Jersey Week in Ireland

Jersey Week is that week in November where schools are closed on Tuesday for Election Day and then Thursday and Friday for the NJEA convention. Some school districts close for the entire week while other hold classes (albeit poorly attended) on Monday and Wednesday.

Each year, we use this week as an opportunity to squeeze in another vacation prior to year end. This year for Jersey Week, my better half planned a trip for the family to Ireland. We landed in Dublin and stopped in County Cavan to see a distant relative. From there, we headed to Galway and used that as a base to see the towns of Cong (the setting for the Quiet Man) and Connemara. Then we went headed to County Clare to see the towns of Kinvara, Doolin and Ennis with stops at the Ailwee Cave and the Cliffs of Moher. Finally, we returned to Dublin and spent two days touring the city. There was a lot of good food, great people and fantastic beer (Guinness, Dooliner, Kilkenny Red, and O’Hara’s and Bullmer’s cider) and of course, Jameson. Rather, than provide a rather terse description of the trip, I will allow the pictures to tell the tale.

Cabra Castle, Kingscourt, County Cavan

The first Guinness of the trip

Galway Bay

Cloister, Ross Errilly Franciscan Friary, Near Headford, County Galway

View from the bridge, Cong, County Galway (Setting for the Quiet Man)

Kylemore Abbey, Connemara, County Galway

Dunguaire Castle, Kinvara, County Galway

A Guinness sign outside a pub in Kinvara

Waterfall inside the Ailwee Cave, County Clare

A sign for Dooliner outside of Fitzgerald’s in Doolin, County Clare

The Cliffs of Moher, the southwestern edge of the Burren region in County Clare

A second view from the Cliffs of Moher

Bunratty Castle, County Clare

Exterior of the Guinness brewery, Dublin

Running our fingers through the barley inside the Guinness brewery, Dublin

Interior of an old washback inside the Guinness brewery, Dublin.

The East Wing, Kilmainham Jail, Dublin

The Exercise Yard, Kilmainham Jail, Dublin

Chandelier insider the former Jameson distillery, Dublin

Christ Church, Dublin

A Kilkenny Red at The Quays, Temple Bar, Dublin

The Spoils from our trip.

My better half planned the trip to a tee and aside from a little nip in the air and a little rain, this was a fantastic trip. If you are looking for a place to go, I highly recommend a stay in Ireland.

Whisky Review – Compass Box Spice Tree

Quick recap…

In mid January, I purchased a Compass Box sampler set that contained five of their core expressions. I have so far reviewed the Asyla (loved it!), the Oak Cross (the jury is still out), and The Peat Monster (fan-freakin-tastic!).

This time around, I will be reviewing Spice Tree. Compass Box first launched Spice Tree in 2005, but after complaints from the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) about their use of French oak staves during the maturation process, they decided to halt production. I could rehash the whole story, but since Compass Box has been kind enough to tell the entire tale on their website, I will instead give you the link to read all about it (click here for the whole story).

After a bit of tinkering with the maturation process (no complaints from the SWA the second time around), Compass Box relaunched their Spice Tree in 2009. Here is what our friends at Compass Box have to say about their reformulated Spice Tree expression:

Summer Vacation 2012 – A Photo Tour of our Seven Glorious Days in the Great State of Maine!

Nubble Lighthouse in York.

During the last twelve months I have gone on three family vacations. The first of these vacations held out a promise of Craft Brewery tours (last summer’s trip to Maine), and the second one held out a promise of acquiring some hard to find Cigar City Craft Beers (last Fall’s trip to Orlando and Disney World). If you are a regular reader, then you already know that I never made it to any brewery tours in Maine, and that I never acquired those hard to find Cigar City beers in Orlando.

Thirsty Thursday Craft Beer Recap: The Beers of Trader Jokes. Err… I mean Trader Joe’s!

Last Thursday night, The Alemonger invited me over for a tasting of his recent Craft Beer purchases from Trader Joe’s. We are no strangers to Trader Joe’s at the G-LO residence, and go there every so often to purchase their unique and usually fine quality food offerings, so when the opportunity to try some of their beers came up, I just couldn’t say no. Of the seven different beers in the photo above, we managed to try five.

Since I know very little about the Trader Joe’s Craft Beers, and since there is very little information about their beers on their website, I will skip the usual, “Here is what the brewery has to say about this beer” section and just get on with our reviews.

Here goes…

Beer Review – Bell’s Oberon Ale

I picked up this bottle of Bell’s Oberon Ale during a recent lunch time beer run to The Foodery. I didn’t plan on picking this up, but since I remember enjoying the Oberon Ale last summer, and since I had yet to review it, I just had to buy a bottle. The fact that there was a mini heat wave in the Philly weather forecast also influenced my decision to buy a bottle of this summer seasonal from our friends in Comstock, MI.

Below is what Bell’s Brewery has to say about their Oberon Ale:

The Ultimate Whisky Lover’s Status Symbol or An Invitation To Get Pulled Over By Johnny Law?

As I was driving home from the grocery store this afternoon, I noticed this Cadillac station wagon parked in front of a CVS Pharmacy. As I drove past, I saw his license plate. Given the nature of our blog, I couldn’t resist taking a picture and sharing it with all of you!

So here’s the question…

While this is most definitely one of the greatest vanity tags that I have ever seen (and I’m totally jealous that I didn’t get it first!), do you think he is more likely to get pulled over for sobriety checks? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Beer Review – Great Divide Nomad Pilsner

Since summer is practically here, my last mixed six pack purchase at Wine Works in Marlton, NJ included several lighter bodied beers, i.e. a Kolsch, a Pilsner, a Summer Ale, and a couple of Wheat Beers. Among the mixed six pack was a bottle of Great Divide’s Nomad Pilsner. I’m a big fan of their Colette Farmhouse Ale, and their Yeti series is highly regarded, so I decided to give this beer a try. Truth be told, I was also sucked in by the pretty label!

Great Divide Brewing Company has the following to say about their Nomad Pilsner:

Event Review – The Single Malt and Scotch Whisky Extravaganza, New York City

Reflection of the New York City skyline as we walked from Penn Station to the Roosevelt Hotel.

Every October for the past five years (2006 to 2011), the boys and I have attended the Fall edition of The Single Malt & Scotch Whisky Extravaganza that’s been held at The Union League in Center City Philadelphia. During our 2011 excursion to this event, we noticed a significant drop off in the number of whisky brands that were represented and were somewhat frustrated by this, especially when we noticed that attendance for this event was significantly up (you can read my recap of this event by clicking here). After reading reviews of the Fall 2011 DC, Boston, and San Fran Extravaganza events, and hearing about all of the whiskies that didn’t make it to Philly (Diageo Distiller’s Editions and The Balvenie Tun 1401 Batch #3 were especially missed), we were determined to get to Manhattan so that we could find out first hand what we were missing.

Are You A Guinness Believer?

He's very proud of his pour!

Last night, The Wookie and I attended a Guinness Believer event in Old City Philadelphia. This would be our second time attending a Guinness promotional event.

It’s Hoppy Easter! How Will You Be Celebrating?

The Easter Draught Beer List at The Pourhouse in Westmont, NJ

Our favorite South Jersey craft beer bar, The Pourhouse in Westmont, NJ, has been celebrating “Hoppy Easter!” since this past Thursday (check out their Twitter feed to read more about it). In