Oyster, Radio!

9/16/10

Porterhouse Oyster Stout- Whole Foods, East Houston St. New York, NY-11.2 oz. bottle into 10 oz Brandy Snifter- 5.2%- An Oyster Stout...finally! And my first stout on the blog. I have been looking for one of these since I first read about them about 4 or 5 months ago. According to the label, from this Dublin, Ireland based brewery, this stout states that oysters are added during the brewing process and add a "discernable, yet unidentifiable note." Definitely two of my favorite things served together are oysters and beer. It does not get much better than that. I think oysters are something I could eat competitively. Problem is their cost always prevents me from completely indulging. Traditionally stouts and oysters were a working class staple in NYC and other coastal areas. This is not the case these days and at least in these parts oysters are a bit of a luxury. Oysters are great with stout but just about any beer will do for me. A friend and I actually enjoyed them with ice cold pints of Pabst Blue Ribbon. This beer poured with a thick fluffy, off white two finger head with strong retention. Typical stout lacing. The mouth feel is little more light bodied than I expected and is fairly carbonated. I was hoping for a heavier silky quality but It seems to be a bit watery. Now I don't taste oysters in this beer, but I do get a smokey quality and I do believe I smell a bit of a salty, briney quality. Maybe its wishful thinking but I think its there. This is a good stout and to be honest I haven't had to many varieties but I definitely drink it on draft if I could find it. This bottle alone was $5 so I don't forsee seeking it out at the store but I certainly will be keeping my eyes peeled for other Oyster Stout's!!

On the turntable is This Years Model- Elvis Costello- Mr. Declan McManus' 2nd LP and his first with The Attraction recorded in 1978 at Eden Studios in West London. This was one of the half a dozen or so records I bought and I got it at one of those flea markets down in the Chelsea area which I don't think are around any longer. One of the reasons I started buying records was albums like this was that I wanted to hear these classic albums but did not have the money to spend on buying the CD. I realized I could still find (and still can to some degree) these records relatively cheap on vinyl. This was a few years prior to the widespread use of MP3's and I was on a tight budget. With what I spent on one CD I could buy 5 or 6 records. So not only did the economics make sense I became a enthusiastic pursuer of records and was exposed to alot of music I didn't really even know exsisted. I didn't put this on for any specific reason. I recently pulled it out of storage with a couple of records and felt like listening to it. My favorite song on this record is Lipstick Vogue and Radio, Radio with it's unmistakable organ riffs. This record is alot poppier than his first LP My Aim Is True and in my opinion has a punkier, new wave vibe. What attracted me to Elvis Costello is definitely his vocal delivery and the phrasing of his lyrics which is really engaging for the listener.