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Oktoberfest Photo Booth Pics Saturday 10/17


Oktoberfest Photo Booth Pics Friday 10/23

Oktoberfest Photo Booth Pics Saturday 10/24

What’s the deal with Aged Beer?

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Aged Beer

With so many breweries putting sell-by dates on their labels, taking outdated beers off shelves, and telling bars that if they choose to pour an outdated beer by their brewery to remove the label, then why is aged beer even a thing? I’m pretty new to beer culture myself. My education really began last year when I started working for Alpine Village. I’ve since learned about dozens of different styles of beer and how a beer’s recipe alone does not determine its flavor. I’ve learned that strange and wonderful flavors can exist within beers and that it’s common for beer drinkers to like and even seek out beers that taste like leather, grass, or barns. Mostly, I’ve learned that everything is according to a person’s individual taste. I, for instance, tend to lean toward maltier and yeastier beers and stay away from hoppy, bitter beers. I’ve learned that with aged beer, the aging is partly about preference and partly an informed decision. Like aging wine, aging beer can be a toss up.

Aging beer is not a new concept; brewers have been experimenting with time since beer was first invented. All beers need some amount of aging to become beer. The yeast has to work its magic and create alcohol. Still some beers require an initial longer amount of storage before they can be released at all. Carbonated beers are a good example. Brewers will have to store them, bottled, in a cool, dark place to allow the natural carbonation to occur. Aging beer can also create different styles out of one recipe. An Oktoberfest beer, for example, is simply a Märzen style beer that has been aged for around 4 months in oak barrels. Try the two side by side and you’ll taste how different they are.

Aged Beer

Some people prescribe to the belief that the brewer knows best and that he places the beer on the shelf when it is ready to be drunk and not before, and for many beers that it is not only an opinion, but a steadfast rule. Many beers are bottled with freshness in mind. Those are the ones with strict sell-by dates and that tends to be the case with many craft beers and IPAs in particular. The rise and popularity of taprooms all over the country is happening because people want to be able to go to a local brewery and enjoy beer at its freshest. But that is not the case with all beers. Even brewers themselves will tell you that a beer they’ve bottled or kegged, while delicious fresh, might also change and possibly benefit from a little aging.

Aged Beer

The reasoning behind aged beer is simple; People who enjoy beer for its flavors not just its alcohol content want to know and experience what new flavors can develop within a beer over time. That is precisely what aging does. Think of all of the flavor characteristics inside beer like neighboring clans. Some clans will rise up and defeat others, some will join forces and interbreed, some will die out over time, and others will thrive and advance. The flavors that tend to be associated with freshness like florals and fruits as well as that bitterness that IPA lovers crave are all likely to decrease over time, but other flavors within the beer will start to grow and develop more. Breadiness, wood characters, any smoky or earthy flavors, and characters of sweetness are all likely to increase with your beer’s maturity. Aging is also a gamble, while beer will not spoil with age, there is a chance that the best flavors of the beer may fade away or that the flavors that develop will not be good ones. That’s why choosing which beers to age is important.

Aged Beer

From my study in aged beer, I’ve learned all the rules in aging beer and also that there are no steadfast rules. First, hops evidently do not age well, so most IPAs are meant to be consumed within 3 months of bottling or as fresh as possible. Stone Brewing’s Enjoy By is a good example of a beer that the brewers intend to be consumed quickly. We often have it here in our bar and if we still have some left over after the enjoy-by date passes, it is fun to invite people to do a taste test with a fresh batch of Enjoy By and the “expired” batch. You can definitely taste the difference and some people even like the older version better. It’s all about the drinker’s preference. There do exist IPA’s that claim to get better with age though. Dogfish Head Brewing’ suggests aging their 120 Minute IPA for 1-2 years. Another rule going around is that beers of higher alcohol content are good candidates for aging. Some people say 10% ABV and higher, some say anything over 7%. That rule is basically to steer you toward malt heavier beers like barleywines and imperial stouts. Other beers that benefit from aging are those that contain wild yeast like brettanomyces or brett for short. The wild yeasts are added to the beer after fermenting and are living organisms that can greatly affect flavor characteristics within a beer over time. Some beers that can be considered for aging are barleywines, belgian strong ales, gueuzes, imperial stouts, lambics, old ales, saisons, sours, and vintage beers.

Aged Beer

At our 4th annual Kraft Bierfest December 4th and 5th, we’re going to be featuring and celebrating some fantastic aged beer. If you’re not sure if aged beer is right for you, this is a great event to try as many as you can along with other rare and limited beers from Craft Breweries around the country. Here’s a list of some of the beers that aged beer lovers will be looking forward to at the fest:

Abita Bourbon Street Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (2014)
Ale Smith Decadence Barleywine (2014)
Allagash James Bean Bourbon Barrel Aged Triple (2013)
Allagash Odyssey Barrel Aged Belgian Dark (2014)
Angel City Barrel Aged Dark Rye Lager (2014)
Monkish Magnificat Belgian Christmas Ale (2014)
Stone Winter Harvest (2014)

The post What’s the deal with Aged Beer? appeared first on The Alpine Village.

Photos with Santa Saturday 12/05/2015

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Photos with Santa Sunday 12/06/2015

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Opening weekend of Alpine Village Christmas Faire we had hundreds of families come through and snap a photo with the big man himself. To download your high resolution photos simply click the photo of your family or follow the link to our Flickr page. If you do not see your photo here, email TheAlpineVillage@gmail.com with your name and photo date.

The post Photos with Santa Sunday 12/06/2015 appeared first on The Alpine Village.

Photos with Santa Saturday 12/12/2015

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Photos with Santa Saturday 12/19/2015

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Photos with Santa Sunday 12/20/2015

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The weekend started off a little wet, but we pulled through and Sunday night we had a hundreds of families show up to celebrate the final day of 2015 Alpine Village Christmas Faire! To download your high resolution photos simply click the photo of your family or follow the link to our Flickr page. If you do not see your photo here, email TheAlpineVillage@gmail.com with your name and photo date.

The post Photos with Santa Sunday 12/20/2015 appeared first on The Alpine Village.

Top 10 German Songs for Karaoke

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My collection of great German Songs to sing at Karaoke.

My job at Alpine Village did not happen by accident, it came about largely in part because of my love for German culture. Of all of the more practical foreign languages I could have studied in school, I chose German because it seemed like so much more fun. I even spent a year abroad in Erfurt for what should have been my senior year of high school. My American friends couldn’t believe that I would give up the year that they had been looking forward to since the beginning of school. I didn’t see it that way though. I know I gained something much more valuable than a senior prom or graduation. Those who know me well now also know that one of my other great passions in life is karaoke. It’s such an adrenaline rush to stand in front of a room of strangers and belt out a song you love. It’s like sharing a piece of yourself, and because karaoke crowds are comprised of some of the most supportive people you’ll ever meet, you’re left with a great feeling of warmth and acceptance. You can imagine how happy I am that we now have Bierhall Karaoke every Thursday night at the Alpine Village Restaurant. So in celebration, I’ve put together a list of 10 great German songs that are sure to be a hit for German fans and karaoke fans alike!

1.

Peter Schilling – Major Tom (Coming Home)

In 1983, West German Peter Schilling recorded Major Tom (Völlig losgelöst) a song which tells the story of David Bowie’s character Major Tom from his 1969 song Space Oddity. The song rose quickly to number one in the German speaking world, then Schilling re-recorded it in English and it swept the New Wave scene in the US, UK, Canada, and South Africa. You’ll recognize it immediately by the hook that starts, “4, 3, 2, 1, earth below us…” With this very catchy hook and a great synth sound, this song makes a great sing along at any karaoke night in English or the original German.

2.

Falco – Rock Me Amadeus

If you don’t speak German, you may have a hard time navigating these very fast lyrics, but when the chorus comes around, I assure you the entire bar will be singing along to “Amadeus, Amadeus, whoa, whoa, whoa, Amadeus!” Because this was Falco’s only song to top the English speaking charts, many may think him a one hit wonder, but this Austrian musician in fact has been rocking the German speaking world for decades and been quite successful at it. Look up some of his other songs, and I think you’ll find that they do not disappoint.

3.

Nena – 99 Luftballons

If you’ve come to Alpine Village Oktoberfest then you’ll know that this song, when performed by our German band, not only gets the crowd of thousands pumped up, but it is also accompanied by the nightly anticipated red balloon drop. Of course we know that luftballon simply translates to “balloon” in English and doesn’t specify a color, but why not red? Most Karaoke bars will carry this song, but many only have the English version. If you’re dying to sing it in German though, you can either pull up the lyrics on your phone like I did for years or come to ground control Karaoke at Alpine Village because Andrew has the real deal.

4.

Scorpions – Wind of Change

Not just one of the best German bands of all time, but one of the best rock power ballad bands of all time, Scorpions has been recording and touring since 1965 and just celebrated their 50th anniversary last year. Although they recorded all of their songs in English, the band’s vocals from Klaus Meine have a distinctly German sound. When choosing which song you’d like to do for karaoke there are a few greats that stand out like “Rock You Like a Hurrricane” and “Still Loving You”, but I think if you’ve only got time for one, the clear choice is “Wind of Change” a song that defines an era of German and World history and sold over 14 million copies world-wide.

5.

Rammstein – Engel

Rammstein is easily one of the most famous German bands of all time. Industrial Metal fans all over the world flock to their huge pyrotechnic concerts, and they’ve inspired quite a few tribute bands including Krampstein, a band of musicians dressed as Krampus (Devilish, German Christmas character) who perform covers of Rammstein songs with holiday specific lyrics. Many metal fans like to break out “Du Hast” at karaoke for the shock and awe of singing such a heavy song in German, but I suggest trying “Engel” instead as a solo or duet with a male and female vocalist. Last week Jürgen and Meicah from the German band Eifelexpress perfomed it at Karaoke and it was truly epic.

6.

David Bowie – Helden

Bowie is the only artist on this list who is not German born. Germany, however, proudly names him a fellow citizen. He lived in Berlin for 3 years in the late 70’s and Germany and it’s political struggles influenced many of his songs. German inspiration is perhaps most evident in David Bowie’s hit “Heroes” which was inspired by the need to bring down the Berlin wall. I did not know until recently that Bowie had recorded a German version of the song. He even performed it in 1989 in front of the Berlin wall and said that it was one of the most powerful and emotional performances of his entire career.

7.

Alpahaville – Forever Young

This song wouldn’t necessarily be classified as a hit since it never even reached the top 40 charts in the US, but since it’s release on Alphaville’s debut album titled “Forever Young” it has been covered by multiple artists and appeared in commercials, TV shows, and movies. It is certainly well-known and recognized and one of those songs that everyone “knows” when they hear it but probably couldn’t tell you who recorded it. Regardless, the crowd is sure to enjoy this new wave power ballad when you break it out at your next karaoke night.

8.

Milli Vanilli – Girl You Know It’s True

While many Germans may want to forget the international embarrassment of Milli Vanilli, I think it’s important to acknowledge and have a good laugh at this group that made the music world stop and reflect upon itself. The late 80’s dance hit “Girl You Know It’s True” went 6 times platinum and earned the band a Grammy in 1990 for Best New Artist which was subsequently revoked after the public learned that the bands’ two front men did not record the song’s vocals and only lip synced them. Lip synced or not, this song is a great nostalgic groove that will get any karaoke crowd pumped up.

9.

Tanz der Vampire – Totale Finsternis

You can rarely go to a night of karaoke without hearing Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart, it is truly a karaoke staple and for good reason. But, I suggest throwing a curve ball to the crowd with the German language “Totale Finsternis” an adaptation of Total Eclipse re-written by the song’s original writer Jim Steinman for the Austrian musical Tanz der Vampire an adaptation of the Roman Polanski film “The Fearless Vampire Killers.” This song has all of the soul and romantic longing of the original with the added bonus of being a duet. It’s totally worth learning some German just to do this song.

10.

Die Toten Hosen – Zehn Kleine Jägermeister

Here’s a song that hasn’t made its way onto American charts at all, but has the main attribute of any good Karaoke song in that it’s fun to sing along with. Most Americans even if they don’t speak German, know what Jägermeister is and have a great story ready to tell about a night when they drank too much of it. When they hear this German count-along, sing-along song akin to “99 bottles of Beer on the Wall”, they’re sure to appreciate the fun that it stirs up.

The post Top 10 German Songs for Karaoke appeared first on The Alpine Village.

OKTOBERFEST PHOTOS! SATURDAY OCTOBER 22nd 2016

OKTOBERFEST PHOTOS! FRIDAY OCTOBER 28th 2016

OKTOBERFEST PHOTOS! SATURDAY OCTOBER 29th 2016

LATINFEST PHOTOS! SUNDAY OCTOBER 30th 2016

PHOTOS FROM ALPINE VILLAGE KRAFT BIERFEST – NOVEMBER 19th 2016


PHOTOS FROM ALPINE VILLAGE CHRISTMAS FAIRE – DECEMBER 10th 2016

PHOTOS FROM ALPINE VILLAGE CHRISTMAS FAIRE – DECEMBER 11th 2016

PHOTOS FROM KRAMPUS AT ALPINE VILLAGE – DECEMBER 10th 2016

Sunset Specials Weekdays

Valentine Dinner Special

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