Turbo Tap USA

socalfood: Yes, Virginia, L.A. Does Have Microbreweries Perhaps...

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 07:40:20 -0400

Yes, Virginia, L.A. Does Have Microbreweries

Perhaps you saw this cute and well-designed map from The Atlantic titled “The Geography of Craft Beer” in your various Google Reader feeds/Facebook reblogs/general Internet browsings. Through electoral map-centric shadings, it goes through each of our 50 states to find out which have the most craft breweries within their borders. The findings are not so surprisingly West Coast-centric:

- Michigan takes 5th place, with 102 breweries
- Oregon is 4th, with 121
- Colorado is 3rd, with 127
- Washington is 2nd, with 134

And by far outpacing the rest of the pack, nearly doubling second place, is:

- Our own California, with 261

However, as the piece is quick to point out, this doesn’t necessarily mean the citizens of California are more lushful than the rest — the results have to be weighted a bit considering the respective populations, seeing as California has an extra 12 million people over the second most-populous state. So, accounting for how many breweries there are per 100,000 people, the rankings shift dramatically:

- 3rd place: Oregon
- 2nd place: Montana
- 1st place: Vermont

California, meanwhile? Not even on the top ten.

See L.A.’s best breweries here.

8 Reasons You Should Bring Every First Date to a Beer Garden

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 16:12:56 -0400

1 - Icebreaking

Everyone knows that the world’s most reliable social lubricant is booze. This is not up for discussion. And at a beer garden, you can talk about the interesting kinds of beers if you know about them, and ask about the interesting kinds of beers if you don’t. You can also practice saying danke schön to each other which I think means “you look stunning in the moonlight” in German. Somebody google it.

2 - Picnic Tables

The picnic table set-up is an excellent way to judge how your date interacts with other people? At a cramped picnic table, interaction is unavoidable. Your elbow will be in someone’s beer, and someone’s will be in yours. And that is sort of the point. And if you like that, and your date does not, you might meet bigger problems down the line. Plus, you can see if they’re rude, funny, shy, or if they make friends with everyone who sits down next to them and ignore you. In that case it’s so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen etc.

3 - Sharing (Beer Pitches) Is Caring

Pitchers of beer are the name of the game at beer gardens. This means you have to talk about what you want to drink. Are they willing to share or do they insist on drinking a vodka tonic? Call me a beer garden snob (and seriously, I am okay with that), but vodka tonic at the beer garden? That’s like being the only one at a Halloween costume without a costume. Come on. At least wear a funny hat. At least sip a Hoegaarden. And sharing beer in a beer pitcher is only one step away from sharing spit. Which means kissing. Which is adorable.

4 - Can They Can Kick It Beer Garden-Style?

Can she forgo her mini-dress and heels for some jeans? Is he squirming in his seat texting other people because he wants to be in a club dancing to house music? These people do not belong in the beer garden. They are in alien territory. You seem like a cool person. You deserve to date someone who can relax with you.

5 - Are They Worldly And Adventurous?

Can he order his beer in Czech? Is she willing to try the German beer she can’t pronounce? That’s sexy.

6 - It’s Outside!

Have you ever been a bit uncomfortable on a first date and thought, “I could use a little fresh air, here?” Well, welcome to all the fresh air you can get. Even crazy congested cities like New York have spacious beer gardens that attract people from greener pastures. (You might even run into a Midwesterner, if you’re into that sort of thing.) Don’t forget that trees create a great ambiance. Also, your date won’t have to leave you by yourself, inside, to go outside for a smoke. (I suppose, if the date is not going well, this is a bad thing. But let’s be positive. Beer garden dates have a much higher success rate than non-beer garden dates.)

7 - Will They Share A Basket Of French Fries And A Bratwurst With You?

You can do your victory dance now that you have a happy belly to go with your happy heart. (Convince yourself it’s beating faster because you’re crushing on your date, not because your cholesterol is breaking the charts.) And you know, a kiss from someone with stinky french fry breath is so romantic when you have stinky french fry breath, too. It’s the little things.

8 - It’s Way Harder To Get Totally Trashed

One of the best things about beer is that it takes a little bit more to take you to the “oops I had one too many and now I am suddenly so drunk I can’t stand up” place. Obviously it can still happen (trust me, I know) but if it does, it’s probably the sign of hours of great conversation. Sounds like a great date! That’s the whole idea!

Sriracha in my beer? Yes, Please.

Sat, 18 Aug 2012 07:44:44 -0400

Mix icy cold beer with spicy Sriracha, fresh lime juice and a couple dashes of Maggi sauce and what do you have? A refreshing, terrifically savory beer cocktail with a lingering heat that has become my new favorite summer drink. Meet the Cocky Rooster.

The recipe comes from An Choi, a banh mi restaurant in New York City that serves the drink alongside their Vietnamese sandwiches. It’s an Asian riff on the Mexican michelada, which mixes beer with hot sauce, salt, lime and Worcestershire sauce, and as a lover of Asian condiments, I daresay it improves on the original. Umami-rich Maggi sauce might be a little harder to find than Worcestershire sauce — look for it in Asian or Latin markets — but its depth of flavor can’t be matched. And Sriracha? I’ll always choose it over plain old hot sauce.

G.Q. featured the cocktail in their August issue, but hasn’t made the recipe available online, so this is my adaptation. The original calls for a couple jalapeno slices to garnish the drink, but I have yet to do this and haven’t missed their presence. Use them if you like a little more heat. And while the original recipe calls for a specific brand of Vietnamese beer, any pale lager will work. I’ve been using Pacifico.

Cocky Rooster

Adapted from An Choi and G.Q.

Makes one cocktail

1 lime wedge
Kosher or sea salt
1 ounce lime juice
2-3 generous squeezes of Sriracha
3 dashes Maggi sauce
2 jalapeno slices (optional, for garnish)
12 ounces lager-style beer

Rub the lime wedge around the rim of a pint glass, then dip the glass into a small plate of salt to coat the rim. Add the lime juice, Sriracha and Maggi to the glass and stir. Slowly pour in the beer. Add ice cubes and jalapeno, if desired, and garnish with the lime wedge.

Photo

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 15:57:25 -0400

Clip of Turbo Tap on SpikeTV’s Bar Rescue! We’ll be...

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 12:56:46 -0400

Clip of Turbo Tap on SpikeTV’s Bar Rescue! We’ll be back on the show this Sunday, 8/19.

olegzharsky: Hopside Down Beer Glass 2 for $24.00

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 07:44:08 -0400

olegzharsky:

Hopside Down Beer Glass 2 for $24.00

nobleexpbeer: CraftBeer.com’s Great American Beer Bars

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 15:43:52 -0400

nobleexpbeer:

CraftBeer.com’s Great American Beer Bars

ninjavanishhh: Why the hell not!? It’s a Wednesday anyways :)...

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 07:47:36 -0400

ninjavanishhh:

Why the hell not!? It’s a Wednesday anyways :) Hell or High #Watermelon Wheat #Beer! (Taken with Instagram at 21st Amendment)

See Turbo Tap in action

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 17:22:34 -0400

See Turbo Tap in action

Beer-Battered Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Sat, 28 Jul 2012 15:56:47 -0400

Buttermilk Soak

3 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
4 pounds medium chicken wings, thighs and drumsticks

Beer Batter

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
18 ounces crisp beer, such as lager or pilsner (2 1/4 cups)
Vegetable oil, for frying

In a large bowl, combine the buttermilk with the salt, black pepper and cayenne. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Let stand at room temperature for 2 hours or refrigerate for 4 hours.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, salt and black pepper. Whisk in the beer to make a thin batter.
Drain the chicken and thoroughly pat thoroughly dry with paper towels. Transfer the chicken to the batter, turning to coat.
In a large, deep skillet, heat 1 inch of oil to 350°. Set a rack over a baking sheet and line the rack with paper towels. Lift the chicken from the bowl, letting the excess batter drip back into the bowl. Fry the chicken in batches at 315°, turning once, until golden and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 160°; about 18 minutes for wings and 20 minutes for thighs, breasts and drumsticks. Transfer the fried chicken to the rack and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Make Ahead The fried chicken can be kept at room temperature for up to 4 hours

30 English Ales You Must Have Before You Die

Sat, 28 Jul 2012 07:30:21 -0400

Top 3:

1) Newcastle Brown Ale: Dating back to 1927, this is now the best selling bottled beer in Europe, and is one of Britain’s most well-known brews, famous for being the first Northern-style Brown Ale. Jim Porter, the brewer, had tried for five years to produce a beer to rival the clarity and purity of Bass. Even though he failed, he did come up with something new which has been much-copied since. This Northern Brown Ale is not to be confused with the standard British Brown Ale, which is a Mild beer in a bottle.

Expectations of any classic beer are high, but this one disappoints more than most. Drinking it chilled robs it of any character. There is a “nutty delicacy” (Michael Jackson) about it that many drinkers find and enjoy, while others regard it as “the most overrated beer in the world.” (Bov)

2) Bass Ale: Brewed since 1777 in Burton-on-Trent. When dark stouts and porters were the most popular beers, William Bass set out to copy the London brewer Hodgson and make a pale coloured beer. He was fortunate that the waters of the Trent were perfectly suited to his hoppy ale, and soon other brewers flocked to Burton to make the new and successful Pale Ale. When served in the cask, drinkers found this Pale Ale more refreshing than the malt-accented ales they were used to, but also more bitter, so the term Bitter was soon used to describe this popular new beer. When Bass received instructions to supply the troops in India with his Pale Ale, he increased the strength and added extra hops to help it survive the journey. The term India Pale Ale is still used in England to describe a premium bitter. The history and importance of Bass cannot be denied. But sadly, its quality in the bottle these days is not very good. There are two bottled versions available in Britain. The version called Our Finest Ale is the tastiest and closest version to the original, though even that is not an excellent beer. The version sent to America is stronger, but blander than the British versions. The Belgian version is without a doubt the best of the bottled beers carrying the Bass name.

The blandness of the American version is reflected in Oakes comment: “English ale for people who don’t actually like the taste of real English ale.” While Gusler goes a bit further and in noting that “it has lost its robustness” he cries out that it’s “a crime to let the pond scum sucking, money-grubbing cretins take over and ruin such a fine brewery” and that the current brewers should “burn in Hades with their money as the fuel that feeds Satan’s furnace.”

3) Worthington White Shield: Dating back to 1829 and changing brewers several times since then, White Shield is now owned by Coors, though brewed at the mostly autonomous Museum Brewing Company. This is the genuine Burton Pale Ale. When Bass took over the Worthington brewery in 1927 they began to filter and pasteurise their own Bass Pale Ale, but kept this going as an example of the real thing. Still bottle-conditioned and still produced (though not in great numbers) in Burton-on-Trent, this is, in the words of legion242: “One of the most amazing things that I have put in my mouth. Positively the best English ale to pass my lips.” It has a legendary status in the UK, being for many years one of the few bottle-conditioned ales available, and barmen would pour it carefully with pride and a practised skill to prevent any sediment from reaching the drinker’s glass. Most who try this rave about it, but billb found a “borderline sickening aroma,” and hey_kevin, while acknowledging it is a “good beer,” just didn’t get on with “the bakers yeast flavor.”

willbliss: (Taken with Instagram)

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 19:50:19 -0400

willbliss:

(Taken with Instagram)

nellymirikitani: Too bad water is on tap House of Blues Dallas...

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 16:00:58 -0400

nellymirikitani:

Too bad water is on tap
House of Blues Dallas TX 2012

Photo

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 08:00:45 -0400

brockish: this is one of the greatest things i’ve ever seen.

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 19:03:53 -0400

brockish:

this is one of the greatest things i’ve ever seen.

Awesome Beer infographic

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:55:06 -0400

Awesome Beer infographic

CA Governor Signs AB 1812 Protecting Barrel-aged Beer

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:17:47 -0400

Assembly Bill 1812, a bill sponsored by the CCBA has been signed by Governor Jerry Brown, this is great news for California craft brewers.

AB 1812 ensures that beer aged in used re-purposed empty wooden barrels will continue to be taxed, licensed, regulated and labeled as “beer” throughout California. The bill will become law January 1st of next year.

The CCBA sponsored the bill due to the concern that current law creates legal ambiguity on how wooden barrel-aged beers are to be defined and categorized for purposes of taxation and regulation. Because barrel-aged beers receive some of their flavor from the alcohol in the wood, they could be considered distilled spirits and taxed at a much higher rate. They might also be regulated as distilled spirits, and because of state licensing mandates, a beer manufacturer would therefore not be allowed to make barrel-aged beers.

”This is a very important bill to the growing craft beer industry in the state,” said Tom McCormick, Executive Director of the CCBA. “California craft brewers have become literally world renown for their unique interpretation and adaptation of ageing beers in wood barrels. AB 1812 will ensure that this exciting brewing process will continue to thrive.”

Empty wooden barrels are expensive and are typically recycled by craft brewers from previous use by the wine or distilled spirits industries. The re-purposing of these empty wooden barrels imbues unique character and complex flavor profiles to the beer.

Beer's Rural Revolution

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 07:57:02 -0400

Bigger breweries have taken a liking to the simpler life, purchasing large plots of land for cultivating ingredients and raising livestock, while a few smaller breweries use their farm-based operations to churn out beer that reflects the local bounty. Out in the sticks, breweries of all sizes are growing big innovation.

Cheers and Happy Friday!

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 16:53:03 -0400

Cheers and Happy Friday!

The moment a lot of you have been waiting for, The Growler...

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 17:54:00 -0400

The moment a lot of you have been waiting for, The Growler TurboTap has arrived! Now minimize beer loss and maximize yield while bottling your beer into Growlers.

Learn more about this 10.5” TurboTap Growler here: http://ow.ly/bIB7V

Give this post a LIKE if you bottle Growlers or simply love buying your favorite local craft beer in Growlers!