Beer Dinner

So we have this friend who knows everything about beer and whenever we have an obscure question about a beer type we say "ask him, he wrote the book on beer".  Well, he didn't actually write the book, but someone wrote the book.  As a matter of fact, these guys wrote the book.

Stephen Beaumont and Tim Webb wrote "The World Atlas of Beer" and are stopping by Dallas on a national book signing tour.  The Meddlesome Moth has put together a tutored beer dinner featuring interesting beers and chef selections. 

CUVÉE DES TROLLS

KUNG PAO SWEET BREAD

shishito and peanuts

DUCHESSE DE BOURGOGNE

FRESH FIGS

fourme d’ambert candied sorghum pork belly

AYINGER MARZEN

DFM TOMATOES

toasted sweet corn, Tabasco aioli and smoked salmon

DOGFISH PALO SANTO MARON

FRIED BEEF CHEEK

hen of the woods and faro

VICTORY GOLDEN MONKEY

SWEET POTATO CHURRO

with goat cheese and caramel

Beer Review - Choc Gratzer

Krebs Brewing Company Gratzer - 4% ABV

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkk.

The Gratzer style of beer was last commercially brewed in 1994 and was known as the national beer style of Poland.  Choc was searching for a new beer to add to their signature beer line and settled on this rarity.  My opinion is that they should have let this sleeping dog lie and that perhaps it is no longer brewed for a reason.

 A Gratzer is a light colored, clear, smoked wheat beer with low alcohol and is known as an easy drink.  I don't know if the bottle that we tried had turned, or if it was an aberration, but this was one of the worst beers that I have ever poured in my face.  Honestly, it tasted like burned grass clippings with bacon grease poured over it.  Truly awful.

I will be charitable and assume that it had somehow been damaged and suggest that you try if for yourself.  Nay, I am going to ask that someone try the beer and let me know your thoughts, because I'll be damned if I will try it again.

Krebs Brewing Company
120 SW 8th
Krebs, OK 74554
http://www.chocbeer.com/choc_beer.html#beer/

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest at Flying Saucer on the Lake

Did you have a good time at the Addison Oktoberfest?  Boy I did, I think.  As a matter of fact I am still paying..... What was that?  You didn't make it?  Family stuff?  Damn, that is too bad, but not to worry, it's your lucky day. 

"Flying Saucer on the Lake will host an Oktoberfest celebration on Sunday, Sept. 30 from noon to midnight, featuring seasonal brews from these breweries: Ayinger Brewery; Becks Brewery; Deep Ellum Brewing Company; Erdinger Weissbräu; Franconia Brewing; Hofbräu, Left Hand Brewing Company; Live Oak Brewing Company; Paulaner Brewery; Real Ale Brewing; Rahr & Sons Brewing Company; Samuel Adams; Shiner; Spaten Brewery; Saint Arnold BrewingCompany; Summit Brewing Company; Warsteiner; and Widmer Brothers Brewing."

It is supposed to be a nice cool day, so even if you don't feel like drinking you can go on down and hang out on their patio.  Oh c'mon, who in the hell are we trying to fool.  After you get totally trashed and think that it is time to purge just lean over the rail and yack in the lake, the fish will thank you for the chum.

The Flying Saucer on the Lake
4821 Bass Pro Drive
Garland TX, 75043

Beer Review - Outer Darkness

Squatters Pub Brewery Outer Darkness Russian Imperial Stout - 10.5% ABV

Utah.  Another of those states not particularly know for it's beers.  Controversial religions?  Yes.  Beers?  No, not really.  To this point the only other beer that I have tried from Utah are from the Wasatch Brewery and I was quite a bit less than impressed.  Luckily, I tried the beer before I bothered to look for where it was produced.

Squatters Pub began brewing beers in downtown Salt Lake City in 1989 and now have expanded to 3 locations.  This means that they were producing their beers at the beginning of the explosion of the craft beer movement., so you must expect some innovation. Their line of  year around and seasonal bottled beers is quite impressive and I hope to be able to give a few of them a try in the near future.  Outer Darkness is one of the 4 beers from their Reserve Series which I assure you I will actively seek out. 

The nose of Outer Darkness is quite enticing with chocolate, dark fruits and smoke hinting of what is to come.  Dark and thick, like motor oil.  Old, used, concentrated motor oil.  The head was insignificant and dissipated quickly.  Roasted barley, oak, molasses and licorice root and an extended boil are used to create a unique, powerful brew. Amazing flavor.  Chocolaty, roasted malts, licorice, sweet molasses, yum, yum ,yum.  65 IBU's worth of hops give it punch and balance followed by the wonderful warming from the alcohol.  Buy now, save for a cold winters day.  OR, but several now, and drink one at any excuse you can find until you can't find any more.

Squatters Pub and Brewery
147 West Broadway (300 South)
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
www.squatters.com

Beer Review - Brother David's Triple Abbey Style Ale

Anderson Valley Brewing Company Brother David's Triple Abbey Style Ale - 11% ABV

The Belgian Trappist ales are usually sold as being doubles, tripels and quadruppels.  Why is that?  Well. when the Belgian monks originally brewed their beers they stored them in barrels and marked them with X's.  X for the weakest, around 3%, XX for medium, 6% ish, and XXX for the strongest, around 9%.  Later, after WWII, the beers styles were somewhat more defined.  The single, rarely seen outside of Begium, is a easy drinking, weak session beer.  The double, which is an amber or brown ale, is malty and a bit on the sweet side.  The triple is a strong, pale colored ale which is typically fruity, dry and with more hops.  Lastly, the quadruppel quite strong, dark, sweet and intense.

Bother David's Triple pours a clear, brownish gold. Darker that typical for the style, but acceptable.  It smells of malts, yeast and alcohol esters, and a bit of sour?  Some of the flavors are much as a tripel should be, malty, yeasty, spicy and sweet.  Where are the hops?  And what in the hell is that sour flavor?  The alcohol makes itself known with the warming finish.

Not a bad beer, not a great one either.  I would perhaps qualify if as another of those beers labeled as a style of beer that it really isn't. 

Anderson Valley Brewing Company
17700 Hwy 253
Boonville, CA 95415-0505
http://www.avbc.com/main/

Beer Review - Bottleworks 13th Anniversary Ale

Stone Brewing Company Bottleworks 13th Anniversary Ale - 11.4% ABV

Do you get to visit Seattle much?  If so, you may have visited the famed Bottleworks beer store which carries over 950 different beers for you try.  So if you drank 2.6 beers per day you could drink all that they have in a year.... or could you?  They have seasonals, cellared vintage ales, rotating taps, kegs, growlers ..... etc.  My theory is that your liver would explode if you tried to drink them all.  This place is very well known.  How well known?  Since they don't brew their own beer they have their anniversary beer made for them.  Each year is a different brewery and a different style.  That's power. 

This year's anniversary ale was produced by the mad men at Stone Brewery because they wanted a huge beer and boy did they get it.  This monster is a 13 grain and 13 hop Imperial Porter.  Rumor had it that they were quite dissappointed when they were not able to reach 13% ABV. 

Hop Varieties:

Bravo, Target, Columbus, Cascade, Delta, Warrior, Magnum, Apollo, Calypso, Perle, Galena, Chinook, Mt. Hood

Malt Bill:

Pale Two Row, White Wheat, Aromatic, Weyermann Chocolate Rye, Light Munich, Brown Crisp, Oats, Crisp Light Crystal, CaraMunich, Baird's Chocolate, Lightly Peated, Simpsons Dark Crystal, Crisp Amber

 

This is usually where I tell you here what you should taste while drinking.  Instead put this list of ingredients in because there really is no way to describe this leviathan, but I will try.  Thick, heavy, malty, very malty, boozy, hoppy, dark fruits, coffee, chocolate, vanilla, burnt sugar, pine, citrus ... oh c'mon you get it.  Or rather, you probably won't get it.  This was a very limited run, done as a one timer.  Hell, I don't ever remember where I got it.  If you find it, grab it and store it for a couple of years, it may mellow.  But then again it may not.  Worth the search.

 

Bottleworks Beer Store

1710 N 45th St.
Seattle, WA 98103
http://bottleworksbeerstore.blogspot.com/

Beer Review - Brux

Sierra Nevada Brux Domesticated Wild Ale - 8.3% ABV

So when do you think that the craft beer movement began in the U.S.?  2005?  2000?  1990? Most believe that the craft beer movement began with the founding of this brewery in 1979 by Ken Grossman.  That's right, 1979.  Hell, even I was too young to drink and even if I could have, surely I would not have appreciated what they were producing.  Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, their flagship Ale... iconic.  Ever tried Celebration Ale?  Of couse you have ... magnificent, right?  But did you know that they make the Ovila Abbey Ale?  What, you haven't tried it yet?  You haven't even heard of it?  Review to come soon, but let's finish with the Brux first, shall we?  I must be honest now and tell you that Brux is not a strictly a Sierra Nevada product, it is a collaboration with the Russian River Brewing Company.  Yes, another fantastic brewery from California. 

This beer.  Oh my goodness, this beer ... is ... is ... greatness in a bottle!  Too cliché?  Ok, first you take a really, really good ale brewed with Belgian yeasts, then you give it a second firmentation in the bottle using Brettanomyces bruxellensis. There were no additional bacteria strains added to sour things up, just the Brett.  What that means is that instead of a sour ale, this one is only a bit tart, reminiscent of a slightly green pear.  Lemon, banana, grass and spice round out the flavor notes.  It has a good deal of carbonation and a medium body.  The finish is the kicker; you get the flavor of the yeast, which you kind of expect but what you wouldn't expect is that if finishes quite dry.

This is a really good ale that you can still find at Whole Foods, Specs and a few other locations.  Rumor has it that the Bottle Shop is hoarding a few cases for later use.  The brewers say that this one should age nicely so buy a bottle (or many) and set it aside, but get it now because this is a one off batch and when it is gone, it is gone for good.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
1075 East 20th Street
Chico, CA.
Russian River Brewing Company
725 4th Street
Santa Rosa, CA 95404