The Thirsty Scholar

Another Friday night in the renewed Shenanigans series. Without Dave still, as he is in hospital, but with Doug.

We headed around the corner from his new office to The Thirsty Scholar, a lovely little Irish-ish pub in Somerville with the claim to fame that scenes from "The Social Network" were shot in its interior. 

Haven't yet seen the movie but they're proud of their connection to the flick, with pictures of the filming and the cast in the foyer as you walk in, it is prominently featured on their web site and their nacho appetizer is named for the film... It's been on my list of things to see, so I'm sure when I do see it I'll do that "hey! I've been there!" thing that people do... you know it.

Windows wide open, letting in the late spring air (and the smoke from those smoking on the sidewalk who even though they're outside are standing talking to the people sitting in the windows... which was incredibly gross and annoying but ... what can you do? ) Doug and I took a cozy cubby corner and our waitress set to taking care of us.

We got wings to start, because I'm a total wing hound. These were delightful... crispy, sloppy with sauce and full of flavor.

Unlike the wings at Tupelo a couple weeks ago which were allegedly "triple cooked" and while tasty were not crispy at all, these only needed one good, solid off and they were good to go.

Loved them. Perfect accompaniment to our beer choices.

Our first round of beers had me going for the Pretty Things Jack D'or, which I've enjoyed before. Pretty Things is a project beer company run but Dann and Martha, who keep a gorgeous website and blog with tons of information on it... It's great to read and I highly recommend it.

Locally brewed in Somerville, Pretty Things has their finger on the pulse of creativity in brewing.

They don't make "styles" of beers, in fact they sometimes make small batches or unique runs and don't make them again! Whatever strikes their fancy, whatever flavor profiles they're dreaming of at night, they put together in the mash tun and make beautiful beer babies that put a smile on my face.

Jack D'or is pretty much the closest to a "style" they have, and they call it "Saison Americain."  It has a delicious and refreshing taste which went perfectly with the wings. The light refreshing factor helped cleanse the wing sauce spiciness off the tongue but not wash it away entirely as Jack D'or has that delightful bitterness to it. So mouth tingling with wing sauce, followed by mouth tingling with clean but bitter beer, this was a happy  moment in the day of this girl.

I forget what Doug ordered, as I didn't take notes ... I was too obsessed with enjoying the wings. So obsessed.

As you can see from my food porn with beer backdrop.

 Doug ordered The Scholar Salad... loaded up with all the tasty things you gotta love in a salad from fried artichoke hearts to roasted red peppers... I've never been a huge fan of artichoke hearts that have been sitting in a jar forever, stewing in oil and slime so I usually avoid mention of them but these were fried artichoke hearts -- breaded in deliciousness and done up nice. He gave me a couple, as there were plenty to share, and they were delightful. I'd eat a plate of those any day.

I ordered the Surf & Turf, which consisted of skewered shrimp, a little steak, salad and rice.

The shrimp were perfect, and very tasty, but the steak didn't really taste like anything. I had asked for medium rare, got something closer to well done, and there was no real seasoning on it. The salad dressing off of my little Caesar salad was delicious, so swishing the steak around in that helped a lot... Slightly disappointing but happy to say that when salad dressing can save the day, life is good.

I think next time I'd go for the beer battered fish and chips as my choice, which is where my initial thoughts were going that night but... oh well.

Our beer choices for the night continued with Doug enjoying the Cape Ann Brewing Company Fisherman's IPA and me going for the Drifter Pale Ale from Widmer Brothers Brewing Company of Oregon.

We've visited the Cape Ann Brewing Company in person, met some of the brewers, chatted them up at beer fests, so I know I've shared my love of their products here before.

Widmer took me to the other coast after enjoying the Jack D'or from the local brewers, and didn't disappoint. But if you look at the picture here, can you tell which beer is the "Drifter Pale Ale?" It's the one on the right, and there is nothing pale about it in flavor profile or in color. I am not really sure why the Widmer brothers bother using the word Pale in the name of this beer, just calling it Drifter Ale would be fine and dandy... It was a nice pairing with my dinner but when one may be expecting a pale ale, you get a surprise (and for some they may not like that but ... when in Portland...)

We were getting ready to leave and asked the waitress about a $25 beer on the wall menu. Shipyard Export... what's the deal with that price?

She explained that they put the beer into this table top tap system, and it is only done with the Shipyard Export, and there are about eight servings in there.

Several tables had their beer taps going, and this gentleman allowed me to take a shot of him enjoying his first pint (his buddies had not yet arrived!) The waitress told me that the other night she had a table that ordered six of these things for a party of ten people. That's a party for sure. She offered me a taste, but I had to politely decline as Doug had already gone outside...

We made our way over to visit Dave in the hospital, where he isn't enjoying any shenanigans. We had an excellent visit with the Thirsty Scholar, and I know it is a place Dave will love to visit when he's feeling better. I'll have to bring him.

Thanks very much to our wonderful waitress, Alyssa, for taking good care of us.