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Beer In Art #72: Shawn Kenney’s Will Work For Food (& Beer)

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art-beer
Today’s works are from a series entitled Will Work For Food by an artist from Providence, Rhode Island, Shawn Kenney. There’s a story behind the project, and a portion of each sale is “donated to agencies working to end hunger through education, outreach, and food distribution.” All of the beer paintings are already sold, but plenty of food paintings remain available in the food inventory. The first beer painting below is of a can of Narragansett beer, which is Rhode Island local.

Kenney_narragansatt-can

Then there’s this bottle of Red Stripe.

Kenney_red-stripe

And finally, a pint of Guinness. There are also a few more beer paintings at the Will Work For Food main web page.

Kenney_guinness

Here’s a portion of Kenney’s biography:

I was tremendously fortunate to study under a stellar lineup of professors during my time at [the Rhode Island School of Design]. Among them: Tom Sgouros, Dean Richardson, Victor Lara, and David Macaulay. They, along with some amazing classmates, opened my eyes to a much larger world.

In the years since, I have worked as an illustrator, designer and art director, never leaving my love of the craft of drawing and painting behind.

You can also see more of Kenney’s work at his Studio Work and his blog. You can also see a few more pieces at the Charlestown Gallery.

The Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Beer Dinner At Anchor Brewery

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sierra-nevada anchor-steam
Thursday night, April 1, I attended a five-course beer dinner at the Anchor Brewery in San Francisco celebrating Sierra Nevada Brewing‘s 30th anniversary and the release of their first collaboration of the year, Fritz & Ken’s Ale, which is a stout.

The evening began with Ken Grossman & Fritz Maytag

The evening was great fun with terrific company, food and, of course, beer. There was one feature of the evening I haven’t seen at a beer dinner before, but I fervently hope more will adopt. They served in-between-course beers so we had a new beer to sample while waiting for each course. That made the anticipation of each new course far more manageable. Also, between each course, both Ken Grossman, founder of Sierra Nevada, and Fritz Maytag, owner of Anchor Brewery, got up and told great stories from their early days. That may have been my favorite part of the night. Below is one round of tales, broken into two parts because of YouTube’s 10 minute max rule.

And here’s Part 2:

Having been at beer dinners and events at Anchor numerous times, they also made the space next to the brewhouse the most comfortable it’s ever been. They added sound-proof panels along the exterior wall, rented a carpet and hung banners of Anchor beer labels. It definitely worked.

Inside Anchor Brewery

But by far, this was my favorite story of the evening.

If you ever have an occasion to talk with Sam Calagione, ask him about a similar story where he had no trouble getting arrested at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport with a brick of hops.

Ken Grossman, me and Fritz Maytag
Ken Grossman, me and Fritz Maytag and the end of the beer dinner.

Below is a slideshow of the Sierra Nevada beer dinner at Anchor. This Flickr gallery is best viewed in full screen. To view it that way, after clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, to see the photos in glorious full screen. Once in full screen slideshow mode, click on “Show Info” to identify each photo.

Join Me For A Beer Dinner At Anchor With Sierra Nevada

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sierra-nevada anchor-steam
Join me for a five-course beer dinner at the Anchor Brewery in San Francisco celebrating Sierra Nevada Brewing‘s 30h anniversary and the release of their first collaboration of the year, Fritz & Ken’s Ale, which is a stout.

S-N-Collab-1

There are only five seats left for the beer dinner, which will take place on April 1 (no fooling). Here are the particulars.

Join two of the original craft-brewing pioneers for an intimate one-night-only celebration of beer and food at the historic Anchor Brewery in San Francisco. Anchor Brewing’s Fritz Maytag, and Sierra Nevada’s Ken Grossman will be celebrating the release of their collaboration beer, Fritz and Ken’s Ale, in honor of Sierra Nevada’s 30th anniversary. Come and join us for a 5-course dinner packed with unique rare and vintage beers, seated amongst the kettles in the legendary Anchor brewhouse.

Reception starts at 6:00 PM on April 1st, 2010 at Anchor Brewing Company, 1705 Mariposa Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

Five-Course meal, 11 interesting beers, and souvenir glassware.

$100 tickets, limited to 60 seats, no tickets available at the door.

beerdinner_apr

Tickets must be purchased online, they won’t be available at the door. You can get them at ClicknPrint Tickets. I’ll see you there.

Fritzandkenbrew
Ken Grossman and Fritz Maytag in the Anchor brewhouse, where the dinner will be held next Thursday.

Food Hates You, Too

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tomato
Every Sunday I take the kids to the library. I’m a voracious reader, and I’m grateful to an aunt, and to some extent my mother, for instilling in me that passion for books and literature. So it’s very important to me that I try to do the same for my own kids, and so far they both love books. Last Sunday, my daughter Alice picked out a book called Food Hates You, Too and Other Poems by Robert Weinstock.

food-hates-1

The cover alone was reason enough, but some of the poems are pretty funny. My kids are also following in my food phobic footsteps and are very picky eaters. I’m better now — not exactly cured — but my Mom would be spinning in her grave if she knew all the foods I’ve eaten since I moved out of her house.

So the titular poem Food Hates You, Too is a pretty funny concept about how some of the food we don’t like might hate us, too.

The opening stanza:

If everyone hates different foods,
Then couldn’t it be true
That creamed chipped beef dislikes Gertrude,
And liver gags on Lou.

And here’s the final two quatrains:

If cotton candy, apple pie,
And french fries looked at you
And said, “Gross! Blecchh! Nope, I won’t try.
I’ll never like it. Ew!

I’m sure you’d say, “Hey! That’s no fair!
Give me a chance! You should
Just try me. Pretty please? I swear!!
With sugar on top …? I’m good!”

food-hates-4

There are maybe two dozen fun poems for kids in the book, most of them about food. The Cheese Sonnet is great and so is a short one about two pieces of Toast named Ned and Fred. But I’ll leave you with a final poem entitled Doughnuts.

I go nuts for doughnuts,
All tingles from Pringles
And swoony from bacon,
If I’m not mistaken.

Indeed I do.

James Beard Foundation Nominates 4 Beer Personalities

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james-beard
The semi-finalist nominations for the prestigious James Beard Foundation awards were recently released. If you’re not familiar with the awards, here’s a description from their website.

Deemed “the Oscars of the food world,” by Time magazine, The James Beard Foundation Awards are the country’s most coveted honor for chefs; food and beverage professionals; broadcast media, journalists, and authors working on food; and restaurant architects and designers.

In the misnamed category “Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional,” four luminaries from the world of beer made the cut. Those semi-finalists are Larry Bell (Bell’s Brewery), Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head Craft Brewery), Jim Koch (Boston Beer Co.) and Garrett Oliver (Brooklyn Brewery), any one of which deserves to win, or at least move on to the final round. Of the 20 semifinalists in each category, five final nominees will be announced March 22, and the awards themselves will be presented May 3.

At the risk of losing my own media nomination (that’s a joke BTW) isn’t it time to lose the wine and spirits bias? With 20% of the semi-finalists from the world of craft beer, wouldn’t something like “Outstanding Beverage Professional” be more appropriate and less insulting?

Two American & Two Italian Brewers To Open Brewpub In NYC

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usa italy
Well, this is certainly big news in the craft beer community, news Russian River’s Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo have been playing close to the vest. They’re teaming up with Dogfish Head and two Italian craft breweries to open a rooftop brewpub in New York City. Dogfish Head issued a press release this morning with the details. From the press release:

Four well-know brewers are joining forces with Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich, and Italian food emporium Eataly to open a brewery-pub on a New York City rooftop with breathtaking views of the Flatiron and Empire State Buildings.

The four breweries collaborating on this project include two Italian craft brewers — Teo Musso, Brewmaster of Birrificio Le Baladin and Leonardo Di Vincenzo of Birra del Borgo, and two Italian-American craft brewers — Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and Vinnie Cilurzo of the Russian River Brewing Company.

The first floor of the building at 200 5th Avenue will house Eataly, an epic Italian specialty foods market and multiple restaurants which pair gourmet foods with artisanal beers and wines. Additionally, there will be an 8,000 square foot rooftop brewery and restaurant operated by B&B Hospitalitys Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich.

The rooftop bar and restaurant will house a copper-clad brewing system. The idea is to create an artisanal, old world Italian craft brewery that just happens to be located on a rooftop in Manhattan, says Dogfish Heads Sam Calagione. The four brewers are working together on recipes for Eatalys house beers. Those beers will feature Italian and American ingredients. The beers will be unpasteurized, unfiltered, naturally carbonated, and hand-pulled through traditional beer engines for the most authentic and pure presentation. The four individual brewers will also occasionally brew beers under their own names on site. The rooftop restaurant project will pair artisanal rustic, homemade beers with the artisanal, rustic cooking of Chef Mario Batali. Additional Italian and American regional craft beers will be served both at the rooftop bar and within the downstairs restaurants.

4brewers
Vinnie Cilurzo (Russian River), Leonardo Di Vincenzo (Birra del Borgo), Sam Calagione (Dogfish Head) and Teo Musso (Birrificio Le Baladin). [Photo by Ryan Collerd.]

The four consulting brewers met in Boston this week to brew the first test batch of Eataly beer, an English Mild fermented with Italian chestnut powder (photos above). Plans call for Eataly New York to open late summer 2010.

More from the press release:

“Eataly is the representation of the earth, its products and an example of real Italian taste. The brewery will surely be a fusion of Italian and Italian/American styles and I am very happy to make this journey with this fantastic group!” Teo Musso, Brewmaster , Birrificio Le Baladin

“In 2006 I went to the Slow Food Salone del Gusto in Italy. Upon meeting many Italian craft brewers, I was not only impressed by the quality of their beer, but, their passion for brewing as well. It was at that time I learned how great Italian craft beer was! To now collaborate with two of the most dynamic Italian craft brewers along with my friend Sam Calagione at Eataly New York will not only be a lot of fun, but, very educational as well.” Vinnie Cilurzo, Brewer/Owner, Russian River Brewing Company

“Eataly Brewery will be a great fusion of the well-known Italian gastronomic culture and our rising beer culture with the taste and the creativity of the American craft beer movement. This may well be the craziest and amazing brewery in the world” Leonardo Di Vincenzo, Brewmaster, Birra del Borgo

“While the Italian craft brewing renaissance started later than ours here in the states , they have quickly made up for lost time with world class artisanal beers. Both Dogfish Head and Russian River have pushed the boundries of beer, particularly those that pair well with food, for many years. We are looking forward to working with our Italian Brewing Brethren, Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich, and the folks at Eataly to further strengthen the bond between world class beer and world class food in the most beautiful setting for a brewery I have ever seen.” Sam Calagione, President/Founder, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery.

Brewers Sunday Tea

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21st-amend
Here’s how 21st Amendment described their Brewers Sunday Tea:

What do Brewers do on Sunday? We drink tea. Yeah, right. Join us Sunday February 14th, from 11:30 until 3:30PM for Brewers Sunday Tea with beers from the 21st Amendment, Stone Brewing, Elysian Brewing and Dogfish Head. Fatted Calf will be serving up brats and sausages with the 21A’s infamous egg pizza. And it’s Valentine’s Day — bring a date!

Merideth, the Girl Beer Geek guarding her pizza
Merideth, with the “infamous egg pizza.”

And out back — really on the side — in the beer garden, they were serving more beers and Fatted Calf had several meat dishes, too.

Jackie Shaun
Shaun O’Sullivan channeling Jackie Chan

Below is a slideshow of the Brewers Sunday Tea at 21st Amendment. This Flickr gallery is best viewed in full screen. To view it that way, after clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, to see the photos in glorious full screen. Once in full screen slideshow mode, click on “Show Info” to identify each photo.

The Homebrew Chef’s Beer Dinner At Mercedes

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sean-paxton
Thursday night was the Sean Paxton — a.k.a. The Homebrew Chef — beer dinner at the Mercedes Hair of the Dog Cantina in San Francisco. A modest affair, at least in Homebrew Chef terms, it was a mere eight courses. The dinner was paired with almost all collaboration beers, from De Prouef and Firestone Walker. For that reason, it was known as the Collaboration Beer Dinner.

After the dinner, Matt & Sean
Firestone Walker brewmaster Matt Bryildson and the Homebrew Chef, Sean Paxton.

You can see each course and photos from the beer dinner below in the slideshow. This Flickr gallery is best viewed in full screen. To view it that way, after clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, to see the photos in glorious full screen. Once in full screen slideshow mode, click on “Show Info” to identify each photo.

Hump Day SF Beer Week

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SFBW2010-full-400
Wednesday was hump day for SF Beer Week, falling smack dab in the middle of the ten days. Here’s some more photos from Day 6. Below are individual slideshows from several Wednesday events during SF Beer Week. They’re best viewed in full screen. To view it that way, after clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, to see the photos in glorious full screen. Once in full screen slideshow mode, click on “Show Info” to identify each photo.

Day 6: Wednesday, February 10

The Bistro Cheese-Off

Barclay’s Bill Brand Tribute

Cobb’s SF Beer Week “Beer-In”

Toronado Nightcap

After Cobb’s, I went over to the Toronado for a nightcap and to see if any of the Lagunitas folks we re still there. They’re weren’t, but Gabbi Chan and Phil Lowry were still there, though about to leave. I made do with a Russian River Mortification, Vinnie’s quadrupel.

Gabbi & Phil at the Toronado
Gabbi Chan & Phil Lowry.

Drinking my nightcap of Russian River Mortification at the Toronado
Having my last beer on Wednesday night at the Toronado.

The Great Cheese-Off Of 2010

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cheese
Last night, the Bistro held its 2nd annual cheese-off, one of my favorite SF Beer Week events. Similar to last year, Bistro co-owner Vic Krajl picked four cheeses and then asked four breweries — Eel River, Mad River, Moylan’s and Sierra Nevada — to pick the beer they made that they felt was the best pairing with each cheese.

Pairing #2: Moylan's Hefe, Eel River Amber, Mad River Jamaica IPA & Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Here’s flight 2, for example, one cheese with four beers.

After choosing our favorite from each round, we handed in our scorecards and they tallied up the results to determine which pairings were the most popular. A prize was awarded to whoever correctly predicted the most popular choices. Only one person, for the second year running, chose all four most popular. While I’d argue that most popular doesn’t necessarily mean best, especially since people’s tastes and palettes vary widely, it was still a fun way to wrap up the evening and determine at least what a majority of people thought about the choices. Below is a list of each of the cheeses along with the beer pairings chosen by each brewery and then what was determined to be the most popular. The beer in bold was chosen as most popular and italics indicates my personal choice, in case you’re interested.

Cheese No. 1: Wavreumont (cow)

  1. Molyan’s: Celt’s Golden Ale
  2. Eel River: Triple Exultation
  3. Mad River: Mad Belgian Golden Ale
  4. Sierra Nevada: Kellerweis

Cheese No. 2: Petit Agour — Tomette d’Helette (sheep)

  1. Molyan’s: American Hefeweizen
  2. Eel River: Amber
  3. Mad River: Jamaica IPA
  4. Sierra Nevada: Pale Ale

Cheese No. 3: Sunlight (goat)

  1. Molyan’s: Hells’ Lager
  2. Eel River: Porter
  3. Mad River: Jamaica Red Ale
  4. Sierra Nevada: Torpedo Ale

Cheese No. 4: Bleu de Laqueuille (cow)

  1. Molyan’s: Barrel-aged/blended Kilt Lifter
  2. Eel River: IPA
  3. Mad River: John Barleycorn Barleywine 2008
  4. Sierra Nevada: Glissade Golden Bock

What’s interesting to me is that I chose all four of the beers from Mad River Brewing, and similarly last year I picked four of the five beers from a single brewery: Bear Republic. What that suggests is that while palettes do differ, we tend to be in sync with them, that is my palate was similar to whomever chose the pairings last year at Bear Republic and this year at Mad River.

Cynthia Kralj at a table w/ Bruce Paton & Denise Jones
Bistro co-owner Cynthia at one of the cheese-off tables.

Hat’s off once more to Vic and Cynthia for coming up with such a simple yet effective new way to approach cheese and beer pairings. It’s such a great way to educate yourself about cheese and beer and at the same time have an enormously fun time. I really hope to see more of this type of event in the future.

Below is a slideshow of the Bistro Cheese-Off. This Flickr gallery is best viewed in full screen. To view it that way, after clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, to see the photos in glorious full screen. Once in full screen slideshow mode, click on “Show Info” to identify each photo.