Tap and Mallet Blog RSS Feed

The Full Spectrum

Tap and Mallet — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 15:46:36 -0500

There have certainly been some peaks and troughs to the last week. A number of weeks ago I went down to NYC for a beer bar owner meet up. It was a pleasure to meet a lot of like minded people and share stories, experiences and approaches to what we do. One of the highlights was a tasting evening with 12% Imports. A man by the name of Brian Ewing spent all of his spare time and money traveling parts of Europe discovering little known gems of the brewing industry. At some point he must have decided that he was going to make a business out of his treasures. His beers are superb. It is important to appreciate just how good they really are. At times it is easy to get caught up in the rarity of beers and lose sight of their actual quality. No worries about that here. So with all that said I was incredibly excited to place my first order for a mixed pallet of his kegs. They will be here mid December and I will be cracking into them straight away. My Beer Social on New Years Eve will exclusively feature beers from that pallet delivery.

Well that was the highlight...the low point came with a blocked urinal. We pride ourselves at the pub on a can do approach to tricky situations. There are probably a few problems where we should just call in help but we usually never do until we have lost all hope of solving it ourselves. The urinal was one of those times where we should have just made the call. I'm sure that there are a bunch of jobs that get done around a pub that most people would never consider. For sure I was never alerted to true horror of a blocked urinal at bar owner camp. All that said the water now flows through like the stuff of dreams. No calls were made.

Rochester Real Beer Expo 2012

Tap and Mallet — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:05:42 -0400

The date has been set June 16th 2012. It will just as fantastic as before if not slightly better. We listened and there will be many many more bathrooms. The beer will be epic. Never expect any less than amazing!

Tickets are not on sale but expect a bit of noise before we do that. We sold out last year so I will make sure to give some warning before they go live.

Cheers. Rochester Real Beer.

Why we have no TV's

Tap and Mallet — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 21:08:01 -0400

It occurs on an almost daily basis that someone asks me why we don't have any TV's or tells me that we should show football or some other sport that they enjoy watching. I, like most other people have a TV at home that I watch probably more than I should. I enjoy it. It zones me out and sometimes I really do just want to zone out. Here is the problem though...who wants to spend their social time with a bunch of zombies? We are fairly social creatures at heart and when we venture out of our caves in a quest for interaction we shouldn't be bothered by CNN with subtitles jogging by or some meaningless sporting encounter. Let the beer be your social lubricant and go forth.

Now I would like to point out that there are exceptions to this rule. When the TV is a social magnet then it earns its place. For this reason we will have the TV back up for international soccer time. Go ENGLAND!

McBane's Tall Dark and Naked

Tap and Mallet — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 17:01:30 -0400

I am really excited about a brewing project that I have been working on since the early spring. Back when there was still morning frosts I met with Rick Pedersen of Pedersen Farms to discuss getting some Nugget hops from his crop. Dave Schlosser, owner of Naked Dove Brewery wanted to to collaborate on the beer so we lined up a brew for the harvest season. We both liked the idea of a wet hop beer. I love the fact that you can only do that type of beer once a year on the day that the hops are picked. For my tastes a good wet hop beer should have lots of juicy hop aroma and wet grassy quality throughout. I thought that doing something with a black IPA inspired malt base would work very well and be something that most people wouldn't have tried before.

On the day of the brew we went to the farm to pick up our sacks of hops. We picked up 157lb for a 10 barrel batch. This is a staggeringly large quantity but it is worth remembering that there is a huge amount of water weight so the amounts need to be scaled up to achieve the desired results. 157lb of hops by the way made for a very aromatic ride back to the brewery. The wort had been boiled when we got back and there had been no hop additions to this point. It tasted great. Obviously sweet with nice roasty notes. I then filled the mash tun with the hops and I mean filled. The wort was then pumped over from the kettle. Being English really helped out at this stage as I have made a few cups of tea in my time. That is essentially what we were doing on a fairly large scale. Instead of a teaspoon I used a hoe. The smells were simply wonderful. After about half an hour the liquid was sent over to the fermentation tank to begin the magical process of becoming beer.

I am very optimistic that this beer will be outstanding although we really aren't sure exactly how it will turn out. That is always the way with these experimental one off beers. I can't wait to try it though. The beer releases on September 22nd at 7.30. Come down to see how we did. You can also look at pictures of the day on the photo section of this site.

The line up of beer for the Rochester Real Beer Expo.

Tap and Mallet — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 13:52:17 -0400

The line up of beers for the Rochester Real Beer Expo is confirmed. It is ridiculous.

Blue Point Brewing. No Apologies IPA AND Toxic Sludge Black IPA AND Hoptikal Illusion (Cask)

Brooklyn Brewery. Concoction AND Black Chocolate Stout AND Pennant Pale Ale (Cask)

Clown Shoes. Clementine Wit AND Tramp Stamp

Custom Brewcrafters. Mabel on Jack AND Expo Pils (Cask) AND Caged Monkey Cask (Cask) AND Expo Pils

Dogfish Head. Sahti AND Shelter Pale Ale AND Black and Blue

Dundee. 2 Dundee Casks

Duvel. Duvel Single

Elysian Brewing. Mens Room AND Immortal IPA

Goose Island. Fleur AND Dominque

Great Lakes. Engine 20 AND Rye of the Tiger IPA AND Lake Erie Monster

Harpoon. Rye IPA AND Barley Wine AND Uber Bock

Ithaca Beer Co. Flower Power (Cask) AND Excelsior 13 AND Dark Humor AND Le Bleu (Bottles) AND Excelsior 12 AND Rough Draft

La Chouffe. McChouffe

Lake Placid. KB's Wee Heavy AND Hefe Weisse

Long Trail. Coffee Porter AND Triple Bag

Maredsous. Maredsous Blonde

McNeill's Brewery. Warlord IPA AND ESB

Mort Subite. Kriek AND Blanche

Naked Dove. Bock AND IPA (Randalized)

North Coast. Red Seal AND Scrimshaw

Ommegang. Gnommegang

Paulaner. Hefe Weisse

Roc Brewing. Golden Pale AND Golden Pale (Cask)

Rohrbach. Indian Brown AND Export Stout

Sam Adams. Oak Aged Porter AND Revolutionary Rye

Saranac. Black Forest AND Summer Ale

Shipyard Brewing. Imperial Porter

Sierra Nevada. Juniper Black AND Californian Common Ale

Sly Fox. Standard Pils AND Saison Vos AND RTE 113 IPA (Cask)

Smuttynose. Summer Weisse AND Big A Double IPA

Southern Tier. Crème Brulee AND Choklat AND 2xIPA

Stevens Point. Nude Beach

Stoudts Brewing. Gold Lager AND Heifer in Wheat

Three Heads. Kind AND Skunk AND Ontario Beach (Cask)

Troegs. Pale Ale (Cask) AND Sunshine Pils

Victory Brewing. Scarlett Fire AND Summer Love

Weihenstephan. Dark AND Vitus

Desert Island Five - What are yours?

Tap and Mallet — Thu, 26 May 2011 21:23:42 -0400

People often ask me what my favorite beer is. There certainly isn't just one, but if pushed I could select a 'desert island 5'. My 5 would be (in no particular order)

A wheat beer. Certainly a style that I love and often drink. Given that there is only five choices it is between German hefe and Belgian wit. I pick wit for its complexity of flavor and slightly more tart citrusy edge. Of the wit biers, I am particularly fond of regular old Hoegaarden. It has a wonderful full taste and soft yet full mouthfeel that you don't always find. It is also the first 'good' beer that I ever bought. I think I was 15!

Duvel. It shouldn't need any explanation. If it does I urge you to try one. It will explain itself.

American IPA. A style that has grown on me, and everyone else it seems during my years in this country. Stone IPA is a personal favorite of mine. It has a remarkable balance given the use of hops. The hops themselves fit a flavor profile that I look for. Crisp, pine and citrus.

British bitter. On my desert island it would have to be served out of a perfectly conditioned cask or it just doesn't make the list. A style that is close to my heart an epitomizes session drinking. Low to moderate alcohol, light carbonation, not too cold, layers of subtle flavor and impeccable balance. My pick of the mix is Timothy Taylor's Landlord. Unfortunately not one that is ever available on this side of the pond but be sure to check it out if you ever find yourself in my old country.

That brings us to number 5. Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout is what I consider a standard for its style. It also gives a darker balance that my previous selections lacked.
The first thing that is worth noting is that it finally comes in a dark amber bottle. This is a good thing as for years it always came in a clear bottle. It looks pretty in clear glass but the beer really suffers as a result of exposure to sunlight. The beer pours out to an almost black with a light, off white head. The aroma is of dark chocolate, raisins and weak black coffee. Carbonation is present but not too sharp to affect the taste. It should be soft in my opinion for this kind of beer. The flavor is roasty of course, but there exists a touch of fruitiness that may also be perceived as a slightly sweet note. There is a subtlety of flavor that I can't quite put my finger on and that you only seem to find in some British beers. A character that only comes through from centuries of brewing tradition. So there you have it. Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout along with the rest of the desert island 5.

What are your 5? Leave your responses in the comments section.

Cheers.

New Menu

Tap and Mallet — Wed, 04 May 2011 13:49:20 -0400

The new menu is out. We are done talking about at last and have had to commit to the items you see. It is always a long and difficult process of debate and experimentation but here it is. We are very pleased with it and we hope you are to. Any feed back is always welcomed.
-

Bon appetite.

Bobcat Challenge 2.0 in Review

Tap and Mallet — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 15:40:35 -0400

As some of you may have noticed, Bob is back at the Tap and Mallet. Truthfully we are kind of glad to have him back. We all have a little affection for him. That said we did everything we could to win the challenge and keep him at Lovin Cup.

This time around the event was held at Lovin Cup. Despite our best attempts to diffuse the situation there is no getting away from the fact that home field advantage is exactly that. We rented a full size school bus to ferry the enthusiastic Tap and Mallet drinking team down to the Cup. We even kitted them out in T-shirts that said 'Bobcats are for Losers' in effort to drive home the seriousness of their coming task.

When the school bus arrived it really lifted my spirits I like to think dented the iron clad confidence of the Lovin Cup team. At least they knew they were going to have to work for it. Team Tap and Mallet arrived in the place to cheers and high fives. It was on.

The event was started by the weighing of the casks. Turns out that theirs was 2 lbs heavier which in drinking terms is about 2 pints, so myself and my trusted assistant Greg had to pound a pint each in front of the crowd. I got it down ok. Now the casks were even, all four of us pourers had to pound down another glass of beer before we could start putting beer in glasses for people. Now I am pretty sure that Greg had no problem with this as he is a true seasoned professional in the art of chugging. Yours truly is somewhat of an amateur light weight. I was feeling a certain amount of pressure as hundreds of people were waiting on me to get going. I got it down and quickly seated myself to start pouring beer. I tried to seem concentrated on the task in hand but in reality I was focussed on not throwing up for a couple of minutes. Imagine if I had? I would have been hearing about it for years to come.

Once I got over the nausea hump I realized that that we were really doing rather well. The beer seemed to flying out and we hadn't turned the tap off once. How could we possibly be behind I wondered? Then sure enough our beer ran dry...I went to grab the cask and hoist it in the air as a mark of victory only to discover it was still half full. Oh shit! I turned the tap a couple of times but nothing. Beaten by a technical malfunction it appeared. Well there was no way we were going down like that, so we did the only thing we could and pulled the tap right out of the cask. We started pouring beer directly out of the cask. It was flying everywhere but we were back in the game and hadn't been disqualified.

Lovin Cup must have seen this and figured it was an underhanded strategic move on our part as the beer was certainly flying everywhere. They didn't hestitate to pull their tap either. At this point it was completly wildcard and nothing at all what we had planned but no one was giving up. We were actually trying to get some of the beer into glasses where as the Lovin Cup boys turned their cask upside down and started dumping. If some went into a glass that was a bonus I think! We were all soaking from the waist down while standing in a sea of beer. People were trying to drink beers with whole chunks hops floating in the murkiness. It was hilarious.

After a short while of this madness the Lovin Cup boys finished their beer and were declared victors. Good for them, they certainly worked hard for it. So there you have it. We get Bob for a year and we will meet again for the rubber match in 12 months time. It was one of the most enjoyable events I have ever been a part of.

Cheers and sorry to the staff at Lovin Cup who had to clean the sea of beer.

Bobcat Bus - Join Team Tap and Mallet

Tap and Mallet — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 12:52:22 -0500

The event at Lovin Cup is planned for March 23rd. You can read more details regarding that in the events section of the site. As some of you may know this is the second installment of the Bobcat Challenge. This time last year we raced two kegs side by side. Each beer was unique and had been brewed for each bar by Sly Fox brewery. We won the race and as a result Lovin Cup has had to display a taxidermied bobcat in their establishment since then. This time around each bar has a different and unique beer that will be poured and the beer will be poured from traditional casks. The event will also be held at Lovin Cup this time around.

It is important to us here at the pub that we do everything we can to keep the nasty bobcat at Lovin Cup for at least one more year. We need your help to do this.

We have chartered a large bus to pick up the Tap and Mallet drinking team at the pub and take us down to Lovin Cup. The bus will leave at 7.15 sharp and shall be returning to the Tap and Mallet at 9.15. If you would like to be involved sign is at the Tap and Mallet bar. You will get a seat on the bus and also a T-shirt that has been printed especially for the event. The cost is just $8.

Please sign up and support us in our endeavor to keep the bobcat at a Lovin home. Remember - Bobcat's are for Losers!

What's Wrong with Beer Festivals?

Tap and Mallet — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:35:43 -0500

If you invited me to your house for a tasting I think it would be fair to assume that you would be giving me something that is new. Why would we bother to taste grilled chicken? Not that there is anything wrong with grilled chicken but what the hell is the point?

This makes me question the thought behind many of the beer festivals that I go to these days. Why is it that I went to a festival recently that had 50+ beers and there were only three that were new to me? I realize that I do get to try a bunch of different beers in my line of work, but there are many people who wouldn't have been impressed. A lot of us know the flagship beers from a number of different breweries so why offer them up? Is it to drive home the fact that they still have them? I'm not impressed. Why not dig a little deeper into your treasure chest and find something else? You all have those beers in there. The people that know beer will certainly appreciate it, the people that don't will be just as impressed by them and the brewery brand will be that much stronger in everyone's eyes. I'm telling you that this sort of conservative, macro style brand marketing is dumb and has no place in craft beer. It's not what we're about guys.

As someone who is planning to hold a festival in the summer it is something I have been giving a bit of thought to recently. Another good point is that with New York legislation in the last couple of years, festival organizers have to purchase the beer themselves. Previously it was always donated. This has led to higher costs associated with putting on these events and therefore higher ticket prices to attendees, but it has also put purchasing power in the hands of the organizers. I intend to use that power to my advantage. Why the hell not?

So there, a little thought outside of the box is all that is required. Hopefully the creative and rewarding festivals are the ones that will flourish and be supported by both the brewers and the beer lovers of the next few years and on.

Cheers.

12 Beers of Christmas...

Tap and Mallet — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:30:50 -0500

So we have an event coming up and it prompted me to rewrite the lyrics to the famous song, 12 Days of Christmas. Here are the lyrics and don't forget to look at the event section of this site to get the details.

On the 12 days of Christmas
the Beer Gods sent to me!

A round of beers for you and me,
Two glorious growlers,
Three bags of hops,
Four bloated brewers,
Five poutines,
Six swinging mallets,
Seven gushing beer taps,
Eight sour lambics,
Nine drunken drinkers,
Ten shiny casks,
Eleven sacks of grain,
Twelve pink elephants!

We have Grumblers

Tap and Mallet — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 10:37:16 -0400

So the 22oz bombers are no more I am afraid to say. While they were cool they unfortunately resulted in large amounts of wasted beer. It was a fast moving beer, small hole situation. We feel strongly about throwing perfectly delicious beer down the drain as I am sure you do.

Now don't despair...while we are getting rid of the bombers, we will be replacing them with 32oz Grumblers. What is a Grumbler I hear you ask? It is a 2 pint jar for beer to go. A bit bigger than a bomber but only half the size of a growler. We like to keep our to go containers on the smaller side, as with all the beers we have available it can be hard to commit to a half gallon of any one thing.

For those of you who have bomber that need to be returned don't worry we will take them back and use them as credit towards a new Grumbler.

Cheers.

September Goings On

Tap and Mallet — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:19:18 -0400

I really can't believe that another Summer is already drawing to a close. It has been very good one down here at the pub. We had a wonderful beer dinner with Victory. It seems that the beer dinners are proving a popular event so we will keep hosting them every three months or so. Franziskaner is on the horizon for the next one. I will fill you in with more details on that once I have them.

This summer was also the first time that TV's have been at the pub. We made the exception for the World Cup. I'm glad we did. The event brought in a lot of new faces and created a buzz about the place for the whole duration of the tournament. We will definitely do it again. We will not be buying the NFL Sunday Ticket though! Sorry Tom.

The hops on the back deck finally took off this year and are looking rather impressive now. I planted them back in the summer of '07 with the hope of of having a canopy of hops overhead as you walked through the back door. We are not quite there yet but I think it is going to happen. Look for big things next year.

The final big highlight for me this summer was the release of our latest McBane's from our ever changing house beer project. The McBane's Summer Solstheis is a Saison style beer brewed by Sly Fox. In my opinion it is by far the best beer we have brewed to date. The bar has certainly been raised high. The question is what will we do next? The jury is still out on that one, although there have been murmurings of a porter. Time will tell.

We have just launched our Beer Social for September. It's been a couple of years since the staff last chose and presented the beers at a Beer Social but September will see a return. There will be seven different beers from seven different breweries presented by seven members of staff. We have a pretty wide range of tastes on staff so look forward to a really varied tasting. As always we will accompany the beers with a sampler plate of finger food. Tickets are priced at $12 and are available for purchase at the bar.

Labor Day will see the pub closed on both the Sunday and Monday. We are going to be laying a new floor behind the bar. Myself and the staff will be working around the clock to get it done so that we can reopen on Tuesday morning. I'm a bit nervous at the prospect but as always we'll find a way to get it done. Just be nice to us on Tuesday - some of us will be feeling rather delicate.

Cheers.

The keg race in review #2

Tap and Mallet — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 14:26:58 -0400

The keg race is all done now and I am pleased to announce that we have improved our record to 2 and 0.

Custom Brewcrafters brought along a fantastic Saison. Pierre. The nose certainly suggested some spicing although there was none. Really amazing how the Saison Dupont yeast asserted itself on the beer. It finished at 8% abv and wasn’t filtered.

Our beer, McBane’s Summer Solstheis is also brewed in the Saison style by Sly Fox brewery. We used lemon zest, ginger and green peppercorn as spices although they are subtle in the final presentation. It is absolutely delish and pairs well with a whole host of different foods. It goes particularly well with seafood and spicy dishes. I really feel that with this beer we have taken the experimental line of McBane’s brews to a new level of excellence.
Both beers are currently available on draft at the pub. The McBane’s will be around for a little while but is certainly limited so go ahead and tip a few.

Cheers, Joe.

The New 'Mcbane' Beer Release

Tap and Mallet — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:44:51 -0400

Hello everyone...This is Chef-Paul. I am reporting on this great event as my fearless leader, Joe Mcbane, is on summer vacation. Thursday, August 12th 2010, will be the release of our new house beer from Sly Fox. It is rightly called 'Mcbanes Summer Soul-Theis.' On Thursday night at 8pm, we will be going up against the new Custom Brewcrafters Saison. We will be pouring $3 - 12oz glasses of each beer, eager to hear what all of our thirsty patrons have to say about each. The Tap & Mallet Ringleader(Joe), will be here, fresh off of his vacation and ready to mingle. I am sure he is ready for a pint after his absence.
So...come one & come all! I know it will be a great time!

Tap & Mallet, World Cup 2010. Observations so far...

Tap and Mallet — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:37:05 -0400

Below is a recount of the World Cup events at the pub so far written by one of our regulars and an old room mate of mine. It's pretty amusing stuff. Please, enjoy.
-

Tap & Mallet, World Cup 2010 observations: Group Play, Round 1 (V1)

[a/k/a “The Little Leprechaun Letters” – “LLL”]

Overall Pints: the first matches of group play are complete, and WC 2010 is off to a roaring start
•
THE TELE-VONIC DEVICES: seem to be doing the job, yet not interfering with all that we love about the T&M … the space is very “special” [insert Dutch word for good community vibe, organic & dynamic, spiritedyet kind-spirited, etc.], and patrons shape it themselves to their needs (as the soccer gods intended) …
•
Special Break-Fast-Ness: new / special breakfast menu(of healthy favorites); French/Freedom-press coffee;and Ma-ma-ma-mosa’s, finally in a decent portion (no champagne flutes need apply)!
•
Special thanks to the staff, most of whom have altered their life schedules to accommodate morning matches. Except the ones who normally turn up for work a few hours early. You know who they are …

Memorable Moments/Matches:

Friday, June 11:
•
South Africa v Mexico: opening match, 10am on a Friday (11 June), great turnout for debut of the breakfast menu. Oh, and the footie on the TV thing. The South Africa fans were there early and often, and several came back later for the 2:30 as well. Thought Mexico showed good fight back to draw—some (like the Little Leprechaun) reckon this as a close 2nd for the real group of death.
•
Rumor has it that France played Uruguay, but could not be confirmed because the French do not speak of such personal embarrassments in public.

Saturday, June 12:
•
OK, it was a 2:30pm match on a Saturday that had been hyped for months. But turnout was immense between the “Yanks” and “Three Lions” fans, with the former somewhat more prevalent. The spirit / (insert Dutch word meaning “vibe”?) was incredible, with patrons packed together yet helping one another out, many songs sung loudly, and even a few babies marking their first pub footie experience! Whilst Tim Howard (a/k/a “Tim-mee How-ward ….”) was undoubtedly the man-o’-the-match on bravery & performance, Steve Churondolo provided the steadying, Reyna-like presence that made the difference. Special kudos to the crowd for NOT going all “let’s riot” when the big TV went to sleep for a few minutes (half an hour before kickoff:).
•
England (see above), great sports / stiff upper lips throughout. However, for future reference, pulling a “Robert Green” is now common vernacular for any type of one-time, very unfortunate spill (picture scalding hot dishes over nuns or other sainted patrons). “Pulling a BP” still reserved for more long-lasting disasters (see England, WC Finals over last 40-odd years). Must admit: the Dodge Ramcharger or whatever TV ad with George Washington charging the Redcoats circa 1776 was quality. I’m sure I will feel the same way 20 views from now …
•
Nigeria v Argentina (0-1), tough draw for the screaming / golden / super Eagles, but a spirited throughout. Watching Messi makes me feel like I should have made the sign of the cross with holy water when entering premises.

Sunday, June 13:
•
Germany v Australia: so embarrassing that I had to temporarily suspend my practice of asking any Aussies I meet “so, are you all what they call ‘Kiwis’?” Almost as embarrassing as being nicknamed “soccer-roos”—almost.
•
(Unseen: Slovenia 1-0 v Algeria, lucky result for the .. green dragons? Purple horseshoes? Whatever, it clarifies things for the US in 2nd match …)

Monday, June 14:
•
(Unseen, but not unfelt: 7:30am Netherlands 2-0 v Denmark. Its toughest test in group play, with no Robben nor Huntelar, the Oranje do what’s needed. Hup hup Holland!) (Unseen @ pub) Ditto Japan putting on over on Cameroon—Roger Milla must be rolling in his grave. If dead. Else, my bad …)
•
Italy v Paraguay: great turnout for a weekday afternoon—the hush was deafening when Paraguay got the first goal. Good fight back from the Azzuri, though it limited their opportunities for cynical time-wasting.

Tuesday, June 15:
•
Brazil v North Korea: best (non-US) fans do far. Wile (some) arrived casually late for kick-off, they were joyous, family-oriented, and sporting throughout, and stayed around for pictures and catching up for long after the match—genuinely great people across multiple generations. But go on, North Korea gets a goal?!? Word is they are a hungry team …
•
(Unseen: New Zealand ties Slovakia in the 93rd minute—go on you kangaroos! What? What kind of fruit? And with sheep ,.. do what? Somehow, this helps the US in re: Slovenia?)
•
(Unseen here @ Pub: Cote d’ Ivory v Portugal yawner. Drogba played. Group of death my arse—both deserved less to go through than North Korea.)

Wednesday, June 16:
•
Spain inquisition-ed by the Templars (Swiss) 0-1; waiting for Tom Hanks movie to explain what it all really means.
•
(Beginning of 2nd round: South Africa on Youth Day, powerful moment of proud, painful history …)

Future Notes:
•
Thursday, 17 June: Mexico v France at 2:30, freedom-fried chimi-frogs on menu (kidding—special order only)
•
Friday, 18 June: US vs. Slovenia (10am), followed by England vs. Algeria (2:30pm)!!! The weekend starts early, will likely leave a mark …
•
Saturday, 19 June: Holland match again at 7:30am—I am sensing a c-o-n-spiracy?
•
Sunday, 20 June (Father’s Day, you good-for-nothing ingrates): Italy v New Zealand at 10am, Brazil v Ivory Coast at 2:30pm … oh dear, Monday morning will not feel kind.
•
Monday, 21 June: Chile v Templars (Swiss) at 10am, Spain v Honduras at 2:30—end of 2nd round of group play!
•
Tuesday, 22 June onward through Friday, 25 June: 3rdround of group play features simultaneous matches at 10am and 2:30pm daily!
•
Round of 16 kicks off Saturday, 26 June with one match each at 10am and 2:30pm daily through Tuesday, 29 June …

Shout out to the Captain

Tap and Mallet — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:32:48 -0400

To one of our friends of the pub, Captain Marty Keogh we say hey. He is stuck in France till the fall doing a somewhat important job of monitoring security at many of France's nuclear facilities. They do enjoy the nuclear over there I understand. Pretty clean with a low chance of oil spills. Of course if things do go wrong...but I'm sure they won't as the Captain will keep a close eye on all the particulars. The only downside I understand from Marty is the state of the French beer scene. I can't help you with that but I'll be sure to tip one for you here.

Cheers buddy!

A Realization

Tap and Mallet — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 07:38:39 -0400

I often say that a pub is a community. I had never seen it quite so clearly though as last Saturday. We were lucky enough to be able to host the wedding of John and Jeana. It was an occasion that brought together many good people who make the pub what it is and we were able to celebrate a memorable occasion. We forgot the normal daily routines and enjoyed the pub and each others company. I felt very lucky to be part of making this little community happen. That's about it. Cheers. Joe.

World Cup Plans

Tap and Mallet — Tue, 18 May 2010 14:01:14 -0400

We will be showing the World Cup at the pub. I am thrilled at the prospect. Growing up in England involved many big games down at the local boozer. You really can't beat the atmosphere that you get with a room full of passionate fans. Football (soccer) has the ability to generate excitement like no other sport I have ever experienced. It is a real treat to be able to do this here. The pub really lends itself to an occasion like this. I am bringing in a couple of TVs. The main screen will be a hefty 73 incher. Everything will of course be HD and the game sounds will pipe in through the pub's sound system. It's going to be a hell of a time. I decided if we were going to do it it was going to be done right.

I will post the full schedule to the event page of our site so you can plan out what games interest you. There are three time slots. We will not be showing any of the 7.30 am games. We will however be showing all of the 9.30 am and 2pm games. There really aren't any games in the early slot that are of great interest anyway. England and the US certainly aren't playing any of those times.

Morning games will see the Tap and Mallet serving breakfast for the first time. We will be offering a limited yet high quality menu. I am particularly keen to get my chops around the breakfast tacos that we're going to serve up. We will have plenty of coffee and of course great beer.

Victory Brewing has offered to partner up with us for the duration of the World Cup. We are going to feature 5 Victory drafts through the entire tournament at very reasonable prices.

The final point I want to make clear is that TV's are only for World Cup games. They will show nothing other than football. After the tournament is done they will disappear.

Go ENGLAND!

Mothering Sunday

Tap and Mallet — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:59:49 -0400

We will be enjoying time with our mums and you should too. The pub will be closed for Mothering Sunday.

Goings On

Tap and Mallet — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 10:08:42 -0400

Well the summer season is nearly on us and thank goodness for that. Who doesn't like a chilled pint in the sun? Speaking of drinking outside, be sure to check out our new umbrellas once the sun goes down. Flick the switch on the pole and enjoy the built in solar lights. Pretty awesome I thought. It is good that we have that as our lighting issues outside are still causing us a few headaches. We hope to have them resolved soon.

The McBane's SlyPA is nearly gone believe it or not and we are already starting to think about the next brew. Our bar manager, Chris Schultheis has come up with an idea for a late summer brew that we're all pretty excited about. A light golden saison delicately spiced with touches of green peppercorn, ginger and lemon zest. We loved working with the Sly Fox guys so much that we are going to go straight back for the next round. They also make their own killer saison which didn't make our decision any more difficult.

We are still awaiting the arrival of Dave Schlosser's brewery in Canandaigua. I have high hopes for this venture. It would be nice to see a local brewery that has a strong line of beers through out and regularly challenges us with some of their special releases. It would also be great to see a brewery that it is marketing itself as a sharp cool brand. We need to move away from where we were ten years ago. It is far too competitive not to be perceived as cool now. Why can't we have our own Rogue, Stone, Founders equivalent nearby? I can't think of any reason.

We still have a few tickets left for the Ithaca Beer Social next week. As with their last appearance we have forced them to dig deep into the stash to bring some of the lesser seen beers for us to try.

There will be a Sierra Nevada beer dinner in July. More details of this will follow.

The new menu will be launched on May 10th. There will be some exciting new dishes to try as always. I'm sure there will also be a few tough losses. This is kind of tough to take but variety truly is the spice of the pub. I will be keen to hear your comments once we have rolled it out.

Well that is probably about all that I have got for now. As always, thank you for all of your on going support. It is your support that has/does allow us to build the pub into Rochester's beer lovers paradise that we all love. Cheers.

Closed for Easter Sunday

Tap and Mallet — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:02:05 -0400

We will be closed this Sunday. While I doubt that many of the staff are church goers they do work very hard and certainly deserve the holiday. I hope everyone else enjoys their day too.

Cheers.

The keg race in review

Tap and Mallet — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 08:05:12 -0400

Well it's all over. The bobcat did find a Lovin' home after all, and much good beer was enjoyed. The night itself was probably the craziest event we have ever had at the pub.

The crowd started to gather early and by 8 you could barely move. It was so busy in fact that when my wife arrived she couldn't even get through the door and had to sneak in by way of the kitchen. Each team was introduced like prize fighters with much cheering from their section of supporters. You could cut the anticipation in the room with a damaged bobcat claw. We then pounded down a glass of beer each and opened the taps. It was a constant flow of beer. Just 6 minutes and 46 seconds later our keg blew, I sounded the air horn and the crowd went wild. Awesome! I can't believe how quickly it went. We probably should have done a half keg in hind sight, but who knew it was going to be so popular. I mean I figured we'd get a crowd but this was just bonkers. Everyone who had bought a ticket but not got a glass then headed straight to the bar to trade it in. We opened the taps and just started putting beer into any glass we could lay our hands on. It took about half an hour to really get on top of the insatiable demand for pints, but ultimately we prevailed.

So all that remains is to enjoy the rest of the Sly Fox beers while they are around and pay Bob occasional visits at the Lovin' Cup. I wonder what the challenge will be next year in order to keep Bob at a Lovin' home?

There is a raccoon on my couch

Tap and Mallet — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:22:45 -0500

As most of you have heard by now I bought a taxidermied bobcat for the keg race with Lovin' Cup on the 24th of March. Truth be told I looked at a number of different taxidermy disasters before finally landing the bobcat. One of my favorites was a raccoon. A horrible thing with a menacing look on its face, stick like legs and a weird bouffant hair do. I got out bid on ebay for it. Not a big deal I thought when a few days later I managed to score the bobcat.

Just to clarify. I lost it, haven't paid for it and was never in contact with the seller to exchange name and shipping info. Today a box from Alabama showed up. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the raccoon in it. It just doesn't make any sense.

The only clue was a Rochester telephone number under my shipping address. I called it and it went to a Sarah's voicemail. Sarah, who are you and what do you know about this raccoon? I have sent the seller a message. Maybe he can shed some light on this bizarre turn of events.

I will let you know how this mystery develops. In the meantime a raccoon has taken up residence on my office couch.

Help give a bobcat a Lovin' home.

Tap and Mallet — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 12:54:58 -0500

For those of you who have not heard, we have an event coming up to launch our new beer. Check out the events page of this site for full details.

I am truly excited to try the beer and get the race on. I am just as excited for the forfeit prize. After much bidding I have been able to secure the purchase of a real life full size taxidermied bobcat. The losing team will have to display the bobcat at their bar. Now this isn't just your run of the mill regular feline bobcat mind you. This thing is horrendous. I bought it from some dude in South Dakota. I wasn't aware that people actually lived there. Imagine for a second what a bobcat would look like if it was in the acute stages of rabies, had just been hit by an 18 wheeler and was coming off a week long bender of hard alcohol and illegal street drugs. OK, you're starting to get the picture. Not good, but oh so charming in a hideous sort of way.

Why I hear you ask. Well we needed something to play for in this Keg Race of ours, and this fits the bill perfectly. If Tap and Mallet fails in kicking the McBane's SlyPA keg first, them myself, the employees and you the ever faithful T&M patrons will have to look at this thing for the next year. Now we don't want that do we people? Wouldn't it be much nicer to head on over to Lovin' Cup once in a while, have a chuckle and toast the bobcat with one of their fine beers? That's what I thought.

So now you understand the stakes I ask you to be here on March 24th at 8pm to drink the McBane's SlyPA and send the bobcat to a Lovin' home. Cheers.

McBane's - SlyPA

Tap and Mallet — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:39:29 -0500

The day finally arrived when a bunch of us went down to Sly Fox to brew our version of an IPA. We planned on brewing the beer and checking out the Philly beer scene a bit more.

We spent the first night in South Philly with our gracious host Corey Reid from Sly Fox. Our first stop was at the South Philly Tap Room. An amazing array of beers and a well thought out menu. The only down side was that they had sold out of the pigs feet special. We're the kind of crowd that gravitates to any off the radar pork product. The next stop was a little neighborhood bar called Bridget's. A tiny little place with a strange horseshoe shaped bar that was so small that you could pass samples to your friends on the other side without either of you leaving your seats. They also had a gravity fed cask tube contraption that came out of the ceiling. We all relaxed there for a while and then decided it was time for bed as we were brewing early the next morning. One other thing I should mention about our excursion into Philly was the snow. It was like being in a disaster zone. Coming from Rochester a foot of snow is no big deal, however these people were completely beaten. Cars had been abandoned for days all over the place. It seemed obvious to me that 10 minutes with a shovel would take care business. Bottom line these people's spirit had been crushed and they had given up all hope in my opinion. Kind of funny in a 'they're not laughing kind of way'.

Up early and after some minor car issues off to the brewery. I was touched that brewmaster Brian O'Reilly was going to personally brew our beer. He doesn't do as much hands on these days as he is in charge of a team of brewers. The day was off to a good start. Once we got going with the mash in, it was clear Brian is an old pro. Watching him stir the mash was like poetry in motion. My appreciation was even greater after I had a go. Imagine trying to stir grain that weighed 750lbs when it was dry and now it is soaking wet. You get the idea. As the brew progressed we added our hops at various stages. We were all excited to smell the lemony scent of the Sorachi Ace as they went in. As Brian so nicely pointed out I added the bitterness and my wife, Bethany added the aroma. Sounds about right to me. I should point out at that Sly Fox were kind enough to sign a 3 year hop contract for Sorachi hops so this beer could be made. Pretty awesome I thought. I predict more beers with this hop from them for about 3 years at least!

When the brew was done it was time for pints and plans. Plans were quickly made and pints took a while. We headed off for an evening of beer, food and touring at Victory Brewing. I have been drinking Victory beer since I have been in the US and have always enjoyed it. I never really thought of them as being massive, yet they sure are. You are greeted by the sight of four, four hundred barrel fermenters coming out of the roof of the building. Just to put some perspective on what that is, let me break it down into pints. Each one holds in the region of 100,000 pints of beer. Wow! Big brewing isn't always a good thing for the end product but Victory manages to pull it off on this scale and do it right. We got a 2 hour tour of the brewery by the quality control manager, Whitney, who used to be a brewer there. She was full of insight. Some of the note worthy things we learned about Victory were that they continue to use whole leaf hops in all of their beers, keep 80 unique strains of yeast in house and have a brew house that is so huge and polished that it feels like you are on the set of a si-fi movie. Oh, and they make really tasty beer - but you already knew that. On a side note, while we were touring through we bumped into Jordan Sunseri. Jordan is a brewer there now, but was the guy I worked with at Custom Brewcrafters when I made the last McBane's beer. Small world really, and funny that I would bump into him while working on the next stage of the McBane's project.

The next morning brought more snow. Did I mention that they don't know what they are doing down there with snow already? We considered not leaving and staying a few more nights but decided to brave it anyway. Hats off to my wife who bravely took the wheel. The first three hours of the drive were horrific, but we eventually pulled through and made it back alive. All that is left to do now is wait to taste the McBane's SlyPA. It should be here in about four weeks or so. Watch out for more information on this site.

Cheers, Joe.

Fix it week.

Tap and Mallet — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 11:51:10 -0500

This week was supposed to be a fairly smooth easy going week. It's been a busy stretch with the holidays, the new POS system, tastings etc. I really didn't have any big commitments and was looking forward to a mellow week. Wrong! This was the week that everything broke. First it was the main bottle beer display cooler, then one of the furnaces, next the ATM, followed by the ice machine and topped off with the dishwasher. Freakin' lovely.

Well with out boring with the technical details most things are fixed or at least about to be. While periods like this are inevitable from time to time I hope it is a while before I have another. You feel like you are bailing water in a sinking ship. Oh, that reminds me I just got done fixing a sink that leaked resulting in water coming through the ceiling in the bar.

Oh jeez, got to run I think I hear the roof caving in!

Closed Tomorrow

Tap and Mallet — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 14:40:20 -0500

Well it's been about a year and it is time to roll out the Christmas staff party. It was a fairly epic holiday season and the staff have truly earned a good knees up. I am sorry if this causes any inconvenience for any of you but I hope you understand.

Cheers.

2009 in Review. 2010 in Preview

Tap and Mallet — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 11:40:24 -0500

2009
A another year comes to a close and I have a few minutes to reflect on some of the key moments.

Overall it was a fantastic year here at the pub. You continued to support us by buying good beer and food even though it has been a hard year for some of you in this economy. Thank you.

We built a bigger deck to accommodate your outdoor needs. Due to extreme City of Rochester coding I am sure that will still be there long after the apocalypse has swept through. On the plus side of the extreme City coding I got to play with a back hoe for the day. If you ever get the chance, do it.

Collaboration between breweries. It seemed that every couple of weeks someone else was doing it. Brooklyn and Schneider got it started back in '07 with Hopfen Weisse and it really became a trend in '08. I thought that Dogfish/Sierra Life and Limb and Stone/Brewdog Basha were the highlights. Cripes you emptied the Life and Limb keg in 18 minutes!

McBane's Best Bitter was respectfully killed off. I didn't love it in the end and it had to go. McBane's beer project was then dreamed up. Work with different breweries brewing different one off batches of beer. Myself and Jordan Sunseri then of Custom Brewcrafters, now of Victory came up with McBane's Strawberry Wit. Delicious beer with a shortage of strawberry flavor. I should have called it McBane's Wit and left it at that. It's funny, when you give something a name you create an expectation and people only judge it based on that.

The pub was voted Rochester's Best Beer List by readers of City Newspaper. Ever since I arrived in Rochester back in 2000 I have wanted to win that award. 2009 was the first year that I truly gave up all hope and resigned myself to losing out to MacGregors again. You see, Mac Gregors has a big advantage in that they have four or five locations that all have regulars. All of their votes get pooled into one. Oh, that and they do sell a fair bit of good beer. Thanks to every one that voted. Just remember when the last glimmer of hope fades away, don't give up.

As the overall quality of craft brewing improved, the importance of branding and packaging grew. It is a very competitive marketplace and clip art won't cut it anymore folks. Good beer can get lost. Equally there are examples of mediocre beer that is marketed very well. Listen up brewery owners, don't skimp on the marketing department and send out your carefully made beer looking like a hillbilly high school art project. Ok.

We saw less sour ales in 2009 than 2008. I was a trend that this young craft brew culture had to go through I suppose. Thank fully we have gone through it and it is back to being very niche. That is just my taste buds talking.

I see less and less mystique when it comes to European beers. Want to know why? American craft beer is freakin good and has got much better in the last few years.

The bar stools continued to deteriorate. No major injuries were reported.

2010
New bar stools have been picked out and will have backs.

Keep an eye out for beer dinners. We have sold out of tickets for the Great Lakes January event and will plan more.

I think that one of our weaknesses at times is our ability to get guests out in a timely fashion when they are done with their meals due to our hand written checks. This all about to change as I bought an electronic POS system that is going to launch this coming week. Service should be streamlined and generally improved.

Look for a new brewery to open in Canandaigua. It will not be called the Chosen Spot.

Brewdog. These guys are making good beer. They get their name out there in a massive way. They are going to be a presence for a long time. If you haven't already read about them. Drink some of the beer.

I think organic and locally grown will really become a huge trend in 2010 as craft beer drinkers demand environmentally responsible products.

The next McBane's beer will be brewed with Brian O'Reilly of Sly Fox. West Coast style hop bomb with an Eastern twist I am currently thinking. Brewing sometime in February.

In addition I am sure there will be a whole host of surprises along the road.........

Joe.

Android app

Tap and Mallet — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:39:01 -0500

We have just launched our Android phone app. Just like the iphone app it will allow you to get all our menus right on your phone. It saves on paper and is super cool.

Thanks to James Mann for making it happen!