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Showing posts from November, 2012

Holidays in the the Heart of the Finger Lakes at the Rogues' Harbor Inn

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All decorated for the Holidays at the Rogues' Harbor Inn We love, love, the the holidays. Fresh greens, twinkly white lights, mulled cider and wine, extra special hearty dark craft brews...we look forward to it all year. It's a bright star in an otherwise way to cold and grey for me winter. We host many holiday cocktail parties and dinners, and we thoroughly enjoy every single one. Guests all cozy by the fire, enjoying a big slice of prime rib or maybe a smoked pork tenderloin with cranberry chutney and a glass of wine or pint in hand. It's all smiles and good cheer and we're thankful for another happy and healthy year. We decorate every fireplace mantle with old fashioned Santas and swags with velvet ribbons. We stuff every planter with fresh pine boughs and white lights. We decorate our tree with cinnamon sticks, birch stars and checked bows. We really channel our inner Martha and the inn looks like an antique post card. We offer a couple special seasonal craft

Dog Treats from spent brewery grain from the Rogues' Harbor Inn

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"Brewscuits" TM from the Rogues' Harbor Inn We generate a lot of spent grain at the Rogues' Harbor Brewing Co. By a lot, we mean about 100 pounds per batch (4 kegs), tiny by most brewery standards. But, still we felt terrible just composting it. So we did a little research and it seems many breweries offer it to local farmers as feed- which we have zero success with offering. A few breweries compost it- which we do already...still didn't seem like the best use. Then, we found that many breweries make dog treats from their left over spent brewing grain. Woof! We love dogs, so we decided to do the same. So, here's the process. Chris and Alex mill about 100 pounds of grain, boil it, transfer the hot liquid which yields 4 kegs of beer post hopping, fermentation and carbonation. We're left with the 100 pounds of wet spent grain which they give some of to Chef Jeff at the inn. He combines the grain with peanut butter, eggs and water then bakes. We never use

Rogues' Harbor Inn's Beer vs. Wine Dinner 2012

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We love to offer beer and wine pairing suggestions on our dinner menu. So, I often wander the Finger Lakes Beer Trail and the Cayuga and Seneca Wine Trails to try a few new (and old favorite) local fermented beverages. At a recent stop at the King Ferry Winery Chris in the tasting room gave me a great idea. A  Beer vs. Wine dinner, us against them, Rogues' Harbor Brewing Co. vs. Treleaven Wines in a friendly bout officiated by our brewer and their owners. And so it is...Game on. Bring it. Chef Luke was inspired by the idea and has designed a four course dinner. Each course will be paired with one of our craft brews and one of their world class wines. Each corner, Chris Williams and Pete and Tacie Saltenstall, will be speaking about how their pairings complement each course. They'll be fielding questions as well, and most likely trying to influence your vote...But, in the end the winner will be chosen by our guests at the match. Each round will be an adventure. So bring your t