Page 38 - the NOISE January 2016

BY GARY KURTZ
“There’s no point in being grown up if you can’t act a little childish sometimes.”
—The Fourth Doctor
There’s something familiar to me about the beers at Historic Brewing Company. I’ve felt this way since I first sat down to taste through the lineup at the Barrel and Bottle House months ago. Perhaps that’s why it’s tough for me to drive up San Francisco Street and not swing by for
at least a pint. There’s just something about their beer that reminds me of home. Not my actual home, but the fairytale idea of home each of us has in our heads. Mine is based on Asheville, North Carolina. On my very first trip to Asheville, my wife and I found our way to Asheville Brewing Company for dinner and drinks. This would not be a surprising revelation, were it not for the fact neither of us drank beer at all at that time. I still don’t know why we ended up there. Call it fate, divine intervention — whatever. That spot, over a pizza, is where I had my first craft beer. It was a porter and I was hooked. Fast forward many years later. Here I am in Northern Arizona, digging in and researching Historic for this article, and I find out the beer I’m drinking right now was brewed by the same guy who made that porter, way back east. Maybe that explains the familiarity. The universe is a weird, wild and wonderful place sometimes.
Speaking of the beer I’m drinking right now, it just happens to be Historic’s Piehole Porter, and I just happen to be drinking it out of my Asheville Brewing Company pint glass. When you ask about the Piehole, you always get the same response, no matter whom you ask, “It’s a vanilla cherry porter.” One sniff off the top of your glass and you immediately know why. The aroma is overwhelmingly cherries and vanilla — almost, and sometimes completely, over the top. No hops, some slight chocolate from the dark malts that make porters so rich and lovely. On the palate the cherries fade and the vanilla melds with the chocolate flavors from the malts to form a flavor reminiscent of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. You know, the ones from the recipe on the back of the bag of Nestlé chocolate chips. This one doesn’t have that characteristic bitterness associated with porters though. Depending on your particular preferences, this may be a good or bad thing. I’ll leave that for you to decide.
Of Historic’s two (or three, depending on when you read this) locations, my personal preference is the Barrel & Bottle House, south of the tracks in Downtown Flagstaff. Admittedly, this is mainly due to its proximity to the climbing gyms I frequent, and my hunger when I’ve put in a good training session at one of these said gyms. This location not only has a lovely selection of beer from both Historic and other breweries, they also serve food from Proper Meats & Provisions next door. For the vegetarians reading this, the menu for Historic includes the token veggie burger. For the rest of us, you really can’t go wrong with anything on the menu. Trust me, I’ve tried it all. My personal recommendation for what to have with the Piehole is the Jaeger Bites, followed by the PMP Burger, though the Charcuterie plate is always a fantastic choice if you’re looking for something lighter. That burger though — it’s a thing of beauty. If it isn’t the best burger I’ve had in the state, it’s in the top two. I get it. Being so close to Diablo Burger, them’s fightin’ words. But think about it this way, the two best spots for a burger in Northern Arizona are within four of blocks of each other!
But back to the beer — the overwhelming cherries on the nose and the chocolate chip cookie flavor make me associate this beer with playful, childish things. This is a beer for a day when you start your morning with two fingers of Old Crow in your coffee. This is a beer for snow days and snowball fights, for eating all of the pie in one sitting, for breakfast for dinner with Mickey Mouse pancakes, and pillow forts in front of the fireplace. This is the beer for when you just can’t “adult” today. Embrace your love of classic Doctor Who and be childish for a bit!
| Gary Kurtz may eat the whole pie in one sitting from time to time.
38 • january 2016 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us
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