Author: Matthew Hunt

Lately I’ve been on a fresh-squeezed kick. I’ve always squeezed limes when I make margaritas from time to time- Patron Silver, no salt please. But we’ve had a couple of warmer days lately so I’ve turned my attention to lemons and lemonade. I have been playing around with mixtures of pure fresh lemon juice, homemade simple syrup, and water. I tend to like it more tart than any store-bought that I’ve ever had as they are always too sweet. This is the mixture I concocted this afternoon.

2 cups lemon juice
1 cup simple syrup
8 cups water (48oz or 1.9l)
Vigorously shake

You can drink it right away of course, but I think it gets better over the next few days as the flavors chill out together. Served on ice with some muddled mint from my garden. If I’m in the mood for it a bit sweeter, I’ll spike it with a shot of Da Vinci flavored syrup like raspberry or blueberry. Greatly satisfying when it’s 80 and sunny out!

There are many people I know turning 30 this year. I’m one of them. I’m throwing myself a party in October to commemorate my 3 decades. I’m glad to be turning 30, I’m not one of those people that freaks out when they hit various milestones. I look forward to 40 and 50, too.

I’ve reached the point where people my age are getting married and pushing out kids. I’ve done the former and have yet to do the latter. When I think about the beginning of this decade, it doesn’t seem like very long ago. “Oh yeah, 2002…that was…7 years ago.” Seems like just “a few” to me.

All hail, 1979 babies!!

I just received the first of what I hope will be many orders from Joey at South Bay. I put my order in last weekend and it was out on Monday. I purchased a mix of West coast IPAs, including Pure Hoppiness, Blue Dot, and Coronado Red Devil.

I BS’ed with Joey about beer on a Saturday afternoon and he was incredibly helpful. He sends out periodic emails to let people know about new shipments, stock levels on popular brews, and limited release beers.

Joey has another happy customer and I will be ordering from him in the future.

Nov 08 update: He doesn’t ship to NH anymore for some reason as I just tried to place another order. Too bad.

Stopped by for dinner last night, optimistic there might be a new player in town for good beer and food. New Cheese Grill is run by the same guy behind Penuche’s Ale House. Since Penuche’s is commonly referred to as ‘Nuche’s, the name of this place makes sense. (Say it out loud if you’re still having trouble.)

We walked inside and were greeted by a completely empty pub save for a couple of people sitting at the bar. Not a single employee in sight. We waited for a few minutes and once acknowledged by someone sat ourselves at a table outside. Their outdoor seating is on the sidewalk, but being a tree-lined side street makes it quieter and cooler. There were 3 other tables besides us, all being waited on by the same waitress. She was friendly but clearly in need of help as she was servicing the whole place herself.

The menu is full of your typical pub fare like burgers and wraps. I had the chicken sandwich and my significant other had a plate of pasta of some kind. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food. Although the entrees themselves were nothing special they were fresh and very tasty. Unfortunately, the lack of help showed in our spotty service. When we first arrived, we were quick to get menus but it got progressively worse. When we finished eating, I nearly had to go inside to ask for the check. Once all the tables had food, the waitress disappeared.

What about the beer selection? In a word: disappointing. Although they have a good number of taps, what they have on them is nothing special. As of last night, the tap list is as follows: Bass, Boddington’s, Blue Moon, Stella Artois, Long Trail, Guinness, New Castle, Sierra Nevada, Magic Hat #9, Coors Light, Smithwick’s, Woodchuck Cider, Rogue Dead Guy Ale, Sam Adams, Sam Adams Summer, with Harpoon IPA as the rotating tap IPA and UFO has the Hefeweizen. They have a bunch of bottles with the only beers of note there being the Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA and Long Trail.

Would I go back? Probably. The food is good and fairly priced and even though the beer choice was limited at least they have a few brews I would drink. The Sierra Nevada on tap was fresh, so points for that. I had higher hopes that there would be a better beer selection. The service issues I will chalk up to it being a Sunday night.

I decided to take a side trip to Willimantic on my way down to PA this past weekend. I didn’t find it to be too far away, only about 15 miles off 84. Nice little cruise on a hot, sunny summer day.

We got there around 1pm on Friday the 27th of July and inside was a small lingering lunch time crowd. The atmosphere is real unique as it’s a converted post office.

I was pleased to see they had several IPAs on tap as well as a hoppy dark ale called Downtown Willi I.D.A (India Dark Ale) which was interesting. I was also able to try (and thoroughly enjoyed) their latest IPA called “Hip Hop IPA”. It was scheduled for a 7/31 release but had been tapped that day or the day before. I thought is was an excellent (unfiltered) IPA and I walked out with a growler of it.

The food selection was good and my BLT was very tasty. Crisp fresh veggies and perfectly cooked bacon- it’s hard to mess up a BLT but I was pleasantly surprised at the quality.

Overall, I was very happy with my detour and would pay Willimantic a visit again in the future. I forgot to buy a tee shirt, so I have an excuse to return…in addition to the quality beer selection. I would say Willimantic is worth going out of your way to visit.

Picked up a 4-pack of 12oz bottles when I visited New Glarus back in May. Shipped them back to NH along with a number of other beers. This is the first one I’ve cracked since returning.

Appearance
A short time after eating a great meal on this lazy Sunday night I decided to relax and have a Raspberry Tart for dessert. It all started when I poured the heavy, cloudy, deep-hued red brew into my Goose Island tulip glass. I was presented with what looked like a glass of puree topped with small islands of quickly-dissipating head scattered around the surface.

Smell
The smell is of pure, fresh molten raspberries. Definitely a great dessert beer.

Taste
The taste is as though someone smashed you in the mouth with a baseball bat made of raspberries. The carbonation is very even with a moderate syrupy feel over the tongue- yes, this tastes like a glass of fruit. Awesome!

Mouthfeel
There is a tart kick to this brew which is gently evened out by the sweetness. The finish is a crisp, malty raspberry finish that doesn’t linger too long.

Drinkability
Raspberry Tart is as enjoyable as it is hard to get. If you live in WI and are near New Glarus, I’m definitely jealous! I’m glad to have been able to experience this beer.