Favorite Beer Bar
Spuyten Duyvil

359 Metropolitan Ave.
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
718.963.4140
www.spuytenduyvilnyc.com

I’ve been to a lot of great beer bars this year. Father’s Office and The Daily Pint are like my second and third homes in LA. The Hopleaf and The Maproom in Chicago get mad props from me. The Brickskeller and Birreria Paradiso in DC, and The Toronado in San Francisco are amazing. But the place that captured my heart, mind, body and soul was a tiny little hole in the wall bar in Brooklyn. With nary a sign to mark this diamond, and red bars covering the windows, the place was so nondescript that I asked “This is it?” when we arrived. From the decor (which is either all a happy accident or designed by some kind of genius in understated hipness) to the vibe, to the knowledge of the staff, to the selection of beers, to the music on the jukebox, to the fellow patrons, this bar pretty much K’d A. I couldn’t tell if it was the maps and anatomical drawings on the walls, the apple on top of the Jesus’ bust behind the bar, the Spiegelau glassware, the red tin ceiling, or our skull capped bartender; but the beer tasted better to me here than in any other bar this year!

Favorite Beer Shop
City Beer Store & Tasting Bar

1168 Folsom St
Suite 101
San Francisco, CA, 94103
415.503.1033
www.citybeerstore.com

I don’t know the exact statistics on this but if I had to guess I would say that there are well over 30 trillion wine stores in this country. But what we are truly lacking are retail outlets that concentrate on beer and treat it with the respect and reverence that great beer deserves. This is the niche that Craig and Beth over at City Beer & Tasting Bar decided to fill for San Francisco beer-o-philes. Not only is this place a totally neighborhoody, easy going place. But you can drink beer tasters while you shop their massive list. You can also mix and match six packs, which would keep me coming back forever if I lived there. Perhaps they say it best on their website. “Our hope is for beer to be treated with the same respect as a fine wine or fine bourbon. Through continued education and tasting of many brews we will create a beer force to be reckoned with!” they say. If you’re goin’ to San Francisco, make sure to check out this gem of a beer shop. Cheers to you City Beer!

Favorite Beer Consumed in 2008
Thiriez XXtra

Dry-hopped Golden Farmhouse Ale
Esquelbecq, France
www.brasseriethiriez.ifrance.com
4.5% abv

I’ll admit, it was getting late. And I’ll admit that I had already tasted quite a few beers. I’ll also admit that I was in my new favorite bar of 2008 (see above), but do not let any of the above negate the deliciousness of the best beer I drank in 2008, Thiriez XXtra. Here’s exactly what I wrote in my notes when I tasted it: “You know that thing you want Saison to do sometimes…to finish up better, to dry up? Well, this one does it perfectly.” Rich and hoppy, I learned later that this beer in France is called “Les Freres de la Biere” which means “The Friends (or brothers) of Beer,” and it turns out that the beer is a collaboration between brewers in England, France and Belgium using English hops, French malts and Belgian yeast. The end result is a beer that is amazingly sessionable, but still has the earthy, spicy character of a saison. From what I’ve read, this beer is much more like a throw back to the “original hoppy saisons that were created by Belgian farmers in earlier times.” A great experience of restraint balanced with flavor. Simply delicious.

Favorite Beer Chick
Nathalie Balandran

Pacific Gravity Ladies Homebrewing Club
4358 1/2 Sepulveda Blvd
Culver City, CA 90230
310.397.3453
Culver City, CA
www.pacificgravity.com

Nathalie is pretty much a bad ass. Not only does she possess a precise palate and a wealth of information on beer and brewing, but she uses words like “diacetyl” in common conversation. And that makes me happy. Nathalie hosts a homebrewing class for ladies in Culver City where she teaches women (me included) how to make brews like “Ebony & Ivory Vanilla Porter” and “Peppermint Stout” and un-named beers made with exotic ingredients like candied ginger. This year she was featured in the Los Angeles Times and on a local television newscast for her homebrewing teaching efforts. Click here to read the whole article by Jenn Garbee called “Home Beer Brewing Calls to a New Generation — And to Women.” Click here to contact Nathalie about attending one of her homebrewing seminars.

Favorite Beer Flavoring
Coconut

I like to consider myself a purist. Obviously, this is not true, but like I said, I like to consider myself a purist. That being said, I had to warm up to the idea of “flavorings” being added to beer. Hell, its been done for thousands of years, but sometimes adding flavorings to make beers more palatable to women ends up “dumbing down” the beer in a way that I think is patronizing. This is not the flavoring that I’m talking about. Innovative brewers around the world are experimenting with adding spices, herbs and other ingredients like chocolate and coffee to make truly unique beers. Craftsman adds white sage to it’s awesome Triple White Sage, Elysian Brewing Company adds Jasmine to its Jasmine IPA, my favorite flavor combination this year, however, has been coconut. Especially when added to dark beers such as porters and stouts, coconut adds something delightful to the mix. Of course it has to be done right and not with a heavy hand. Some of my favorites of this style are Maui Brewing Company’s CoConut Porter, Klin Kokos from Nogne Brewery in Norway and Coconut Milk Stout at Rock Bottom.

Favorite Beer Accoutrement Establishment
Bedford Cheese Shop

229 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Favorite Seasonal Ale
Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales / Nogne O / Stone Brewing Company Special Holiday Ale

Winter Warmer
9% abv.

This Winter Seasonal Beer is the lovechild of three great craft breweries hailing from Dexter, Michigan, Norway, and Escondido, California. Three of my favorite breweries got together to make a Special Holiday Ale: Jolly Pumpkin which usually focuses on sour beers, Nogne which focuses on real ales and Stone Brewing Company which is known for its extreme beers. They got creative and made this beer with chestnuts, juniper berry, white sage and caraway seed. At 9% abv, you’d think you’d have a heat bomb, but this beer is so nuanced and balanced with fruity, smokey, spicy, toasty notes, but with a nice dry finish that is usually missing in sometimes cloying winter warmers. I was able to get my hands on ONE bottle of this as a gift from fellow beer chick Hallie Beaune! Thanks Hallie. Click here for the whole story behind the collaboration.

Favorite New Brewery
The Bruery

715 Dunn Way
Placentia, CA 92870
www.thebruery.com

Spelled “bRUEry” because it was founded by family members Patrick, Rachel and Michael Rue, The Bruery is using something that I value highly: creativity! Sometimes when you do crazy things with beer, it can fail miserably, but The Bruery is experimenting with ingredients and making them work in wonderful ways. They are making a Saison with Rye, a Yam and Maple beer instead of a Pumpkin Ale, a Triple flavored with Thai Basil, a “Black” White Ale, a White Ale made with Lavender. Patrick and his Head Brewer Tyler King make innovative, original and outside the bottle kind of beers. And it doesn’t hurt that they are like the nicest people alive. The entire package makes it my favorite new brewery of 2008. If you can’t find any Bruery beers near you, it might be time for a weekend road trip to the OC. The Bruery has a tasting room open on Fridays between 2-8pm and Saturdays between 12-6pm.

Favorite Restaurant Beer List
(That I Didn’t Write)
Gramercy Tavern

Flatiron Neighborhood
42 East 20th Street
New York, NY 10003
212.477.0777
www.gramercytavern.com

It ain’t cheap, but I make it a point to go to Gramercy Tavern every time I’m in New York City. The environment is so warm and cuddly and the service so friendly and inviting, that it doesn’t seem like one of NYC’s best restaurants. There’s none of the tension or stuffiness, it feels like you’re at your parents friends’ dinner party. But beyond the wonderful food and fantastic wine list is one of the best beer lists that I’ve ever seen in a restaurant. I’m talking Ayinger Celebrator, Semi-dry Organic Apple Cider from Farnum Hill in New Hampshire, Westmalle Tripel and Rochefort 6 just to name a few. But what makes Gramercy Tavern’s beer list especially cool is their “Vintage Beer & Cider” list, where they offer collected beers. Didn’t think you could do that? Well you definitely can. They have Anchor Christmas Ale from 1998 and 2001, Rogue Old Crustacean Barleywine from 1998, ’99 and ’00. Schneider Aventinus 2002, Cantillon Gueuze Kriek and Framboise from ’05. They have amazing Famille Dupont ciders. Also, thanks to a conversation with the manager in the know, GT has some special beers that are not on the list. I was able to try some fabulous and serious warmers (read high alcohol content) exclusively brewed by Brooklyn Brewery’s Garret Oliver for Gramercy Tavern served in crystal appertif glasses. Amazing and inspiring. I can’t wait to go back.

Happy Holidays to all my fellow beer fans. May the new year bring hope, love and happiness – and lots of beer – to you and yours.

Written by The Beer Chick, December 29, 2008

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We were also lucky enough to be sharing our dinner with famed Chef Pascal Olhats as our guide. Pascal is the chef /owner of many restaurants, not the least of which is the famed Tradition by Pascal in Newport Beach, Ca, which has been rated the #1 restaurant in Orange County for over ten years by the Zagat Guide. He studied and lived in Belgium for 4 years and took us on a nostalgic trip that only the sense memories of food and beer can provide.

Noah is a great writer and wrapped up the evening on his blog. Click here to read the narrative of the evening. My job is beer – so I’ll get to talking about those and my favorite pairings.

Chimay Tripel paired with Des de Fromage de Chimay.

So Chef Pascal said that we should start out with some cheese. So start out with cheese we did. The cheese, however, was made by the same Trappist monks at the same brewery that makes Chimay. It turns out that since 1876, Chimay has been making a semi-hard cheese made from milk from their farm and matured in the vaulted cellars of their abbey, the very same cellars where Chimay beer is fermented. There’s something to be said of the marriage of flavors when things come from the same place. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but the beer and cheese harmonized perfectly with something that can only be described as “je ne sais quoi.”

Triple Karmeliet paired with Belgian Onion Soup with Petites Croquettes de Crevettes du Nord et au Fromage

I am a lover of French Onion Soup, so when we were presented with a creamy Belgian Onion Soup, I was intrigued and oh so pleasantly surprised. This soup was velvety smooth with notes of citrus rind. Sweet and rich with melted Gruyere cheese swirling around, the soup was served with two little fried croquettes – one stuffed with cheese and one stuffed with baby shrimp. (BTW, the croquette might be my new favorite food style, second only to the dumpling.) It was a total no-brainer to pair Triple Karmeliet with this pairing. Malty and lemoney, spicy and super effervescent, this beer worked well with both the soup and the two croquette styles.

Tripel Karmeliet, Buggenhout, Belgium – 8.25% abv.

Hoegaarden White Ale paired with Moules Frites

Moules Frites means mussels with fries. There aren’t many better combinations out there. When I think of Belgian food, Moules Frites is what immediately comes to mind. Belgian moules are usually steamed in beer instead of white wine, in this case the mussels were steamed with an un-named Belgian white ale. And sometimes its good to just go with what is really working, so I didn’t fight it. I paired the mussels with the Hoegaarden white ale and Pascal, Noah and I all did a little happy dance in our seats. Refreshing and grassy with coriander and bitter orange peel, the beer breathed fresh air into the mussels and the mussels provided depth to the beer. Amazing.

Hoegaarden Original White Ale, Brouwerij van Hoegaarden, Belgium – 4.9% abv.

Orval paired with Cote de Parc Al’Berdouille with Croquettes de Pommes de Terre

Cote de parc al’berdouille literally translated means pork chop cooked in mud, which in this case is actually a large pork chop in a mustard and cornichon sauce. The Orval is a trappist ale that is known for being very earthy, having a farmhouse, horse blanket quality. (I mean this in the best way.) This to me was the perfect pairing of the evening. Mud, mustard, farmhouse, earth, potatoes (whose name translated in French means “apples of the earth”) Served with a side of a tart and refreshing slaw made with razor thin slices of delicate endive, this combination touched heaven with all of its earthly goodness.

Orval, Abbaye de Notre-Dame d’Orval, Villers-devant-Orval, Belgium – 6.9% abv.

Written by The Beer Chick, December 6, 2008

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RepealDay.org, is a website started by cutie bartender Jeff Morgenthaler (who has another great site about bartending and mixology at www.jeffreymorgenthaler.com.) Jeff advocates making Repeal Day a national holiday and says that Repeal day is “conveniently located halfway between Thanksgiving and Christmas — at a time when most Americans are probably not spending time with family — Repeal Day presents a wonderful occasion to get together with friends and pay tribute to our constitutional rights.”

I heartily agree Jeff. Repeal Day has made my passion and my career possible. Thank you United States for the 21st Amendment to the Constitution. Thank you hot and smart bartenders. I drink to thee. I shall have an American craft beer this evening and reflect.

My first holiday beer of the year was Deschutes 2008 Jubelale, “a festive winter ale.” And to my surprise, I found out that this beer was the first beer ever to be bottled by Deschutes. I expected this beer to be much sweeter, but upon tasting it, this beer is dry and piney with toasty, roasty notes and a touch of tobacco. Its got a great balance with a light body and a quick finish for its 6.7% abv. It’s a nice break from some winter seasonals that have a tendency to become a bit cloying.

This beer is only available October through December, so if you see some, make sure to nab it up. It would make a perfect accompaniment to Thanksgiving turkey, roasted parsnips or mashed turnips.

I hope you enjoy this beer as much as I did/do, and may I be the first person this year to wish you Hoppy Holidales.

P.S. Every year Deschutes Brewery selects a Northwest artist to create an image evocative of the season’s festive atmosphere. In 2008, Pam Jersey Bird, who lives in Sisters, Oregon, painted a winding, abstract river running through the open spaces of Central Oregon’s desert, surrounded by fluttering snowfall. More of Pam’s work can be viewed at www.pamjerseybird.com.

Written by The Beer Chick, November 16, 2008

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Written by The Beer Chick, October 29, 2008

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He rocked it – experimenting with beer in his cooking with a Chimay Cinq Cent Guinea Hen Consomme with a Hop Foam that looked like a little beer (I paired this with a simple Sierra Nevada Pale Ale). He killed a Kampachi Sashimi with Hitachino White Ale Gelee and Crispy Hen of the Woods Mushrooms (paired with Unibroue Blanche de Chambly.) He marinated Pekin Duck in Deschutes Black Butte Porter for FOUR days before stuffing them into perfect handmade Pyramid Pasta pockets with spiced Pine Nuts!

Think Chef was done yet? Think again! The fourth course was delicious Roasted Suzuki (a Japanese Seabass) served on a bed of Mussels braised in Saison DuPont with Japanese Leeks & transparently sliced Dry Cured Chorizo. This was followed by our first course from genius Pastry Chef Catherine Schimenti: a Mothias Goat Cheese (hand-picked by cheesemonger and guest – one half of Hot Knives, writer Alex Brown.) The cheese, served with a delicately rolled Quince Crepe, Lambic Gastrique and baby Frisee paired perfectly with Cantillon Iris Gueuze. An INSANE pairing. (More about Gueuze and Goat Cheese to follow!)

If you’re like me, then it’ll come as no surprise to you that Chef Schimenti – a nice Italian girl? – then kicked some a-s-s with beer desserts! First she made a beer cake with Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, which was topped with Salted Corn Nuts & a sorbet made from my favorite Kolsch, the Reissdorf Kolsch. It was paired with an Ice Cream Beer Float made with North Coast Russian Imperial Stout. So effing good.

Oh, and then we had Chocolate Truffles made from Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale……Oh, and then we had Pate de Fruit (pronounced like pah de fwee) that the chef called “Jello Shots” made from Lindeman’s Peach Lambic.

The reason why I’m giving you an entire play by play is so that you can start getting ideas too! So you can start thinking outside the box as far as beer is concerned. So it can make a grassroots leap onto your fine dining menus!

Thank you so much Chef Accarrino, Chef Schimenti, Tobie Cancino, the NBWA, Nancy Piho, Patricia Bannen & Alex Brown for making this such a great night! Et Bon Appetit a mes soeurs en biere!

Written by The Beer Chick, October 22, 2008

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Gueuze is a pale, dry and obscenely complex beer, and it’s not for the weak of heart. This beer will make a decision-maker out of you as it evokes either love or hate. I, personally, am a lover. But I was also the kid in school who started her own “Lemon Club,” whose initiation rite was to bite into a big wedge of lemon without making a face. But, I digress.

If you are a beer drinker, you’ve probably heard of Lambic style beers before, and you probably associate them with sweet fruity beers. But Lambics are actually very tart, sour beers to which brewers add maserated fruit in order for them to be more palatable for us Americans, who are used to tasteless, pale, fizzy, yellow water. True Lambic beer comes from only one place in the world (the Senne valley in Belgium) and is spontaneously fermented by wild yeast and fermented in wood barrels. A Gueuze is a blend of un-fruited mature and lambic (usually 1-3 years old) and young lambic (possibly as young as five months old) beers, which, according to Brewer Garrett Oliver, produces “good carbonation and acidity while still retaining great aroma, complexity and length.”

If all this sounds good, here are some Gueuzes to get your funk on.

Lindemans Gueuze, Vlezenbeek, Belgium
The reason I’m writing this article today is because I ran across this beer in the grocery store and was astounded. Lindeman’s is known for making very sweet lambics. In fact, the first review I ever did on this site over two years ago was Lindeman’s Peche. When I saw that they were selling Gueuze, I immediately bought it and tried it. This beer is good: not too assaulting, super dry, like a tart champagne with brief fruit and citrus notes. If you are already into Gueuzes, this might be a bit weak for you, but it is the perfect starter Gueuze.

Cantillon Gueuze, Brussels, Belgium
This particular Gueuze is a blend of one, two, and three year-old Lambics. It’s got a similar profile in the way that most Gueuzes do, but this one has a grassy herbaceousness to it. Darker than the Gueuze’s I’m used to, this one pours a copper orange and has good acidity, but its more of a vengar acidity vs. champagne. This beer is great, but definitely more challenging than the Lindemans.

Girardin 1882 Black Label, Sint Ulriks-Kapelle, Belgium
This is my favorite Gueuze. In fact, I perv out on this beer. Its the bomb diggity of all the Gueuze I’ve had. This beer is a funk bomb on the nose, but then once you get past it, you can smell, citrus, apricot, pear. This flavor is big and super barnyard sour, but damn is there good acidity with green grapes and apples in the finish. Crazy funky and yet still an amazing drinkable balance. So good….so good…. I got Gueuze! Haaaay!

Pronunciation Debate: Some people say that Gueuze is pronounced “Ger-zer,” but when I asked some French winemakers how to pronounce it, they said “Gooze” – I usually say “Gooze” because more people understand me when I do. In my experience, “Ger-zer” only leads to one reaction, and it’s “What ?!?”

Written by The Beer Chick, October 6, 2008

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“Me me me me me ooh ooh ooh me me me!” That’s the response that I normally gave whenever my Grandmother would ask “Who wants banana bread?” Fresh and hot from the oven, there’s not much better in this world. So imagine my thrill when I was looking for new beers to try and I came across Wells Banana Bread Beer. This beer’s been around for a while and I’d heard of it before, but when I saw it there shining in the case I found myself jumping up and down clapping saying “Me me me me me ooh ooh ooh me me me!” The beer chicks will love this one!

I thought that this beer was going to be a huge Bavarian Hefe style that uses a specific kind of yeast that produces big banana aromatics. Instead this beer actually uses Fairtrade bananas in the mash of this “liquid bread.”

I also thought that this beer was going to be super malty and sweet and taste just like banana bread. It doesn’t. But not in a bad way. The beer is surprisingly balanced and dry, with more of a tart and peppery finish than I was expecting. The banana comes through in the beginning of this beer in the nose and then again at the end in the exhaust. If you are a beer fan and like bananas, you will dig this brew. 5.2% ABV.

This beer is made by Wells and Young, from Bedford, UK. Its actually a pretty big brewery with several different beers. On the Young’s side, they used to make a great beer that I loved called Young’s Oatmeal Stout (which they stopped and that makes me cry) and now they make a beer called Young’s Double Chocolate Stout. Which is… Oh, what the hell, I might as well write about this beer too!

You can pretty much take Young’s Double Chocolate Stout right to the bank. It’s exactly what it says it is. Rich, creamy and chocolatey. This beer is made with both the addition of chocolate malt and real dark chocolate. A lot of times I think that we Americans think that chocolate with milk chocolate and think that it all tastes sweet, but that’s not really the case.

This beer is once again, pretty well balanced. Its definitely chocolatey, but its not too cloying or too sweet. You’re not drinking a chocolate shake here, and the carbonation, while creamy, definitely provides a lifting off the palate.

Don’t be afraid of the dark ladies, there’s nothing bitter or biting about this beer. If you like chocolate, you’ll be in heaven with this one. 5.2% ABV.

Written by The Beer Chick, September 29, 2008

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One study of over 300 heart disease patients found that while all types of alcohol may lower the risk of heart disease, those who consumed beer- mainly or exclusively, had the strongest connection. Other studies show that beer’s antioxidant, vitamin B6 and folate content are also proving to be beneficial to health.

Beer also contains silicon, which helps with bone formation. Silicon is usually found in high fiber cereal grains like barley, rye and wheat, which are what is used in beer. London researchers found that eating foods containing silicon improved bone density in both men and women. In addition, beer is the source of disease-fighting antioxidants called polyphenols which can prevent cell damage that may lead to cancer and heart disease.

What about getting a “beer belly?” Well, according to European studies, the “beer belly” is a misconception. Following all of the “low-carb” trends, beer got a bad rap. However, beer is a fermented product, meaning that some of the ingredients that go into a beer undergo a chemical reaction that changes those ingredients. The sugar that you start out with when you brew a beer is almost entirely consumed by yeast in the fermentation process, meaning that there are very few “carbs” in the end product.

In fact, beer contains less calories than the average cocktail. According to the USDA, the average regular beer is around 150 calories, whereas your average mixed drink contains around 300 calories. Some cocktails like the Black Russian, Pina Colada or Margarita are well over 400 calories a pop. And lets consider the things that beer doesn’t contain. Beer has no caffeine, no fat and no cholesterol and is very low in sodium.

So cheers, salut, prost. Celebrate with beer – as always, in moderation.
Who knew a brew could be so good for you?

Written by The Beer Chick

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