Arts
Show Notes: Liquor Plus Radio Episode 4: Brew of the Week Jan. 4-Jan. 10, 2012- Phillips & Garrison Brewing ‘Mash Up’ Baltic Porter Program Note: Liquor Plus Radio was designed to be raw and done in one take. Authenticity is the name of this game... Collaborative brewing efforts are growing in popularity amongst craft brewers and I can see why. They offer the same kind of cache and imagery that a winery gets when they speak of a Single Vineyard wine. The collaboration between the Phillips Brewery and Garrison of Halifax is easy to understand. Both are at the heart of their communities growing brewing culture, both got started facing similar financial and licensing challenges, both are primarily ale houses, and both are out of the box thinkers when it comes to crafting brews that are full of flavour, and if you have ever met either Matt Phillips of the Phillips Brewery or Daniel Girard of Garrison Brewing, you know you have met two kindered spirits. Why Porter… good question! Porter is traditionally brewed used lager yeasts and dark malts that results in a smoother texture and flavours of dark chocolate or cocoa, coffee and roasted nuts. The theory goes that Porter got its name because the street and river porter’s of 18th century London popularised it; nice. Cozy thoughts but I’m not so sure of the truth in this. Baltic Porter is also traditionally brewed using lager yeasts and dark malts but is much stronger. Back in the day this was to insure that the beer could survive the overseas trip from Finland, Estonia or Sweden over the North Sea to England. Today the extra alcohol simply adds more body to the brew. In terms of taste, first thing first, make sure you have it at the right temperature. Porters and Baltic Porters should be enjoyed at room temperature. Room temperature allows you to enjoy the complete texture, flavours, and complexities of the brew. Porters are ‘cozy’ beers and chilling makes them as cozy as sitting on an ice block with the air conditioning on. The texture is smooth and languid while the flavours feature dark chocolate, figs and hints of fresh ground coffee. Just on the finish you will notice a hint of black licorice that brings it all together. For the foodgasm we are all on a quest to get, pair this with a good hearty stew, casserole or pot pie. Rich cheeses like Beemster and aged Gouda rock with this brew. As for desserts go with choocalate cake or brownies, even some truffles would be heaven with this. As our Brew of the Week you can taste this beer in everyone of our 5 locations this Saturday January 7 from 3-5pm. Liquor Plus Radio is hosted and Produced by Rod Phillips with technical assistance from Steve Jobs (RIP) via GarageBand, Mike & Cheryl DeWolfe and Mike Vardy. You can subscribe to Liquor Plus Radio by either going to our website www.liquorplus.ca clicking on View Community, then the LP Blog, and subscribing by RSS, Or you can subscribe through iTunes or at www.BluBrry .com. Liquor Plus Radio is sponsored by Liquor Plus. Liquor Plus has 5 Island Owned and Island Operated full service locations to serve you better. Liquor Plus Discover the Plus As always please let us know what you think as we know we can improve but need feedback to do that right. That’s all for now so take it easy and hopefully, we can all improve our quality of life… one sip at a time.