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Charlito’s Cocina is combining the world of salami with beer and their CERVEZA SECA – Dry Cured Beer Salami which uses “beer in the curing process” can produce a flavor so enchantingly unique, that it eludes classification. Cerveza Seca is “slowly dry-cured with a bottle fermented brown ale, pasture raised, heritage breed pork, and hand harvested fleur de sel..”
Get this and some hop pickles and beer crackers and I am set.
I like that more beer festivals are trending toward beer AND food festivals. With both on equal footing. Not beer festivals with a lonely food vendor in the corner or a food festival with a nod to craft beer in the form of a tap or two. The first ever Taps and Tapas festival in Whittier accomplished this balancing act with tempting food and beer.
First time festivals can be hit or miss. The concept may be great but the space may not be. Or any other unforeseen problems may derail a passion project. That being said, there is a lot to like about where Taps & Tapas started and where this idea can go. There was a strong selection of beer available. And it thankfully featured some new breweries as well.
I will focus on the beers that I had:
Ironfire Nu Hell IPL – I have only had a few of the beers from this brewery so it was nice to see both an old favorite and new tap on hand. I went for the lighter and new to me IPL that had a nice citrus taste but was first and foremost a lager. Nice and zippy.
Clown Shoes – 2014 Krunkle Sams – I probably shouldn’t have indulged in a high ABV barley wine in the heat but this was another winner. Caramel notes mixed with citrus. It wasn’t light but it didn’t overwhelm the palate either.
Polymath Premo Pilz had a lot of grain taste in the glass. Flaked corn being one addition. Polymath is one thirdof a co- op with Delicious Science and Seven Brothers Brewing in Riverside. Not a bad pils. Well done just not to my taste
Old School Gold Beer was the lowlight of the beers it was metallic with too much mineral taste. It poured a nice yellow color but this unforgiving style was not done quite right.
Ohana Pacific Blonde Wow, this was really nice. You can really tell the difference between a brewer that has honed in on a flavor. And Ohana has. This is nearly perfect for hot weather.
Alosta Brewing LOL Wit – Really lovely aroma. Big citrus notes here. Zippy. This was my fest favorite. It was a surprise too, since my first Alosta beers were a bit underwhelming to me. I want to go back now and try their new beers.
Twisted Manzanita – Imperial red. This red was solid but didn’t really sing. Technically fine just not hitting my taste buds.
Congregation Praise On Saison was really tasty and a good choice for a last beer. Good vanilla taste with just a touch of spice. One of the better beers to try to pair food with.
The only downside to the event and one that may or may not be easily rectified was the location. It was kinda weird to be in a community center gym drinking beer. The divided layout of upper and lower levels was not conducive to wandering. The heat only exacerbated that divide as people came inside to avoid the sun which only made the gym hotter. A bigger and indoor location would be the best improvement this event could make. I would have also added a pairing suggestion list somewhere to give people an idea of what to pair with what. The best advice I got was from the dessert caterer who paired a couple of nice items with my IPA.
The food and beer pairings are coming too fast to keep up, almost. Here is another one to add to the list….
July 28th, “Executive Chef Adam Levoe has created a scrumptious seasonal menu. Four courses + four beers. Here’s a sneak peak of the third course paired with Golden Road’s Almond Milk Stout.”
For Example:
Grilled skirt steak with parmesan potatoes, yellow corn, bell peppers, demi glace (non-vegan)
or
Summer vegetable polenta with summer squash, sweet peppers, heirloom cherry tomatoes and fine herb oil (vegan)
Check out the full menu, HERE.
Food and Beer go together like hand and glove and another time and place to test that theory is on July 26th, when Angel City’s monthly Food Cluster Truck celebrates grilled cheese. “Four trucks – Dogtown Dog, Slanging Corea, Canvas , and Midnight Mission’s culinary course – will take on the classic gooey goodness and make it their own for a chance to be a food truck favorite, earning bragging rights and a fabulous trophy. The event takes place on July 26 and runs 12-6pm. Voting boxes will be at each truck for patrons to submit their favorites, and voting will be counted at 6pm, with the winner announced at 6:30pm.”
The following months’ Food Cluster Truck theme schedule is:
August 30 – Habanero
September 27 – Oktoberfest (Angel City Brewery’s fall seasonal beer)
October 25 – Pumpkin
November 29 – Holiday
December 27 – Peppermint
I have yet to have the Dogfish Head beer-brined pickles but I have tried their bratwurst as the Delaware brewery begins their take-over of all the aisles in the grocery store.
And I have to say that the variety I picked up (“Bratwurst, the classic, is made with white pepper, coriander, mace (a cousin of nutmeg) and mustard. It wouldn’t be Dogfish without an off-centered twist, so the Bratwurst is dosed with Belgian dark ale Raison D’Etre.”) is …….
You can also get the following three brats for your next BBQ and craft beer event:
If you missed the BBC show about Selfridges, the famed British store AND you do not check out FoodBeast.com regularly then you might have missed this tidbit about spreadable beer butter! Yes, that is not a typo.
This is what the Selfridges website tells us, “Beer lovers rejoice, you can now enjoy your favourite tipple with cheeses and bread with Omid dark ale spreadable beer. An ingenious collaboration between an Italian chocolate maker and an Italian beer brewer, the result is a sweet and beer-perfumed jelly with an intense scent and a full-bodied taste. The beer spread provides a unique accompaniment for hors d’oeuvres and cheeses, or even try spread on toast or as a stuffing or garnish for tarts and cakes.”
Usually these beer infused items rarely live up to the hype. You might get some malt notes but there will probably be no hops or the lovely sparkle that makes beer such a joy. But if you must have beer in every aspect of your food life. Then this might be for you.
From your salad (in this case, kale) course….
…to the full El Segundo beer line-up…
…to dessert, you will read all about Pitfire Pizza in tomorrow’s Food GPS.
I have been passing by these crackers at Whole Foods for months now. The price was always too high for my taste. But a week ago, they were finally on sale! So I picked up the porter variety with the thought that the porter would seep into the cracker more than pilsner would seep into that version.
The aroma on these crackers is a surprising and very brewery reminiscent wort smell. Unfortunately, after that point, the taste was full on dark rye. Not that a rye cracker is bad per se. But the aroma led me down a path that then corkscrewed on me. After having a couple, I realized that this version would be harder to pair with a beer and with cheese. There are rye IPA’s out there but that would be a battle of two strong tastes. And I fear that most cheese would run into the brick wall of rye as well.
So a slight thumbs up. And I will be watching to see if they go on sale again. And I will check to see if the Pilsner version has rye in the ingredient list.
OK, I don’t know much about 4 Hands Brewing and I have not had a single one of their beers. Though I certainly hope to try at least one. And though I am a fan of the red ale that is not the reason why I want to highlight this beer today. Nope, the reason is the spot on and graphically pretty pairings that they suggest. Easy to spot and use. Way more than the usually tiny (though interesting) prose on the label. I wish this to be a trend that other breweries pick up.
As a member of the 2012-13 Beer Advisory Board for the Four Points Sheraton at LAX, I get to attend their beer pairing dinners and then make suggestions for their future beer dinners. Sweet gig, I know.
I have been to a couple events and now I really know that they know how to do it. The food is way beyond what you expect at a hotel (even the salads).
And you get quite a value for your money. A splash of Chimay Speciale, Uinta Sea Legs Baltic Porter and some beer from the newly anointed trappist brewery…
Plus great pairings like Heelch O’Hops and a burrito and much, much more.
This site will keep you updated on the March and April events so you will not miss out on the action at Four Points.