Lou Brew Reviews: Modern Brewery

Modern Brewery is another brewery in a warehouse space, but smaller than 2nd Shift. The bartenders were friendly enough, but they were more engaged with regular customers when we visited last fall (which is understandable), so we just grabbed a table near the entrance to enjoy the late autumn breeze (okay, it was too chilly but neither of us wanted to admit it to the other).

We tried the Citropolis IPA and Citropolite (slightly less-hopped). They were fine, but not our favorites.

Since visiting, I’ve ventured into the world of hops and pale ales. That in itself makes me want to revisit Modern. Add to it the fact that the weather is warming up, and I know their space is open and breezy, and this could be a great spot to enjoy this summer!

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Lou Brew Reviews: Schlafly Tap Room

Yesterday I took the VIP tour at Schlafly’s Tap Room — my husband got us tickets through the Beer and Wine Club at his grad school and it includes free tastings so YES PLEASE — and it was awesome.

Firstly, I’ve been to the Tap Room one other time (Stout and Oyster Festival), but I didn’t realize just how big the place is. There is a LOT of seating through several rooms. We got to go behind the windows into the room where the giant vats are (wearing safety goggles, of course), and then down into the basement where the real magic happens.

AJ was a pretty great tour guide. He was informative and clearly very passionate about craft beer. He mentioned a beer class he also gives, which I’d love to check out. Just based on his enthusiasm, I’m going to go ahead and recommend both the tour and the class.

The tasting was really fun. My husband is *obsessed* with Schlafly’s Kentucky Mule, which was one of the options during the tasting, so all his buddies got to sample and see why he isn’t crazy for talking it up so much. I also tried the Scotch Ale, which is ale aged in scotch barrels. It was really smoky, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing (I vaguely remember telling people it tasted like the chicken taco I’d had earlier — still not a bad thing). I also had the Gruit, which was a delicious and refreshing sour (probably my favorite of the tasting), and one other from a bottle with a kind of shiny label whose name I can’t remember. Also, on the tour I had a (plastic) glass of the Pale Ale, which as I’ve said before, makes me so happy that I magically enjoy Pale Ales now.

P.S. My husband bought two bottles of the Kentucky Mule (they come in like wine-bottle size and are also I think 12% ABV?). I’m pretty sure he tried to say one of them was for one of his buddies, but we ended up bringing both home with us so I think he just pulled a fast one on me. I wasn’t in the most observant state of mind by that point.

It was a fun night!

 

A Rambling Adventure

Something I love to do is to head out with no plans and see where the day takes me. This is sort of me rebelling against myself, because normally I prefer to know exactly what is going to happen (and tend to freak out a little if those plans suddenly change last minute). It doesn’t make sense that I would welcome the opportunity to completely go with the flow — unless you also take into account that I tend to be an all-or-nothing kind of person. I’m a bit oxymoronic and I’m starting to love that about myself.

Saturday was one of those spontaneous days. My husband made plans with friends to check out Schlafly’s Stout and Oyster Festival — something he never mentioned to me until the night before. My tentative plans were to straighten the apartment and spend most of the day snuggled on the couch with a cup of tea, reading a book and listening to the rain…but St. Louis has presented me with quite enough of those opportunities lately, and with no sun in sight, I welcomed the chance to do something new.

The best part is my husband can’t eat raw oysters and I haven’t been a fan of stout beers. We really had no business at a stout-and-oyster-fest, but it was free and our friends were there. First adventure was confirming a suspicion I’ve been cultivating: since moving to Missouri, my taste for beer has expanded quite a bit. Recently, I’ve transitioned from tolerating slightly more hops to actually enjoying a (more mild) pale ale. Saturday, I threw caution to the wind and ordered a Red Velvet Stout to see if my palate has expanded the other direction. It. Was. Delicious. And even though we did not partake of the raw oysters, I did have some pretty awesome fried oysters.

We’d passed Pappy’s BBQ on the way in, and if there’s one thing I’ve heard more times than I can count since moving here, it’s that Pappy’s is some of the best barbecue around. After our stouts and oyster appetizers, our group decided to walk the 20 minutes to Pappy’s for lunch. Along the way, we spotted the Fountain on Locust. Now, before we moved, I made a list of places that sounded interesting or were highly rated, and the Fountain on Locust made the top of that list. One friend agreed that she’d seen posts about them on Instagram and wanted to try it. When another friend pulled up their 4.7 stars (out of over 700 reviews) on Yelp, my husband was convinced. We stopped for AH-MAZING ice cream martinis (the dreamsicle was sooo good, and the others loved their drinks too) and a couple of the best grilled cheeses in the state (they really were freaking awesome).

After our dessert-drinks and second-appetizers, we continued on to Pappy’s. If you are familiar at all with Pappy’s reputation, you are probably muttering to yourself that we are fools for thinking we’ll get in at lunchtime on a Saturday. You would be correct. The line was wrapped around the building, and by this point the little food we’d had was not quite holding us over the way we’d hoped. We agreed to continue the walking adventure and see what other spots might present themselves to us. Enter Center Ice Brewery. Located a few doors down from Pappy’s, the owner’s father happened to be grabbing something from his truck as we passed, and — in typical Midwest fashion — struck up a conversation. He let us know we could order Pappy’s from the bar at the brewery, and it would be ready for pickup in 20 minutes. He told us about their most popular beers, and gave us some history about the space — like the actual penalty box doors leading to the back bar. Their Golden Ale was really good, and the hockey theme throughout was a lot of fun, complete with one of those hockey-foosball tables that the boys had way too much fun with.

Because we were in the area, someone suggested heading to Narwhal’s to continue our spontaneous bar crawl. It was a longer slog through the damp, darkening afternoon, but the feel inside Narwhal’s is all summer! Their beverages are all frozen (they did have a Winter Hot Bar, from which I tried the Winter Sake — basically a sweet, boozy tea — but they’re phasing it out for spring — if it ever arrives), and the Strawberry Basil is very refreshing. I also tried the Blueberry Moscow Mule which was pretty good. Two friends like the Banana Dave, another the Mango one. It seemed like you can’t really go wrong with the tropical, fresh flavors. I can’t wait for the weather to warm up to really enjoy all they offer!

Our day of spontaneity ended (at least for my husband and me, who are 100% ok with calling it a night when we feel like it) at Dressel’s. I had a fantastic grilled cheese and tomato soup, and my husband had his favorite burger (post about that coming…someday). It was the perfect capstone to an adventurous day!

We also passed this gorgeous church on SLU’s north campus

City Museum: Round 2

A couple of wildcards came to visit over St. Patty’s Day weekend, so of course I took them to the City Museum. There are few things as fun as climbing on stuff (and few things worse than realizing just how old you are when you try to wriggle through caverns).

We immediately lost one of them. He took off through a gap in the caverns that the two remaining were not enthused about. After a Roger Murtaugh-esque we’re getting too old for this shit moment, we finally wrenched our bodies through twisting gaps made for children to find the first wildcard had vanished. A trek through near-pitch-dark, winding pathways full of tiny pockets children would randomly pop out of led us (somehow) to the second floor cafeteria. After a couple more disorienting tries, we remembered we’re adults with cell phones and so we coordinated a regrouping and plunged into the caves a happy trio once again.

The caves lead round and through and up to the top of the 10-story slide. About halfway up, it’s all tightly spiraled stairs that one of us (okay, me) charged up with wild abandon, only to nearly pass out from hyperventilation at the top. The guy watching the slide entrances was slightly misleading when he said “Slide 2 is open!” and did not add that it is slightly shorter (ending about a story above Slide 1). Also, I got stuck a couple times and had to kick my feet to get moving again. And by the time I exited the slide, my quad muscles had seized up after all that stair-climbing and I was confronted for the second time with just how old I am.

We were also all sweating from the exertion and the heat pumping into the building on top of all the tiny bodies clogging everywhere (don’t these kids have school!?) so we headed out to Monstrocity and the blessed chill of early March in the Midwest. Once again, the youthful-hearted wildcard took off into the cages, climbing higher than I swore I ever would, while I waved like a proud-yet-slightly-worried mama from the catwalk over the giant ball-pit.

His adventurous spirit was contagious, though, and before long we all found ourselves monkeying up wire ladders and strutting across catwalks that lead out from the plane wings. We found a terrifying slide that was very short but very steep. When I finally let go of the bar and slid, I shot down it so fast I skidded across the sidewalk. An older couple went down, and he almost took her out at the bottom. We went down twice.

I loved the City Museum the first time I visited, but I also had a sort of “been there, done that” feeling when presented with the opportunity to go again. I’m really glad I did check it out a second time. I climbed higher than I ever believed possible of myself, and I got to play like children with some of my favorite people.

 

Lou Brew Reviews: 2nd Shift

2nd Shift has a similar “stay for a while vibe” as most of the breweries here. Located in a warehouse, it has the long, family style tables as well as a few smaller tables, and lots of board games to choose from if you so desire.

Plus, unlike any other brewery, this place has CATS. The one that hung out with us reminded me of my fat cat growing up, although this lady was even bigger. Of course, she went straight for my husband, since he’s allergic and therefore is not a fan. Somehow, he attracts them like the bird-lady in Home Alone 2 attracts pigeons.

I am not pleased with your lack of affection, good sir.

As far as beers go, he liked their Czech Pilsner, and I enjoyed both the Hibiscus Wit and the Blondie. My husband also tried the Act of Neurosis IPA, but he didn’t like it as much as the Pilsner.

 

SUPER BOWL LII

To avoid major controversy, I won’t be discussing who I’m rooting for this Super Bowl. Also, as a Raiders fan living in Missouri, neither of my teams got very close, so the investment as far as fandom goes is minimal (yes, I know I’m supposed to hate the Chiefs, but I’m all about teams that are fun to watch, ~quasi~ home team spirit, and being rebellious in my football enjoyment, so Raider Nation can deal). All I’ll say about this game is if Carson Wentz hadn’t gone down just before playoffs, it would be 100% more interesting.

What I had wanted to talk about was all the delicious snacking I plan to do. However, I’ve been hit with a horror of a cold this week, and while I’m on the mend at the time of writing this (Saturday), I still won’t be 100% — and neither will my home — by kick-off, so we’ve vetoed inviting people over for the game.

To combat some of the sadness this brings me, I’m sharing with you some of the easy recipes I’d planned on providing for my hungry guys.

The first would have to be pizza quesadillas. This is one snack that hits the spot when you’re feeling pizza without the wait for delivery OR Digiorno. The recipe I found comes from Snixy Kitchen. This recipe is for pepperoni pizza quesadillas, but I’ve tried it with plenty of other “toppings” like spinach, mushrooms, (pre-cooked) sausage crumbles…whatever you like on your pizza, you can put in your quesadilla. We’ve done it with avocado slices, too. It’s so quick, so easy, and SO delicious.

I also planned to throw together some garlic ranch pretzels from Big Rigs ‘n Lil’ Cookies. I made these for Christmas Eve one year, and they got devoured. They’re just heartier than pretzels alone to be more filling while waiting on the main course, but not so filling that you lose your appetite.

What Super Bowl party would be complete without a dip or two? I haven’t gotten around to trying out this recipe yet, but a football game calls for a great beer cheese dip. This one from Cook the Story looks so easy to toss together. I also like that they suggest including veggies like broccoli and cauliflower as dipping options, along with the usual baguette slices or chips.

Of course, I’d have to use this opportunity to show off a delicious dessert, too. These peanut butter balls from Two Twenty One are a sure-fire hit. They are one of my husband’s favorite treats I make, again, usually for Christmas Eve. Just because peanut butter balls are generally a holiday snack, that doesn’t mean they can’t be rolled together to top off a day of unhealthy snacking. Plus, you could probably flatten the peanut butter mix into little football shapes, then once the chocolate hardens, draw some lacing on them with a touch of icing — if you’re feeling like the over-the-top host/hostess a game like this deserves.

I’m also currently cooking up a crockpot of chili, which I would love to share, but can’t ever get a recipe written down (the ones I do jot down never turn out as well as the ones I just throw together willy-nilly). Chili is a great football meal by itself, or, as I’d planned it, ladled over nachos and topped with cheese, green onions, and sour cream.

Oh well, I’ll probably make a couple pizza quesadillas and hunker down in my blankets with a bowl of chili to enjoy the game — and commercials — just my hubby and me.

Better luck next year (to my health, to the Raiders, and to all the teams that haven’t won five+ Super Bowls).
*all food photos taken from the recipe source pages*

[Fantasy] Football Season is Here!

I love this time of year. Apart from the promise of pumpkin beers and sweaters and boots, fall brings with it the delight of football season.

I was never that girl: super into football. Baseball was my sport of choice, but I’d watch basketball or football if it was on. I’d half-heartedly cheer for the Patriots or Packers (which are my parents’ favorite teams) or the Redskins (because they were the home team), or failing those excuses, I’d pick the team with the prettier uniform colors (i.e. Panthers and Seahawks).

The Wildcards invited me to join their fantasy football league two years ago. It was possibly a rare instance of the boys being nice, or maybe they figured adding a couple girls who didn’t pay attention to football would increase their chances of winning. I don’t think they realized just how consumingly competitive I am.

The first year, I scoured the lists of top players and read a few articles about projections, but mostly I went in fairly blind and ended up with a pretty phenomenal team that brought me to second place. Somehow, I managed to draft Gronk, Odell Beckham Jr, Julian Edelman, Danny Woodhead, and Drew Brees. If I hadn’t lost Woodhead in a misguided trade and OBJ to his attitude — and suspension — I might have won it all.

Last year, I made it to play-offs, but ended middle of the pack. It was frustrating, since I’d spent far more time and energy last season reading every scrap of information I could get, taking risks tempered with “expert” advice. Still, I learned.

For me, the best result of fantasy football is that it’s encouraged me to pay attention. And not just to the teams I like for wishy-washy reasons, but to every game. Every player. Because of fantasy, I know the names of the top players in the league. And because of fantasy, I’ve found my favorite team in the Oakland Raiders.

My husband argues this is simply because we have family in Oakland. That helps, but even once they go to Vegas, as long as Carr leads them, I’ll follow. Between the past two years, I’ve had almost their entire (possible) offensive line on my team. My brother-in-law offered me the typical challenge when one claims to love a team: name three of their players. Easy: Carr, Crabtree, Cooper, Janikowski, Murray (at the time), Jalen Richard, Walford.

At this point, I could probably name at least three players on every team in the league. That’s not all Oakland has going for it. I just love watching them. They have an obvious cohesion and a fluidity that’s beautiful. They’re good — good enough to keep every game interesting — but not so good that it would be more exciting to watch them lose (ahem: Patriots). I’ve watched every single team play any number of times, but few give me a similar thrill to the one I get when the Raiders are on the field.

And I have fantasy football to thank for giving me a team to cheer for, and interest in a sport that’s as intricate and graceful as it is straight-forward and brutal. Win or lose, I’ll always have that.

But, obviously, I want to win, too.