Sunday Night Suds - Leinenkugel India Pale Lager

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Leinenkugel's India Pale Lager.

While in Chicago over Sukkos I picked up the Leinenkugel Autumn Explorer Pack which features the Harvest Patch Shandy, India Pale Lager, Maple Dunkel and Octoberfest. We broke open the box and shared them amongst the  numerous thirsty Cubs fans watching the playoffs and their non-Chicago spouses. Who knew that this was a precursor to them making it to (and winning!) the World Series.

Of all the beers in the Autumn Explorer Pack, this was the beer that caught my fancy and which I would go out of my way to buy more of. The beer poured light brown which was a bit richer and darker than a standard lager. There was also citrus and hops, which are not common to a lager. But the beer does not desert its lager roots as the citrus and hops are a bit subdued and there is some grain/malt underneath the brew.

This versatile brew could be paired with many types of food, such as pizza, cheese dishes and light poultry entrees (obviously not together). 

Leinenkugel India Pale Lager (IPL) is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union, and has an OU on the label. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew, please follow this link beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/710/141751. 

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).

Also, if you are reading this post more than six months after it was written, please note that it is possible that the product is no longer still certified kosher. To verify that the product is still certified kosher, please click on the kosher beers list link on the top left corner of the blog.

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 Vayishlach

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 said a vort which he indicated he had said 17 years prior and he did not remember, but the prior weekend he met a former Talmid (Phil Bogart) who reminded him of it.

In Bereishis 32:11 Ya'akov says "Katonti" - I am unworthy of all the good things that You have done for me Hashem.

The words HaYarden Hazeh is odd since the use of the word Hazeh is used when the speaker is discussing something which is in front of you and unless Ya'akov was standing on the banks of the Yarden there would be no reason to say HaYarden Hazeh.

The student told R' Frand that when he previously told the vort he had said that the use of the HaZeh is a hint to the key about how to be makir tov - appreciative of what he previously had. Ya'akov made reference to the Yarden as if it was before him because he remembers of what he was like at the time. At the time that Ya'akov first crossed the Yarden he had nothing, he was running away from his brother and had just been robbed of all of his possessions. Now he had four wives, eleven sons and many possessions. Ya'akov showed his HaKaras HaTov by viewing it as if he was back in that state of being penniless. That is truly being a makir tov.

R' Frand remarked that this is a continuation of a prior theme he had said about the proper way to be makir tov by remembering the prior status - click here for the vort http://kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2016/11/thursdays-parsha-tidbits-parshas-vayera.html.

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 - Samuel Adams Toasted Caramel Bock

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Samuel Adams Toasted Caramel Bock.

The Toasted Caramel Bock is included in the Samuel Adams Fall Sampler Box, containing the flagship Boston Lager along with Bonfire Blonde, Hoppy Red, Maple Ale and Octoberfest.

I did not purchase the entire box, but a friend who knows my proclivity for trying new beers brought this over to try last Friday Night. We tried this together with Mrs KB and had some mixed reviews. This beer has some extra sweetness which comes from the molasses added to the brew process. There are some bock notes behind the added sugar and the beer is not entirely one note, but it is primarily an overly sweet, dessert type beer.

I would not recommend this brew with any kind of main course, but it would be nice in small quantities with baklava or maybe pecan pie.

The Samuel Adams Toasted Caramel Bock is under the Kosher Supervision of the Star-K and has a Star-K certification mark on the label. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew, please follow this link - beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/225611.

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 are reading this post more than six months after it was written, please note that it is possible that the product is no longer still certified kosher. To verify that the product is still certified kosher, please click on the kosher beers list link on the top left corner of the blog.

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 29:35, the Torah describes how Leah named her fourth son Yehuda as a "thank you" to Hashem and that thereafter she stopped having children.

The Ibn Ezra explains that that the cessation of having children was a punishment, since Leah did not ask for more children and in essence said to Hashem, Yasher Koach for giving me these four children, I have enough.

R' Frand asked - but why is she being punished for saying I have enough and thank you? The Chazal teach that Leah was the first to say thank you to Hashem and she is even praised for doing so.

R' Frand answered by quoting the Rambam in Hilchos Berachos (Ch10) who writes that a person should cry out to Hashem about the future and ask for rachamim, while also acknowledging and thanking Hashem for what he has.

R' Frand observed that the word "modeh" has more than one connotation. It is not just saying thanks, it is also admitting that what you have is due to someone else. Thus when a person says thanks to Hashem he is not just saying thank you for what I have, he is also saying, I can't live without your help.

R' Frand gave a mashal of a person who wins a $450 million lottery. If he says thank you Hashem and I will see you later, it would be insufficient. He needs to say, I appreciate what you gave me in this big lottery windfall, but I still need you.

This is also why our Shemoneh Esreh is structured the way that it is. We begin with Shevach - praise and then go into our Bakashos - requests. Afterwards there is Modim wherein we admit that Hashem is responsible for all that we have. However, the Shemoneh Esreh does not end after Modim. Instead we have one more request after Modim, a request for peace. The greatest vessel for beracha is peace, so we do not end Shemoneh Esreh with thanks. Instead we complete our acknowledgement of Hashem's role by making that request for peace.

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 Toldos

This week Rabbi Frand did not give his customary Thursday Night shiur and instead TCN carried a shiur by R' Shraga Neuberger who had an interesting view of the Ya'akov/Yitzchak interaction. The following is a brief summary of the vort. Same rules as usual apply -  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 the maggid shiur.

In Bereishis 27:19 the Torah recites the statement made by Ya'akov to Yitzchak wherein he says "Anoci, Esav Bechorecha" - this can be read as "it is I, Esav your bechor" or it can be read as "it is I Esav, your bechor." Rashi on the pasuk explains that Ya'akov adopts the former method and states to Yitzchak that Esav is the bechor.

R' Neuberger took issue with this explanation and the traditional approach taught to children that Ya'akov told the truth. Instead, he argued that Ya'akov did what was right by lying to Yitzchak. In fact, by taking the traditional approach, we are in effect saying to our children - it's OK to be sneaky and tell half truths, when in reality the lesson should be that it is sometimes permitted to lie.

R' Neuberger quoted the Maharam M'Pano who explains that Ya'akov committed an Aveirah L'Shma and Esav wanted to commit a Mitzva Shelo L'Shma and it is better to commit an Aveirah L'Shma, especially when his mother had told him that she had a prophecy that he should do this.

[R' Neuberger then said as an aside - tell your children that when their mother tells them that she had a nevuah its OK to lie, but only if she had the nevuah].

So what is the lesson from the language used by Ya'akov? That when you tell a lie, you stray from the truth as little as possible.

R' Neuberger brought a proof from a Rambam which interprets/applies a gemara in Bava Metzia. The gemara states that there are three things a person can lie about - the mesechta you are learning, whether you were with your wife the night before and to not publicize/praise a host over the quality of the food.

The Rambam applies the gemara and explains that if a person is asked which mesechta he is learning and he is learning Niddah he should say Mikva'os. 

R' Neuberger then asked - why do we need the Rambam to tell us which mesechta he should say that he is learning? He answered that the Rambam is teaching a lesson - if you say Bava Metzia instead of Niddah - there is no connection between the two. But if you are going to lie, you should make a switch as small as possible, and Mikva'os is much closer to Niddah than a mesechta in Nezikin.

Here Ya'akov had to lie - he was told by his mother to do so, based on the prophecy that she had received. But even when lying, it was the smallest possible lie which he told.

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 - Jack-o Traveler Pumpkin Shandy

This week's Sunday Night Suds extends Thanksgiving one more week by reviewing Jack-o Traveler Pumpkin Shandy.

The Shandy is the Americanized version of the German Radler which combined lemonade and lager in what can only be termed an unholy alliance. American breweries have taken this combination light years further, including the Traveler line produced by the Boston Beer Company which fuses lemonade, lager and basically anything else they can think of and produces various "Shandy" products.

Although its one week post Thanksgiving, I wanted to give this Pumpkin infused Shandy a try. The first sips had some nice pumpkin and cinnamon notes and I thought that I might like this beer. But then the lemonade started to kick in and the syrupy sweet flavor overwhelmed my palate. I could not bring myself to finish the beer in my glass, let alone the bottle and I found myself wondering how I had even considered this to be drinkable.

The Jack-o Traveler Pumpkin Shandy is under the Kosher Supervision of the Star-K and has a Star-K certification mark on the label. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about this brew, please follow this link - beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31442/98924/

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 are reading this post more than six months after it was written, please note that it is possible that the product is no longer still certified kosher. To verify that the product is still certified kosher, please click on the kosher beers list link on the top left corner of the blog.

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!