Railroad Tie Smoked IPA from Bottle Logic and Hopscotch Fullerton

Collaboration between breweries is everywhere these days. Taking personality traits from two breweries and brewing them into one beer has been very successful in both showcasing and isolating unique traits the breweries feature. But what happens when you take a restaurant known for its food and whiskey and mash their personality into a collaboration with a brewery known for innovation and pushing its limits? You get a fantastic IPA called Railroad Tie.

The brewers at Bottle Logic have made a collaboration beer with Hopscotch of Fullerton featuring cold smoked hops to celebrate Hopscotch's second-year anniversary. This beer is available Sunday November 16th at Hopscotch and it will blow your taste-buds away--especially combined with the smoked meats being offered at their anniversary party!

Bottle Logic has made a name for themselves through "Innovation" and "Invention" as their tasting room suggests--prominently featuring a portrait of Nichola Tesla, electrical engineering books, and sci-fi sketches. This IPA is nothing short of inventive science. The first thing that came to mind when I tried it was "how does one smoke hops without destroying the delicate citrus aromatics?" Brandon Buckner, Founder and Brand Manager of Bottle Logic was eager to explain the process:
"We cold smoked the hops over night. Piping in cold smoke into a container of whole Citra Hops we are able to impart the smoked flavor without exposing the hops to direct heat and leaving all those delicate alpha acids intact"

So no artificial smoke flavor? No "bacon-flavored" beer? Not at all. This beer hits you on the nose with those brilliant Citra notes and follows through with great hop flavor with just a hint of smokiness in the end resulting in a well balanced beer and a solid hitting west coast IPA.

So enough of me raving about it, here is where you can get your hands on some Railroad Tie.

This Sunday, November 16th from 3PM to 7:30PM Downtown Fullerton at Hopscotch. Come celebrate their two year anniversary with some Railroad Tie Smoked IPA and a special smoked menu featuring St. Louis ribs, Tri-tip, and chicken all by Executive Chef Linh Nguyen--proceeds benefit Coast to Coast Foundation, a community-based organization dedicated to the needs of the area's homeless and underprivileged.

Hopscotch

Craft Beer + Whiskey

136 E Commonwealth Ave, Fullerton, CA 92832(714) 871-2222

Read More

Beer Mixology and Cocktails Hitting The Home Front

We've been very busy here on the home front at FugglyBrew.com, the latest project being BeerMixology.com! My dear friend the Beer Wench has been busting her rump to organize some of the top beer experts and mixology gurus nation wide to come together and share recipes and mixing tips with all of our awesome readers and beer fans! So please check out the site and don't for get to like us on facebook!

Read More

Possessed Nun Cocktail

This cocktail is done with a traditional louche but without the sugar.
Take your glass and muddle mint, ice and honey (in this instance I used Lemon Honey made by trappist nuns from Northern California... roll your eyes all you want but it was awesome!).
Pour 1oz absinthe (or as desired) and louche under ice cold water. Stir and serve.

Read More

Possessed Monk Cocktail

1/2 oz Absinthe
1 oz Frangelico
1 oz simple syrup
Shake with ice and serve in rocks glass.
Top with cream soda and an anise star for garnish.

Read More

The Dead Frenchman Cocktail

1oz absinthe
Squeeze of whole key lime
1/2oz rumplemintz
Several sprigs of mint.

Muddle the mint in your shaker add lime juice, absinthe and rumplemintz

Shake well then strain over crushed ice in a martini glass.
Get a bit of the muddled mint in the mix for presentation
Top with soda or lime soda.
Garnish with lime

Read More

Basics of Absinthe

Yay! It's October! The month that I can finally turn off the AC and live my life normally again! It's also the month that we can start to break out our festive and holiday drinks! So many people are doing pumpkin beer, and honestly there's more to October than just pumpkins and drying corncobs. I love entertaining, and my favorite holiday by far is Halloween. Every year I bury myself in crafts, cooking and glaring at Martha Stewart's webpag—full of glittery skulls and genius inventions. Of all the things that I look forward to in the month of October, bringing out my absinthe fountain and setting it up for guests to have a “properly poured” taste is at the top of the my list. There is so much mystique behind the history of absinthe, from it's psychedelic properties, to people going insane under the grasp of the green fairy. But the fact is much of it is untrue. Like with most things that have gone under prohibition, we can always find the origin of the fear lying with someone either ignorant of the substance or with a hidden agenda, and Absinthe was no different. Between tales of men murdering their families under the influence of the drink, to the french wine industry of the time being threatened by the affordability and popularity of absinthe, the spirit was banished into infamy and prohibited by law until a few years ago. The addition of Wormwood has always been the heat of the argument against absinthe. The psychedelic element of the absinthe comes from a chemical byproduct of the wormwood called Thujone. However, Thujone is found in many every day products like tarragon, coriander ,and even “Vick's Vaporub”—but before we all run to the cabinet to mix up our Vick's Tarragon cocktails in hopes to see God, let's keep in mind that these products contain it in such a small amount that we'd choke on the fumes way before we see any fairies. In these small quantities though it does do something—it promotes brain activity which is what it has been used for in the holistic sciences for many years. Thujone promotes what is known as "CNS cholinergic receptor binding activity," which is essentially improved memory and comprehension which combined with the alcohol leaves you with a sense of alertness and clarity. This may explain why characters like Poe and Hemingway were under her spell and in many ways digging their brains deeper and deeper into thought to the potential detriment of the imbiber.

Now I made a bold statement about “properly poured” absinthe above. This statement is a lie. Absinthe can be enjoyed many different ways, much like scotch whiskey. Neat, on the rocks or with water are all fine ways to enjoy absinthe. Absinthe was originally consumed as an aperitif during the height of it's popularity in Paris' fin de siecle cafe's they would drink the liquor “louched with water.” Louching or La Louche is considered the most traditional of serving methods, the ice cold water slowly dilutes the liquor lubricating the essential oils needed for many of the desired cognitive effects, unlike drinking it neat, in which many people do just for the effects of the alcohol.

Personally, I like to add a little drama to my absinthe cocktail. I pour 2 ounces of absinthe over a sugar cube on a slotted spoon into my glass. Light the sugar on fire until it starts to caramelize and slowly drip ice cold water to put out the fire and louche. You don't want to light your booze on fire as this is both pointless and even damaging to your experience burning off oils, flavor and alcohol. I louche till it's just barely milky and add a rock or two to keep cold.

I hope you enjoyed this little bit of history and serving suggestion, come back next week and I will be showing you how to make an Louchjito cocktail a.k.a. An Absinthe Mojito.

EDIT:
Absinthe Cocktails

The Possessed Nun

The Dead Frenchman

The Possessed Monk

Read More