Engine 15

It's been about a year since Engine 15 first opened its doors, bringing its signature high-brow craft and import beer paired with delectably high calorie pub food to Jacksonville Beach. While we've been by a handful of times, I didn't want to write a post until I got the full Engine 15 experience. See, Engine 15 isn't your typical bar. Ignoring the 35 high-quality beers on tap and food with the right balance of proteins, fats, and carbs to complement an evening of alcohol fueled merriment, there is one thing that sets Engine 15 apart from all of the other gastropubs, brewpubs, and beer bars for hundreds of miles: you can become a brewer for a day and make your own beer on the premises.

Earlier this year I suggested to my boss that we should have a team brewing session at Engine 15 to celebrate a few recent milestones. Having a number of beer snobs on the team, the suggestion was well received and we made an appointment a couple months out. Due to demand, a lead time of a month or more is to be expected but, for anyone who's ever toyed with the idea of brewing their own beer, it's worth the wait.

Before I start rambling about our experiences making beer, let's make a quick detour for those not particularly interested in the brew-on-premises offerings from Engine 15. If you're just looking for a good drink or bar food then there's plenty at Engine 15 to be excited about. The beers are all top notch, spanning favorites from our local Jacksonville and Florida microbreweries through a myriad of craft brews from the Left Coast and all the way to ales made by Trappist Monks in Belgium. To help fend of any of the ill effects associated with the consumption of such beverages, Engine 15 offers a variety of appetizers, soups, and sandwiches. I'd suggest going with the beer brats or chili brats. Very few things complement a second beer better than a big juicy sausage. And trust me, you're going to want a second beer.

The consumption of beer is not required during the brewing process but is highly advised. Not only does it serve as a great motivator, it also helps take the edge of some of the drudgery. The first thing to keep in mind is cleanliness. The second thing to keep in mind is cleanliness. Everything is sanitized. After all, when your recipe involves encouraging a colony of microorganisms to multiply and consume the concoction you've prepared for them, you better be sure you haven't introduced any unfriendly competition.

Disclaimer: everything that follows is merely a brief recantation of our experience brewing beer at Engine 15 with some very simplistic explanations of the process. There are many good resources online detailing the history and process of brewing. To any experienced brewers reading this, please forgive me.

For the sake of time and convenience, many amateur home brewers use malt extract to make their beer. Malt is dried germinated grains. Malt extract is a thick syrup consisting of the sugars extracted from malted grains. At Engine 15 they employ a hybrid approach. First we ground up some malt, wrapped it in cheesecloth, and stuck it in the boiling waters of the brew kettle.

This part of the process is called mashing. The starches in the grain are broken down into sugars by the heat and the enzymes created during the malting process. What you end up with is a liquid called wort which is later filtered out of the mash. Since we didn't use a particularly large amount of actual malt, we supplemented our wort with the malt extract. To put it in crude terms, the wort is to beer what grape juice is to wine. It is the fermentable fuel upon which your carefully chosen strand of yeast is going to feast; converting sugars into ethanol.

The next part of the process calls for the addition of hops to the mix. Hops are the flower cones from the female Common hop (Humulus lupus) plant. Hops are used as a buttering agent to balance out the sweetness of the wort (which can still be a bit sweet even after fermentation) and for its antibiotic properties. There are many varieties of hops and they can be added to the wort at different times throughout the boiling process in order to impart different aromas and flavors.

Once the boiling process is complete, the wort is filtered, cooled, and transferred to a fermentation vessel. If I remember correctly, the yeast is added at this point and the vessel is sealed, not to be opened for three weeks or more as the yeast works on converting as many of the sugars in the wort into ethanol before dying of acute alcohol intoxication.

When the the fermentation process is complete, you must return to Engine 15 to bottle your brew. Again, cleanliness is key and everything is sanitized. Drinking beer while bottling is not required but is strongly recommended. Now I understand why some microbreweries don't bottle their beer. It's incredibly repetitive work but can be an enjoyable experience when armed with a pint and the knowledge that you're not going to be doing it very often (if ever again).

So here they are, the finished products: Ping Pong Pale Ale and Mess You Up Wheat. Both brews were pretty good and their character changed over the weeks they aged in the bottles.

Conclusion: do it. Overall it was a great experience, ideal for small teams if you have a group of interested friends or an employer who doesn't object to such activities. But even if you can't be bothered, you can always just head to Engine 15 for a good sausage and a great beer.




Engine 15 Brewing Company
1500 Beach Blvd. #217
Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250

(904) 249-2337

Speckled Hen Tavern & Grille

The gastropub is one of the biggest and most welcome trends in the modern culinary landscape. What could be better than paring responsible quantities of quality beer with quality food?

Jacksonville's newest gastropub is The Speckled Hen Tavern & Grille and it's already generating quite a buzz despite being open for only a matter of weeks. Situated just north of the movie theaters at the Avenues on US 1 in a spot previously inhabited by a Beef O'Brady's, it's clear that The Speckled Hen intends to rely on much more than location to bring in business. While it may seem like an odd choice of venue, that part of town is sorely lacking in the dinner and drinks department, making this ambitious newcomer the logical choice when either of those are in your plans and you happen to be in the neighborhood.

The draft beer options are a little slim at the moment but they do have some good brews available, including Duke's Cold Nose Brown Ale by Jacksonville's very own Bold City Brewery. I think there were about eight taps up and running when we visited and I can only assume that they plan to expand their collection as the restaurant gains some momentum.

But although this place is a self-proclaimed "Gastropub" (and rightly so), the food really is the centerpiece of the experience. Rather than dabbling in clever variations on typical bar food, the creative minds behind The Speckled Hen have instead taken their influence from the cuisine of the surrounding landscape with an incredible variety of Southern themed dishes. Reading through the menu, it's hard not to order one of everything just to try it all. Among the many appetizers (which we regrettably did not get to try) there are gems like Duck Fries, Wood-grilled Datil Pepper Glazed Chicken Drumettes, King Crab Mac N' Cheese, Beer Braised Short Rib Spring Rolls, and Pickled Shrimp. Out of these items and the rest of the appetizers, there's not a single one I wouldn't love to try.

Moving onto the entrees reveals even more oddly delicious sounding meals like the Root Beer Glazed Bone-In Pork Chop and the Crispy Fried Cornmeal Crusted Catfish. It was a tough decision but I ended up settling on the Wood-grilled Sweet Tea Brined Chicken Breast which was covered in melted goat cheese and sweet red pepper "chow chow" and served over some pieces of their chipotle cornbread. I've had some pretty amazing meals over the past few months, both locally and in distant cities, but this one may just top them all. While one may be tempted to write off some of the quirkier menu items as gimmicks, there's no denying their brilliance after a few glorious mouthfuls.

Be excited, fellow Northeast Floridians. Things are getting interesting around here and The Speckled Hen just upped the game. This is one place I won't have a hard time revisiting in lieu of trying something new.




Speckled Hen Tavern & Grille
9475-16 Phillips Highway
Jacksonville, FL 32256

J P Henley's

Bars, bars, bars… they're everywhere. A good pub, on the other hand, is a bit harder to find around these parts. I am, of course, eternally grateful for the existence of Kickbacks but sometimes a person needs a change of venue without having to sacrifice quality.

Just down the road in St. Augustine, the pub scene is far more bountiful. There are some great little haunts in the Nation's Oldest City but none captures my heart quite like J P Henley's does. First off, I must admit a slight bit of impartiality as they do have my favorite beer on tap there: the unparalleled Franziskaner Dunkelweizen. Please, if you enjoy a good beer and have never tried a dunkelweizen, do yourself a favor and run out to Total Wine and pick one of these glorious beverages up. Or, better yet, stop by J P Henley's, because if you're not as impressed by the dunkelweizen as I am, there are around fifty other beers on tap and a couple hundred different bottles, almost all of which are good quality craft brews or imports. There's also over a hundred different wines from around the world for all of you oenophiles out there.

But even if you're not in the mood for a drink, Henley's is still great for a bite to eat. Appetizers that exude culture (baked brie: delicious, decadent and dignified), a great selection of fresh salads, and some gourmet sandwiches. To top it all off, Henley's has one of the most relaxing atmospheres around; even when there's a crowd it's still relatively low key. Enjoy, just don't blame me if it turns you off your local sport's bar… ok, blame me, just don't expect any reparations.



J P Henley's
10 Marine Street
St Augustine, FL 32084-4407
(904) 829-3337

Kickbacks Gastro Pub

A favorite haunt of local scenesters, bloggers, and beer enthusiasts, Kickbacks is a self-described gastro-pub boasting 60 beers on tap, almost 300 bottled varieties, and an amazing array of food items.

Kickbacks has been on my radar for a while but, as always, my unrelenting cynicism led me to suspect the good press was all hype. First off, I don't particularly like bars. There's the smoke, the noise, the smelly people spilling beer on you, etc. Kickbacks eradicated concern number one because the significant amount of food-based revenue means no smoking inside. You do have the noise and the crowds but you can't really fault a place for being popular, especially when it delivers on its promises: good food and excellent beer.

There's a great selection of beers on draft so I didn't even bother with the bottle list. I'm a beer snob and I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of good-quality, lesser known imported beers and craft brews on tap but they even have a few of the "regulars" for the less sophisticated among us. The ambiance lends itself quite nicely to sipping a pint or two. Dimly lit with beer tap handles, glasses, and empty bottles adorning the ceiling; it somehow draws a fine line between dive and distinguished.

I haven't been particularly hungry the times I've visited but didn't want to pass up an opportunity to try the food (the menu is just as extensive as the beer list) so the first time I ordered a basket of the jalapeno shrimp poppers. Good, tasty, filling. Very filling. Too filling. I could definitely see them coming in handy were I have been doing more drinking. I've also tried the southern spring rolls and those were tasty but quite decadent as well.

Kickbacks is a place I'd love to go back to regularly. Good beer, good food, just perhaps not the best place to try hold a conversation unless you like shouting at your friends.

Their web page isn't functional at the moment (The default Apache "It works!" message is the only content) but hopefully they'll get it up and running some time this year.


Kickbacks
910 King St
Jacksonville, FL 32204
(904) 388-9551

O'Brothers Irish Pub

Ethnically, I'm an anglo mutt. British, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh with some mainland European thrown in for good measure. My wife's descendants were all full blooded Irish and she's even got the stereotypical red hair to prove it. Perhaps then it's our genetics that account for our attraction to the pub scene. Or I could dispense with that line of utter bollocks and instead attribute our fondness to living and traveling in places where such establishments are far more prevalent. But while our city is still pretty slim in the traditional pub department, we now have one more location to add to the collection.

O'Brothers Irish Pub was formed from the ashes of Avondale's Preservation Tap & Chophouse and Dona Maria's Mexican Restaurant in ownership and location respectively. The $35,000 needed to renovate the space was raised through unconventional means. Prior to opening, the owners offered 100 "patron packages" at $350 a piece which included an O'Brother's T-shirt and $100 in food gift certificates per month for six months. Sounds like a pretty good investment deal for rabid pub patrons.

And while there are some deviations from the traditional pub setup (you don't order at the bar and I can't seem to remember seeing a dart board) this is about the closest you can get to a pub around here. Looks like a pub, tastes like a pub, I think it's a pub. The large menu combines traditional stodgy pub food, like the Bangers and Mash and Irish Breakfast we ordered, along with some creative twists, like the Shrimp and Chicken Curry, in addition to standard American restaurant fare. What we tasted was deliciously authentic and the prices were reasonable.

Another great feature of O'Brothers is the availability of beers not typically seen in these parts. I had the London Pride and quite enjoyed it. I'd be forced to make my visits more frequent if they began offering my favorite British beer, Tetley's English Ale, but I'm still impressed with the refreshing variety they have on tap.

Hours are Monday - Saturday from 11am until all of the drunks leave but they're closed on Sundays so you're going to need to find an alternative location for your Sunday Shepherd's Pie fix. Oh, and one word of caution: some of the staff might try to fool you with an affected brogue when they're really no more Irish than a box of Lucky Charms cereal, but don't blame them for trying.

O'Brothers Irish Pub
1521 Margaret Street
Jacksonville, FL 32204
904-854-9300