Rogues Harbor Inn Blog

Some dishes just say summer. A group of us (managers, chef & owner) from the Rogues' Harbor Inn took a summer wine tour by boat last week. We had an entire day of sun, wine, and creative food pairings all around Cayuga Lake. It was the perfect summer day for a pack of foodies. First stop was Long Point Winery in Aurora. They served us outside over looking the water. It was like sipping wine at a hilltop chateau- they have one of the best winery lake views on Cayuga. We had 6 or 7 courses with wine pairings. All were just amazing, but three stood out for me. We sampled aged cheddar with their Reserve Chardonnay, BBQ beef with their Syrah and my personal favorite blueberry cheesecake with their Vidal Blanc. It was paradise. Second stop was Sheldrake Point in Ovid. We've all been there many times, but couldn't pass by without stopping. I tried their Late Harvest Riesling and the staff tried a few of their reserves. As always, we were not disappointed. Last s...

In what seems like forever now (apologies for the long absence) we took a look at what role hops played in the brewing process. This time around we're going to take a good look at what malt brings to the concoction that is beer. The majority of malt used in brewing is a malted barley. The short form of how it's created is that the barley is wetted and allowed to germinate before being dried. The drying process used, and varying degrees of heat will help to create malt ranging from light, grainy malt, to deeply roasted bitter malts. While barley isn't the only malted grain used in brewing (malted wheat and rye are also used in some brews), it is the most prominent one. Malt is the backbone of beer, it contributes to flavor, color, and the body of the beer. The base malt, that is the malt that makes up the bulk of the malt used in your beer, is going to help you get the bulk of your fermentables. Most base malts are lighter in color as the more deeply you roast your grain...

We had a boisterous crowd at the Rogues' Harbor Inn restaurant tonight and we liked it. It always makes us happy to know for certain that everyone is enjoying themselves- smiling faces, uproarious laughter, plates licked clean, more drinks for everyone...In the Bed & Breakfast we had a big family here for a reunion, a few other guests here for high school reunions and some wedding revelers. Really nice folks enjoying each other's company, a generous dinner, a few drinks and some well told stories. The stories are a bonus for us. We love meeting everyone, making sure they're well fed and watered, and catching a few tales of big fun. Over the years, listening to deeds of misadventure, a scale has evolved in my mind. The "fun" scale reveals the level of planning required for the Rogues' happy hour, dinner, Finger Lakes wine tour, microbrewery visit, pub crawl, concert weekend, canoe trip... and the craziness of the antics anticipated. There are always those ...