Mt. Carmel Brewing:

David and I first discovered Mt. Carmel’s beer in our later years in college. It was the packaging that caught our eye at first. Sold in a 1/2 gallon brown glass growler, we were intrigued by its unique appearance and the fact it was a local brew. When we tried the beer itself, we were hooked. We sought it out in local groceries, enjoyed a lot of pints where we could find it on draft, and even had a “growler party” with fellow U.C. graduates after David endured a particularly brutal quarter of algebraic topology.

Mt. Carmel has since upgraded to 12 ounce six-packs, which allows for wider distribution. The original line up has expanded to include seasonal beers, and more places than ever are featuring Mt. Carmel on tap. We were eager to meet Kathleen and Mike to talk about Mt. Carmel’s beginnings, current state, and what was on the horizon for the brewery. Luckily, they graciously agreed to take a few hours out of a busy brewing day to show us around the brewery.

Jared monitors the boil at Mt. Carmel's Brewery

You could drive by Mt. Carmel brewing every day and not know it—unless maybe you had the windows down, and then the sweet smell of the brewing process would tell you what your eyes had missed. The large white house has been converted into a brewery and office space, and also contains the basement where Mike homebrewed Mt. Carmel’s first batches.

As we entered through what used to be the children’s playroom, Kathleen explained the area will later be converted to a small tasting room. While we were able to take an inside look at the brewery, eventually brewing area will be off-limits to the public, both for production and safety reasons.

How many people are working in production?

“Jared and Mike handle the brewing, Virgil is the packaging manager, and he has a part time assistant as well. The full time employees are putting 50-60 hours in a week, each! We’re in the process of looking to get them some help. We do have some office staff, and an office manager.”

Did you ever think that when you started it would get this big?

“We didn’t! When Mike was brewing in the basement, I remember both of us getting so excited when we got an order in for a whole case of growlers. It caught on so quickly. I would say we had to make the decision within 6 to 9 months to quit our current careers and to go with it, or to shut the distribution down. We would have had to shut it down altogether, we couldn’t maintain just a little bit. At that point we couldn’t stop; there were just so many people that loved the beer. We didn’t want to let them down. And really, the fan base is what fueled us to keep going. It was very motivating, and still is to this day. We get so much wonderful, positive feedback from people in Cincinnati, and even the local government.”

The seven-barrel system that all Mt. Carmel beer is brewed on is surprisingly small for the actual volume of beer that is being produced. The brewery itself is very efficient and compact, and Mike, known fondly as “MikeGyver”, engineered all the plumbing and wiring to make best use of space.

“We outgrew the basement within the first year. For zoning reasons, we actually had to attach the brewery onto the house.” Kathleen says with a laugh. Eventually, they plan to convert the brewing area to a 30 barrel hot house.

How has the switch from growlers to bottles impacted sales?

“It’s definitely increased sales. The growlers were eye catching, but the volume was an issue. We were seeing a lot of sales on weekends, and the feedback we were getting was that people loved our beer, but they couldn’t drink that volume in one sitting. It wasn’t an everyday purchase, it was a commitment. The growler was great, but it was making it very difficult for us to grow. When we switched to the 12 ounce bottle in January 2009, the beer really flew off the shelves.”

We really have enjoyed the collaboration barrel aged beers between Mt. Carmel and the Party Source—we have two Jones IPAs that are aging, and one Tripel Rot from last year—so we asked Kathleen about what’s next for the series. The next available brew is the Quaff Brother’s Figgy Pudding, which is going to be featured at this weekend’s Winter Beer Fest. Figgy Pudding is Mt. Carmel's Winter beer with fig juice added, aged in Four Roses bourbon barrels.

In addition to the Quaff brothers collaboration, Mt. Carmel also brews Dewey’s pizzas seasonal beers.

Nicholson’s was the first place that Mt. Carmel beer was tapped. Kathleen mentioned, showing us the article that followed shortly thereafter in the Post.

Mike, busy brewing up a batch of Amber with Jared's assistance

What’s next for Mt. Carmel?

“Mostly expansion. We’ll be launching in Cleveland and Columbus soon. That’s exciting, but we’re being careful; we don’t want to oversell the product and leave our core area depleted. We’re all about slow, manageable growth. We do have some investment here, another family, so we’re still family owned. We didn’t want just any investment group to partner with. We wanted someone who understood what we were doing here.”

Do you do anything with the spent grain from the brewing process?

“We do. There’s a farmer in Adams county, Hazelbaker Meats. He has a portion of his cows on our grain, and as we expand, he’ll get more. The cows go crazy for the grain. They literally run up to it when it’s dropped off. Eventually we will be selling the meat from his cows in our retail area as well, which is exciting.”

spent grain awaiting pickup

What’s the most popular seller?

“Amber is our #1 seller. The Amber used to be Copper, and before that, used to be called the Celebration. The Nut Brown is #2, and it is very, very close to the amber. The Blonde and the Stout will flip in sales depending on which season it is. Stout picks up during the winter. Though sales are higher in the winter months, we actually brew the Stout year round. We’ve heard people call it the summer stout. It’s light, dry, crisp, clean.”

Amber ale: Slightly sweet with a light fruity aroma from the malt, medium bodied, featuring a hoppy finish with a nice bite to it

The nut brown, a toasty brew with a slight aroma of raisins that reminded us of toasted sourdough

Mike started brewing the big, imperial beers in the basement, but Mount Carmel’s seasonal line up evolved into brewing more subtle session beers with complex flavors. With than in mind, we inquired about seeing some bigger beers from Mt. Carmel in the future.

Will we see any bigger beers from Mt. Carmel soon?

“Some of the stuff we will be coming out in 2011 will be on the extreme side. We’re still developing the concept, but that is in the cards for 2011, after our launch in Cleveland and Columbus.”

Mt. Carmel will be attending the Winter Beerfest this weekend, February 11th and 12th, and, in addition to bringing several of their delicious year round line up, will also be bringing the collaboration beer we spoke of earlier. Make sure to stop by their booth if you’re attending or grab a six pack at your local grocery and toast to Mt. Carmel’s continued success, and the revival of Cincinnati’s brewing history.

Little Kingaritas:

As we drove across the river to Newport to attend a Yelp party at Star Lanes on the levee last week, David suddenly said. "Uh-oh."

"What?"

"This party is where?"

"Star Lanes--it's a bowling alley."
"In Kentucky."

"Yes, it's in Kentucky why…ohhh.. Ohhh no."

I quickly comprehended where David's reluctance came from. While we like some restaurants in Kentucky, one of the things that we've gotten used to in Ohio is not having to deal with cigarette smoke. I hate coming home from a restaurant, bar or music venue smelling like an ashtray. Hoping that it wouldn’t be too bad, we continued to Newport. It turns out the evening was full of pleasant surprises.

Star Lanes is not smoky at all, and the bars are shiny and well kept. We got our drink tickets and wrist bands, and the waitress was explaining to us the custom margaritas that were being served. "Sour mix, dos lunas tequila…." I looked around at the restaurant while she was explaining the ingredients. "….shaken, with bud light lime."

Say what? Bud light lime? In a margarita?! I stopped my perusal of the restaurant, looked up at David and quirked an eyebrow. We decided to get it anyway. Remember what I said about pleasant surprises? This was one of them. Surprisingly, it wasn’t bad. It was even pretty good.

The rest of the evening went well. The beer selection at Star Lanes is abysmally standard, with one bright spot--Alltech Kentucky Bourbon Barrel ale is available. We saw some friends we hadn't had the chance to talk to for awhile, had a good time, and fled back to the apartment before the Reds game let out and traffic went to hell.

For the next few days, we discussed how to make our own version of a beer-arita. And so the

Little Kingarita was born.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. homemade sour mix*
• 2 oz. 100 % agave tequila
• 4. oz Little Kings

Fill a pint glass half full with ice, then add sour mix and tequila. Top with Little Kings and stir. Garnish with candied lemon peel and enjoy!

　

*The sour mix is a multi step process, but it's worth it. David has detailed out the proportions and science behind the sour mix below:

Classic sour mix is 1 part citrus juice : 1 part simple syrup. Our sour mix is a little fancier. We juice lemons and limes, candy the lemon peels, and then use the remaining citrus-infused syrup from the candying process.

Simple syrup is 1 part sugar : 1 part water. The only thing that complicates it is that the sugar ratio is measured by weight, not volume, to make a true 50 Brix solution. Given the typical density of granulated sugar, you should use 25% more sugar than water if measuring by volume. You can use the simple syrup as-is or use it to candy the peels.

We are still experimenting with whether a 50 Brix simple syrup is optimal for all drinks. For the Kingaritas, the sour mix ended up with much more sugar than that. Unfortunately, it's hard to say exactly what the resulting concentration was. In addition to water evaporation while the peels were candying, the peels themselves took some sugar with them when they were removed from the pot. The resulting citrus-infused syrup could have been as high as 70 Brix!

If you're not going to experiment with candying the peels, here is our simple recipe to make about a quart of rich sour mix, suitable for Kingaritas:

2 cups lime juice (about 10 - 15 large limes)
2 cup sugar
1 cup water

Combine all the ingredients and shake vigorously until the sugar is dissolved. If you want to be more traditional (or reduce the time spent shaking), you can briefly boil the sugar and water before adding to the juice. In case you're curious, 2 cups of sugar to 1 cup water makes a 60 Brix syrup.

Pumpkin beers:

David and I wrote this article last fall for Eastsider magazine, but it ended up not getting published due to space issues. Since it's that time of year again, and pumpkin beers have begun to creep onto shelves, we figured this post might help some people out. I've updated it for current events.

Pumpkin ales have a variety of ingredients, the most common being spices and, of course, pumpkin, although some beers have a suspicious "natural flavors" listed on the label instead of listing pumpkin itself. The spices most often used are cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. Used in the proper proportions, these flavors can create a wonderful beer that pairs well with a Thanksgiving dinner or other savory meal. On the flip side, when a brewery goes overboard with the spices, pumpkin beers can go very, very wrong.

But how to know which pumpkin beers to sample and which to avoid? Well, we have lent ourselves to the tasting task and tested nine pumpkin beers that we could find on local shelves to assist you in your pumpkin pick.

To start, we went with Michelob’s seasonal offering, Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale. This beer claims to be brewed with spices and "Golden Delicious pumpkin," and yields a solid 5.5 % ABV. It pours a gold to deep amber color and smells of caramelized sugar, malt, and spices. However, aside from the very pleasant aroma, this beer tastes more like a weak lager. The mouth feel is very thin. Overall, this beer is not awful or offensive, but there are better choices.

We followed that up with a Shipyard Brewing Company Pumpkinhead Ale. Landing on the lower side of the beers we tried, it is 4.5% ABV. The label is one of two that only claims to be brewed with "natural flavors." We were not sure if pumpkin is actually in there or not. Despite our label misgivings, we thought this beer was better than the last. It's colored a light, clear amber, and smells a little like a white wine with spices. It tastes inoffensive, like a weak, bready macro-lager. On the positive side, the heavy carbonation of this beer could cut through a rich meal, and it is not bitter at all.

Third on the list, was America’s Original Pumpkin Ale, from "Buffalo Bill’s Brewery," brewed with pumpkin and spice. We read the find print on the label, and noticed that this beer is actually contracted out to production at the Pyramid Breweries. It weighs in at 5.2% ABV. This is a hazy amber color when poured, and smells very floral, with citrus and nutmeg notes that may have come from the aromatic hops used during brewing. It tastes more lager than ale like, with an overdose of clove that does not mesh well with the citrus and nutmeg we picked up on earlier.

By definition, there has to be a worst of the tasting batch, but some are so bad that you try them once and never want to try them again. We encountered such a beer in the Post Road Pumpkin Ale from Brooklyn Brewery. It stands at a moderate 5% ABV, and is brewed with pumpkin and spices. This beer pours very frothy, and has a soapy aroma. It tastes very spicy and slightly salty with light carbonation and a bitter finish that lingers. Overall, we felt that this was a very poorly constructed pumpkin ale.

A common theme here is that many of the pumpkin beers that are labeling themselves ales don’t really taste like ales at all, but rather as if they were produced from a blander lager base. In contrast, the most ale-like beer we tried was the New Holland Ichabod Pumpkin Ale at 5.2% ABV. The label states that it is brewed with pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg. It pours a hazy, light amber color with a froth that quickly dissipates. The nutmeg used in brewing lends a slight meaty, spicy smell that those who cook with nutmeg will be familiar with. Overall, this is a very solid pumpkin ale that is not too bitter, not too vegetal, not too spicy, and has a hint of saltiness. This beer would pair well with a rich meal on account of the balance of flavors that it possesses.

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale followed at 7% ABV. This is a richer beer than the others, with a nice body and tasty maltiness that almost demands to be matched with a piece of pumpkin or pecan pie. The notes of toffee that are obvious but not overpowering add a nice quality to this pumpkin beer.

Next up is the Schlafly Pumpkin Ale, which is an impressive 8% ABV. Brewed with pumpkin and spices, this pours a dark caramel color. This beer had a very odd aroma. The alcohol was definitely there, and something else, something we could only label as an "industrial" smell. It was not pleasant. Tastes of spice, malt, and is a little hot (alcoholic) going down. That sensation is to be expected with beers that have a higher ABV, although some hide it better than others. Even though the alcohol flavor predominates, the spices that are used balance each other very well. In the end, we just couldn’t get over the odd aroma.

We also tried the Pumpkinhead’s bigger brother, Shipyard’s Smashed Pumpkin. This is one of the two beers on the list available in a larger bottle only. Larger bottles in craft beer usually indicate one or both of two things: a limited release and a high alcohol content. This has both, being seasonal and also having an ABV of 9%. This pours a copper color, and smells of cinnamon and malt. It has a buttery sweetness, but is still a little hot due to the high ABV. This beer also states that it is brewed with "natural flavors," but despite the shady terminology, Shipyard produces a well balanced beer.

We saved our favorite for last, Southern Tier's Pumking. We liked this beer so much last year we bought a case, and cracked open a year old bottle last week. It ages very well, getting richer in flavor and a little more mellow over time. It’s available in some stores in Ohio (but not Kentucky), and is currently on tap at Nicholson's downtown and the Dilly Deli Cafe in Mariemont. Also in a large bottle at 9% ABV, this beer is brewed with pureed pumpkin. This pours a reddish, coppery color, and smells of butter, toffee, and malt. The medium-to-thick mouthfeel tastes of sweet caramel, butter, and pumpkin, with a slight bitterness in the finish. This beer is very well crafted, and very rich, so we suggest sharing this bottle with a friend for dessert. Nicholson's paired it with some cinnamon ice cream, and we made a float with it last week, which I thought was very tasty.

While pumpkin beers might not be for everyone, we tasted a variety of beers that spanned from light to intensely flavorful. Even though we tried nine different beers, and there are still quite a few in the market that we didn’t sample, and distribution laws will have a few beers available in Ohio, but not Kentucky. If you’re feeling a little adventurous and festive, we suggest you pick up a six pack and try some yourself before the season is out and they disappear until next year!

Cerberus Trippel

I'm a big fan of Tripels (also sometimes spelled Triple, and this case, Trippel). So when I saw the Cerberus trippel, with its elegant label and gold foil, I took it over to the Dilly Cafe's counter and puchased it without a second thought. For about $11, 4 tasty trippels can be yours too. at 10 % ABV, only having access to 4 at a time is probably a good idea.

This beer smells of spice and sweetness, tastes like banana vanilla and a little apple, not as clove-y as some tripels we've had. This is a very fruity tripel style. The ABV is evident, but it is not unpleasant. A little bitter finish. The mouthfeel is thick, with medium carbonation.

I drank this with our pot pie, but it would be a very tasty beer to enjoy with lightly seasoned pork or chicken.

The Quadruple B (Blueberry Beer Bundt):

Honestly, this baking thing is changing me forever. I once set a toaster on fire making pop-tarts. Now, as my confidence in my newfound ability expands, I find myself rising to the challenge.

I’m doing things I never thought I’d do. I’m buying things I never thought I’d need. I’m running out of cabinet space. I find myself wanting to hoard pyrex casserole dishes.

On our last trip to Sur la Table in Rookwood Commons, I was poking around the shelves, pulling out objects of various sizes and evaluating if I needed the small, large, or extra large. David, done with his perusal of the knife selection, came up behind me.

“What are you looking for?”
“The right size pan to fit my recipe.” I responded.
“A bundt pan?!”
“Uh-huh.”

That’s right, I bought a bundt pan. I associate bundt cakes with the ‘50’s era of cooking. You know, the flowered apron in the kitchen, roast in the oven, jello mold, golly-gee-whiz-mister era. But I bought one anyway, because I was about to attempt my most difficult recipe yet.

The blueberry beer bundt. The beer chosen was Three Philosophers, which has cherry and malty notes, and is a little tart. Once again, this cooking with booze recipe has been cobbled together from the farthest reaches of the internet to create a recipe that has the best qualities of a bundt while including some tasty beer characteristics. And macadamia nuts.

Recipe for the triple B:

3 cups self rising flour
1 cup beer
1/2 cup sour cream
3 eggs
¾ cup sugar
1 cup nuts
Blueberries (whatever amount you feel comfortable with)
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon vanilla.

Bake on 350 for an hour and 10 minutes. Make sure you test the cake to make sure it is cooked all the way before taking it out.

The bundt cake came out perfectly, but looked a little boring without an additional garnish. I made a topping of sweetened coconut flakes, leftover blueberries, and a little honey to glue them together.

The cake itself was very moist and pretty dense—if I had to do it over, I would have crushed the macadamias. All in all, the blueberry-tart-coco-macadamia flavor combination was pretty decadent.

Cheddar-corns (Cheddar chive beer biscuits):

As a counterpart to the scones, I put together a cheddar beer biscuit recipe for David. Little did I realize that by doing so, I had sent David down the path to learn the art of the biscuit. The cheddar-corns were only the beginning.

As of now, we’ve made several versions of the biscuits, with beer and without, with cheese and without, with buttermilk and butter; lastly, with olive oil and yogurt. We’ve both gained a little weight as a result of our tasty, tasty biscuit experimentations.

The basic version includes:

• 2 C Flour (lower-gluten makes for fluffier)
• 3 tsp Baking powder
• 1 tsp Salt
• 4 T Unsalted butter (cultured is a plus)
• 1 C Shredded cheese (sharp cheddar works well)
• 2 T Chives (dried or fresh)
• 1/2 C Buttermilk
• 1/2 C Beer (something fizzy and full-flavored)

1. Sift dry ingredients together
2. Cut in room-temperature butter until crumbly in appearance
3. Toss in cheese and chives
4. Add buttermilk and beer
5. Turn dough with fork until no loose flour is visible
6. Kneed on floured surface a few times and pat to 1/2" thickness
7. Cut with biscuit cutter and place on non-stick sheet
8. Top with shredded and/or grated cheese
9. Bake for about 15 minutes at 450.

For our first attempt. We chose Spaten lager as our beer—light, a little bready, but not too overpowering. David mixed up the dough and then asked me if we had a cookie cutter to cut the biscuits.

We only have one cookie cutter. I got it from one of my parents for Christmas. It’s exactly like the one we used to make cookies with when I was a kid.

The idea of making unicorn shaped beer biscuits was very appealing (at least, to me), so we went for it.

Chaaaarlie...Charrrrlie...we're on a paan, Charlie!*

The next version involved whole wheat flour and Old Rasputin stout. These biscuits were dense and darker than the last batch. They stuck with you, while the whole wheat flour lent a little bit of bitterness to the batch.



Then there were the cheddar chive drop beer biscuits made with white lily flour and Victory Golden Monkey.



And the buttermilk cheddar biscuits. These don't have any beer in them, but look so nice I couldn't leave them out of the post.

*Not all readers will get this reference.