Sunday Night Suds - Saranac Wild Hop Pils

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Saranac Wild Hop Pils.

As mentioned in last week's SNS, this year's Saranac Beers of Summer mix box contains two new beers, the Session Ale (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2013/07/sunday-night-suds-saranac-session-ale.html) and the Wild Hop IPA (to be reviewed iyh in a future SNS). Additionally, the mix box contains old standards Kolsch (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2008/08/sunday-night-suds-saranac-kolsch-ale.html), Rye IPA (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2010/03/sunday-night-suds-saranac-rye-ipa.html), White IPA (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2012/04/sunday-night-suds-saranac-white-ipa.html) and the #1 star of the Saranac line up, Saranac Pale Ale (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2009/03/sunday-night-suds-saranac-pale-ale.html).

The Saranac people have labeled this brew as a Pilsner, but it is unlike any Pilsner that I have ever tried. The beer has a wonderful amount of floral hops and the grapefruit/citrus smacks you in the face at the very first sip. The alcohol content of the beer is also on the high end for a Pilsner (5.2% abv). Although the beer pours a golden blonde which would give the impression that it is on the lighter end, you can't judge this beer by its color. This is a solid brew which would go well with fried chicken and all the fixings (as they used to say).

Saranac Wild Hop Pils is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit, as is every other brew produced in Saranac's Utica plant. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Saranac Wild Hop Pils, please follow this link beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/93135.

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 Eikev

Since there are no Rabbi Frand shiurim for the few weeks, I have been substituting a vort from other Rabbanim each week, rather than leaving the blog without a vort for shabbos. This week, I am attempting to repeat a vort heard from R' Eli Mansour as recorded on www.learntorah.com. Same rules as usual apply - I have attempted to reproduce the 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 the maggid shiur.

The Parsha contains a pasuk which states - "lest you eat and be satiated and then build nice homes and live there." (Devarim 8:12). The Torah uses the term homes in plural form and says that they will be nice. The pasuk also states that the person will also have a lot of livestock and gold and silver. This is the epitome of success. However the Torah also warns about the possibility that the person will become conceited and say in his heart - I did this based on my strength and ability which brought me to this level of success.

R' Mansour noted that the Torah is not saying that a person should not work. Instead, the Torah is warning about thinking that the success can be attributed to his own actions without the assistance of Hashem.

The Targum explains on the pasuk that Hashem gives you the ability to be successful (Devarim 8:18) that Hashem gives the person the idea which is used to be successful. R' Dessler explains that the thought is like a light bulb, but it only lights because it is connected to the power source -Hashem. After all, why did this person have the idea and not someone else? Because Hashem wanted him to go forward with this plan.

R' Mansour also quoted the Meshech Chachmah who links this concept to Birkas Hamazon - the grace after meals. It is usually thought that the benching is said because a person should thank Hashem after having the food. However, the Meshech Chachmah writes that a person benches because after he eats he may feel satiated and high on himself. The next thought would be, I am feeling great and I alone am responsible for this. Thus the pasuk "lest you eat and be satiated" which is linked to the pasuk about benching - "v'achalta, v'savata u'beirachta" - you should eat and be satiated and then immediately - bench.

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!

Monday's Musings on Sports - 42 and 15

During last week's All Star Game at Citifield, there was an event which occurred in the 8th inning which demonstrated that there still is some class in the game of baseball. After the American League had been retired during the top of the 8th inning, Yankee closer Mariano Rivera came out to pitch the bottom of the 8th inning. As Rivera has announced his intention to retire at the close of the season, it was understood that this would be his final appearance in All Star game. And what an appearance it was...

As has been widely reported, when Rivera left the dugout he was not joined by any of his teammates on the American League All Star Team.Although it is not clear whether the decision was spontaneous or pre-planned, no other member of the AL team took the field when Rivera stood on the mound. Instead, it was just Rivera standing in what has been called the loneliest spot on the field. As Rivera looked around, the fans at the All Star game gave him a standing ovation. The video of that night shows that he was choked up emotionally as the soon to be Hall of Fame pitcher was showered with adulation by nearly fifty thousand fans and dozens of his peers. But while this was no doubt a stunning tribute, it was dwarfed (in my mind) by a similar act by fans who have long despised Rivera and the New York Yankees.

While driving home from Camp M this morning, I heard a piece on the Mike & Mike in the Morning program (98.7FM or for me while in the mountains, Sirius/XM 84). Greeny was talking about how he had gotten back from visiting his kids in some sleepaway camp in Maine and was out at a diner with his wife and some friends. As they were having dinner, Greeny was watching the Yankee-Red Sox game on a TV which had no sound. As such, he was unable to hear the commentators, but he did not miss the fact that the Boston Red Sox faithful at Fenway were giving Rivera a standing ovation when he game out to finish off a Yankee win over the Red Sox. Greeny related on his program today that when he observed this on TV he asked his friends whether he was crazy or if this event really was happening. I don't know how his friends responded to him about being crazy, but the event certainly did happen.

While the gesture by his teammates and the fans at Citifield was very classy, the ovation by the fans at Fenway was much more meaningful to me. Indeed, the difference between the two events is quite clear. When Mo received the standing ovation at Citified, he was being greeted by a crowd comprised of fans from many teams, and was playing in a game which did not count in the standings. However, the game at Fenway was a regular season game and the loss meant a lot for the Red Sox who were trying to hold onto to First Place in the AL East.

The special place and time of the Red Sox fans' tribute to Mo made me think of today's special date (from a historical perspective). The Gemara in Ta'anis recites that the day of Tu B'Av was a tremendous holiday as the young women would borrow clothes and go out to the fields to dance and find their intended. The concept itself seems foreign and perhaps antithetical to tznius (modesty). However, the day was successful and so many couples found their mates that the dance became a national custom and the day became a celebration and holiday which only rivaled Yom Kippur.

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 - Saranac Session Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Saranac Session Ale.

Not to be confused with the Saranac's 2012 Session IPA (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2012/05/sunday-night-suds-saranac-session-ipa.html), this year the good folks at the Matt Brewing Company of Utica, New York (just an hour up the road from Camp M) have introduced a Session Ale.

The Session Ale comes exclusively in the Beers of Summer mix box which contains two of the Session Ale, two of the new Wild Hop IPA (to be reviewed iyh in a future SNS), an old standards Kolsch (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2008/08/sunday-night-suds-saranac-kolsch-ale.html), Rye IPA (reviewed here  kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2010/03/sunday-night-suds-saranac-rye-ipa.html), White IPA (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2012/04/sunday-night-suds-saranac-white-ipa.html) and the #1 star of the Saranac line up, Saranac Pale Ale (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2009/03/sunday-night-suds-saranac-pale-ale.html).

While last year's Session IPA was a very light version of an IPA or a Pale Ale with a little more kick (depending on your perspective), this beer just seems to a very light version of an ale. The beer has very little hops and just a hint of citrus. The alcohol content is on the lighter side (4.5% abv) and it almost seems like a light beer. I had mine tonight with some charred steaks and the flavor of the meat completely overwhelmed this brew. Yes, I know that Session beers are meant to be consumed in quantity, but this beer was quite non descript and I needed to focus on it so that I could even write anything about it before I finished it.

Saranac Session Ale is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit, as is every other brew produced in Saranac's Utica plant. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Saranac Session Ale, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/93166.

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 Va'eschanan

After taking most of the week off from blogging due to various work and religious obligations, Kosher Beers returns with Thursday's Parsha Tidbits on Parshas Va'eschanan.

As mentioned in last week's post, since there are no Rabbi Frand shiurim for the next month, I would like to substitute a vort from other Rabbanim each week, rather than leaving the blog without a vort for shabbos. This week, I am attempting to repeat a vort heard from R' Eli Mansour as recorded on www.learntorah.com, which (in my mind) is linked to a vort said by Rabbi Frand a number of years ago. Same rules as usual apply - I have attempted to reproduce the 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 the maggidei shiur.

In Devarim (3:26) Moshe tells the Jews that Hashem had told Moishe that Moshe had enough and that Moshe should not ask anymore. In so doing, the Torah uses the words "Rav Lach."

The gemara in Sotah 13b states that this an example of Hashem treating a person middah k'neged middah - giving to a person with the same trait that the person himself acted. Moshe told Korach in Bamidbar (16:7) when Korach sought to be Kohain Gadol, "Rav Lachem Bnei Levi" - you have enough, sons on Levi. Hashem then tells Moshe now, you have enough, you don't need to go into the land of Israel.

R' Mansour then asked - but Korach was arguing and looked to take what belongs to Aharon and Moshe? What was wrong with what Moshe said to Korach that this was practically thrown back in his face?

R' Mansour answered that tzadikkim are held to a higher standard of speech and activity. Moshe told Korach, "be happy being a Levi." But while Korach was challenging Moshe, he was also looking to talk to Hashem like a Kohain and to serve Hashem like a Kohain. Korach was seeking spiritual growth, even though it may not have been for purely noble purposes. By using this language to respond to Moshe, Hashem was saying to Moshe - you should have acknowledged that it was positive that Korach wanted to elevate himself, but it could not be done.

Moshe somewhat similarly sought to challenge a decision. Moshe did not want to come to Israel to eat its fruit. Moshe wanted to be able to keep the myriad of mitzvos which could only be done in Israel. So Hashem reminded him - you have enough - you should not have put Korach off by telling him that he had enough spirituality. You were right that Korach could not attain the position, but your language of enough when Korach wanted to grow in yahadus was not correct.

R' Mansour closed this portion of the vort by quoting to a Rebbi of his (Rabbi Davis) who told him don't be a pickle. What does that mean? A pickle is a cucumber which is soaked in spices so that it does not change. A person in Judaism should not try to stay the same, there must be a constant movement upward. Because life is like a down elevator, if we don't keep trying to move up in spirituality, we will fall back.

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 - Samuel Adams Cinder Bock

This week's Sunday Night Suds takes a seasonal turn and looks at Samuel Adams' Cinder Bock.

The Boston Beer company bills this beer as a Rauch Bock, a style of beer which they invented by attempting to pair a Rauchbier with a Bock. 

While bocks are very common, the Rauchbier is a little out of the ordinary, so I have gone to the experts at the BA for the definition of Rauchbier, which they explain is

[A]n old German beer style, its origins go back to the 1500's and to the district of Franconia and the town of Bamberg. It's typically of dark colour and has similarities of the Oktoberfestbier. Green malts are literally dried over an open fire of beech wood, imparting a unique smokiness ("rauch" is German for smoke), the usage of which produces beers of an acquired taste. Imagine a smokiness so robust, so assertive, that it tastes of spiced, smoked meat.

I bought this beer almost a year ago, but due to its high alcohol content (9.4% abv) I had little fear of leaving this beer around to cellar for a year.

I shared this beer this past Friday Night with Mrs KB and two friends. We agreed that the beer had a lot of smoke up front, but there were a lot of complex flavors after you got past the smoke. There was some coffee grounds type flavor and the alcohol taste was also prominent. But there was also some richness, an almost creamy flavor which even tiled towards cocoa.

The Samuel Adams Cinder Bock Rauch Bock is under the Kosher Supervision of the Star-K. Like many other Samuel Adams brews, this bottle does not have the Star-K certification mark on the label. To see the LOC for Samuel Adams which certifies this beer as kosher click here - http://www.star-k.org/loc/LetterOfCertification_PEFQZ4N3.pdf 

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew, please follow this link -http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/77231. 

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!