Thursday, Jul. 30, 2009
From Freestyle to Freeze-Style
Frīs Vodka
You have to see Freestyle Music Park’s fireworks show at least once. Synchronized with clips of famous tunes by Van Halen, Motley Crüe, Guns n’ Roses, Nirvana, Queen, and other bands, “Kiss the Sky Rock N’ Roll Nighttime Spectacular” goes off at 10 each night, and luckily, you can drink beer while watching.
At restaurants including The Big Q and Acapulco Phil’s Mexico Café, Yuengling, Budweiser, Bud Light and others are available at $5.49 each, for what I approximated to be a 16-ounce serving. A larger souvenir guitar-shaped cup, filled with beer, was $9.99. Another park eatery, Thunderin’ Lightening, has a full bar, and there I noticed Blue Moon white ale, which I didn’t see at the other two places.
So you can enjoy cold beer and the fireworks show at the same time, unless you have a 4-year-old, in which case you must shield her ears from the explosions instead of sipping.
Beer and rock ’n’ roll go together like beer and everything, so of course The Trading Post shop, attached to the Iron Horse roller coaster, carries beer-branded goods like Miller High Life, Coors Light, and Miller Lite branded flip-flops, at $20 per pair. There was also a Miller High Life straw cowboy hat for $20, which I thought was cool, even if it is the last thing I would actually wear.
Enter Freestyle Music Park (formerly Hard Rock Park), located off U.S. 501 between George Bishop Parkway and Backstage Boulevard, for $19.99. Go before 4 p.m., and it’s two tickets for $19.99.
freeze distilled
The liquor store in my neighborhood did not have Ketel One. It was time to step outside my comfort zone and try something different. Frïs vodka, from Denmark, was $12 and change for 750 milliliters. The “freeze distilled” vodka claimed to “also” be distilled six times. I thought that was taking a run at quality, so I tried it.
Trying a new vodka had me thinking about the differences between those clear liquors – and about what makes a good value, that mysterious balance of quality and price.
Unflavored vodkas actually have flavors. With some drinking experience, what might have, at first, seemed like flavorlessness and astringency in vodka becomes full of variations and subtleties. I’ve become accustomed to drinking Ketel One, and the differences between it and others now seem more distinct.
For example, I thought it was downright bizarre when I read, some time ago, a description of Ketel One that touted its tones of marshmellow. It was a comparison of clear, thin, astringent liquid and opaque, thick, sweet candy. Yeah, right.
But it has become a reasonable comparison, at least to me. The aftertaste could remind someone of marshmellow. Is it possible for a thin, clear liquid to feel fluffy in the mouth?
Well, compared to Frïs, Ketel One feels that way. Frïs finishes even thinner, and where Ketel One has a mineral flavor, Frïs leaves with something like orange zest. Perhaps Ketel One has more going on in the recipe.
Either way, generalities about vodka aside, Frïs does not come off as an astringent drink. The Frïs Web site explains that its “freeze distillation” is exactly what keeps the astringency away. The Frïs folks take the temperature of their vodka down until the impurities freeze up. Then the batch moves to the traditional distillation process.
I’ll break it down in pocketbook terms: Considering price and quality, Frïs is an outstanding value.
Contact Colin Burch - the Beerman - at beerpour@yahoo.com or visit his beer blog at http://maltyhops.blogspot.com
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