then, again, sometimes fate just happens - anthony found someone in the tasting room that would sell us a barrel select at cost!  so, amazingly, i managed to buy a barrel select chery after all.  what a turn of events :D

indochine waterfront restaurant and brewerkz singapore :D

after a quick shower, i spent the afternoon asleep - and did a good job knocking off some of the jet lag. i was up at 7 and down in the lobby by 7:45 to meet my friends for dinner. in between, i called the airline, only to discover the flight bringing over my baggage was 30-40 minutes behind schedule. never fear, they promised my bag would be at the hotel by 9:30 or so.

while i was worried, i wasn't going to let it bug me too much. we took a cab down to the clarke quay at riverside. after window shopping most of the restaurants along the waterfront (they overruled my initial impulse to eat at one of the brewpubs) - we opted for the indochine waterfront restaurant. it was a good choice.

i kicked off my first drink in singapore with - what else - a singapore sling. it wasn't a raffle's singapore sling (that may come later in the week). but had to go with the namesake concoction at least once this trip. for dinner i had a spicy green papaya salad followed by soft shell crabs - both were excellent.

after dinner we walked over the footbridge to brewerkz - a place that is remarkably similar in style and ambiance to boston beerworks! andy and i each had a 4 variety sampler. my choices included darkside lager, black rabbit, smokey the beer, and oatmeal stout. the oatmeal stout was easily my favorite of the bunch, with the smoked porter a close second.

in a rare moment i forgot to bring my camera along. the above photo of me at brewerkz is courtesy of marty (who had her camera and took some great pictures).

a quick visit to big boss brewing company

it seems like no road trip would be complete without squeezing in some craft beer :D on the drive over to umstead for the pre-race briefing on friday, pat and i stopped in at the big boss brewing company. i missed an in-person visit to big boss last year, but pat brought a few nice bottles home for me.

i picked up a growler of d'icer (a munich style dunkelweizen) and a six pack of their bad penny (brown ale). those were fine for later, but i also had a pint of blanco diablo wit ale (a belgium style wheat beer) before continuing on to umstead :D

good stuff!

jimmy's no. 43 take two - a sour beer tasting!

this was my second time back to jimmy's no. 43 in one week! this time it was for a sour beer tasting. while i found out about the tasting via jimmy's fb fan page, it turned out that the event was also a meet-up for two different home brew groups! while it got started late, the beer we tasted was great!

here are the five sours, in order, that we had:

cantillon "classic gueuze"
cantillon "saint lamvinus" a lambic brewed with merlot grapes in oak barrels!
jolly pumpkin "oro de calabaza"
jolly pumpkin "la roja"
panil "barriquee" - an italian sour red ale - triple fermented!

and, jolly pumpkin "bam noire" - not a true sour, but a dark farmhouse ale (it was a bonus selection).

for me, the star of the tasting was the belgium "saint lamvinus" - while the "classic gueuze" was a close second. the panel "barriquee" was also an exceptional ale.