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Great South Bay Brewery released Goofy Foot Milk Stout, a 4.1% ABV milk stout comprised of chocolate malt, roasted barley, and Fuggles hops, and the first beer from its Tasting Room Exclusive Brew Series, on February 2.

Description of Goofy Foot Milk Stout:

Goofy Foot Milk Stout is an American Sweet Stout that curiously reverses your stance on traditional taste. It’s dark, frothy body emits an aroma of chocolate harmonizing your senses. The roasted flavor smacks you up-front, while the caramel essence rips down the middle only to be displaced by a sweet, milky creaminess that tails in on you. Get a good hold on this brew as this is not your daddy’s stout. Goofy Foot takes you on an epic run from your first sip to it’s sweet ending, wooing you to paddle back for more. As we drop in on a new season, you’ll be excited to ride the wave of flavor that stands opposite in Goofy Foot Milk Stout. Mooooo!

Style: American Milk Stout
Color: 31 SRM
ABV 4.1
Hops: Fuggles
Grain: Chocolate Malt, Roasted Barley
Food Pairing: Braised Oaxacan Mole Short Ribs
Cheese: Swiss Hoch Ybrig
Dessert: Chocolate Fondant Cake

Though the entire batch of Goofy Foot Milk Stout was consumed, Great South Bay Brewery continues its series of tasting room-only beers with Snozberry Stout, on February 9.

Description of Snozberry Stout:

Our Snozberry Stout is brewed with 105% fresh Snozberries grown locally here on the Great South Bay. This deliciously whimsical fruity brew was inspired by the hard working Snozberrymen who rake for fresh Snozberries on the bay all day long.

The concealed secrets of Snozberry Stout will not be revealed until its exclusive release at the Great South Bay Brewery Tasting Room on Thursday Feb 9th from 3pm -8pm. We do confirm that we are the beer makers and that we are the brewers of the brew…And that there maybe a little butterscotch ripple used in the recipe. A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.

Tasting Room Exclusive Brew Series Schedule

Goofy Foot Milk Stout :: February 2
Snozberry Stout :: February 9
Chipotle Porter :: February 23
Sandpiper Irish Ale :: March 1
Tough Guy IPA :: March 8

You remember thinking that you’d never seen anything so small.

The tiny buttons seemed impossible for adult fingers to maneuver. The shoes wouldn’t accommodate your big toe, the little hat barely fit over your fist, and the teensy socks? They looked like they’d been knitted by fairies.

Little things for little people, that’s what they were, and your child grew so fast that she wore them just once.  That’s what babies do: they shoot up like the proverbial bad weed. But, as you’ll see in the new memoir “Fragile Beginnings” by Adam Wolfberg, MD, sometimes, that’s not enough.

Kelly Lowry sensed that something wasn’t quite right.

With three months to go before her third child was due, Kelly knew she shouldn’t be having contractions. Lowry and her husband, Adam Wolfberg, planned to name their baby Larissa and their two older girls were eager for a little sister, although not for several more weeks.

But Larissa couldn’t wait, and was born after 28 weeks in the womb. As an obstetrics resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Adam Wolfberg knew what this early birth meant for his daughter, and it wasn’t good.

Generally speaking, babies born before a certain point in pregnancy die more often than not, says Wolfberg. Almost every hospital has established policies concerning the life-or-death decisions made for the smallest newborns and doctors give their best, but the truth is that some babies are simply born too small to survive.

About the size of a man’s hand, Larissa was in that “iffy” zone with a prognosis that might’ve been better, had she not suffered bleeding in her brain as a result of birth. Tests indicated that the situation was severe but though there was hope, the probability was that she would have severe physical and mental impairments.

Wolfberg searched every corner of the internet for scraps of good news while Larissa got the best care possible. Still, though researchers constantly look for ways to help babies in her situation – as well as adults who’ve suffered head and spinal injuries – doctors didn’t seem too optimistic for her.

But then the little girl surprised everyone: she thrived.

There’s a lot to like about “Fragile Beginnings,” starting with the hope that it gives to parents of the tiniest of babies.

As an obstetrician, author Adam Wolfberg had a unique perspective on his daughter’s care and the cutting-edge research that went into it. Wolfberg gives his readers an idea of what’s happening in laboratories and hospitals in the U.S. and Canada, and how the brain’s plasticity could give patients and parents some exciting news.

As a father, though, Wolfberg the doctor became Wolfberg the patient, and his reaction to that gives this memoir another different slant. Frustration of this sort is something we just don’t read about very often…

I won’t give away the ending of this book; you’ll have to read it yourself. Let’s just say, though, that if you’re a parent, at under 200 pages and like every little thing, “Fragile Beginnings” will mean a lot.

In the aftermath of Christmas and near the end of the football season, I managed to attend two music events that were very much under the radar and visited a recording session in progress.

Fornatale & Garfunkel

Pete Fornatale, legendary FM DJ and author, gave a talk and an audio-video presentation in support of his book on Simon & Garfunkel’s Bookends album at the Port Washington public library on December 28th. At the end of the presentation he stunned the small crowd by bringing out Art Garfunkel. Garfunkel is slowly recuperating from throat problems and is easing back into singing.

The small, intimate performance, Garfunkel’s second recent one with Fornatale, featured four songs sung with just acoustic guitar backing. Although a little ragged and tentative, Garfunkel at less than 100% is still a better singer than 90% of the auto-tuned voices on the charts these days. Garfunkel sang four songs, including “Scarborough Fair” and “Sounds of Silence”. He also hung around long enough for an informal Q&A, fielding questions from both Fornatale and the audience. When asked to name his favorite songwriters for example he said, “Randy Newman, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Jimmy Webb and Stephen Sondheim.” He praised Taylor as someone with whom he loves to sing. Garfunkel appeared very relaxed, articulate and thoughtful in his answers. I will treasure hearing one of the truly great singers of the rock era perform in such an informal intimate setting and to hear him answer questions about his remarkable career.

By the way, Fornatale, actress Phylicia Rashad and singer Rosanne Cash will be the recipients of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) Foundation’s 2012 AFTRA Media and Entertainment Excellence Awards (The AMEES). The honorees will receive their awards at the AMEES dinner gala benefit to be held Feb. 6, 2012 at The Plaza Hotel in New York.         
     
Secret Soul Special

James Morrison is part of the British soul revival since he released his debut album in 2006. His new CD The Awakening (Universal/Republic), his first album in three years, is his best yet and appears on the brink of exploding in America.

Morrison played an exclusive, secret, invite only show at the tiny Dominion bar and performing space in NoHo in Manhattan on January 17th.  With the CEO of Universal Records in attendance, Morrison played one of those shows by an artist about to break wide open in a small club people will be talk about for years to come. Playing his new album almost in its entirety, Morrison sang great and received wonderful support from his crack band. The new album is beautifully produced and I really wondered how it would come across live. If anything, some of the songs sounded even better live, expanding into to raucous soul rave-ups.

Morrison is an engaging and energetic performer bursting with youthful exuberance. He truly seemed to be enjoying himself and is very lighthearted in his approach. He will return to the states with a full-scale tour in the spring.

Dylan Uncovered Revisited

I sat in on one of the sessions for the upcoming Huntington-based Paradiddle Records second Dylan Uncovered release. Butchers Blind was the band and the Dylan song it cut, “Queen Jane Approximately,” is one of my favorite Dylan songs for many reasons. The band’s take on the song is almost Steely Dan, Can’t By A Thrill-like in feel. Butchers Blind is one of the local bands most likely to explode nationally and it’s scary how good this band is considering how young its members are. Bill Herman, who runs the label with Tom Crawford, also played me a few other tracks for the upcoming Dylan release. A track by Jack’s Waterfall, another local band on the cusp of breaking out nationally is also a knock-out.

Blue Point Brewing Company released its seventh 22 oz bottle, No Apologies, on February 3.

It is currently available in the Patchogue-based brewery’s tasting room.

According to Curt Potter, director of branding and communications for Blue Point Brewing Company, bottles containing the 10.00% ABV IIPA “should be in some stores by this weekend.”

Blue Point Brewing Company also produces BP Toxic Sludge, Old Howling Bastard, Pale Ale, Rastafarye Ale, and Toasted Lager in 22oz bottles.

Description of No Apologies:

Our Imperial or Double IPA is a brew not to be taken lightly. But if you happen to find it on draft somewhere, be sure to drink as much as you can because its availability is very, very limited. Crafted only in small batches from the finest European malts and American hops, the huge earthy dry hop aroma of Blue Point Brewing’s No Apologies is followed by a pleasant caramel sweetness. Four hop varieties round out this perfectly balanced big ale that’s sure to warm your soul and for that, we offer absolutely NO APOLOGIES!!!

Long Ireland Beer Company releases Double IPA, a 10.6% ABV IIPA comprised of three malts and four hops, via bottle on February 11.

According to Greg Martin, co-owner of Long Ireland Beer Company, “there were 10 hop additions during the brewing of our second bottle, and dry-hopping every seven days over three weeks.”

Though Double IPA is not a one-time release, initial production is limited to 4,200 bottles.

The sole draft release of Double IPA pours at Bobbique on February 10 (6:00PM).