Great Beer Deserves Great Food Dinner & New Ales Coming Soon

Chef Ty-Lor Boring was at Cafe Ommegang for the second instalment of Great Beer Deserves Great Food (GBDGF) this past Saturday evening.  The Mrs. & I attended this sold out event and lucked out as we were seated next to resident brewmaster Phil L.  It was a fun night with plenty of Ommegang cheer to accompany the great menu.  The menu you ask .. see below

First course:  Paired with Hennepin

Forest Mushrooms on Pizza Blanca 

Made with thyme, tokyo scallions, & white soy

Second Course: Paired with Duvel Golden Ale

Bouchot Mussels

Made with Ommegang Witte ale, shallots, celery, thyme & laurel

Third Course: Paired with BPA(Belgian Pale Ale)

Brewers Yeast Roasted Chicken

Made with lacinato, dates, rosemary, orange, & fried egg aioli

Fourth Course: Paired with 3 Philosophers

Rice Chex & Pretzel Marshmellow Treat

Made with white miso, brown butter, dark chocolate, & peanut butter

This was a great time and I highly suggest you get out there for a GBDGF dinner if you get a chance -- it was a truly unique and fun experience.  These dinners may become a monthly (or near monthly) happening so stay abreast by checking out Ommegang on FB and/or the Ommegang and GBDGF websites.

And .....From the "New Ales Coming Soon" department, while tilting my head back (if you know what I mean), I noted several large banner signs on the adjacent wall in the Cafe dining area promoting upcoming events and brews.   Note the limited edition, speciality, and one-off ales in the pic below.

For those that have searched it out, you may have found the Q1 offering called Seduction.  The Q2 offering called Art of Darkness (see prior blog entry) is now on sale at the brewery and may be arriving in some retailers in the near future.  The remainder of the offerings for 2012, as you may note, include a Biere de Garde, Black Duvel / Black Abbey, a Belgian Independence Day Triple, a Harvest Cream Ale, a 15th Anniversary Ale, and an Opera Ale.  Lot's to look forward to in the coming months.  Cheers!

{Oh yeah, with this being a bike team blog, I should note I rode for 4.5 hrs to establish a proper calorie deficit prior to the dinner ... does that count?}

Art of Darkness

While you await the April release of Art of Darkness, (a limited edition release described as a deep, dark, and rich ale), you might consider Seduction (a speciality ale offering balanced chocolate-cherry notes, a bit of caramel sweetness, and a long, slow finish).  With a little searching you should be able to locate some Seduction now at your fav brew store.

On the cycling end of things, there's been unsubstantiated reports of some Ommegangsters already putting in 4+ hr rides on these mild weekends.  Of course these are counter-balanced with the usual grumblings like (a) "so much winter weight to lose", (b) "so out of shape" and (c) "can't understand why the power numbers are so low".  All in all it's shaping up to be another great year of riding & racing.  See Ya Out There.

Walking on The Moon? Get there with a Moonlander

Walking on the Moon -- something automatically triggers this song in my head when I see or read about the Surly Moonlander,  Moonlander you ask ... think "fat bike" or "snow bike" ... one of those mountain bikey looking things with wheels/tires that look like they're on steroids.  Check out the Surly website and peruse a few YouTube clips of the Moonlander or it's cousin "Pugsley" to see them in action.  There are even some Fat Bike races in some of the snowy spots around the land.

Now you're probably thinking they look like a whole lot of fun and it would be cool to try one out .. now if only -- stop right there because our friends at Syracuse Bicycle will be offering a Fat Bike Demo session this Saturday (1/28/12) at Long Branch park in Liverpool from 12 to 3.  This is your chance .. get out of the house and off the trainer and hop aboard a fat bike... no fee and an almost guarantee of a few smiles on a unique set of wheels.
 
Here's a link for more info ...
 http://www.facebook.com/syracusebicycle#!/events/351954138148299/

4th Annual Bikes and Brews Night

4th Annual Bikes and Brews Night

To Benefit Toys for Tots!

Syracuse Bicycle and our local cycling Team Ommegang presents the 4th Annual "Bikes and Brews" on Thursday, December 15th, from 6-9pm at Syracuse Bicycle. Once again, we are excited to partner with the US Marine Corps Toys for Tots program at this event. So bring along a new, unwrapped toy, come enjoy a glass of Ommegang beer, a few appetizers, and make a child very happy this holiday season! RSVP on Facebook or to trish@syracusebicycle.com.

Hope to See Ya There !

PowerCross & GobbleCross

PowerCross was recently hosted up in the Syr-a-burb of Van Buren by our friends from The MaxPower Cycling Team.   The course was a little different in it's second season with the dreaded "Faso Hill" being revised so it was just plain painful rather than causing potential cardiac issues.  With a race in the back yard of many of the Syracuse area team members, good results and representation were in order with some respectable results and a couple podium spots.

GobbleCross, also in a Syr-a-burb, brought a little post T-giving racing fun down on the Hadzor Ranch in Lafayette if you were not inclined to do the Black Friday shopping thing.  Dan T showed and dominated all while others went a bit more towards the having fun route and rode with their kids or on MTBs.  Good peeps, good brews and good times seemed to be the consensus.

Next up -- Bikes & Brews at Syracuse Bicycle on December 15 from 6 to 9 pm.  This will allow you to cut straight to post 'cross race recovery beverages and goodies without having to visit the pain cave for 45-60 minutes and then clean mud out of your teeth & britches.  Admission is an unwrapped toy for the Toys for Tots program. 

PowerCross Results:  http://www.maxpowercycling.com/index.php/racing?layout=edit&id=28

GobbleCross Results:  http://btbathletics.com/wordpress/

The Greene Machines & Bethlehem Boys

Green Machines:  After posting some stellar results at the Greene CX event at the Greene school, the following weekend saw a batch of Ommegangsters heading back down to Greene for the Dave Panella Memorial CX (or KX if you prefer) event held almost across the street from the prior weekend's race at the school.   And much like the week before at the school, Ommegangsters picked up wins in the 35+, 45+ and 55+ Masters fields.

Bethlehem Boys:  While some headed down towards the Southern Tier, another batch of Ommegangsters headed out towards the Capital District to test themselves at the Bethlehem Cup (the last event in the NYCross.com series).  The results show a top 10 in the huge 3/4 field and a first and third in the 35+ Masters group.

Again another great weekend of results.  Way to go gents!

http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2011/11/13-The-Dave-Panella-Memorial-Kross.asp

http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2011/11/13-Bethlehem-cup.asp 

Greene-ery

A host of Ommegangsters headed down to the school yard in Greene for some CX lessons this past Sunday.  While the setting was definitely a school yard, the key players were more from the set of Camelot (or Harry Potter if you are still racing the open rather than a masters category).  First and foremost, we had the King Faruzel holding court in his, shall we say, Kingdom.  Next we had plenty of warriors, a healthy number of jesters (aka hecklers), a few damsels, and then the esteemed guru (aka Dan T). 

For the Ommegangsters, a great set of results with respective wins in the 35+, 45+, and 55+ categories.   In fact the 35+ masters group saw the top 4 spots all go to Ommegangsters.  And in the open event, with a clinic on display by Guru Timmerman, the Ommegangsters held their own with some respectable finishes.

Greene results here:   http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2011/11/06-Greene-Cross.asp

And while many of the boys played here locally, Fast Freddie went all NoHo on us and jumped into the action in the big pond of the Verge Series.   In the end, a respectable result after wading his through the huge field of 136 from the back half to make it to the front half. 

Northhampton results here:  http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2011/11/06-21st-Annual-Cycle-Smart-International.asp

On tap this weekend (plz note the brew humor):  Bethlehem & DPM -- get to it as it will be all gone before you know it.