Finally!

We recently went to dinner at Michael Symon's Roast, a downtown Detroit restaurant that deserves every accolade it has received since it opened. We'd been there before for beer dinners, and a couple of times for their Cocktail Hour, but had yet to order from their full menu.
We were joined by Son-of-Mr-Cicerone which gave us an opportunity to share more dishes.

Here's how it went...
APERITIF Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere (me), Pilsner Urquell (Mr Cicerone) (fresh and softly malty), Founders Dirty Bastard (Son-of-Cicerone)
APPETIZERS Charcuterie platter (all made in-house, wonderful), Beef Cheek Perogies (the dough was to die for), and Roasted Bone Marrow (a hit with me more than my dining companions). My beer choice with the appetizers was Rochefort 6. It was light-bodied but O! so full of raisin-y flavour. Mr Cicerone chose the Dirty Bastard, and Son-o-C was still nursing his.
ENTREE Me- Bacon-wrapped trout accompanied with redskin potatoes drizzled in a mustard cream. Oh my. Was this fantastic! De Ranke XX Bitter was my beer of choice (perfect with the fish). Mr Cicerone chose Beast of the Day, which was a suckling pig, and they prepared it with a light salsa verde. I don't think I have ever had such tender, moist pork before, it just melted in your mouth. He chose a Rochefort 6 to go with. Son-o-C opted for a fillet of steak, and pronounced it superb. He asked us to pick a beer for him, and we went all out and chose Rochefort 10, which we all had to try of course. We shared sides of field mushrooms (a huge portion, and full of Umami-rich shitakes), and the famed roasted brussel sprouts which were sweet and delicious, and had roasted walnuts throughout.
DESSERT Though completely sated, we couldn't pass up a dessert beer, and decided on Stone Russian Imperial Stout. Son-o-C was interested in the Creme Brulee, which we pronounced to be a perfect choice to go with the beer, and in the interest of science and of course all things Cicerone-y, we decided we had to taste the Guinness ice-cream, rich & full of cream, and also a fine accompaniment to Stone's wonderful stout.

...Full post

A bit late, but maybe next time!

I proctored a Certified Cicerone exam here in Detroit last week, and if I'd thought about this sooner I would have (should have!) posted the fact that one was being held here!

So, as a reminder of why this blog even exists, here's what it's all about.....
www.cicerone.org
Go to the site, register if you've not already done so, and check out all the resources that are now available to those that are pursuing the certification. There are now on-line classes you can take to help prepare, including a class that teaches about off-flavours! How great is that!!

"This class takes a novel approach to online learning by linking standardized tasting materials shipped to you in advance of the class with an online lecture to help you learn.
When you register for this course, you will receive calibrated tasting spikes that you add to beer to quickly and easily create off-flavor samples for the tutored tasting session."

Happy New Year!

It's Rosh Hashana, and like all Jewish holidays, a great excuse to cook something grand and have some beers from Shmaltz Brewing. In this case, latkes with smoked salmon and dill, washed down with He'Brew Lenny's RIPA (Rye IPA). Mmmm. On both counts.

A feast, er, not fit for this Cicerone?

Or, maybe it's a good test for a Cicerone!Behold Coney Island Pizza!

(I apologize in advance to all the Coney Island lovers out there. I'm just not one of them. If I'm going to eat a hot dog, it has to be plain. With a little ketchup maybe. Australian-style.)

I was invited to share said pizza by my young work-colleague-and-aspiring-homebrewer Nik one evening at work. Okay, I did protest mildly, but I could hardly refuse such an earnest invitation to share this dish that was so dear to Nik's heart. It even came with a disclaimer- "I know you'll say no at first, but please, just give it a try."
And it was okay. Really. But I couldn't have eaten the whole pizza.

Stay tuned for the "Beta Drive" review. That's Nik's, and his buddy Justin's homebrewed mango IPA that we're going to try in the next few days......

Rye Peppercorn Pale Ale is Back On Tap

Opines Skip, "Maybe now Uncle Dave will come over your house again."

A feast fit for a Cicerone

Another hot night spent having beers and eating some of our favourite things in the back yard. Let's see....firstly, tomatoes! Home grown Pink Caspian Heirlooms, the best tomato EVER. They are so rich and luscious, and make a great snack eaten like an apple. Some slices of fresh mozzarella interspersed with home-grown basil (He says "Bay-sil, she says "Bah-sil"), and drizzled with a little balsamic reduction. Some Boquerones (Spanish white anchovies), Marcona amonds, Greek olives (by the way, my favourite new toy is this olive pitter. It works fabulously!) and cheese! Apart from the mozzarella, we had some aged gouda (not a very good one), Scottish Cheddar, Humboldt Fog (always a winner), and some English Derby with sage. (Some time ago Mr Cicerone scored some wonderful cheese with sage from Hirt's at Eastern Market. It was outstanding, but we've not been able to find it since. This was good, but not as good as that particular one.)

Oh- the beer. Mr Cicerone's Bitter (great with olives), Mr Cicerone's Helles. A 2008 bottle of Jolly Pumpkin La Roja (thanks Mike!) was just grand (lots of complexity), and we finally drank our bottle of New Holland's Blue Sunday 2009, an oak-aged sour. This was an interesting mix of wood, bitterness, malt, a little fruit as it warmed, Brett character and sourness. A good beer, but not my favourite from New Holland (Right now, it's Beerhive Tripel. Mmmmm!)

I love summer!!

Quickie- Cool Stuff We're Doing

Sorry for the sparse posting of late, but your humble Mr. Cicerone's day job is eating him alive!

Tonight, we are making time for a beer, however- Doug at Fort Street is tapping their 145th cask-conditioned ale at 8 ish p.m. "Willamette Damnit" is Piston Pale Ale dry-hopped with Willamette hops. Mmmm...

Saturday night, we're heading to Original Gravity for movie night! Check out the trailer for "Locally Buzzed" here.