2011 November

Archive for November, 2011

Winter Ale Festivals

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011 | Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Beer West will be bundling up all weekend long in downtown Portland’s Pioneer Square at the Holiday Ale Fest. And we’ll be representing at the Seattle Winter Beer Fest at Hale’s Ales. It’s gonna be a big weekend.

Cold weather means welcoming a new batch of strong winter ales. Here are a few festivals and events in the West that you shouldn’t miss this season:

Portland Holiday Ale Festival // Pioneer Square // Portland, OR
November 30 – December 4

Winter BeerFest // Hales Ales // Seattle, WA
December 2-3

San Diego Strong Ale Festival // Pizza Port // San Diego, CA
December 2-3

15th Annual San Diego Strong Ale Tasting Challenge // Beer Co // San Diego, CA
December 3

Winter Wonderland CoLAboration Beer Garden // Golden Road Brewing // Los Angeles, CA
December 3

Parade of Darks // Wynkoop Brewing Company // Denver, CO
December 3

Sono Park Holiday Fest and Chilipalooza // 32nd and Thorn // San Diego, CA
December 4

Meet the Brewer Monday with Ballast Point Brewing // The Pearl Hotel // San Diego, CA
December 5

Jingle Bell Jubilee // Blue Palms Brewhouse // Los Angeles, CA
December 10

8 Malty Nights Release // New Old Lompoc // Portland, OR
December 14

Kerstbier Fest 2011 // The Trappist // Oakland, CA
December 16

Chanukah Vs. Christmas: The Battle Royale of Beers // The Green Dragon // Portland, OR
December 17

Strong Ale Holiday Festival // Library Ale House // Santa Monica, CA
December 19

You know that warm, toasty feeling you get after your first (or maybe second) pint? We like to think of that as a beer blanket. So wrap yourself up, and get out this holiday season for some strong seasonal brews. Got more winter beer events to go to? Write us a comment, post on our Facebook page, or find us on Twitter @BeerWestMag. Cheers!

Breakfast of Champions

Monday, November 21st, 2011 | Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Good Morning Sunshine!

You’ve never hair-of-the-dogged it more stylishly. Or diversely.

Wake up to weekend brunch at Karl Strauss Brewery Gardens where live musicians serenade you in hangover slumber, and the hospitable staff adorn your table with breakfast flights. This flight was created in honor of San Diego Beer Week.

Endless pairing options present themselves when you make it to the buffet -we’re talking bacon and eggs, a pasta bar, a salad bar, fish n’ chips and a shrimp cocktail bar, a fruit bar, a make-your-own omelette station and a pastry spread, among many other options.

Hefmosa: Windansea Wheat Hef + orange juice

pair with // Woodie Gold-cured Bacon and cantaloupe

Hop Hound: Tower 10 IPA + grapefruit juice

pair with // fresh strawberries

Beer Mary: Heavy Petti DIPA + spicy bloody mary mix

pair with // Make-your-own omelette, or the pasta bar

Suit Up: Fullsuit Belgian Brown + espresso

pair with // anything from the DIY pancake and waffle stand

The Bruery is going sour, in a good way

Friday, November 18th, 2011 | Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »

One of the defining moments of San Diego Beer Week was undoubtedly The Bruery tasting at Blind Lady Ale House, featuring Patrick Rue. Quite possibly the most humble, earnest, and downright likable guys in the craft beer world, Patrick can teach you a world of beer knowledge in just a few mere tasting hours. While the entire tasting was a tour-de-force of aromas and flavors, a few stood out among the rest:

Loakal Red, 6.9% ABV: Produced for Orange County locals, this easy drinking red is a combination of ale aged for six weeks in American Oak and a dry-hopped version of the same. What results is a beer with both a pleasant malt backbone and enough hoppiness to provide a palate spiker to Southern California hopheads.

Burly Gourd, 6.66% ABV: Made especially for Halloween, the clever alcohol content is no mistake. Using organic pumpkins from Cal-Poly, this beer is liquid autumn with notes of cinnamon and cedar, with lactose providing a rounded smoothness to balance the spice.

Oude Tart, 7.5% ABV: One of my personal favorites, this classic version of a Flemish Red is aged 16 months in red wine barrels. Perfectly balanced notes of oak, cherry, wine, and sour make this a crowd favorite of both wine and beer drinkers alike. Not to mention it has taken the Gold Medal at World Beer Cup 2010 and GABF 2010.

Four Calling Birds, 11% ABV: This 4th beer in their coveted Christmas series was one of the most highly anticipated of the day, and did not disappoint. With warm and spicy notes of nutmeg and ginger, this beer was sheer winter comfort. One fan declared, “This beer feels like a fireplace blanket.” Perfectly put.

The Wanderer, 8% ABV: The ultimate highlight of my day, this delicious beer is a blend of Oude Tart and their Anniversary Coton. Blackberries and cherries and sour, oh my. This is a beer to put on your must-taste list.

So what’s next on the agenda for this award-winning brewery? They are currently working on 14 sour beers! Look for releases of Batch 50, a Gueze-style beer, along with Sour in the Rye, which on the name and content alone, has me waiting with eager anticipation.

Cheers!

Laurie Delk
100beers30days.com

Amazing Assembly

Thursday, November 10th, 2011 | Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Usually I go into a beer pairing dinner expecting to come out more than satisfied. Especially in San Diego, there are exceptional chefs and brewmasters who will surprise and impress your palette. This dinner, though, completely blew me out of the water.

Enter Sea Rocket Bistro in North Park – where rustic design meets dim orange light that will warm you up even before your first beer. Curious three-dimensional newspaper fish hang from the ceiling. The owners, whose kind greeting makes me feel as if I’ve known them for years, tell me that these fish are even anatomically correct. These folks know their fish- Sea Rocket specialized in wild, sustainable seafood.

There’s no seafood on the menu tonight, though. Chef Chad White from Washington has the challenge of creating a completely vegan meal, inspired by the founders of Love Like Beer, a local organization that puts on craft beer-paired vegan dinners to support local charities. A percentage of tonight’s proceeds will go to San Diego’s Engineers Without Borders chapter.

We dive into pear salad with aged cashew cheese and clove agave nectar. It’s paired with Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales fall seasonal, Fuego Del Otono. All of the courses tonight are paired with Jolly Pumpkin vegan beers (brewed by vegan Ron Jeffries); in fact, this is the greatest number of Jolly Pumpkin Ales on tap in one place on the West Coast.

Next up is pumpkin gnocchi with cured black olive puree, fennel confit and nutmeg-roasted pepitas, and paired with La Percela. The third course is smoked seitan sausage with spiced apple chai tea and saurkraut with Bam Biere -I’m still craving that one.

We finish with coffee-malted chocolate cake with ganache, beer-macerated cherries, and curry gastric, paired with Bam Noire. We are so impressed, satiated, even galvanized by tonight’s unique menu items. The craftiness that went into making this food parallels the thoughtfulness that goes into making great beers, we conclude. The table is buzzing, and not just because we’re four beers deep. We participated in something out of the ordinary, and we supported a good cause. AND no animals were harmed in the process. Not a bad way to eat every now and again.

Inspired? Check out Chickpea Magazine‘s article about Love Like Beer.

Photos courtesy of Ryan Lamb of West Coaster.

Master Pairings Preview

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011 | Category: California, Events, Food, News, San Diego | No Comments »

“Dr.” Bill Sysak, the Certified Cicerone at Stone Brewing is facing off against craft beer critic and author Stephen Beaumont tonight at the Stone Master Pairings Dinner. They will match six courses with six beers, and the guests will decide who’s pairings are more palatable -though, guests can likely expect to be wowed by both competitor’s craft beer and culinary combos.

I had the privilege of sitting in on Dr. Bill’s preliminary tasting yesterday, and what a marvel it was to get inside the master’s head. He says that to truly have success with your pairings, you should make the food first, and then pair the beer with it, and not the other way around. He also says that while many wine and food pairings often feature contrasting flavors, beer and food pairings should usually be more complimentary. Though, after a few hours at the table with him, I learned that there really are no rules when it comes to beer and food. Just follow your five senses- they’ll tell you what works best.

Tonight’s menu is the creation of Stone executive chef Alex Carballo. Here’s’ what guests can expect:

First Course: Seared Mano de Leon Scallops with persimmon compote

Second Course: Seared Iberico de Belotta Pork with salad of arugula and sorrel, pecan-crusted goat cheese and poached pears

Third Course: Turducken with green tomato chutney and butternut squash croquets

Fourth Course: Brut Cocoa-dusted Beef Cheek with mashed potatoes and Stone Farm greens

Fifth Course: Artisanal Cheese Plate

Dessert: Passion fruit gateaux with pomegranate reduction

San Diego Beer Week- Part One

Monday, November 7th, 2011 | Category: California, Events, News, San Diego | 1 Comment »

Greetings from America’s Finest City

I’ve arrived in San Diego from Portland, Oregon for the 2011 Beer Week (Nov. 4-13) and I’m feeling like I expect many beer connoisseurs feel when they arrive in Portland–Where do I even start?

This city is brimming with craft beer. It’s home to 38 breweries, and countless pubs and bottle shops that all serve local microbrews. Much like Portland, San Diego is comprised of many smaller neighborhoods that make up the city at large, with beer places on just about every corner of every hood. And then there’s the plenitude of local, seasonal food –now I really don’t know where to begin.

Lucky for me and the thousands of other San Diego Beer Week attendees, the huge community of brewers, chefs, bartenders, and restaurateurs has put together a 10-day lineup of tastings, pairings, and special events to showcase all of the artisan beer and food that this fine city has to offer.

Beer Week kicked off at the annual Brewer’s Guild Festival at Liberty Station, where members of the San Diego Brewer’s Guild sampled their beers and paired them with appetizers prepared by local chefs. O’Briens made Sour Wench-braised duck with Ballast Point Sour Wench Ale, and Slaters 50/50 Restaurant made peanut butter and jelly burgers to go with the Ballast Point Sculpin. My favorite pairing was the Alpine Brewery’s Mcllhenny’s Irish Red Ale with chipotle mac n’ cheese from Toronado Restaurant. By the end of the festival, I was bronzed from San Diego sunshine (even in November!), full of delicious gastro-bites, and a little buzzed off of high quality ales and lagers. I figured out why they call it “America’s Finest City” pretty darn quickly.

So where do you start in San Diego? Just dive in. You wont be disappointed.

Stay tuned to Beer West’s BeerLog for more news about the week’s shenanigans, and check out our Facebook and Twitter feeds for live updates.

For more information about Beer Week and its hundreds of events, visit sdbw.org.