Sunday Night Suds - Joseph's Brau Oktoberfest

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Joseph's Brau Oktoberfest.

I just could not let the entire month of October go by without at least one Oktoberfest review. (Click here for the October 2009 SNS review of Saranac Octoberfest or here for the October 2008 SNS review of Brooklyn Brewery Oktoberfest).

To briefly recap, the style of beer known as Oktoberfest came about as a result of efforts to brew beer in the winter which was to be imbibed in the spring. As explained by the gurus at BA:

Before refrigeration, it was nearly impossible to brew beer in the summer due to the hot weather and bacterial infections. Brewing ended with the coming of spring, and began again in the fall. Most were brewed in March (Märzen). These brews were kept in cold storage over the spring and summer months, or brewed at a higher gravity, so they’d keep. Märzenbier is full-bodied, rich, toasty, typically dark copper in color with a medium to high alcohol content.

The common Munich Oktoberfest beer served at Wies'n (the location at which Munich celebrates its Oktoberfest) contains roughly 5.0-6.0% alcohol by volume, is dark/copper in color, has a mild hop profile and is typically labeled as a Bavarian Märzenbier in style.

The Joseph's Brau Oktoberfest poured a dark copper color and had more than a little hops in the brew. After having picked up a six pack at Trader Joe's (quite reasonable at 5.99 + tax and deposit) early last week, I tried it with a number of different dishes over the course of the week. (If you have the inclination, its not a bad way to see what kind of beer/food pairings work for you - just buy a sixer and try one each night with a different meal). I enjoyed mine with some London broil and potatoes and the flavors worked quite well.

Joseph's Brau Oktoberfest is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit and there is a tiny Va'ad Hakashrus symbol on the back of the bottle. Please keep in mind that not every Trader Joe's brew is under kosher supervision, so check the label or search my site for the link to the latest list of beers under kosher supervision.To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Joseph's Brau Oktoberfest, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10707/33029.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver. If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

Finally, if you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Chaye Sarah

The following is a brief summary of a vort said over by R' Frand on the parsha. I have attempted to reproduce the vort to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

This week's parsha begins with a recitation of Sarah age (127) at the time of her death. Following the recitation of the years of Sarah's life (Chaye Sarah) the parsha makes little reference to Sarah as the remainder of the portion deals with Avraham's purchase of Ma'aras Hamachpeila and the quest to find a bride for Yitzchak. So why is the parsha called Chaye Sarah?

Rabbi Frand noted parenthetically that the same question could be asked about Parshas Vayechi - why is it called Vayechi when it is more about Ya'akov's death than his life.

Rabbi Frand answered these questions by making reference to the Sefer Milchemes Yehuda who brings a medrash from the beginning of Parshas Chaye Sarah. There is a pasuk in Tehillim which states - Yodea Hashem Yimei Temimim V'Nachalasam L'olom Tihiyeh - (Hashem knows the days of those who are tamim and their nachalah will forever be). We learn from this pasuk that even when a person has passed away, if he lived a life of Torah and mitzvos then his nachalah will continue forever. This was Sarah who is called Sarah Imeinu (our mother), whose impact has been felt for hundreds of generations after her death.

Rabbi Frand then quoted a vort from R' Chatzkel Abramski about another pasuk in Tehillim - Ki Lo B'Moso Yikach HaKol, Lo Yaraid Acharav Kivodo. This pasuk is traditionally translated as "Because not with his death will he take it all, his honor will not descend with him", a Jewish version of "you can't take it with you."

R' Abramski had a different take on the pasuk, as he learned it as a goal for a person to aspire to - that with the person's death he will not take it all with him as his acts will leave impressions behind in this world and the kavod created by the tzedakkah that he gave will endure in the institutions which were built by his acts of charity.

Finally, R' Frand quoted a vort from R' Chayim Shmulevitz about the consolation given to mourners - Hamakom Yinachem Eschem ... The "Hamakom" is usually translated as speaking of Hashem. However, R' Shmulevitz explains that the makom is the place that the person has made for himself in Gan Eden. This place should serve as a consolation.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Monday's Musings on Sports -- Of Celebrations, Ginger Style

As regular readers of this blog are aware, the Monday post was usually devoted to sports with highlights and analysis of the Max Kellerman show which formerly aired on 1050 ESPN Radio. Although Max resigned from 1050 more than a year ago, I have tried to continue the tradition of linking sports to Torah which I believe was an undercurrent of the Max Kellerman show.

This morning I was listening to an interview with Nolan Ryan of the newly crowned AL champion Texas Rangers. During the interview, a question was posed to Ryan about his impressions of Ranger slugger, Josh Hamilton. For those who do not know about him, Hamilton is a recovering drug/alcohol abuser who burst onto the scene in 2008 after being traded to Texas by the Cincinnati Reds.

Due to some family commitments over the past weekend, I was unaware that Hamilton had been named the MVP of the ALCS and the interview was newsworthy in at least this regard. However, the answer that Ryan gave to the question posed as to his impressions of Hamilton was even more revealing to me. Ryan talked about how after the Rangers had beaten Tampa Bay in the ALDS, the team had foregone the traditional champagne celebration and had instead doused each other with ginger ale, in order to honor Hamilton.

This evening, I did a little digging and came up with the following quote from Kevin Kaduk on yahoo:

If you remember correctly, it was Hamilton who sat out the team's AL West clincher party last month because he's a recovering drug and alcohol addict who didn't want to be tempted or give the wrong impression to the fans who support him. A few teammates tried to douse him with water after that win, but let's be honest, there's nothing fun about getting sprayed by water. Hamilton quickly left the clubhouse to go talk with a church group.

The bubbly, on the other hand, is a different degree of fun and the Rangers were prepared this time around. According to our own Tim Brown, they started celebrating the franchise's first playoff series victory by breaking out the green plastic soda pop bottles and making sure that Hamilton got his. Their star outfielder responded by telling reporters that "this stuff burns your eyes just like that other stuff (champagne) does." Meanwhile, his wife said that it was "precious" that the team had her husband's best interests in mind.

[A link to the full article can be found here - http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Celebrating-Rangers-give-Josh-Hamilton-a-ginger-?urn=mlb-276526 ].

The concept of looking out for teammates and not providing them with undue temptation can be found in Judaism as well. The Torah teaches in Vayikra 19:14 that a person should not place a stumbling block (michshol) before a blind man. There are myriad halachos which are taught from this pasuk as to how one should not put his friend in a position where he may come to sin. Its nice to see its application in the clubhouse as well.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Sunday Night Suds - Joseph's Brau Dunkelweizen

This week's Sunday Night Suds raises a toast of Joseph's Brau Dunkelweizen to my oldest daughter who celebrated her bat-mitzva this weekend

(Just to clarify -- no beer was served at the Bat Mitzva, the toast is only symbolic in nature).

The Dunkelweizen is an odd sounding beer and has an interesting mix of flavors which I am not certain that I am a fan of just yet. As explained by the good folks at Beer Advocate, Dunkelweizen are:

Similar to a Hefeweizen, these southern Germany wheat beers are brewed as darker versions (Dunkel means "dark") with deliciously complex malts and a low balancing bitterness. Most are brown and murky (from the yeast). The usual clove and fruity (banana) characters will be present, some may even taste like banana bread.

The Josephs Brau Dunkelweizen was certainly cloudy, as most unfiltered wheat beers tend to be. The color was not brown like a stout, but it was darker than your standard ale. The back of the label indicates that the brew process involves dark roasted malted wheat and caramelized malted wheat in combination with pale malted barley.

The beer did have the predicted clove/banana flavors, both in the aroma and the taste. I was not too crazy about it during my first few sips, but it has started to grow on me as the temperature of the beer in my glass went up.

I could see pairing this beer with banana cake, but not much else as the flavors are very strong and would drown out most other foods.

Joseph's Brau Dunkelweizen is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit and there is a tiny Va'ad Hakashrus symbol on the back of the bottle. Please keep in mind that not every Trader Joe's brew is under kosher supervision, so check the label or search my site for the link to the latest list of beers under kosher supervision.To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Joseph's Brau Dunkelweizen, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10707/39924.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver. If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

Finally, if you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Vayera

The following is a brief summary of a vort said over by R' Frand on the parsha. I have attempted to reproduce the vort to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

After the story of the interaction of Avraham and the angels and their news of Sarah's impending pregnancy, the Torah offers a strange interaction where Hashem questions whether He should tell Avraham that He will be destroying Sodom. In Bereishis 18:17, the Torah states that Hashem said - shall I conceal from Avraham what I will do? The next pasuk then states "And Avraham will become a great and mighty nation and the nations of the world will bless him."

The entire sequence of events is difficult to understand. Why does Hashem ask whether He should tell Avraham about the destruction of Sodom? And what does the destruction of Sodom have to do with Avraham and the Jews becoming a great nation?

Rabbi Frand answered the first question by looking into why Hashem would want to hide it from Avraham in the first place. He explained that Hashem knew that Avraham would try to daven for Sodom to be saved, but Hashem also knew that the tefillos would not change the end result and that Sodom would be destroyed as it was bereft of tzadikkim. It was for this reason that Hashem debated not telling Avraham about Sodom before relenting and giving him the news. But why even give Avraham the opportunity to daven for Sodom in the first place?

Rabbi Frand answered by making reference to the ma'amar chazal - no tefillah goes unanswered. Even though Avraham was unable to save Sodom with his tefillah, his tefillos were banked and used in the future to save other cities.

Before getting into the "unanswered" topic, R' Frand digressed to quote R' Yonasan Aibschutz in the sefer Tiferes Yonasan for the principle that we learn from Avraham the concept of a tzaddik davening for a city to be saved. Rabbi Frand indicated that the concept itself can be found in the Neilah davening (although I could not locate it in Nusach Ashkenaz) where the statement from Bereishis 18:28 which begins "chalilah lecha" is replicated in the davening. Given that Avraham was unsuccessful in saving Sodom by davening in this manner, why do we put it in Neilah? R' Frand answered that Avraham's tefilos were answered by Hashem, but Sodom was not the city saved by those tefillos.

The above concept can also be seen from the sequence of the pesukim. Hashem asks whether He should tell Avraham and then follows with a statement that Avraham will be a great nation. Hashem is telling us, while Avraham's prayers will not save Sodom, they will be banked for the future and used to save his great nation.

The concept reminded me of a vort that R' Mansour said this summer in Parshas Vaeschanan in relation to why Hashem allowed Moshe to daven 515 prayers before being told that he should stop as Hashem would not allow him to enter Israel. R' Mansour explained that a person may pray from the heart and still not get the answer he is looking for at the time. This does not mean that the request won't be answered for a different person or at a different time. He analogized the situation to blood bank. A person will donate blood to the blood bank to be used in the future as needed. If that person needs blood, he may receive it back from the blood bank. However, if another person needs blood, the "banked" blood will be available to that other person to address his medical needs.

So too with the prayers that are made. Hashem may not give the person what he is asking for when he prays. But the prayer will be answered down the road and Hashem will assist him or perhaps his children or grandchildren.

R' Frand closed the vort by repeating one of my favorite stories that he told a number of years ago. He told the story of a man who was walking on the street in Tel Aviv and was asked to join a minyan. The man protested multiple times, stating that he was not religious and had never been in a synagogue. Eventually, the man agreed and joined the short prayer service. The man later became Orthodox as a result of the experience.

Meanwhile, the gentleman's father became the butt of jokes on his Kibbutz. How could his son become Orthodox when his father had raised him to despise religion. The answer was that it must have been the prayers of the grandfather for his son. While the grandfather was unsuccessful in convincing his son to become frum, his prayers did not go unanswered. Instead, the grandson became the beneficiary of his grandfather's prayers and tears. It should be no great surprise that the synagogue where the man's journey to religion began was the same shul that his grandfather himself had prayed in.

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Sunday Night Suds - Shiner 101 Czech Pilsner

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at one of the newer Shiner brews - the Shiner 101 Czech-Style Pilsner.

Another one of the beers that I picked up in Chicago at the Binny's in Lincoln Park. (If there is one thing that Chicago has over New York, its that the city has a much better selection of domestic microbrews).

Shiner has indicated that the 101 is a limited production of a Czech style Pilsner. You may recall that last year, Shiner put out its Shiner 100 Commemorator (reviewed here ) which was a limited edition Dopplebock.

The the gurus at Beer Advocate offer the following history and characteristics about the Czech Pilsner style of brew:

The birth of Pilsner beer can be traced back to its namesake, the ancient city of Plzen (or Pilsen) which is situated in the western half of the Czech Republic in what was once Czechoslovakia and previously part of the of Bohemian Kingdom. Pilsner beer was first brewed back in the 1840's when the citizens, brewers and maltsters of Plzen formed a brewer's guild and called it the People's Brewery of Pilsen.

The Czech Pilsner, or sometimes known as the Bohemian Pilsner, is light straw to golden color and crystal clear. Hops are very prevalent usually with a spicy bitterness and or a spicy floral flavor and aroma, notably one of the defining characteristics of the Saaz hop. Smooth and crisp with a clean malty palate, many are grassy. Some of the originals will show some archaic yeast characteristics similar to very mild buttery or fusel (rose like alcohol) flavors and aromas.

Having had some bad experiences with pilsners, I was skeptical about the Shiner 101. However, with Shiner's track record of producing quality brews (notwithstanding the Smokehaus experiment, reviewed here) I was willing to take a chance on a sixer of the Shiner 101.

The early results on this beer are that I made a mistake, although not in buying the beer. The beer poured a deep gold with a bit of hops in the beginning. More of the beer yielded a creaminess that was almost reminiscent of a nitro, or tap poured brew. I really enjoyed this brew and regret having picked up only one six pack. Unfortunately, since its not available in NY, I will have to hope that there is still some left in Chicago the next time that I travel out there.

Shiner 101 under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit, although the brew does not bear the Va'ad symbol on its label. If you would like me to e-mail you the Va'ad LOC for Shiner 101, send me an e-mail and I will gladly oblige.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Shiner 101 Czech Pilsner, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/143/55726.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Lech Lecha

The following is a brief summary of a vort said over by R' Frand on the parsha. I have attempted to reproduce the vort to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

In the very beginning of the parsha, we read that Hashem tells Avraham to go "to the land that I will show you." The Medrash teaches in the name of R' Yochanan that Hashem did not tell Avraham initially that he was going to Israel, in order for Avraham to get reward for each step that he took on the journey.

R' Frand quoted R' Boruch Ber (of Kaminetz), who explained that had Avraham been commanded to travel to Israel, then the journey would merely be the mechanism (hechsher mitzva) for fulfilling the commandment. However, because Hashem commanded Avraham to go "to the land that I will show you", every step that Avraham took was the fulfillment of the mitzva of "going."

R' Frand then asked what seemed like the obvious question - the only other Lech Lecha is written in Parsha Vayera in relation to the akeidah. However in that parsha, Hashem tells Avraham to go to "Eretz Moriah". Why didn't Hashem also direct Avraham to travel to the "land I will show you" so that Avraham could earn reward for each step?

R' Frand answered by quoting the sefer Bei Chiya who addressed the question by referencing a Maharal. The Maharal writes that if a person has two sukkoth to travel to, but one was closer to the other, there is no greater reward for travelling to the further sukkah. However, if a person has two different shuls he can walk to, he gets a greater reward for going to the further shul as for each step he gets s'char halicha. The Maharal teaches that the reason the reward is greater for going to the shul is that the person is going to where Hashem is waiting for him and each step towards Hashem is a mitzvah.

The Bei Chiya explains that when Hashem told Avraham to go to Eretz Moriah, He was directing Avraham to go to a place where Hashem already was. As such, each step that Avraham took was already being tabulated and rewarded and there was no need for a direction to travel to "the land that I will show you."

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Tuesday's Thoughts on the Daf - Avodah Zarah 59

On the bottom of Avodah Zarah 59a, the gemara relates a story where Rav Kahana was asked whether the transport of grapes to a wine press by an Akum could render the resulting product forbidden. The question struck a chord with me, as I have often times wondered whether I should be concerned when I give the supermarket cashier a bag of grapes to ring up.

The short answer to my illogical concern is that there is no issue of creating stam yaynam when buying grapes. The Tosafos (d'h Mahu) explains why there is no problem.

Tosafos brings two explanations of what was being asked of Rav Kahana. The Rashbam explains the question literally and therefore indicates that the question posed to Rav Kahana was whether the Akum can be permitted to carry the grape containers because grape juice will leak from the grapes in the container and there is a possibility that the Akum will have contact with the juice.

The problem with the Rasham's explanation is that we previously learned on Avodah Zarah 55b that juice cannot become forbidden as yayin nesech until the grapes are crushed in the basin and the wine begins to flow down. As such, Tosafos offers the explanation of the Ri, who states that the question involved baskets of grapes which were being brought up and poured into a winepress by the Akum, and the wine in the press had already begun to flow down into the basin.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Sunday Night Suds - New Belgium Trippel

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at New Belgium Trippel.

Picked this beer up at Binny's while in Chicago last month (the one where Sam's used to be in Lincoln Park). Was enticed because my last experience with Trippel was very favorable (Redhook Trippel, reviewed here).

As explained by the experts at BA:

The name "Tripel" actually stems from part of the brewing process, in which brewers use up to three times the amount of malt than a standard Trappist "Simple." Traditionally, Tripels are bright yellow to gold in color, which is a shade or two darker than the average Pilsener. Head should be big, dense and creamy. Aroma and flavor runs along complex, spicy phenolic, powdery yeast, fruity/estery with a sweet finish. Sweetness comes from both the pale malts and the higher alcohol. Bitterness is up there for a beer with such a light body for its strength, but at times is barely perceived amongst the even balance of malts and hops. The lighter body comes from the use of Belgian candy sugar (up to 25% sucrose), which not only lightens the body, but also adds complex alcoholic aromas and flavors. Small amounts of spices are sometimes added as well.

The New Belgium Trippel shared some of the characteristic of the typical, but with some unpleasant differences. The beer poured a bright yellow and had the phenolic flavor (think banana). It also is high in alcohol (7.8% abv) without knocking you over the head with the alcohol flavor. However, the sweetness which I was expecting was not there and the coriander notes practically overwhelmed the brew (they were not kidding when they described the beer on the label as "Ale brewed with Coriander").

If you like coriander, enjoy, if not, then don't waste your money on a six pack of this beer.

New Belgium Trippel is under the Kosher Supervision of the Scroll-K of Colorado. Although the beer does not bear the kosher symbol on the label, it can be found on the bottom of the six pack carrier. Additionally, if you would like me to e-mail you the LOC for New Belgium Trippel, send me an e-mail and I will gladly oblige.

Please note that not every brew produced by New Belgium is under kosher supervision. Please click on the link on the left side of my home page to see my latest Kosher Beer List.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about New Belgium Trippel, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/192/1054 . As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.

If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

Finally, if you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Noach

The following is a brief summary of a thought said over by R' Frand on the parsha. I have attempted to reproduce the vort to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

Rabbi Frand started his parsha vort by quoting the Midrash Shochar Tov on Tehillim. The Midrash states that three tzadikkim were called Yisodei Olam - the foundations of the world. The tzadikkim mentioned in the midrash were Adam, Noach and Avraham. However, only one of the tzadikkim was successful in becoming the building block for the world.

The first individual who was called a foundation for the world was Adam HaRishon who as the first man had the potential to be the building block for the world. However, before the completion of his first day of existence, Adam had already sinned and he could not be the sole foundation.

Hashem then waited ten generations before attempting to introduce another tzaddik who could be the yisod olam. This tzaddik started our promising, as Noach was described as tzaddik and tamim b'dorosav when he is first introduced in the parsha. However, after Noach finished his mission of saving the world, Noach sinned as well by getting drunk on the wine from his post flood vineyard.

Hashem then waited another ten generations before introducing Avraham Avinu as the third yisod olam. Unlike the prior two individuals, Avraham was successful and as result his children and grandchildren and their descendants have been perpetually involved in tikun olam.

R' Frand then asked - if Noach was tamim and a tzaddik, how is it that he sinned by getting drunk on the post flood wine?

R' Frand answered by quoting the sefer Chikrei Lev who offered the following thought about Noach and his life. When Noach was in the ark, his life was exceedingly difficult as he had to tend to all the animals - some of which ate only during the day, while others ate only at night. When the inhabitants of the ark were finally allowed to leave, Noach was understandably spent. He thought to himself, I have completed my mission and served my purpose, now I can relax. As a result, Noach decided to become a farmer and planted a vineyard so that he could kick back with his wine.

The problem with Noach's mentality was the belief that he could retire from his mission in life. While a person is not required to be employed until the day that he leaves this world, it does not mean that he should retire from all meaningful activity.

R' Frand then told a story about a friend of his who was concerned because his doctor was retiring. The doctor indicated that he would stop practicing on August 31st. The following day, the patient was surprised to see the doctor in the patient's kollel with an Art Scroll gemara in hand. However, the doctor knew that while he would no longer be practicing medicine he would not stop being active.

R' Frand then distinguished Avraham from Noach. He cited the Ramban who asks why Avraham's tenth test was to bury Sarah? Why did this test follow the akeidah which was clearly more difficult for him to accomplish? The Ramban answers that the test was not more difficult, but it tested Avraham in a completely different way. After the akeidah, Avraham could have said, I finished the ultimate test, now I can retire. Indeed, he could have even questioned Hashem about why he was given another test. Avraham did not believe that he was done or question why he was being tested again. Instead, Avraham fulfilled his final task and in so doing showed that there is no such thing as retirement from our role as Jews.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

Sunday Night Suds - Lakefront White Beer

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Lakefront Brewery's White Beer.

I picked up this beer during the summer during a stop at the fantastic (yet slightly out of the way) beer Mecca known as Beverage World. Although I had stopped in at Beverage World because of its vast selection of Redhook, I found that they also had a nice variety of Lakefront. The good folks at Beverage World had no problem with me mixing a sixer of Lakefront, so I tossed in a few of the Lakefront White.

Before getting to the beer, I need to underscore the value of a beer store which allows you to mix six packs. Besides being a sign that the establishment is customer friendly, it also an indicator that the store has decent traffic. Generally, if a store will not allow a person to buy a single beer or to mix a six pack, it means that they are afraid that they will not be able to move the rest of the six pack because they have little traffic. On the other hand, if they do allow you to buy less than a whole six pack of a certain variety, it is a sign that they are confident that they will be able to move the rest of the product as well.

[In fairness, most stores do mark up the bottle by 1/5 if you buy it as a single, but its worth it for me as it allows me to try many beers without buying a six pack of each kind].

The Lakefront White Beer is classified by the experts at Beer Advocate as a Witbier, which they define as:

A Belgian Style ale that's very pale and cloudy in appearance due to it being unfiltered and the high level of wheat, and sometimes oats, that's used in the mash. Always spiced, generally with coriander, orange peel and other oddball spices or herbs in the back ground. The crispness and slight twang comes from the wheat and the lively level of carbonation. This is one style that many brewers in the US have taken a liking to and have done a very good job of staying to style. Sometimes served with a lemon, but if you truly want to enjoy the untainted subtleties of this style you'll ask for yours without one. Often referred to as "white beers" (witbieren) due to the cloudiness / yeast in suspension.

The Lakefront White Beer had a strong coriander flavor and although slightly dry, did have a fair amount of citrusy flavor. I enjoyed this beer on my own and would have a difficult time trying to pair this with food. Maybe, if I was into fancy cheese I could try to match this up with some French/Swiss specialty cheese, but since I prefer mine melted over pasta you will need to find some other source to make the food pairing suggestion.

Lakefront Brewery White Beer is under the kosher supervision of the Star-K (there is even a Star-K on the label).

For the experts' take on the White Beer please click here http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/741/3458. As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.

If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

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Motzei Shabbos Post - The Second Half of the Dew & Rain Post

As I indicated in my Hoshana Rabbah post, one of the best shiurim I heard this summer from Rabbi Eli Mansour (available for free download on the http://www.learntorah.com website) was entitled "Dew and Rain." Due to time considerations on erev YT, I was unable to complete the post, but as promised, I have completed the summary of the shiur here. As always, any inconsistencies are my fault and should not be attributed to R' Mansour.

There is a big difference between rain and dew. Rain begins as moisture which evaporates from the earth and enters the clouds before coming back down. To bring this scientific concept in line with the Zohar concept from the first half of the post, rain is caused by an action on earth which goes up to the heavens and then Hashem sends the rain down as a blessing to us.

Dew is something which comes from Heaven without an initiating cause from earth. Hashem will give a person a motivating force which causes to act, whether or not we even are aware of it. We may see an event which motivates us, or we might be presented with an opportunity out of the blue to do a great mitzva.

Another difference between rain and dew is that rain can stop. There can be droughts or sustained periods without rain. Dew is a constant, as regardless of the season dew will be on the ground in the morning. Hashem's message to us is that there may be times that we do not do the right thing and as a result there won't be rain on a regular basis. However, there will always be dew as Hashem's gift to us.

R' Mansour then noted that rain can fall by day or night. Dew only comes at night. This is seen in the Torah (u'beredet hatal laila). The message behind this is that the rain comes during the day when the Jews are acting properly and living in their land. The dew comes at night when we are in exile and feel uncomfortable with where we are - this is laila. Still Hashem tells us, there will be dew at night, I will find a way to motivate you to return, I have not left you and am in exile with you.

R' Mansour then made reference to the z'man of techiyat hameitim. One of the 13 principles that we believe in is that there will be a resurrection of the dead. We believe so firmly in this that we say a blessing three (or four) times a day where we invoke Hashem's name as the resurrector of the dead.

R' Mansour then asked, how will the dead be brought back? He answered that Hashem will send the dew to resurrect the dead. It is for this reason that we say "morid hatal" in the bracha of techiyat hameitim. Why will dew be the mechanism? Because once a person passes away, he can no longer do mitzvot. While a live person can do good deeds to invoke help from Heaven, the dead man lies and awaits the blessing from Hashem.

The period of Elul and the yomim noraim are Hashem's present to allow us to return from the state of being spiritually dead, to answer his knock on the door. The time frame from Rosh Chodesh Elul to Yom Kippur is 39 days, the gematria of dew. We can use the time to stitch ourselves back to Hashem and accept his gift of opportunities to return to him.

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