I really enjoy getting my Bon Appetit magazine, and the most recent issue had a seemingly easy recipe for apple turnovers that I had to try. Lucky for me, the recipe was simple. The only obstacle that came up was I ended up using puff pastry that had vegetable oil in it — the recipe called for puff pastry made with butter, which would have given it a more traditional French taste, but I didn’t have all day to run around looking for it.

The recipe seemed to yield more apple filling than necessary, but I used it all anyway. The effect was apple often bursting from the seams of the turnovers, but hey, who doesn’t like apples?

I used 2 Granny Smith and 2 Gala apples, though the original recipe called for Granny Smith and Golden Delicious (I can’t stand Golden Delicious). I followed the recipe otherwise, and Ray and I were rewarded with warm, flaky, apple-filled delights. I decided to pull out the 12 oz bottle of Dogfish Head’s Palo Santo Marron we had been saving since early June, a bottle I had selected when creating a very expensive “make your own 6-pack” at The Foodery in Philly. We split the bottle into two wine goblets, and at first, I pushed my glass away.

The alcohol bite was fierce, and there was a strong Scotch flavor, and I’m sorry, but I can’t stand Scotch. I thought it would be a nice pairing, since Dogfish is known for their malty beers. Ray sipped his glass along with the turnover, and assured me the beer would mellow once we let it come up in temperature.

Of course he was right (see why I’m marrying this guy?). Quoting from their Web site, Palo Santo Marron is “an unfiltered, unfettered, unprecedented brown ale aged in handmade wooden brewing vessels. The caramel and vanilla complexity unique to this beer comes from the exotic Paraguayan Palo Santo wood … ”

I may have finished my apple turnover already, but I’m still sipping away at the Palo. Perhaps a longer tenure in the fridge would have done this better, but I was reminded of how it tasted at Savor, so I took a chance. What’s life like if you don’t?

Craft Beer, Pairings Add Comment »

Last Tuesday (Oct. 14) was the final night I was in Vegas for the biggest conference of the year (for my day job), and my boss suggested we should have our group dinner at Gordon Biersch. Apparently she had noticed one of the prior nights when I almost climbed out of the cab window as we passed the brewery and restaurant — hey, I thought I was going to be lost for 5 days amid Miller Lite and rum and Coke.

Once we were seated, only 4 of the 9 of us ordered a beer, which is fine by me because I wasn’t out on a beer crusade for anyone but myself. My boss even ordered a hefeweizen, though she had admitted to me that she’s not crazy about beer; I was thrilled that she was just willing to give it a try. Well, make that a 22 oz try. I had suggested the tasty hefe, but forgot to mention the size it would arrive as. I assured her that it was lower in alcohol than what she had assumed, and that we would not be wheeling her out the front door. Luck be a lady, she enjoyed it a lot, and now I need to make her a list of different hefeweizens she will need to try.

I’m not sure what my other 2 co-workers ordered, but I started my evening with Gordon Biersch’s seasonal, which was a festbier. This style is not normally my thing, but this brew was nice and malty, as well as crisp. I ordered the goat cheese ravioli in brown butter sauce with spinach, mushrooms and pine nuts, and the festbier was a nice complement.

My second beer for the evening was Gordon Biersch’s Schwarzbier, which I had tried before at the location in D.C., following Savor. Though I tend to prefer stouts, this was a pleasantly smooth dark beer to end my night with, and made a nice coda for the crazy days I had spent in Vegas, doing things that were not your typical Vegas-crazyness. Phew, it’s good to be home.

Brewpubs, Craft Beer, Restaurants Add Comment »

A couple people came forward with Session #20 posts in the last week. Just so they’re not left out, here they are:

• Suzanne, the Beer Lass, whom Mel had the pleasure of meeting at The Royal Stumble this year, was late to the party with her first ever Session post, but she has quite a lot of memories to share — so many, in fact, that they have palpable mass when combined.
• JP has a handful of memories himself, one of which is about grad school, which made me cry due to sympathy pain.

Okay? All right, that’s enough.

The Session Add Comment »

Tripels usually take forever to get to the point where they’re ready to drink. At first, we expected to have to wait as long as two or three months for our Belgian style Tripel to age out to perfection. Imagine how surprised we were when we discovered that, other than the obviously missing carbonation, our Tripel was ready to drink right out of the primary fermenter, a mere two weeks after pitching. Nevertheless, we kept it in secondary for two more weeks to clear it out a bit, and it took a while longer to carbonate than our other beers since Trappist yeast is a little lazy. But still, a month-and-a-half to come up with a finished Tripel is pretty freaking fast.

So, let us dissect. Warning: S-words.

1.086 OG; 1.020 FG; 8.9% ABV; 13 IBU

Appearance: Hazy, honey amber color, with subtle red tones. Big, creamy (for a Belgian style), off-white head takes its time settling down, giving you all the time in the world to enjoy it.

Nose: Sweet, banana esters explode out during the pour. They’re backed by a subtle, alcoholic dryness and a generous but controlled helping of floral hops. A barely detectable hint of spice shows up if someone has already told you to expect it.

Taste: Slightly dry, semi-sweet, with lots of banana esters, balanced by a slight hop bitterness. Lots of orange sweetness completely shrouds any alcohol taste. There is a slight suggestion of coriander.

Mouthfeel: Medium-to-light bodied, and surprisingly crisp and refreshing. Finishes dry, with a subtle hop bitterness that lingers on the middle and back of the tongue and begs you to take another sip.

Overall: When Mel and I do a tasting, we each pour a glass, take an index card, and silently take notes. We do this to keep from influencing each other’s impressions. Keeps things objective. In this case, we each independently wrote the words “holy shit” on our respective cards. Gotta love parity. We both agree that it needs more coriander, and I feel like it’s a bit dark, but apart from that, it’s impossibly refreshing, and the orange, banana, and floral hop flavors completely mask the substantial alcohol, making this an extremely dangerous beer. We might have to warn our friends about it. I’ve gotten buzzy just while writing this post.

Our Brew Days, Tasting Add Comment »

Roughly a week and a half ago I decided to take a venture down to The Kite & Key on the corner of 19th and Callowhill in Philly for lunch. I was promptly met by one of the staff when I entered the main dining/tavern area and told I could sit anywhere, so I chose the hightop by the large doors that had been opened up allowing the server to pass from the bar to the outside tables easily. Unfortunately, she had to close those doors after the group sitting outside deemed it too cold (wusses), came in, and asked her to close the doors behind them.

Nevertheless, I had a fairly extensive draught list to choose from, as well as a bottle list. I went with Sly Fox’s O’Reilly’s Stout and paired it with a mixed greens salad with grape tomatoes, goat cheese and raspberry mint vinagrette. Delish.

The Kite & Key’s interior is dark wood, and it has another dining area that extends past the bar area. The bar itself seats about 12, and has several tables located in the front room with it. On one side of the bar was an authentic brass hand pump on display (sadly, not in use), and the chalkboard by the door had a lengthy lunch special list that looked inviting as well.

All in all, it was a nice 15 minute walk down to the pub and an excellent lunch. Makes me wish I had more than 45 minutes for my lunch break!

Craft Beer, Pubs Add Comment »

One of the best parts of being a social species is that we get to have tons upon tons of stifling social rules imposed on us that we absolutely must adhere to on pain of ostracization. But don’t feel left out, homebrewing community! Even you can enjoy this ambrosial luxury!

My fellow prisoners, let us look at the rules of Homebrew Etiquette for both homebrewers and their friends.

For Homebrewers

You will give homebrews to your friends.

They are your friends because you like them. People whom you like deserve to drink good beer. And since you make the best beer ever, you are obligated to share your creations.

Relatedly, you will provide pouring instructions with your homebrews.

Non-homebrewers don’t understand: there is yeast and other gunk on the bottom of that bottle. Ah, how often I have seen a relative drink a homebrew straight from the bottle, only to complain about it tasting more and more weird as they went along. You know how to pour a homebrew — they do not. Enlighten them.

You will try to get your best friends into homebrewing.

Tell your friends how easy it is (lie). Let them try a few of your best homebrews so they can see what’s possible. Maybe even offer to sit in on their first brew day to supervise from afar. Lay off if they just don’t seem interested, but if you see even a hint of desire in their eyes, draw it out so it can blossom. Love exists to be shared, and there is no greater love than that between a man and his homebrew. Share the love with those around you. They’ll stop drinking so many of your homebrews if they have their own.

You will talk about things other than homebrewing once in a while.

You think homebrewing is awesome. This is because homebrewing is awesome. Some people, however, are wrong about everything, and will get tired of hearing about homebrewing very quickly.  Find a new conversation topic before you lose all of your friends. Politics! You know, there’s a lot of politics right now! My god, just talk about something else.

You will not fight with your spouse or significant other while homebrewing.

Look, homebrewing can get complicated and messy. You will drop things, struggle with siphons, slop on the floor, encrust your stovetop with Bob-knows-what— let it go. Laugh at your stupidity. It’s either that or you end up tearing each other’s heads off, which is America’s leading cause of divorce. Plus, if you divorce, you have to split up the equipment.

Alternatively, it might just be a better idea to pick a homebrewing partner whom you’re not romantically involved with. OW! Or do. Forget I said that. Brewing with someone you love is the best. Ow, that really hurt…

For Homebrewers’ Friends

You will not ask your homebrewing friend for homebrews.

I know, we keep talking about the money we’re saving by homebrewing, but we really aren’t saving worth a sack of maggots. We’re constantly buying new equipment, software, ingredients, etc., because we want to make the best homebrews possible. Thanks to that, our homebrews end up being pretty expensive on a per-bottle basis. If we want you to have them, you’ll get them, but don’t ask for them. Would you go into someone’s home and ask to eat their food? Oh. Well, don’t.

You will learn how to pour homebrews.

On the bottom of each bottle of homebrew is a layer of yeast and crud. You don’t want to drink that. As Victory would spin it, it’s “not the most flavorful part of the beer.” Pour just vigorously enough to raise a good head without disturbing the sediment too much, leaving the bottom 1/4″. You’ll find that most of the sediment collects in the little corner where the bottle juts out from the neck, leaving you with clear, homebrewed joy in your glass.

Another note: Do not stop pouring once you’ve started. If you tilt the bottle back upright while pouring, you’ll mix the sediment in with what’s left in the bottle. Do your friends’ homebrews justice: Don’t make them taste ooky.

You will return your homebrewing friend’s bottles.

Agh! What are you doing?! We can use that bottle again! Here here, no, look, you just rinse it out, there. Now set it upside down to dry. See? And then we’ll use it next time. Hey, are you done with that Yeung? Can I have the bottle? Oh wait, those are twist-offs. Never mind.

You will not ask to watch your homebrewing friend brew.

We have enough sanitary concerns to worry about without a whole ‘nother organism in the room. If your homebrewing friend invites you over, then yeah, go ahead and watch, but don’t invite yourself. Besides, brewing is a mind-numblingly boring thing to watch. It’s very much like a Star Wars movie: Two hours of nothing happening, followed by fifteen minutes of complete chaos.

Homebrewing 1 Comment »

While on vacation in mid-September, Ray and I discovered that Brian Yaeger had a book coming out, titled Red, White and Brew: A Beer Odyssey Across the U.S. (272 pages, St. Martin’s Griffin). I had Ray drop Brian a note asking for a review copy, since in my former life I was a book reviewer. Brian gladly obliged, and shortly thereafter we had our own autographed advance uncorrected proof.

Since I have approximately 2 hours of commuting to do Monday-Friday, Yaeger’s book has been accompanying me on the train. There have been a few times that I nearly missed my stop because of Red, White and Brew — and that is a compliment. Yaeger’s writing style is warm and inviting, like a conversation with a friend over a couple pints of Anchor Steam at the corner pub. The book’s pace is right on, never rushing, never dawdling, as Yaeger weaves his interviews with brewers across the country into tasting reviews and his tales of being on the road for this odyssesy.

Yaeger is no Odysseus, because both he and his writing are never lost and wandering, and I’m pretty sure he’s never blinded a giant or tangoed with a siren (sorry, I was an English major). But his trip is an odyssey of great proportions, especially in today’s current economy; he drove across the country, from Pottsville, PA, to Maine, then Michigan, Wisconsin, Kansas, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, California, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, and then right back to the east coast to visit our friends at Dogfish Head in Delaware. That, my friends, is epic.

But I won’t labor the point of how good the book is; it’s only been out for a short while, and Amazon already has it ranking well. It’s fun, it’s informative, and possibly one of the best things — personally — is that it put some more beers on my radar. Just the other night Ray and I went to pick up a couple six packs, and I had the book in my bag so I could look for a few of the brews I had read about. Unfortunately, the place by us does not have as huge a selection as we would like, but I was able to pick up a 6 pack of Anchor Steam beer, and plan on picking up their Liberty Ale sometime. I was in the beer aisle referring to Yaeger’s book. My friends, that shows the kind of shelf life this title will have.

Books 1 Comment »

The 21st topic for the monthly beer blogging event The Session has been announced by Matt over there at A World of Brews. He writes:

When looking at the past topics I felt that they were all a little to easy. They weren’t loaded enough for me. No one has asked the the one question that I am guessing all of you have heard. This question has probably come from friends, family, stangers from the bar, etc everytime you bring up you are really into beer.

That question is: What is your favorite Beer and Why?

Before you say I don’t have a favorite beer or how do I pick just one. I say BS everyone has a favorite. There will always be a beer that you would grab above all others, your go to beer per say. The one beer you will almost always choose over the others. When I get asked that question I almost always say I don’t have one but then when I came up with this topic I realized I did and I know you do too.

I would like to take this topic one step farther for purely selfish reasons. I am trying to do better reviews on beers that I drink and I would like to see how other rate and review their beers. So put on your BJCP hat and Review and Rate your Favorite Beer.

November 7th is the date of the next Session. Best of luck, Matt! You’re gonna love doing the roundup!

LOVE.

The Session Add Comment »

We took our sweet time getting to this tasting. We’ve actually been sampling our attempt at Steph and Tim’s Tropical Foreign Extra Stout recipe every now and then for a little while. The first bottle screamed very loudly, “Age me, please,” which we obliged to do. And now here we are, several weeks later, and we’re ready to call the stout done. Here are our combined thoughts:

Appearance: Deep, dark, just barely translucent brownish black with red highlights. Huge, foamy, latte colored head that makes the beer sound like Pepsi.

Nose: Floral and roasty with some fruity esters, but nothing really jumps out.

Taste: Very sweet, almost cloying. Banana and vanilla notes. Some roastiness manages to peek out once the sweetness makes it off of the palate.

Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-light bodied, yet creamy. Coats the tongue and lingers on the roof of the mouth, which helps to conceal a late-game alcohol bite. Overcarbonated.

Overall: We’re kind of disappointed with this one. It came out much too sweet, and the fruity esters are out of place. It’s also not as chocolatey as we think it should have been, but the vanilla notes were a nice surprise. What surprises us the most is the fact that the recipe comes out a lot better when Steph and Tim execute it. Perhaps there is some fundamental incompatibility between their recipes and our process. Our fermentation temperature is the first thing that comes to mind — our bathroom tends to be fairly warm, leading to increased ester output by the yeast. I believe the yeast we used was English Ale; using a higher-attenuating Irish yeast instead might help the sweetness and ester problems.

Our Brew Days, Tasting Add Comment »

Mel’s idea for Session #20 seems to have been a hit! Of course, now I have to round up everyone’s posts. Hurrrrr…

Here are all of the Session #20 posts that I know of, in the order that I found out about them. Email me if I missed you, and I’ll write a secondary roundup post on Friday.

• Keith at Brainard Brewing channels some enchanted headwear as he reminisces about the early days of his home.
• Matt comes to us from A World of Brews to talk about his rugby days, and the warm, flat can of Bud Light that stood between himself and his ride home. Because he is a rugby player, I advise against hugging him.
• Steph Weber née Merkler (which is to say, she’s my sister, but I guess isn’t anymore ’cause we don’t have the same last name now) from beer.cook.pair.joy really liked the idea of moving to Malvern, PA, so much so that she and her husband drank and brewed quite a lot of beer there. PA greats Tröegs and Weyerbacher helped move them in. I helped, too. It was delicious, but the couch was awkward and heavy.
• Al from Hop Talk drank some Brooklyn Brewery Oktoberfest at their Octoberfest celebration. Imagine! Sorry, that came out more sarcastic than I meant it to. Actually, it’s more like just a get together. Geez, I am not flattering this guy…
• Alan has a good beer blog. He forgot his memory, though. He says he’ll get back to us, but for now, here’s some philosophical waxation.
• Beer and memories: Captain Hops chimes in his way. He wrote some haiku.
• Dan and Ethan at Beer-O-Vision had trips to Scotland and Ireland, respectively, making me painfully envious. Ethan has more to say about stuff from after he got back from Ireland, actually, but I wanted to point out that he went to Ireland because seriously guys I am very jealous by which I mean envious because jealous is technically the wrong word in this case.
• Fun fact: Bionic Laura was the name Nintendo was originally considering for the main character in Metroid. I think it’s better than Samus Aran, personally. This sounds unbelievable, but Aran is in Laura’s blog’s name. No way that’s a coincidence. Anyway, she’s been all over the freaking place, apparently. Very cool.
• Ted at Barley Vine talks about his introduction into a whole new world of beer. I think this is a dear memory for just about all of us.
• Rob DeNunzio of the onomatopoeically named Pfiff! has a peculier memory to talk about. He made a “peculier” pun in his title, too, so I guess I’m not very original.
• Jon at The Brew Site points out effectively that his brain is full.
• Brian Yaeger of Red, White, & Brew, writing in with his very first Session post, has been to Russia. He’s been a lot of places. You might say he’s been on an Odyssey.
• Bryon at Home Brew Beer has fond memories of Bass Ale. I heartily endorse his taste. I drank quite a lot of Bass in college. Mmm mmm mmm.
• Lew Bryson, award-winning brewery guidebook guy, shows us just what a prolific beer fiend he is. Kudos!
• Troy at Great Canadian Pubs and Beer takes us back to Henry House in Halifax before indulging in some well-earned name dropping.
• Mario from Brewed For Thought sips a few Belgians and transports his psyche back to his olden days. Ah, the olden days. So olden.
• E. S., whose Thirst is Relentless, has been followed through life by Bell’s Two Hearted Ale. It has been lurking in the shadows. Ooooooo.
• Stan Hieronymus (whose name I am finally capable of spelling correctly) at Appellation Beer stops off in Germany during his trek around the world for a Zoigl.
• Roger of Bottled Llama has the best name for a beer blog out there. Best, that is, unless he ever wants to form a band, because he’ll never beat Bottled Llama as far as band names go. This will make him very sad, which will affect his music. He talks about cowboys and Old Milwaukee. Cowboys and Old Milwaukee would also be an awesome name for a band.
• Over at Legal Beer, we hear of a trip through the Chunnel with Duvel. Does anyone else think Chunnel sounds like a brewing term? “Wait for the chunnel to settle before bottling.” “Boil the chunnel for ten minutes to sanitize it.” “Slightly cloying, with just a hint of chunnel.”
• Jay at Brookston Beer Bulletin reminds us that it’s the memory that counts, not the beer. His romantic stinger seals the point.
• Finally, everyone’s favorite Dublish Beer Nut talks about his trip to Belgium and his first taste of Rochefort 6.

A great big gooey thanks to everyone who participated in The Session this month!

The Session 3 Comments »