This weekend, we brewed a double batch of our porter. All went smooth and both are happily (and violently) fermenting away. We typically split these brews up and keep one as our standard porter and add bourbon and vanilla bean soaked oak to the other. The timing and quality of the oak is critical for this one, as we want the bourbon flavor to be subdued and the oak the be the dominating adjunct flavor, with vanilla coming in second. We let primary fermentation finish before adding the oak mixture until the desired flavor is reached. Then condition for a few month to let everything settle in.
For this batch, we will follow the same regimen for the oaked version. I'll let fermentation wind down and add the mixture in approx. 2 weeks. I'll then rack off the oak and let it cold condition int he keg for a few months, once everything's balanced nicely. I decided to take a different approach to the other half of this bath this time. We've come to like the oaked version more than the original, so instead of keeping half as is, we added a little something special to it. I'll be checking back on this one every so often until I think it's ready. At that time, we'll share.
Next up is our bourbon barrel imperial stout, followed by our Summer Ale an oud bruin and our spring seasonal Irish Red.
December 10, 2012
December 6, 2012
Beer Pairing - 2012 Winter Edition Brewer's Notes
For this edition of our Beer Pairing, we served 4 beers. Three were paired with food, and the fourth was served as people arrived.
The arrival beer was again our Brown Ale (second edition if you're following the blog). It's an English style nut brown ale, with low alcohol (4.6%) and a smooth creamy texture. It has a sweet caramel aroma with a nutty backbone and hints of chocolate. Quantities were limited, but again this beer was well received.
The first beer for the pairing was paired with the chicken and mac salad. It was our flagship beer, Blackout. This beer is best described as a strong dark ale with vanilla beans. It's creamy texture and vanilla and chocolate aroma and flavor make it perfect for a cold winter night, which here in San Diego means 60F. Guests enjoyed this one and high ABV helped loosen people up a bit.
Notes: This version of Blackout we served was our revised version. As said before, we were more than happy with the previous versions and recipe, but I had an idea and ran with it. It paid off, as the result was a higher ABV beer (10.5%), a shorter conditioning stage, and a more simple and repeatable recipe.
The second beer, we paired with both the fries and tacos. This was Me Too, our IIPA. This highly hopped, but not overly bitter double IPA has a nose of pine, grapefruit, and citrus. The body is medium-light, with a moderately dry finish. A very nice 9.6% IIPA that will make even non-IPA drinkers thirsty. We paired this with both the tacos and the fries for the spice enhancing qualities of the hops. We thought the combination of pine and citrus would complement the spiciness of the dishes.
Notes: This recipe was based partially on the winner of the adjunct sugar vs no adjunct sugar IIPA taste test we did. This does have some adjunct sugar (dextrose), but we altered the malt bill slightly and added a second dry hop addition. We used 9oz of hops between the two dry hop additions. Or, nearly 3.5lbs per barrel in the dry hop alone.
The third beer was paired with the desert. We chose our Weizenbock for this. This is one of our rotating seasonals for fall/winter and will continue to be so. The sweet caramel malt flavors mixed with the clove spice and banana esters from the yeast made this the perfect beer to pair with the toffee bread pudding.
Notes: This is a pretty traditional German weizenbock finished off with a bavarian weizen yeast (WLP351). I really like this strain for weizenbocks and dunkel weizens, it just compliments the caramel and chocolate notes perfectly)
As promised, the theme for this beer pairing was quite opposite from that of our summer supper club. We went with all high ABV beers for this one, as made sense for winter. The next Beer Pairing will be in spring and will feature a spring seasonal, as well as a few others. Details to come.
The arrival beer was again our Brown Ale (second edition if you're following the blog). It's an English style nut brown ale, with low alcohol (4.6%) and a smooth creamy texture. It has a sweet caramel aroma with a nutty backbone and hints of chocolate. Quantities were limited, but again this beer was well received.
The first beer for the pairing was paired with the chicken and mac salad. It was our flagship beer, Blackout. This beer is best described as a strong dark ale with vanilla beans. It's creamy texture and vanilla and chocolate aroma and flavor make it perfect for a cold winter night, which here in San Diego means 60F. Guests enjoyed this one and high ABV helped loosen people up a bit.
Notes: This version of Blackout we served was our revised version. As said before, we were more than happy with the previous versions and recipe, but I had an idea and ran with it. It paid off, as the result was a higher ABV beer (10.5%), a shorter conditioning stage, and a more simple and repeatable recipe.
The second beer, we paired with both the fries and tacos. This was Me Too, our IIPA. This highly hopped, but not overly bitter double IPA has a nose of pine, grapefruit, and citrus. The body is medium-light, with a moderately dry finish. A very nice 9.6% IIPA that will make even non-IPA drinkers thirsty. We paired this with both the tacos and the fries for the spice enhancing qualities of the hops. We thought the combination of pine and citrus would complement the spiciness of the dishes.
Notes: This recipe was based partially on the winner of the adjunct sugar vs no adjunct sugar IIPA taste test we did. This does have some adjunct sugar (dextrose), but we altered the malt bill slightly and added a second dry hop addition. We used 9oz of hops between the two dry hop additions. Or, nearly 3.5lbs per barrel in the dry hop alone.
The third beer was paired with the desert. We chose our Weizenbock for this. This is one of our rotating seasonals for fall/winter and will continue to be so. The sweet caramel malt flavors mixed with the clove spice and banana esters from the yeast made this the perfect beer to pair with the toffee bread pudding.
Notes: This is a pretty traditional German weizenbock finished off with a bavarian weizen yeast (WLP351). I really like this strain for weizenbocks and dunkel weizens, it just compliments the caramel and chocolate notes perfectly)
As promised, the theme for this beer pairing was quite opposite from that of our summer supper club. We went with all high ABV beers for this one, as made sense for winter. The next Beer Pairing will be in spring and will feature a spring seasonal, as well as a few others. Details to come.
December 3, 2012
Bottled and Labeled
We decided with the price of the Beer Pairing we'd include a bottle to take home. Weizenbock being one of our brews in the winter seasonal rotation. Me Too our double IPA. Being based in San Diego we have to have one, and Me Too is a step in the right direction. Blackout our flagship brew. It doesn't fit into any category. The closet thing would be dark strong ale with vanilla beans. Even that is more a description than a category.
I wanted the labels to have some meaning and some personality, so I used photos from recent and past "family vacations". Weizenbock has Scott on a stranger's scooter in Germany. Blackout has the IMBC crew toasting glasses at Toronado on Haight. Me Too has one of the IMBC crew passed out at Oktoberfest in Munich.
Beer Pairing - 2012 Winter Edition
Our latest beer and food pairing just happened on December 1st. You may have noticed a few changes. First, we changed the name from Supper Club to Beer Pairing, because people were focusing too much on the food and less on the beer. The beer has always been the main focus. The food is just so you won't get too drunk. Second, we changed up the direction of the food. From courses of food to small plates. Pretty much we tried to go with gourmet drunk food, things you would love to eat when a little faded. Third, with the price for the beer pairing guests also came away with a bottle of a brew of their choice.
ROUND 1, chicken karaage with Blackout sauce and furikake mac salad was paired with Blackout. The Blackout sauce was a teriyaki based sauce with a combination of Blackout and soy sauce being the backbone.
The creaminess of Blackout played well with the mac salad, and the soy ginger marinade for the chicken was a nice contrast to the subtle vanilla flavor of Blackout.
ROUND 2, oxtail chili cheese fries with cilantro jalapeno aioli was paired with Me Too, our double ipa (DIPA). The oxtail chili was made with Me Too.
Straight up, Me Too was a perfect pairing to the chili cheese fries. It refreshed the palate with every sip, removing the heaviness and gaminess of the dish.
ROUND 3, pork belly tacos with homemade hot sauce and pickled radishes and carrots was paired with Me Too. The pork belly was double deep fried for that extra crunch.
Like the chili cheese fries, Me Too was the palate cleanser needed to refresh the taste buds after each spicy bite.
ROUND 4, toffee bread pudding with caramel sauce was paired with Weizenbock.
With notes of cloves, bananas, and caramel Weizenbock elevated the flavor of the bread pudding. Pairing nice with the caramel sauce and toffee bits in the pudding.
If you missed out on this edition, stay tuned for our Spring Beer Pairing happening next year. Seats are limited, so don't sleep. Brewer's notes to follow soon.
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