Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
Firestone Walker is a big campus in Paso Robles and the barrel-aging area is a sight to behold. Let’s throw another big deal out there…
Getting to 10,000 anything is amazing. Especially with a beer style like bitter that does not get a lot of traction in a brewing schedule filled with 805 and Mind Haze.
Bitter: A Taste of the World’s Most Dangerous Flavor is not the typical read for me. I was hoping for a biography of sorts of bitterness. I wanted to understand why the bitterness of hops is so appealing to me (as is citrus) whereas vegetables like broccoli or Brussel Sprouts are major turn offs in aroma and taste.
What the book is, is mostly recipes. Some intriguing like Beer Jelly and others with ingredients that I would rather leave out of my kitchen. There is information of both historical and cooking types inside the covers but it is more of an aside and less the main thrust of the tale. Case in point: An excellent two pages on how sound affects eating pleasure. It was intelligent to point out how airplane sound is one if the reasons that food a mile high is unappetizing. The photography though is amazing. Simple but detailed. Close enough to really see the items on display and well staged.
Jennifer McLagan is an engaging writer whose personality shines through and I did learn about entemological backgrounds of grapefruit and other foods but I just did not get enough to reach the level of what I desired to learn.
Perhaps there is another book out there on this taste.
I am a fan of books about beer, spirits and wine. But I also am intrigued by the science behind those three beverages too. Which is why I read with great interest on the NPR blog, The Salt about a new book that delves into the topic of bitter, the flavor. Check out the full post HERE. If I can get my hands on this book, I will review it here.
You will see semi-frequent posts about how I believe that craft beer and good food can be paired and now Mikkeller is putting his gypsy brewing stamp to it as well with the MAD project. He has teamed with Chef Jakob Mielcke to create a line of beers to pair with food specifically to very specific flavors. Such as….bitter, salt, sweet, sour and umami.
And here is how the Salt beer looks…
I would love to see a brewery and restaurant team up in LA and in every city and do this same sort of project.
http://madbeer.dk/?utm_source=RateBeer+Weekly&utm_campaign=24f16db828-rbweekly_83a3&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_33216a9626-24f16db828-307447785#!home
Year 2 of the #IPADay is TODAY!
So get over to Twitter or follow the action on Untappd to see what the blogosphere is drinking from the world of IPA. And if you need a reminder of FAQ’s from last year then click HERE.
And I have the perfect choice for this momentous day. You can’t go small. So I have decided to go huge. Actually GIGANTIC!
“And so… It’s time for Naja’s Place to kick off our…
3rd Annual IPA Festival on Thursday, April 21st, 2011 for one week.
To mark our 30th Anniversary, this year we will feature somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 of the baddest, rarest, and resinous IPAs, DIPAs, and IIPAs on the West Coast (and a few beyond).”
Some cities and states claim to be the premier beer destination and I don’t doubt their credentials. But for width and depth, the state of Oregon is in a league of it’s own.
Sour ale house. Check.
Belgian. Check.
Cask ale? Check below…
Brewers Union Local 180 is owned by Ted Sobel. His goal is to serve all of his beer, cask conditioned and stored in firkins.
Here is a sample of a past beer list to whet your taste buds:
Wotcha A La Amarillo Best Bitter
Good With Bacon Amber Special Bitter
Cumbrian Moor English Porter
Union Dew I. P. A.
MUTT O. R. A.
Tanninbomb Oak-Aged English Old Ale
TODAY: ENGLAND V SLOVENIA
The heavyweights and underachievers in the US group is the team from England. With their star power, they should be locks for the quarterfinals if not further. Is this the year that they and the Netherlands shake off World Cup bad memories?
Maybe with a nice session bitter from Batemans? Here is what the website says about XXXB: “Superb strong bitter with a complex palate, consisting of a delicate aroma of hops delightfully balanced by a prominent malty character. 5 times ‘Premium Beer of the Year’ at CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival.”
