I love books – all types of books – from art to advertising,
from history to fiction, from business to hobby. We have one room devoted to
the collection we have amassed over the years from which I grab a book to read
or browse through from time to time. My favorite “read” is a good suspense
novel and once I get into one, it is difficult for me to put it down. Stories
easily “hook” me – pull me in, as they say, into the lives of the book's
characters.
“Who are you going to be writin' about after tonight?”,
companion asked me with a little humor in his voice on Friday (August 17). He
was through with work and was anxious for me to get on the Prowl.
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| The true "Men of Froth" - Tyler Bourgeois, Adam Bradley and Matt Bauer |
I had forgotten to tell him about the event at Intuition
Ale Works (720 King Street – 904.683.7720) being sponsored
that evening by Champion Brands featuring the winners of Matt Bauer, Tyler
Bourgeois, Adam Bradley and their own
top-rated homebrew. The winners, known as “Men of Froth” collectively, were
going to be present to be acknowledged for their successful brewing of their
first-place Apricot Belgian Wit Bier.
David Rigdon of Champion Brands had been kind enough to send
me an invitation to this event and I was confident companion would say “Heck
yeah! ... let's go!” when I told him. He did, of course!
Although I had the Jeep back and it had been running fine
for the few days, it broke down on us on our way out to the Lemon Bar for a
special party for Kona Brewing Co. Big Wave Golden Ale, the night before. We
made it as far as the Havana Jax Restaurant before it “gave up the ghost”. So,
we were back in The Beast for our trip over to Intuition Friday night. As I got
in the truck, I THINK I actually heard it facetiously say “Welcome back!
”
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| Ben Davis, owner of Intuition Ale Works and David Rigdon with Champion Brands |
During the short journey to the event, I was pondering what
companion had asked and I realized that each brewery, bar and restaurant are
writing their own story - every day. Those stories each have multiple authors –
the owner, manager, staff, suppliers and customers – all provide the content in
their own way – as part of the whole – and perfect examples of how the sum of
the parts is bigger than that whole.
We arrived at the time the event was scheduled to begin
(5:00 pm) and entered Intuition's tap room to find a sizable crowd already
gathered. I saw David Rigdon was already there, obviously in charge and
speaking with the bar and restaurant owners he had invited. We were happy to
see Hannah, Robin and Alex behind the bar – it had been awhile since I have
spoken with Hannah and Robin, though I DID see Alex at the Dogfish 120 tapping
at Pele's Wood Fire a couple of weeks ago.
David was kind enough to introduce me to the “Men of Froth”
- Adam, Tyler and Matt. Those three were gracious enough to speak with me and
answer a few questions I had about their experience. During our discussions, I
learned that Matt has brewed twice competitively and won both times – an
obviously talented brewer. Following Matt's example, Adam and Tyler won on
this, their first attempt! … this terrific trio of beer creators have now
written their first chapter of what I am sure will be an amazing story!
Companion located a place at the bar and we soon had the
following delicious Intuition brews in front of us (descriptions per their
website):
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| Intuition's Session Saison and the Rye-P.A (the beautiful Hannah in the background) |
Rye-P.A. - An American style pale ale
brewed with 30% Rye malt and dry-hopped with Cascade!
Session Saison – (No website description) – 4%
ABV – I love Saisons and this one was quite flavorful and smooth.
I would mingle from time to time to speak with the “Men of
Froth”, David and Ben Davis, owner of Intuition Ale Works. Ben was kind enough
to spend a little time speaking with me and from him I learned Intuition is
working on a “Wheat Wine” - a 9.0% to 9.5% ABV cousin to Barley Wine –
available in about three weeks! … I can't wait.
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| "Men of Froth" Apricot Belgian Wit Bier |
We were still enjoying the Rye-P.A. and Session Saison when
David offered us a sample of the “Men of Froth” brew tapped just prior to the
event. It was so good! … I was able to notice the hint of apricot and I really
enjoyed the large snifter companion and I were sharing of this delicious Wit
Bier.
David also offered some of the food being provided which was
prepared by Mojo no. 4 Urban BBQ &
Whiskey Bar - barbecue chicken, brisket and pulled pork with beans
and some phenomenal collard greens. After taking my first bite of the barbecue
and then taking a sip of the Apricot Belgian Wit Bier, the taste of the fleshy part of
an apricot was much more noticeable!
By the time we had finished the food and tasty brews, the
crowd had thinned somewhat and the evening was young, so we bid farewell to
everyone there at Intuition. Leaving, I thought of the wonderful chapters of
the Intuition Ale Works story which have already been written – and the
exciting new chapters to be written in the future – anticipating them as many
did the next release of a Harry Potter novel.
Congratulations to the “Men of Froth”, Matt Bauer, Tyler
Bourgeois, Adam Bradley for their
winning Apricot Belgian Wit Bier! … my sincere appreciation to David Rigdon and
Champion Brands for the invitation and great food; a sincere thank you to Ben
Davis for taking the time to speak with me and to Hannah, Robin and Alex for
making this an enjoyable first stop on this evening's Jax Brew Bitch Prowl.
To view more photos from Intuition Ale Works, visit the link below:
Intuition Ale Works
https://www.facebook.com/IntuitionAle
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| Bold City Brewery's Chinook IPA |
Our next destination was Bold City Brewery (2670 Rosselle St -
904.379.6551) – isn't this part of Jacksonville great? … just a very short and
quick drive later, we were parked right in front of the brewery.
Upon entering, we noticed our friends Larry and Robert who
graciously invited us to join them. We ordered and shared the following Bold
City creations (descriptions per their website):
Bold
City Brewery Duke's Cold Nose Brown Ale
This
is a mild brown ale which is easily drinkable. A slight nuttiness and sweetness
are present.
Bold City Brewery 1901 Red Ale
This is not your standard Red Ale. This is a very
‘malty’, ‘roasty’ and complex Red Ale. The roasted flavor comes from the high
presence of roasted barley. With a very minimal but high alpha hop addition,
this Red Ale has become a favorite among patrons.
Bold City Brewery Chinook IPA
The Chinook IPA is brewed with a single hop variety. The
Chinook hop gives this IPA a nice floral aroma and the addition of caramel
malts adds a hint of sweetness.
Larry and Robert provided some great beer-mix suggestions
along with the names they used for them:
Red Rhino – a mix of the 1901 Red Ale and Archie's
Rhino Pale Ale
Red Dog – a mix of the 1901 red Ale and Duke's Cold
Nose Brown Ale
and well … uh … um ...
(trumpety) Dog - a mix of the horn of the Rhino Pale
Ale and Duke's Cold Nose Brown Ale
Enjoying the beer and fellowship, I looked around the tap
room and reflected upon the incredible story that is “Bold City Brewery” -
first craft beer brewery in Jacksonville – their growth and plans for the
future.
My thanks to all at Bold City Brewery for another wonderful
experience!
To view more photos from Bold City Brewery, visit the link below:
Bold City Brewery
So, where to close the book on this evening's Prowl? … it
had to involve food, of course, to maintain the balance of soaking matter
and … well, you know …
I had mentioned to companion that I had heard good things
about Chomp Chomp (106 East Adams
Street – 904.762.4667) and I knew they would be open late Friday night,
Companion nodded and prodded The Beast downtown and we were fortunate to snag a
parking place immediately across the street from this little restaurant.
Entering, John greeted us warmly and fully explained their
menu which was displayed colorfully on a chalk board. John's mouthwatering
descriptions made it very difficult to make our final selections – everything
sounded so doggone good! … I asked John if they had beer available and he said
that although Chomp Chomp did not offer any beer, we could certainly grab a
couple of brews next door at the Burro Bar to accompany our food
selections which ended up being:
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| Banh Mi Sandwich at Chomp Chomp |
Banh Mi Sandwich – French Vietnamese sandwich with
marinated pork and pickled vegetables ($7)
Panko Crusted Chicken Sandwich – with gorgonzola and marinated
tomatoes ($7)
For side items, we had chosen the Curry Potato Chips and a
house salad with Chomp Chomp's own staff-prepared ginger vinaigrette
dressing.
We ran next door to the Burro Bar while our food
was being prepared and we ordered the following beers (descriptions per
breweries' websites):
Bell's Brewery Amber Ale
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| Florida Beer Co. Swamp Ape IPA and Bell's Brewery Amber Ale |
Amber Ale deftly balances a mixture of toasted
grain & light caramel notes with a range of floral, citrus and herbal hop
notes, capped by a clean bitterness. This balance of flavors makes Amber Ale
quite versatile as a food pairing option, not to mention being rather tasty in
its own right. Whether serving as a jumping point to other styles or as a
familiar standby, Amber Ale is central to the Bell’s portfolio. Note: 5.8% ABV
Florida Beer Company Swamp Ape IPA
Florida Beer Swamp Ape IPA is an Imperial India Pale Ale.
The fresh and lively hop character is derived from using 5 distinct varieties
of hops: Tettnang, Centennial, Chinook, Cascade, Amarillo
This beer has an intense hop bitterness, flavor and aroma
balanced by complex alcohol flavors, moderate fruity esters and a medium malt
character from the balance of 2-row, Europ and Cherry Wood Smoked.
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| Bob, JBB and Leanne at the Burro Bar |
As we started to leave Burro Bar with our beer, a lovely
couple sitting nearby the door asked if I was the Jax Brew Bitch. Instantly, I
thought companion had put somebody up to that – but when I quickly looked at
him, he was as surprised as I was. We approached and formally introduced
ourselves to Bob and Leanne who happen to follow me on Facebook. They were so
sweet and Bob had some great suggestions for the connections between my
Facebook page and blog. John came in from Chomp Chomp and alerted us our food
was ready. After some more discussion with Leanne and Bob, we said goodbye and
returned to Chomp Chomp.
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| Panko Chicken Sandwich with Curry Potato Chips |
The Panko Chicken Sandwich was outstanding! … I love just
about anything covered in Panko bread crumbs anyway, but the combination of the
chicken, gorgonzola and marinated tomatoes was simply wonderful.
Curry Potato Chips? … WOW! … if you love curry like we do,
you will be a regular at Chomp Chomp – they are the handmade type of chips I
have described at Gas Full Service Restaurant in St. Augustine in the past, but
with a healthy amount of curry applied during their preparation.
The Banh Mi Sandwich was equally impressive with the mixture
of marinated pork and pickled vegetables – yummers - and the ginger vinaigrette
dressing was superb!
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| The Korean BBQ Sandwich at Chomp Chomp |
Okay, we weren't through, yet … we ordered a third
sandwich – the Korean BBQ Sandwich – pulled pork with Kimchi added! … a large
portion for only $7 – and I LOVE Kimchi. We could only eat half of this
sandwich (another side of Curry Potato Chips), so we took the rest home.
Tonight, as I was working on this blog post, companion heated up the bread and
chips in the broiler to bring back the crispness and nuked the barbecue and
brought it to me for an early evening snack. It was fabulous!
John and the rest of the staff there at Chomp Chomp were
very nice and made us feel very welcome. We'll be going back – and soon!
John had mentioned a non-flattering online review by another
party indicated Chomp Chomp sold re-heated frozen food warmed up in a
microwave. Trust me – I watched them prepare my food – and you can too – the
place is cozy enough to do so. Further, I was allowed to venture back a little
and take a few photos – no microwave is present. Goes to show you can't trust
everything you read on the Internet –
except what you read here!
Jacksonvillians, don't be too quick to judge THIS book by
its cover – the establishment itself may look small but the flavors are LARGE –
and the dishes are well-prepared and presented.
Our heartfelt congratulations to all the owners and staff
for recently celebrating their first year in business!
My sincere appreciation to John and the rest of the staff at
Chomp Chomp for making this first experience an enjoyable one and for providing
the perfect place to bookend this evening's Jax Brew Bitch Prowl.
To view more photos from Chomp Chomp, visit the link below:
Chomp Chomp
Bell's Brewery
Florida Beer Company
