The most unorthodox, ill advised (brilliant) food and beer pairing, ever

It took a long time but I finally did it.  I shelled out over $15 for a bottle of beer.  For most people this would be an opportunity to enjoy a fine meal with a nice high class bottle of beer, a Belgium sour called La Folie.  Of course  I bought it so I could create the ultimate food and beer pairing.  Possibly a nice roasted duck?  A seared halibut?  A leg of lamb?  Screw that!  I was thinking a little more high class.  How about……Sour Patch Kids!  Yep, that’s right….Sour Patch Kids!

For those of you not familiar with sour beers let me be the first to tell you that you’re really missing the boat here.  These are truly outstanding versatile beers.  New Belgium has created a line up of beers under the title, Lips of Faith.  La Folie falls into this group and is classified as a brown sour ale.  It is aged in oak barrels for 1-3 years before it is bottled.  They only make limited quantities so this is a very special beer.

On Thursday night I sat down with Dan Lux from the Brewdork Times and we put our taste buds to the test.  Not only did we have Sour Patch Kids but we had some manchego cheese along with other bites.  When we were ready we ate the Sour Patch Kids and drank the beer.  After multiple attempts we decided it was kind of like the tequila version of lick it, slam it, suck it.  Eat a sour patch kid, take a sip, then eat another.  Eat, drink it,eat  it.  As weird as it sounds the sour patch kids really made the flavor of the beer pop!  It was as if it jumpstarted your tastebuds.  Hell, it made Dan Lux’s eyes twitch!  When we ate the cheese the beer took on a completely different flavor.  It just wasn’t nearly the same.

If you haven’t already guessed this beer is sour!  Think of sour cherries or sour apples soaked in vinegar.  You can definitely taste the dark fruits such as cherry, plum and prune.    It also has a bit of a vinegar taste although that’s probably more because of the smell.  You notice a vinegar smell right away on the nose along with the presence of the dark fruits too.  It almost a bit like an apple vinegar.  To me sours are very complex beers and it’s extremely easy to mess them up.  I have had many bad ones.  This wasn’t one of them.  It was very well balanced and danced all over my palate.  It’s such a treat to try a beer that is truly different.  Think of a nice champagne or even a cider.  It is a much more complex version of these but it fits somewhere in that realm.  This is a great beer for people who think they don’t like beer too!  Give it a try.  I highly recommend it!

I rate this beer on the following scale; Taste- 9, Aroma- 10, Complexity-10, balance-8

Overall 9.25

Beer Bloggers conference

The Beer Bloggers Conference in Boulder Colorado is right around the corner!  It’s not too late to register even if you’re not a beer blogger.  Check it out at http://beerbloggersconference.org/

Andechs monastery

In an effort to break up 5 straight days of drinking non stop at Oktoberfest, we decided to get outside the city and see Andechs monastery where the monks started brewing beer hundreds of years ago..  It’s about a 50 minute train ride outside Munich and it couldn’t be in a prettier place.  I can’t think of a better day trip if you’re ever in Munich. 

The monastery complex is huge and you can spend an entire afternoon walking around and enjoying the beer gardens.  They have several different types of beer and the doppelbock is fantastic.  They  even have a mini golf course below the monastery.  So of course….what do we do?  Yep, go play mini golf with a beer in hand!  Who else can say they played mini golf at a moastery!  Been there, done that!

After a beautiful day (and several beers later) we returned to the city.  It was a great break from Oktoberfest but who were we fooling when we thought we might go easy on the beer!

Highway to HELLES

So, its been a while since my last beer review.  Although technical difficulties and a long vacation played a part I still have no excuses.  Anyways, I’m back with avengance! 

Today I am reviewing Charlie, Fred, and Ken’s Bock.  This is the 2nd beer in the 30th anniversary commemorative series from Sierra Nevada.  This is a beer close to my heart for the simple reason it’s Ken’s (one of Sierra Nevadas founders) collaboration with 2 homebrewing pioneers, Charlie Papazian and Fred Eckhardt .  Anyone who has ventured into homebrewing at some point should probably thank Charlie Papazian.  His book The Complete Joy of Homebrewing is often referred to as the “home brewers bible.”  Fred Eckahrd was also a true pioneer with his books on homebrewing and inspired many to venture into beer making.  As a fellow homebrewer I an extremely excited to review this beer!

Charlie, Fred, and Ken’s Bock is an Imperial Helles Bock.  This means that it’s a sweeter, darker lager.  It pours a beautiful copper color.  It has a nice sweet malty and apple aroma.  It definitely has a sweet flavor, almost too sweet.  The hops help balance this beer out as it has a crisp hoppy aftertaste but many hop heads may be disappointed. 

All in all I think this is a very good beer but you need to be careful with it.  On the wrong night it can be too sweet but with the right food it will be outstanding.  One agin I cannot stress enough that good beer should be complemented with food.  I can imagine drinking this with a nice pork mole.

I rate this beer on the following scale –  7.5/10 taste, 7.5/10 complexity, 8/10 aroma, and 7/10 balance.  That gives this one a 7.5 overall.

The 2nd largest brewery in Europe

I’m sure it would come as no surprise to tell you Spain isn’t really renowned for its beer.  In fact, I might be the first person to actually write something about Spanish beer outside of Spain.  Obviously there is a good reason for that.  Spain makes some of the best wine in the world.  Unfortunately I can’t really say the thing about their beer.  Against my better judgement however, I bypassed my annual trip to a nice Spanish vineyard and went to the Mahou brewery just outside of Madrid.

Mahou has their largest brewing facility about 30-45 minutes outside of Madrid.  In fact it is the 2nd largest brewery behind Heineken in all of Europe!  The facility itself is pretty impressive but don’t expect the same thing you’d find if you were touring Heineken or Guiness for that matter.  They have definitely gone out of their way to put together a tour but it pales in comparison to its counterparts.  It consists of a brief history of the Mahou family and a trip back in time to a monastery to trace the roots of beer.  After that you get to see the bottling line and other parts of the facility finishing up in the tasting room.

The tasting room is the real highlight as they give you food.  You can pretty much skip the beer (half joking of course) as it sucks.   They only have 4 beers with the best being the dark beer.  Unfortunately it’s just too sweet for me.  The tasting room is huge and I have no idea why it’s so big as it seats like 300 people and is out in the middle of nowhere. 

All in all it was worth it because it’s free and they give you some nice glasses, but if you had to choose between the Mahou brewery and going to a winery in Spain I would definitely go to the winery.   The wine is fantastic but the beer leaves something to be desired.

Pizza Port Carlsbad and Solana Beach

On our final full day in San Diego we went to Pizza Port in Carlsbad and then the original in Solanoa Beach.  These places are a lot different than the breweries that we went to, because they are brew pubs (no bottling, just draft mostly consumed on the premises).   Picture a giant family pizza restaurant that brews world class beer.  In 2009 they won a staggering 9 medals at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival and Pizza Port Carlsbad was named Large Brewpub of the Year.  This is the type of place you would go to after a softball game or in San Diego an Over the Line (OTL) game, for a pitcher of beer and a pizza.  If you’ve never been to The OTL tournament held in San Diego every July, you’ve missed one of San Diego’s biggest social events.  The team names are hilarious and the girl’s teams especially try to come up with the filthiest names imaginable. 

There are now 4 Pizza Port locations and of course the Port Brewing brewery in San Marcos.   The newest addition just opened in May in Ocean Beach, putting them right in heart of San Diego.  The original location in Solana Beach opened in 1987 and started brewing beer in 1992.  After much success, the Carlsbad location was opened in 1997.  Both locations are close to the beach and we took advantage in Carlsbad and went down there for a nice rest.  One of the cool things about all of the locations is that they compete against each other to see who can produce the best beer, as evidenced by their 9 medals at GABF.

The consensus favorite was Pizza Port Carslbad.  The atmosphere was a bit more inviting and we liked the location.  Not to mention they have a great beer store right next door with a huge selection of craft beer!  It’s definitely worth stopping by for a slice and a good beer.

Port/Lost Abbey

If you’re going to head to Stone then you can’t miss their old stomping grounds!  Port/Lost Abbey has jumped in to fill the old facility quite nicely.  While Stone has an extravagant and beautifuly new building,  Port/Lost Abbey is as simple as it gets.  Located in a warehouse district it definitely has a warehouse feel to it.  Upon entering the giant garage doors you see the tasting area complete with barrels for tables and sacks of grain resting on kegsfor chairs.  The rustic feel is actually a nice contrast to Stone so it’s worth seeing both of them in the same day as they are very close to each other.

Port Brewing actually started as Pizza Port in Solana Beach in 1992.  They acquired the old Stone Brewing facility in 2006 where they have expanded their brewing efforts.  At this brewery in San Marcos, Lost Abbey (a line of higher end Belgian ales) was created.  The Lost Abbey beers are a welcome departure from what a lot of other brewers are doing.  It has taken a long time for American craft brewers to really embrace brewing Belgian beers and with Lost Abbey Port brewing is bringing them to the masses. 

I’m not gonna lie however, I’m not a big fan of Belgian beers.  The strain of yeast that is used to produce these beers has a signature flavor that just doesn’t really play well with my palate.  Having said that, I really respect Blegian beers and Lost Abbey is a great facility with a few beers that I would recommend to any beer aficionado.

One thing to keep in mind is that these beers are sipping beers and they should be enjoyed with food.  You will have a totally different experience drinking these beers without food and I just don’t recommend it.  They are also very high in alcohol content so go easy on the pour and use a snifter instead of a pint glass.  Probably my favorite Lost Abbey ale is Judgement Day.   It’s a pretty bold beer that really lives up to its name.  The other beer that they still had on tap when we were there was a seasonal called Gift of the Magi.  This was the favorite of a couple of the other guys on the trip.  It’s a seasonal holiday release beer so if you’re lucky enough to find one make sure and pick it up before it’s too late.   I’ve also reviewed both the Serpent Stout and the Inferno Ale previously. 

All in all I have a fond place in my heart for Stone’s old brewery.  The atmosphere is great and the people are very friendly.  Even the cats like the beer and I’m pretty sure the cat in the picture here is perenially drunk.  He just seemed way too mellow.  I’m sure that a brewery is a great place for a cat too.  With all the grain, you know there has to be a few mice running around and I always feel much more comfortable seeing cats in a brewery than I do mice!

 

A group of Arrogant Bastards trip to Stone

I think it would be an understatement to say that Stone’s brewing facility was the most anticipated stop on our trip.  If you’ve read previous entries on my blog then you know that I have a deep appreciation for what Stone has done for craft brewing.  Having been to their original facility on numerous occasions, I was eagerly anticipating this stop.  Everyone told us that it was simply an amazing facility.

 

When we arrived at Stone the first thing we noticed was the sheer size of the facility compared to everything else we had seen. As we strolled down the walkway with beautiful trees and rocks on either side of us we had the good fortune to run into Greg Koch (one of the founders of Stone).  He chatted us up a bit, telling us how he hand selected many of the stones and plants that covered the walk way.  As we approached the giant door with Greg, the anticipation soared.  We were at the gates of Beer Heaven (or if you look at their logo it could be hell). 

 

To put it mildly the entire facility is magnificent!  They put so much thought into every aspect of this place.  The architecture is amazing.  Everything about the building seemed in perfect harmony with the environment.  They have solar panels powering almost everything.  The gardens are filled with vegetation and wildlife.  At night the frogs make so much noise it’s incredible.  The highlight of the property is definitely the beer garden. 

 

When you walk outside the first thing you notice is the patio.  It has lots of seating and an outdoor bar.  Then you walk around the gardens and notice all the plants and lush vegetation.  They have benches and tables throughout the garden.  It’s the perfect place to settle down for a nice pint on a beautiful summers day.  We probably could have spent all day there but we had a tour that afternoon and we wanted to see everything else.

 

One of the best parts about Stone is that you don’t have to pay for tasters after the tour!  Not only that, but the tour is free!  We signed up earlier in the day (you have to sign up a few hours ahead of time) and started our tour in the afternoon.  The tour lasts for about an hour and it’s really worthwhile.  The one thing that really stood out to me on the tour was when they described how Arrogant Bastard Ale got its name.  They were actually making another beer and added too much chocolate barley.  After tasting it someone mentioned it tasted like an Arrogant Bastard and the name was born!

The food and beer at Stone was excellent.  We had most of the staple Stone favorites, which included Stone IPA, Arrogant Bastard Ale, Stone Smoked Porter, and the Russian Imperial Stout.  All of those beers are excellent.  I’m partial to the IPA and the stout.  In fact the Russian Imperial Stout is consistently ranked as one of the best beers in the world! 

After the tour while we were eating and drinking on the patio Greg stopped by to say hello.  Beer in hand we immediately asked him what he was drinking and he told us he was having the chipotle smoked porter.  Well, we had to have that knowing it was something we would only be able to get at the brewery!  Talk about an interesting beer.  You could definitely taste the kick of the peppers as it added a nice spicy aftertaste to the beer.  It’s not necessarily something I would drink a lot of but with the right meal it certainly makes a great food pairing.

All in all Stone didn’t disappoint.  They have come a long ways since the early days in their small facility in San Marcos.  With so many great breweries close by, Stone is a perfect example of how great craft beer and aggressive edgy marketing can really explode not only on the west coast but nationwide or dare I say world wide?  Stones next big ambition is to possibly open up a brewery in Europe!  Now that would really be something!

Green Flash

Once again we were lost in the warehouse district looking for Green Flash.  Hell, my GPS even took me in the wrong direction!  When all the buildings look the same you just kind of drive around hoping you get lucky.  Luckily, we found it pretty quickly. 

 We arrived there about 10:30a and they didn’t open till noon.  We popped our heads in and to our surprise the place was packed!  Apparently they opened early for a private party!  SCORE!  We just joined in and they were more than happy to start serving us early.  The staff couldn’t have been friendlier.  In fact, we all agreed that the combination of friendly staff and great beer made Green Flash the highlight of the trip!

 The number one thing that stood out was that EVERY single beer we tried was good (11 total).  There were no Liquid Panty Droppers here!  The West Coast IPA, Hop Head Red, Imperial IPA, Imperial Stout, Extra Pale Ale, Le Freak and all the others were simply great beers!  We enjoyed each beer we sampled more than the last.

The brewery is very small and there isn’t much room for a nice tasting room, but who cares when you’ve got great beer because you can improvise!  Hell, we were served cheese and crackers placed out on an ironing board.  Obviously they had a few pints before they decided to bust that out the first time!  I’ve got to admit though, I loved it!  It fit the character of the place perfectly. 

 Everyone there chatted us up and we had the opportunity to talk to the brewmaster who was just chillin’ with the rest of the crew that day.  We thoroughly enjoyed our experience and I will have Green Flash on the top of my list next time I visit Southern California!

Ballast Point

One of the common themes we experienced throughout the trip is that the breweries were not too easy to find. We drove by many of them several times before actually realizing where they were. Ballast Point was no exception. It’s very small and lots of buildings in the area all look the same. Don’t let this discourage you! Ballast Point is not only one of the best breweries in San Diego but it is one of the best breweries in the world. Just before we arrived Ballast Point cleaned up at the World Beer Cup winning 3 golds and small brewer of the year!

When you walk in Ballast Point has a nice tasting room that fits about 20 people. Obviously it’s small but when we arrived there were only about 4 other people there. One of the great things about all the breweries that we visited was that you really felt welcomed and they all appreciate your business. The people at Ballast Point couldn’t have been friendlier. From the moment we walked in we felt like VIP’s. They told us all about the beers and gave us a tour of the brewery. We also sample some excellent beers. They had just released Sculpin IPA so we jumped all over tasting that one. What a great beer! Every beer we tried there was good.

In addition to making great beers, they are now creating spirits too! They have both high quality rum and whiskey. Unfortunately we didn’t have the opportunity to try any of them but the artwork on the bottles looked pretty cool.

Overall Ballast Point was one of the best breweries we visited. Initially it wasn’t even on our list! Thank god we added it because we would have missed one of the best breweries anywhere. Every brewery and bar that we went to asked us if we had gone to Ballast Point. Hands down it was the most talked about brewery on the trip. If all the other breweries told us we had to go there, you know it’s great!

Wondering how they got their name?  Check out the video below