Just before Christmas Eve dinner, the guests of the Royal Family retire to the Saloon to enjoy gin and tonics with the Queen (who drinks a dry Martini).  Afterwards, the guests are seated at 8:30 pm for a splendid, candlelit meal that unfolds in rehearsed waves of grandeur.  White wine is served with the hors [...]

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“Dude, get your ass to Priorat!”
And so it was that I received this text message from my friend who’s currently gallivanting through Europe on a journey to see the wines and vineyards of the world (rough, I know).  Apparently, as my ass was slaving away in the mines of the East Village, he was “sitting [...]

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Baltic Porter, Oy Sinebrychoff Ab, Kerava, Finland
(7.2% alc)
I hereby declare that all of our soldiers be supplied with the latest in body armor technology, lightweight night-vision goggles and Camelbak drinking systems filled with Imperial Porter.
In an attempt to fill out my beer list at Hearth and Terroir with some eclectic, international styles of Porter, I [...]

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What’s life without the barrel?
It seems that everywhere I look these days, my favorite breweries are releasing tricked-out, new barrel-aged beers.
Port barrels, whisky barrels, sherry casks, madeira casks, wine barrels.  Its kind of dizzying.
What’s next?  Monkey barrels?  Fish barrels?  Oil drums?  (Who knows, perhaps an Exxon Light Crude Porter would pair beautifully with my grilled Rib Eye [...]

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