Drinking Now

Golden Road Hefeweizen - it's been two weeks since I've treated myself to a brew. A celebration beer because I just finished my first local Crossfit competition with my gym. Cheers!!!

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BEERventure

Firestone Walker Invitational Beerfest – Paso Robles, CA

This post is a little overdue, but let me just start with saying, oh Firestone……..you really do know how to impress a girl! With a fabulous list of top microbreweries and great local restaurants serving samples of heaven, an Invitational Beerfest like this really does sound like a dream. Doesn’t it? Well this summer Firestone Walker Brewing Co. pulled it off, and they did it quite well.

There was quite a bit of hype about this event; this was the first time Firestone has ever put together a beerfest where only invited breweries were able to participate. Tickets were very limited and sold out quickly. Just as soon as I heard about it from an Industry friend, we purchased tickets shortly after. Set in beautiful Paso Robles, near Firestone Walker’s actual brewery, it was evident that this was going to turn into a mini-BEERcation for us. Indeed it did, with the main attraction fulfilling every expectation it set out to achieve.

As soon as I walked into the gates of the fairgrounds, I could tell this beer festival was going to be different than any of the local ones I’ve attended in the past. Part of the welcome gift included a bamboo plate, along with a napkin and utensils, telling me that the food at the festival was more than just a background actor in the show. There was a notch in the corner of the plate where the stem of the beautiful Firestone Walker Invitational Beerfest tasting glass was to reside between sips.  Everyone was also handed a booklet with a list of each brewery and what they were sampling, and a pencil to take notes if desired. Each brewery was required to have at least one session beer and one “rare” beer, but there were many who had more available, either rotating throughout the day or a third on tap.

There were a total of 40 breweries present, and all were among the well known and respected names in Craft Beer. With each booth having two or more beers on tap at any given time, it was impossible to be able to taste every beer available (If there is a champion among us who has, please make yourself known!). Planning a strategy was a must at this event, and I found myself attempting to make beers I have never tried a top priority.

My favorites tended to be the lighter or seasonal beers, the kind that was “easy drinking” while outside in 80 degree weather:

*Boneyard Brewing – Femme Fatale

 

*The Bruery – Hottenroth

*The Lost Abbey – Lost & Found

 

*Moylan’s Brewing Company – Pomegranate Wheat Ale

*Nebraska Brewing Company – Violet Tendencies

*Russian River Brewing Co. – Blonde Saison

*Three Floyds Brewing Company – Zombie Dust

There were a few other beers such as the Firestone Walker Succubus, Golden Road Hudson Porter, Russian River Supplication, and the Sierra Nevada Knock on Wood that were quite good, but to me, a bit heavy while you’re drinking it in the sun. I don’t know…..maybe I’m just a wuss.

I won’t even get started on the amazing food samples the featured restaurants provided. That would be a whole other blog post in itself (maybe two). To put it simply, there was some amazing food to be had, not just the typical crackers and pretzels you would see at other beerfests. If you weren’t there, you missed out, sorry! To add to the beverage and food delight, there was also live music throughout the day, as well as a stage area under some shade where we were able to listen to some Q&A from the brewers.

For a first-time event Firestone and the sponsors did an amazing job putting this together. It was a great experience and according to Firestone’s website, the event will continue for 2013! If you see ticket information on this event, seriously, don’t hesitate to purchase! You’ll be SOL, while I’ll be having all of the fun.

Most of what made this event and weekend such a success was the ability to enjoy it with some great company! I’d like to thank my wonderful friend LeAnn Hubbard and her husband Brian, as well as Michael and Vanessa Andrews for their awesome hospitality!

Firestone Walker Invitational Information:

http://www.firestonebeer.com/mingle/fw-invitational-beer-fest.php

Drinking Now:

Go Team! From The Bruery Provisions' Collaboration Series. A Belgian-Style Mild Ale paired with a Camembert wheel, candied walnuts, frozen grapes and crackers. Perfect for a hot Summer afternoon snack!

BEERventure:

White House Saloon – Randsburg, CA

Although I took a hiatus from blogging this spring, I still continued to enjoy beer exploration when I could. In the fall and early spring, I spend many weekends in the various deserts of Southern California. My boyfriend and I love to go camping with friends and family and ride our dirt toys (motorcycles and side-by-sides) to our hearts’ content. Yes, many of the places we camp are remote, so our beer selection is limited to what we decide to bring for that trip. In few spots, however, there are some hidden word-of-mouth places where you can find some fantastic food and a cold brew that will quench your desert thirst.

One such place of note is the White House Saloon in the living ghost town of Randsburg, California. Randsburg is set off the west side of Highway 395 near Ridgecrest. It’s a tiny little town in a popular camping and OHV area with a rich mining history. Downtown Randsburg is comprised of a small road with a few old buildings on each side. With the late 1800’s feel, you’ll definitely feel like you’re in the old west!

The local spot is the White House Saloon, and yes it looks and feels authentic, like a gun fight might break out at any moment! (Just kidding……well, kinda) The “staff” as you would call them, are very much locals. They have that small-town vibe, not too stand-offish, but not overly friendly. Just the way a ghost town saloon should be!

Time-period and random decor is scattered along the walls. We spent a lot of time observing all of the trinkets and sun stuff displayed on the shelves. One shelf in particular was full of old beer cans, most of them I’ve never even heard of. Still very cool, regardless!

 

There was only one beer that had to be tried during my visit: the Mojave Red on tap at the bar. It’s the beer this tiny place is known for, and it was a damn good red! To tell you the truth, I’m not exactly sure if the locals brew it, or if they get it from an outside brewer. It’s really not the kind of thing you ask when you’re a tourist in the Wild West, so I just smiled and enjoyed my beer without pestering the bartender with questions.

The food was pretty standard for bar food, and it seemed like they had limited ingredients and kitchen space. There was even a sign above the bar that said “No Custom Orders.” It may as well have just said “Just Eat it and Shut Up!” Not a problem for me, I’m far from a picky eater. The cheese burger I ordered was very satisfying, nothing spectacular, but when you’ve been riding all day in the heat everything tastes pretty good. I did think that the hand-battered onion rings were excellent – we ended up getting two orders J

There’s probably a one in a thousand chance that you’ll ever end up in the tiny little town of Randsburg. If you do, you’d be doing yourself a disservice of not stopping by the White House Saloon for some grub and a cold one. Yeeehaaw!     

           

Weekly ALEment

Somersault: Hello summer!

Quick Facts

Brewery: New Belgium Brewing

Beer Style: American Blonde Ale

Origin: Fort Collins, CO, USA

ABV: 5.2%

IBU: 28

Glassware: Pint

Serve Temp: 40°-45°

Brewer’s Profile: Ginger, Apricot

Summary

Color poured is a very sparkly gold. The moment you see the brightness and the bubbles in the glass, you start to smile with anticipation. There is a very thin head that fades quickly. With the first smell, first you can catch the centennial hops, followed by a light peach or apricot fruit aroma. As you start to taste the beer, you realize how light and bubbly the mouth-feel is. The fruit flavors are the star of the show; although, they are not too overwhelming on your palate and fade away quickly enough for you to capture a smooth, light malt finish.

If I had to sum this beer up in just a few words: Summer crowd pleaser. This isn’t a complex or a rare beer that you would use to show off your “beer smarts” to your friends. This is, however, a PERFECT beer you that could buy for your first summer grilling sesh: a simple summer seasonal that pretty much any guest could enjoy. It has the lightness that a summer beer should have, with the fruity flavors enjoyable to most palates, with the slight hoppiness that reminds you that you are drinking and American beer. Not to mention the fun bottle label of an upside-down landscape that reminds you of when you played outdoors as a kid. Gotta give props to New Belgium with their clever marketing!

Drinking Now

Saison du Buff by Dogfish Head  @ Haven Gastropub, Orange, Ca

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Drinking Now

Bruery Humulus Lager @ The Playground, Santa Ana, CA

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Beer Brain

Off-Flavor Analysis

With my recent endeavor to become a Certified Beer Server (the first certification level of the Cicerone Program), part of the study before the exam was to know and analyze off flavors in beer. Now we’ve all had beers that we didn’t enjoy. Maybe just a “Yuck!” or “Gross!” Besides crying about it, do we know exactly what we didn’t like about them when we tried them? Was it a skunky beer? Was it contaminated in some way? Could it be a brewing mistake? Or was it simply just a weird flavor about the beer that you didn’t like? There are many things that can affect the flavor of the beer, and understanding the different off-flavors can help you determine what should be present and what shouldn’t.

My study partner and I decided to put together a few experiments to help hone in our off-flavor senses. We also added a few raw spices in the testing samples to improve our senses of those as well. 

Acetaldehyde:

Tastes and smells like green apples. For this one, we just sliced up a fresh apple and sipped a light commercial beer along with eating the apples. It’s very contrasting to the normal flavor of the beer, so it’s pretty easy to pick up. If your beer’s profile doesn’t have this flavor listed, then it’s not supposed to be there.

Alcoholic:

This flavor and aroma is exactly how it sounds. It can be compared to an acetone, or paint thinner, and can sometimes be characterized as “boozy.”  You know that warm fuzzy feeling after you’ve taken a shot of Tequila? Yeah, this is the same thing.

Astringent:

A harsh flavor that can make your face pucker. Can leave a dry or a grainy aftertaste. I tend to think of rubbing alcohol or a soapy flavor or smell with this one.

Diacetyl:

Buttery or toffee aroma and flavor. Some people say there can be a “slickness” in the mouth. We compared two glasses of a light commercial beer, one with a couple drops of melted “I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter!”

DMS (Dimethyl Sulfide):

Creamed corn or canned vegetables; reminiscent of Thanksgiving dinner, but in a bad way.  In some rare cases it can also resemble a shellfish or oyster-type smell (eeeewww). For this experiment we just cracked open a can of creamed corn, and put a few drops into a glass of light beer and compared it to one that hadn’t been contaminated. We, unfortunately, didn’t have any spare shellfish to sniff.

Estery:

Fruity!  Citrus, flowery……

Grassy:

Does your beer taste like a leafy green salad? This aroma resembles the smell of fresh cut grass; We obtained some from the lawn.

Metallic:

Have you ever pricked or cut your finger and started sucking on the wound so you don’t bleed all over the place. That tinny/iron taste that blood has is a good example. Since we didn’t want to go that far, we decided to get some spare pennies, and soak them in water. Yep, smelled like wet money!

Oxidized:
Mmm…wet cardboard! That what oxidized beer may smell like. Also, can be characterized as papery or stale. For this one we did the obvious, soaked a piece of cardboard.

Phenolic:

I love spicy food and even spicy beer (when it’s supposed to be). When it’s not, this off flavor can be compared to a peppery or smoky flavor. Sometimes it even comes off as “medicinal,” or band-aid like. Yuck.

Solvent:

Acetone or paint thinner. We decided against the idea of sniffing paint thinner for this experiment, but we all know what it smells like.

Sour/Acid:

Vinegar and tart are the most common ways to describe this type of flavor/smell. Just picture drinking the beer and then puckering your face. We dumped some vinegar and lemon juice in a glass to taste and smell. Pucker face away…….

Sulfur:

We all did experiments with sulfur in grade school science and remember how it smelled: like rotten eggs. Can also be described as sewer or burning matches. Since no one really keeps eggs in their fridge long enough for them to become rotten, we just burned a couple of matches.

Yeasty:

Bready. My study partner happened to have some bread yeast in her cabinets that helped us isolate this flavor/smell.

The Evil Skunk Beer

We have all had a skunked beer probably way more times that we ever should. It’s so common because it can happen so quickly; in as little as a few minutes. It happens when beer is exposed to light, and is the reason why many brewers prefer to use brown bottles, or even cans to prevent this from happening. When light is exposed to a beer, it reacts with the hops to create a skunk-like flavor or smell. Therefore, skunking tends to be worse in beers with more hops.

For this experiment we grabbed two Heineken Lights, and put one out in the sun all day (then chilled it right before serving), and kept the other in a closed refrigerator away from any light. We poured them both into individual glasses, and tasted the “non-skunked” one first.  When comparing the two, only a slight skunky smell and flavor was detected in the sun-baked beer. For the most part, they tasted relatively the same. Heineken is pretty much known for its “skunky” flavor and it has become an acceptable identity for the beer. Given that they are bottled in light green bottles that provide little protection from light, it’s possible that they had already been skunked at some point. It would be interesting to do this experiment with a hoppier beer that’s in a darker bottle to really compare skunk vs. non-skunk.

Summary:

These expiriments were pretty simple, but very helpful in isolating these common off flavors.

However, really understanding off-flavors in beer also requires a more in-depth knowledge about beer styles. Some specific flavors may be acceptable in one style of beer but not in another. For example, the “buttery” flavor of Diacetyl may be acceptable in a beer such as a Bohemian Pilsener, but not acceptable in a Traditional Bock. It’s common for ales have the presence of a fruity (esthery) smell or flavor but it’s important to know when it’s appropriate for the style.

These off-flavors can be one of many culprits. It can be contamination while brewing, storing, or bottling. Possibly even from using dirty equipment that wasn’t cleaned entirely. They can happen with bad transporting or storage practices. But before we go and generalize every beer we don’t like as a “bad” beer, we need to do the research. Know the beer style, and know the beer profile; and know that sensory evaluation is left to human interpretation that differs from one beer drinker to the next.

Drinking Now

Bruery BeRazzled @ BRU Grill in Lake Forest, CA

Drinking Now

Yes, folks....I am drinking a glass of the elusive Pliny the Younger from Russian River Brewing Company! I had the privilege of tasting this beer at Selma's in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA (by invitation only).

With this beer being rated as "world class" on Beer Advocate, there is a lot of hype when a local restaurant or bar taps it. No exception with Selma's; there was standing room only, and you had to be on a waiting list if you weren't on the list of invitees.

If anyone ever gets a chance to try this beer at a special tapping, I would definitely try to do so. It's well worth the experience!

Drinking Now

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Beer Brain

Pale Ale Comparison

Recently I’ve set a goal to become a more educated beer taster/reviewer. A friend of mine who works in retailing craft beers gave me some information on the relatively new phenomenon of the Cicerone. The Cicerone program consists of different levels of education and testing in order to obtain valid certification for serving, knowing, and recommending beer. There are three different levels of certification: The Certified Beer Server, The Certified Cicerone, and the Cicerone Master. The first level of the program is a self-study program that follows a syllabus for the material on the exam. My friend and I decided to organize a study group to prepare ourselves for taking the CBS exam. We decided to include our own taste testing sessions as part of the study in order to improve our “beer senses.” The goal is to compare and contrast similar beer styles or beers within a style in order to fine tune our palates.

For the first tasting comparison we formed a Pale Ale lineup including multiple beers from the American, English, and Belgian Pale Ale styles.

American Pale Ales (APA)

Ballast Point Brewing Company – Pale Ale

                -Based on the Kölsch style beer. Munich malts

                -5% ABV

First Impressions: Not hoppy at all. Very crisp and light beer.

Firestone Walker Brewing Company – Pale Ale (Pale 31)

                -Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook hops; Munich malts

                -4.8% ABV

First Impressions: Slight copper color. Expected hops scent and taste; not overbearing. Slight scent of wood. Smooth and crisp.

Flying Dog Brewery – Double Dog Double Pale Ale

                -Columbus, Warrior, and Cascade; Crystal Malts

                -11.5% ABV

First Impressions:  Actually classified as an American Double / Imperial IPA. Very intense hop flavor with a subtle sweet ending. Alcohol burn feeling.

English Pale Ales (EPA)

Samuel Smith’s – Old Brewery Pale Ale

                -Barley malt, honey, aromatic hops; Irish Moss

                -5.0% ABV

First Impressions: Sweet malt smell with a slight hoppy/bitter taste.

Fuller Smith & Turner – Fuller’s London Pride

                -Toffee, caramel, sweet; slight hop and spice

                -4.7% ABV

First Impressions: Light, sweet malt smell and taste. Slight hop and spice flavor.

Belgian Pale Ale (BPA)

Brewery Ommegang – Belgian Pale Ale

                -Columbus (bittering), Celeia (aroma), Cascade (dry hopped); 5 specialty malts

                -6.2% ABV

First Impressions: Citrus, esthery, spicy. Some cloudiness and medium carbonation.

Brouwerij Huyghe – Delerium Tremens

                -Malt blend (munich, biscuit, and aromatic); Belgian spice

                -8.5% ABV

First Impressions: Champagne smell, sweet malt flavor, slightly dry with a hint of spice. Cloudiness, sediment and medium carbonation.

Summary:

Even though all of these beers fall under a “Pale Ale” description, the styles vary greatly between regions as well as individual breweries.  For the purpose of the comparison, we will exclude the Double Dog Double Pale Ale (which is actually an IPA – we failed to realize this when we purchased the beer). All of these beers were very drinkable and have a similar rage of color that is classified as “pale.” They all have some malt flavor, either primary or secondary. All are very light bodied with no overbearing aftertaste. With the APAs, the hop-flavor is the primary star. They also seem to have lighter carbonation and less spice than the others. There seems to be more variation between breweries with the American Style Pales. The EPAs were slightly more of an amber color mostly due to the type of malts used. The sweet malts are the primary flavor with very little hoppy notes and spice. These beers are visually very clean and crisp compared to the others due to the use of fining agents such as “Irish Moss.” The BPAs are very distinct in their styles. These beers are cloudier than American’s and English styles and tend to have a slightly higher level of carbonation and spice.

Drinking Now

Trying it all! At Old Orange Brewing, Orange, CA

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