Just a quick note that the Silicon Valley Sudzers (a San Jose homebrew club) will be having their informal monthly get together at Faultline Brewing Company tomorrow (Thursday 7/21) at 7pm. This usually happens every third Thursday of the month, but due to the Fourth of July Holiday, it has slipped a week this month.
I recently reported that Faultline took a number of awards at the California State Fair Craft Beer Competition. Of particular interest to me was their Pale Ale which took Gold over Firestone Walker’s DBA. It’s an English Style Bitter and is a nice change from the uber-hoppy American Pale Ales offered by most brewpubs these days. Check out Peter’s tasting notes to read a review of this and other Faultline beers.
If you decide to show up a bit early, Faultline’s 3-6pm Happy Hour gets you $3.50 pints and $2 off select appetizers.
In a previous post on this year’s NHC, I said that Gordon Strong was looking good for his 3rd Ninkasi Award. It is perhaps then no surprise that Gordon took the Ninkasi again this year. This is the first time anyone has taken the Ninkasi 3 times and he did so in 3 consecutive years. Congrats to Gordon!
What may be more interesting, especially to Bay Area folks, is that Stephen Nothcutt of DOZE tied with Gordon for the Ninkasi, based on 16 points each in the Final Round. To break the tie, the total number of First Round points were used. This year Gordon had 52 points from 14 First Round winners while Stephen had 24 points from 6 First Round winners.
One more point of interest is that Gordon scored only 4 of his 16 Final Round points with beer (he took Silver with his American Barleywine.) The other 12 points came from 3 mead entries in which he took a Gold, Silver and Bronze. (Stephan also took 6 points for a Gold in cider.)
That the outcome of one of the most prestigious awards in homebrewing was heavily influenced by mead (and cider) is a significant takeaway from this year’s competition. I would imagine most enthusiasts think of homebrewing only as it relates to beer. In fact, of the 28 BJCP Style Categories, 3 are for mead and 2 are for cider. This year’s comp saw 345 mead entries and 175 cider entries out of over 6200 total entries.
Homebrewer of the Year
The Homebrewer of the Year award is NHC’sr Best-of-Show and is the result of a final judging between all of the gold medal winners from each of the 28 BJCP categories.
This year, the Homebrewer of the Year went to Remi Bonnart of Fort Collins, CO for brewing a Flander’s Red. If you’re not familiar with Flander’s Red, it is perhaps one of the sourest of the sour beers. Those of you familiar with the current trends in craft beer shouldn’t be too surprised that a sour beer won top honors. With increased interest in Belgian beers, more folks will be brewing better Belgians.
Again of interest to us Bay Area folks, the 1st and 2nd runners up were both of DOZE. Scott Thomas was the 1st runner up with an English Barley Wine while Stephen Northcutt was 2nd runner up with his Eisbock.
Based on First Round points, they were 3rd going into the Final Round, so nice to see them take the win. Also included as points towards this honor are those scored from the 6 AHA Club Only Competitions.
Congrats to all at DOZE! Y’all made quite a showing this year.
Other Interesting Results
The top winners by number of medals. Only 4 folks won more than one medal.
Well, the Duck Club Restaurant and Lafayette Park Hotel are at it again and this time, they’re featuring the beers from Firestone Walker Brewing Company out of Paso Robles, California. Firestone Walker Brewing Company brewmaster Matt Brynildson will be there personally to host the special pairing dinner prepared by Executive Chef Chuck Courtney. If this event is anything like the Belgian Beer Dinner, expect it to sell out.
The menu and event details are below.
Who: The Duck Club Restaurant What: Beer Maker’s Dinner featuring Firestone Walker Brewing Company Where: The Duck Club Restaurant in the Lafayette Park Hotel, 3287 Mount Diablo Boulevard
Lafayette, CA 94549 map When: Friday, June 25, 2010 @ 6:30pm Cost: $75/person (exclusive of tax & gratuity). Call 925-283-7108 to make your reservations.
Menu
Appetizers
Food: Selection of Frites, Chicken Apple Sausages, Fish Tacos Beer: Solace
I have always been open to collaborative blog posts or guest blog posts. I appreciate hearing what other people have to say about beer or about topics in which I have little to no expertise in. That being said, this blog post is written by Sara Kahn, founder of The Cheese Ambassador. Her team approached me last week about wanting to guest blog, writing specifically about beer and cheese. How could I turn that down? So, without further adieu, here is Sara’s Guide to Serving a Gourmet Cheese Course.
Imagine my surprise at the results of one of our recent surveys of gourmet cheese lovers: men overwhelmingly preferred wine (73%) over beer when enjoying cheese. I suppose this shouldn’t be so shocking given how much attention wine is paid when discussing food and beverage pairings in the media and at restaurants. Besides, haven’t we been culturally conditioned to embrace wine and cheese as a copasetic culinary combination much like we have peanut butter and jelly? Perhaps cheese eaters don’t realize that beer just may be the better beverage choice.
Beer, like wine, has something in common with cheese. All of these products are pastoral and crafted using traditional methods that date back centuries. Wine, beer and cheese speak of a particular culture, a place and a time. The connection between beer and cheese is particularly strong since the animals milked for cheese ate the grains used for brewing beer. It’s possible that your nose and palate may pick up similar flavor profiles. Putting aside their natural affinity, perhaps the most important reason to pair beer with cheese is that the carbonation and brisk qualities of beer refresh the mouth and wash away the tongue-coating richness of the cheese. Simply put, they taste good together.
We have all heard of wine and cheese parties but what about beer and cheese parties? As a beer lover, I am sure you’ll want to join me in spreading the gospel of this pairing perfection but may not know where to begin when it comes to selecting the right combinations. Take a look at the Gourmet Cheese and Beer Pairing Guide below for guidance. You’ll see how easy it is to serve a cheese course with your favorite brew. For best results, just add friends and family.
Gourmet Cheese and Beer Pairing Guide
A cheese course is about observing and enjoying contrasting and complementary flavors. For a foolproof cheese course, select 3 – 5 cheeses that vary in texture and flavor (see the list below). Add some crusty bread, fresh or dried fruit, olives and nuts and voila!
When choosing the right beer pairing, there are no hard and fast rules. It’s important that your selections don’t overwhelm the cheese and vice versa. Essentially, you’ll want to match beer and cheese of the same intensity level. Just remember “like for like”.
Fresh and Bloomy Cheeses
Fresh cheeses are not aged and usually are white and light in flavor, smooth and sometimes tangy. Try chevre (goat cheese) or feta. Encased in a whitish, edible rind, bloomy cheeses are often velvety, gooey with a mild flavor. Add Brie, Camembert or Pierre-Robert to the cheese board for a decadent treat.
Beer Pairings – The light citrus character of White (Unibroue Blanche de Chambly, Wittekerke) and Wheat (Erdinger Weissbier, Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier) Beers marries well with the lactic tang of fresh cheeses. Pilsner (Trumer PIls, Spaten Pils), with its balanced flavor and mildly bitter finish, washes the palate of creamy, bloomy cheeses.
Washed Rind
AKA “Stinky Cheeses”. During the aging process, washed-rind cheeses are usually bathed in a brine or washed with liquor such as wine, beer or a spirits. It’s this brining process that gives the cheese an aromatic quality. Almost all have orange or reddish hued rinds. Not mild and not sharp, washed rind cheeses are full-flavored. Give Taleggio or Epoisses a taste.
Beer Pairings – India Pale Ale (Blind Pig IPA, Stone IPA) and Belgian-style Dark Strong ales (Chimay Grande Reserve, Gouden Carolus Grand Cru of the Emperor) have enough gusto to stand up to the power of these cheeses.
Aged, Hard Cheeses
As cheeses matures, it hardens and concentrates in flavor. Look for 2 Year (or older) Cheddar, Aged Gouda and Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Beer Pairings - A pint of English ale (Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale, Newcastle Brown Ale) is the traditional beverage of choice for Cheddar. The nutty and caramelized flavors of aged Gouda and Parmigiano match well with brown ales.
Blue
The bluish-green veins give blue cheese its punch. Listed from strong to strongest in pungency are creamy Gorgonzola, nutty Stilton and salty Roquefort.
Beer Pairings – Intense cheeses like blues can be tamed with sweet, fruity beers. For a unique treat, try a raspberry flavored beer like Belgian Lambic (Lindemans Framboise) with blue cheese for dessert.
About Sara Kahn
Even though her passion for gourmet cheese was undying, Sara Kahn found shopping for it to be overwhelming, time consuming and confusing. She established The Cheese Ambassador to offer a simple way to select and serve the world’s finest cheeses either for home entertaining or as a unique cheese gift. By providing the perfect combination of exquisite cheese along with a comprehensive cheese course guide, enjoying gourmet cheese is now a deliciously enriching experience.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am being sent one of The Cheese Ambassador’s Mediterranean Cheese Collections. Expect a product review with beer pairings sometime next week. - Peter
In this version of Hopinions, Mario and I discuss the Brew Dog’s Tactical Nuclear Penguin and Sink the Bismarck! super-strong ales. At such high alcohol levels, are these beers still beers? Are these beers any good or are they just good marketing? Is this even an issue worth caring about? Read on to find out!
A couple of weeks ago, Scottish brewery Brew Dog released what is now the world’s strongest beer: Sink the Bismarck! (StB), a quadruple IPA. Weighing in at a whopping 41% ABV, or 82 proof, this “beer” was brewed in reaction to the 40% ABV Schorschbock from German brewery Schorsbräu. In fact, both companies have been in a literal cold war trying to outdo each other for the past several months. Schorsbräu originally brewed up a 31% Schorsbock that Brew Dog countered with their much hyped Tactical Nuclear Penguin (TNP).
When I first heard about TNP, I was as excited as everyone else in the craft beer world. I wondered how they got the alcohol so high? I thought about how the beer would feel? Would it have a hot, alcohol quality or be extremely smooth? Most importantly, how would it taste? After all, the true measure of a beer is how it tastes and not how much alcohol it has. Sadly, I’ve yet to try TNP so I cannot comment on taste at the time of this post.
Strangely enough, when I first heard about StB, my initial thoughts were, “Really? 41%? Was this really necessary? What’s the point?”. I found my complete change in attitude surprising as I was all hyped up for TNP but StB seems a bit like… overkill. It’s one thing to have a concept of a beer you would like to make and quite another to make a beer to “one up” the guy next to you. Is the Brew Dog/Schorsbräu relationship really pushing the brewing envelope or is this just a pissing contest?
Strong beers are nothing new to the brewing world. Sam Adams Utopia used to be world’s strongest beer at 27% ABV, but it also tasted really, really good. Dogfish Head brews up two beers, their 120 Minute IPA and World Wide Stout, that both clock in at 18% ABV while Avery Brewing has their “Demons of Ale” series of beers that range from 14.5% - 15.1% ABV. You’d have to go all the way back to Samichlaus (~15% ABV) to find one of the earliest contenders to the title of World’s Strongest.
Brew Dog managing director James Watt has this to say about TNP and StB:
Beer has a terrible reputation in Britain, it’s ignorant to assume that a beer can’t be enjoyed responsibly like a nice dram or a glass of fine wine.
Many of the beers I’ve listed above are as strong as, maybe stronger, than many wines. The few I’ve had the pleasure of trying have been in small quantities, usually in snifter types of glassware usually reserved for distilled spirits. So while I don’t disagree with Mr. Watt, can beers such as TNP and StB still be be called beer? Especially when their alcohol percentages rival those of distilled spirits?
There are no yeast strains, that I am currently aware of, that will withstand alcohol percentages as high as StB, let alone those present in TNP. In order to get beers that high in alcohol, Brew Dog has resorted to the same techniques used to make Eisbocks. Eisbocks are made by freezing a strong beer then removing the ice. Because alcohol freezes at a much lower temperature than water, the remaining liquid is a concentrated and higher alcohol beer. This is essentially a distillation process, which is why you don’t see this type of beer at your local breweries in the United States. If you did, those breweries would also have a distillation license (Hello, Anchor Brewing? Dogfish Head?). This technique differs from your typical distillation process in that it is heatless and concentrates both flavors and alcohol as opposed to just isolating alcohol.
I think it’s all great marketing. BrewDog isn’t going to make their money selling bottles of Tactical Nuclear Penguin, Sink the Bismark or even their beer on the other end of the spectrum, Nanny State (a 1% ABV hop bomb).
What this race to the top does is give them an easy way to advertise their other products. Have you noticed the major push BrewDog utilizes along side these releases? Their videos on the beer are seen by far more people than those that actually get a chance to drink the beer. Even if you haven’t had the Penguin or Bismark, you’ll probably try some of their Punk IPA or other brands just for a taste of what all the hype is about.
I have to say, I don’t know what Schorsbräu’s angle is in all of this. Maybe it’s because I don’t speak German and can’t view their videos or read their blogs, but I haven’t seen anything from their end other than bigger, crazier beers. They aren’t marketing their releases in the same way, and maybe it’s just a matter of pride to hold the title “Strongest Beer in the World.”
Your question though was what do I think of all of this? I have no problem with it. They’re having fun and, from the taste of Penguin I had during SF Beer week, making interesting beers that are worth at least a sampling. Do these beers warrant the steep price put on them (even steeper for us in the US when you tack on shipping)? That’s hard to say, but I can’t knock them for trying.
From what I have heard about Sink the Bismark, it isn’t just a strong beer for the sake of being strong. It seems like a beer that has its merits. So where do you draw the line? If the beer’s quality diminishes I think it’s hard to encourage the breweries. Yet they are seemingly making quality beer at the 41% mark, so what’s wrong with that?
From: Peter at BetterBeerBlog
Well if they’re making a quality beer at 41%, then there’s nothing wrong with it. You bring up an interesting point with the marketing aspect of this story. A side effect to brewing such huge beers is the huge PR you get from them. All of a sudden, Brew Dog is on everyone’s tongue (literarily and literally). Whatever cost they spent making the beer they probably earned back with interest in the form of press. I don’t think they would’ve gotten nearly the same return had they took the same amount of dollars and invested it in traditional marketing. Let’s hear it for word-of-mouth.
On the other end of the spectrum, I don’t think they’re necessarily advancing craft beer if these beers were brewed as a marketing stunt. For all the positive press they’ve gotten, Brew Dog has also received negative press in the form of criticisms from alcohol abuse watch groups.
Chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, Jack Law, told The Sun: “The fact that they have achieved a new world record is not admirable.”
“It is a product with a lot of alcohol in it - that’s all. To dress it up as anything else is cynical.”
Personally, I can guarantee that if I’m ever able to land my hands on a bottle, I will not be pounding back pints. This is definitely a sipping beer. I’m a little envious that you were able to taste a sample during SF Beer Week.
Your aforementioned Nanny State 1.1% ABV beer was a Brew Dog reaction to all the negative press they received from the media. I want to know why it takes negative criticism to prod a brewery to brew up a low alcohol or session-strength beer? OK, over generalization, but there’s always the impulse to “imperialize” a beer but not so much the other way. I’ll be surprised when I hear a brewer suddenly blurt out, “I’m gonna brew up big flavor, big aroma beer with huge hops and malt character… and then sessionize it!”
I will agree with you in regards to the enigma that is Schorsbräu. You’d think that brewing a huge, 30% ABV strongest beer in the world-type of beer would be call for yelling from the rafters but I didn’t even know about them until I heard them mentioned in the same breath as Brew Dog. Chalk it up to conservative German sensibilities?
Why does everything have to be in the name of advancing craft beer? BrewDog brews tasty beers and sells them. That alone “advances craft beer” in the fact that more craft beer is available. They don’t have to have a greater good in mind.
Those same groups who had a problem with Tokyo*, which is where all of this began, will tell you that BrewDog and their marketing style is aimed towards teenagers and that they copious amount of alcohol units in each bottle (that’s how the neo-prohibitionists measure alcohol in the UK) is conducive to binge drinking. Never mind the fact that teens couldn’t stomach the stuff or that even the biggest craft beer drinkers would prefer to split these bottles 5-6 ways, if not more.
That’s where Nanny State comes from. We don’t need the government telling us what we can or can’t drink.Does it not seem hypocritical that beer can be damned for selling 12 ounces of 18% beer (As Tokyo* was when released) but bottles of booze can be bought far easily at much lower prices in much larger quantities?
The fact is, high ABV beers are not for everybody. If you’re not interested in Sink the Bismark, there’s nothing wrong with that. Will I be drinking it? Once I get my hands on it, definitely. Has the whole arms race with Schorsbräu brought more attention to BrewDog? Without a doubt.
In the end you have to decide for yourself if you care or not.
Where did the year go? For many, this question is more than just rhetoric, it is a genuine inquisition as to where time has gone? A better question then is “Where didn’t my time go?”. Our lives are a series of consequences to questions, situations and opportunities presented to us. What we decide ultimately ripples through the rest of our lives, the year and through our relationships. I hope, dear reader, that the past year has been kind to you and that you have lived it with minimal regret spending your time where you wanted as opposed to where it was needed.
Where did the year go? Fortunately for me, I have this blog to look back on to answer that question. Much beer has been drunk, most of it good thankfully. Many festivals have been attended, some more memorable than others, all worthwhile for the new experiences they have brought us. An article was written and displayed on a national stage. Most importantly, many friendships have been made and maintained. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, beer may be the reason I come out but the people are why I keep coming back.
To end the year, we at BetterBeerBlog are hosting a “Bring One, Swap One” NYE party. Essentially, bring a bottle of beer to share, preferrably something interesting that you’ve never tried as well as another gift wrapped “mystery” bottle that we will unwrap under “white elephant” rules. Hopefully good bottles of beer will be brought but it wouldn’t surprise me if some mischievious soul brought a gift-wrapped sixer of Bud Light Golden Ale (I won’t even dignifiy this beer with a link). We’ll be live tweeting as the party goes on so follow me if you want in on the action.
To wrap up the year, I just want to thank all of you who came to my humble blog. I never expected this blog to have the readership it does and I can’t thank you all enough for reading, leaving your comments and your emails. I hope holidays were good to you and you received all that you wanted and more. Lastly, let’s all end not only this year but this decade on a happy and safe note. Happy and Safe New Year!
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.
Now that Beer Connoisseur Magazine (BC) is officially online, I just wanted to take a moment to officially announce that I am their West Coast blogger. I am both proud and excited to be a part of the inaugural efforts to get this magazine up and running.
To answer the most obvious question, no, BetterBeerBlog is not going away. If anything, I have plans in the works to help improve the content on this site as well. The lion’s share of my writing will still be for BetterBeerBlog but I’ll be contributing to Beer Connoisseur as well. So expect to see the same sort of content on here that you are accustomed to seeing while the stuff I write about on BC will have a different slant on it.
For the most part, I will still be my own “boss”. I get to write about topics I feel are BC-oriented (not so much with the homebrew topics) and I keep my own schedule. I do have an editor of sorts though who goes overy my work. It’ll be a slightly different experience as I’ll have an editor to answer to. It’s all part of the deal though and if I have any future inclinations to write professionally, then having an editor and deadlines is something I’ll have to get used to.
The ironic part of this whole adventure is that I have never considered myself a “beer connoisseur”. In fact, people would often call me that and I’d correct them by asking them to call me a beer geek instead. If you know me personally or have hung out with me for any given amount of time, you’ll know that I am anything but “snobbish” about my beer. I am still not snobbish about beer. My goal with writing for Beer Connoisseur is to bring light to the Bay Area brew scene on a national level. I believe that we have an excellent brew scene here and it’s time the everyone else were to know.
That being said, if you are reading this and are in the craft brewing industry, shoot me an email (betterbeerblogATgmailDOTcom) if you have event you would like me to cover or promote. I can do so either here on BetterBeerBlog or on Beer Connoisseur, depending on the nature of the event.
In any case, thank you for coming to BetterBeerBlog and reading what I have to say about the craft beer world. There are a million other voices in a million other blogs, all of them dying to be heard amongst the crowd. Know that I truly appreciate the time you spend here and the comments you leave.
Mabuhay!*
*In tagalog, my second language, mabuhay loosely translates to “long live”. We often use this when toasting and in that instance it is the equivalent of cheers or prost.
During my latest trip to Santa Rosa, I finally got a chance to visit 3rd Street Aleworks (3AW) in downtown Santa Rosa. I have often forgone visiting 3AW in the past because of all your other choices for beer in the area. Russian River Brewing Company is but a block away. Flavor Bistro, a restaurant that serves as an unofficial tasting room for Moonlight Brewing, is right across the street (fantastic food, absolutely awesome). If you’re looking for the local bar to hangout at, Sweet Spot Pub & Grill is also within walking distance and serves all the latest Lagunitas beers on tap.
As I said, downtown Santa Rosa is not lacking for good beers. It’s definitely not too difficult to see how I keep leaving out 3AW on my Santa Rosa excursions. This time though, I decided to hit 3AW and see what I’ve been missing.
3rd Street Aleworks, 601 3rd Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95404 map
3AW is located in a kinda dated but industrial looking building. Brick makes up the street facing wall of the building while corrugated steel makes up other portions of the exterior that are interior facing. Inside 3AW has the feel of many other brew pubs. There’s a hustle and bustle in the atmosphere that is expected on a Friday night. While brew pub looks full, Sammy and I manage to grab a spot near the bar. The interior of 3AW leaves you to believe someone with multiple-personality disorder decoreated the place. There are old, kitchy marketing materials on the wall from other breweries, there’s a very stylized mural up on one of the walls and throughout the place, you’ll see various modes of transportation all emblazoned with the 3AW logo or something brewery related. There’s a bike, one of those long-ass skateboards, a kayak (?), a surfboard and a snowboard. Most places tend to focus in on a singular aspect and run with it. Nuh-uh for 3AW, they’ve taken everything. Having already had dinner, Sammy and I are fine with just ordering two beers, one each.
Sleeperwave Wee Heavy, 7.9% ABV
I order the Sleeperwave Wee Heavy. A wee heavy is a Strong Scotch Ale. This will be a very malty beer, low in hops, with an ABV ranging from 6.5% - 10%. Historically speaking, Scottish beers tended to be low in hops because Scotland was a crap place for growing hops. Scottish brewers, by necessity, had to import all of their hops from continental Europe. Unfortunately for them, hops were taxed heavily. Rather than throw in the towel, Scotch breweries instead developed their own style of beers to compensate.
Sleeperwave pours out a very dark brown with brownish-red hues and a thin, off-white head. The aroma is sweet and has a caramel-ish malt character. The flavor echos that of the aroma with the addition of a medium-low roasted malt component to the flavor. Hops bitterness is low, this is definitely a showcase for the malt. The beer is full bodied with medium carbonation. It really toes the line when it comes to being cloying, it’s almost there.
Stonefly Oatmeal Stout, 6.5% ABV
Sammy orders the Stonefly Oatmeal Stout. Well, she started off with this beer but ended up drinking the rest of mine. Nothing particularly wrong with the Stonefly, Sammy’s just more of a malt girl.
Stonefly Oatmeal Stout pours out nearly black with a thin, beige head. The beer is slightly sweet with a deep roasted/burnt malt aroma and flavor with black coffee undertones. Hop flavor is low but the hop bitterness is enough to match the level of malt sweetness of the beer. You don’t think it’s all that hoppy because some of the other flavors mask the bitterness but it’s there. This is a full bodied beer with medium carbonation that has a smooth mouthfeel from the oats used in brewing.
I am neither overwhelmed or underwhelmed by either beer. The Sleeperwave Wee Heavy seemed to get sweeter as it warmed up but also lacked a depth of malt character I’ve had in other Strong Scotch Ales. The Stonefly Oatmeal Stout, like the Sleeperwave, is a solid beer with no major faults but it’s not that interesting either.
So far the jury is out on 3AW. The two beers Sammy and I had are both solid ales but I wish I could’ve tried more beers. I don’t order the sampler because it’s never enough beer for me to get an accurate sense of the beverage. I’ll opt instead to get a full pint or a half-pint if they’re offered. We didn’t order any food either so it’s hard to say what the quality of their kitchen is like as well. Our waitress, while very visible, didn’t really attend to us all that much, then again, it didn’t seem like she was really attending to her other tables with any more zest either.
Toad in the Hole
For dinner, Sammy and I decided to stop by Toad in the Hole. I’m not really going to write a full review of the place or our experience there this time as it was similar to the first time we were there minus the two African guys. I would say the main difference between this trip and the last trip was that we actually met the owner, Paul, while we were camping out in Boonville this year.
When we first walked in, Sammy and I noticed Toad in the Hole cook Jamie hard at work in the kitchen. It’s a busy night at the Toad and he definitely has his hands full. While Sammy is having a short chat with him, I find us two seats at the bar. Paul greets us with a big smile and makes room for us at the bar. In all honesty, it’s great that he remembers what we looked like but I don’t think he remembered our names. It’s all good though as I’m horrible with names myself.
We order two beers to have with our dinner. Despite my love of beer and food pairings, I order the most interesting thing on the board knowing full well it will probably obliterate my dinner while Sammy has an old familiar.
Drunken Horn Bourbon Barrel English Barleywine, Anderson Valley Brewing Company, 10% ABV
To me, the most interesting thing on the board is AVBC’s Drunken Horn Bourbon Barrel. This is a pretty big beer at 10% ABV and I already know this is going to smother my cornish pasty but I order it anyway. I talk to Paul about this beer and he tells me it’s been aging in the barrel for about 2 years now.
Drunken Horn pours out a cloudy, reddish-brown color with a thin, off-white head. There’s a sweet, malt aroma that has a noticeable bourbon/wood note and is low in hop aroma. the flavor is similar to the aroma. The beer is sweet and malty with wood flavors and a mellow bourbon character. There are also signs of “good” oxidation that have materialized themselves into hints of soy sauce and sherri. It’s not unusual for stronger, maltier beers to oxidize and while considered a flaw, there’s a fine line between good oxidation and horrible oxidation. Good to taste this beer is on the side of the angels. Drunken Horn is medium-bodied with medium-low carbonation. After the beer warms up, the alcohol qualities make themselves more readily apparent. Pretty good beer that seems to be hitting its stride.
It was great to have gotten out and visited someplace new this time around. Yes, I’ll readily admit that we’ve already been to Toad in the Hole but that’s what you do with businesses people you know and like own. You patronize them, spend your hard-earned money there, and hope they’re still around when you come back.
Imagine my surprise at the results of one of our recent surveys of gourmet cheese lovers: men overwhelmingly preferred wine (73%) over beer when enjoying cheese. I suppose this shouldn’t be so shocking given how much attention wine is paid when discussing food and beverage pairings in the media and at restaurants. Besides, haven’t we been culturally conditioned to embrace wine and cheese as a copasetic culinary combination much like we have peanut butter and jelly? Perhaps cheese eaters don’t realize that beer just may be the better beverage choice.
