Author Archives: Stumblingpiper

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About Stumblingpiper

I've enjoyed my hobbies in many different states/countries. I like homebrewing, mountainbiking, bagpiping, and many others.

Beer / Food Pairing – Beer Mentor-style!

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Recently I was asked to come up with a salad, entree, and dessert paired with beers.  Jill (my wife) and I came up with these dishes on one of our weekend trips recently.  She and I prepared these meals and I invited a friend over to partake and compare.  So, here they are — the food (plus recipe) and the beer pairing.

SALAD/Extra Special Salad
Beer (ESB): Breckenridge Small Batch 471 ESB
Dish: A slaw-style salad marinated with malt vinegar
Details/Ingredients: 1 head each of Red & Green Cabbage, 16 oz can of Red (Kidney) Beans, 16 oz can of White (Navy) Beans, 1 TSP of Crushed Red Pepper, 16 oz of Vegetable Broth, and 32 oz of Malt Vinegar.
Recipe: Cut up the Red & Green Cabbage into slaw, combine with Vegetable broth, cover with water in a pan and boil for 15 minutes.  Drain and combine with beans and red pepper.  Add Malt Vinegar and marinade OVERNIGHT. Add salt to taste (maybe a little more red pepper if it doesn’t have a little kick).  Serve cold.

ENTREE/Gorgonzola-stuffed Bison Steak
Beer (Imperial IPA): Dogfish Head Squall IPA
Dish: A chopped bison steak with Gorgonzola.  Sides of Sweet Corn Succotash and Garlic-seasoned “Crostini.”
Details: 1/3 lb of chopped bison/buffalo steak.  1/4 cup of gorgonzola crumbles.  Shape the meat into a rectangle, pour the cheese in the middle, then fold it over to form a square.  Salt and pepper to taste — grill the steak to desired state.
Succotash: Saute in butter 16 oz can of sweet corn, 1 diced red bell pepper, and 1 diced red onion until tender.  In the last minute add approx 1/4 cup of cilantro (to taste).  Salt and pepper to taste as well.
Finally, serve with garlic-seasoned “crostini” or garlic toast.(Forgot to make the crostini this time <smile>)

DESSERT/Cherry Lime a la Mode!
Beer (LAMBIC): Since I was out of Lambics, we used Bell’s Cherry Stout
Dish: Lime Sherbert with Crushed Black Pepper, garnished with a Belgian Waffle “Cracker.”
Details/Recipe: Mix fresh crushed black pepper with the Lime Sherbert (too taste).

Everything was wonderful together — for the dessert, definitely should have had the Lambic … it would have been the perfect mix (but this one was pretty good!)

Beer Mentor

Belgian-Style Witbier: Racking to Secondary

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I finally racked my Belgian-style Witbier to the secondary fermentation “tank.”   I left it in primary fermentation for 15 days … seems a little long, but it kept being active.  I think the temperature stayed between 68 and 70 degrees pretty much the entire time (except when we lost electricity and the temp in the house dropped to 54 degrees … then it was a little cooler! <smile>).

The first thing I did was prep and sanitize the equipment.

You’ll notice that I use a “Better Bottle” as my secondary fermentation “tank.”  I typically use the “bucket” for primary fermentation because it always makes it easy to transfer (and clean up).  You can see that in these pictures — you can definitely see what I have to clean!

I thought the color was right on … of course there’s still some fermentables (and other stuff) suspended in the pre-beer … it will clear over time … but check out the color here.

Also, you can see that the Specific Gravity is 1.024 (approx).  My target Final Gravity is 1.010 … again, I think I have some suspended particles that give it a little higher gravity; however, it was still bubbling away after I transferred it.  Of course, you always want to tast the intermediate “beer”–it was delicious.  I can’t wait for the final product!

Beer Mentor

90 Reasons to Drink Beer at Home

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I was curious why (so often) I would rather drink beer at my house than go out to a great brewpub.  Besides the fact that it is safer and less expensive (no cab fares, etc), I also realized that I have a bigger selection available in my house than I can find at most of the local pubs.  I counted tonight: I have 90 different beers available to drink.  LOL!

Just in case you were curious, here’s the list!

(Oh, I didn’t mention my Whiskey/Scotch/Bourbon/Brandy Collection either …)

Enjoy,

Beer Mentor

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The List at “Clark’s Ale House”

Austrian

    Samichlaus Classic, Helles

Belgian

    Gouden Carolus – Cuvee Van de Keizer (2008, 2009, 2010)

    Delerium Tremens, Noel

    Green’s Dubbel Dark Ale, Tripel Blond Ale (Gluten Free)

    Chimay Tripel (White), Premiere (Red), Grand Reserve (Blue)

    Orval

    Trappistes Rochefort 8 (Cuvee 2009)

    Westmalle Dubbel, Tripel

    Westvleteren Blond, 12

Canadian

    Unibroue La Fin Du Monde

English

Ringwood Brewery “Old Thumper” (Brewed in US)

German

Franziskaner Hefe Weisse

Keiler Weissbier

Schneider Weisse Hefe Weizen, Aventinus WeisBock,

Aventinus (2006, 2010)

Warsteiner

Weihenstephaner Kristall Weissbier

Irish

Guinness Draught, Foreign Extra Stout

Harp Lager

Netherlands

Brouwerij de Molen: Bommen & Granaten (2009),

Rasputin (2009), Revelation Cat Triple Hop Bock (2009),

Vuur & Vlam (2009), Premiant Hopburst (2009), Amarillo (2009)

Scottish

Brewdog Hardcore IPA

Spanish

Estrella Damm Daura

US – California

Firestone Walker Pale 31, 14th Anniversary Ale

Lagunitas Gnarly Wine (2009)

Stone Ruination IPA

Trader Joe’s 2010 Vintage Ale

US – Colorado

Breckenridge Small Batch 471 IPA

New Belgium Fat Tire

Trinity “Slap Your Mammy” Double IPA

US – Delaware

Dogfish Head: Palo Santo Marron, Pangaea, Namaste,

Sahtea, Chateau Jiahu, Miles Davis Bitches Brew

US – Maine

Allagash Odyssey (2008), Fluxus (2009)

US – Massachusetts

Sam Adams: Infinium Ale, Boston Lager, White Ale,

Irish Red, Winter Lager, Holiday Porter, Chocolate Bock,

Old Fezziwig

US – Michigan

Bell’s Winter White Ale

Founders Porter

US – Missouri

Anheuser-Busch Redbridge (Gluten Free)

US – New York

Brooklyn Winter Ale, Black Ops

Middle Ages Druid Fluid, Wailing Wench, X-Double IPA, Kilt Tilter

Southern Tier Iniquity, Farmer’s Tan, Choklat Stout

South Hampton Cuvee de Fleurs

US – Pennsylvannia

Fegley’s Brewwerks Devious Imperial Pumpkin, Hop’Solutely Triple IPA

Troegs Nugget Nectar, Dream Weaver, Java Head

Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot

Yuengling Lager, Light Lager, Lord Chesterfield Ale

US – Texas

Shiner Holiday Cheer

US – Virginia

James Clark Apricot Mead, Belgian-style Witbier

Williamsburg Alewerks Coffee House Stout

US – Washington State

Red Hook Long Hammer IPA

Savor Fest: Logo Contest!

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There’s this (pretty) new fest in Washington DC called “Savor.”  This is the (I think) fourth year the fest will be in existence.  My friends Ray and Bobby accompanied me to the second one in 2009.  It was awesome!  Here’s the link for the details: Savor

This fest is a great time AND a great venue (The National Building Museum).

This year, DC BEER is hosting a logo contest for SAVOR.    Since I have so much copious free time, I thought I’d try my hand at the logo design.  Woo Hoo.  Let me know what you think!

Beer Mentor

New Brewery: Port City Brewing Company

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This Friday I was fortunate enough to attend the Open House for the newest Production Brewery in the DC area: Port City Brewing.  Actually, I had the day off Friday, I was looking for something to do–a friend of mine had mentioned there was a new brewery opening in Alexandria but he couldn’t remember the name.  Google here I come! I saw this article about it in the Washington Post and thought I could pick up a Growler around lunch (I thought they were already open)–The article mentions that their Belgian Wit would be available — and since I’m currently brewing a wit bier I thought it would be a great opportunity.

I showed up around noon and they were obviously not open.  I was able to poke my head in the back and (fortunately) one of the brewers told me their open house was at 4pm.

I showed back up at 4pm and, sure enough, they were open!

They had two of their four flagship beers available for tasting (see picture above).  Here are the images of the four beers:

The beers were quite nice — I even brought home a growler of the Pale Ale.  Yea, refill for $10 baby!  I was impressed with their setup, operation, and the fact that they were very nice (that’s always a plus in my mind around DC!).  The owner gave us a short tour of their brewery.  Here you can see their base grain storage silo and a shot of where it comes out of their grinding room.

They’ve got a very state-of-the-art brewing system.  Here you can see their mash tuns, kettle, and their 30, 60, and 90 barrel fermentors.

These tanks in the below pictures are their staging vessels for kegging and (soon) bottling.  Just to the left of the tanks you can see their cold storage facility.  Since their beer is not pasteurized it needs to be kept cool.   These tanks will also be used (eventually) for lagering.

They are nearly ready to begin bottling–here’s a shot of their bottling equipment.  An interesting anecdote that may actually interest only me:  they picked up this bottling equipment second-hand from the Southern Tier Brewing company.  That’s another plus in my mind — I love those Southern Tier guys!

Finally, I overheard that their witbier is already on tap at Churchkey.  They have it at a few other spots–but I don’t remember where.  Their WitBier and Pale Ale are ready now.  The Porter is next with the IPA following close on their heels in a couple of weeks!  I can’t wait!  Welcome to the DC area, Port City Brewing!

Beer Mentor

 

 

Williamsburg: (Josiah) Chowning Tavern

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My wife and I visited Colonial Williamsburg last weekend and had lunch at (Josiah) Chowning’s Tavern.

Although the food was excellent and the sight-seeing was awesome, you obviously know I will talk about the brews!  At the top of their menu, they list both a “Seasonal Brew” and a “Specialty Brew.”

Yep, I had both. The first brew, the seasonal, was called “Old Stitch (Devil).”  It was a coffee stout at 5.4% ABV.  Excellent aroma and great flavor! Really hit the spot.  This beer is brewed for Chowning by the Williamsburg Alewerks.  I believe this is actually packaged as their Coffeehouse Stout.  I now have a bottle in my fridge (thanks Total Wine!) and I will see if it is actually the same brew.  We drank these brews out of the ceramic mugs.  Of course, since my wife can’t drink the beer (no Gluten) … she enjoyed a Hot Buttered Rum!

The second beer — the specialty beer — is their “Liebotschaner Cream Ale.”    I looked around for some reference to this beer and couldn’t find it.  It was a very tasty cream ale.  Apparently, this beer is made by The Lion Brewery (Wilkes-Barre, PA) as a contract brew.

Both of these beers were right in style–the only thing that stood out to me was the lack of any kind of head on the the “Old Stitch.”  Otherwise, it was quite tasty–the coffee came through right off the bat.  So, if you make a trip to Colonial Williamsburg, you won’t find yourself lacking in a good brew while visiting!

Enjoy,

Beer Mentor

 

Trappist Beers Re-visited …

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I recently reviewed my posts from my Trappist Thanksgiving trip.  One of the things I covered was the number of Trappist Beers available–I wanted to re-visit this topic.

As a reminder, there are seven (7) Trappist breweries.  I visited 6 of them: Orval, Westvleteren, Westmalle, Achel, Rochefort, and Chimay.

I had a list of the beers they make, but I didn’t give enough detail.  Here they are again (with better detail):

Orval (1) – they make one beer.  It is my favorite beer of all time.  An interesting thing about this beer is that the “wild yeast” used occurs naturally in the “Valley of Gold.”  It’s just a great location!

Westvleteren (3) – They make 3 beers: Westvleteren 12, 8, and the Blond.  I was able to purchase all three of these beers the second time I went to the Brewery (to pick up my two cases of Westvleteren 12).  You can purchase them in the cafe “In de Vrede.”

Westmalle (2 to buy, 1 “Extra”) [see previous post] – They are the Dubbel, the Trippel, and the “Extra.”  The cafe across from the brewery is very nice: Cafe Trappisten.  In my mind, this was the most “modern” of the locations we visited.

 

Achel (5) – There were only two beers available to purchase from Achel at the time … the Blond 8 and the Bruin 8.   Apparently there are three others, two on tap at the Brewery (the Blond 5 and the Bruin 5) and an Extra.  This was the place that had the most extensive store on-site–the best selection of Belgian beer you will find anywhere (I think).

Rochefort (3) – Rochefort had 3 beers available — the 6, the 8, and the 10.  I enjoyed all of these beers … the were very crunchy! <smile>

Chimay (3 to buy, 1 to drink at Auberge) – the three from Chimay to drink/buy are the Blue, the Red, and the White.  The one at the Auberge is actually a “Witbier.”  It is very nice…

Konigshoeven (La Trappe) (7 to buy) – I wish we had been able to add this place on our travels…but we just couldn’t get it done.  We bought six of the seven beers available though.  They are: Blond, Dubbel, Tripel, Quadrupel, Witte, and Isid’Or.  The only one I couldn’t pick up at the time was the Bockbier.

So, the total number of Trappist beers (I think) is 26: 22 to buy and 4 to “drink on location.”  You can see in the picture I have 19 beers.  I had one more on location and then picked up 2 more from Westvleteren — So I’ve had a total of 22 of the 26 Trappist beers.  I need 3 more from Achel and 1 from Konigshoeven–I guess this calls for another trip!

Beer Mentor!

2011 “Beer Drinker of the Year” Finalist: Wynkoop Brewery

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Woooo Hooooo!

I made the finals for the 2011 Beer Drinker of the Year competition sponsored by Wynkoop Brewery.  I will be heading to Denver in February to compete “head-to-head” to see who takes home the prize.  This is the announcement I received (I took the other names out … I wasn’t sure if I should post them or not):

“Hello 2011 Beerdrinker of the Year entrants,

Our panel of experts has counted up the votes for the 2011 Finals.

The ten semifinalists are —- —–, James Clark, —– —–, —– —–, —– —–, —– —–, —– —–, —– —–, —– —– and —– —–.

Congratulations! Seven of you will receive a lovely 2011 Beerdrinker of the Year Semifinalist shirt.   It’s a very fashionable piece of garb and an ultimate beer conversation starter.

Three of you will receive a Finalist shirt and be flown to Denver to compete in the Finals. Those three esteemed folks are James Clark, —– —– and —– —–.

Congrats to you three. We’ll see you in Denver soon.

Thank you all for entering this year’s search, and thanks for doing your mighty part for spreading the wonders of great beer in your communities.

We’ll have full details on the finalists soon at www.wynkoop.com.

Marty Jones

Wynkoop Brewing Co.

Denver, CO”

This is exciting!  I’m looking forward to the trip… not to mention that Wynkoop’s is on the “125 Places to Drink Beer” list … Yeah!

Beer Mentor

“Improve Your Wit” Bier: Primary Fermentation

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All,

Just in case you were wondering if my yeast starter/brew session kicked off “OK” see the photo of my “airlock.”  It went so big that it “Krausen”ed right into the Airlock!

What’s even more interesting is that I put it in the warmest place in my house, and the temp is still holding steady at 68 degrees … yeah, it’s been a little cold around here.

Should be transferring to secondary in the next few days!

Beer Mentor

Brew Day: “Improve Your Wit” Beer

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My friend, Brian, came over today and joined in a little brewing and beer drinking.  It was time to put all the pieces together and get the first brew of the year done.  These first few pictures are of the initial preparation: equipment set up, measuring and note taking–making sure I have it set in my mind how and when to get things done.

For those interested, here is a list of the ingredients and a general rundown of my recipe:

This is a modified recipe (aren’t they all!) that I’ve used a couple of times–I wanted a WitBier this time to help me make it through the cold and think about summer.

Ingredients: 1) 4 Lbs American 2-Row, 6 Lbs White Wheat Malt, 0.75 oz Goldings (60 minutes), 0.25 oz Goldings (5 minutes), 1 oz Orange Peel (dried)+0.5 oz Coriander seeds+0.5 oz Chamomile (5 minutes).  The yeast was one I captured from a previous WitBier that I “resuscitated” from a Saison Dupont bottle.   For the truly Beer Geeky, The projections for Style: OG 1.051, FG 1.010, SRM 3.76, 19.4 IBUs, and 5.3% ABV.

Here are some pictures of the mashing and sparging process.  Again, I mashed 10 Lbs of grain with 3.5 gallons of water @ 168 degrees.  It held rock steady in the Mash Tun @ 154 degrees for 90 minutes.  I then sparged with 168 degree water for 45 minutes, ending up with 6 gallons of wort to boil.  Of course I did most of this inside because it was below freezing outside!

Finally, we boiled it all up outside … tossed our ingredients in at the (mostly) appropriate times, and sat back and had a couple of cold ones.  Here’s a few more pictures of the process.  Because it is so cold in my house, I had to keep the primary fermentor up behind my bar.  Oh, we did hit the projected OG pretty much right on the nose–1.052!

One of the brews we sampled came from The Root Cellar in San Marcos, Texas.  Their local “brewery” is called Darkside…this was labeled as a Pilsner with a Belgian Twist.  It was an excellent beer … my only problem was that I’ve held it for over 6 months and it is a bottle conditioned beer–it had plenty of carbonation, but the flavor was great.  I will be stopping back by through there this summer.

I think I see some bubbling in that fermentor already <smile> ….

Enjoy!
Beer Mentor