BetterBeerBlog

Last Friday night, I had the pleasure of attending the Beer vs. Wine Dinner featuring Stone Brewing Company and Joel Gott Winery, respectively, held at the Duck Club Restaurant. I have never been to an event like this. I support all things craft beer, I’m a craft beer guy, this is what I do. I have never been to a wine pairing dinner before, nor do I present myself as being knowledgeable about wines. I like the occasional glass of vino every so often but then it comes to my liquor, it’s all about craft beer.

Part of being a proponent of craft beer, at least for me, is the interplay that occurs between craft beer and food. Sometimes it’s fine dining, sometimes it’s not. The range of flavors that craft beer has is wide, much wider than wine. It is because of this versatility that I think craft beer has it’s place on the dinner table, and not just as an accompaniment of burgers, hot dogs or pizza.

So, as soon as I learned that this dinner was going down, I immediately made plans to attend. Part of me was curious to see how wine would stack up to food, especially the challenging menu that Duck Club Executive Chef Chuck Courtney put together. A bigger part of me though, was interested in seeing craft beer put the beat down on wine. This was my chance to have all of my culinary beliefs vindicated… or not.

Normally when planning a pairing dinner, wine or beer (or anything really), the culinary staff will do their best to really dial in their dishes with either the beer or wine. After all, you want to put your best foot forward. Also, once they’re done, they’re done - there is no additional tweaking of the beer or wine - so the food is fine tuned.

That being said, there was no “fine-tuning” of the dishes. Chef Courtney basically said this is what we’re making, go back and choose wisely. Neither Stone Brewing or Joel Gott had any feedback into the dishes whatsoever. In addition, the beers and wine to be chosen were limited to products each company produced. While this may sound obvious, they’ve opened up these dinners to the “world of craft beer” or “world of wine” in the past, and if I’m not mistaken, this is the first time this limitation has been put into place. To say this was “exciting” to me would be an understatement.

In the past I would painstakingly review both the food and the beer and relay everything back to this blog. My notes from this dinner are decent, regarding beer and food, but they are downright novice for wine. As knowledgeable as I (like to think I) am about beer, I am inversely so with wine. That being said, I’ll just list my tasting notes regarding the food, my vote on which went “better” with the dish and why, and how the crowd voted (as I was provided with the statistical breakdown). With the stage set, here we go.

Oh, did I mention Greg Koch, CEO and Co-motherf*cking-Founder of Stone Brewing, was in the house? I didn’t? WELL HE WUZ, oh snap!

Appetizers

Food: Chef’s Selection of “Spice Route” Appetizers
Beverage: Stone Pale Ale vs. Joel Gott (JG) Sauvignon Blanc, (California 2009)

Tasting Notes: There were several appetizers out and about. I tried this miniature baked potato as well as a breaded eggplant appetizer but missed out on the bit-sized sandwich. There was no real “winner” for appetizers; some things went better with the wine (sandwich, I hear) and others with the beer (baked potato) while others were a draw (eggplant).

First Course

Food: Crispy Striped Bass and Fresh Scallops, Scallion and Ginger Sauce, Shaanxi Province, China
Beverage: Stone Cali-Belgique vs. JG Riesling (Colombia Valley, Washington, 2009)

Tasting Notes: There is a light bitterness from the greens on the dish that is balanced with the slightly sweet soy sauce-based sauce. Ginger and green onion flavors are prominent without being overbearing. The fish “nuggets” were moist and flavorful although slightly “fishy” while the rice had a neutral character.

• Peter’s Vote: I gave this course to Cali-Belgique all the way. The Cali-Belgique’s yeast-driven flavors echoed many of the flavors in the dish, like the ginger, while the hop bitterness kept the sweetness of the sauce in check. The wine paired well - more complimentary in my opinion - but I felt everything worked better with the beer.
• Crowd Vote: 32-22, overwhelmingly in favor of… the wine! I didn’t see that coming but I can see how a complimentary pairing would add more depth and complexity to the overall experience of the dish.

Second Course

Food: Paneer Samosa, Spiced Cheese and Potato Turnover, Mint-Cilantro Chutney, Northern India
Beverage: Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale vs. JG Chardonnay (Monterey, 2008)

Tasting Notes: Despite the prominent Indian-spice character in the aroma they were well balanced in the flavor. The chutney had a decidedly tart flavor that brightened up the dish. The turnovers themselves were buttery, starchy while the herbed cheese provided another subtle layer of flavor.

• Peter’s Vote: I felt this dish went a lot better with the wine. When consumed all together, the turnover, chutney and wine, seemed to be a better mix of flavors. I would not have thought to pair this dish with a Black IPA but the chutney, with it’s bright acidity, made for a good compliment with the light burnt malt and deep roasty character of the beer. Still, that was just a singular aspect. Mrs. BetterBeerBlog disagreed with me and voted beer.
• Crowd Vote: 26-27 in favor of… beer! Once again, did not see that coming. I’m just zigging while everyone else is zagging. This proved to be the most contested dish of the evening, though not by much.

Third Course

Food: Izgara Kofte, Grilled Lamb Kebabs, Tomato Curry, Istanbul, Turkey
Beverage: Stone Arrogant Bastard vs. JG Zinfandel (Mohr Fry Ranches, Lodi, 2006)

Tasting Notes: The lamb was moist and flavorful, full of intermingled herb and spice flavors while the tomato curry showed a lot of finesse in how it was prepared. From what Chef Courtney told us, the ingredient list for this dish was quite expansive yet nothing is overpowering or dominant; it’s all in balance. The grains seemed to have a neutral character to them that I felt helped balance out the richness of the lamb. It’s interesting for me to note that as the kofte cooled down, it’s “weight” became more apparent and its mouthfeel seemed to thicken up.

• Peter’s Vote: I gave this dish, by the slimmest of margins, to the wine. I really spend a lot of time going back and forth with this dish eating in different combinations. Sip beer first then food. Eat first, sip beer. Sip beer and immediately eat food. Eat food, immediately drink beer. Same thing for wine. At the end, I felt the wine’s acidity, tannic bitterness and higher alcohol helped to ease the richness of the lamb much better than the carbonation and hop bitterness of the beer. Mrs. BetterBeerBlog voted wine as well.
• Crowd Vote: 40-13 in favor of… wine! Apparently the crowd didn’t feel this was as contentious as I did.

Fourth Course

Food: Green Tea Gelato, Pistachio Biscotti, Venice Italy
Beverage: Stone Russian Imperial Stout vs. Terra d’Oro Moscato (Amador County, 2009)

Tasting Notes: The green tea gelato had a lot of green tea flavor (Duh!) without any green tea tannic bitterness; it was also very nutty from the pistachios it was also made with. The pistachio flavors were also carried through in the biscotti as you could see bits of them within while have a bittersweet, dark chocolate component on one side. Both were mildly sweet and, when eaten together, ended up being a layered and complex mix of complimentary flavors and contrasting textures.

• Peter’s Vote: I felt the Russian Imperial Stout was a better pairing with this dish. I had my doubts though as I felt the RIS would’ve been too big, too bold for the mild green tea but I was wrong. I though the RIS provided just enough roasty punch to compliment the green tea and pistachios while echoing the chocolate aspect of the dish. As sweet and syrupy as the Moscato was, I thought it cancelled out the green tea but faded against the chocolate and pistachio flavors of the biscotti. Mrs. BetterBeerBlog also chose beer.
• Crowd Vote: 24-26 in favor of… beer! I was pleasantly surprised by this result.

It’s a tie! Or is it?

I would’ve been happy to have walked a way from this dinner with beer and wine coming to a draw. Even though this dinner was a far cry from the “wine smackdown” I had initially anticipated, it was a lot of fun to have participated and proved to be one of the more memorable dinners I’ve ever been to. In many ways, my feelings about craft beer and food were vindicated; beer’s wide variety of flavors and intensity allow it to be a versatile component in any culinarian’s toolbox.

I learned a lot about wine by going to this dinner as well. I still can’t tell you what the difference between a zinfandel and a pinot noir is but I know that wine’s acidity and tannic bitterness plays a big part in actually cooking with it. Especially the acidity, beer can’t compete on that level, and the beers that do have any measure of acidity must be used wisely as the other flavor components in sour/tart ales are complex and can pose a dilemma when trying to pair or cook with. This dinner almost makes me want to go to a wine pairing dinner. Almost.

But at the end of the day, there must be a winner and a not-so-winner. Seeing as how each beverage tied, each winning 2 courses apiece, the powers that be used total votes counted as the tie-breaker and wine goes home with it’s hand raised high.

Odds and Ends

This section is a bit of “catch all”. Just things I noticed throughout the evening that don’t really fit in anywhere else in the post.

Greg vs. Chris

So I mentioned earlier that Greg Koch of Stone was in the house. I fully expected Dave Hopwood, the green-bearded Stone rep for the greater SF Bay Area, to be representing Stone at this event. Apparently this dinner was just one of several dinners featuring beer vs. wine (wine currently has the edge) and Greg’s been involved in all of them. In case you didn’t already know, Greg is very comfortable with a microphone in hand and I found him to be a witty and charming speaker #NoHomo. Chris (I forgot his hard to pronounce last name) represented Joel Gott Winery. By comparison, Chris looked he could manhandle Greg in a fist fight, clearly outweighing him by at least 30 pounds of grape-crushing muscle #NoHomo. Despite this, he wasn’t nearly as quick as Greg on the microphone. If it makes Greg feel a little better, I give him the inaugural Chael Sonnen Award for smack talk. In all honesty, there was a lot of friendly banter back and forth that helped to set the tone for the evening and helped make a dinner into an event.

Seating

I don’t think this event sold out. With it’s high price point, that doesn’t surprise me. Mrs. BetterBeerBlog and I had to save up our pennies for this dinner, whoo! That being said, we’ve been to several dinners at the Duck Club and we’re starting to see some “regulars” we’re acquainted, if not outright friends, with. I should make it a point to see if we can all get seated at the same table next time.

Execution

I can’t say enough good things about the Duck Club staff. The wait staff was as attentive as ever, without hovering while wines and beers were served in close conjunction with their paired courses. Pouring sizes were appropriate and enough to satisfy.

Chef Courtney and his staff did an excellent job with the food. They had an idea, a concept, that they executed perfectly. Each course represented their countries of origin well yet I think I could see Chef’s influence on each dish as he made them his own. Because this dinner was beer vs. wine, let the best “suggeston” win, the food was allowed to stand on it’s own and was actually “belle of the ball” with two suitors vying for “her” attention. Many people, who I’ve seen at these dinners repeatedly, echoed this same sentiment and went even further to suggest this was some of the best dishes put out by Chef Courtney. Kudos to Chef and his staff!

Looking Forward to the Future

While I know that the Duck Club will be hosting more of these types of events, I wanted to note that Woodside Hotels, the group that owns the Lafayette Park Hotel and the Duck Club by extension, have started renovations at their Stanford Park Hotel location. In speaking with Josh, a Woodside Hotel executive, he says that once renovations are complete, they plan to bring these types of events to the Peninsula/South Bay. I am all over this and I can’t wait.

I have a growing appreciation for Chef Courtney, and everyone affiliated with the Duck Club and the Lafayette Park Hotel, but Lafayette is quite the drive for us. Having their Stanford Park Hotel location hosting these same type of events would help in further establishing a craft beer culture on the Peninsula/South Bay that I already support. Not only that, but Mrs. BetterBeerBlog and I wouldn’t have to leave work early in order to arrive on time for dinner. Josh, who happens to be a South Bay resident himself, agrees as well. As soon as I hear something, you’ll be hearing something. You never know, I just might have a hand in planning one of these things *HintHintWinkWinkNudgeNudge*

Below is a slideshow of some pictures we took that night. There’s no audio or musical score so don’t be surprised if you don’t hear anything. Also, I’d like to thank Mike C. for providing some of the photos featured in the slideshow and in the blog. You can definitely tell which shots are his: they’re super clear and crisp, unlike my camera phone.

With a ton of craft beer activities this weekend, it was hard to choose just one. Unfortunately, we had constraints. We were babysitting our little niece and I still had to prepare for a few things. So, Mrs. BetterBeerBlog and I decided to stay local and stay South Bay by visiting El Toro Brewing Company for their Augtoberfest event.

Augtoberfest ran from 3pm - 7pm and we didn’t arrive until 6pm. It was good to see El Toro full of people and their families hanging out. The Internationals were playing a wide variety of music ranging from German polka to classic rock to Spanish music. While I didn’t even notice it at the time, El Toro owners Geno and Cindy were working, behind the bar and in the dining area respectively.

The Augtoberfest Event consisted of a specialized menu featuring some traditional-ish German cuisine, a commemorative stein and three, German-style, El Toro beers: Morgan Hill Pils, Maifest Märzen, and El Chivo Weizenbock.

Mrs. BetterBeerBlog and I ordered the German sausages served with sauerkraut with bits of bacon and a side of herbed, potato salad for her and fries for me. The sausage was okay, not thing spectacular, slightly overcooked if anything. The sauerkraut was equally bland, even with the bacon bits. Her herbed, potato salad was the same and my fries were incredibly salty. I spent most of my time wiping salt off of my fries. Unfortunately, the beers weren’t too much better.

Morgan Hill Pils, 4.6%

Clear gold color with a thin, white head. Flavor is surprisingly malty, cracker-like, almost bready. Hop flavor is slightly earthy, Noble hop-ish while hop bitterness is medium/medium-high. Medium bodied, crisp with high carbonation.

Mrs. BetterBeerBlog and I both feel that a really good pilsner should be clean and crisp with the balance leaning more toward the hop side but not overwhelmingly so. Morgan Hill Pils had a noticeable hop front, not much middle and an assertive hop, almost harsh hop bitterness.

Herman’s Hefeweizen

Cloudy, gold color with no head. Flavors are muddled, nothing stands out. Surprisingly bitter, lasts into the finish.

Mrs. BetterBeerBlog ordered this beer and she couldn’t finish it. I couldn’t finish it. All the good things that make hefeweizens special; banana esters and flavors, yeasty, clove-like spiciness and a soft, wheat malt sweetness; were missing. In it’s place was a big, lemony-citrus character that neither of us were sure came from the beer or the squeezed, lemon wedge that came with the beer.

Maifest Märzen, 5.87%

Clear, amber color with a thin off-white head. Flavor has a slight Munich malt flavor supported by a medium hop bitterness and resiny hop flavor. Lightly buttery? Medium body with medium carbonation.

An improvement over the other two beers but, as far as Märzen’s go it’s not as complex or layered as other examples.

El Chivo Weizenbock, 7.47%

Dark amber in color, hazy with a white head. Flavor is malty, light wheat character with medium-high hop bitterness with some alcohol warming.

Once again, the depth and complexity I’ve seen in other examples is missing from this beer.

El Toro Blackraspberry

Hazy, dark brown in color with a white head. Sweet berry aroma echoed in the flavor. Hop bitterness is low. Body is medium-low with high carbonation.

Mrs. BetterBeerBlog felt this tasted like medicine. I begged to differ, this beer had a lot of fruit character in both the aroma and the flavor. On the drive home, we both felt that the really good fruit beers have the fruit playing second fiddle to whatever the base beer style is. After all, we want beers brewed with fruit as opposed to fruity beers. For what it’s worth, this was the “best” beer of the evening.

I really don’t like to dwell too much on the negatives but it must be said the food at El Toro was ‘meh’ while their beers were very rough around the edges and lacked any sort of finesse. Yet, the idea of Augtobefest is great; the staff at El Toro really set the mood as the men were dressed in lederhosen while the women were correspondingly dressed in dirndls. Even the commemorative steins, long sold out by the time we arrived, were a very nice touch. Even seeing the Internationals playing was cool. In a small town like Morgan Hill, it’s good to see the lone brew pub bringing beer culture to their people.

By the time I showed up to Firehouse Brewery & Grill, the party was pretty much in full swing. There were a surprising amount of people I knew at the bar—a combination of Firehouse regulars, craft beer fans, homebrewers and an unpaid assistant brewer—all hanging out and enjoying the cask conditioned pale ale. It’s good to see the community come out and support not just Firehouse but Firehouse brewmaster Steve Donohue. He’s an award-winning, yet unhearalded, brewer who has a well-earned following that continues to grow despite his best efforts.

“I try and brew beer people won’t like,” says Donohue. Judging by the amount of people at Firehouse last night, he’s not doing a very good job. And I’m OK with that.

Cask conditioned Pale Ale dry-hopped with Citra

Cloudy, pale amber in color, with a thin white/off-white head. Aroma is pungent, slightly earthy, with light citrus character and resiny. Malt flavor has caramel flavors but citrus, funky, resiny hop flavors are more dominant. Hop bitterness seems at the upper limit for a pale ale, but isn’t harsh. Low carbonation,  smooth, medium-low body.

Quite possibly the only downside to last night was the band playing upstairs. Despite how loud they were, I liked many of the covers songs they played but it made for a lot of yelling and leaning in close to hear what your neighbor was saying. If we where having trouble hearing what was going on downstairs, I can only imagine how difficult it was to hear anything upstairs. Speaking of upstairs…

The band was part of the Wine & Beer Tasting Event the brew pub was concurrently hosting in the brewpub’s upper level. Firehouse General Manager Leticia brought me upstairs prior to the event starting to show me how things were set up. The event set-up was relatively straightforward: the band greeted you at the top of the stairs while additional seating was to the right of the band. To the left of the band, a couple of tables were set-up featuring several wineries that were separated by a robust spread of various cheeses and fruits. The lights were dimmed, perhaps a little too much, to set the mood. I hope they had a decent turnout. Since I am admittedly not a huge wine fan, I never went back up to see how things were going.

If you didn’t make it to this Cask Ale Night, the next one is tentatively set for September 16th or so.

Author: The Rabid Brewer

This past Saturday, K&L Wine Merchants in Redwood City had a Saisons and Sours Beer Tasting. Roughly once a month, K&L buyer Bryan Brick organizes and hosts this event. Fill out a request next time your in K&L to be put on his mailing list.

Although I would love to post a detailed description of each beer complete with photos (ala Mr. BetterBeerBlog,) alas, you’ll just have to settle for my jotted notes and recommendations. I’ve listed the beers roughly in order of my personal preference, not in the order in which I tasted them.

Odonata Beer Company Saison, California 22oz $5.99

This is Odonata Beer’s Co’s flagship beer brewed in Davis and has just recently been released. The brewer, Peter Hooey, was once a shift brewer at Sierra Nevada, Brewmaster at Bison Brewing and has won numerous awards including a Gold at GABF for his saison.

I’ve been following Odonata’s Blog for some time and have eagerly awaited it’s appearance in the Bay Area market. I’ve now tasted it three separate times and unfortunately, my experience has been inconsistent. I suspect improper handling or perhaps glitches in the first production run.

After tasting it this past Saturday at K&L, I found it superb! The nose was light fruit of apricot and pear with a peppery and very light clove spice. The taste was light, but not as dry as some classic saisons. It had a slight residual sweetness, but was very well balanced. It had many of the subtle qualities that I’ve come to associate with fine wines. The finish had just enough bitterness to support the malt with a perfectly balanced pepper spice.

I would definitely recommend this beer with the caveat that there may be some bad bottles out there. Hopefully, Odonata will get this straightened out and we’ll be able to have a wonderful, locally brewed saison of consistent quality, readily available and at a great price.

Haandbryggeriet “Haandbakk” Wild Ale, Norway 500ml $10.99

This was my hands-down favorite of the day. When I mentioned how much I liked it, Bryan said it was also a favorite of his.

Their website describes Haandbakk as a “sour beer using wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria. This beer was brewed in Sept. 06 and has since then been aged in oak barrels until bottling day [Mar. '08]. The beer is blended for roundness but is still very sour and a little bit acetic… 8.5% alc. 20 ibu.”

I don’t consider this beer “very sour” so perhaps the aging has mellowed it a bit. I tend not to like sour beers where the predominant component of flavor is sourness. I prefer more balanced examples where the sourness is one of the players in the symphony that is the beer. This is an example of that kind of balance.

This was poured later in the tasting order and at this point, my notes were getting sparse, but I wrote that it had a chocolatey acidic-ness with a slight touch of solvent in the nose. Though picking up “solvent” isn’t usually a promising sign, the flavor was wonderful. I bought 3 bottles and wish I could have afforded more. I highly recommend this beer.

Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales “La Roja” Wild Ale, Michigan 750ml $12.99

This was one of the last beers in the tasting order so my notes are quite sparse, but this did earn a star on my list. It would have earned a place in my shopping basket if it wasn’t for the fact I’d already grabbed $100 worth of bottles! It is definitely on my list for next time.

Bryan said that this was the beer that started him on the road to wild and sour ales. I noted it as being light with a sweet finish. This is how Jolly Pumpkin describes it: “[A]n amber ale brewed in the Flanders tradition. Deep amber with earthy caramel, spice, and sour fruit notes developed through natural barrel aging. Unfiltered, unpasteurized and blended from barrels ranging in age from two to ten months.”

Like the Haandbakk, this is not an overly sour beer. It has lots of additional complexity and has a fine balance to which the sourness is just a part.

Jolly Pumpkin has many highly rated beers, so you won’t go wrong with this one.

Telegraph Brewing Company “Reserve Wheat Ale” Ale Brewed With Lemon Verbena, California 750ml $10.99

This beer is brewed with brett, lactobacillus and lemon verbena, and also earned a star on my list. Bryan described it as one of Telegraph Brewing’s finest offerings. Though not as good at the Jolly Pumpkin La Roja, it shared many of the same qualities that I prefer in a sour beer: Nicely balanced with complexity that complements the sourness.

This is a limited release and comes in at 5% ABV.

Valley Brewing Company “Decadence” Pomegranate Saison, California 22oz $6.49

I call this, “Ode to Steve Altimari.” Steve was the head brewer for Valley Brewing for well over 10 years and had a well deserved local following. Unfortunately, when the brewery recently changed hands, he was let go. Many in the beer community lamented what happened to Steve and I hear he is busy working on his next gig.

This beer is still from the stock of Altimari brewed beers left in the distribution channel. It was nice to sample one more of Steve’s beers. I found the nose sweet and rich in carmelized sugar. Although a bit tart and quite fruity, I found it wonderfully complex.

If you’re interested in any of Steve’s Valley Brewing Beers, now’s the time to get them before they’re gone forever.

Nøgne-Ø Saison, Norway 500ml $8.49

This brewery was founded by two homebrewers gone pro and has many highly rated offerings. I found this saison good, but not one of my favorites. It had a rich and fruity nose with some peppery spice. It was quite dry and effervescent and finished with a slight grainy astringency.

Brouwerij De Ranke “Saison De Dottignies” Saison, Belgium 330ml $4.49

This saison has an ABV of 5.5% which is closer to where saisons were traditional brewed. It seems like most saisons these days are 6% or more. Even Bryan joked that this was more of a session beer.

I found it quite light and with little spice. The body was a bit thin (perhaps due to the low ABV) but it had a nice noble hop flavor I’m guessing was substantial late additions of saaz.

As this beer is highly rated on both RateBeer and BeerAdvocate, you should probably give it a try. Personally, I prefer other Brouwerij De Ranke offerings such as their Guldenberg.

Green Flash Brewing Company “Summer Saison” Saison, California 22oz $7.99

Another low ABV saison at 4.3%, this beer is brewed with orange curacao , ginger and grains of paradise.  What was apparent to my nose was a bit of Belgian yeast funk combined with a Columbus hop pungency. Although I really like many of Green Flash’s other beers, this won’t become a favorite.

Professor Fritz Briem “13th Century Grut Bier,” Germany 16.9oz $6.49

This is not a beer, but a gruit. A gruit is brewed without hops. This particular gruit uses bay leaves, ginger, caraway, anise, rosemarie and gentian. The latter ingredient had me stumped but my trusty iPhone revealed it to be a flowering herb commonly used for digestion problems.

Although I am thoroughly intrigued by gruit (and hope to brew on some day), most of what I got from this was a prominent ginger aroma and flavor with some light peppery spice.

Brasserie Trois Dames Oud Bruin, Switzerland 750ml $19.99

Fairly sour in the nose but quite complex in flavor. You gotta love sours to enjoy this beer.

Hanssens “Experimental Raspberry” Lambic, Belgium 12.7oz $15.99

Bryan explained that Hanssens is a blender, not a brewer, of lambic. Blenders buy from different brewers and create a blend much like wine makers make wine. A quick web search reveals they are the last independently owned blender in Belgium.

The Experimental series are one-offs that Hanssens is doing. The previous one in the series was a “cassis” or black currant. I found this particular lambic quite complex and rich with a rasberry tartness. However, I’ll be the first to admit, that I’m not a fruit beer kind of guy. For those of you that do like fruit lambics, I suspect you will find this one pleasant enough.

Brouwerij Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueze, Belgium 375ml $9.99

Here we get to the point in my notes where I have no notes. Again, not a favorite style of mine. I will keep trying though!

- Brian the Rabid Brewer

Inspired by the success of Kong’s Hefeweizen, I decided to take the same recipe and modify it. Kong’s Hefeweizen was already pretty hoppy for a hefeweizen but I wondered what the resulting beer would be like if I really pushed the hop character of the beer. So I did.

I suppose I should explain the name a little bit. I normally like to listen to rock music but lately, I’ve found rock music to have stagnated. There hasn’t been a “new sound” that’s captivated my attention. So I decided to give hip-hop another shot. While I find most of hip-hop/rap music to be very derivative of each other and utterly devoid of any sort of messaging outside of I-have-a-lot-of-money-and-you-don’t, or I’m-a-gansta-taking-what’s-rightfully-mine, or I-wanna-have-sex-that-demeans/objectifies-women, or I’m-a-gangsta-with-a lot-of-money-and-you-don’t-so-I’m-taking-what’s-rightfully-mine-by-having-sex-that-demeans/objectifies-you-lady-RESPECT!, there are a few mainstream rap artists that are just fun to listen to. Snoop Dogg is one of them. Fond of smoking marijuana and of repeated consonants, Snoop Dogg gained critical acclaim as part of the early “gansta rap” genre of the early 90s. That is neither here or there, what is relevant though is his hit song “Drop it like it’s hot“. I had often wanted to brew up beer that was inspired by music and I guess my Drop it Like it’s Hopped Hefeweizen is the first one.

Ingredients

Malt

• 6 lbs - Bavarian wheat extract

Specialty Grains:

• 1 lbs - Bamburg Wheat (1.6L)

Hops

• 1 oz - Magnum (13.1) bittering
• 3 oz - Citra (?) finishing
• 2 oz - Citra (?) dry-hop

Yeast

• Hefeweizen Ale Yeast (WLP300)

Original Gravity: 1.060

Final Gravity: 1.016

ABV: 5.775%

Process

1. Steep all Bamburg Wheat for 30 minues at 150° F.
2. Bring to a boil, add 1 oz Magnum hops for bittering.
3. At 30 minute mark, add 6 lbs Coopers Light DME.
4. At 40 minute mark, add in wort chiller to sanitize in boil.
5. At 50 minute mark, 1 oz Citra.
6. At 57 minute mark, add 2 oz Citra.
7. Flame out, chill to 65° F - 70° F.
8. Pitch yeast and aerate.

Tasting Notes (wort) — 5/15/10

Opaque, gold color with green-ish tint. Soapy, white head. Wort-ish, wet grain cereal aroma with wet grass hop notes. Assertive bitterness that lasts into the finish. Grain flavor is sweet. Full-bodied, slight hop astringency.

Tasting Notes (primary) — 5/29/10 (Added 2 oz Citra hops for dry-hopping at this time)

The beer pours out a cloudy, yellow/dark gold with lots of yeast still in suspension. No head. The aroma is a mix between lemony citrus notes, yeasty banana esters and pungent/citrus/piney hop character with slight wheat malt notes. There is a moderate level of hop flavor, followed up by yeasty, banana flavor and wheat malt flavors in the finish. Hop bitterness is medium-high and lasts into the finish. Grapefruit? Medium body, no carbonation.

Tasting Notes (final) — 7/27/10

Hazy, dark gold color with a lasting, thick, off-white head. The aroma has strong citrus hop character, light yeasty lemon and low banana and clove character. This is a hop forward beer; hop flavor is grapefruity with lemony citrus yeast flavors and light wheat malt character. Hop bitterness is medium-high intensity and lasts well into the finish but isn’t harsh. There is a slight tartness in the finish. This is a medium/medium-high carbonated beer with medium-low/medium body and a slight hop astringency.

Overall

By no means is this a traditional hefeweizen, American or otherwise. It is also not a balanced beer with the hop character definitely in the forefront. That being said, I really liked how this turned out. With the name “Drop it Like it’s Hopped”, this needed to be a hoppy beer. Surprisingly, this was also a very refreshing beer. I tapped this beer in time for my birthday party a few weeks ago and I didn’t think anyone would really like it because of it’s assertive hop character but I think this was the most consumed beer of the evening. I’m nursing what’s left because I like it so much.

At one point during the evening’s festivities, my friend Diane and her husband Michael brought out their growler of Russian River’s Pliny the Elder. We had been drinking “Drop it Like it’s Hopped” all evening and I though it would be a pleasant change to have a hoppy IPA. After taking a swig of Pliny the Elder from my pint glass, I commented on how malty it was. The growler was fresh, no more than a couple of days old; we all just snickered at how hoppy “Drop it Like it’s Hopped” really was.

In any event, I look forward to brewing this beer up again. I’ll probably experiment with the hop combination a little bit more to try for more hop complexity and layers, but even if I did nothing else to it, I’d be satisfied.

Rose & Crown English Pub in Palo Alto held a brewery night last Wednesday featuring the beers from New Belgium Brewing Company. New Belgium is one of those breweries that I have a soft spot for. For a brewery of their size, they allow their brewers a certain amount of freedom to experiment and come up with new beers. Some work, some don’t but the fact the get to play at all is a good thing. I also appreciate how the owner’s core beliefs are translated all the way through the company. This goes from environmental stewardship, social and cultural change and just plain having fun. If you ever have a chance to visit the brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado, I encourage you to take a tour.

Rose & Crown had a wide variety of beers available to try from New Belgium that evening. It seemed that many of the available beers were seasonal, small batch stuff, or part of New Belgium’s Lips of Faith series; not a lot you’d be able to find on the shelves of your local bottle shop. At least not the ones I go to. Here are the beers we tried:

Imperial berliner-weiss, 7.0% ABV

Lactic tart aroma, light sweetness. Flavor is not as tart as it smells, lemony-green apple tartness with slight sweetness in the finish. Almost no hop bitterness. Medium body, high carbonation, crisp finish. Leaves my teeth squeaky clean.

Belgium is the country most associated with sour ales but they’re not the only country to do so. Germany has brewed a traditionally sour ale style known as Berliner-weisse. This is a style of beer that is traditionally low in alcohol, 2.8% - 3.8%, brewed with about 50% of the grist being wheat malt and soured through the use of Lactobacillus delbruckii. In Germany, this beer is often blended with syrups (raspberry or woodruff) or even blended with a traditional pilsner to cut down on the sourness. Most Germans would look at you funny if you ordered this beer straight up without a syrup, actually.

The Imperial Berliner-Weisse from New Belgium is a lot heavier than your traditional Berliner-Weisse. As a result, it looses a lot of it’s more refreshing characteristics because it’s so heavy-handed. What this beer hasn’t lost though, is it’s acidic tartness. It’s a decent beer and an interesting take on the style but I think I prefer a traditional.

Dark Heather Saison, 7.5% ABV

Banana-ish, yeasty aroma, low peppery notes and slight wheat malt sweetness. Flavor is similar to aroma, banana, stone fruit character, medium-low spice and alcohol character. High carbonation, medium-full body, slightly dry finish. Caramel? Munich malt character? Dunkleweiss?

Saisons are typically warmer weather beers that have a moderate spice character and robust hop bitterness as well. I know that heather has been used as a brewing spice before the discovery of hops and has acted as a bittering agent of sorts to balance out the malt character of a beer. I have no idea what heather tastes like. Further confusing me is that there are a wide variety of plants that fall within the heather family, like blueberries and cranberries, but I’m not sure if brewers used the flowers or the leaves. In any case, this beer tasted more like a dunkleweiss than a saison; which is too bad considering how good this beer sounded on paper.

Eric’s Ale, 7.0% ABV

Decidedly sour aroma, vomit-ish, stone fruit character. Flavor is very tart and slightly fruity. Low hop flavor and bitterness. Low/medium-low body with high carbonation and a champagne-like dryness. Much more lactic sour than the berliner weiss. Teeth are squeaky clean.

Probably my favorite beer of the evening; Eric’s Ale is a decidedly tart beer. Named after New Belgium brewer Eric Salazar, this beer is blend of wood aged sour beer with a semi-sweet, higher alcohol beer and re-fermented with peach juice. The beer is very tart, which I think obscures the peach and wood character of the beer but I liked it nonetheless.

Fall Wild Ale (brewed with schisandra), 8.5% ABV

Slight funky Belgian yeasty aroma, slight peppery spiciness and dark fruit sweetness. Flavor is balanced: sweet, caramelized, dark fruit malt sweetness with a peppery spice charcter and moderate hop bitterness. Fruity, nectarine like a belgian dubbel. Nectarine. Body is medium-low/medium, medium high carbonation, slightly dry finish. Brett character as it warms. Chocolatey.

Kasim, owner of the Rose & Crown, intentionally left out that this beer was brewed with schisandra mainly because he doesn’t know what it is and wouldn’t be able to answer any questions about the berry. That being said, it’s difficult for me to taste this beer and say, “oh, that’s definitely schisandra, unmistakable, I’d pick it out of anywhere”. Apparently the berries of the schisandra plant have been used medicinally by the Chinese. I’m beginning to think these New Belgium guys hang out at the Chinese herbal/medicinal shops because their Mothership Wit is also brewed with Asian spices.

While I admittedly don’t make it to Rose & Crown as often as I probably should, I do appreciate all the hard work and effort that goes into putting together Brewery Nights. Brewery Nights are an excellent way for breweries to share some of their more special beers and rare beers on a keg-by-keg basis as opposed to having to do a huge bottling run. Also, it’s a great way to discovery a brewery outside of their flagship beers.

The Devil’s Canyon Brewery Dinner, held at the California Cafe in Palo Alto, ended up being one of the best beer dinners I have ever been to. It was the perfect storm of many things awesome. Having had a few days to digest the event, I can say this was definitely one of those instances where the totality of the event far exceeded the parts that went into it.

First Course

Food: Diabla battered crispy frog legs, fennel “brandade”, hints of citrus and spice
Beer: Lager Diabla, 5.4% ABV

Tasting Notes: Having only ever had frog legs at Chinese buffets, it was a very pleasant change to see a slightly different treatment to this protein. Frog is a subtle, neutrally flavored meat; in many ways, it is not unlike chicken, just more tender. The micro greens were slightly bitter but also had a little bit of heat from the chili peppers in the dish. These flavors were offset by the slightly sweet and starchy “brandade“.

Lager Diabla pours out a brilliantly clear, gold color with a thin, white head. There is a cracker, biscuity malt flavor that is only slightly sweet and has a matching hop bitterness. Lager Diabla is medium bodied with medium-high/high carbonation and finishes dry without being astringent. Unfortunately, I did detect a little bit if diacetyl in this beer which manifested as a slight buttery character. Lager Diabla is a lager I’d pick consistently over the American macro lagers but it’s also my least favorite beer of Devil’s Canyon.

That being said, I felt the pairing of the dish and the beer was highly successful. The slight sweetness of the “brandade” matched the malt flavors of the beer while the hop bitterness was echoed in the choice of micro greens used in the dish. Most importantly, and often overlooked, was that both the beer and the dish matched intensity; neither the beer or the dish overpowered the other.

Second Course

Food: Slow roasted amber braised pork belly, burnt orange glaze, petite greens, dadicated “head”
Beer: Deadicated Amber Ale, 5.4% ABV

Tasting Notes: Petite greens are a little bitter, orange glaze is a concentrated sweetness as well as slightly pithy bitterness to it while the Deadicated “head” (essentially a beer foam) tasted much like the beer it was made from, just exceptionally light on the palette. The pork belly was a rich course, it was fatty, savory, juicy, and had a slightly sweet (caramel-ish) “bark”. The meat was tender and fork-tender. Not sure if you (the readers) are aware but bacon is made from pork belly. This might come off as blasphemous but if I could have pork belly this good all the time, I’m not sure I would need bacon. There, I said it. You wanna fight?

Deadicated Amber, its name inspired by the Grateful Dead, pours out a clear, brown color with amber highlights and a thin, white/off-white head. Toasted and slightly roasted malt flavors with a slight caramel sweetness and medium-low/medium hop bitterness. This beer is medium bodied with medium-high carbonation, the finish is slightly astringent.

As with the previous course, this was a very successful pairing. The flavors of the beer were complimentary to that of the dish and while the pork was very rich and fatty, the beer’s hop bitterness, coupled with its medium-high level of carbonation, helped to wipe my palette clean with every bite. The general consensus at the table was that the pork was a fabulous dish, and served alone with the two beers we’ve already had, would be worth the price of admission. Other diners echoed our feelings with one diner suggesting the dish be added to California Cafe’s regular menu. I wholeheartedly agree.

Third Course

Food: Lightly smoked lamb chops, toasted apricot cous cous, coco nib mole
Beer: Full Boar Scotch Ale, 7.4% ABV

Tasting Notes: How do you follow up with the decadence that was pork belly? With the indulgence that is lamb chops. The lamb is tender and full flavored, rich but not fatty, and lightly seasoned. The apricot cous cous is on the sweet side, fruity, with the consistency reminiscent of tapioca balls. Lars, one of our fellow diners, used to be a sous chef. He said the cous cous was more in the Israeli-style; this was most apparent in the larger grain used to make it. Interestingly the mole had more middle Eastern flavors; corriander and other spices spices used in middle Eastern cooking were present, as well as a little bit of spice heat.

Full Boar Scotch Ale pours out a dark brown in color with ruby highlights and an off-white head. I taste a caramelized malt sweetness upfront with a smoky character in both the flavor and aroma. There is also a low, chocolate character to this beer as well. This is a low hopped beer with medium-full body and matching carbonation. The finish is slightly dry. Jim, from Devil’s Canyon, told us this beer is made using peat-smoked malt, which gives the beer is smoky flavors and aroma.

Once again, California Cafe’s Executive Chef Mark Pettyjohn hits the nail right on the head with this dish. The sweetness of the scotch ale is complimented by the sweetness of the cous cous while the smoke flavors of the lamb chop are echoed by the beer’s use of peat-smoked malts. The scotch ale’s higher ABV is balanced by the spicy heat of the mole as well.

Fourth Course (Surprise!!!)

Food: Beef ribs, root beer honcho chili glaze, caramelized onions, micro greens
Beer: Root Beer, 0% ABV

Tasting Notes: Quick! Count the number of times you’ve gone to a beer dinner (any dinner for that matter) and have been brought out a surprise dish that wasn’t on the original menu that was still paired with beverages at hand? Anyone? I can tell you this is the first time this has happened to me. And it wasn’t some little dish either like a palette cleanser, this was a full-on extra course.

The ribs were sticky, sweet and tender; they came off the bone fairly easily. The greens provided were neutral in flavor, and provided a little respite from all the rib goodness. The root beer glaze had intense flavor and a surprising heat from the honcho chillies it was made with.

Devil’s Canyon Root Beer is brewed entirely at Devil’s Canyon from a recipe developed by Devil’s Canyon owners Chris and Kristiann Garrett. Made from organic sugar cane, agave nectar and local Belmont honey, I found this root beer to be sweet, with caramel, vanilla and honey-like (most likely agave) flavors.

When placed in the hands of a capable, creative and talented chef, a successful beverage/food pairing is attainable and often surprising. Even though this was a “beer” dinner, I found the inclusion of Devil’s Canyon root beer is appropriate as the dinner is about brewery as it is about the food and beer. That being said, this was another successful pairing, although having to take a step back and enjoy root beer over “regular” beer was a little jarring. This course was the brainchild of Chef Pettyjohn’s sous chef Madison Montoto, who’s name I unfortunately forgot to write down. Paraphrasing what Chef Montoto said, the idea for this dish came from the root beer itself; she was inspired by her memories of what she used to eat with root beer and ribs came to mind. After all, not everyone drinks beer with their food.

This course was just another reminder on how just about any beverage/food can be paired together if given enough care and consideration.

Fifth Course

Food: Deuling floats - vanilla panna cotta with root beer jelly, root beer cake and ice cream
Beer: Root Beer, 0% ABV

Tasting Notes: Just as the American IPA style is a showcase of hops, this dessert was a show case for root beer. Instead of a singular dish served for dessert, we were presented with two desserts that “dueled” with each other.

To the left was the root beer jelly topped with vanilla panna cotta. If you were to take a photo of a freshly poured root beer in a glass and literally translated the photo into food, you would get this dish. The jelly had the consistency of Jell-O gelatin but featured the flavors of root beer, if not slightly less intense, while the vanilla panna cotta functioned as the “foam” of the soda. This dessert was a solid piece; at one point, I held the glass horizontally to see if anything would spill out but it didn’t. As rich as the panna cotta was, the dish as a whole wasn’t as sweet as the actual root beer was. I loved this dish for not only it’s creative use of root beer but for the imaginative presentation as well.

The right side dish was your typical root beer float except that everything, the cake and ice cream, were made from root beer. I thought the root beer mini-decanter was cute as well. I believe it was tablemate Lars who said the cake by itself was a little dry but when you poured added the root beer, the dish came together as a whole. While I can’t directly comment on the cake prior to adding the root beer, the dish really did shine when all the pieces were put together.

While this course wasn’t specifically paired with root beer, I didn’t think you needed to as root beer was prevalent in every aspect of this course. I keep saying that I don’t like desserts but when done well, I am a fan.

Keeping things local

Devil’s Canyon employees Jim Hansen (Draught specialist) and Daniel Curran (VP Sales & Marketing, IT, Web) helped raise this beer dinner from a dinner into an event. They spoke between courses explaining not only the beers we would be having but about what Devil’s Canyon is all about, as well getting a little “political” about the brewing industry. The danger of speaking about those topics is coming off as either “hard selling” the brewery or being seen as preachy.

Personally, I didn’t feel either. While I am already familiar with the Devil’s Canyon story, it is good to hear more. Devil’s Canyon is a self-distributed brewery. All their accounts have been earned by their sales team, all the beer is delivered by everyone from Jim all the way up through owner Christ Garrett. Dan says the brewery has been approached by distributors looking to sell their product but they refuse to “play that game”. The example cited was that in order to make space at a distributor’s account, they’d be willing to bump off one of the beers they carry to make room for Devil’s Canyon. While this may bode well for Devil’s Canyon, how long will it be before they’re the one’s getting bumped in favor of another brewery?

The company has strong ties to its local community and pleads for local business and people to buy local. The statistic given was that for every $1 spent on local businesss, $.70 cents stays within the community. Unbeknown to me, Devil’s Canyon hasn’t been pouring at many of the peninsula fairs because larger breweries have been purchasing exclusive rights to pour at these events. Unfortunately I’m not talking about Anheuser-Busch, Coors or Miller but Chico’s own Sierra Nevada. According to Dan, Sierra Nevada paid the San Mateo County Fair $30K for exclusive pouring rights. It’s disappointing to say the least. As Dan puts it, “We’re all on the same team. Why would they do that?”

Why, indeed?

Overall

As I mentioned in the beginning, this beer dinner was one of the best beer dinners I have ever attended. It was the perfect storm of many good things; the beer was good, the food was excellent, the pairings worked and most importantly, the price point was a “no-brainer”. We even got a surprise, extra course! The sentiment across the table was unanimous; we didn’t get our money’s worth, we got more! Some of us even expressed a little guilt and felt that a trip to Devil’s Canyon was in order to pay off the balance.

There were a few hiccups during the evening. The first occurred in the beginning as we were being seated. Joey from Wet Your Whistles had called in earlier in the day to ask if there was assigned seating. Having been told “no”, he didn’t mention to the staff that he preferred to be seated with with Mrs. BetterBeerBlog and I. It wasn’t until we arrived that we found out there was assigned seating and Joey wasn’t assigned to sit at our table. Politely ignoring the hostess, Joey sat with us anyway. The whole issue was rendered moot when there ended up being plenty of space for everyone but the point I’m trying to make is to make it clear if seating is assigned or not so that situations like this could be avoided in the future.

The second hiccup happened at the end of the evening when we received our bill. We were charged for items we thought were included in the dinner. For example, our waitress offered us water in the beginning of the dinner, which we accepted. She then brought back and poured water from an elegant container of “artisanal water” from Norway as opposed to iced water in a pitcher. She did ask Mrs. BetterBeerBlog if she wanted “tap” water or water; while the question seemed weird at the time, it made sense when the bill arrived, to our chagrin. Seeing as how the dinner was such a great value, I don’t have much issue with paying for the water and other contentious items; the real issue was that it wasn’t disclosed upfront. These issues were quickly resolved once we brought the up, kudos to California Cafe for understanding where we were coming from.

That being said, the service from California Cafe was excellent, their waitstaff was attentive in taking things away soon after we were finished and bringing in the next courses and beverages as they came in. They even bagged Mrs. BetterBeerBlog’s leftovers for us to take home. What really surprised me was the inclusion of hot towels in between courses to freshen up. Nice touch!

California Cafe’s General Manager André Hall talked about the dishes in lieu of Executive Chef Mark Pettyjohn. As much as I would’ve liked to hear Chef Pettyjohn talk about the dishes himself, André says Chef Pettyjohn is notoriously “camera shy”. Judging by the quality of the food we had that night, it’s not a bad idea to let Chef Pettyjohn do what he does best: cook.

The Devil’s Canyon Brewery Dinner was the first in a line of beer dinners André has planned for California Cafe. I am looking forward to all of them an hopefully I can get more people to join us in the future.

Trader Joes is an extraordinary place. They are a microcosm of good things. I don’t go there enough, simply because there are no locations close to where I live. That being said, when I do go, I always find something interesting. In this case, I picked up a couple of bottles of Mission Street beers; their brown ale and their hefeweizen.

The Mission Street Brown Ale is brewed by Steinhaus Brewing Company based out of Paso Robles. While I have no “smoking gun” so-to-speak, I suspect that Firestone Walker Brewing Company contract brews many of the Trader Joes beers; the Mission Street label being one of the most decorated. It is not uncommon for other breweries to contract brew for other companies. Trader Joes not only uses Firestone Walker to make some of their beers but Gordon Biersch as well (for their Joseph Brau Brewing label).

At the 2008 Great American Beer Festival, Firestone Walker won both gold and bronze in the American Pale Ale category for their Mission Street Pale Ale and Pale 31 beers respectively. One of these days, I’m going to have to try both those beers in a blind side-by-side to see if I can discern the difference between the two beers. I think it’s awesome that Firestone Walker took both gold and bronze but I think it would’ve been more hilarious if it was the same recipe that won gold and bronze.

Steinhaus Brewing Company (aka Firestone Walker Brewing Company), Mission Street Brown Ale, 5.7%

Mission Street Brown Ale pours out a relatively clear, very brown ale with slight ruby highlights and a beige/tan head. The aroma has a toasted malt quality with a chocolate undertone. Once the beer warmed up some, I picked up slight caramel and alcohol aromas. The flavor is more roasted malt than toasted malt. There is still some chocolate notes in the flavor as well as some nutty and caramel character. Hop flavor is low, hop bitterness is low. This beer is medium/medium-high in body with matching carbonation with a “wet” mouthfeel. I can taste a slight alcohol flavor in the finish.

With several brown ale styles around, I am not sure what to compare this beer to. So I won’t. I will say that when compared to the English brown ales I’ve had in the past, this Mission Street Brown Ale is much more fuller bodied with a more complex flavor profile. I purchased a 22oz bottle and this was a size you could easily share with several friends, especially if all you wanted to do was taste the beer.

There is a wide range of flavors in this beer and I can see this being paired with a variety of things. That being said, I can easily see this being a dessert beer. There is a bit of malt sweetness, along with nutty, caramel and chocolate flavors a chef can play with.

Here’s the absolute best thing about this beer: I paid less than $4 for it! (Well, the flavor is probably the best thing but the price is pretty damn good as well).

The British Bankers Club in Menlo Park had a second Beer Dinner; this time, featuring the beers from Lagunitas Brewing Company. I had attended their very first beer dinner featuring the beers from English brewery Morland Brewing (aka Greene King). Even though I had a great time, I was very critical about the first beer dinner. There were many things that I felt could be improved upon and honestly, part of me wanted to attend this second beer dinner to see if any of these issues had been addressed.

First Course

Food: Pan Roasted Duck Breast with White Truffle Mashed Potatoes and a Balsamic Brown Sugar Reduction
Beer: Czech-style Pilsner, 5.4% ABV

Tasting Notes: The duck is moist and rich without being greasy or fatty. The balsamic sauce is a little on the sweet side while retaining all the characteristic flavors of balsamic vinegar. The potatoes are chunky and herbed while the greens have a little bit of spice heat on them.

Czech-style Pilsner pours out a brilliantly clear gold color with a short lived white head. The aroma is slightly sweet and has a lot of pils malt character with bright, slightly spicy hop aromas. The flavor is slightly sweet, bready, lots of pils malt with a little bit of cracker while hop flavor has a light spice and earthy character to it. Hop bitterness is medium/medium-high. This is a medium-lo/medium bodied beer with high carbonation and a crisp, dry finish. This beer is also the only lager Lagunitas brews and they try to keep close to traditional as they can using Czech yeast and Saaz hops for this beer.

Duck is bold choice for a first course. It is a strongly flavored meat, that in lesser hands, could end up either greasy or pungent. I really liked this course, I felt the duck was well cooked paired well with the pilsner. The beer’s carbonation helped to cut the richness of the duck while the greens had a peppery character that complimented the Saaz hops in the beer. I was feeling very good about this first course and had high hopes for the remainder of the dinner.

Second Course

Food: Grilled chicken terrine with a smoked paprika oil
Beer: Hop Stoopid IPA, 8% ABV

Tasting Notes: Up until I wrote this post, I had no idea a terrine was just a form of “meatloaf”. Damn those French and their fancy-schmancy words. I find chicken to be a neutral tasting meat to begin with. That being said, I had some difficulty picking out the flavors of the individual ingredients of the dish; the overall flavor profile could be best described as “muddled”. I did pick up a slight smoke flavor though.

Hop Stoopid pours out a brilliantly clear, pale amber color with a thin, short lasting white/off-white head. The aroma is very floral with grapefruit and citrus aromas. The flavor of the beer is hop forward; the hops have a tropical fruit, grapefruit, piney and resiny character to them while the malt flavors, caramel and toasty in character, definitely play second fiddle in this beer. Hop bitterness is high, lasting but not harsh on the palette. This is a medium-high/full bodied beer, highly carbonated with a slightly dry finish. According to Chris, the Lagunitas rep hosting the dinner, Hop Stoopid is made with hop oils for bittering.

As far as a pairing, the terrine and Hop Stoopid weren’t as successful as the first course. The muddled flavors of the terrine were rendered even more plain by the bright flavors of the beer. I also felt the intensity of the beer was a bit stronger than the dish, overpowering it slightly.

Third Course

Food: Chilled fennel & pea soup with fresh crab and chives
Beer: Lucky 13, 8.3% ABV

Tasting Notes: The soup is predominantly pea flavored with a bit of black pepper flavors and is salty. The table had trouble picking out the fennel, chives and crab in the soup. Pretty straight forward dish.

Lucky 13 pours out a clear brown color with amber highlights and an off-white head. The beer is slightly sweet, with roasted malt flavor and hints of caramel while the hop bitterness is assertive. The aroma echos the flavor. This beer is medium-high in body with matching carbonation and a slightly dry finish. Originally a 13th anniversary beer, it proved to be so popular that it was made into a seasonal beer.

As a pairing, this combination was a miss as well. I had some difficulty trying to reconcile the flavors of the beer and soup; I looked for similar, or at least complimentary flavors, and even considered contrasting the flavor profiles of each. It just didn’t make sense.

Fourth Course

Food: Polenta encrusted basa filet with sweet and sour eggplant relish and fingerling potatoes
Beer: IPA, 5.7% ABV

Tasting Notes: The fish was a little over salted but well cooked. The eggplant relish was a little sweet and had some spice heat to them as well. I found the potatoes to be a little overdone but provided a textural contrast to the relish.

The IPA pours out a clear, pale amber color with an off-white head. The beer is balanced, for the style anyways. There are toasted malt and caramel flavors along with a piney, resinous hop flavor with some citrus character. Aroma is similar. Hop bitterness is medium-high. The beer is medium/medium-high in body and has high carbonation with a slightly dry finish and an astringent mouthfeel.

I felt this pairing went relatively well; the hop bitterness matched the intensity of the spice head while the malt character of the beer is complimentary of the polenta encrusted filet.

Fifth Course

Food: French chocolate olive oil and sea salt tart with a lemon creme fraiche
Beer: Fusion 2, 6% ABV

Tasting Notes: This was probably the first dessert I’ve had where the main flavor wasn’t “sweet”. The tart was salty, nutty and chocolatey; it was thick, viscous and crunchy at the same time.

Fusion 2 poured out a dark brown color, clear with an off-white/beige head. Very roasty malt flavor with a slight nuttiness. Hop flavor is surprisingly bold with a resinous and piny hop flavor. This is a medium bodied beer with medium carbonation, a dry finish with an astringent mouthfeel. Unfortunatley, I didn’t note what intensity the hop bitterness was. Brewed in the style of an brown ale, Fusion 2 was much more hoppy than a more “traditional” brown ale (What a surprise. Lagunitas making hoppy beers?). Fusion 2 was a “single shot” beer, which means there are no current plans to brew it again. What I found interesting was this was the first time the Lagunitas reps hosting the dinner would be tasting the beer as well.

As a pairing, it made a lot of sense to pair an English-style dessert with a popular style of English beer. The roasty malt and nutty flavors of the beer compliment the chocolate and mimic the nutty flavors of the dessert respectively. The intensity of the dessert matched that of the beer as well.

Upward Trend

Overall, I think the Lagunitas Beer Dinner was a significant improvement over the Morland Beer Dinner. More things went right than wrong but the things that went wrong were significant.

Firstly, I’m glad to see a menu was printed. It’s one thing to see a menu online but who’s going to bring their laptops to dinner to keep the menu available? While half of us at the table had smart phones capable of doing so, I feel it would distract from the company at hand. The only other thing I would like to see on the menu is the paired beer listed as well.

Speaking of pairings, I think there was a much more cohesive flow to how each course came out. The lag time between when we received our beers and the food was very minimal and helped establish that those two things went together. Kudos to the BBC staff for keeping on top of things.

Now this is just speculation but I think two of the beers were served with the wrong dishes. Specifically, I believe that Lucky 13 should’ve been served with Course 2 (Grilled Chicken Terrine) while Hop Stoopid should’ve been served with Course 3 (Chilled Pea Soup). I’ll explain further.

Normally, when one plans a beer dinner, special care is devoted to the serving order of the beers. Typically beers are served from lower alcohol to higher, least bitter to most. This is done to prevent the guests from being completely hammered right off the bat as well as preserving their palettes. Once a person experiences a certain level of hop bitterness, anything lower than that level will not really register. Now these are not hard and fast rules but based upon my research, the beer dinners I’ve attended and personal experience, this order seems to work out very well.

That being said, having an IPA (Hop Stoopid) come out before a maltier beer (Lucky 13), and then followed up by another IPA is a curious serving order to say the least. Looking at the Lagunitas 2010 Beer Line Up descriptions, Lucky 13 is described as “Big on Amarillo Hops and Rich Dark Malts for a Round and Huge, Smoky Flavor”. Doesn’t that sound like it would go well with grilled chicken terrine and a smoked paprika oil? Because of the full pours we were given, we had the opportunity to go back and try some of the beers with other dishes and Hop Stoopid did pair much better with the chilled pea soup and Lucky 13 was better with the grilled chicken terrine.

Bringing it all back full circle, having the beers printed on the menu along with their paired dishes may have helped avoid this error. Again, this is only conjecture on my part but I think I have a solid case.

“Full pours” was one of the main marketing points for this beer dinner. In many of the beer dinners I’ve been to, small pours (4-6 oz) have been the norm. I believe this is so guests can enjoy the beers with the food without getting wasted. I can see how BBC would hype up “full pours” in an attempt to not only differentiate themselves from other events but also to give the best value.

While I still disagree with full pours, at the end of the day it is up to the individual guest to decide for themselves how much they will be drinking. Because I was driving that night, I left a lot of beer on the table. It was a conscious decision on my part to do so and while I dislike wasting anything (food, especially beer), it was the right thing to do.

I would suggest the BBC change up their serving glasses. Pint glasses, while good for the casual consumption of your favorite beer, does nothing to enhance the character of the beer. I would suggest they switch to using wine glasses which would help capture the aromatics of the beer and improve its flavor. Moving away from pint glasses into more formal glassware increases not only the enjoyment of the beer but, as uppity as this is going to sound, gives the event a more formal air - this is a special event - and not your typical “let’s go to the pub because we’re too tired to cook tonight” dinner.

A slight criticism must be noted as to where dinner was served: outdoors. The previous dinner was served upstairs and I saw no reason as to why they changed this up. The BBC did have a slight funky aroma in the upper area but I’m not sure if it would be enough to warrant moving the entire dinner outdoors. Worst case, they could reserve the slightly raised section in the lower dining area for the dinner. The number of people who attended could have easily been accommodated in either space. Had this been a typical June evening, the weather would’ve been warmer and this whole point would be rendered moot. As it was, the evening was a little chilly and not everyone dressed in layers. At the very least, the outdoor tables allocated to the dinner could’ve been situated beneath the patio heat lamps. To our server’s credit, he did offer to move our tables over but the dinner was more than halfway through and we toughed it out.

Speaking of people who attended the dinner, it seemed that half the people who made reservations decided not to show up. This is disappointing I’m sure not only for me but for the BBC as well. I’m not even sure if they made any money on the dinner. My suggestion for the BBC would be to take down a credit card number for everyone who makes a reservation and to charge them regardless if they show up or not. I understand “life happens” and emergencies may pop up; nothing a quick phone call can’t remedy. But to completely disregard and event and no-show is… disappointing.

Overall

Despite the low attendance and possible switching of beers, the Lagunitas beer dinner was a vast improvement over the Moylands beer dinner. While the dishes varied in success, I could see a marked enthusiasm behind their preparation. It seemed like more thought was put into this second dinner and even the Lagunitas reps commented on how excited BBC Executive Chef, Tim, was in preparing this dinner.

A specially planned, 5-course dinner with full pours for $45 per person, in my opinion, is a solid value. I’m glad BBC is doing what they can to remain in this price range as I think this make the event more accessible to the general public. As much as I really enjoyed the Firestone Walker Beer Dinner at the Duck Club, at $75 per person, I can only go a couple times a year without it becoming fiscally difficult.

I wish the BBC much success with their beer dinners because I would love to have more events like this in the South Bay/Peninsula. I think it’s important to support craft beer in your immediate neighborhoods (not that Menlo Park is “immediate” for someone who lives in San Jose). I tire of people saying that there are no quality craft beer events in the South Bay/Peninsula, yet when one pops up, these same people fail to show their support. I’ve said it before, if you want these types of events, you need to ask for them. Better yet, when they’re available, show your support by going.

I am looking forward to the next BBC beer dinner. I’ve seen enough improvement to know this is something worth supporting and I hope to see more of you readers at the next one.

If this near oppressive heat wasn’t obvious enough, then the launch of Gordon Biersch Sommerbrau should be a strong clue that summer has arrived. When translated, Sommerbrau essentially means “summer brew”. The beer is a kölsch; an ale equivalent of a pilsner, and is named from its city of origin, Cologne (Köln), Germany.

The Gordon Biersch brew pubs have their tapping events about once a quarter with each one highlighting the seasonal beer du jour. The also debuted a new carribean themed menu featuring many island-inspired dishes. As usual, the San Jose Gordon Biersch held their tapping events in the wonderful patio area to take full advantage of the awesome weather.

Working the taps that night was San Jose Gordon Biersch brewmaster Dan Satterthwaite. Missing in action was his assistant brewer, Matt. As usual, Jazz Unlimited were up on stage playing a variety of jazz tunes and jazz-inspired covers. Appetizers were being brought around by the staff and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

Sommerbrau, 4.5% ABV

Sommerbrau poured out a brilliantly clear gold color with a white head. The aroma was subtle: a little bit of pilsner sweetness, light fruit notes and noble hop aromas. The flavor mimics the aroma: light sweetness followed up by a lo/medium-low hop bitterness with equal noble hop flavor and shadows of fruit character. This is a medium-low bodied beer with high carbonation and a moderately dry finish.

I’m not normally one for light beers but when drinking seasonally, the lighter lagers and ales, such as Sommerbrau, really hit the spot. To top things off, this beer is only 4.5% ABV so that you can really session this beer. I had 2 glasses and felt great. Unfortunately for Mrs. BetterBeerBlog and I, we arrived late and all of the commemorative glasses were out. Dan said they ordered over 200 of them but when you have nearly 4 times that many people at the restaurant at one time drinking this beer, you’re going to run out of glasses. Traditionally served in a tall, narrow, 200 mL glass called a Stange, I can’t help but feel a little jealous of all the folks that did have the proper glassware. I suppose this will teach me to put work before beer.

The Gordon Biersch Sommerbrau Tapping Party ended up being a blast. As usual, we had a lot of fun hanging out with our friends, enjoying the music and drinking good beer. I look forward to the next event.