Sunday Night Suds - New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Hop Avenger IPA

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Hop Avenger IPA.

This "beer" was released during the summer as part of the Voodoo Ranger series. As is typical for the Voodoo Ranger series, the beer is brimming with hops and packs a significant alcohol punch.

The Hop Avenger IPA is made with Nugget, Mosaic Incognito, Ekuanot Incognito, Jester, Chinook, Citra and Mandarina Bavaria hops. Like most Voodoo Ranger offerings of late, it is tasty and fruity, although this is more pineapple like than citrusy. The beer pours a cloudy rich orange and has lacing which stays on the glass for some time and very fragrant foam. It has a high abv for a standard IPA (7.7% abv) and there is a slight alcohol flavor.

Although not as outstanding as the prior Voodoo Ranger offering (Juicifer - reviewed here -http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2019/11/sunday-night-suds-new-belgium-juicifer.html) it is quite delicious in its own right. This beer goes well with most spicy fare and would also pair equally well with mixed meat salads.

I have only seen this beer in six packs of cans and they are usually sold at a premium price. Still, if you can find this beer you should grab it as it quite good.

The New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Hop Avenger IPA is under kosher supervision by the Scroll-K/Va'ad of Denver, and their symbol is on the bottom of the six pack can box. However, not every brew produced by New Belgium is under kosher supervision, so look for the Scroll K on the six pack holder or box when considering purchasing any NBB product. Many of the "sours" such as the Peach Kick which was released over the summer cannot be certified kosher.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about New Belgium Hop Avenger IPA, click here https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/192/441586/.

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 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 Mikeitz

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts 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 Bereishis 42:1, the Torah states "וַיַּ֣רְא יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב כִּ֥י יֶשׁ־שֶׁ֖בֶר בְּמִצְרָ֑יִם וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יַֽעֲקֹב֙ לְבָנָ֔יו לָ֖מָּה תִּתְרָאֽוּ" - Ya'akov saw that there was food in Egypt and Ya'akov told his sons, why do you appear satiated?

Rashi explains that in so doing, Ya'akov was saying to his sons - don't stand out and give the appearance that you have enough while everyone else does not have what to eat.

R' Frand linked this to a story involving R' Elyashiv. A man came to ask the Gadol HaDor a question - his friends were complaining about his old hat and he wanted to know whether he should get a new one as he did not feel that it looked so beat up. R' Elyashiv responded that he was a young boy he was brought to get a beracha from the Chafetz Chaim and your hat is nowhere as beat up as his was!

But having said that, he still advised the man to get a new hat. He explained that it is common to not want to be talked about, and that usually that relates to new, expensive or fancy items. However, being the talk of the town for something which is old and beat up is also not something that a person should wish for. Better to just get the new hat and people will stop talking about you altogether.

R' Frand said a second vort about the discussion between Ya'akov and Reuven in Bereishis 42:36-38 wherein Ya'akov rejects sending down Binyamin and Reuven makes the offer that Ya'akov could kill his two sons if Binyamin does not come back. To this Ya'akov answers "my son will not go down."

Rashi explains that in saying this, Ya'akov rejected Reuven's offer and thought his son was an idiot for even suggesting it, for aren't Reuven's sons his as well?

There is a Medrash which tells of how when people came to R' Tarfon to tell a vort, if he liked it he praised it as Kaftor V'Ferach. If he disliked it, he said - my son will not go down with you, quoting Ya'akov's words in Bereishis 42:38.

R' Frand quoted R' Bukspan who explains that Ya'akov did not verbally his thoughts that his son was an idiot, as it is not proper to ever call someone an idiot. 

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!

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Vayeshev

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts 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.

R' Frand noted that within the story of the brothers' sale of Yosef, the Torah inserts the story of Yehuda and Tamar, before again continuing with the Yosef saga. Rashi on Bereishis 39:1 explains that this return to the Yosef story, links the story of Tamar with Potiphera. He further explains that both women acted in their respective manners because they believed that they were acting L'shem Shamayim. Tamar knew that she needed to undergo Yibum and so she went with Yehudah. In the same vein, Potiphera saw through astrology that Yosef was destined to have a child through her lineage, however she failed to realize that the mother of the child would be her daughter.

But if they both acted for higher purposes, why is Tamar mentioned positively and Potiphera is looked at with disgust?

R' Frand answered by quoting the sefer L'Lamedcha which tells a story of R' Schwadron. He was present in a shul for Parshas Zachor and when the Ba'al Koreh was about to read the Maftir, a man pushed the Ba'al Koreh away and read from the Torah himself. He loudly explained that only an older man with a beard should read Zachor.

R' Schwadron was unhappy about this event and he left the minyan and went to hear Zachor elsewhere. He later tracked down the pushy man and said to him - the minhag to have an older man read Zachor is a minhag, but to not embarrass someone is a biblical prohibition.

R' Schwadron said to the man - you could have politely taken the young Ba'al Koreh aside and asked to read, rather than publicly pushing him away and denigrating him for his age. Similarly, Tamar saw that she needed to act, but she did so without embarrassing Yehuda or herself. R' Frand quoted R' Berel Wein who said a person needs to ask, would Hashem want the act to be done this way? Potiphera should have considered that Hashem would not want her to commit adultery in order for Yosef to have children through her lineage.

R' Frand said a second vort again from the sefer L'Lamedcha, in relation to the use of a pesik note after the shalshles on Vayima'en in Bereishis 39:8. A pesik is a stop and in this pasuk, the pesik comes after Yosef resisted Potiphera and before he gave his verbal explanations why they should not be together. But why the pesik?

The sefer quoted a story involving R' Bunim M'Pashischa - he was in Danzig and staying in an inn which was also being patronized by Jews who were there for a buying opportunity. The men were sitting at a table drinking coffee, when they saw him sitting by himself, learning from a sefer. They did not know his identity, but they could tell he was Jewish, so they invited him to join them.

R' Bunim politely declined, but they pressed and asked why. He responded that they were drinking coffee with milk and the milk was not Cholov Yisrael. They responded to him - that is a chumra born out of a concern of camel milk being substituted for cow's milk. There are no camels within thousands of miles of Danzig, so why be concerned? But he stayed away.

Soon thereafter, the innkeeper's wife came over to their table and asked how they liked their coffee. The responded that it was delicious. She told them that it was extra special, because she had found a merchant at the wharf who was selling camel's milk and she added it to their coffee.

R' Frand summed up - at the end of the day, what is prohibited is prohibited and the reason is not as important as following the rule. So too with Yosef, he needed to resist and say no! Only after resisting her would he need to give an explanation, rather than attempting to fend her off with logical arguments.

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Belated Parsha Thoughts for Parshas Vayishlach and a Preview Vort for Parshas Vayeshev

Due to our attendance at a wonderful family simcha (which coincidentally took place about a mile from the shiur) as well as our not so wonderful requirement to be back at work the next day, I was unable to view the Thursday Night shiur live and did not get a chance to hear it in its entirety until Sunday. Still, the vort was a tremendous vort on both Vayishlach and Vayeshev and for that reason I am belatedly summarizing it here. As always, I have I 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 began the vort by quoting the pesukim in Bereishis 33:6-7, in which the wives of Ya'akov and their children approached Esav. The Torah indicates that each of the wives approached Esav with their children behind them, except Rachel, who was preceded by Yosef. Rashi explains that Yosef did this in order to prevent (mi'akev) Esav from seeing his mother.

However the obvious question is - what could Yosef have accomplished? As he was no more than six years old, he could not have shielded his mother from Esav's gaze. At most he could have just impeded Esav for a short time!

R' Frand quoted the Tolner Rebbi who explained that this was exactly what Yosef was doing and that this was the essence of Yosef - that he was going to try whatever he could to delay Esav. Because sometimes just making any effort is better than no effort at all.

R' Frand illustrated this with a story that Tolner Rebbi told about himself. After his wife gave birth to a son, he wanted to name the boy after his father in law. The problem was that both he and his father in law had Yitzchak as one of their names. Thus he could not use his father in law's exact name as he could not use his own name in naming the boy. Further complicating matters, his father in law was known to have professed the opinion that not using the complete name when naming after the deceased was "gornished."

The Tolner Rebbi wrote to the Gerrer Rebbi to ask what to do. He received the response that sometimes nothing is better than a greater nothing [if I correctly understood the Yiddish expression R' Frand used]. Even if his father in law had stated that not using the full name was "nothing" it was still better to use part of the name than not to use the name at all.

R' Frand linked this to the concept of a doctor who is performing surgery. Doctors told, just perform a good procedure, don't try to make it "perfect." He explained that the longer the body is open, the greater danger of infections, so doctors are told - do a good job and close the patient up. Don't leave the patient open for an unnecessarily long period of time while you try to do the perfect job.

R' Frand also linked this to shidduchim as he sometimes sees boys who look too hard for "Ms Perfect." He then tells the boy - "don't look too hard for perfection as I have news for you - you're not perfect yourself."

R' Frand also tied this concept to Yosef in this week's parsha. In Parshas Vayeshev we see that the wife of Potiphar tried day after day to seduce Yosef and he resisted. R' Frand quoted the Tzror HaMor who cited a Medrash that the wife of Potiphar said to Yosef - you know this is going to happen one day, so why not be with me now. Yosef responded - yes, its inevitable that will happen someday, but its not going to happen today.

This is the essence of Yosef, to focus your efforts and do what you can now.

R' Frand linked the vort to a Gemara in Yoma which discusses three people who will be asked at the end of their lives why they did not learn Torah - the rich man, the poor man and the evil man. The rich man will respond - I had no time because I was too tied up with my business. To this he will be asked - are you richer than R' Yosi Ben Charsma - he found time!

The poor will similarly respond that he was too busy trying to find food and support for his family. To this he will be asked - but were you more indigent than Hillel -and he found time to learn.

Lastly the Rasha will be asked why he did not learn. He will respond that he was too tempted by his evil inclination, to which he will be asked - did you have greater temptation than Yosef HaTzaddik?

R' Frand then asked - but can't the Rasha respond - there are precious few people who are called "HaTzaddik" - I'm not Yosef!

However with this understanding of Yosef's mindset, there is nothing for the Rasha to say. You may not be Yosef HaTzaddik, but couldn't you have held out for one day?

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!

Sunday Night Suds - Jailbreak Brewing Poor Righteous IPA

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Jailbreak Brewing's Poor Righteous IPA.

What, a kosher beer with a pig on the label? Yes, not only a pig but a Star-K as well! This is one of the older styles from the good folks at Jailbreak Brewing in Laurel, Maryland. I had a chance to visit the brewery and its tap room and came away very impressed (see post here for my thoughts on my visit back in 2015 - https://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2015/01/sunday-night-suds-jailbreak-brewing-big.html).

If you read the LOC on the Star-K website you will see that there are many interesting varieties of Jailbreak beers, including some that are Star-D such as the Carrot Cake Conspiracy and Chocolate Coconut Porter. Unfortunately, most of the interesting brews are only available on site or by specialty keg order and even their mainstream canned brews cannot be found outside of the Beltway area.

The Poor Righteous poured a ark orange with quite a bit of foam and lacing. The beer has spicy hop bite which mixes nicely with the citrus. At 6.5% abv it is about average for an IPA and there is not an overwhelming alcohol flavor. Although I had this beer after dinner tonight, I suspect that it would go well with charred meat dishes such as burgers and steaks.

Jailbreak Brewing Poor Righteous is certified kosher by the Star-K. To see the LOC for Jailbreak - click here https://express.star-k.org/viewer/LOCViewer.aspx?id=SEEDVZ8M&target=inline (this will open in a new tab). For the experts take on this beer, please click here beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34426/228921.

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 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 - Blue Moon Ice Coffee Blonde

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Blue Moon's Ice Coffee Blonde.

I found this beer in the Beverage Barn in Garden City Park where they were nice enough to break up twelve packs into six packs without a significant upcharge (15.99 for 12 packs - 9.99 for 6 packs). This is one of the reasons that this little beer store has been one of my favorite stores for as long as I am living in West Hempstead. 

This beer is one of those rare beers which Mrs KB gave the thumbs up to (as did one of my daughters) but I was not so crazy about. The beer is a blonde ale which means that it is light on hops and the blonde base together with the infused coffee produced a drink which was not quite beer and not iced coffee. Although certain stouts have an inherent dark coffee flavor and other dark ales have infused coffee flavor, they are already starting with a deep dark base. This beer does not have the strong backbone, so the flavor does not meld that well for me. Still, its worth a shot if you like iced coffee and have others that you can split the pack with if you are unhappy with your purchase.

Blue Moon Pacific Iced Coffee Blonde is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union, as is every other current variety of beer produced by Blue Moon. For the experts take on this beer, please click here beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/306/366057.

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).

Lastly, 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!

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Vayeitzei

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts 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 Bereishis 30:1-2, the Torah provides the discussion between Rachel and Ya'akov as to Rachel's ability to bear children. In the first pasuk Rachel says to Ya'akov - הָֽבָה־לִּ֣י בָנִ֔ים וְאִם־אַ֖יִן מֵתָ֥ה אָנֹֽכִי - "give me children and if not, I am dead." In response to this heartfelt request, Ya'akov gets angry at Rachel and then says וַיֹּ֗אמֶר הֲתַ֤חַת אֱלֹהִים֙ אָנֹ֔כִי אֲשֶׁר־מָנַ֥ע מִמֵּ֖ךְ פְּרִי־בָֽטֶן - "Am I in place of Hashem Who has withheld fruit from your womb?"

How can it be that Ya'akov could speak this way to his wife? The Medrash states that Ya'akov was punished for speaking this way, in that in the future his children will stand subservient to Rachel's son Yosef.

R' Frand mentioned that he had received an explanation of the Medrash via a source that he did not identify which had been sent to him from R' Bukspan from Miami. The source explained that the Medrash was specifically referring to the pasuk from Parshas Vayechi where the brothers plead with Yosef after Ya'akov dies and he responds וַיֹּ֧אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֛ם יוֹסֵ֖ף אַל־תִּירָ֑אוּ כִּ֛י הֲתַ֥חַת אֱלֹהִ֖ים אָֽנִי - don't be afraid, am I in the place of Hashem?

He further explained that this demonstrates that there is a right time and a wrong time to say something. When Rachel was in pain, it was not the right time for Ya'akov to remind her that he was not Hashem. On the other hand, when the brothers came to Yosef and begged him not to take revenge, it was the right time for him to say - I am not Hashem - only He can decide if you should be punished for your actions.

R' Frand quoted a thought from R' Hutner that there is a time for everything, even to be an atheist. When a person comes to you and tells you that he needs help because he is destitute, it is not the time to send him away with reassurance that "Hashem will provide." Instead, this is the time for the potential donor to act to take care of the requesting person. On the other hand, if someone wrongs you, it is the right time to say "Hashem will provide justice" and leave it to Hashem to punish the person for wronging you.

R' Frand also quoted a Gemara in Bava Basra which tells the story of R' Yosef who was very ill and fell into unconsciousness, to the point that he ascended to Gan Eden. When he returned, his father asked him what he saw, and he responded - I saw an upside down world - what was on the top here was on the bottom there and vice versa. To this, his father said - no, you saw clearly.

Tosafos quotes R' Chananel who said in the name of the Gaonim through a direct oral transmission that he saw R' Yehudah as the Rebbi and Shmuel as the student, whereas in this world it was the reverse. Why was this inverted? Because when Shmuel was the Av Beis Din, a desperate woman came to him and since he was unable to help her, he paid her no heed. R' Yehudah said to him that he should listen to her, even if he could not help. By ignoring her, their roles became reversed.

R' Frand told a story about the Kotzker Rav whose sister came to him crying about her situation and he turned and closed the door. She cried aloud outside about how desperate she was and that Hashem should help her as even her brother would not help. The Rav then immediately opened the door and said - that was what I wanted to hear. You need to ask Hashem to help you as He is the only One who can.

But if this was Ya'akov's intention, why was he punished? R' Frand answered that it was because Ya'akov was too harsh in this respect and he was on a much higher level than the Kotzker Rav. At the end, one must always be ready to listen, even if you can't help.

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!

Sunday Night Suds - Boulevard Space Camper Cosmic IPA

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Boulevard's Space Camper Cosmic IPA.

First things first, I can't tell you anything about why they named this beer "Space Camper" or even what a "Cosmic IPA" is. In fact, I can't find any evidence that the style "Cosmic IPA" actually exists as a style of beer.

Now that we have gotten that out of the way, we can talk about a fruity, hoppy beer which is bursting with citrus and pine. The beer is 5.9% IPA and while there is some bitterness, this IPA is anything but bitter. Instead, the beer pops with fruit which comes from the hop additions at the end of the boil, and during fermentation, which the Boulevard website indicates "minimize upfront bitterness and create a juicy IPA bursting with tropical fruit flavors and aromas of nectar and citrus."

I liked this beer very much and its fruitiness was not one note, but had multiple levels of citrus. The beer also was a bit thinner than I was expecting, but none of these traits were unpleasant and it went well with the savory meat dish we had it with.

Boulevard Brewery Space Camper Cosmic IPA is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Kansas City, but the can I purchased did not have the certification mark on the label. The beer is listed on the Star-K approved list as certified by the Va'ad of KC and at times there is an LOC available on the Va'ad of KC website, but I could not find one today. I have only seen the beer in closed six packs of cans, but if you are curious you may be able to find singles at Total Wine & Liquor in their craft singles section.

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew, please follow this link - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/423/360684.

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).

Lastly, 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!