Every time I’m near a well stocked cheese counter, I poke around, looking for an elusive round of Cowgirl Creamery’s Sir Francis Drake.  This rare cheese is brought about by accident.  When a batch of Mt. Tam doesn’t set correctly (or something – I don’t entirely understand it, and the Cowgirl Website doesn’t offer any clues) the cheese is washed in Beaume de Venise (a fortified wine) and finished with a free currents on top.

The resulting cheese has the creaminess of Mt. Tam, but with a funky edge – not a harsh as Red Hawk, but with a slight briniess that everyone says reminds them of the sea (i agree.)

But what to drink with it?

Luckily for me, one of my favorite pours at the SF Beer Week Opening Gala has just appeared in bottles: Napa Smith‘s Organic IPA.

Organic hops are a difficult ingredient, which is one of the reasons you don’t see many Organic IPAs on the market.  But here, brewmaster Don Barkley has created a unique beverage – with a definite hop aroma, but not the one most of us expect.  Gone is the citrusy and piny aromas of most west coast style IPAs.  Instead, this heady brew has a much more floral, aromatic quality, backed by just a hint of alcohol heat.    This is one food friendly IPA.

I often recommend Napa Smith as a great starting place for wine drinkers interested in beer.  Their classic, balanced approach is easy to get along with.  Even their label reflects an old school approach to brewing, one of restraint and confidence is subtle balance.

Against this cheese, the beer was a great foil.  Besides offering a palate cleansing lift on the tongue, it bring out the earthy characteristics in the cheese, and emphasized the floral qualities of the funk it brought with it.  Where a traditional IPA might have run right over this cheese, this more nuanced delicate beer struck just the right chord.

Our Mac n Cheese contained three whole ducks – I butchered them myself (turned out to be great fun,) then slowly confit the legs in their own fat.  I reserved the breast for dinner another night, and all of the other odds and ends ends into the stock pot – which was eventually reduced into a demi-glaze for enriching the sauce. It was swimming in duck fat – duck fat croutons, duck fat roux, and my favorite, duck skin cracklings, fried in duck fat.  Add in 4 lbs of macaroni, 2.5 lbs sharp cheddar, 2 lbs gouda and we’re really talking about a great dish.   Add in a beautiful sunny day and a little friendly competition, and you’ve got a good time.

A few more picture from the competition:

The sign from the vegan winners of the day, who were awarded, appropriately enough, cheese.

The double winners of the day, taking first place and people’s choice, who made mac n cheese mini pies with a killer crust:

and a local judge, who I’m happy to say, I broke of his veganism, if only for a few duck fat laden bites:

This unique brew is brewed with honey and “dry hopped”  (or would it be, dry basiled?) with basil leaves.  According to brewer/owner Dan Del Grande (full disclosure: Dan graciously sent me a bottle so that I might taste some), it contains 100 pounds of basil macerated using a pizza docker, to make sure the essential oils were released into the beer.  The result is a beer with a strong amber malt backbone, hints of honey, and a floral, herbal aroma from the basil.  The aromatic quality of the basil lends an almost menthol-like quality to the nose, but it isn’t present at all in the beer, which has a more traditional basil character.

It seemed only natural then to raid the local farmer’s market looking for fresh, organic produce to go with this organic beer. We came back with one of my favorites: squash blossoms.  It seemed only natural to stuff them with ricotta, thai basil, and honey before tempura battering them and frying.

These are super easy to make, and are sure to impress.  Think of the inside of the flowers as a vessel, begging to be filled with your flavor combinations.  The flowers are more texture and structure than taste.

We (and by “we” I mean, Elianna, who is much better at not destroying the flowers than me) simply clean the flowers off, remove the stamen from inside, and stuff. We used a combination of Thai Basil, fresh ricotta, local wildflower honey (from a bear) and a touch of salt.  That’s it.

After the flowers are stuffed, twist the petals together to seal the bundle, and dip into a tempura batter.  We made our using some homebrew saison – but I bet it’s be even better using Bison brew which was the inspiration for the dish.  We just had a limited amount, and wanted to drink it. After a dip in the batter, it’s into 375 degree oil until GBD – golden brown and delicious.

It only takes a minute on each side, then evacuate to a draining rig, and generously sprinkle with kosher salt.  We liked to do all of this with the stems on, since it makes them easy to handle.

And if we’ve played our cards right…

Yes! perfectly crisp, and the flower has help everything in so that the cheese is melted and gooey, the batter is light and crisp, and oil hasn’t drowned the whole thing.  Delicious.  Drizzle with a touch more honey, and serve  on a summer afternoon with a cold  Bison Honey & Basil Ale.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit, I’m a cynic going in – why ruin a perfectly good beer by mixing in other things? Nevertheless, Chase, a new manager and the head of the beer cocktail program sat me down, and mixed a few tasty tipples.  Would I be convinced of the power of the beer cocktail?

First he fixed me a “2nd St. 75″ which is a play on a French 75.  It’s made by shaking together Gin, simple syrup and lemon juice, then their own watermelon wheat is floated on top.

This cocktail goes down very, very smooth.  It’s a bit sweet for my taste, but not so overpowering that I didn’t finish the whole glass. The watermelon wheat adds a nice carbonated touch in place of the champagne in a classic ’75, although the actual flavor of the beer is very subtle in the final drink.  My first thought was that my girlfriend would love this.  But I don’t mean that to say it’s a “chick drink” – it much too complex and interesting to be put in the same category as a Midori sour.

Next up, the “Tropical Storm”

The storm is made with lime, pineapple rum, watermelon wheat beer, and a splash of homemade ginger beer. The ginger beer is what really stands out.  It’s powerful stuff, made in back by brewer Jesse. The herbal concoction ads an almost anise quality to the aroma, but in the taste the coconut rum comes more forward.  Light and refreshing, this tropical drink taste much like it appears.

Both of these drinks, which incorporate 21A’s watermelon wheat beer are what I might call safer choices.  They avoid super strong beer flavors by using a lighter, fruitier beer.  Chase then mixed me something a bit more challenging.

The “Second Wind” is made using a bit of simple syrup, Sambuca, cold coffee and Brew Free or Die IPA. It’s easily the most complex and challenging of the cocktails they’re offering, and the most out on a limb.  The predominant aroma is the Sambuca, whose anise aroma overrides the hops in the IPA, or the roast in the coffee.  The taste is more balanced but still dominated by the Sambuca, with the coffee adding a slight stringency, countered by the syrup, and the IPA adding a nice hoppy finish.

Last, I was fixed an as of yet unnamed cocktail that’s still being worked on.  It’s something of a beer-garita, made with elderberry syrup, tequila, lime, and their Bitter American IPA.  This was my favorite of the bunch – it was nicely balanced, without anything running wild over the hops in the beer.

So, am I converted?  I’m not sure yet.  Afterwards I had a pint of the always great Double Trouble IPA – a big hop bomb. I found it hit the spot more for me than the cocktails did.  But I, and my beer snobbery ways, are not really the audience for these drinks.  What they are is a great alternative for those who are not such fans of beer, but still come to 21A before a Giant’s game, or with a beer loving friend. Taken in that light, they are very successful – they taste good, and are unique drinks that take advantage of the unique toolkit available behind the bar at 21A. Plus, these are only the first foray – it’s a developing list, that will change to match the seasons and the taps.  Chase has a few more tricks up his sleeve.  I can’t wait to see what happens with this, his hop tincture.

There is a cocktail hiding behind that bar to please event the most ardent of hop heads.  More beer cocktails means a longer drink list to accommodate all palates – even mine.

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.

I thought a beer brewed by this guy was just what we needed:

Luckily, Rodger is a better brewer than model. Peter and I snagged a table at Triple Rock’s outdoor garden, and were joined by Jesse (yes, yet another brewing Jesse), who serves as the restaurant manager,  assistant brewmaster, floor sweeper and reservationist.

Jesse brought up this fine looking tray:

We were given a little guidance on what we were looking for: a crowd pleaser that is food friendly, and nothing too hoppy so the bride would enjoy it too.

Chocolate Stout:  I had tasted this at NHC, so knew what it was like: rich, full bodied, and brewed with TCHO cocoa nibs which provide a deep chocolate finish.  This instantly went to the top of the list.

Porter: Slightly thinner than the stout, with a more nuanced roasted malt profile.  Really easy drinking dark beer, would be great with grilled food with a nice char on it.

Dragon’s Milk: A brown ale which is dry hopped to create a well balanced west coast interpretation of the style.  Really nice coffee notes.  Peter liked it enough to have a pint with dinner.

Titanium: A malty pale ale with a higher than expected ABV of 6.8% It’s eminently drinkable, but I think one of their less distinctive brews.

Hefeweizen – Brewed as a traditional Bavarian wheat beer, this cloudy straw colored beer is a classic example of the style.  With a nice phenolic bite, it has hints of clove, banana and a slightly tart finish.  Ideal for a warm day in the sun.

IMAX – Wait, what?  A Double IPA, overflowing with Simcoe hops? While this didn’t fit the profile of “not too hoppy” it was a welcome addition to the tasting.  I think this is a great double IPA – tons of bittering and aromatic hops, supported with a nice carmel malt backbone.  If it were my wedding, maybe.  But there were certainly be more hop heads in attendance then.

Then we went around again, and tried them once more, just to be sure.

After one more go round, we settled on a choice: the bavarian style hefeweizen.  Its tart bite and flavorful yeast should make it a great compliment to beer lovers and beer novices alike, and be a great addition to what is sure to be a fun party.  I’m picking up the keg this weekend.

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

Hottenroth Berliner Weisse – of the reasons I came out to the event in the first place.  I first tried this beer last year at GABF.  This nearly extinct style seems to be making something of a comeback, especially with The Bruery’s plans to start bottling this fine brew.  Clocking in at a session-friendly 3.1%, it is tart, acidic, and always refreshing.  I wonder if the bottles will come with a kicker of the traditional syrup?

Black Orchard – A black wit beer, spiced with chamomile, coriander and citrus peel.  A good, easy drinking beer with hints of complexity, I thought it was out-shined at this tasting by some of the other offerings.

White Zin – My favorite of the lineup.  This wild ale is blended from two beers, and includes 1,000 pounds of zinfandel grades in the fermentable.  It’s fermented using the house wild yeast strain as well as wild yeast found on the grape skin.  The resulting beer is clearly sour, with white wine-like character playing off the more aggressive malt.  When the shared flight was gone, this was what I went back for.

Batch No 1 – Levud’s – A big ‘ol golden belgian ale with a non-belgian hoppy finish.  This beer was the result of a homebrew competition, making it the ideal pour to kick off the week’s festivities.

Virgin Papier – A Belgian style Old Ale.  Coming in at 14.5%, this is a huge beer, with a giant malt backbone to support. A little too sweet, with a little too much oak for my taste.  Mary, pictured above with with a pour of the stuff, loved it and declared it her favorite of the day.

Thus concluded the Bruery lineup.  By now the place had cleared out, and there was a bit more breathing room.  I milled around, taking a few pictures of people enjoying their beers.  I particularly like this first one, featuring Patrick Rue, the consummate beer geek looking for something exciting to drink at City Beer Store.  I think that that speaks well to their excellent selection.

I prepared to leave and as I was saying my goodbyes, was asked if I’d like maybe one more beer.  Apparently Jason was buying something to share.  Jason is another local homebrewer, and if you ever get the chance to try his prune double, go for it.

I’d been extremely curious about L’Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien since reading about it a while ago in the New York Times.  Glasses were poured all around, and even Patrick got in on the action.

This beer was a smooth drinking barrel aged beer.  Surprisingly, it didn’t have even a hint of sour or brett character, and I thought it was lacking for it.  A bit of farmhouse funk would have gone a long way to add some depth to a good beer.  That said, it hid it’s 11% alcohol very well.  Looking at online ratings for this brew, my notes seem quite different than many others.  I got very little cherry, and no tartness at all.  I wonder if there is a lot of variation from bottle to bottle, or my palate was just blown out after everything else I’d tried?

Ok, now it’s really time to go, I’ve got to get home, make some dinner and… wait, what’s that?  Patrick, what are those unlabeled bottled you’re pulling out?!

For the record – when a brewmaster pulls out unlabeled – or hand labeled – bottles, always, always find out what’s inside. In this case, Patrick brought out two bottles of their Anniversary Ale. It’s a huge Belgian Old Ale, with a whopping 14.5% alcohol punch.  The note has hints of the booze, and dried fruit character.  The beer was similar – tons of dried fruit flavor, some sweetness, and a nice light carbonation.  Good stuff.

The second bottle was labeled with a “B” which it turns out stands for “Bourbon.”  Their anniversary ale was aged in a variety of different type of barrels.  This particular bottle came from a barrel that was used to age Elijah Craig 18 year bourbon for eleven months.  The resulting brew is 17.4% alcohol(!) and is loaded with flavor.  Like the barrel-free version, the nose provides a great template for the beer below, with notes of dried fruit, oak, vanilla and booze. It was getting pretty late in the evening and there weren’t too many people left at City Beer – but for those that were still there, this was really something special.

]]> http://beerandnosh.com/2009/06/the-bruery-at-city-beer/feed/ 5 http://beerandnosh.com/2009/06/branthill-esb-magnolia/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=branthill-esb-magnolia http://beerandnosh.com/2009/06/branthill-esb-magnolia/#comments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:07:46 +0000 Jesse http://beerandnosh.com/?p=1779 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.

I started with the cask option.  Serving it out of a cask means that the head is formed by mechanical motion when pumped out into the class.  The head on top of the beer is made up of large bubbles, which quickly dissipate. The beer is served slightly cool, and has only a faint hint of carbonation.  This serving style highlights the malt character (which is what this beer is all about.) The malt tone is medium, with only a faint hint of hops, and a slightly thin finish.  I could drink this all day  - which incidentally, is the exact idea behind this sort of low alcohol beer.  Traditionally beer is safer than water, and far more delicious as well.

In contrast, the CO2 keg is served colder, and the head is made up of many tight knit bubbles which held on for the the entire life of the pint. Full carbonation dramatically changed the character of the beer – it was notably hoppier, with a crisp finish. The light malt character was still present, but had to compete with other characteristics of the beer bolstered by the carbonation.

As a homebrewer, it’s amazing to study huge differences that small changes can make to a beer.  Changing the carbonation method led to beers with different perceived hop levels, and wildly different finishes.  All of this from the same beer recipes, simply split into two different dispensing methods.

Of course, this sort of beer investigation requires sustenance, so an order of Magnolia’s duck wings was called for.

Slightly sweet with just a bit of spice, Magnolia’s duck wings are one of my favorite indulgences. All the fun of chicken wings, with an savory richness that only duck can provide.  Alongside the beer, duck displayed the agreeable food friendliness of Magnolia’s classic ales, which when served with dinner saddle up and play nice.  These are good session drinking beers, which go down with disconcerting ease. Luckily, at 4.2% ABV, it’s easy to sit around all evening, comparing and contrasting the differences.

]]> http://beerandnosh.com/2009/06/branthill-esb-magnolia/feed/ 0 http://beerandnosh.com/2009/06/tasting-notes-with-brian/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tasting-notes-with-brian http://beerandnosh.com/2009/06/tasting-notes-with-brian/#comments Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:45:46 +0000 Jesse http://beerandnosh.com/?p=1757 Sometimes you don’t want all the trappings of an extravagant dinner, with carefully orchestrated service and silver changes after every course.  Sometimes, it’s important to just have some straight forward take-out from the local taqueria, and use it as an opportunity to drink some fun beers. With this attitude in mind, Brian (of Red White and Brew fame) and I set about to drink some beers, play some Wii, and eat some mexican food. Even obsessive beer drinkers and food snobs need a night off once in a while. It just happens that a night off includes some pretty amazing (and less amazing) beers.

To open our palates up, we started with a bottle of homebrew, the first to be opened from a new batch.

Not to shabby.  This chocolate stout, blended with some brew club barley wine need some more time in the bottle. It’s got a noticeable alcoholic heat in the nose, but a  nicely balanceddark malt character and chocolate flavor that clearly speaks to the Hershey’s chocolate cocoa used to brew it.  It is bone dry and a bit thin, but the carbonation is spot on (I’m good and paranoid about carbonation now.)  Palates awakened, we started working on the bag of beer that Brian had brought along.

This bottles of Nøgne Ø Dugges Sahti is described as “A special twist on the Finnish style Sahti, brewed at Nøgne Ø in cooperation between Dugges Brewery, Sweden, and Nøgne Ø of Norway. Brewed with rye and wheat, sea wormwood from the Swedish archipelago, juniper twigs from the Norwegian forests, honey from heather flowers in Telemark and three selected yeast strains from Belgium, Germany and Britain, and of course, some malt and hops too.”

Things got off to a rocky start from the beginning. After opening, it immediately began to foam out of the bottle.  Obsessive blogger photography ensued.

And now, courtesy of Brian, a very special video review!  This video was recorded after several failed attempts to make a video review.

Brian is much more diplomatic that me.  I found the beer verging on undrinkable.  At first, all I tasted was honey, but as the overwhelming honey faded, it finished with a juniper inflected bitterness that felt deeply astringent.  After no much sweetness, I found it needing a big ol handful of west coast hops to try to balance things out. Following this beer it was time to run down 24th street to find some dinner.

Mmmmm… Alambras. Carne asada, cooked with bacon and bell peppers, served with the usual fixings and corn tortillas. What beer can stand up to this taqueria feast?

Damnation 23.  Actually it’s Damnation 46, since it’s the second batch of 23, done on the 46th batch of Damnation. According to Vinnie: “We turned our regular Damnation recipe into a Tripel. It is bittered with Tomahawk and has Sterling and Cascade in the mid-boil and finish. The beer was then aged on new American oak chips for two to three weeks.”  Brian’s first comment was just how oak-y it really is.  I noticed the stone fruit characters and spicy undertones.  What a great beer – it poured crystal clear, with a lighter shade that doesn’t betray just how much flavor is contained in a glass.  This particular bottles turns out to have enjoyed quite the beer blogger journey.  It was given to me by Brewed for Thought, then I opened it for the Craft Beer Examiner.

What beer could Brian possibly produce to top this?  What majestic piece of hand crafted brewing magic would he produce to finish this meal?

Under the light our paused Wii game, we “enjoyed” a Michelob special edition cherry lager.  This beer carefully balanced Robitussin with, well, come to think of it, there were no other flavors present.  It was pretty much just Robitussin all the way through, including that special unnatural chemical character and sickly sweet burning sensations. Even after all of the other high ABV beers we enjoyed through the evening, this masterpiece went unfinished.  Brian, thanks for sharing this winner with me.

And a final note to Michelob’s marketing department: shaping your beer like an anal probe or soviet nuclear weapon is bad.  Putting the same screw tops you use for your forties – that’s worse.

Pictures and tasting notes after the jump…

In such nice weather, I found myself predisposed to go for the lighter, summery beers rather than the big heavy stuff.  Russian River was pouring Consecration, but in the sun, Little White Lie really hit the spot. New Belgium was on hand as well, and had a keg of Dandelion Ale, from their Lips of Faith series.  The dandelion added a slightly astringent quality to the beer, that lightened a surprisingly boozy pour.  Not my favorite, but a welcome new taste at a festival. 

As the day wore on, we needed to find some shelter in the shade.  I grabbed a spot alongside the Moonlight Brewing Co‘s tent.  This turned out to be one of the highlights of the day.  Where many tents had volunteers working the taps, here the brewers were handing out every pour.  Their enthusiasm was infectious, and backed up by great beers.  Most interesting were their non-hopped beers (which was ironic, given that their table was covered in hops).  They offered Working for Tips which is brewed with redwood tips, and Uncle Fudd which is brewed with cedar.  While good in the festival setting, I think both have enormous potential for food pairings – perhaps especially with more avant-garde cooking, where a dish might include a pine oil or other forest-inspired ingredients. These are the sort of beers where one sip doesn’t peel back all of the layers of flavor, and further investigation is needed. 

The only disappointment at Moonlight was they they weren’t offering Toast, one of my favorite brews. 

With these festivals, often what can really make or break a festival is the company you’re in.  I was lucky enough to be surrounded by some of my favorite beer bloggers. Brian Yaeger, Brewed for Thought, Better Beer Blog and Beer by Bart were all out, enjoying the sun (and twittering about it)  on this lovely afternoon. 

As usual, there are more pictures than I can fit into a post.  Find them all here.  OK, maybe a few more for this post, mostly since I want an excuse to show off Hopmonk Tavern‘s Marzen Marinated Lamb Chop. 

All that remains in this question: can someone from Napa Smith explain to me what the deal is with the beer-filled pineapples?

The farmer’s market this week revealed a special treat: teensy-winsy baby beets, with adorable little beer greens attached on top. These miniaturized beets are perfectly balanced with sweetness coming from the minuscule beet roots, and slight bitterness from the attached greens. With them being so photogenic and colorful, i kept them whole.  In doing so, I avoided my least favorite part of beet dishes – peeling the finished roots and the ensuing mess.  

For these gems, I blanched them in salty water, and then shocked them in salted ice water. Then they can be finished with just about any flavors you like.  We had so many I used them twice.  Once I finished them in olive oil and folded them into fresh pasta.  The second time I made them into a side dish by frying them in rendered bacon fat with green garlic, and finished with the crumbled bacon.  Delicious!