Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Trappist Beers & Chocolate Dinner

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Bruce Paton, the Beer Chef’s, 3rd annual Beer & Chocolate Dinner paired ten Trappist beers from six out of the seven monastery breweries authorized to call themselves Trappists by the International Trappist Association (ITA). In addition to hors d’oeuvres accented with chocolate (paired with Orval and Chimay Cinq Cents), there were four courses. The first course was a delicious lobster bisque infused with milk chocolate and crème fraiche and paired with Westmalle Dubbel and Chimay Premiere. When they started bringing the bowls of bisque into the dining room, the air was thick with the aroma of lobster, but when you tasted it the chocolate really came through as the dominant flavor.

The table I sat at was Chef Bruce’s table, too, so we got some great insight on how he chose the pairings, found the ingredients and prepared the dishes. Next up was breast of squab with sweet potato chocolate flan and natural jus paired with Achel and Westmalle Tripel.

The third course was Angus beef short ribs braised in Chimay with parsnip puree dark chocolate port wine reduction served with Chimay Grand Reserve and Rochefort 8. The beef was so tender you didn’t need your knife. Also, the parsnips were all but completely overwhelmed by the chocolate flavors, which complemented the meat perfectly.

Guests at the dinner, from left. Cornelia Corey and Ray McCoy (Beer Drinkers of the Year 2001 and 2003, respectively), Bryan Harrell (the Celebrator’s man in Tokyo) and Portland beer writer Fred Eckhardt (who pioneered the beer and chocolate dinner way back in 1988)

The dessert course billed was an “Exploration of Chocolate Delights” which in this case meant three very different chocoholic desserts. There was a lemony chocolate cheesecake, a chocolate mousse with white chocolate pieces in it and a strawberry wearing a tasty white chocolate tuxedo. These were paired with Rochefort 10 and De Koningshoeven Quadrupel. The De Koningshoeven is only one of the seven Trappist breweries in the Netherlands (the rest are all in Belgium) though it is better known by its European name, La Trappe. The only Trappist beer not represented was, of course, Westvleteren, which no longer distributes its beer outside the monastery.

Beer Chef Bruce Paton with his two great passions, food and beer. Thanks Bruce for another terrific dinner. Look for a Valley Brewing dinner at the end of April and a Allagash beer dinner in late May.

Strong Beer Month is Here

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Beginning today, 21st Amendment Brewery and Magnolia Pub & Brewery, both in San Francisco, will team up again to host their fifth annual Strong Beer Month. Each brewpub has created six new and different seasonal beers — and if you haven’t figured it out yet, they’ll all be strong — that will be available at the two locations throughout February.

From the press release:

It’s that time of year again. This is our fifth annual Strong Beer Month and it has become quite a tradition. When Dave Mclean, owner and brewmaster at Magnolia Pub and Brewery and Brewer Shaun set out five years ago to put on an interesting array of strong beers to warm the body and soul through the San Francisco winter doldrums, they never really conceived that the month of February would be so popular. Five years ago we had six strong beers and this year we bring present you with twelve winter warmers between both breweries. Quite a feat when you think of it as we set aside valuable brewery tank space and our normal house brews and serve up a collection of higher octane adult beverages in all shapes and flavors.

These strong beers are big beers, big in body, bold in flavor and full of the heady, warming sensations that can only come from beers above 8% in alcohol. They span a wide range of styles, from Barleywines, Imperial IPA’s, several strong Belgian beers, imperial smoked porter and a Russian imperial stout. They are all over the map from light to dark but they share one defining characteristic: their strength.

Best sipped slowly and savored, not quaffed in a hurry, these twelve beers command respect. No need to rush through them all in a day. They will be available throughout February (or until they run out) in commemorative 13.5 ounce glasses. Drink all twelve strong ales (six at each brewery) and the glass is yours. Commemorative 2007 Strong Beer Month T-shirts are also available. We will also have special library strong beers from years past presented throughout the month and special food dishes paired with the strong beers.

The strong beers at both pubs:

At Magnolia:

Tweezer Tripel
Old Thunderpussy Barleywine
Smokestack Lightning Imperial Stout
Promised Land Imperial IPA
Weekapaug Monster
Old Perplexity

At 21st Amendment:

Golden Doom
Double Tripel
Blind Lust
Diesel Imperial Smoked Porter
Double Trouble IPA
Lower de Boom Barleywine

Strong Beer Month Coming

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Beginning on February 1, 21st Amendment Brewery and Magnolia Pub & Brewery, both in San Francisco, will team up again to host their fifth annual Strong Beer Month. Each brewpub will create five new and different seasonal beers — and if you haven’t figured it out yet, they’ll all be strong — that will be available at the two locations throughout February. Sample them all, and you’ll receive some sort of prize. I stopped by 21A this morning after waiting in line nearby to get an expedited passport (long story) and sampled a couple of the new brews, one of which was still aging in the brewery.

First, there was St. Martin’s Abbey Ale, a decidedly Chimay-like beer with nice chocolate notes. Second, and perhaps more interesting, was a Belgian strong ale that had been blended with a small amount (around 10 gallons per 300) of Lindemans Framboise which itself had been aged in an oak barrel. At 10% abv, the new beer’s strength is neatly masked by the lambic’s sweetness, which is evident in abundance. The thick malt presence comes through but only a hint of sourness peeks out of the sides. But the lambic sweetness and the Belgian strong combine to create something fairly unique. I’m not quite sure what yet, but more tasting is definitely in order.

Unfortunately, it will be hard to order because, so far, the beer has no name. Given the brewpub’s close proximity to [insert current corporate name here] Stadium, where the San Francisco Giants play, and the fact that the beer reminded me of a framboise on steroids, I suggested “Berry Bonds.” Despite the look brewer Shaun O’Sullivan shot me, I’m going to continue to call it that, though I’m pretty confident that will not end up being its official name. Too bad, I liked it.

Kiss & Urthel: The Beer Dinner

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urthel
Monday evening the beer chef, Bruce Paton, hosted a “Dinner with the Brewmaster” with Urthel’s Hildegard and Bas van Ostaden. It was a small, more intimate dinner than usual, and, as usual, I had a very good time.

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We began the evening with Hop-It, the first Imperial IPA brewed in Belgium. The tap handle featured one of Bas’ gnomes, which appear on all the Urthel labels.

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Hildegard van Ostaden, Urthel’s brewster, one of only two female brewers working in Belgium, and Brian Hunt of Moonlight Brewing.

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Hildegard spoke to the audience before each course and described the beer we were about to enjoy.

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Then her husband and business partner, Bas, entertained the crowd with stories of the Urthels, the bald little gnomes on the beer labels that he created.

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Our beautifully presented dessert, a tartare of figs and Buddha’s hand with chocolate sabayon, vanilla mascarpone and cocoa nib cookie.

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Jen Garris and Brian Hunt.

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Bas van Ostaden, Bruce Paton and Hildegard van Ostaden after the dinner.

Eat Well with Urthel

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Beer Chef Bruce Paton’s first beer dinner next year will feature brewster Hildegard van Ostaden and the Urthel beers of Brouwerij de Leyerth from Belgium. It will be a three-course dinner and well worth the $80 price of admission. It will be held at the Cathedral Hill Hotel on Monday, January 8, 2007, beginning with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Call 415.674.3406 for reservations. Make your reservations soon, because the dinner should fill up fast and you don’t want to miss this one. I know I say that every time, but it’s true every time. I’ve met Ms. van Ostaden before and she’s a delightful speaker, not to mention her beers are uniformly fantastic. This will be the first big Bay Area beer event of the new year.
 

The Menu:

 

Reception: 6:30 PM

Beer Chef’s Hors D’Oeuvre
Urthel Hop It

Dinner: 7:30 PM

First Course

Salad of Assorted Fresh Shellfish with Warm Fennel Vichyssoise

Beer: Urthel Hibernus Quentum Tripel

Second Course:

Confit of Lamb with Truffled Potato Gratin, Wilted Bloomsdale Spinach and Black Trumpet Mushrooms

Beer: Urthel Vlaemse Bock

Third Course:

Tartare of Figs and Buddha’s Hand with Chocolate Sabayon, Vanilla Mascarpone and Cocoa Nib Cookie

Beer: Urthel Samaranth Quadrium Ale

Some of the beers that will be served at the Urthel Beer Dinner.

 

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Dinner with the Brewmaster: Urthel

Cathedral Hill Hotel, 1101 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, California
415.674.3406 [ website ]

Brent on Beer: Moylan’s, Jones & Albion Castle

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My good friend, Brent Ainsworth — who sometimes writes for the Celebrator — is the Lifestyle Editor of the Marin I.J. and also writes a regular beer column, Brent on Beer. This week’s column is about Moylan’s adding fermenters to increase capacity 25% but the main story is the hiring of Denise Jones to help with the brewing while her new project in San Francisco has some legal wrangling and building issues worked out. Jones was the brewer at Third Street Aleworks for many years before leaving last year.

The new venture, Albion Castle Brewery & Caves, will be resurrecting a San Francisco brewery that dates from 1870. The Albion Brewery, also known as the Albion Ale and Porter Brewery, is a historic landmark located at India Basin Shoreline Park at Hunters Point. It closed in 1919 — yet another victim of Prohibition — but the caves underneath were still bottling spring water as last as the 1960s. The property was bought at auction by the Uzza Group on June 11, 2005. I hope the renovation comes together because it would be great to get back a piece of San Francisco brewing history like this.

Denise Jones with Ralph Woodall of HopUnion at this year’s GABF.

The abandoned Albion brewery in Hunter’s Point. There are also additional photos and history at the Albion Castle website.

City Beer Store Holiday Beer Tasting

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Friday evening there was a fun little event at the new City Beer store, San Francisco’s first and only store selling nothing but great beer. Owner Craig Wathen (with a little help from Jen Garris) assembled several bay area holiday beers from Drake’s, Marin Brewing and Schmaltz Brewing. Also several local brewers brought growlers of their beers, such as Triple Rock’s Reindeer and Thirsty Bear’s barleywine from 2004. The store is a small space, but there was a great turnout and the place was packed almost the whole time I was there. And did I mention they have a fantastic selection of some of the yummiest beers around. Please support the store as often as you can. As a beer community, we need to help one another. And we need a store like this.

The City Beer Christmas tree.

Drake’s brewer Melissa Myers, with her father in town for a visit.

City Beer Store owner Craig Wathen at the taps.

Craig with some of the Bay Area beer cognoscenti around the tree.
 

City Beer Store
1168 Folsom Street — at 7th
San Francisco, California
415.503.1033

Urthel is Cooking in San Francisco

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Save the date! Beer Chef Bruce Paton’s next beer dinner will feature brewster Hildegard van Ostaden and the Urthel beers of Brouwerij de Leyerth from Belgium. Hildegard made the first Imperial IPA in Belgium and as far as I know the first double outside of the U.S. It will be another four-course dinner, though Bruce is still working out the menu. I’ll get it up as soon as it’s available. It will be held at the Cathedral Hill Hotel on Monday, January 8, beginning with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Call 415.674.3406 for reservations. Make your reservations soon, because this dinner should fill up fast and you won’t want to miss this one. I met Bas and Hildegard in Denver a couple of years ago and they’re wonderful people, who make some very excellent beers. They’re part of a new breed of Belgian brewers who have taken some of their inspiration from their American counterparts.
 

Hildegard and Bas van Ostaden, owners of the Belgian-based Brouwerij de Leyerth.
 

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Dinner with the Brewmaster: Urthel

Cathedral Hill Hotel, 1101 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, California
415.674.3406 [ website ]

Rodger’s Jolly Rodger Times Seven

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Wednesday night, Drake’s Brewing had a fun little event at the Toronado called Seven Different Jolly’s, where they had seven different versions of their holiday beer, Jolly Rodger, from four different years. The recipe changes from year to year, and in ’05 they did two different styles, plus two years some of the beer was aged in wood, which accounts for why there were seven different beers. Both of Drake’s brewers, Rodger Davis and Melissa Myers, were on hand. I had the kids in tow since my S.O. was in Florida for the week, which meant I couldn’t stay all night, and as a consequence my notes are rather brief. But it was a very fun tasting.

The 21A Gals were kind enough to mind my daughter Alice, who had just woken up from a nap.

The seven Jolly Rodgers, in order from left to right the way we tasted them.

Rodger tasted me, and fellow beer scribe William Brand of the Oakland Tribune, on all seven of the beers. [the descriptions in the gray boxes are the ones provided by Drake’s.]
 

2003
A Scotch Ale. Based on the early 1800’s way of taxing ales, where more Shillings were charged to higher gravity ales, this would be considered ”120 Shilling” Ale. Big and malty from the addition of roasted barley this beer is balanced with two hop additions of East Kent Golding. The beer was then fermented at 50°F to keep the ester formation low so the malt would shine through. 9%ABV 30 IBUs

First up was the oldest of the gang, the 2003 version, a strong ale which was reminiscent of an imperial something, and though I hesitate to say it, over time the flavor seems to have migrated toward stout-like characteristics, no doubt from the roasted barley. Time also seems to have given it oak-like qualities though Rodger assures me it’s never touched wood. Regardless, it has very complex flavors and tastes nothing like I remember it three years ago.

2003 Barrel Aged
In the early 1800’s Scottish brewers would transfer their ales to barrels where they would condition for up to two years. Often these beers would sour over time from bacteria in the barrels. The 2003 Scotch Ale was placed into a Brandy barrel for 18 months. This version has a slight sourness to it but is quite complex with the many different wine-like aromas that come at you. 11% ABV 30 IBU’s

The scotch ale has become much more sour during it’s stay at casa leño, almost on the order of a Flemish sour. It has also added additional complexity, if that’s possible, and has a grittier mouthfeel.

2004
An American-style Red Ale. Think of it as a dark IPA. After 2003’s version we found the need to get back into a hoppy style but wanted to create a beer that had a firm malt backbone as well. Roasted barley lends a nice mahogany color as well as a nice roasted malt flavor. Hops: Horizon, Chinook and Centennial. 9.5% ABV 70 IBUs

Time has, as is be expected, muted the hop character and brought out the malt complexity. The alcohol also comes through loud and clear.

2005-A
An Imperial IPA. This is a very big beer. Crystal malt lends a nice ruby red backdrop to an onslaught of hops. How many pounds of different kinds of hops can you throw at a beer and still make it somewhat drinkable? It turns out a lot! Hops: Horizon, Simcoe, Cascade and Columbus. 11.5% ABV 80 IBU’s

This is still quite the hop bomb, and the Simcoe character is immediately apparent and dominant. It’s tasting surprisingly fresh, though the spicy hop oils scorch the tongue going down.

2005-B
An Old Ale. For our 15th Anniversary we decided to brew two different versions of Jolly Rodger, one a hop bomb and the other would be Roger Lind’s original recipe from 1990. So we broke out his original brew sheet and used his ingredients and threw our own brewing techniques at it. What we ended up with is a well-balanced ale that is lightly hopped with Galena, East Kent Goldings and Willamette hops. 9.5%ABV 40 IBU’s

I don’t have much in the way of notes for this beer. It tasted good, but reminded me a bit more of a barleywine than a true old ale, probably because it was at the upper end of alcohol content for the style. Of course, the two are related styles.

2005-B Barrel Aged
This is the Old Ale that was placed into an Apple Brandy barrel for 12 months. The first few months of aging, the beer was dominated by a green apple aroma with much of it slipping in to the flavor. Over time that has taken a backseat to the French oak the barrel is made of with apple Brandy notes reminding you what the barrels past was. 11%ABV 40 IBU’s

The Brandy barrel gave this beer sharper, almost biting flavors, and big fruity esters. The wood does indeed shine through, as does the increased alcohol.
 

Rodger with this year’s Jolly Rodger.
 

2006
An Imperial IPA. We have discovered that if hops are not used in the Jolly Rodger these days, then people become enraged. So here we go with another hop bomb. This one stems from a conversation with Pat McIlhenney (owner/brewer of Alpine Brewing) when he mentioned that he used a whopping two pounds of dry hops per barrel in his outstanding Duet beer. Most of our Imperial IPAs were about one pound per barrel! So what the hell, let’s see what that will do to one of our beers. Thanks for the advice Pat! This one REALLY goes to eleven!! Hops: Warrior, Simcoe, Summit, and Amarillo. 11%ABV 70 IBU’s

Rodger told me he used only a little of the new Summit hop, but its signature oniony aromas was the first thing I noticed in this beer. It is another hop bomb, very aromatic and only slightly restrained by the malt. I expect time will soften the hops and bring out the 2-row malt. He’ll also be doing another batch (which will be designated 2006-B) of the Jolly Rodger shortly and will substitute the Summit with Ahtanum hops.

 

Porter and Alice kept happily occupied watching Star Wars on a friend’s iPod, while we tasted the beers.

Rodger looking more jolly than usual, a welcome sight. It must be the just married glow.

No Fish: The Dogfish Head Beer Dinner

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The latest beer dinner from beer chef Bruce Paton took place Friday evening at the Cathedral Hill Hotel in San Francisco. The delicious four-course dinner was paired with the beers of Dogfish Head Brewing from Milton, Delaware. Owner Sam Calagione was at the dinner to talk about his beers. Another great night with beer and food.

Sam Calagione tells the assembled crowd or over 80 people about his philosophy of brewing and about each of the five beers poured Friday night. There was no fish on the menu, however, and instead we enjoyed poached foie gras with caviar, duck parsnip nodle pho with charred ginger broth, and angus short ribs with lobster medallions.

Table-mates Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing.

And Justin and Daniella from the Brewing Network.

The dessert was a delicious Ginger Scented Banana Custard with Citrus Caramel Sauce paired with Dogfish Head’s newest historical beer, Chateau Jiahu, a beer based on a 9,000 beverage discovered in pottery jars found in the Neolithic villiage of Jiahu in Northern China. It was determined to be a mixed fermented beverage of rice, honey and fruit.

Brewers and beer people at the Dogfish Head dinner.

Sam Calagione and beer chef Bruce Paton, our hosts for the evening.

The next beer dinner should be sometime in January. Watch for more details here or on Bruce Paton’s website, the Beer Chef.