The Bruery’s 1st Anniversary bash May 18, 2009

The Bruery celebrated the completion of their first year in existence this weekend and they did it up proper…. with a big ol’ party. Serving multiple beers from 2 bars set up in their brewhouse, Beechwood BBQ booth outside and an assortment of snacks beer-battered and fried. I didn’t get to try the BBQ (because I was too fixated on trying the beers) but I heard it was delicious. Jer and I did get out in time to try a deep fried twinkie, although the thought of it horrified me initially. To my astonishment, it was pretty good, particularly with the beer batter on it.

The crew at The Bruery were pouring what seemed to be their entire arsenal of unique beers. The beers featured varied, from light refreshing sour beers to very chewy strong ales. I have to admit it was difficult to drink much of the heavier beers that day because it was really hot and steamy in the brewhouse with so many warm bodies in there, but I managed to take some sips of some of the heavy hitting barrel aged beers. The Melange #3 which is a blend of bourbon barrel-barrel aged ales is very rich and malt dominated with distinct bourbon-like vanilla presence in it. It also had a strong presence of molasses on the palate making it very chewy. Papier, a brandy barrel-aged ale, which they had both on tap and were opening special release bottles of every hour was also very strong but with more of a hint of peaches. I thought that the high alcohol content was well-masked despite the massive 15% abv of the Melange #3 and the 14.5% abv of Papier.

I also really enjoyed the sour beers that was being poured that day. They had 4 very approachable sour beers that were are quite nice. I think that my favorite is still the Cuvee Jeune that I also had at LA CABAL’s craft beer fest, but the White Zin and the Gypsy Tart were also very refreshing and nice, considering the heat. I think the only draw-back to drinking so many sour beers that day was that I felt like I was starting to smell like vinegar… although that may have been in my head (Perhaps all this beer drinking at various fests and parties is actually pickling me!).

At the end of the day, I was tempted to try to take a growler of the Cuvee Jeune home, but talked myself out of it to get a growler of the Humulus Ambre instead. It’s a Belgian-style amber with nice hop characteristic to make it clean and a great session beer. I figured that a half-gallon of this would go down more easily and make me smell a bit better to friends and family. After all, I hardly think that self-preservation is meant to be taken that literally.

At any rate, I’m glad to see that The Bruery is doing so well, particularly during difficult economic times and since they make such unique beers that you would think that only beer geeks would enjoy them. However, it again shows how ready SoCal is for it’s very own craft beer culture. And their success definitely goes to show that good beer is truly still an affordable luxury. Cheers to many more anniversaries to come!

The Inaugural Craft Beer Fest LA! May 12, 2009

Yes, this post is a little late, but that’s what happens when I’m spending so many days in a beer induced haze from going to all these beer events. Beer season is in full swing! This past Saturday, LA CABAL (Los Angeles Craft and Artisanal Beer Appreciation League) hosted their first craft beer fest at the Echoplex. It was a huge success considering how many people showed up! There were great beers, all from California. Some of the featured breweries were Stone, Green Flash, Craftsman, Ballast Point, Telegraph, Port Brewing, Sierra Nevada, and The Bruery. The foods that were presented at the event were also good, but the beers definitely took center stage.

My favorite beer of the event? Surprisingly, it was the young lambic called Cuvee Jeune by The Bruery. Perhaps it was the heat trapped in the building but what seemed to be too many warm bodies packed into a windowless, indoor space. But, in my mind, this beer was really good! It had a nice earthy sourness, that was not overpowering, and a light body and clean finish. Cuvee Jeune proved to be a perfect refreshment for this event and also served to clean my palate between snacks. It paired great with a soft, creamy, super-sexy cheese brought by Hot Knives, called Cana de Oveja. Yum… I’ll be re-creating that pairing at home sometime for sure!

As far as the rest of the goings-on of the Craft Beer Fest, there are too many good beers to name and overall, the event was very well-thought out. I loved that sheer variety of the beers and foods! There were great local bands and even a “Craft Beer Roundtable” featuring some of the local beer scene’s heavy hitters discussing the finer points of cultivating the much needed beer community that has traditionally been missing from Los Angeles. The organizing snafus were relatively minor considering this was the first Craft Beer Fest put on by LA CABAL, and it was really the best case scenario for the beer community that there was this much un-anticipated support for this type of event. I would definitely recommend future LA CABAL beer events to anyone willing to listen, and hope to see a continually growing beer community there! It’s super-fantastic to see that Los Angeles is primed and ready for more good beer!

Craft Beer Fest – Los Angeles May 8, 2009

Again faced with the issue of so many beers and so little time… I’ll be heading out to the Echoplex tomorrow for Los Angeles Craft and Artisanal Beer Appreciation League’s (LACABAL) first craft beer festival. It’ll be nice to have a festival in Los Angeles that’s truly devoted to craft beers rather than the ones put on by the brewing industry giants masquerading to be something else. (Yes, you know what I’m talking about…) Looking forward to a good day. More to come after I try all those beers!

Southern California Homebrewers Fest May 3, 2009

SoCal Homebrewers Fest

This weekend was the Southern California Homebrewers Fest at Lake Casitas. It’s a camping, beer drinking extravaganza where many California homebrew clubs get together and showcase the best of their beers and their craftsmanship with building portable tap systems. Contrary to the name of the festival, there are actually homebrew clubs from all over California, and homebrew afficionados seemingly come out of the woodwork (perhaps from the very woodworkings of the home-made tap systems) to join in the festivities. There’s nothing like the combination of two of my favorite things, nature and beer. Actually, the campsites are so tightly packed with RVs, cars, tents, and beer drinkers that there is little semblance of being out in nature aside from the painful absence of sinks with running water, showers, and nice fluffy beds. Some people may argue that the smell of all the warm, beer-soaked, unwashed bodies that are packed into the area is the essence of “nature”, but it’s generally not my definition of it.

Camping woes aside, the festival actually had a great showing and was well-organized. There were more beers than I could taste in a single day, albeit a long day. Well, actually, I may have been able to taste all the beers, but it certainly would not have ended well (and praying to the porcelain god in the form of a campground toilet is unthinkable in my world…. eeew!). There was a surprising number of English milds and bitters, but they do go down smoothly while being out in the sun all day. There were also abundant other styles of beers ranging from fruited lagers, to Belgian strongs, to sour beers. There were also beers available to taste from some commercial brewers like The Bruery and Alesmith. The event organizers had managed to get some good guest speakers (Peter Zien from Alesmith and Mitch Steele from Stone) to inspire the homebrewers who are looking to improve their products and maybe even go pro. Then there were some local bands that played music until the end of the festival at 10pm.

view of lake from SCHF

Ale Camino beertaps

Surfboard taps at Foam on the Brain

After all the festivities of the day, the Maltose Falcons (SoCal’s largest home-brew club) has the aptly named “Dead Palate Society” tasting. It happens late in the evening after the closing of the fest where the members of the club get together and “bring out their dead”. In other words, the funkiest, strongest tasting commercially available beers are brought out because everyone’s palates are presumably so deadened after an entire weekend of tasting different beers. It’s an entertaining event that goes on until the wee hours of the morning.

The event was a lot of fun and it’s always great to see how far the long reach of the beer-community extends. People from all walks of life, coming together for a common purpose – to share their beers.

me and dad-in-law at SCHF

Southern California Homebrewers Fest April 27, 2009

Putting myself together in preparation for what will surely be a good weekend. I’m hitting the Southern California Homebrewer’s Fest at Lake Casitas this weekend. Looking forward to checking it out. Jer will be bringing some of his Black Mild and the 2008 Jubilee, a spiced olde ale. There are plentiful entertainment, beer activities and homebrews that will be served up over the weekend and it will undoubtedly be some entertaining people watching. More to come after the weekend!

Apres Snowboarding April 19, 2009

Fifty Fifty Brewing

After a long day of snowboarding (yes, there’s still snow in the hills), there’s nothing more relaxing than loosening the boots and having a beer! And who doesn’t love a good happy hour? Whiskey Creek in Mammoth Lakes, California has a great happy hour where all the menu items are half-price, and pints and pitchers are discounted as well. Oddly, the one exception to the happy hour prices are desserts. Luckily after glutting yourself on all the food and beer that you order, there’s no room anyways.  It always amuses me to see people order twice the amount of food because it’s half the price…

The second floor of Whiskey Creek is where the bar is at, and where this happy hour takes place. It is also the home of Mammoth Brewing Company. Overall, their beers are pretty good, with some styles being much better than the others. Two worth checking out are the Double Nut Brown and the Epic IPA. These beers both go well with the pub foods that are typical on their menu and are pretty true to the beer-styles in which they’re brewed. The crowd that this place draws after a good snow day is crazy, and since the happy hour only goes on from 4p-530pm be sure to get there early to grab a table!

Another great apres snowboarding place to hit, requires first that you be in the North Lake Tahoe area. But trust me, this place is well-worth the travel. Hands-down, one of my favorite brewpubs is Fifty Fifty Brewing Company in Truckee.  They have a lot of great tasting beers and you can get a sampler for a fantastic price!  If I remember correctly, you can get a generous sampler of 8 of their beers for around $15. Their beers taste great, and the food is also great. They also have growlers and bottles that you can take with you when you leave, and you’ll want to. Their Imperial Eclipse Stout is a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout that is very strong and rich (the way most mountain cougars like their men). The deep vanilla and bourbon flavors in this beer are great and paired well with the chocolate mousse cake that we had for dessert.

Other good places for a refreshing beer after a day of snowboarding were mentioned in a previous post on Salt Lake City. And, of course, Colorado ski resort areas have no shortage of great brewpubs to visit. Traditionally, it seems like California has had fewer good breweries per capita than some of the other southwestern states. But it’s good to see that it’s improving and that California is on it’s way to being a heavy-hitter in the craftbeer world. So, what are you waiting for? There’s still time to play in the snow a little and enjoy some great beer and food afterwards. It’s the closest definition I’ve got to a perfect day in the winter or spring.

Paradox by Brewdog April 3, 2009

Very dark. Aroma has a hint of bourbon, raisins and toffee. Malt forward with full-body and full-flavor. Subtle roast, some vanilla and very smooth. Everything an imperial stout should be. Delicious!

Sunday Night Dinner: The Motherland March 30, 2009

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

With the weather warming up and snowboarding adventures winding down, Sunday night dinners are back! Well, occasionally, that is. With the mixed group of people that we often have over for these dinners, we decided to throw the theme of “The Motherland” out there, so that our guests could all get to know each other better and share their family’s secret recipes. Although, the theme does pose some difficulties with regards to beer pairings because of the multi-ethnic potpourri of dishes, so I decided to invite the attendees of the dinner to post their recipes and write about their dishes so that we can discuss the beer pairing with each dish individually. But then (lightbulb), I realized that our Sunday night dinners would be much better documented if this became a regular routine…. so here it goes.

One of my favorite dishes that my mom makes is her Taiwanese beef noodle soup. I’ve had this countless times, but had never tried to make it myself, so I figured why not experiment on dinner guests? This dish is a savory soup with beef short ribs and large chunks of carrots, that are cooked down until they melt in your mouth. Mmmmmm…. deeeee-ricious! Then the soup is served over fresh noodles and garnished with cilantro, scallions, and pickled mustard greens. It’s my ideal comfort food and is so satisfying after a long week.

Ingredients:

• 5-6 lbs of beef short ribs
• 5 very large carrots (the giant type that you get at Asian grocery stores), cut into large 2″ chunks
• 3 large tomatoes, quartered
• 2-3 small green hot peppers, halved
• About 10 star anise (whole)
• 3 cloves of garlic (peeled)
• 3/4 cup of soy sauce
• fresh noodles, approximately the size of fettucini (typically found in refrigerated section of Asian grocery stores)
• cilantro, course chop of mostly the leaves
• scallions, sliced
• pickled mustard greens, finely diced (found in vacuum sealed packets in refrigerated section of Asian grocery stores)

I boiled the beef ribs for about 5 minutes to remove any of the funk that typically floats to the top of a pot of boiling meat. Then I poured off the dirty water and rinsed away any excess funkiness so that it wouldn’t cloud my broth. I returned the meat into a large stock pot, added the soy sauce, garlic, star anise, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, and enough water to cover. Then I just brought it to a boil, and reduced the heat to a simmer. Let simmer for about 2 hours. During the last 30 minutes I boiled and rinsed the noodles and put them in large soup bowls, with the garnish or cilantro, scallions and mustard greens. When the soup was done, it’s just ladled over the noodles and served.

This soup, if paired with beer, is typically paired with a light lager that is most commonplace in Asian countries. The night that we had this dinner we had Jer’s black mild on tap, so we had that. The roastiness of the beer goes holds up well to the rich savory flavors of the soup, and the beer helps to cool down a little of the burn from the peppers. Ahhh, another successful Sunday night dinner where experimenting on my dinner guests ended with some happy beer bellies!

The York March 26, 2009

Menu and Beer Boards at York

I love that new beer-centric places are popping up throughout LA. Truthfully, The York isn’t really that new anymore, but it’s still good! It’s a good local pub to hang out at that carries a lot of good beers on tap and refined pub foods. I generally don’t order salads when I go out to eat, but after a particularly heavy-eating week, the mixed green and beet salad sounded good…. ok, ok, and chicken wings. I had a Craftsman Poppyfield Pale Ale from the “beer engine” (hand-pump) with my food. Beers from hand-pumps often have lower carbonation and a silkier, almost creamy, mouthfeel. The temperature of the beer also seems to be better regulated, and it was served at a perfect 55 degrees, which may seem downright balmy when compared to the ice-cold temps that rotten-tasting beers need to be consumed at. This beer is a good session beer in that there is enough sweetness from the grainy malt to balance the slightly bitter and grassy hops, making it very easy to drink. The flavors and body of the beer held up well to the tartness of the vinaigrette on the salad and the sweet/sour/spicy flavor combo of the chicken wings.

While at The York, I also tried Craftsman’s Honesty, which has an unexpected sourness on the nose, along with some spice. The sourness also shows in the flavor and is well-balanced with subtle fruit, mineral, and earthiness of mushroom. Craftsman’s Honesty has a medium-light body and a good bit of carbonation. The unexpected sour qualities of this beer make it very fun to drink.

The York is a great neighborhood hang-out that has great beers on tap and is definitely worth checking out!

Calvados March 5, 2009

Givre Ice Cider

Calvados is a distilled cider that was developed in French apple orchards sometime after the French Revolution. It is a sweet liqueur that is typically enjoyed as an aperitif, palate cleanser between courses, or as a digestif. What does it have to do with beer you may ask? Well, in short, nothing. Except that the Domain Dupont (Etienne & Jerome Dupont), a family orchard in France that is well-known for producing calvados, also produces a hard cider.  Givre (vintage 2007) is their ice cider that is brewed there. The bottle is hermetically sealed with wax over a wooden cork. The elixer that is poured from this long narrow bottle looks like maple syrup in color, clarity, and viscosity. The aroma is of apple, spices, and slightly smokey. The taste is very strongly of apple initially, then with some hint of brandy and slightly bitter earthiness, with the alcohol warmth. Givre has little to no carbonation, is sweet, and finishes with a slight tartness from the apples, and a bit of oakiness. The Givre leaves the mouth a bit sticky, and with some brandy aftertaste.

This was the other special bottle that my brother had gifted us over the Christmas holidays. We had it as an aperitif with a bit of stilton. It paired well with the cheese because the smokiness of the cheese complemented the Givre well and the saltiness of it helped to balance out the sweetness. Hindsight, I would probably have it after dinner with a bit of the cheese. Good flavor though and great beverage to sip at! This would probably appeal most to people who like sweeter beverages and to many people who haven’t been too fond of more traditional beers.