Meet Peter.

Peter is getting married next weekend, to my cousin Juliet.  As is customary leading up to a wedding, family members are put into service for planning everything.  For my part, I was put in charge of beer service.   We’ll be serving a homebrewed Vanilla Bean Ale which is a simple light ale, with three plump tahitian vanilla beans added into the secondary.  Then there is homemade ginger ale (10 hands ginger, 5 lemons, 5 Lbs sugar, carbonate until delicious.)  But given the unusually summer like weather we’ve been having in the bay area this summer, another beer is needed.  I turned to Triple Rock Brewery in Berkeley to supply a keg for the thirsty wedding attendees.

Read the rest of this entry »

The National Homebrewers Convention went out with a bang, with a massive beer dinner coordinated by the Homebrew Chef. The dinner was sponsored by Rogue, who provided all the beers, including a very special surprise for the last course. We started with a salad.

Read the rest of this entry »

You’ve really got to give it to Chef Cosentino – he doesn’t do anything halfway.  When he says “I’m going to serve offal and make it delicious” he really means it, and when he says “I’m going to cook with beer,” he jumps in to the deep end of the pool. At the Incanto & Magnolia collaboration beer dinner, we jumped in with him.

A meal like this is all about context – a great dining room?  Check.  Attentive service? Check.  Good company to eat and drink with?  Elianna and I were joined by Damian from my homebrew club and his wife Heather, as well as Bryan from the Brew Lounge and a friend of his. Check. All I needed now was a beer and the first course.

Read the rest of this entry »

After Pro Night and Club Night, on the Saturday of the National Homebrewer’s Conference I was finally able to attend some educational sessions.  Let’s dive right in, shall we?  Below you’ll find pictures and notes from sessions on Champagne beer, brewing with chocolate and brewing with anything else Tomme Arthur can get his hands on.

BRUTal Brewing with Drew Beechum

First up was a session on preparing beers using Champagne riddling techniques.  In this case, it means a demonstration of how to help your yeast drop to the cap of the beer, then freezing it using a combination of dry ice and acetone, removing the frozen plug, and then corking the whole thing. The Maltose Falcons did a nice job of making this big task seem approachable, and even worth attempting at home.   To prove its worth, they were also very generous with samples.

Read the rest of this entry »

Club night offers the chance for local homebrew clubs from all over the country to showcase their homemade creations for an appreciative crowd.  The breadth of offerings is staggering, ranging from traditional brews made to style, to fruit filtered golden pales, to stouts being filtered through a coffee machine – and coffee.   All told, it was a delightful evening, full of energetic brewers doing the thing they love most – drinking great home brew.  Some pictures:

Read the rest of this entry »

The National Homebrewer’s Convention is off to a rocking start.  I can’t make it to the educational sessions during the week, but am trekking out on BART to Oakland in the evening for the festivities. Last night was Pro Brewers Night, and the brewers came out swinging.  They broke into some highly desirable beers for an appreciative (and surprisingly small) crowd. Some of my favorites being poured included Anchor’s Our Barrel Ale, Speakeasy’s Barrel Aged Porter, Ballast Point’s Brandy Barrel Dobblebock, (feel a pattern forming here?), SacBrew’s Beersel, and Lost Abby’s Cuvee De Tomme.

A few pictures from last night’s festivities:

Read the rest of this entry »

We’re just a few days away from the start of the National Homebrewer’s Conference in Oakland, and beer aficianados from far away lands are starting to arrive in the city.  City Beer Store is getting in on the action, and hosted a last minute tasting of beers from The Bruery.  Patrick Rue made the trip up from sunny socal to take part in the event, and brought up a few special treats.

City beer quickly filled up, and I ordered a full flight to share with friends.  A few tasting notes:

Read the rest of this entry »

Two of my favorite local restaurants, Incanto and Magnolia, are teaming up for what will undoubtedly be a spectacular beer dinner. Chef Chris Cosentino will be providing his usual offal-tastic food (Duck bits!), with Dave McLean is digging deep into his barrel aging projects (Cab barrel Tripel!) hidden away in the Magnolia basement.  This looks like a meal that excites both the adventurous foodie and beer geek in me.

The menu and pairings (Dave’s tasting notes included in italics): Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to Beer & Nosh’s newest recurring column: Cooks & Kegs.  We’ll be highlight a local kitchen, and a beer and food pairing they have hand selected to present. Ideally, the pairing will be a reflection of modern toque thinking on beer and food pairing, and reflect the unique sensibilities and palettes of the kitchen. To get things started off right, we’ve got a double header featuring Jordan Grosser and Ted Fleury of The Alembic.  The Alembic specializes in small local and artisanal plates, which are designed to go with the stellar bar in the front of the restaurant.

Boys, what are we having?

Bone Marrow with garlic confit, caper gremolata

Read the rest of this entry »

Magnolia Brewpub is currently featuring the last of a special series of beers brewed with a farm-specific malt, from Branthill in East Anglia, UK.  Currently available is the Branthill Longbarn ESB, in both regular CO2, and classic British cask options. I tried both.

Read the rest of this entry »