Home Brew Contest for APAs and IPAs at Coalhouse Pizza and Maltose Express

It’s that time of year again!  Coalhouse Pizza and Maltose Express have put together another home brew competition, but this time around there are two specific brews at the center of the contest.  Home brewers will either submit an American Pale Ale or an American IPA for judging.  The deadline is May 25 and your brews can be dropped off either at Coalhouse Pizza in Stamford or at Maltose Express in Monroe.  Then, on June 4, entries will be evaluated by Beer Judge Certification Program judges and Coalhouse will pour out “Best of Show,” “First Place,” “Second Place,” and “Third Place.”

This is just one of the great things that Gerard Robertson and everybody at Coalhouse Pizza have planned to highlight, enhance, and support the beer culture in Fairfield County.  Because of optimal brewing times, you’ll need to get right on this.  Here is the Bottle ID form and here is the entry form from Coalhouse.

Good luck everybody…and keep on the look out for some other great news from Coalhouse!

Coalhouse Pizza

Noms: 3.5

Cost: $$$

Address:  85 High Ridge Road

Stamford, CT 06905
Phone:  (203) 977-7700
Site:  www.coalhousepizza.com
$25 or more required for delivery within Stamford

$50 min for delivery for Greenwich, Cos Cob, Darien, New Canaan, Pound Ridge

 

Maltose Express

Address:  246 Main Street

Monroe, CT 06468

Phone:  (203) 452-7332

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from OmNomCT!   Celebrating with Irish breakfast at Coalhouse Pizza.   We are talking toast, beans, bangers, rashers, white pudding, and even black pudding.   Excellent!  

How are you celebrating?

Stouts, Beer Flights, and More @ Coalhouse Pizza + The Ginger Man this January

Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of bad beer,

I will fear no Bud Lite, because Coalhouse and Ginger Man art with me.

Their draught lines and their beer choices comfort me.

-

Amen.

-

Now that you’ve said your prayers, you can thank God for what Coalhouse Pizza (on High Ridge Road in Stamford) and The Ginger Man SoNo (on Washington in Norwalk) are up to in January.  Yes, while both institutions of beer are known for their reverence of brews, they’ve also been known to change things up and offer pure surprises of awesomeness.  January is no different:

The Great Wall of Stouts at The Ginger Man, SoNo

Coalhouse Pizza Expands: Offers Games, Beer Classes, + More – Stamford, CT

Our ol’ go-to pizza/beer spot is becoming bigger and better.  Soon (hopefully by the end of September) it’ll be a whole lot easier to get a table, grab a beer, and nom away on a slice of their coal-fired pizza.  This has all been made possible by getting the shop next store, gutting it out, then sprinkling on the Coalhouse mojo.  When you go into the new room, you’ll notice how big the room is, filled with tables, a bar, and more.  Onto the more part:  you’ll notice that you can do more than just eat at Coalhouse Pizza.  Gerard and co. have a shuffleboard table, darts, karaoke, and Golden Tee 2013 so you can drink some cold ones or eat while you destroy your friend (or significant other) at any of those games.  Plus, there will be four large flat screen tvs for your viewing pleasure.  And, you asked for it, now you’ll have it:  60 additional seats.  That’s enough to spread out and also enough for a nice party.  Just sayin’. 

One of the first things that Coalhouse Pizza has planned for the next space is a monthly series of beer classes that you can attend to learn more about beer or even how to homebrew.  PhD. in Beerology?  Yes.  Masters in Brews?  You know it.  Beer Philosopher?  Most definitely.  The first date is October 8 and will be hosted by Brendan Kingston of B. United International.  On topic?  “Hopstacle,” a talk about the five major hop growing areas and their different flavors and aromas.   To really get what he’s talking about, Coalhouse will have five beers for tasting that use those exact hops.

OmNomCT + Coalhouse Pizza Present Dogfish Head Ancient Ales Seafood Dinner

Update:  In addition, you’ll get an Ancient Ale goblet, a Dogfish Head Ancient Ale stone coaster, and an Ancient Ale poster.

The making and consuming of beer goes back to ancient civilizations.  Many argue that it all started back around 10,000 BC when early man began to cultivate the land and figured out how to ferment soon after.  Much later, Egyptians used beer to fuel the construction of the pyramids.  And, now, we have Bud Light and PBR. Hmm, a digression perhaps? Well, thankfully we’re in the midst of a massive craft beer revival.  A revival of the art form with a focus on the process, the quality ingredients, and the best possible outcome.

One such brewing company that’s creating a new revival of their own is Dogfish Head.  They found real-life ancient recipes, used the formulas and ingredients, then created a line of Ancient Ales.  How cool is that?! These rare brews will be on tap for the Dogfish Head Ancient Ales Seafood Dinner that yours truly is co-hosting with Coalhouse Pizza on 9/17 at 7.   Kevin O’Hara from Dogfish Head paired these one-of-a-kind beers with a menu we created and crafted for your omnoming pleasure.  As if that wasn’t awesome enough, each course will feature a Dogfish Head beer that is actually used in each dish.  We’ll be on hand, as will Coalhouse Pizza owner and beerophile Gerard Robertson, and Keith from Dogfish Head.  Also at Coalhouse Pizza will be Tired on Sunday, who will be rocking the place.  AND, there will also be 10 other Dogfish Head beers on tap for ya!

Explore Stamford Restaurants with Eating Stamford: Uptown Restaurant Week

Rizzuto’s is new to the dining scene, so why not try them out during Eating Stamford: Uptown?

Stamford Restaurant Weeks are great and are a major highlight of the year for eaters.   But, believe it or not, there are tons of great restaurants outside of Downtown Stamford that you might not have tried.  Some of these restaurants are actually on the top of our lists for different reasons.  Leave it to The New England Culinary Group to come up with a nice alternative,  Eating Stamford:  Uptown.

The good times will go down from 5/14-5/18/2012 and will not only feature prix fixe meals, but will also feature special food offers.  Another nice deal is getting a 15% off gift certificate that you can use at ANY participating Eating Stamford:  Uptown restaurant from 5/20-6/13, Sunday-Wednesday.  So, if you tapped into the 52 different drafts at Coalhouse on 5/15, you could check out Madonia a week or two later and save 15% percent.  Pretty sweet deal.

Here’s a list of the participating restaurants, special deals, and why we love them.

***

Bacco Restaurant & Pub

Chili Chicken

Coalhouse Pizza:  52 beers on tap, great pizza, 2011 OmNomy Winner Best Entertainment

Crab Shell

John the Baker

La Fontanella Ristorante

MacKenzies Bar and Grill

Madonia:  2011 OmNomy Winner Best Italian

Minetto’s

Nick’s Pizza:  great classic Italian dishes, 2011 OmNomy Winner Best Delivery

Rico’s Pizza

Rizzuto’s:  great appetizers and antipasto

Royal Green

Spice Affaire

Tabouli Grill: excellent Israeli food!

Villa Italia Ristorante:  good pizza and great pasta

Vinny’s Backyard Restaurant:  great wings that need to be tried, especially the chipotle

OmNomCT and Coalhouse Pizza Rock the Victory Brews & Bacon Dinner

Tap it, Gerard!

As many of you know,  Coalhouse Pizza was generous enough to offer us a chance to be master chefs and plan our very first beer dinner on March 19, 2012! Well, we’re happy to say the Victory Brews & Bacon Dinner dinner was a BLAST and went off without a hitch!  Here’s a quick recap of the awesomeness:

The table was set with care,

in hopes that Victory Brew would be there…

In an amazing feat of glorious food magnitude, Coalhouse Pizza burst into life.  Gerard Robertson stood behind the Coalhouse Pizza counter, huddling up with his chefs, servers, and staff.  In the kitchen, in the dining room, and behind the counter  plates and silverware were chiming and clinking.  People started streaming in and servers quickly took orders for fun Victory Brewing Mash-Ups such as Dark Devil, Silver Back, Dark Waters, and Monkey on the Moon.  We loved the Monkey on the Moon, but Sean McCain from Victory Brewing warned us to be careful because while it goes down easy due to the smooth sweetness, that bad boy is strong.

Lucky us got to sit between the awesome Alicia and Renato Ghio of rMedia/The Natural Princess fame and Ryan and Kyle of Food + Beer.  And, we met the Ultimate Beerocrat, James Gribbon who seriously lays down the law with his Friday Froths on CTbites.com and met Gregg Glaser, Editor-in-Chief of the awesome Yankee Brew News.  We also know Caitlin Thayer from Barefoot Media, Josh Lew, @luckycloudyrsky, Renzo Kian-Kubota from Harry’s in Fairfield, Christopher Carlson co-author of Puddlejumpers, and Aaron Tubbs were there, but we’re bummed we didn’t get the chance to chat with them as much.

 As for the dinner itself, we’ll let the photos and captions below do all the talking (because it’s a little weird to review our own food – lol)! We couldn’t have been any happier with the results. The team at Coalhouse Pizza did our menu more justice that we could’ve imagined. Everything was cooked perfectly, full of delicious flavor. In fact, people seem to be begging for the pizza we had that night to be permanently on the menu! (We agree, ha!) And the service was quick and friendly too!

So of course we’d like to thank Gerard from Coalhouse Pizza.  He put a lot of trust in us and when we said we wanted a bacon dinner, he let us run with it.  Gerard, you’re the man, a great friend, and one of the best restaurant owners that we know.  Major props to Chef Eddie who worked on the menu for two days before the event and brought it all together.  Also, we’d like to thank Sean McCain from Victory Brewing Company.  It was great of you to stop by and share your wisdom on the beer, but also to just clang cups and enjoy some brew together.  Lastly, we’d like to thank everybody who purchased tickets and dined at Coalhouse.  Thanks for all the props, all the cheers, and a fun night.

-

THE FOOD

Braumeister Pils paired with Steamy Summer Love Clams & Bacon

Broth and clams to die for!

Headwaters Pale Ale paired with Bacon Blues Salad & Headwaters Pale Ale dressing

Bacon, bleu cheese, and beer dressing? Nuff said.

Golden Monkey Tripel paired with Sweet and Spicy Hawaiian Pizza that was made with Golden Monkey pizza dough

Best thing? People asking to put it on the menu. Second best? Watching people scream in pain from the habanero.

Hopdevil paired with Smoky the Beer Bacon Burger Slider and & Beer Battered Onion Rings

Smoked gouda and bacon atop this slider with golden and crispy beer battered onion rings FTW

Storm King Butterbeer paired with salted caramel bacon brownies

Fudgy, gooey, smoky, and oh so caramely!

Love it or hate it, the butterbeer inspired from Harry Potter!

Other reviews of the night:

CTbites

Food Plus Beer

Latent Content

Coalhouse Pizza
Address:  85 High Ridge Road
Stamford, CT 06905
Phone:  (203) 977-7700
Site:  www.coalhousepizza.com

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/COALHOUSE-PIZZA/271838725493

$20 minimum for Stamford delivery

$40 minimum for delivery to Greenwich, Cos Cob, Darien, New Canaan, and Pound Ridge

Stamford and Norwalk Restaurants Get Crafty with Craft Beer – Our Newest CBS Post

We asked our tweeps, FB buds, and friends about some of the best spots to get craft brews and that had the best variety.  What followed was an awesome research project that led us to create our newest post for CBS Connecticut.  We start at Coalhouse Pizza in Stamford, then head over to Monster B’s, then end off at Norwalk’s very own The Ginger Man.  If you haven’t been to any of these spots and you love beer, prepare to love it more.  Yes, start preparing now.

Here’s the leadin, along with the first sentences from each beer spot.  Click here for the entire article, please.  ;)

“Any restaurant can sell a few beers by the bottle and offer up a few beers on tap, but those are usually the kinds of beer that you can find at your local corner store.  A brave few spots in Stamford and Norwalk, though, pride themselves in their beer selection and what they do for their beer loving friends.  To help you on your quest for that perfect brew, we’re giving you a guide to some of our favorite watering holes that have the best beers on tap and by the bottle.  Sorry, but Budweiser just won’t cut it here.  We’re talking craft, micro, and all-around-awesome beers.  Pull on up to the tap and pour in some brew, this is going to be a tasty one.

Coalhouse Pizza

“In the mood for ice-cold beer with thin crust pizza? Want oodles of options like ribs, salads, and Italian specialties?  Well, Coalhouse Pizza has you covered…

Monster B’s

“Hall of Foam?  Yeah, we spelled that right.  At Monster B’s in Stamford you actually get rewarded for your love of hops with their Silver Challenge.  All you have to do is…

The Gingerman

“In the heart of SoNo (that’s South Norwalk for you newbies) is a bar that serves up fantastic food that goes beyond traditional bar food and pairs it with a killer beer selection…”

Read the full article…

Coalhouse Pizza
85 High Ridge Road
Stamford, CT 06905
(203) 977-7700

Monster B’s
487 Glenbrook Road
Stamford, CT 06906
(203) 355-1032

The Gingerman

99 Washington Street
South Norwalk, CT 06854
(203) 354-0163

Summer, outdoor dining, Captain Lawrence beer, pig roast? There! Coalhouse Pizza–Stamford, CT

Rain, rain go away, come again…screw that, never come again!  Haven’t you just about had it with the rain lately and all the bleakness that not even an emo kid could handle? Well, summer’s just around the corner and so are the great outdoor dining and beer paired events that Coalhouse Pizza has to offer.  This time around, June 20, we’ve got a pig roast featuring the brews of Captain Lawrence Brewing Company from nearby Pleasantville, NY.  A couple of months back we tried their Imperial (Double) IPA and it’s killah, wicked killah.  The courses highlight some of the great tastes of summer including a nice Mexican corn on the cob and an oh so slow roasted pork with smoked baked beans.  The dessert, as always, looks like it’ll be freaking redonkulous.

Scott Vacarro, the owner and brewmaster of Captain Lawrence Brewing Company will be on hand to talk about his beers and so that you may bow to him in holy reverence.  To cover up the noise of people pigging out (pun intended), classic rockers Tired on Sunday will be performing live.  Tickets, as always with Gerard’s events, are going fast.

June 20, 7 pm

$65 per person

Beer club members get 10% off ticket price…do the math punks, that’s $6.50 off.

Coalhouse Pizza Review  |  Best of the Belgians Dinner  |  Sierra Nevada Beer Dinner

 

Coalhouse Pizza
Address:  85 High Ridge Road
Stamford, CT 06905
Phone:  (203) 977-7700
Site:  www.coalhousepizza.com

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/COALHOUSE-PIZZA/271838725493
$25 or more required for delivery within Stamford

$50 min for delivery for Greenwich, Cos Cob, Darien, New Canaan, Pound Ridge

Come for the pizza, stay for the beer. Coalhouse Pizza–Stamford, CT

Unforgettable Pizza

You know, back in the day we never got the whole beer thing: the kickin’ back on the couch, watchin’ some football, sippin’ some cold brewskis like Bud, Coors Light, or PBR.  But then, then when we tried real beer, we were enlightened. And thanks to our own red-haired beer Buddha, Gerard, we’ve reached an even higher state of enlightenment! Gerard is one of the owners at Coalhouse Pizza,  and he has opened up a whole new world of beer and possibilities to us.

Looky Look! Those Look SOOOO Good!

If you’re a beer and pizza lover, Coalhouse Pizza is a go-to for you. First of all, there’s a beer club to join for $20 that gets you a heap of really cool discounts, specials, and a nice Coalhouse Pizza mug. Secondly, the beer selection here is killer. There are tons of choices, but also a really fun selection of beers that are rotating in and out of tap. Last of all, Gerard loves to float around from table to table and dispense his advice. He’s really great with food and beer pairings and he can really help you to discover new beers as long as you’re open to change. I was, so I went with a thick, heavy, Jack & Kens from Sierra Nevada that was on tap.

The Love Supreme

We started with some wings, half in Mojo Hot Sauce, the other in Chipotle BBQ . The wings here are pretty good, but different than any other wings you’ve probably ever had. They bread them with panko so they end up being really crispy and crunchy on the outside, but nice and juicy on the inside. The Chipotle wings had a sweet, smoky taste, cut with a very slight spiciness. The other wings, in Mojo, were still smoky tasting, but were much sweeter, and also spicier. We liked the Chipotle more, though we’d love it to be spicier because we LOVE heat. The Jack & Kens paired very well with the wings, making a great combo.

Before we could finish our wings, the Love Supreme salad came out. This was a good contrast to the heaviness of the wings. With spinach, almonds, golden raisins, onions, cilantro, and marinated artichoke hearts, a really light and tasty tomato dressing was served on top. This was a really nice salad and would be wonderful in the summer in their outside seating.

Behold the Cheesy Goodness

Then came the big boy: our Unforgettable pizza. Kristien and I were split on our opinions of this one. Start with a layer of Coalhouse-made vodka sauce, then throw in chunks of nitrate-free bacon, heaping amounts of pecorino romano, some fresh basil, then crank on some fresh black pepper. I loved the contrast in savory from the smoky chunks of bacon with the bite of the cheese, along with the thin crust. Kristien wanted more sauce and I could see what she was saying, but I still think it was a solid pizza. When we go here, I usually get the Crossroads and Kristien usually gets Kind of Blue, which is her own Kind of Heaven.

Really Not Ugly, Just Beautiful Handicapped

To end, Kristien went with her absolute favorite here and what she has claimed as the best cheesecake ever: Ricotta Cheesecake. This recipe is actually from the chef’s family, a Sicilian gem. It’s very different from any other cheesecake you’ve ever had, more authentically Italian. I had the Brutti Ma Buoni, “Ugly But Good.” Well, it wasn’t really ugly, but it was good. :) I had two nice scoops of Buck’s Strawberry ice cream, set between the ugly cookie. It’s a meringue, toasted almond cookie that was crispy, yet chewy at the same time. If you love strong almond flavors in your dessert, this is a good one to go with.

Coalhouse Pizza is the kind of place you could just keep coming back to on any ‘ole day to relax.  With the quality ingredients, often times locally sourced, and the variety of salads, pizzas, and beer you can come back often and try new things over and over. Always keep an eye out for paired beer dinners such as Sierra Nevada, Best of the Belgians, or the upcoming Oskar Blues dinner on March 21 for $60 pp. They’re ending with the TenFidy Stout–served up in a glass and also worked into some ice cream!  :)  Yum.  See you there.

Update, 4/3/11:  Coalhouse Pizza and Gerard featured on “Toni on New York.” Check end of video, but also shows Hope Pizza and Colony Grill before. We’ve also updated the nom rating to 3.5 because the food has definitely gotten better!

Noms: 3.5

Cost: $$$

 

Coalhouse Pizza
Address:  85 High Ridge Road
Stamford, CT 06905
Phone:  (203) 977-7700
Site:  www.coalhousepizza.com
$25 or more required for delivery within Stamford

$50 min for delivery for Greenwich, Cos Cob, Darien, New Canaan, Pound Ridge