Rogues Harbor Inn Blog

Those astute readers who recently noticed our list of upcoming Brewer's Choice beer styles knows that the next one up is a Saison (French for "season"), also known as a Farmhouse Ale. Your first reaction might have been, "Cool!" shortly followed by "What's a saison?" Saison's originated in France and Belgium, and were made popular in the Flemmish region. They were the origianl working class beer - made on farms so that the workers would have beer to drink after long days of toiling in the fields. Every farm brewed it's own and it was made from seasonally available ingredients (hence the name). While saisons were originated in Europe, their popularity there has waned over the years as stronger Abbey style ales have become the popular drink of the region. It's the American craft brewer that has been instrumental in reviving the styles. It's becoming more common, especially on the East Coast, to have a couple of these beers in your lin...

I drove past Purity ice cream not too long ago and their sign read, "Eat dessert first, life is short." I couldn't agree with them more. Many folks, including myself, plan ahead and have half of their dinner boxed to take home in order to save room for dessert. Planning ahead a little is wise, especially here at Rogues' Harbor where the portions are generous and the desserts are made right here. One of the hall marks of Finger Lakes cooking is fresh, local, gardeny ingredients like herbs, greens, berries, apples... We love it all and a couple of our country inn desserts feature wild berries, apples and local ice cream. Our wild berry cobbler is a big summer seller. It has strawberries, black berries & blueberries with a shortbread biscuit. In the fall, our apple crisp takes over as the most popular dessert. It has a touch of maple and a brown sugar crumbled topping. A scoop of vanilla bean ice cream melting over the top is too wonderful to resist. Our richer dess...

Bed and Breakfasts have two components, beds and breakfasts. It seems obvious, but not everyone gets it. It's a simple concept, and simple is good. Inns, B&Bs and smaller lodging establishments specialize in unique decor, cushy beds, personal service and yummy hot breakfasts. We place comment cards in all our rooms to be sure our guests love everything, see if they have ideas, concerns or God forbid complaints. We read them all. We get high marks generally, especially for decor, room size, comfy beds, nice flat screen TVs, Wifi,... A few comment cards have yielded some needed amenities like: room darkening shades, bath salts, full length mirrors, more hooks in the bathrooms,... We appreciate the ideas. Breakfast, however, doesn't always receive high marks- just good or OK. We aim much higher than that. So, this week our historic ballroom where we serve breakfast to our B&B guests got a make over. We put in smaller individual tables instead large family style tables (a...

The third post in our look at the brewing ingredients takes a look at yeast. I saved yeast for last as it is the most important ingredient in the brewing process. It is said as brewers our chief job is making a happy and comfortable environment for the yeast, and that it is the yeast that does all the hard work. That's not all that far off. The process of fermentation does more than just convert sugars in to alcohols. Yeast can contribute to the flavor of the beer, it can make a beer light and dry, or heavy, or even a touch of sweetness. If the environment isn't right for the beer it can cause bad flavors, or even halt the fermentation entirely. There are many different types of yeast. The yeast used in beer, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, isn't simply the bread yeast that you grab on the shelf of your local grocery store. It's a yeast that is well suited to tolerate continued fermentation in the presence of alcohol, and provides a range of complimentary flavors for the be...

Sunset on the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake, Lansing, NY (on my  iPhone)  I don't think my Top Ten is in any special order. In fact, the order could change nearly everyday depending on my outlook. 1. Wildly Colorful Sunsets every night You can drive Route 13/34 North up from Ithaca towards Aurora; East Shore Drive offers some spectacular views or you can stop at Meyers Park or Long Point Park to view the stunning exit of the sun's last rays. 2. The Lake , Cayuga that is Swim, boat, walk the shore, soak up some sun, go fishing, hunt for fossils... It's all good. 3. Wine We are right ON the Cayuga Wine Trail. Just 10- 15 minutes from the Rogues' Harbor Inn: King Ferry (Treleaven) Winery, Long Point Winery, Bet the Farm, Heart & Hands Winery... There is never a shortage of Finger Lakes Riesling or any other wine in these parts. 4. Good Food But not just good food, interesting places to kick back and soak up some atmosphere. From formal to s...