Scotch Ale

Wisconsin Friday Fish Fry — Japanese Style

Food and Drink
The Spot cobia2

Seared cobia and a snifter of Louie’s Reserve Imperial Scotch Ale

(Before I start, I should mention this isn’t a fried fish review.)

Lately, the Friday fish fry menu has been the draw for us at The Spot. While I enjoyed the fried walleye last week and the grilled salmon the week before that, tonight the seared cobia gets my vote.

Cobia is a firm, fairly fatty, flavorful white fish. The Spot flash sears it: the skin side comes crispy, the meat side, bronzed, and the core, wonderfully raw.

Think sashimi, but add carmelized fat (if you eat the skin) and a more succulent lusciousness. Searing collects the juices and drives them inward, concentrating the moisture and fat to boost the flavor into the realm of the highest-quality toro. The Japanese call seared fish or meat tataki. But rather than pounded flat or sliced thin as in tataki, the Spot’s seared cobia is an inch-and-a-half thick.

What a surprisingly adventurous dish for such a straight-ahead, casual restaurant. Anyone squeamish of sashimi or tartare might want the grilled salmon or fried walleye, instead. But I’m sure the palates of Madison’s Near Eastsiders will take to it, no problem.

I’m not used to any sauce on a seared piece of fish. But the chef adds TWO: a) a pesto cream, which seems a 21st Century update of the traditional mustard-mayo on tuna carpaccio — perfect for this mostly raw fish; and, b) a balsamic reduction. But, wait! There’s more. The fish floats atop a fluffy cloud of Parmesan risotto. Sound like an overwrought train wreck? Nope. It’s an ingenious amalgam of surprising textures and flavors that scores brilliantly. The sweet/tart drizzle of the balsamic reduction weds the rich sauce to the fatty fish perfectly. And the humble Parmesan risotto, which rivals the best I’ve had anywhere, causes no confusion with its only moderately-rich, mildly salty cheesiness. (I actually don’t love the Vegetable Quinoa Risotto elsewhere on the menu.)

Just a side note: at first blush the piece of fish seems small. But one feels that mild disappointment only relative to the portions of restaurants charging twice the price of this dish. There may not be a lot to take home in a doggy bag. But with the risotto and the nice pile of broccoli, it’s plenty substantial, especially at just $17. I actually do have some left over and look forward to my midnight snack.

We then totally enjoy dessert: a savory, pumpkin cheesecake. The muted sweetness of the filling leaves the pumpkin really prominent. The dish gets its sweetness instead from candied pepitas (so flavorful and chewy, they’re clearly fresh-roasted) and a dollop of sugary fresh cream. The bartender tells us the pastry chef is formerly of the fancier restaurants Harvest and Graze.

When we first started eating at The Spot, I was addicted to the burgers. I’ve tried all three of the burgers on the menu and would be hard-pressed to pick a favorite. They’re all half-pound (I think) patties, grilled to order on a beautiful roll, with a side of wilted mustard greens (or any side dish). $8 for the basic burger, including the side dish? No wonder I was addicted.

I have tried the pork tenderloin and the sirloin steak. But I return again and again to the fish. I love the salmon from the regular menu. And another standout special has been the escolar.

Fish. That’s the chef’s strong suit.

Check out their menu, here.

Beer Roundup #7: Three Midwest English Barleywines

Food and Drink, Health

Whole Hog BW

To Buy or Not to Buy?
1 = horrible
2 = bad
3 = average
3.5 = good (many better beers out there; won’t buy this again)
4 = very good
4.5 = great
5 = rare best 

A Note on the Style:  English Barleywine

I prefer the malty “English” style barleywine over the hoppy “American” style.  All barleywines have a stiff malt backbone and generous sweetness, but the hop-forward American-style is often so bitter as to be indistinguishable from a high-alcohol double IPA.  Don’t get me wrong, some of my best friends are double IPA’s; I love me a double IPA when it’s got intense sweetness to offset the high IBU, like Bell’s Hopslam, Dogfish Head 120 Minute, or Founders Devil Dancer.

Despite my preference for the maltier English barleywine, it’s curious that I’ve found way more good American barley wines than English ones.  

How to explain this?  Is the English style BW less common in the US?  Not really.  Nearly every brewery that produces American barleywines also produces English ones.  The more likely explanation:  brewing a good English barleywine is more of a challenge because it doesn’t have the pronounced hops to balance the jacked-up sweetness.  Hence, many are sickeningly sweet, like Anchor Old Foghorn or Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot.

But all three specimens below are really good.

Stevens Point Barley Wine Style Ale (Whole Hog Series), Stevens Point Brewery

Rating:  4.44 / 5

12 oz. bottle (4-pk)  10.2% abv, 73 IBU.

From a very reasonably priced 4-pack ($7), the first sip has me totally psyched.

It’s not a great looking pour into a tulip glass, with barely a half-finger of white head atop the opaque, red-tinged, brown murk. Sticky lacing, with legs.

Very little in the aroma, probably just too cold. But bready, mildly floral, and of course malty in the nose, plus a grape-like, mildly acid wine character. Even after it warms, the nose remains reserved.

But in the mouth, now this is a provocative surprise. Stevens Point Brewery, for those of you not from Wisconsin, is an old-time adjunct-lager outfit, one of the oldest breweries in the US. My Midwest beer friends rarely say anything nice about SPB, so I wasn’t expecting a lot from this brew. But this is right up my alley. It’s a complex sweetness, like that of my two favorite English BW’s,  JW Lees Harvest Ale and Midnight Sun Arctic Devil. The grainy biscuit flavor is what backstops the sugar-sweetness, not any bitterness. Some will call this cloying. I love it. The sweetness rounds out with an estery, mossy oak. The butter/caramel is of the burnt variety. There’s milk and coconut, too.

The mild to moderate carbonation is a welcome cleanser and leavener of the oily-sticky feel.

I’ve gone back to Riley’s Wines and snatched up the last two 4-packs. One goes in the cellar, the other down my gullet!

Schell’s Barley Wine (Stag Series), August Schell Brewing

Rating:  4.46/5

On tap,  9.5% abv, 80 IBU.

I wasn’t expecting a whole lot, thinking of Schell as merely an adjunct-lager outfit. What an awesome surprise.

On tap at Mason Lounge (Madison).  In a snifter, a handsome pour, a clear coppery amber with a finger of white head and good retention and lacing.

The aroma is a bit reserved.  There’s a diacytel caramel, dried fruit, piney hops, and a bit of sharp ethanol.

Flavor in the mouth offers sweet caramel, stone fruit, a bit of citrus, and a floral hop bitterness on the back end.  Finishes sweet, with a hint of grassy hops.  Alcohol is hardly there.

Upland Winter Warmer, Upland Brewing

Rating:  4.05 / 5

On tap,  8.5% abv, 47 IBU.

Pours a hazy, ruddy copper, topped by a fluffy, two-finger head.

A seriously complex aroma, the sweet swirls with the hops.  The hops come as white grapefruit and a bit of must.  The lovely roasted caramel struggles to dominate and ultimately does.

In the mouth the malt/hop tension from the aroma comes down solidly on the side of the malt.  Simple syrup on the front end, sweet butter and bread in the middle, plus fig and cinnamon-raisin ice cream on the back of the tongue. Goes down with just a rumor of bitter hops.  

Feels like a much bigger beer than it is, chewy, even.

Not nearly as good as the other two in this review, but it gets points for availability, as it’s pretty common to find on tap in Midwest bars in the colder months.

Beer Roundup #5: Three Midwest Strong Scotch Ales

Food and Drink

Image

To Buy or Not to Buy?

1 = horrible
2 = bad
3 = average
3.5 = good (many better beers out there; won’t buy this again)
4 = very good
4.5 = great
5 = rare best

A Note on the Style:

Regular Scotch Ales (5% – 7% abv) generally leave me unmoved.  Their watery, ambiguous malt profiles come off as enfeebled APA’s, without even the hops to save them from abject anonymity.  But boost the alcohol to 8% or more, and the complexity emerges as lucid, jumping layers of sweets and fruits and grains.

Louie’s Reserve, Lake Louie Brewing

Rating:  4.36/5

10% abv, 40 IBU, 12 oz. bottle (4-pk)

The bottle version of this brew isn’t quite as stellar as the draft version (which I gave a 4.6).  It’s a beautiful pour into a snifter.  Golden clean viscous motor oil.  The finger of off-white head dissipates quickly, and the tiny-bubble lacing slides down the glass from the slippery alcohol.

The aroma is really nice, moist zucchini bread, cookie dough, and a workaday flour malt.  It presents itself as a polite breakfast syrup sweetness, reserved in its hints of other character traits:  a faint grassy/grainy earthy aura that surrounds the grainy sweetness.

In the mouth the high alcohol gives a fruity zip to the sweet malt.  And the hop bitterness pulls it further ceiling-ward.  A diacetyl toffee smoke puts one in mind of breakfast and pancakes and burnt, buttered toast.

There’s a metallic tartness that I wish were less bright (something I don’t remember from the draft version).  Middle to high carbonation is somewhat of a drawback, for what otherwise would have been simple cream.

Still one of my favorite Strong Scotch Ales of all time.  Definitely rivals Founders Backwoods Bastard, which makes its own weather because of the barrel aging.  Beats my other two commonly found go-to’s, Oskar Blues Old Chub and Dark Horse Scotty Karate.  Much, much better than Skull Splitter or Sticky McDoogle.

Backwoods Bastard, Founders Brewing Co.

Rating:  4.54/5

10.2% abv, 50 IBU, 12 oz. bottle (4-pk)

Bourbon barrel aging gives this beer a leg up on the other beers in this roundup.

On tap at Dexter’s, Madison.  A Founders tap takeover is a beautiful thing!  Dexter’s serves its 5 oz. pours in these handsome little snifters.  I’m drinking this alongside a half-snifter of Devil Dancer.  What an awesome combo.

This pour is a beauty:  dark-coppery brown with high clarity and a fluffy off-white head.

In the nose you get ripe cherry–a big old waft of cherry that’s just really remarkable.  Then bourbon and buttery caramel and a bit of umami and vanilla that’s somewhat sickeningly sweet.

Surprisingly roasty-sweet malt first on the front of the tongue.  Then that stone fruit from the aroma coats the mouth, with booze and hop bitterness in the finish

Near-syrup viscosity, and a bit of alcohol warmth in the throat, with mild-to-moderate carbonation.

Scotty Karate, Dark Horse Brewing Co.

Rating:  4.26/5

9.75% abv, 30 IBU, 12 oz. bottle

A finger of khaki head fluffs up and dies readily, with almost no lacing on my tulip glass.  The fluid itself is a reddish-brown murk.  Caramel greets the nose assertively, along with topsoil and animal feed grain.  Wood and grass dry out the sweetness in the aroma, with a stone fruit twang.  The palate gets washed with buttery toffee sugar, pie crust, and wood barrel.  A surprising coffee and cocoa in the dry, acidic finish.
The medium body is a bit of a letdown.  It fills the mouth well enough, but could be longer in the finish.

Beer Roundup #3: Three Midwest Winter Seasonals

Food and Drink

Image

THREE MIDWEST WINTER SEASONALS

Just a word about the scale of my ratings.  I use the weighted average scoring system developed by Beer Advocate, http://beeradvocate.com/help/index?topic=reviewing_beers .  Also, here’s how I translate my numeric ratings into actionable intelligence.

To Buy or Not to Buy?

1 = horrible
2 = bad
3 = average (many better beers out there, won’t buy this again)
4 = very good
4.5 = great
5 = rare best

New Glarus Thumbprint Winter Warmer

Rating:  4.25/5

Pours an orangey-copper into a tulip glass.  Two fingers of light white rocky head that soon breaks down, showing a faint haze.

The aroma is a bit tame.  Raisin and brown sugar, with wood and grass and metal barrel.

Momentarily sweet on the front end, but only for an instant.  Mild hop bitterness accompanies the sweetness through to the throat.  A little smoke.  Sugary dried fruit of the fruitcake variety, think maraschino cherry and fig.  The grassy hops ride the significant carbonation up into the sinuses.  No sign of the 9% alcohol anywhere.

Wish this had more body, though the refreshing carbonation has its own appeal.  Finishes super dry.

If you’re looking for a syrupy/spicy sweet winter warmer, look elsewhere.  This is all imperial Scotch Ale.  Yet a very New Glarus take on the Scotch Ale–crisp and refreshing, fruity, earthy, with a bit of hop bite and sharp mouthfeel that dries the style.  Oh, man, as it warms, it drifts deliciously closer to the center of the Scotch Ale tradition.

Alaskan Winter Ale, Alaskan Brewing Co.

Rating:  4.25/5

Had this as a 10 oz. chaser to an exceptional Bloody Mary at The Caribou (Madison).  Bright amber, with a small white head and serious lacing.

Knowing Alaskan for the syrupy greatness that is their Pilot Series barley wine, I predicted this winter warmer would have a sugary persona.  Boy, howdy. Low in alcohol (6.4% abv) for what I’m used to in old ales, the aroma is quite mild, more like an amber ale, without much by way of spice or hops.  Definitely bready and nutty, to be sure, just a bit quiet in the nose.

Surprisingly thick and creamy in body.  High sugar content sweetness, even for an old ale, without the leather or sand of others in the style, like North Coast Old Stock or Founders Curmudgeon, which I’m glad for.  Surprising sugar-citrus, sweet-ripe mandarin orange.  I’d say apricot, green grape, too.  Wasn’t expecting all the fruit.  No hops to speak of, though the sweetness comes in balance, so there must be some bitterness.

Totally satisfying, though doesn’t touch the outer realms of my favorite old ale, Bells Third Coast Olde Ale (arguably more of a barley wine, anyway).

Bells Winter White Ale

Rating:  4.14/5

Somewhat unfair to be drinking this after my favorite witbier of all time, Hitachino Nest White Ale. But what are you gonna do?

Pours a Hazy straw color, with a lemon juice look to it.  Fast-dissipating white head with fluffy bubbles.

An aroma instantly recognizable for the style, it’s spicy and yeasty in the nose, with some wet cardboard.  Green grapes, other indeterminate fresh fruits, maybe pear, maybe melon.

On the tongue it’s grass and white pepper, first. Coriander, awesome winter spice profile.

Eminently refreshing, yet with seasonal fruits, including tart apple and a hint of banana.  I like the spices, which are admittedly on the subtle side.  Plus the wheat and yeast of Belgian whites that come off as comforting old patterns.

Moderate carbonation keeps everything bright and sharp.

Have I mentioned how refreshing this is?  The complexity is all in the fruits, which may sadly overpower the spice.  Not quite on par with Allagash White, but close.