beer « Beer and Baking

Browsing Category: beer

Firkfest Is Almost Here!

Posted on March 11, 2016
beer, beer blog, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, craft beer, craftbeer, Firkfest, OC Beer Blog, oc beer event, the good beer company
Comments: 1

Take note, gentle reader, that Firkfest is coming back next weekend! This beloved beer event (by myself and the general beer lover) will be hosted for the 3rd year at the Anaheim Farmers Park (the park in between Anaheim Brewery and the Anaheim Packing House). The event is sure to be a crowd-pleaser with more than 50 casks of beer from at least 30 local craft breweries. If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, there is still time! It’s scheduled for March 19th, from noon to 4pm, with the forecast 75 degrees and sunny.

Jill Cook

I can throw a rock five feet and hit a beer event almost every weekend, but that doesn’t mean it’s good. Choose to be choosy, my friends. Anniversary parties are one thing, having a general beer event is another and we are swimming in a sea of mediocrity. The best OC beer events are Firkfest and the Brew Ha Ha’s (this includes Brew Ho Ho, Ha Ha, Sabroso and Hee Haw) -excluding Anniversary parties (don’t hate me breweries, I really love your Anniversary events). They are the most well-organized, they have the best beer, and are the most enjoyable to attend. There are a lot of factors that go into being enjoyable like shade, not being over-sold, a comprehensive map of the event, media check-in being easy to find, general lines not taking too long, bathrooms-o-plenty, food, etc. It’s not easy to play puppet master to all those strings, and somehow these guys make it look easy.

Firkfest is special because you get to try beers that are one-of-a-kind. Common cask offerings are IPA’s with fruit and citrusy mixtures, and we will most likely see a coffee-infused beer, and I hope to see more funky sours with herbs and fruits – I am looking at you The Good Beer Company! I can’t wait to attend this year, and I hope everyone who is local and has been flirting with the idea of coming takes the plunge. You won’t regret it.

Check out my previous posts of previous years: 2015 , 2014

Brouwerij West Pre-Opening Preview

Posted on February 24, 2016
beer, beer blog, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, beer travel, beerandbaking, Beercation, brian mercer, brouwerij west, craft beer, craftbeer, craftbeer.com
Comments: 0

Written by Andrea Machuca of eatdrinkbehoppy.net and photos by beerandbaking.com

Time has come and gone, soulful roots have been planted and the doors of Brouwerij West will finally open! Watching Brian Mercer’s dream unfold (post conception) in front of my eyes has truly been an awe-inspiring experience. Everything from trampling upon mounds of dusty gravel, to scaling the roof of the original wooden structure has been an adventure in and of itself. Every intricate detail in this handsome WWII-era warehouse has been meticulously orchestrated to provide a welcoming atmosphere for guests to enjoy. Beer drinkers and architects alike will revel in seeing gleaming fermentors that sit majestically at the heart of the ‘brouwerij’.

Up on the roof!

During Construction

Almost Done!

Before

Almost Done!

With new digs comes a new assistant brewer – many applicants were eager to brew side-by-side with Mercer, but Jeremy Czuleger fit the bill perfectly. Czuleger most recently hails from local Costa Mesa hotspot Barley Forge. His brewing expertise originally stems from his time at Trumer Brauerei (of Berkeley, CA), where beer purity and consistency is practically law. Not only does Czuleger bring knowledge to the table, but a great attitude and admiration for beer. I’m excited to see what the future has for this dynamic duo.

Now, the journey of building the ‘brouwerij’ has come to an end – the journey of running a brewery begins. What can we expect to taste this coming weekend? A limited menu of classic styles, made with old-world methods – and no IPAs.

Saison Extra – 6.5% ABV

An excellent beer to start your day with, and a flagship of the brewery, Saison Extra is an accessible version of the increasingly popular style. Pouring a clean golden color, this beer brings subtle complexity to the tip of the tongue, then scrubs the palate clean with a light carbonation and dry bite. With such a clean flavor profile, you’ll be surprised it rings in at 6.5% ABV, since it drinks like a much lighter ale.

Dog ate My Homework – 7% ABV

Saisons are my go-to style when my taste buds need to be quenched by funky farmhouse succulence – so this beer was apropos. This beauty pours luminously ruby red, with pleasant acidity and crisp freshness. Wine aficionados will fall deeply in love with the familiar notes this brew brings.

My First Rodeo – 6 % ABV

100% Brett saison brewed with a blend of Washington barley, German wheat and Belgian barley. Highly drinkable, effervescent, clean and citrusy. A perfect beer for a tepid Southern California.

Grand Opening Day is scheduled for this Saturday, Feb. 27th. Check them out! http://www.brouwerijwest.com

During Construction

Beergagement

Posted on February 22, 2016
beer, beer travel
Comments: 3

I’ve never jumped into any wedding photography, besides casually shooting as a guest. As for posed engagement shots, I’ve never done that before either. When I was asked to shoot some pics for my friend Andrea (who you may recognize from previous posts where she’s the Chef doing pop-up beer dinners for The Culinary Underground), I of course said yes! It was especially exciting to learn she wanted to visit a few breweries and thus the beergagement photo shoot began.

We started off in LA, getting to Mumford Brewing right when they opened at noon to shoot some pics in their minimal and beautiful taproom. I’ve never been to Mumford before and I really liked the feel there. It was reminiscent of Seattle for me, with the factory windows that opened all the way, allowing the crisp cool air to flow through the taproom. We all really liked the beers we had, my favorite was the Sorachi Ace Saison. We shot some fun pics there, then moved on to have lunch at the Grand Central Market where we had some tasty BBQ and beers at Horse Thief BBQ.

We then shot at The Last Bookstore to get those romantic surrounded by books pics, and a cute group shot. We went to a few other places, but no pics were taken.

The second half of the shoot was in San Francisco, where we flew up just for the day. First stop was the historic ferry building, where we picked-up some cones of meat from Boccalone and went outside to shoot some cute pics by the water. Who knew pics of rings with meat cones was so adorable? There’s a first for everything…haha.

Next stop was the Mikkeller bar, where we tasted some beer, had some food, and got to shoot the sour room and other spots around the bar. The beer was amazing, they had so many fantastic options to choose from. The one I remember as being the most interesting was the spontanwatermelon, it was tart and really funky. It was quite impressive how they served every beer at the proper temp, and their menu made it easy to decide on what beer you want based on the temp you preferred. So smart.

After Mikkeller, we walked towards Cellermaker Brewing Co. but it was too early for them to be open so we had some coffee at this adorable little bakery/coffee place next door called Vive la tarte. We fell in love with the lofty, industrial-chic vibe and shot some impromptu pics there as well. After one of the most wonderful coffee experiences ever, we went to Cellermaker to get the last shots of the day. This ended-up being my favorite spot, and my favorite pics from the whole shoot. The beers were cloudy, but not in a bad way, and even though I might not be a huge IPA person (because I tend to be picky, and have a problem with Cascade hops) their IPAs were juicy and delicious. I loved everything we had there, and it was decided that if we were locals, this would be our typical place we would hang out. Overall, minus almost missing our flight home, it was a really fun day trip to SF and I am happy to be able to share all the pics with you guys! Where would you go for your beergagement photo shoot?

Ritual Beer Dinner @ Amazing Grapes

Posted on February 21, 2016
amazing grapes, beer, beer dinner, Beer Event, beer pairing, Beer Tasting, Cismontane, Cooking with beer, craft beer, craftbeer
Comments: 0

I was invited to attend a beer pairing dinner at Amazing Grapes in RSM and little did I know, it was actually a beer vs. wine dinner! Hey, I like wine, so that was a nice little surprise for me.

1st Course: Herb & citrus marinated squid, cherry tomatoes, olives, red onions, baby arugula. Paired: Main Street Brewing – Bishop’s Tipple Triple vs. 2013 Mariposa Albarino. The salad was light and acidic, and was a great appetizing start to the meal. Ritual distributes Main Street, and I think this beer was paired really well. Both the beer and the wine was citrusy and light with some fruity notes. I think the beer won this round, just barely.

2nd Course: Pate de campagne, pickled daikon & carrots, cucumber and cilantro on a french baguette. Paired: Ritual’s Amarillo Hop IPA vs. Tudor Nacina Riesling. This was a small bahn mi “slider” and it was really delicious. It had jalapeno pieces in it, that wasn’t listed, but in true bahn mi tradition it was welcomed. The beer was the obvious winner, as it was hoppy and clean and helped clean the palate in between bites of the complex bahn mi.

3rd Course: Roasted acorn squash stuffed with dry cranberry-studded wild rice pilaf. Paired: Ritual’s Love & Malt vs. 2013 Annabella Pinot Noir. This was my least favorite dish mainly because the sauce was crazy sweet. I don’t think the Love & Malt was a good pairing because the dish was inherently sweet and the love & malt had a too similar flavor profile, but the wine was a very nice pairing. The wine was spicy and dry, which cut the sweetness of the squash and sauce pretty well.

4th Course: Rack of wild boar, potato & celery root puree, bourbon-cider glaze. Paired: Ritual’s Extra Red vs. 2011 Negro Giusepp Barbera Pulin. The meat cooked really well and delicious and the potato was perfect and velvety. This dish was very satisfying and beautifully plated. I think the beer paired nicely with the meat and richness of the dish, so that was the winning pairing for me.

5th Course: Sticky pudding with dates & figs, warm rum-caramel sauce, whipped cream and bacon. Paired: Ritual’s Fat Hog. It’s not a fair fight since there was no wine with this course, but the Fat Hog played well with the sweetness of the dessert. I loved that they added bacon to this because it was really sweet and really needed that salty contrast. The textures were great, a mix between soft and crunchy, chewy cake and soft whipped cream. A great ending to a yummy dinner.

Amazing Grapes has a decent bottle shop for craft beer and an even greater selection of wines, and they serve delicious food as well! It’s also around the corner from the OG Cismontane tasting room and brewery. Check ’em out and let me know what you think!

Ritual’s 3rd Anniversary

Posted on February 8, 2016
Anniversary, beer, beer blog, Beer Event, beer ice cream, Beer Tasting, beer travel, craft beer, craftbeer, Ritual
Comments: 0

It was recently Ritual’s 3rd Anniversary and they had a party at their taproom in Redlands, CA to celebrate. There was live music, ice cream, food, and full pours of amazing Ritual beers!

Hands down, the best beer I had was the Extra Red with Tangelo. It had such juicy citrus smells and tasted crazy delicious. It was like having a drink of extra red with a following shot of sweet orange/tangerine juice. It was dangerously drinkable, so for good measure I had two full glasses of it. It’s one of those beers you want to have all the time. Please, make more of it!

I had a lot of fun, and it was a really mellow event. I would attend again, and the price for the ticket is cheap considering you get full pours unlimited. The carnival games were entertaining, and now I think every brewery anniversary needs a dunk tank.

GABF Part 3: The Awards

Posted on January 17, 2016
beer, beer blog, Beer Bloggers Conference, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, beer travel, Beercation, craft beer, craftbeer, GABF
Comments: 0

I’ve vowed to post more consistently on my blog, and edit my photos faster after events. I finished editing the GABF photos relatively fast, but the shame and guilt of being behind makes it easy to keep putting it off, so here I am marking this one off my list.

As my last GABF post, I wanted to focus on the awards ceremony. I took pics of almost every award that was given, so I think it would be best if I just linked to my flickr album so everyone can see if there is a pic of them and download it for their own use. I want to focus on those local to my area who won awards, and take the time to congratulate some friends that I can’t help but feel proud of.

**Every brewery had a limit of 5 (I think) beers they could enter so they had to make it count. If the brewery (or brewpub) had more than one location (they had to brew at each location) they could double their entries.

Taps: Having the advantage of more than one location, Taps proved to be a powerhouse of the local OC craft beer scene at GABF. Brewpubs often get overlooked when talking about beer, and that’s a shame. Taps has a reputation for brewing true-to-style clean beers, and cultivating some of the best brewers Orange County has ever seen.

Category: 10 Chocolate Beer – 65 Entries

Gold: The Velvet Hog, TAPS Fish House & Brewery – Corona, Corona, CA

Category: 30 Kellerbier or Zwickelbier – 45 Entries
Silver: TAPS Kellerbier, TAPS Fish House & Brewery – Brea, Brea, CA

Category: 32 American-Style or International-Style Pilsener – 51 Entries
Bronze: Amend This!, TAPS Fish House & Brewery – Brea, Brea, CA

Category: 65 Irish-Style Red Ale – 70 Entries
Gold: TAPS Irish Red, TAPS Fish House & Brewery – Corona, Corona, CA

Mid-Size Brewpub and Mid-Size Brewpub Brewer of the Year
TAPS Fish House & Brewery, Corona, CA

Bottle Logic: Being such a new brewery, winning 2 metals at GABF, let alone two GOLD metals is super impressive. It was such a proud moment to see one of my good friends, whom I knew from when he worked the warehouse and office job for Hangar 24, take the stage as an assistant brewer and accept an award with Bottle Logic. Congrats Greg!

Category: 43 American-Style Dark Lager – 21 Entries

Gold: Lagerithm, Bottle Logic Brewing, Anaheim, CA

Category: 47 Baltic-Style Porter – 35 Entries
Gold: Cobaltic Porter, Bottle Logic Brewing, Anaheim, CA

Ritual: Another impressive double gold win goes to Ritual Brewing Company, based out of Redlands, CA. They aren’t OC, but they are a short drive to the IE via the dreaded 91 freeway. They are about the same age as Bottle Logic (2-3 years old) and despite being less well-known as the cool kids, they brew terrific clean beers and won big at GABF.

Category: 92 Barley Wine-Style Ale – 56 Entries
Gold: Fat Hog, Ritual Brewing Co., Redlands, CA

Category: 29 Aged Beer – 38 Entries
Gold: Big Deluxe, Ritual Brewing Co., Redlands, CA

Noble Ale Works: The most impressive win in my opinion goes to Noble Ale Works, who one Bronze for Nose Candy in one of the most heavily packed categories of the entire competition. The most entries with 336 goes to the American-Style IPA, second was English-style IPA with 208, and third was Session IPA with 161. Noble Ale Works is one of the more unique breweries who not only rock a coffee golden milk stout on nitro, but bang out (in my humble opinion) the best IPAs in all of OC (and probably LA too). I tried Nose Candy before the awards ceremony, and had scribbled how delicious it was in my notebook and was truly happy to see it get recognition – as well as Evan Price and the team at Noble. All and all, Noble is still one of my favorite places to go in OC because the beer is freaking delicious. Well done, Noble!

Category: 16 Session India Pale Ale – 161 Entries
Bronze: Nose Candy, Noble Ale Works, Anaheim, CA

Other notable wins:

Category: 5 Belgian-Style Fruit Beer – 63 Entries
Silver: Kumquat Saison, Smog City Brewing, Torrance, CA

Category: 11 Coffee Beer – 149 Entries
Silver: Mocha Machine, Beachwood BBQ & Brewing, Long Beach, CA

Category: 68 American-Style Black Ale – 54 Entries
Silver: Singularity, Karl Strauss Brewing Co. – Costa Mesa, Costa Mesa, CA

Brunch Hard

Posted on January 13, 2016
beer, Beer Event, beer pairing, Beer Tasting, chef andrea machuca, Cooking with beer, craft beer, craftbeer, native son alehouse, oc beer event
Comments: 1

It’s my first time attending a beer brunch, and I hope it’s not my last. I was a bit skeptical if I would be in the mood to have beers in the morning, but lo and behold I did a pretty good job adjusting. Take that, champagne!

Chef Andrea Machuca teamed-up with Native Son‘s to host a three course beer brunch featuring some fun beer pairings. It was cool to be able to sit outside on the famed patio of Native Son’s and eat breakfast (ahem…brunch), albeit really sunny and shockingly warm. I opted to begin with a Fall Brewing Co.’s Jazz Hands – a 3.4% ABV Berliner Weisse that was light and funky to cut the heat that was starting to build as the morning progressed.

Course 1: Fromage Di Affinois brie grits, cardamom granola, cherry stout compote and a sugar frosted mint leaf. Paired with Deschutes 2014 Jubelale on Nitro. The grits were the perfect consistency, at least to my preferences. I like thicker grits, like I prefer a thicker oatmeal and a thicker risotto or mac n’ cheese. How many times can I say thicker? The granola was really crunchy, providing a needed contrasting texture, but the surprise was how great the compote was. It all came together with the bold Jubelale from Deschutes, making it a real wake-up call.

Course 2: Urfa Spiced Pork Belly from Electric City Butcher, Pearl Onions, Winter Squash, Beef Fat Fried Potatoes + Cage Free Egg Scramble. Paired with Modern Time’s Blazing World. I had inquired to Andrea before she started cooking about how she was going to be able to serve a group of people hot scrambled eggs and she replied simply, “oh, it’s easy.” Now, that didn’t exactly answer my question, but through some voodoo magic all the seeming plates of delicious eggs came out harmoniously at the same time. The pops of flaked sea salt put me over the edge with this dish, it was crazy yummy. People asked for seconds.

Course 3: Broiche French Toast, Gingerbread Crumble, Eggnog Chantilly Cream, Cap’n Crunch + Mint. Paired with New Belgium Whiskey Barrel-Aged Salted Belgian Chocolate on Nitro. In all honesty, this beer wasn’t exactly what I wanted with this dessert. It seemed like there was some issues with the carbonation because I was missing that silky head you get with Nitro. Regardless of the beer issues, the dessert was freaking delicious. I typically don’t give into sweets ironically (it’s because I prefer a mixture of salty and sweet – or a mild sweetness) but this was irresistible. The toast was crunchy, the whipped cream was airy, and before I knew it I had cleared my plate.

Congrats to Andrea and her talented team for a wonderful brunch! Native son was a great host and everyone really enjoyed themselves. PS… Rick Smets from the soon-to-be-open Stereo Brewing Company stole the show with his circus bear outfit. Too funny!

OC Brew Ho Ho 2015 Recap

Posted on January 12, 2016
beer, beer blog, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, craft beer, craftbeer, OC Beer Blog, oc beer event
Comments: 0

It was another successful year a OC Brew Ho Ho where everyone drank and was merry. The monster barrel-aged beers were plentiful and delicious, the people were cheerful and joyous, and the weather was sunny … all things adding-up to a fantastic event.

It also happened to be my birthday, and I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend the anniversary of my birth than drinking tasty local craft beers with a bunch of craft beer friends. To add a cherry on top of an already fun event, Reel Big Fish played a bunch of songs that took me back to my glory days of going to shows. Just so everyone knows, I liked Reel Big Fish before they were popular, and I have been a fan for years. Does that help elevate my hipster status?

In terms of the beer, most everything I had was really good. I particularly remember loving the 32 North Brewing Company‘s Blackberry Landfall – their berliner weisse @ 3.8% ABV that delivered a tart yet refreshing mouthful right at the beginning of the event. Because the weather was unseasonably warm, it was a nice refresher in between the big beers available. Another beer (or beers) that stood out to me was the Glögg Glögg Glögg variations by Bottle Logic, The Good Beer Company and Barley Forge. I loved tasting the differences between each brewery while they brewed the same Belgian dark ale. Upon first tasting, it was kinda over-spiced but after having it several different times after it’s really grown on me. I randomly had Barley Forge’s at the Wayfarer last weekend and it was damn tasty.

As per usual, the event was super fun and very well organized. The people watching alone makes it great in addition to the stellar line-up of beers. Favorite moments from the event included: watching Brad climb on Matt’s back (both from Noble Ale Works) and Brad get a piggy-back ride, Brian from Noble also downed the last of the egg nog, I watched my husband Sean dance crazily with Brandon from Good Beer, some guy’s foot was bleeding pretty bad, Bob and Chris had a pretty good time opening the Cobra bottles, and more. All that being said, I can’t wait wait for the next Brew Ha Ha event, which I believe is Sabroso . I had so much fun last year I am sure this year is going do be even better. Cheers!

GABF Part 2: The Media Lunch & Brewery Tour

Posted on December 7, 2015
beer, beer blog, beer dinner, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, beer travel, Beercation, brewery tour, craft beer, craftbeer, Great Divide Brewing Company, OC Beer Blog
Comments: 1

One of the most exciting activities associated with the GABF event for me was the media lunch. I have heard such good things and I wasn’t disappointed.

It was held at the Kevin Taylor Opera House, right around the corner from the convention center. The space was really cool and I was able to get a seat next to John Holzer and Greg Nagel at a table close to the stage. We were seated with a starter pour of Gose Both Ways from Twisted Pine and soon was handed our Amuse of poached shrimp with Left Hand’s Polestar Pilsner. The dish was light and tasty and the pilsner was an easy drinkable beer.

The first dish was a crispy duck pastrami terrine served with Bell’s Brewing Company Two Hearted Ale. The terrine was intense in flavor and the beer matched that intensity in my opinion. I would’ve maybe paired it with a saison or something that was more balancing the strong flavor of the dish instead of a hoppy malty beer. Regardless, it was delicious.

The entree dish was a pork roulade paired with Ladyface Ale House Trebuchet Golden Farmhouse Ale. I think this pairing was wonderful. The pork was crispy and meaty with a tangy and complex farmhouse ale that wasn’t overpowering while complimenting the meat. The dessert was a butterscotch budino (basically a firm pudding or panna cotta) with Allagash Curieux. The desert was super sweet but the main component of the butterscotch was tasty. The beer was sweet and boozy with bold notes of vanilla and oak and overall so yummy. It felt weird having this beer so early in the day but hey, when at a beer lunch…During the lunch several industry peeps talked for a bit about the state of the craft beer industry. It was really inspirational stuff. Leave it to the media lunches to get me all pumped to go and spread my love for craft beer. My cup runnith over again.

We then went from the lunch to a short bus tour to two local craft breweries, Ratio and Spangalang. First up was Ratio Beerworks where the group was able to get a presentation about the brewery and taste some of the staple beers. I was impressed by the space and the modern design. I also loved the punk influences. Some of the beers I tried were pretty good, and one of them was a bit watered down in body. I would try them again though!

Second stop was Spangalang, where the beers were really creative and tasty. The tap room was less designed and had a mello hippy vibe. There was even some strange calypso music being played when we piled in. Considerably smaller and weirder, Spangalang had some great kitchy qualities that was inexplicably endearing and fun.

From there, me and Greg hopped on an uber to meet up with John at The Source – a cool packinghouse place where you could eat dinner at a restaurant, shop at a butcher, or get a beer from the new Crooked Stave taproom. We hung out for a while at Crooked Stave, endured the crazy GABF crowd, then went across the street to the new Great Divide barrel room for a few more beers. Both places were new, hip, and places I would love to visit again. Stellar beers, and good times were had by all.

Cali Uncorked Recap

Posted on December 6, 2015
beer, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, beer travel, cali uncorked, craft beer, craftbeer, oc beer event, oc brew ha ha
Comments: 1

Recently I attended the first annual Cali Uncorked event that consisted of beer, wine, comedy and live music.

The beer section had some really decent options, one of my favorite being the Telegraph’s Obsucra Fortis. This 9% ABV barrel-aged Belgian strong ale was balanced with a sour tartness, with some strong stone fruit flavors. Admittedly I had a few pours of this.

I enjoyed partaking in the beer and cheese tasting, where a familiar face was putting the cheese plates together. I watched as Greg Daniels rushed to get an aged Gouda on each plate next to a stinky brie and out to each table so they can taste along with Dr. Bill. I fell in love with the aged Gouda with it’s salt crystals, and how well it goes with the hoppy stone beers we tasted.

I wish there was beer stations closer to the music and comedy stages, because the beer was in a separate location and it made venturing toward the stages less desirable. I was also really surprised by the lines that formed towards the end of the event. Longest I’ve seen in a while, and probably due to most booths blowing their kegs early, and the attendance being pretty high. It never felt crowded, but the lines were a little nuts. I think people were also trying to get their last free pours in before cut-off time and they had to start paying for beer. Even the beer purchasing lines were nuts.

Overall I had a great time listening to the bands and drinking some fantastic beers. I even branched out and had some wine while I was there, because yes – I do enjoy wine from time to time. There was some really tasty stuff from Darkhorse. The crowd was really eclectic, and ranged from the young stoners to the craft beer crowd to older wine lovers. I would see a festival girl in her bear hat and crop top next to an older lady in her tight foxfire dance dress, and it was inexplicably normal. Kinda rad if you ask me.

One thing that was really fun was my husband, Sean, had a bag of hops at Ritual’s booth and we started having fun taking pictures with hops as confetti. I love how good sports my beer friends are, they really went for it.