Archive for the 'Beer and Food Pairing Event' Category

Collaboration: A Beer Dinner

Monday, February 8th, 2010

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BetterBeerBlog friend Sean Paxton, aka the Homebrew Chef, has asked me to pimp this event out for him. He is a talented, innovative and passionate man and his beer & food events never fail to impress. You can check out his website for full details or just read a little further.

I will add that $98 seems a lot of money for a dinner but 8-courses is a lot of food, especially when specifically paired with 9 can’t-really-find-em-at-your-local-corner-market-liquor-store beers.

Who: Sean Paxton, Firestone Walker Brewing and De Proef Brewing
What: Collaboration: A Beer Dinner featuring Once Chef, Eight Courses, Two Breweries, Nine Beers and You.
Where: Mercedes, 653 Commercial Street, San Francisco, CA map
When: Thursday, February 11, 2010 @ 6:30pm
Why: It’s SF Beer Week… and why the hell not?!
Cost: $98 (inclusive of food, beer and gratuity)

Menu:

Aspall Cuvee Chevallier Double Fermented Cyder

First Course
Local Fromage - Cowgirl creamery Mt. Tam, Humboldt fog goat cheese, dried apricots, cinnamon smoked almonds, malt crackers, Saison Imperiale beer jelly, white pepper infused 30 year old aged honey

De Proef Brewmaster’s Collaboration Signature Ale with Tomme Arthur

Second Course
Union Barrel Smoked  Day Boat Scallops - atop Reinaert Flemish Wild Ale braised Belgian red endive, Les Deux Brasseurs Ale biere blanc and micro herb salsa

De Proef Brewmaster’s Collaboration Les Deux Brasseurs Ale with Jason Perkins

Third Course
IPA Ceviche Margarita - Fresh halibut cured in citrus juices, Union Jack IPA, mangos, red onions, peppers and chilies, topped with an IPA foam

Firestone Walker Union Jack

Forth Course
House-Made Sausage - Sonoma pork, infused with Sauserful of Secrets, thyme, dried fruit and caramelized shallotson a bed of lentils, drizzled with a chorizo amarillo hop oil

Firestone Walker Bourbon Barrel Aged Saucerful of Secrets 2007

Fifth Course
Local Pork Belly - Braised in Zoetzuur Flemish Ale on a bed of parsnip purée, Flemish ale reduction, raddish pickle

De Proef Brewmaster’s Collaboration Van Twee Ale with John Mallet

Sixth Course
Belgian Tamale - Bison short ribs cooked “canronade style” in Van Twee, onions, shallots and thyme
stuffed into a sweet potato masa pillow, Black Xantus TCHO mole, beet foam

Firestone Walker Velvet Merkin

Seventh Course
French Flan - DBA beer caramel topped with dark chocolate Lozen Boer Abt pot de crèmepork fat shortbread cookies, malted mascarpone chantilly cream

Firestone Walker - Double Barrel Ale, 100% Oak Aged on Cask

Eighth Course
My Sweet Valentine - Chocolate truffles made with Pete Slosberg

  • Van Twee Ale Caramel in a Dark TCHO Chocolate Shell
  • Black Xantus Caramel with TCHO Cocoa Nibs in a Dark TCHO Chocolate Shell
  • La Grande Blanche Brittle Infused with Blood Orange and Milk Chocolate in a Dark TCHO Chocolate Shell

Firestone Walker XIII Anniversary Ale

Belgian Beer Dinner at the Duck Club Recap

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

A week ago, Sammy and I attended a Belgian Beer Dinner at the Duck Club at the Lafayette Park Hotel. The event was hosted by Nicole Erny from the Belgian beer bar, The Trappist. It was a fun night filled with great beer, great food and good conversion.

You can read the full review of the event on Beer Connoisseur.

CANCELLED: Beer & Chocolate Dinner at Firehouse for SF Beer Week

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

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UPDATE: The Beer & Chocolate Dinner at Firehouse has been CANCELLED. We apologize for any inconvenience this cancellation may have caused. There are many tough lessons taken away from this experience but at the end of the day, if we can’t put on an event we can be proud of, we’re not going to do it.

I must admit, I was a little worried about this event. SF Beer Week is less than two weeks away and the menu wasn’t set just yet. At least it wasn’t set until this past Sunday. We were able to do a dry run of the menu plus beer and I can say the pairings are solid as well as tasty!

We’ve been working hard to bring an event like this back to the south bay while keeping prices reasonable. I hope to see many of you there!

Here are the details:

Who: Firehouse Brewery
What:
Beer & Chocolate Dinner
Where: 111 S Murphy Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94086 map
When:
Friday, February 12, 2010 @ 7pm
Why:
Because chocolate is good; beer is good! Together they’re great!
Cost:
$55 (pay when making your reservation)

Event Description: Chocolate? Beer? But of course! Join Firehouse Brewery as they host their 2nd Annual Beer & Chocolate Dinner. This will be a 4-course affair pairing the beers of Firehouse Brewmaster Steve Donohue with savory dishes featuring chocolate in ways you may not expect. Dessert will feature truffles from Xocolata Confections.

Menu

First Course
Dish: Sweet Potato Soup with White Chocolate Creme Fraische
Beer: Hefeweizen

Second Course
Dish: Sweet & Bitter Greens with Chocolate Vinaigrette
Beer: Pale Ale

Third Course
Dish: Cocoa Espresso Short Ribs, Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans
Beer: One Tun Imperial Stout

Fourth Course
Dish: Assorted Truffles from Xocolata Confections
Beer: Scotch Ale/Barleywine

Seating is limited so please call 408-773-9500 to make your reservations today. Your credit card information will be necessary to secure your reservations.

Eat Real Festival in Oakland

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

The Eat Real Festival will be happening in Oakland August 28-30. What is the Eat Real Festival, you say? Well, here’s a little tidbit I picked up from their website:

Founded in 2008, Eat Real Festival is a social venture created to inspire eaters to choose tasty, healthy, good food. Through a vibrant, local festival in Oakland, CA, and a focus on delicious and sustainable “street food,” Eat Real puts eaters in contact with the real people — the farmers, chefs, and producers — who make our food. Eat Real Festival will donate a percentage of its profit to several California organizations promoting access to healthy and affordable food, entrepreneurship and economic development.

Street food is a real staple in many countries and I think it’s a shame that it’s not more widely accepted here in the United States. When I traveled abroad in Thailand and Malaysia, we ate almost exclusively from street food venders. Some of the best meals I’ve had.

In addition to all the good food, there will be a beer tent featuring some of your favorite Northern California breweries. Dave McLean from Magnolia & Alembic is one of the principle collaborators of this event and I suspect he will be calling in many of his Bay Area brewing buddies to help out.

I will be at the Eat Real Festival in to promote Beer Connoisseur magazine. For those who don’t already know, in addition to blogging about beer on BetterBeerBlog, I also blog on the Beer Connoisseur website. As of this post, Beer Connoisseur, in conjunction with the folks at Eat Real Festival, will be giving away free passes to the Eat Real Festival for the next 30 subscribers to the magazine who use my promo code: FBC-0110. While the festival itself is free to get into, a ticket to the beer shed will cost you $20 advance/$25 day of.

In the interest of full disclosure, whenever someone signs up for a subscription using my promo code FBC-0110, I get paid. It’s not much but I do get a little bit of money. Blogging is not a very lucrative endeavor, this is a labor of love for me, so any support you can give your local blogger would be appreciated. To date, I have earned enough money to buy a pint of beer but I can’t afford to tip. My goal is to earn enough money to buy to pints and leave an appropriate tip. One pint for me, one to share. Help a blogger out!

Eat Real Festival website: http://www.eatrealfest.com/

Beer Connoisseur website: https://www.beerconnoisseur.com/

Trevese Brewers Dinner Recap Supplemental

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

The Trevese Brewers Dinner featuring the beers from Devils Canyon Brewing Company (DCB) took place just about a week ago. I did the main write up on Beer Connoisseur (BC), you can read the post here. I’m not going to spend a great deal of time rehashing what I wrote about on BC. Everything I wrote there still stands but I’d just like to expand on a couple of things I just barely touched upon there.

Before I get into the criticisms, I’d just like to say that I think DCB did a great job at the Brewers Dinner. I can’t say enough good things about the people at DCB. Jason, Chris, Jim, John, Kristiann do a fantastic job brewing good beer in a relatively beer-desolate part of the peninsula. Their passion for craft beer shows whenever you talk to them and it shows in the final product. If you happen to see their taps around the Bay Area, don’t hesitate to support them. It’s through our continued support that small, independent craft breweries such as DCB can continue to make the craft beers we love to drink.

At the end of this post, I will have embedded two videos I stitched together from that night. Let me know if you found any value to them. It’ll help me decide if I should continue with the videos or if I should just focus on the other stuff.

Now, onto the criticisms.

This first item, it’s not really a criticism more than it is what happened. Outside of the DCB crew who attended the dinner, turnout was pretty small. Many things could have contributed to this. First, the date of the dinner kept on changing. It was originally supposed to be held on July 7th but kept getting pushed back for a variety of reasons. Eventually a stake was driven into the ground and July 21st was the hard date. Fortunately, Sammy and I were still able to make it. Second, I’m not sure if this event was promoted enough. I feel that I didn’t do enough on my own blog to support the event and I promise to do better in the future. Even so, one can’t really pin all your hopes on a single blogger. Third, I think the $100/person price tag was a huge hurdle for many people to jump over. I will readily admit that I was able to secure a discount to the event, which made it easier for me to attend. I’ll talk more about the price point a little later.

Having hosted several beer/food pairing events in the past, I can tell you first hand the South Bay craft beer scene is horrible. By no means am I pointing fingers at the South Bay brewers, it’s more a reflection of the general attititude people here have. There’s just no respect or appreciation for good beer. Most people I know get their beer education from the commercials on TV. It’s rare to get a great turnout for any of the South Bay beer events I’ve been to outside of beer festivals, so I would’ve been very surprised had the Trevese Brewers Dinner sold out.

My biggest criticism, and one I barely touched upon, was the lack of Trevese Executive Chef Mike Miller’s participation in the dinner. The press release stated that Chef Miller and DCB brewers would be out during the reception to talk to the guests as well as talk about the dinner as it progressed. DCB held up their share of the billing but Chef Miller was notedly absent. Not only was Chef Miller absent during dinner, it is my understanding he left right as dinner was over. I don’t even remember him coming out to thank us for coming out to his restaurant.

I can only speculate on why Chef didn’t make himself available during the dinner. I’m hoping that it’s because they were short handed and he needed to stay in the back to help out. I’m hoping he left early because sort of emergency popped up that he needed to take care of. Frankly, any other reason would leave me disappointed. At the very base level, I was expecting to be able to talk to DCB brewers as well as the Chef of Trevese and not all my expectations were met. DCB held up their end of the bargain but Chef Miller fell short on his end.

When the Executive Chef of a Michelin Star-rated restaurant skips out on his own event without notice, that doesn’t paint a really good picture of him or his restaurant by extension. As someone who really enjoys good food, I was looking forward to hearing Chef talk about the dishes, what was his inspiration and why he made the culinary decisions he made. Call me curious. His absence fills me with questions and doubt. You could tell from the way Jason talked about his beers that he has a real passion for what he does. I was looking forward to hearing the same from Chef Miller but obviously, it wasn’t to be.

Was it worth it?

This is a tough question to answer. Assigning worth or value to something implies it is in comparison to something else. That’s just how currency works and by extension, monetary worth. The short answer: no, it wasn’t. Let me explain further.

The first $100/person dinner I went to was the Gold Medal dinner I went to last year in Boulder, Colorado. The Gold Medal dinner was easily worth the $100/person cost, in fact, I would’ve paid more. The breweries in attendance were Allagash, Avery, Dogfishead, Russian River and Lost Abbey/Port Brewing. As you can imagine, Rob Tod, Adam Avery, Sam Calagione, Vinnie Cilurzo and Tomme Arthur (respectively) were all in attendence to talk about their beers indepth as well as relate a few stories of the time in Europe together. This was a 5-course meal paired with 2 beers per course from different breweries. It should go without saying but the food that night was awesome. Like I said, I would’ve paid more for that dinner so while $100/person may seem like a lot, it was a fraction of what the true value was. Still, the Gold Medal Dinner is the benchmark for future $100 beer dinners. Ridiculously high expectations, I know but would you be any different?

All that being said, I cannot honestly say the value of the Trevese dinner matched the Gold Medal dinner. Nothing against DCB but had there been 4 additional breweries that night, I would be 4 additional breweries closer to saying it was of even value. Both restaurants cook at such a high level that it would’ve been a wash had the number of courses matched up. Most importantly, the chef of The Kitchen in Boulder came out during every course to explain what he did and why. It was great to hear about the food portion of the beer/food dinner. Most of us were there for the beer anyway so to get background information regarding what we were eating was the proverbial “cherry on top”.

The thing is, I’m not even asking that Trevese lower their price. I’m not going to sit here and say that Trevese shouldn’t have charged what they did for the dinner. They know the price of their time and skill and that’s the the number they came up with. I am okay with that. I am mainly pointing out that my expectations weren’t met and that when compared to another $100 beer/food dinner, the other dinner provided more value for the same price. Maybe I’m wrong but I don’t think it’s too much to expect what was promised or to wish for more value for the cost.

Despite all this, I would support another Brewers Dinner at Trevese, assuming of course Sammy and I could afford it. There’s just not much happening in the South Bay with regards to beer and fine dining so when the opportunit presents itself, I do my best to support my local craft beer scene.

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Trevese Brewers Dinner and Beer Pairing

Friday, July 17th, 2009

Devils Canyon Brewing Company will be working with Michelin star rated restaurant Trevese to put on a Brewers Dinner and Beer Pairing event at Trevese next Tuesday. I covered a little bit of this already in my last Hopinions post but I’ll expand on the dinner more. First, here are the specifics:

Who: Devils Canyon Brewing Company & Trevese restaurant
What: Brewers Dinner & Beer Pairing
When: Tuesday, July 21, 2009, 6pm
Where: Trevese, 115 North Santa Cruz Avenue, Los Gatos, CA 95030 map
Cost: $100/person, seats limited to 50 people. Call 408-354-5551 to reserve your spot.

That’s a steep price tag for dinner, I know. I think that if you are able to, you should give the beer dinner a shot. Keep in mind that you will be eating at an award winning fine dining restaurant. The courses that are being served that night will not be typical of their day-to-day menu. Everything will be crafted specifically for this dinner and to match up with beers from Devils Canyon.

In addition, this will be a hosted event where Trevese Executive Chef/Owner Michael Miller will be on hand to talk about the food and why the particular dishes where chosen to go with their respective beers while Jason Beck, brewmaster from Devils Canyon, will be there as well to talk about their beers. I love hosted dinners because I like to learn new things. What better way to learn about something than by talking to the folks directly responsible?

Here’s the press release that was sent to me:

Celebrate Craft Beer and Fine Dining - Brewer’s Dinner and Beer Pairing

Los Gatos , CA - Craft beer and fine dining aficionados mark your calendar! In the spirit of highlighting the versatility of craft beer paired with fine dining, Trevese Restaurant and Lounge owner and Executive Chef, Michael Miller, has been collaborating with Devil’s Canyon Brewing Company’s Head Brewer, Jason Beck, to prepare an evening of gastronomic and zymurgistic bliss.

The Brewer’s Dinner and Beer Pairing will begin with a craft beer and hors d’oeuvre reception where patrons can mingle with the executive chef, brewery owners and the head brewer.

Following the reception, guests will be seated along with the organizers for a stunning 4-course meal. Menu selection pairings will be expounded upon by Mr. Miller while Mr. Beck explains the unique qualities and nuances of Devil’s Canyon’s premium hand-crafted beers.

“So many people in the Bay Area are wine savvy.” says Marketing Director Daniel Curran, “However, I don’t think they realize how much more complex beer is than wine. By pairing first-class meals with first-rate beers it gives us the opportunity to educate the public and open them up to whole new world of culinary and brewing pleasure. I would highly recommend anyone who has experienced a wine pairing to attend. They are definitely in for an amazing surprise!”

The dinner will be completed with a special dessert pairing. Conversation and questions about the menu selections and beer styles is highly encouraged throughout the evening.

The Brewer’s Dinner and Beer Pairing will begin at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 at Trevese Restaurant and Lounge, located at 115 North Santa Cruz Avenue in Los Gatos . Seating is limited to 50 people. The cost is $100 per person.

Reservations can be made by calling Trevese at 408-354-5551.

About Devil’s Canyon Brewery: Devil’s Canyon Brewing Company, located in the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area peninsula, produces award winning, hand-crafted beers and Root Beer centered on the most premium ingredients. Brewed in Belmont , and self-distributed to over 120 taps on the Peninsula and in the South Bay.

The brewery’s name is derived from the original Spanish name for the City of Belmont . Prior to the 1780’s the canyon portion of Belmont was known as “la Cañada del Diablo” or Devil’s Canyon.  Since opening their doors in 2001, Devil’s Canyon Brewery has won over 17 medals for their craft beers and recently received the 2009 “People’s Choice” award at the San Francisco International Beer Festival.

More information is available at http://www.DevilsCanyon.com

Speaking of wanting to learn more, I was able to stop by Devils Canyon Brewing Company (DCB) last week to interview DCB brewmaster Jason Beck. Here’s what he had to say.

Background

interviewLike many other brewers, Jason didn’t start off in beer. He initially got his college degree in film making and anthropology. He then went to South Africa for graduate school where he studied developmental studies. While in South Africa, Jason got his start distilling liquor. He initially started off by making rum then moved onto whiskey. The base recipe for whiskey is not unlike that one would use for beer, minus the hops, and he started homebrewing soon afterwards.

bopAt this point in his life, Jason was at a crossroads. He was starting to feel like what he was doing wasn’t what he was supposed to do. Coupled with the realization that he was brewing/distilling more than he was studying, Jason switched gears and came back home. Within two weeks of arriving home, he was working at Devils Canyon Brewing. Four months after that, he became their head brewer. Two years later, he’s talking to me.

People often ask him how he was able to make the jump from amateur to pro so quickly. Inspired by one of those cliché motivational posters that said, “Luck is where preparation meets opportunity”. DCB presented an opportunity and luckily for him, he was prepared to take on the role and was humble and knowledgeable enough to know where to look for things he didn’t know about.

Devils Canyon Brewing

fermentorsThe Devils Canyon Brewing staff consists of Jason, one full time assistant and about 3-4 part-time employees who’s combined hours is equivalent to another full time assistant. They have a 7 BBL brewhouse and are on track to brew 1200 BBLs this year. In addition to the DCB branded beers, they get contracted to brew “private label” beers as well as the DCB root beer. When you take a look at it, 1200 BBLs is the minimum amount of beer they’ll be brewing.

tanksWhen I first visited DCB about a year ago, they were an extract brewery. Part of the reason Jason was hired was to “update” their brewhouse from extract to all-grain. DCB has been running all-grain for about 1.5 years now. DCB brews up 4 main brands:  Full Boar Scotch Ale, Lager Diabla, Silicon Blonde Ale and Dedicated Amber Ale. In addition, they also have a Rye IPA and a Hades Habañero as well as root beer. You can view the beer descriptions here.

maltAnother interesting thing to note about DCB is that they self-distribute. If you happen to see any of their taps anywhere, you can bet your bottom dollar that beer came from DCB directly to the bar or restaurant you happen to see their taps. Their 2 sales people double as their delivery guys. In addition, their sales people are knowledgeable about draft systems and can work answer any questions bar/restaurant owners may have.

Brewing Philosphy

tapsJason’s brewing philosophy can be summed up in a single word: balance. Jason views some of these “extreme” beers as “flash in a pan”. He believes that brewing a balanced beer will result in a lasting product and a lasting brand. This is most evident in their Rye IPA. The Rye IPA was more malty than I would’ve believed an IPA should be but there’s enough bitterness to let you know this is an IPA but not too much as to be nearly undrinkable. I found this beer to be highly drinkable and if you had to categorize this beer, I think of it as more of an English style IPA than an American.

Speaking of beer styles, Jason believes styles are important from a historical perspective. It’s good to know where these beers came from to get an idea of why they were brewed in a specific manner. In addition, beer styles make for a base in which people can discuss beer on equal terms. Jason says that beer styles are only limiting if you let them limit you. DCB believes in listening to their customers and while they may brew certain styles, in the end they eschew stylistic accuracy for customer satisfaction. At the end of the day, running a brewery is still running a business and you’re not going to be in business very long if you don’t listen to you customers.

Jason is open to participating in collaborative beers or even wood aging some of their existing styles but find that he is handicapped by their current position. The brew crew is soo busy fulfilling orders for their existing line of beers that they don’t have much time to play to develop more fun styles. In fact, they are almost near brewing capacity and will be expanding their brewery with the addition of another hot liquor tank. A possible move to a 7-day, multiple brews per day schedule is not out of the question at this point.

jim-jasonWell, that was the interview. Hopefully getting to know a little bit more about Jason will entice you to attend the brewers dinner at Trevese. I will try and get the full menu sometime today and post that up as well. Check back for further updates!

Mabuhay!

BJs Belgian Beer Dinner

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

One of the pitfalls of being a beer blogger is that I often blog when intoxicated. This poses a few challenges in that by the time I am ready to blog, I am tired and all I really want to do is sleep. Sometimes I give into this urge to sleep. As a result, my posts are delayed more than they should’ve been and they loose their relevance with each passing day. Short of not drinking, or cutting down my sleep to just 2 hours a night, I blog when I can.

Sammy and I found out about the BJs Belgian Beer dinner last week. We basically walked into the Cupertino BJs and happened to see a big poster near the front desk promoting the event. I wondered why they only promoted in this manner but they seemed to get a lot of people in and out of their doors that it works for them.

crowdI don’t think you could’ve just walked into BJs that night and got a seat at the dinner, well, I suppose you could’ve but I was told it was by reservation. If you’ve been to the Cupertino BJs, they held the dinner in the semi-outdoor room. I call this room the semi-outdoor room because it has the comforts of the inside dining area except that you are able to open up these “garage” doors to let the outdoors in. It’s actually a pretty nice setup. I think the entire room was booked for the event but it was only half filled. At 50% capacity, there were about 40 people attending the dinner.

Apertif - Brugse Zot, Brouwerij de Halve Maan, 6.0% ABV

brugeszotThe apertif, or alcoholic beverage served to stimulate the digestive system, was Brugse Zot from Brouwerij de Halve Maan. Translated as Half Moon Brewery, Brouwerij de Halve Maan is the only brewery located in the picturesque Belgian city of Bruges. The legend of Brugse Zot according to their website:

To welcome Maximilian of Austria to their proud town, the people of Bruges organised a colourful parade of merrymakers and fools. When they asked him at the end of the day to provide money for a new madhouse he replied : ‘Today I have seen nothing but fools. Bruges is already one large madhouse !’ Since then the people of Bruges are called ‘Brugse Zotten’ (fools of Bruges).

Brugse Zot pours out a clear gold in color with an off-white head. Sweet pils malt aroma with slight spice and fruit notes. The flavor is very similar, pils malt sweetness, lots of fruity character with a slight, white peppery spiciness. The beer has a medium-low/medium hop bitterness. It is a medium-bodied beer with medium-high carbonation that dances on the palette. It’s a refreshing beer to start with that is reminiscent of Leffe Blonde.

First Course - BJs NitWit with Thai Shrimp Lettuce Wraps

nitwitBJs NitWit is their example of a Belgian style witbier. Nitwit pours our a cloudy, pale yellow beer with “whitish” hues to the yeast in suspension and is topped off by a pillowy white head. Noticeable spice note with a strong phenolic aroma that reminds me of ginger. I’m picking up hits of orange as well as the sweet, wheat malt notes. NitWit has a slight sweet wheat malt flavor with a soft spiciness. The corriander becomes more apparent as the beer warms up. The body is light and the carbonation effervescent.

lettuceThis beer pairs well with the Thai Shrimp Lettuce Wraps on multiple levels. The ginger phenolic I picked up in the aroma echoes the ginger used in the dish and the slight spice character mimics the garlic and onions in the wrap, while the mango bits compliment the sweetness of the beer. Something that became more apparent as the beer warmed up was the coriander connection: NitWit is brewed with coriander seeds while the dish has cilantro (which is what coriander would be if it were allowed to grow up).

Second course - Monks Cafe Flemish Sour Ale. 5.5% ABV (Brouwerij Van Steenberge) with Sesame Chicken Salad

monkscafeBrewed by Brouwerij Van SteenBerge exclusively for Monks Cafe beer bar in Philadelphia, this Flemish Sour Ale is quite a treat. This beer has an acetic sourness (similar to vinegar) indicative of the style that kept in check by a savory malt sweetness that has a caramelized raisin toast character. The beer pours out a reddish-brown in color with a white head. Monks Cafe has a malt flavor that is like toasted wheat bread with caramel flavors and hints of sweet, sweet raisins in the beginning, which is followed by a tart middle, and finished by an medium-low/medium intense acetic or vinegar-like sourness. This beer is medium-low in body with a spritzy level of carbnation.

saladI was surprised by how well this combination worked. Once of the things that can make Monks Cafe a difficult beer to pair with is its vinegarish sourness. The crunchy, sweet noodles of the salad, coupled with the savory, grilled flavors of the chicken and sweetness of the oranges serve as a compliment to the sweet malty flavors of the beer. There’s a slight vinegar sourness to the salad already because of the light dressing that is echod in the beer. If anything, the sourness of the beer lingers on the tongue that serves as a palette cleanser readying you for the next bite.

Palate Cleanser - Petrus Aged Pale, Brouwerij Bavik, 7.3% ABV

petrusInteresting backstory on this beer. I first ordered this on a trip to The Trappist. I was amazed by the flavor (of which I’ll describe in a little bit) and was “nursing” this beer. I leave my beer with my wife for a moment, I think I’ve either gone to the restroom or I’m talking to someone there (I can’t really remember). When I return, my glass is completely empty… thanks to my wife. She thought I didn’t like the beer and decided to polish it off for me. Thanks babe!

Petrus Aged Pale pours out a clear, dark golden color with an off-white head. I can pick up some oak notes in the aroma along with a muted tartness. Unlike the aroma, the tartness is readily apparent in the flavor. While the Monks Cafe had an acetic sourness, the Petrus Aged Pale has a sourness that leans heavily more toward the tart side, similar to real, unsweetened yogurt. I’ve also heard it described as lemony. It’s quite a prominent feature of the flavor profile and I’m loving its enamel destoying tartness. With virtually no hops, this beer is balanced by a light malt sweetness.

Course 3 - Poperings Hommel (Brouwerij Van Eecke), 7.5% ABV with Southwestern Pizza

poperingslabelThis was an interesting beer that defied my ability to describe it. This was definitely the most hoppy beer of the evening. It wouldn’t be until I did some research for this blog post did I realize that this beer is a Belgian IPA. The hop bitterness was medium-high but unlike it’s American counterparts, the hop bitterness seemed supressed, almost earthy in nature. By comparison, American IPAs are big bright beers with bold flavors and an agressive bitterness. This beer was the opposite of that but could still be considered an IPA. Make much sense? There was an earthy, yeasty character that has some fruit notes and a balanced malt character that could almost be biscuity. When I first tried this beer, I immediately thought of Houblon Chouffe, which also happens to be a Belgian IPA.

pizzaThis beer was paired with BJs Southwestern Pizza. Talk about an odd couple. The pizza had all these spices and flavors of a southwestern flair. I think they might’ve even used a barbecue sauce instead of tomato sauce for the pizza. If I remember correctly, there may have been a little bit of heat (spice) as well. Surprisingly the Poperings Hommel paired pretty well with the pizza. I think the funkiness of the yeast complimented the cheese while the sweetness in the sauce spoke to the sweet in the malt. What really drove home the pairing was the interplay between the spice of the Southwestern flavors and the muted intensity of the hop bitterness. In my personal experience, you can treat spice heat with beer in two ways: match the intensity of the heat with sweet, or you can match the heat with the hop bitterness. I happen to prefer the latter method, there’s something to be said about fighting fire with bitterness.

Course 4 - Gulden Draak (Brouwerij de Van Steenberge), 10.5% ABV with Old-Fashioned Pot Roast

guldendraakFrom the same brewery that brough us Monks Cafe earlier in the evening, we now have Gulden Draak, a Belgian Dark Strong Ale. Gulden Draak pours out a dark brown, almost caramel color, hazy with a beige colored head. This beer has a definite malty aroma that has some toasted bread notes, caramel, Munich malt qualities along with medium fruity esters that were reminiscent of dates and raisins. There was also a definitive alcohol presence in the nose. The flavor echos that of the aroma with the inclusion of toned down, spicy yeast notes. This is a medium-full bodied beer with medium-high carbonation that warms the throat as it goes down without any burning harshness.

meatloafWhen paired with the meatloaf, I felt this beer overpowered the meatloaf a bit. I can see how the intention was to compliment the savory, meaty flavors of the gravy with the sweet maltiness of the beer but the alcohol of the beer was present in the finish and I felt that was a distraction. While not very loaflike, the meatloaf was pretty good. The gravy was savory and rich while the potatoes balanced the richness of the meat and gravy. Not a bad pairing but it wasn’t my favorite.

Course 5 - Troubadour Obscura (Brouwerij de Musketiers), 8.5% ABV, with White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Pizookie

troubadourI was pretty excited to try this beer. I had never heard of it before and obviously never tasted it as well. I wish I could give you more information about this beer but we left the beer information sheets we had at dinner at the dinner. Troubadour pours out a hazy caramel color with tan head. Initial aromas are subtle. Slightly sweet, strong roasted malt character, not too hoppy. There was a slight spice character in this beer that I attribute to the alcohol. This was a medium bodied beer with medium carbonation with much less alcohol heat than the Gulden Draak. What surprised me the most was how this beer reminded of a classic German Rauchbier, the phenolic character I picked up in the aroma and flavor was almost smokelike.

pizookieAs with the beer, I have never had a pizookie before. If you’ve never had a pizookie, it’s like a really big cookie cooked in a pan used to make personalized pan pizzas with a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream on top for good measure. This was another pairing that I feel didn’t quite hit the nail on the head. I felt the pizookie overwhelmed the Troubadour. Maybe it was the slight smoky phenolic character of the beer but I felt sweetness of the beer, when paired with just the cookie tip-toed the line between being balanced and overwhelmed. When you throw a bit of ice cream into the mix, the pizookie dominates the beer. We didn’t have enough Gulden Draak left but I would’ve wanted to try Gulden Draak with the dessert. I think Gulden Draak would’ve had the legs to stand up to the sweetness that was the White Chocolate Macadamia Pizooke. Likewise, it would’ve been interesting to see how the Troubadour stacked up against the meatloaf.

Verdict?

petersammyAt the end of the night, Sammy and I both left feeling full and satisfied. For the most part, each of the pairings worked, event the dessert pairing to a certain extent. With beer and food pairing dinners suddenly becoming all the rage, it was refreshing to see a dinner that was both interesting and affordable. It’s not too often you can find a 5-course, 7-beer dinner for only $30. That’s a bargain.

I do have a few critiques. As much as I enjoyed the food, I think it would’ve been more interesting to have created a custom menu for this event. If you’re going to take the time to import all these good beers, take the time to create a custom menu along with it. I am willing to buy the argument that they paired the beers with food that was already on the menu as a way to keep costs down. I am also willing to accept that they wanted to show these beers can pair with “off the shelf” food as well. Just wishful thinking on my part. Then again, had they done that, I don’t think I’d be writing about how affordable this experience was.

michaelAt the end of dinner, after all of our fellow diners had left, Sammy and I had a chance to talk to Michael Krohmer, General Manager and shareholder of BJs. He said they had been doing these events for about two years now and that their first events had very low turnout. What impressed me most about these events was that Michael said they had distinguished brewers such as Vinnie Cilurzo come out and talk about their beers. Really?! Vinnie came out to talk about his beers at a BJs beer dinner? What? You only had 12 people show up? Huh. We’ve come a long way since then.

In any case, Sammy and I both left the dinner very satisfied and very full. So much so that I am only finishing this post today. Oh well, so much for relevancy! If you were there, I’d like to hear what you thought of the dinner.

jeff

waitress

toast

2009 Savor Beerfest Recap

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

BetterBeerBlog friends and readers, Diane and Michael, have provided the content for today’s post. I met these two people at the Beer & Chocolate Dinner Firehouse Brewery & Grill in Sunnyvale hosted for SF Beer Week. Turns out that Diane and Michael do quite a bit of traveling to attend the various beer festivals that are held around the country. Diane was kind enough to take thorough notes about the Savor beer festival she attended last week and, despite some photography issues, managed to supply a few photos as well. Without further ado, here’s the Savor: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience Recap as written by Diane and Michael.

Note: I had some issues extracting the images. I”ll see if I can’t get better quality images and repost them. -Peter

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nationalbuildingA beer fest without T-shirts, lawns, tents, crazy beer glass holders or grilled processed meat products - doesn’t sound possible, does it? But on Saturday, May 30, 2009, the Brewers Association held its 2nd annual Savor: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience in Washington DC. With a formal, and mostly followed dress code of “business casual to cocktail party attire - dress to impress!”, this was not your usual beer event. As you probably know, the Brewers Association is the same group that puts on the Great American Beer Festival, the biggest beer fest in the US. Savor is its new baby brother; a sophisticated upscale evening of craft beer and food pairings, held this year in the National Building Museum. Originally built in 1883 to house the Pension Bureau and to hold large formal events,it’s now used for exhibitions in its smaller rooms that surround the main ballroom, which still functions as a large and elegant meeting and banquet space.

The Savor event also included, along with the main beer and food tasting event, a number of extremely small “salons” for a lucky few who were able to get tickets that included such topics such as:

  • Ancient Ales in the Modern World with Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head

Thanks to our very dear beer friends Suzanne and Dana who picked up 4 tickets and invited us along, we were able to attend the Salon featuring Tomme and Vinnie. This was an hour session with these 2 iconic brewers (well, rock stars, really) first discussing briefly how they got into brewing and then as each of the 4 beers was poured, the history behind the beer and a pretty detailed discussion on each.

russianriverWe started with Russian River’s much sought after Toronado 20th Anniversary Ale, which amazingly enough came from Vinnie and Natalie’s private cellar! The instant we tasted this we knew there was no doubt, this was one of the most amazing beers we had ever tried. A beautiful brownish red, it’s rich and complex, slightly sour (perhaps a tiny bit too sweet for some) with a fair amount of carbonation and just the right amount of oak. And at 10.5%, the alcohol is absolutely undetectable. Can’t say when we’ve enjoyed anything more.

Then, Tomme poured Lost Abby’s version of the 20th Anniversary ale – Cable Car. It’s a beautiful dark golden yellow with a nice amount of carbonation. Lemony, oaky and funky, it’s so complex and so drinkable. We really enjoyed this, although I think we both agreed that we preferred the RR 20th.

For our next selection Russian River Beatification was poured. We love this beer – a spontaneously fermented ale, it was so much fun to hear Vinnie recount his story of his first try at this technique and how Batch 1 turned out an outrageously sour beer. We could relate – we had tried this at the brewery - it was our first sour beer ever. We remember thinking, “Wow, if all sours are this sour, we’re gonna really have to work on these!” We laugh now, knowing the full story. The smell is barnyard and oak and while it’s sour, it’s crisp and clean and lemony. These are just such complex, multifaceted beers, that I think describing them is almost a waste of time – there’s so much to them that trying to describe them with words does them a disservice. You really have to drink them, certainly more than once to truly appreciate their complexity.

Finally, Lost Abbey Cuvee De Tomme, 2009 was poured. Well, if you’re a beer geek, you’d have to have been in a coma for the last few months as the Lost Abbey “lack of carbonation” issue has swirled and been discussed OVER and OVER and OVER again. No need to re-tell it here. Just one thing, though…this beer was also flat – no carbonation. Tomme himself admitted that there were issues with finding the right yeasts for bottle conditioning. For anyone who has found themselves mesmerized by this saga, this was a totally intriguing discussion on some of the issues from the brewer himself. We think you might be interested to listen to it – it’s going to be available to listen to on the Savor website (Savor) in a week or so. It’s a deep reddish brown with lots of brett funkiness to it; sour cherries, raisins, bourbon, oak – thoroughly complex and interesting. While this uncarbonated bottle is good, we enjoyed it on tap at the Pizza Port Belgian Beer Party just a few months ago and felt as though the sharpness of the forced carbonation actually adds another layer of flavor to it.

salonWhen the Salon was finished, we walked down to the ground floor where 15 4-sided booths had been set up. This event was limited to 1800 tickets only. This is a beautiful grand room – high towering ceilings, massive columns and ornate decoration. It was wonderful to see craft beer showcased in such an elegant and upscale way. Unlike the previous year where is was done in 3 sessions, more like the GABF, this year there was one session only running from 7:30pm – 11:00pm. And very much unlike GABF where you might find a brewer at his/her booth, almost every both had their brewers pouring. The down side to this, is that as much fun as it would be to chat with some of these people we really admire, it’s just really difficult to do without ending up with 10 people in back of you getting pretty annoyed, so we kept it short.

Brewers had been sent a list of foods that would be served and were asked to pick a food to pair with the beers they were bringing. Each booth had foods grouped with what the brewery had requested. The only down side to this set up that came up immediately for us, was in order to start light and work your way up the darker or high alcohol offering , it required some walking around, as opposed to starting at Booth 1 and making your way through all 15. The first choices we had were a Milk Stout from Left Hand Brewing in Colorado, A Lagunitas Barleywine and Arcadia Brewing Co Triple Chocolate Milk Stout. We immediately gave up the idea of an orderly nosh through the room and just started looking for what seemed right to start with. Here’s the link to the attending breweries in 2009. There was one big surprise and we think ultimately a criticism: almost every brewery brought bottles - we’d estimate 90%. We were disappointed. We overheard another fest goer asking his buddy what was going on with that. We contacted the Brewer’s Association to see why and were immediately emailed back by Nancy Johnson, BA’s Event Director with the following explanation:

Both last year and this year we required participating breweries that bottle their beer to send bottled product. Because we don’t want to limit participation to production breweries, we allow draft product from breweries that do not bottle. We had the same percentage of draft product this year as last year.

The overriding reason is operational. For an event this size, it takes a substantial amount of time to set up draft (and bottled product). We don’t have the time or resources to make this happen within the time we have for set up. Also, when bringing product in from across the country, bottled product is easier to handle, as we don’t have to ship the kegs back to the breweries after the event. It’s quite a logistical undertaking to break down all draft product and arrange for shipping kegs back across the country after the event.

festivalfloorThe room was pretty easy to navigate for the first hour or so, but as the evening progressed, it began to get really crowded and hard to walk through. Honestly, if attendees would just learn to walk to the outside edges instead of grouping right next to the lines, every beer fest on the planet would be easier to attend. For the best take on this we’ve ever seen, Jay Brooks of Brookston Beer Bulletin wrote one of his famous Top 10 lists for attending a beer fest. It’s a hoot and should be required reading for Fest goers. A plus was a large number of small round tables around the edges of the room that gave a large amount of seating – somewhat unusual for a fest and much appreciated. Someone deserves thanks for including that in the Savor set up. And as far as the set up goes, it was mostly worked well.

Food was to be an equally important component to this event – to highlight the exceptional ability of beer to pair well with food. It was really interesting to see the diversity of the food and beer pairings. One of our favorites was a “Mini Scallop Burger with Cilantro and Lime Mayonnaise”. It was paired with Troegs Brewing Company doublebock, The Bruey’s Tradewinds Trippel and Avery Brewing’s Maharaja Imperial IPA. Pretty wide range of brews we thought, but tasty with all. Unfortunately, the food was often cold and in some cases, gone, but not yet replaced so it was impossible to try the pairings. We didn’t think it was a huge issue – the caterer (Federal City Caterers) was trying to keep up with around 120 small stations, muscling their way through the crowds at each booth to re-fill. All things considered, it was an adequate job.

dessertWe had one issue with placing dessert items, like this luscious Espresso Sambuca Parfait, at various booths (again, based on the food item the brewery had requested to be paired with); it just became hard to remember where you had seen them and trying to pull out the program and look through the listings to see who had a dessert item was just tough to do unless you were sitting down.

Towards the end of the event, someone standing next to us said, “What was your favorite?” Well, quite honestly, neither of us had an answer. There were obvious stand out beers for us…from Easton PA Weyerbacher ‘s Double Simco IPA, so hoppy and so balanced - Woodcut No 2 from Odell Brewing in Fort Collins CO , a oak barrel aged golden ale just released that tastes just a bit young, but leaves no doubt what a little aging will do for it – Great Divide, from Denver CO who brought Hercules Double IPA and the over the top Espresso Oak aged Yeti Imperial Stout – Avery Brewing showed up with the absolutely amazing Maharaja Double IPA as well as their limited release of Brabant, a wild ale aged in Zinfandel barrels from Paso Robles. It’s got a ton of funky Brett character but not overly sour with the oak and zin giving it such unique characteristics – Troegs Brewing from Harrisburg PA with an extremely hoppy and malty Red IPA – Russian River Consecration, of course. So did we have a favorite? Well, in a word, no.

lastpourSavor - this was craft beer elevated to another level. There was no need to convince any of this crowd that beer and food can be paired well and with diversity; this was preaching to the choir. But what fun to bring dedicated brewers together with their fans who supported this effort to move forward the idea that craft beer deserves a enormous amount of respect, that it deserves an equal place beside wine, that there is more than one beer for any food and the joy is trying them out and finding what works for you. We would love to see this type of fest make its way to the west coast to allow a greater number of our fellow beer lovers to experience something so familiar but so new.

Beers in Review: Easter Beers

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

First of all, let me start off by saying that there are no “Easter” beers. To my current knowledge, I do not know of any beers that are specifically brewed in celebration of Easter. So I decided to go with an “Easter” theme. Here’s the basic premise: Easter celebrates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Overly simplistically put, he dies, goes to Hell and rises up into Heaven. Somewhere along the way, a rabbit hides colorful, chocolate filled eggs from small children and some adults. And that’s my Easter beer plan.

Biere de Miele, Rabbit’s Foot Meadery, 4.2% ABV

bieredemieleSome people may think that I don’t have a sense of humor thanks to that whole St. Patrick’s Day thing. I still say that I’m being misunderstood but it is what it is. Anyway, Biere de Miele from Rabbit’s Foot Meadery fills in the “rabbit” part of the Easter equation. Da-dump, ching!

Rabbit’s Foot Meadery is a great meadery located in Sunnyvale a stone’s throw from where I work. Their meads are award-winning, their cysers refreshing and their beers interesting. Biere de Miele is their first attempt at a braggot and is brewed as a kölsch.

bieredemiele_glassBiere de Miele pours out a hazy dark straw/gold color with a foamy and lasting white head. This beer had a pretty good pop when I first opened it up. The beer smells like pears, a hint of orange citrus and honey. The beer has a delicate flavor, it’s fruity, slight hints of citrus, with a moderate honey note tying everything together. There’s a low hop bitterness and flavor. The beer is low in body with medium/medium-high carbonation.

As far as a kölsch’s go, there’s a little too much heavy-handed flavor but it’s a very nice, drinkable and refreshing beer. The body is reminiscent of a hefeweizen. If you’re at BevMo, give ‘em a shot or stop by the meadery and check them for yourselves.

Dead Guy Ale, Rogue Ales, 6.50% ABV

rogueDead Guy Ale. Short of calling this the “Jesus” beer, this is the Jesus beer. Dead Guy Ale is Rogue’s interpretation of a Maibock. You can find Rogue beers in a many places as their distribution is pretty good. Let’s see how this maibock is.

Drogue_glassead Guy Ale pours out an amber/light copper color, is clear and has an off-white, lasting head. The beer has a sweet, Munich malt like aroma and a light, hop spice undertone. The beer is sweet but not overly so. There’s a slight spicy character from the Saaz hop. Dead Guy Ale is medium-low/medium in body with medium carbonation and slight alcohol warming.

As a maibock, I think it’s a slight bit too dark but it’s a decent beer nonetheless. The spiciness comes out a bit more as the beer warms up and the hop bitterness becomes more apparent as well.

Arrogant Bastard Ale, Stone Brewing, 7.2% ABV

bastardArrogant Bastard. This beer is the devil, or at least as close as I could find to being the devil at BevMo. With the phrase “You’re Not Worthy” as the beer’s slogan, this beer is arrogant enough to have it’s own website independent of it’s parent company. Nice. If you find this beer, take the time to read the label, it’s a riot.

bastard_glassArrogant Bastard pours out a clear dark brown with reddish hues and an off-white head. The aroma is hop forward, a combination of piney and citrus, clean and with an underlying malt aroma. This beer is very hop oriented. It’s aggressively bitter with a malt sweetness, slightly caramel in nature, that takes a backseat to the hops but is enough to balance. The hop bitterness is lasting and causes a slight dryness on my palette. This is a medium/medium-full bodied beer with medium-high carbonation and a slight astrigency from the alcohol.

The bottle label boldly states, “This is an aggressive beer. You probably won’t like it.” and if you’re used to drinking macro lagers, you will definitely not like it. As a hop head, I love this beer and if you’re one, you will probably like this as well.

Devout Stout, Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing Company, 5.4% ABV

devoutAt this point in the tasting, we’ve ascended from Hell and are now making our way into Heaven. Devout Stout is a good beer to start this portion of the Easter festivities if you judge things by label alone.

Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing is an all-organic brewery. In my personal experience, I have had some pretty good beer that were organic. The one caveat to that was that they were darker beers. Organic beers seem to be problematic when it comes to lighter beers but we’re drinking a stout at this point.

devout_glassDevout Stout pours out an very, very dark brown, clear as can you can get from the style, with a whispy beige/tan head. The aroma is of black coffee, dark chocolate with a lactic sour note underneath, which is odd for the style. It’s Flemish in character. The flavor is like black coffee with a lactic finish. Very little hop character in flavor but the bitterness matches the burnt malt flavor. The body is medium-full with medium-high carbonation and a dry-ish finish.

Hmm… maybe I haven’t quite ascended to Heaven just yet. A sourness is not unappropriate for Victorian-style stouts but in those cases, the sourness is an undertone. In this particular beer, it’s quite noticeable and distracting from the flavors of the stout. I suspect it could be an infection. The thing is, I like sour ales so I don’t think this beer is all that bad, it’s just weird that it’s so sour. I’ll probably be purchasing another bottle to compare with this review.

St. Peter’s Cream Stout, St. Peter’s Brewery, 6.5% ABV

st_peterDon’t know too much about this beer or the brewery. What I do know is that this beer is an example of the sweet stout style, at least according to the BJCP.

st_peter_glassVery dark brown, almost black with ruby highlights and a tan head. The aroma has a deep roasted malt character and is sweet. The flavor is slightly sweet with a deep roasted flavor and has a bittersweet chocolate note. The hop bitterness is appropriate for the style and is enough to balance the sweetness. The body is medium-full body with medium-high carbonation with a silky mouthfeel.

Okay, we’re finally in Heaven, St. Peter has opened the doors to Heaven and we are here. This is a good example of the sweet stout style. It’s not overly sweet but the stout character is not lost. I think I’ll be purchasing additional bottles of this beer.

Brother David Dubbel, Anderson Valley Brewing Company, 9.0% ABV

brother_davidAh, the last of the Heavenly beers. Anderson Valley is literally located in the middle of nowhere. Despite that, they make some pretty good beers. Anderson Valley is also the host to the Boonville Beerfest.

brother_david_glassThe dubbel pours out a brilliantly clear dark brown with amber highlights with a thing off-white head. The aroma is of raisins, possibly figs and dates, and a sweet, complex malt character. The flavor is of a complex, malt character. There are some Munich malt notes, melanoidic qualities, dark fruit notes (raisins, figs) and a spicy note from either the alcohol or hops. This beer is medium bodied with medium high carbonation with a noticeable alcohol warming.

What a great way to end the evening. This is a great malt-forward beer brewed in the Abbey tradition. Great complex malt character but it hides the alcohol well. Belgian strong ales are considered “dangerous” because of that very reason.

In any event, I hope that you enjoyed this segment of Beers In Review. I wasn’t sure where this was going in the beginning but it turned out well in the end. I got to try a bunch of beers that I haven’t before and most were tastey.

Beer & Chocolate Dinner at Firehouse Brewery featuring Pete Slosberg Recap

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

Steve and PeteI had been looking forward to this event for some time now. Having had a part in its planning, I couldn’t wait to see how it would turn out. The event was held in the upstairs area of Firehouse Brewery & Grill. This has its advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage, of course, is that the brewery can host special events without any interruption to its regular service and walk-in customers. The importance of having a separate events area cannot be underestimated.

The disadvantage of the upstairs of the Firehouse location stems mainly from how it’s built. The second floor has a gaping hole in the center. It’s mainly meant, from an architectural standpoint, to keep the top floor open and airy and connected to the bottom half of the restaurant. Therein lies the problem, the connection. Sounds travels easily from downstairs to upstairs. The result is that even though I sat but two tables away from Pete and Steve, I could barely make out what they were saying. I’m sure the tables behind me didn’t hear a thing. They do have a private room in the back that’s enclosed but it’s not nearly large enough to hold everyone.

tableYou needed a reservation for this event so seating was pre-arranged. That was cool though as Steve sat Sammy and I with, what we would learn as the evening went on, some of the coolest people we’ve met. At our table, we met Jen and Joey from www.wetyourwhistles.com. Www.wetyourwhistles.com is part of the Bay Area Beer Bloggers group and they are the Caltrains version of www.beerbybart.com. I know, I know, so many websites to remember but that’s just the nature of the world today. Also at our table were Diane and Mike. Diane used to work across the street from Firehouse but has since retired. She and her husband now travel the world, taking in new experiences, drinking good beers and bringing good beers back for Steve. Makes me wonder how I can get on that gift list. The last person at our table was Mark. Mark is part of the South Bay Beer Advocates, a group of beer lovers who meet up every 2nd Wednesday at the Rose & Crown to talk beer, drink beer and trade beers.

beer and chocolatesPete Slosberg provided the opening chocolates for the event. He invited me over to his place to help him make them, an offer I strongly considered, but ultimately had to turn down because of work. Damn that day job. Here’s a list of the chocolates and the beer and what my notes were:

  • Brewer’s Malt Cookies in Milk Chocolate with Pale Ale - I felt this was an awesome pairing. The brewer’s malt (kind of like Whoppers, the candy) just disintegrated in your mouth. The pale ale was a contrasting beer that helped to cut the sweetness of the chocolate while toning down the bitterness of the beer. All of this without sacrificing the qualities of one another.
  • Toasted Almonds in Dark Chocolate with Porter - The dark chocolate and almond nutty flavors worked well with the roasty, slight coffee and chocolate flavors of the beer, while the slight astrigency tied in well with the nutty characteristics.
  • Dried Ginger in Dark Chocolate with Brother Tommy’s Tripel - The ginger quality in the chocolate was quite subdued but when you pair it with the Tripel, the ginger really popped. Depending on your feelings regarding ginger, this may or may not have been your favorite pairing but I thought it was interesting and a great conversation piece.
  • Hazelnut Gianduja Truffles and Scotch Ale - I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this pairing. I like the Scotch Ale but I wasn’t sure what to make of the truffles. A lot of it has to do with the truffles. I just don’t know enough about them. Truffles taste just like chocolate but aren’t they a fungus? I think I just need to taste an unadulterated truffle. Something that’s not chopped up or pureed or mixed or whatever. Just the truffle. Until then, I can’t really understand what all the hooplah is surrounding truffles.
  • Dried Sour Cherries in Dark Chocolate with OTIS - This was a great pairing. The chocolate and stout characteristics worked harmoniously together while the dried sour cherries worked complimentary with the beer.

Here’s the menu, pairings and my notes:

  • soupRoasted Parsnip and Vanilla Chocolate Soup Paired with FireHouse Hefeweizen - Overall, a good pairing. The hefeweizen and the parsnip soup had a very similar, creamy texture. The hefeweizen has a very, very light vanilla note that tied in with the vanilla chocolate in the soup.
  • Baby Greens Salad, Endive, Chocolate Covered Bacon, Radicchio, Chocolate Vinaigrette Paired with FireHouse Red Ale - To be frank, this was the worst pairing of the evening. We (at the table) found the salad green to be wilty and lifeless and a little overly drenched in dressing. I thought the flavors, a black peppery spiciness and slight bitterness in the salad, worked to match the hop bitterness of the Red Ale but the dressing was overwhelming. The chocolate covered bacon was chocolatey and salty. You either loved it or hated it. We wished that the chocolate covered bacon was chopped up into smaller bits and sprinkled onto the salad instead of having one big chunk but I can understand how difficult that would be.
  • saladRotisserie Duck Enchilada in Mole Sauce Paired with FireHouse Scotch Ale - I thought this pairing was the best of the evening. The duck enchilada had an interesting texture, it was like tofu. Duck is known for having a strong flavor but I thought it was fairly mild. The mole sauce was a bittersweet, dark chocolate that had a good level of spiciness to it. The malty sweetness of the Scotch Ale served to compliment and harmonize with the flavors of the duck and chocolate while the higher alcohol helped to balance out the heat of the mole sauce.
  • duckChocolate Ravioli, Vanilla Honey Drizzle Paired with FireHouse OTIS - The chocolate ravioli was deep fried and stuffed with chocolate. I thought it was an interesting recipe. Deep frying the ravioli gives is a crispy and lighter texture that contrasts with the heaviness of the beer while the chocolate echoes the flavor of OTIS.

filetTruthfully, I’m surprised I remember as much as I did about the dinner as my notes were pretty sparce. We were having such great conversations at the table that I almost didn’t remember to write anything down. I’ve seen the emails from Jen but I’ve never met either her or Joey. Likewise, Diane and Mike seemed to have visited so many places and tried so many beers. When I get to retiring, I hope to be as well traveled as they are. Mark was also great to talk to and I’m looking forward to joining the South Bay Beer Advocates at one of their meetings. Steve did a great job putting our table together.

ravioliJust typing this out now, I can’t help but have a slight grin on my face. We had such fun that night. As good as the food and beer was, the people made it better. Sure the beer and food dinner was good but what good is all that food and beer if you can’t share it with good people? It never ceases to amaze me at how many cool people we meet at these beer events. This is a huge reason why I love craft beers and the craft brewing community. I’m looking forward to the next event!