Well That's Cool

Well it’s that time of the year again…

A time were we start gearing up for spring by knocking the dust off the lawnmower that has been shuttered away for the past six months and plan to get all that cleaning and work done.

Sounds like a bummer right?

Well this is also the time of the year for Tuscaloosa’s own celebration of southern beers.  Yes my friends, it is time for Suds of the South III.  For those who have come to the first to can attest this is a great event with a focus on southern breweries.  The goal is show people that good beer does not only have to come from the west coast, Colorado or any where else.  We are lucky enough in the south to have some of the best breweries around. This event is also a fundraiser for freethehops.org, with out their work we would have so many less choices.

Suds of the South III will take place on Saturday March 10th from 4pm to 7pm.  Attendees will receive a keep sake glass on entry and receive samples from each brewery throughout the event.  A limited amount of early bird tickets are available for $15 and after that they go to $20 . Many of the breweries bring special extremely limited releases just for this event.  We will have a full list of beers in the coming weeks, but here is a list of the breweries involved:

Alabama

Good People (Birmingham)

• IPA
• Brown
• Coffee Oatmeal Stout
• Special rare batch announced the week before

Back Forty (Gadsden)

• Naked Pig
• Kudzu Porter
• Truck Stop Brown
• Freckle Belly IPA
•  Special rare batch announced the week before

Avondale (Birmingham)

Straight to Ale (Huntsville)

• Monkeynaut IPA
• Lily Flagg Milk Stout
• Montesano Maibock
• Rocket City Red (Irish Red)
• Special rare batch announced the week before

Blue Pants (Huntsville)

Yellow hammer (Huntsville)

Georgia

Terrapin (Athens)

• Hop Karma (India Brown)
• Rye
• Hopsecutioner
• Special rare batch announced the week before

Sweetwater (Atlanta)

Tennessee

Yazoo (Nashville)

• Hop Project
• Slye Rye Porter
• Special Cask announced week before event

Mississippi

Lazy Magnolia (Kiln)

Louisiana

Abita (Abita Springs)

Nola (New Orleans)

• Blond
• Hopitoulas IPA

North Carolina

Highland (Asheville )

Our sympathizer from outside the south

Tallgrass (Manhattan Kansas)

• 8 bit hop Rocketed Pale Ale
• Velvet Rooster Triple
• IPA
• Buffalo Sweat

Here are some highlights from the last few years events!  Be sure to get your tickets soon.  You don’t want to miss out on one of the best beer events in the state!

Popularity: 20% [?]

Only the best clip art for us

Every year around this time, we here at the well that’s cool headquarters get the hankering for the savory bean, meat and spice concoction known as chili. So how do we fulfill the gastronomic self flagellation of ingesting as many batches of chili as we can while drinking beer? The “11th Annual Asses of Fire Chili Cookoff” at Egans of course. So if you got some mad chili skills and want to show them off to Tuscaloosa, come to Egans on Saturday Feb. 25th. Registration is from 2:00pm to 3:45pm with judging by panel starting at 4:15pm. You’ll need to bring a crock pot, your own ladle and even better it’s free to enter. We will award the top two chilis with cash prizes with third place taking home a case of beer. It gets even better. If you take the time to make a chili, you shall be rewarded $1.50 Bud and Bud Lights and $2.50 full pints of any of Egans drafts. If you wish to partake in the adventure but don’t want to make a chili,  you may dine on the smorgasboard of chilis for a mere $3.  Is there a better way to spend a non-football Saturday in Tuscaloosa than hanging out with cool people, drinking beer and eating chili? We dare say no. Hope to see you there! For more info email us at wellthatscool(at)gmail

Popularity: 8% [?]

Wilhagans is the recipient of only two kegs of Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van De Keizer Blauw/Blue in the whole state. A name that long normally scares us but reading the reviews on bot Beer Advocate and Rate Beer make me think this beer will bring a tear to a glass eye.  Rate beer includes a great description.

Every year on the 24th of February, the birthday of “Charles the fifth”, the Brewery brews the Gouden Carolus “Cuvee of the Emperor” in a limited quantity and with an eye on the highest quality and tradition. This unique brewing, with only extra fine Belgian hops and with a higher alcohol level, guarantees a better evolution in the time, than the already known Gouden Carolus. This beer, as all our beers, is 100 % natural, with no preservatives, no adjuncts and no chemicals. We bottle it in bottles of 75 cl and closed with a quality cork. Excellent to store several years. Every year the public is invited to assist to the

So there you go a beer brewed for a kings birthday (and here we thought The Champagne of Beers was classy) that rates as high as any beer we’ve every seen. We’ve heard of this beer selling for $12 a pint but Wilhagans owner Bill Lloyd says he will be selling it for much less then that. It’s your last chance here in Alabama to enjoy this uber rare beer so go forth and drink my friends.

Popularity: 16% [?]

It hasn’t been all bad, though. In Alabama I was going to school full time and working 3 jobs. In Texas, The Art of Unemployment: A New Wellthatscool.com Craft Column

This past April, my worst nightmare became a reality. Now, I’m not talking about the tornado that ripped through our beloved Tuscaloosa (although that was pretty damn scary, too). I’m talking about finding myself at age 25, unemployed, and living with my parents. Overnight I went from graduate student with a great set of friends and a cozy apartment to asking my Dad if I could borrow the car on a Saturday night.

I don’t clock in anywhere and I’ve made a significant dent in my pleasure reading list. At first this was absolutely thrilling, but the novelty wore off pretty quickly and I went looking for productive ways to use my newfound wealth of time.

This is where the “Craft Bucket List” comes in.  There are a million and one projects I’ve been putting off for years—doing derogatory needlepoint, making homemade toothpaste, constructing a bottle tree, etc. Now I’m finding all of the coolest DIY projects out there, taking the time to refine them, and sharing them with you.

The inaugural project is an adaptation of the New York Times’ famous No Knead Bread Recipe.  The original recipe calls for an 18-24 hour prep time, but this recipe yields a fabulous loaf of bread in as little as 8 hours. The ingredients are cheap, and the prep is fast.  Once you bake one of these babies, it’ll be hard to ever go back to buying from the store!

You’re going to need:

3 C Bread flour  

1 ¼  TSP Salt

¾ TSP Traditional dry yeast

1 ¼ C Warm water

Mixing bowl

Kitchen towel

Baking sheet

Dutch oven or all-metal pot with lid

Olive oil for greasing pans

Get it together:

A.  Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

B.  Add water and stir until all ingredients are well blended. The resulting dough should still be a little bit sticky.

C.  Cover the bowl with a damp towel and place it in the warmest part of your kitchen to rise for 6-8 hours. I leave my dough outside to rise because the stifling summer heat gives an excellent rise at around 6 hours. Prepping the dough only takes about 5 minutes, so you can set it out before a shift at work, and when you get back it’ll be ready!

D.  Once the dough has risen, transfer it onto a baking sheet that you’ve spread with olive oil. Give the top of the dough a little wipe with olive oil as well, and then cover it with a towel for an hour.

E.   While the dough is expanding, preheat the oven to 450 F. You’ll need to put your Dutch oven or lidded pot in the oven while it is getting hot. The cold dough hitting the hot vessel is what is going to create the nice crunchy crust on the bottom.  It is SUPER important that if you aren’t using a Dutch oven, you are using a pot that with no plastic parts. You can always call the cookware manufacturer to make sure that it can withstand the temperature.

F.  Drop the dough from the baking sheet into the vessel. Don’t worry about the way the dough lands in the pot! The cruder the drop, the more “rustic” the look of the finished loaf. You can carefully wipe the inside of the pot with a little olive oil to prevent sticking if you’d like. Bake at 450 F for 30 minutes with the lid on.

G. At the 30 minute mark, remove the lid from the vessel and continue to bake for 15 minutes. The fifteen minutes without the lid is going to give the loaf a beautiful golden crust on top.

H. After the total bake time of 45 minutes, remove the loaf from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Now you’re ready to enjoy your beautiful loaf with butter, jam, or whatever your heart desires! Enjoy!

Ed. Note  We are so happy to be working with Ally again. Even if she is in Texas now (because she crawled out out her hose with just her backpack left after storm) she is always with us in sprite. We can’t wait to see what else she will craft for your reading pleasure.

Popularity: 29% [?]

We are proud to have partnered with our favorite bama blog, rollbamaroll, to sponsor The Sunshine Express. The express was a cross country donation drive of much need relief supplies donated by the Bama family all the way from Southern California to here in Tuscaloosa. The truck was driven by RBR author Kleph. After dropping supplies here, he also used the truck to ferry goods to many of the surrounding areas including Jasper.  The amount of love and help we have seen has been nothing short of a miraculous. While just a drop in the bucket, we realize this is a marathon and not a sprint.  Wellthatscool, as well as RBR, are gonna roll up our sleeves and be with it for the long haul. We have ended our podcast from day one with this as our motto: “Improving Tuscaloosa Together.” In a small way, this was a tangible proof of what needs to be done and will continue to need to be done. We are gonna get through these dark times together.

Popularity: 35% [?]

This was the story for Suds of The South II for tickets to SOTS III please go here http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/228271

The Suds of the South Beerfest has returned to Tuscaloosa!

When people think of craft beer, they often think of the Pacific Northwest, Colorado or even Delaware. One place that does not get the respect it deserves is the South. That’s why wellthatscool.com is proud to present the “Suds of The South”. This event will take place at Wilhagans in Tuscaloosa on Saturday March 12th from 4 to 7 pm. The featured breweries include Good People Brewing (Birmingham, AL), Straight to Ale (Huntsville, AL), Back Forty Beer Co. (Gadsden, AL), Terrapin Beer Co. (Athens, GA), Sweetwater Brewing Co. (Atlanta, Ga), Yazoo Brewing Co. (Nashville, TN), Highland Brewing Co. (Asheville, NC), Lazy Magnolia Brewing Co. (Kiln, MS) and Abita Beer (Abita Springs LA). This year we are pleased to announce a rotating, non-southern addition every year which we will call the “sympathizer”. This year’s “sympathizer” will be Bell’s Brewery (Galesburg MI). Each attendee will receive a 3oz keepsake glass and get to move around and try beer from all the breweries. Good People and Back Forty are planning on bring special, exclusive beers for the event. This event is a fundraiser for Free the Hops. So by attending, you not only get to try great beers but you also get to help the fight of changing Alabama’s antiquated beer laws. A limited number of early buyer tickets are on sale for $10 and $15. After those are sold out, the price will increase to $20. Get your tickets here https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/157529

Popularity: 48% [?]

Every year around this time, we here at the well that’s cool headquarters get the hankering for the savory bean, meat and spice concoction known as chili. So how do we fulfill the gastronomic self flagellation of ingesting as many batches of chili as we can while drinking beer? The “10th Annual Asses of Fire Chili Cookoff” at Egans of course. So if you got some mad chili skills and want to show them off to Tuscaloosa, come to Egans on Saturday Feb. 19th. Registration is from 2:00pm to 3:45pm with judging by panel starting at 4:15pm. You’ll need to bring a crock pot, your own ladle and $3 to enter. We will award the top two chilis with cash prizes with third place taking home a case of beer. It gets even better. If you take the time to make a chili, you shall be rewarded with $1.50 Shetland (8oz) as well as $2.50 full pints of any of Egans drafts. If you wish to partake in the adventure but don’t want to make a chili,  you may dine on the smorgasboard of chilis for a mere 3$.  Is there a better way to spend a non-football Saturday in Tuscaloosa than hanging out with cool people, drinking beer and eating chili? We dare say no. Hope to see you there!

Popularity: 26% [?]

If there is something we here at wellthatscool.com love it’s beer. There is also something else we love and that’s school. If not, why have some many of us been in it for so long? Some would say that my four years at Shelton would be about two too many, but I say they are incorrect. How else is a person supposed to make sure they have soaked up all the information? So with that in mind, we are glad to announce Beer School at Wilhagans. For $30, you can attend six one-hour classes. All of which will be held at Wilhagan’s on Wednesday nights at 6pm. The six-week class is limited to 50 people and sign-ups will be ongoing at Wilhagan’s until the class is full. I know a lot of our readers feel they have done enough field research on this but the world of beer just keeps growing and there is always more to learn. Did we mention there will be free samples of all the beers we talk about? Did we also mention that all proceeds go to freethehops.org? Once you graduate “Magna Cum Lager,” you’ll also get in 30 minutes early and receive 50% off the price of admission to the wellthatscool.com’s 2nd annual “Suds of The South” beer event. Spots are very limited and if you want to go,  please head over to Wilhagans and sign up. Remember the wise words of School House Rocks, “It’s great to learn ’cause knowledge is power!” Hope to see you there!

Popularity: 21% [?]

I love to take people to Nick’s that have never been there before as their first impression of the joint is priceless. It’s a small cinder block building with no sign. And you know what? That’s fine because it doesn’t need one.

Nick’s in the Sticks is a Tuscaloosa gem. A true diamond in the rough. A Nick’s steak is without a doubt a deliciously cooked masterpiece. Most steak places I’ve eaten at in town are a hit or miss. Sometimes cooked appropriately other times not. But at Nick’s, it’s never been anything but perfect…And I’ve eaten there a lot over the past 15 years. Adorning my steak is always its expected counterparts, the baked potato and salad. As you would expect, the salad isn’t going to be getting any awards for the amount of various fresh greens and vegetables in it, but it’s satisfying. Plus their house dressing is a blend of ranch and bleu cheese which is great to quench the thirst even the snobbiest of ranch dressing eaters. Namely myself. It’s good.

But man/woman can not live on steak alone. No sir. There has to be a tasty beverage to wash it all down. Nick’s has such a beverage aptly named the Nicodemus. Had a rough day at work? Had a rough week at work? Did your dog die? Did your wife get pregnant after you had a vasectomy? The Nicodemus is potent enough to cure all these ailments and more. It’s red, will come with a cherry and be served in a styrofoam cup. Oh, and it’ll be topped with a shot of 151 Bacardi. The rest of the ingredients are a secret but if I were guessing, I’d say it had rum, vodka, tequila and Hawaiian punch. And a little bit of love. Drink two of these and you’ll know no pain.

When you get to Nicks, you’re probably going to have to wait for a table. It’s going to be that busy and there’s only 10 or so tables in the place. Here’s what you do. Get your name on the list and then go inside. Walk up to the bar and order a round of Nicodemi for your party. If you look like you’re in college, have an ID handy for each drink you order because they will ask. Then go back outside and enjoy the patio, drinks and your friends. Just like most restaurants I eat at in this town, Nick’s is laid back so leave your BA at home.

Intangibles:

1. Having a party of more than 6 will make it damn near impossible to get a table. I’d recommend a party of 4 or plan on sitting separately.
2. You won’t get a check after your meal is done. When you’re finished eating, walk up to the bar and point at which table you ate at.
3. Weekends at Nick’s is the most crowded time. I’ve eaten there on weekdays and not waited for a table at all. So I recommend going during the week.
4. You can probably forget eating there on gamedays.

If you’ve never been to Nick’s, I’d recommend getting someone to take you there. Unless you know what you’re looking for, it’s a little hard to find. Give me an email, I’ll go with you.

Here’s Nick’s in the Stick’s

Popularity: 17% [?]

Ichiban Japanese Grill

Ichiban is a small, yet cozy Japanese grill restaurant that has a menu to please both the sushi and hibachi grill lover.  I visited the restaurant on three separate occasions and found the food, service and overall experience enjoyable.

The outside décor of Ichiban isn’t going to win any awards since it is located in the old, rundown shopping center shared with the AMF Bama Bowl. But the inside remodeling job was tastefully done and provided a nice visual experience to augment their food.  It hinted just enough of a Japanese motif but was not completely immersive like some other ethnic restaurants in the area.  The dining room is a little small and is divided into two sides by a walkway that leads to the entrance/exit.  They have table seating as well as high back booths that provide a little privacy in a small area.

On all three visits over the last week, I found the food at each visit to be outstanding.  On my first two visits, I got the same meal. It consisted of the basic Tapanyaki Chicken box with fried rice, two crab Rangoon pieces, salad with Japanese Vinaigrette on the first visit and their Ginger salad dressing on the second.   While I could not see the kitchen, it appeared that my chicken was prepared on a hibachi grill.  It was cooked to golden brown and still remained juicy and tender. While the salad was just iceberg lettuce, both dressings were delicious and were unique from other Japanese places in town.  I found them both good complements to the iceberg lettuce.  The fried rice was typical containing peas, egg, onion, etc.  It was prepared well and possessed good flavor and was visually appealing.  The shrimp sauce that comes with each box is delicious.  I noticed many customers wanting extra and even wanting it on their salads.

On my last trip to Ichiban I decided to try their sushi.  I do not profess by any means to be an expert on sushi but I do know what I like and I feel like I can describe it well for the layman sushi eater.  I chose two rolls on this occasion, the Spicy Monster Roll and the Sun Roll.  The Sun Roll was my favorite of the two. It had smoked salmon, avocado and cream cheese.  As one can imagine, the texture of this roll was extremely smooth due to the cream cheese and avocado. The smoked salmon flavor  was, for lack of a better word, smoky. The fact that the sun roll was tasty and different definitely made it my favorite. If you have a first time sushi eater in your group, this roll would probably make a nice starter.   The Spicy Monster Roll contained shrimp, cucumber and hot house mustard.  I found the hot mustard to be the upside of this roll as it gave it a little kick.  I’m not a huge fan of cucumbers so this is probably why this roll was my least favorite of the two.  However, it was still enjoyable.

The price of the food at Ichiban is surprisingly low given the higher quality of their food.  When I had the dinner boxes, my total bill excluding tip was not over $9.00 and I had tea as well.  The sushi rolls were also priced to please.  Both rolls ran approximately $5.00 each so my bill was around $12.00 after tax.

The staff at Ichiban is what makes the place shine.  On my first visit, I was there on a Wednesday around 7pm.  For whatever reason, there was only one server working the floor and she was managing it like a pro.  She had a packed house and was still able to keep everyone satisfied.   My next two visits found the place adequately staffed with friendly, courteous and helpful people.  On my sushi night, my server noticed that I had poked some of my cucumbers out of my Spicy Monster Roll and offered the advice of leaving them off on my next visit.  Since I am a relatively new to sushi, I appreciated the help.  While I was eating, I noticed  the cashier speaking personally to a lot of her customers.  This was very pleasing to me as it shows a couple of things:  one being that she has repeat customers and secondly, she talks to them as people and not solely as a revenue stream.  Oddly enough, when I paid my bill on the last night, she knew me from my previous visits and actually knew what I had each time.  Amazing and refreshing.  I eat out a lot and frequent the same places over and over.  Never have I been noticed or called out for my previous visits. While just being remembered in place probably should not be that big of a deal, it meant a lot to me and really did make a difference.

All in all, Ichiban Japanese Grill hit the spot.  With a combination of great service, really good food and acceptable prices, you really cannot go wrong here if you’re looking for a mainstay Japanese restaurant to satisfy your appetite.

Intangibles:

1. Closed for lunch on Mondays
2. Great for a first date or casual meeting
3. You do not pay at the table.  They will give you a ticket slip. Take that to the cashier at the window when you’re done.
4. I would not say that food preparation is slow but it takes some time to prepare.  Go with plenty of time, especially if they are crowded.
5. I do not have kids but seems kid friendly.  Kids would love the boxes. Chicken, rice, lettuce. Perfect for junior and you can have sushi.
6. Afterwards, go bowling at the AMF Bama Bowl next door to end a good night

Popularity: 14% [?]