Heavy Table Hot 5: Oct. 30-Nov. 5

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Each Friday, this list will track five of the best things Heavy Table’s writers, editors, and photographers have recently bitten or sipped. Have a suggestion for the Hot Five? Email editor@heavytable.com.

shepherd-song-banner-ad-horiz-3The Hot Five is a weekly feature created by the Heavy Table and supported by Shepherd Song Farm.

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James Norton / Heavy Table
James Norton / Heavy Table

1-new - oneApparent Horizon from Schell’s Brewery
A heavy dose of rye malt turns the clean, classic taste of this Berliner-Weisse-style beer into something more interesting and challenging. It’s a bit like drinking a loaf of pumpernickel bread, with all the spicy, layered complexity and earthy deliciousness that implies. This is a beer for the advanced beer drinker — not that casual drinkers won’t enjoy it, but they might not fully appreciate all the funky stuff going on in this carnival ride of a brew.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by James Norton]

Becca Dilley / Heavy Table
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table

2-new - twoJello Shots at The Mill Northeast
All right, All right — hear me out on this one. The Mill Northeast makes a Jello Shot of the Moment, but they aren’t neon (depicted above: the Paloma Fuega). The Negronifest is all the ingredients from the classic cocktail in jiggler form, causing a serious mind-tongue disconnect. Feels like an Italian fraternity party!
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by Paige Latham]

James Norton / Heavy Table
James Norton / Heavy Table

3-new - three Nutella Calzone at Red Eye Brewing Company in Wausau, Wis.
We thought the Nutella Calzone at the Red Eye Brewing brewpub was a recipe for disaster: too bready, too sweet, too greasy. Its powdered sugar and chocolate-syrup-bedecked exterior heightened our concern. But it turned out to be delicious — a light, tender crust that embraced the hazelnutty goodness of the Nutella.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | From a review by James Norton]

James Norton / Heavy Table
James Norton / Heavy Table

4-new fourHarvest Pumpkin Soup at Meritage
If you’re searching for the platonic ideal of autumn in a bowl, here it is: velvet, creamy soup that isn’t off-puttingly rich, dressed with lightly spiced creme fraiche and tasting of squash in balance with its seasonings. If this were an all-year offering we’d be eating it all year. The tasteful presence of candied pecans is just a bonus.
[Last Week on the Hot Five: #1 | Submitted by James Norton]

James Norton / Heavy Table
James Norton / Heavy Table

5-new -fiveButtered Pecan Shot from Rhinelander Cafe and Pub
In our rush to embrace all things highbrow and mixological, we sometimes overlook the simpler pleasures in life, such as shots made of pecan pie liqueur, RumChata, and DeKuyper Buttershots and served in supper-club-like restaurants in the downtowns of small Wisconsin towns. Sweet, milky, nutty, and rich, the Buttered Pecan Shot at the Rhinelander Cafe and Pub isn’t sophisticated, but it’s a lot of fun to drink on a cold autumn day.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by James Norton]