Dick's Dock Oktoberfest another SRO hit

Dick's Dock, on Main St. in Metuchen, NJ, is not a big place by any stretch of the imagination. But it was certainly big enough to house a rollicking good time for the nearly seventy O-Festers who came to celebrate Prince Ludwig's marriage to Princess Therese.

Their spirits buoyed by Bob Dick's incomparable cuisine, a lineup of exceptional beers and an atmosphere ringing with the drinking songs of the Fatherland, the attendees ate, drank, sang and partied till nearly midnight.

Two local brewers, Mike Sella of Uno's Grill and Dave Hoffman of Climax Brewing, donated their superb beers to the event to help keep costs down. Mike Sella's fine Gust 'N' Gale Porter accompanied the dessert course, and Dave's Gold medal-winning Nut Brown Ale (Real Ale Festival, Chicago 1998) was served along with a hearty, tasty potato leek soup.

As usual, the waitstaff hustled all night long to serve the Festers, and Sandy, Mary Ellen, Juan and Javier got a well-deserved round of applause for their efforts. Yours truly made some feeble attempts at humor and gave valuable life lessons--like how to say "brassiere" in Deutsch. Sorry, no free lessons on this site.

The festgoers were obviously satisfied, as these pictures will attest. One table not only celebrated a special birthday, it sported two REAL Germans in Reiner and Laura, an au pair with a future in a dirndl (see photo above). Festers were in fine fettle all night long, and they appreciated the giveaways that Bob and Sandy provided. In all, a most satisfying and enjoyable night was had by everyone fortunate enough to have a seat in the sold-out restaurant.

Oh, and Mike Sella took the opportunity to remind everyone that his restaurant will be hosting its own beer dinner on November 17. Call Uno's for reservations--732-548-7979.

Ein prosit to Oktoberfest - NJVoices: Paul Mulshine

The Star-Ledger's conservative columnist was in attendance at Basil T's in Toms River last week for the annual Oktoberfest celebration. Click below for his take on the evening. (Keep in mind that young folks haven't heard "old" jokes...)

 

Ein prosit to Oktoberfest - NJVoices: Paul Mulshine

O-Fest 08

SRO-Fest at Basil T's

By Kurt Epps—The PubScout

10/4/2008

If you run it right, they will come.

And come they did, to Basil T's in Toms River. The Gregorakis Brothers, both named Pete (due, no doubt, to some arcane Greek tradition called "momandouzo"), have managed to make this event better each year. So it should not be surprising that last year's count of 58 ballooned to 98, forcing the Petes to turn away fifteen folks and forcing the fun-loving guys in the Firehouse Polka Band to set up and play amid three tables full of O-Festers.

As they did last year, Beermeister Dave Hoffman and Chef Steve Farley crafted a beer and food extravaganza that had this year's attendees in awe. "The food this year was absolutely awesome," said Bob DePow , who has twice made the trek from his home in Perth Amboy. Some came from even farther away—like Branchburg—to participate in the revelry.

And revelry there was, including celebrating June's 65^th birthday and the arrival of a first grandchild, courtesy of the Russell family. Andrew Russell entered the world at 6lbs., 8 oz. while his grandma and grandpa hoisted some Dunkel Weizen and ate Schwaibische Maultashen (a German ravioli with veal, vegetables and crisp onions). There were unconfirmed reports that, given the venue, the grandparents were lobbying for a German baby name.

There were even celebrities on hand this year, from Star Ledger columnist Paul Mulshine (which kind of looks and sounds like Maultashen after a few of Dave's Oktoberfests) and Gregg Hinlicky, beer artist extraordinaire. Jeff Linkous of The Beer Stained Letter blog was also on hand to enjoy his First Fest at Basil's.

The pairings of food and beer worked exceptionally well, from the Barnegat Light (which isn't light at all) and the Bavarian Shrimp, to the Pumpkin Porter and the Black Forest cake. The porter was malty, rich, toasty, and smooth. Colored a deep ruby/brown with the pumpkin notes gracefully understated, the Chocolate and Caramel malts in this 5.2% ABV delight worked well for those who don't like their pumpkin beer tasting like liquid pumpkin pie.

 

The Wurst course, with the most delectable weisswurst I've had so far this season, was accompanied by German mustards, gherkins and Dave's IPA.

 

The main course, heralded by the tapping of a traditional wooden keg of Dave's Oktoberfest, drew plaudits from every table, as the Pork Loin with beer sauce, potato pancakes and spaetzle was enhanced by Hoffman's classic Oktoberfest offering. There are some fine Oktoberfest beers in NJ this year, and Hoffman's always ranks exceptionally high for lovers of the style—like yours truly.

 

The oompah music, the singing of multiple "Ein Prosits," the fine food and beer and the general jollity of this very loud crowd (which is exactly what Oktoberfests are meant to be) all combined to produce a most festive occasion. The crowd was in such fine fettle that when door prizes were being picked and "Tina Fey" picked her own number, it erupted in cheers instead of "Fix! Fix!"

 

There are those who say Basil T's O-fest is the best in the state.

Surely no one at SRO-fest 08 would have disagreed.

Fine (?) Living Network Beer Pairings

During a commercial of the Ravens/Steelers game, I surfed around (as is a guy's wont, prerogative and duty) and came upon a show called Beer Pairings. It was on a channel up in the 120's, I think, called FLN--the Fine Living Network.

There was this knockout blonde gal named Stephanie (Metzdorf?) in some lady's crab shack in Florida, getting ready to sample her Stone Crab Claws. If you were a guy, Stephanie was definitely worth watching, though her comments about the beer pairing were eminently forgettable. If you were a stone crab claw fan, they, too, were worth gawking at--big, fat and succulent.

But if you were a true beer aficionado, you couldn't have been blamed if you gagged when they paired the dish up with Corona--complete with lime. Most beer geeks would have immediately paired that crab with a good hefeweizen, kolsch, helles or pilsner.

Later segments, to the show's credit, used Sam Adams with filet mignon and Pilsner Urquell with a rib-eye. Though there were certainly other choices that would have worked, those pairings weren't unacceptable.

Since Stephanie was clearly a beer neophyte, and since it is likely that few true beer nuts ever heard of this show, and it may have been designed for the neophyte interested in how beer works with food. In that sense, the show deserves credit.

They even had Stone Brewing's Greg Koch on sharing his insights about beer and food, and he was, as expected, spot on. He touted, appropriately, Victory Prima Pils with one dish, and he scoffed at wine and cheese, claiming correctly that most cheeses are disasters with wine, though I hear almost any merlot goes exceptionally well with Velveeta... (Just kidding, winies.)

If you really know your beer, you'd probably think this show was pretty elementary. But let's not criticize to harshly any honest attempt to get average people to think about beer and food pairing. There should be more shows like this.

And maybe Stephanie would consider having a true beer nut accompany her on her travels?

That would be Fine Living for my Network.

Think Jersey, Drink Jersey!

Here's a neat little video from colleague Jeff Linkous over at

http://www.beerstainedletter.blogspot.com/




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut2BLiypSMw



Cheers to Jeff and to all those who came out to the Central Jersey Charity Beerfest 2008 to help Kelly Mahon!

Dick's Dock Oktoberfest Beer Dinner 10/20/08

If you're a seafood lover and you've never had the pleasure of dining at this little Metuchen restaurant, you're doing yourself a disservice. You simply won't find better, fresher seafood anywhere soon.

And when Bob Dick does a beer dinner, he brings the same style and panache to it as he does to his regular cooking Tuesdays through Sundays. His Oktoberfests are particularly noteworthy, not only because of the caliber of clientele they attract; but Bob shows he can strut his stuff just as well with the Food of the Fatherland as he does with the Flounder and the Fillets.

Check out this menu for Monday, October 20:

1st course: Beer and Brats on the Bar--Light and dark bratwursts, assorted homemade mustards and

Bob's Fabulous Crab Meat Mousse with assorted flatbreads and bagel chips

2nd course: Meat-Stuffed Cabbage with Special Sweet and Sour sauce

3rd course: Potato Leek Soup with Shredded Cheddar Cheese

4th course: German Cabbage Salad (cole slaw, no mayo) cucumber, carrot, onion, cabbage, red pepper in a vinaigrette.

5th course: German-style Sauerbraten with Vinegar Gravy and Vegetable Group (homestyle), Carrot Souffle, Potato Pancakes, apple sauce and sour cream

6th course: Dessert--the PubScout's Beer Float with Vanilla ice cream

As usual, I will be on hand to select the beers that accompany each course, as well as to provide special, um, insights to beer and world matters. We'll be singing some German songs, so come in good voice. Bob and Sandy usually always have a few great giveaways, too. One is a dinner for two at Dick's Dock (it's a BYO), so it's worth showing up just to get in that drawing.

Call Dick's Dock 732-744-1274 for reservations, and be a part of that heavy-hitting clientele! Hope to see you there!

CNJ Beer Fest 2008

We Have a Winner!

9/20/2008

By Kurt Epps—The PubScout

Talk about a perfect day, not to mention a worthy cause. This year's Central Jersey Beerfest 2008, spearheaded by JJ Bittings owner Mike Cerami, must have had the blessings of all the beer gods and their Boss.

Crystal clear, perfect weather, a shaded venue that seemed tailor-made for the event and crowds estimated above 1,000 made Parker Press Park the place to be on the last full day of summer 2008.

Eight breweries/brewpubs were on hand to proffer their beers. Bittings, Uno's, Climax, Cricket Hill, Tun Tavern, Boak's, Stone and River Horse were kept hustling, drawing brews for the sunsplashed and convivial crowds, as a band played boomer favorites on a stage at the far end of this compact park hard by the NJ Transit tracks in Woodbridge.

The purpose of this year's event was to raise money for a young lady, Kelly Mahon. You can read about her issues here. The proceeds will go to make her home handicapped-accessible. Woodbridge Mayor John McCormack, an all-around good guy, was even drawing beer at the Bittings taps, and his presence added a nice sense of panache and purpose to the event.

For the beer fancier, it was a bit of heaven dropped into a pocket park. Bittings Bad Boy Oktoberfest (Lager) and Uno's Oktoberfest (Ale) saw a huge amount of action, as did Stone's Arrogant Bastard and a blowaway barleywine called Hairy Eyeball. At 9% ABV, one might expect his orbs to become a bit hirsute after a few of these. Tun Tavern (with their model-caliber Miss America Pourers), Climax and Cricket Hill also saw substantial action with some very solid offerings. River Horse's Double Amber had people coming back for more in their four-ounce glasses.

But the prize for longest lines at the fest had to go to Boak's. With Brian Boak himself pulling a knockout Russian Imperial Stout called Monster Mash (10% ABV), an Abbey Brown (7% ABV) and a Belgian-style Tripel called Two Blind Monks (7% ABV), beer lovers were queued in lines of twenty-five or more all afternoon. So far back did the lines extend that they often mingled with the food vendors' lines on the other side of the park. Considering that this was Boak's first beer-fest ever, it was an impressive and auspicious beginning for this youthful-looking grandfather who got his start with a homebrew kit from Linens and Things. He was one of just two homebrewers invited to NYC's Brewtopia last year, and it's not hard to see why.

I decided to "go green" to this event, and I rode my bicycle from my home in Perth Amboy to Woodbridge, a distance of about five miles each way. I was glad I did when I saw the parking situation, and I was able to pay my fee and pedal my, um, self right into the park. I was also glad I had biked it when the event had concluded, because that Monster Mash and those Oktoberfests were really good, and, though I had filled my belly with two Doo-Wop special hotdogs, the bike was the more responsible ride. I will confess, though, that the ride home did seem as if it was all uphill.

Mike Cerami, who organized this event, was pleased. "It's a great day and a great cause," he said. The PubScout concurs, but has some recommendations for next year.

First, invite more food vendors to allow for more variety and choices. There is plenty of room to accommodate more.There was a pizza stand that sold cheesesteaks ($6) and other subs. I loved my Doo-Wop hot dogs, and the $2.50 price was right, but not everybody is a hot dog fan.

Second, when you treble the number of breweries, you should also treble the number of porta-potties. Those people standing in those long lines may have been shifting their feet from side to side, but I guarantee they weren't dancing to the music.

Third, whatever prayers or sacrifices you're making to the weather deity should be continued, because days don't get better than this.

In all, as Mike Cerami said, it was indeed a great day for a great cause.

And I can't wait to pedal to next year's.

Check out the pics here.