Beer #359-396 / Day 62-69: The Extreme Foodism Of An Outspokenly Anti-Foodie, Yet Secretly Foodie Non-Foodie

My sis-in-law, Lori Jonasson, sent me a link last month about pairing beer with Girl Scout cookies.  I try to avoid posing as a food expert, like the billions of wannabe Foodies out there (I spend enough time as a wannabe beer nerd), because I know my palate is far from perfect.  But the allure of something so silly was undeniable.  And by chance, I had ordered some Girl Scout cookies recently.  Plus I had a few of the noted beers in my stockpile.
For as much of a novelty as the article is, there is one pairing I found particularly appealing, and well played:  Tagalongs, a chocolate covered peanut butter mound, with Wells & Young Banana Bread Beer.  Sheer genius.  Fat Elvis would undoubtedly approve.
The article also recommended Trefoils, a very plain shortbready cookie, with a couple different stouts.  I had a few Trefoils with the Fifty Fifty B.A.R.T. and it was damn pleasing.  Then again a shortbread cookie is like a plain canvas.  Something slightly sweet with minimal character can pair with freakin' anything!  I had Trefoils with several other non-heavy beers, and it was equally as great.  I even tried one with the Evil Twin Hipster Ale, which just a well-rounded pale ale, and it paired well...
... All of which leads me to believe most food and alcohol pairings are a crock of shit.  Think about it.  Would you ever pair chocolate and ketchup?  Hell no!  That sounds disgusting.  But would you ever order a burger and a chocolate shake?  Aha!  Given the context, you can make most things work.  I'd have no problem making a BBQ sauce with a ketchup base, and adding a bit of chocolate to it.  Makes sense, along with other seemingly adverse ingredients like cinnamon, molasses, or sugar.

Take my earlier post about my revelation of spicy food and IPAs.  How many spicy food joints (think Asian or Indian) offer IPAs on their menus?  Not a whole hell of a lot.  They all offer super bland Asian lagers, that are fun to drink only because you get to read a weird label and get to brag about drinking this oddball beer.  I ordered a super hoppy Anderson Valley Hop Ottin' IPA with my super spicy bowl of ramen, and it was a match made in heaven.  The hop bomb cut through the heat of the dish, but the heat of the dish didn't nullify the hops.  The oddball combo happened to be the best one yet.
I continued my quest for a multitude of unique brews this past week, and even improvised cooking with beer  in a semi-inebriated state, and everything came out delicious. My Wife will confirm.  No cookbooks:  just intuition, and a desire to attempt something new.
Piggybacking on the idea of pairing IPA with spicy food, I made a ghost pepper salsa with dehydrated peppers courtesy of my pal Marvelous Marvin Harris.  Some grape tomatoes, minced garlic, cilantro, cumin, coriander, salt, and ghost peppers, with a couple pulses in a food processor.  Done.  At the same time I opened a Pike Brewing IPA, a beer I didn't get to enjoy in Seattle last weekend, but strangely enough, stumbled across at Total Wine & More in Northridge this past week.  The ghost peppers weren't burn-your-face-off hot, I'm guessing because they were dehydrated, and hence, not super oily, as it's the chili oil that sticks with you.  Good flavor, and good match-up of brew & eats.
I've already claimed the Ballast Point Sea Monster Imperial Stout in my Big Year, and had an extra bottle, so I used a good amount of it to marinate a rack of ribs, with a dash of soy sauce and a hint of hot sauce for complexity.  50 min on the grill with some mesquite smoke, wrapped in foil for 20 min, and slathered with homemade BBQ sauce. Even tastier than expected.  The stout gave it an unexpected deep cocoa aftertaste which was different, but totally worked with the infused smoke and mild heat of the barbecue sauce.
The next evening, I dug out a few Hangar 24 bottles, leftover from my BDay Beer Party, and made Alt-Bier Ale Chicken Wings.  I usually use a stout for slow cooking chicken wings, but I went for a well-rounded ale, and they came out just as awesome.  Coat the wings with some salt, pepper, garlic power, and paprika, brown them in a pan with olive oil, then add to a baking dish with the beer, fresh minced garlic, and sriracha. Pop in in the oven at medium-low heat for 2 hours or more.  Done! And crazy delicious.
 You don't have to watch a million Food Network "challenge" shows, or follow any recipe to a T.  Just have a general understanding of what you enjoy, and throw it together.  It won't always work, but if you have half a brain, it will come out tasty more than half the time. 
As far as I'm concerned, Foodie Snobs can eat it.  So to speak.

The tally continues:

Monday 3/3 - Back home from Seattle:

• ABITA BREWING MARDI GRAS BOCK - Beer #359, not amazing
• EPIC BREWING BRAINLESS BELGIAN STYLE GOLDEN ALE - Beer #360, one of the very few unopened bottles from my BDay, courtesy of Matt Domino.  Good one!

Tuesday 3/4 - One of the only Tuesday nights that Infest didn't practice, otherwise my count would have been twice as much:

• BROUWERIJ VAN STEENBERGE BORNEM DUBBEL - Beer #361, good
• BROUWERIJ VAN STEENBERGE PRIVATEER BELGIAN ALE - Beer #362, super good
• FULLER, SMITH & TURNER 1845 ENGLISH STRONG ALE - Beer #363, pretty good

Wednesday 3/5 - Home again with the lovely Mrs.:

• BROUWERIJ VAN STEENBERGE PIRAAT - Beer #364, a classic
  
• EINSTOK OLGERD ICELANDIC WHITE ALE - Beer #365, better than I remember
• BROUWERIJ VAN STEENBERGE MONK'S CAFE FLEMISH SOUR ALE - Beer #366, not crazy sour, actually more sweet and sour, fun to sip, and would double as a great salad dressing

Thursday 3/6 - Home yet again... am I setting an new record?:

• ANDERSON VALLEY BOONT AMBER ALE - Beer #367, Holy Christ, I've been wrapped up in beer snobbery for so long I've neglected some truly great everyday beers like this one.  Seen this at every major grocery store since I can remember, but goddamn, what a great beer!  An amber with powerful hops.
• EVIL TWIN BREWING HIPSTER ALE - Beer #368, excellent pale ale, I'm nuts about Evil Twin, one of the only times I'll ever say I'm proud to be a hipster.

Friday 3/7 - Home again?  What am I, a loser?  Naw, just enjoying rare moments not being on-the-go.  Pizza and beer night:

• CISCO BREWERS THE GREY LADY - Beer #369, a top of the line witbier, so much more going on than your average wheat beer, spicy and complex, I've quickly become a fan of this brewery.
• SPEAKEASY SCARLETT RED RYE - Beer #370, I haven't been much a Speakeasy supporter until now.  This is a truly great beer.  Lots going on.  Not the cheap, knock-off label I wrote it off as, up until this moment.
• AVERY BREWING NEW WORLD PORTER - Beer #371, a limited porter from this standout label, although not my favorite effort from them.

Saturday 3/8 - All bets are off... tasting 16 new beers at Vendome (plus a few repeats), then drinkin' back home:

• INNSTADT BRAUEREI EXTRA SCHWARZE - Beer #372, schwarzbier with major anise, good and surprisingly light
• STILLWATER SENSORY SERIES V2 SMALL BLACK - Beer #373, a schwarzbier / saison mash-up, I'd expect nothing less adventurous from Stillwater
• NORTH COAST OLD NO. 38 STOUT - Beer #374, damn good, when it comes to North Coast, I always avoid this in favor of Old Rasputin. This is a solid beer.  An easy drinking stout with depth.  Sure as hell doesn't taste like 5.6%.
• ALMANAC BIERE DE CHOCOLAT - Beer #375, I love all things Almanac, but this was a bit heavy handed on the cocoa, even for a true groupie.
• BROUWERIJ HET ANKER LUCIFER - Beer #376, yeasty, unique, caramelly, nice but glad I had a taster instead of a full glass.
• BIERE DU BOUCANIER GOLDEN ALE - Beer #377, a buttery bale of hay in a glass
• EPIC BREWING ELDER BRETT SAISON BRET GOLDEN ALE - Beer #378, you can taste that wild yeast, a real heavyweight.
• UINTA CROOKED LINE TINDER RAUCHBIER - Beer #379, liquid campfire, where's the marshmallows?
• ALESMITH HORNY DEVIL - Beer #380, sugary, yeasty, friggin' delish!
• GREEN FLASH LE FREAK - Beer #381, Belgian Trippel / Imperial IPA hybrid.  Love it.
• VICTORY V12 - Beer #382, Whoa! Heavy like a barleywine, intense, slightly sweet, kinda hoppy. 
• TELEGRAPH RHINOCEROS - Beer #383, A barleywine style ale with rye malt, delicious and not cloying at all.
• UNIBROUE TERRIBLE - Beer #384, a classic
• SPEAKEASY SYNDICATE SERIES 01 VINTAGE ALE AGED IN BOURBON BARRELS - Beer #385, good gravy... just as toothsome as it sounds.
• BROUWERIJ DE MOLEN HEL & VEDOEMENIS ALE AGED IN BOURBON BARRELS - Beer #386, A five-star beer if there ever was one.  Not heavy, but incredibly complex, mildly sweet, barrelly goodness, mild cocoa and malt depth.  The label says "Enjoy within 25 years". Not a problem.
• RJ ROCKERS BREWING BELL RINGER - Beer #387, maybe the Vendome tasting spoiled me, but this beer was so unimpressive, most of it went down the sink. Sorry, I never do that, but it seemed fitting.
• UNCOMMON BREWERS SIAMESE TWIN ALE - Beer #388, exemplary brew from a mysterious Santa Cruz outfit.  I need to team up with South Bay local Chris W. and track these guys down.

 Sunday 3/9 - Perfect Sunday afternoon to sit outside, read, snack, grill, and drink:

• FLYING FISH BREWING EXIT 4 AMERICAN TRIPPEL - Beer #389, exceptionally good tripel style from this NJ brewer.  Haven't had a bad Flying Fish brew yet.
• PIKE BREWING IPA - Beer #390, strangely I was in Seattle the week before and never got to try a Pike Brewing beer, but back home this week, I found a few Pike bottles for the first time in SoCal. Good timing. Great beer.  Paired well with my ghost pepper salsa.
• BAYHAWK ALES ZAPPA BREWS NELSON IPA - Beer #391, I had this on tap last Dec and it was incredible; this time out of the bottle, not as staggering. A good one, but much MUCH better if there's a fresh keg around.
• CLOWN SHOES HOPPY FEET BLACK IPA - Beer #392, Consistently great brewer. This is no exception.  The Hoppy Feet 1.5 is even better, from what I recall.
• MENDOCINO BREWING IMPERIAL STOUT - Beer #393, Overall very good, would make a terrific everyday stout
• FLYING DOG GONZO IMPERIAL PORTER - Beer #394, the whole Ralph Steadman thing jumped the shark in the '80s as far as I'm concerned, but this beer and this brewer are consistently reliable

Monday 3/10 - Blogging tonight, at this very moment:

• CORONADO / CIGAR CITY COLLABORATION JURATA BALTIC PORTER - Beer #395, the first glass is great, the second glass is perfection.
• CISCO BREWERS WHALE'S TALE PALE ALE - Beer #396, Really unique pale, as the label says "fruity hops", hard to describe, but crazy good like all other Ciscos I've tried.
  

Beer #170-178 / Day #34-36: Adventures In Old Man Beer

The week started like any other... the usual workday followed by an evening of sampling new beers:

*BROOKLYN BLAST IPA - Beer #170, a tasty hybrid of English style IPA with some West Coast kick.  I still haven't found any Brooklyn Brewery stock in SoCal.

*FLYING FISH ABBEY DUBBEL - Beer #171, a thick, malty, tasty treat from this Jersey brewer. Another one I don't see in SoCal.

*DESCHUTES / GREAT LAKES COLLABORATION CLASS OF '88 IMPERIAL SMOKED PORTER - Beer #172, Whoa!  This is a beer to find at all costs. This is the most delicious BBQ melted down to liquid form.  The best qualities of a porter and a rauchbier, if they mated and spawned.

PBR is soooo 2010.

The following day, my Wife sent me a message about the Atwater Tavern serving Olympia.  This was my stepdad’s go-to beer for about 30 years straight, until the brewery was sold.  Since then, Oly’s distribution is more limited, and according to the old man, their recipe changed as well. You can’t find it in SoCal, or most of NorCal for that matter.  Of course, by doing this Atwater Tavern is baiting a hook for flannel-clad hipsters who want to try this old staple, more for the irony than for the fact that it’s a marginally palatable lager.  Call it the “new thing” for any beardo who’s sick of drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon.  I got a good chuckle out of it, and didn’t think much of it until it was time for the weekly INFEST union meeting with Domino & Denunzio. 

'Merica... fugg yeah!

This week we patronized Joe's Great American Bar & Grill in Burbank.  This joint is what you expect from your average American bar… semi-attentive service, dreary regulars, average food, and a beer selection on par with the corner liquor store.  And yet, in spite of all of this mundane Americana, I appreciated the fact that they serve shit beer, but without irony. As proof, no PBR!  Joe’s isn’t out to impress anybody.  Take it or leave it.  This is the ideal Old Man Bar with Old Man Beer.  And with our grey beards, Domino and I decided to roll with it.  When in Rome...We kicked it off with a COORS – Beer # 173.  What appealed to me most about this was the retro bottle, a small, fist-sized grenade.  It feels good, and makes you feel American and proud.  Shit, I was ready to buy a shotgun and some camouflage and go duck hunting. This Coors was malty with a sweet finish. I could see getting a stomach ache after a day of drinking these.

Next, we went for ROLLING ROCK EXTRA PALE - Beer #174.  We chose this because I can't remember the last time I saw a Rolling Rock, outside of 1995.  Rolling Rock doesn't taste like anything whatsoever, especially after the Coors. It's like mineral water. Does Crystal Geyser bottle this beer? Devoid of flavor, or anything resembling substance. I didn't know they still made Rolling Rock.  Maybe they don't.  For all I know, this bar is trapped in the '90s and carries leftover dusty cases of Rolling Rock next to the final, remaining bottles of Zima.

First bathroom selfie. Seemed appropriate.

 We finished the Old Man Beer trifecta with an AMSTEL LIGHT - Beer #175. Amstel Light brings back that sense memory of trying my first beer at the age of 13... although that beer was actually an Oly.  It just tastes like "beer".  Not good, not bad, it just "is”.  Years ago, The Wife & I found a copy of the band Ambrosia’s technical rider (list of requirements provided to the club).  One that we’ve never forgotten was a request for a case of “premium beer”, and it noted Amstel Light an example.  Nice, nice, very nice.

Warming up for the Blue Man Group

We left for practice, so I hit a random liquor store on Burbank Blvd, and in spite of the corner store stigma, this place carried a damn good selection of beer, including one I needed to try before it was too late.  At practice Domino & I split the STONE ENJOY BY 02.14.14 IPA - Beer #176.  After our cavalcade of middle-of-the-road beers (or maybe that's end-of-the-road), he compared it to drinking a pine tree. All of the Enjoy By IPAs have that extreme hop crunch, kinda citrusy, and after shitty beer I can see how it also has a bit of a tree-y bite.

Last night, I went back to my fancy 12 ozers with the SANTA FE BREWING PALE ALE - Beer #177, and the SIERRA NEVADA BEER CAMP #94 BELGIAN STYLE BLACK IPA - Beer #178.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, and back to the sublime once again.

Beer #155-169 / Day #29-33: Frosty Revelations

January has passed, February is kicking into gear, and I'm already 1/4 of the way to matching last year's Big Year tally.  I don't want to get too cocky, considering it will be more & more difficult to consume unique brews as the year progresses. I've already hit a few duplicates. Additionally, upon reflection of my first hardcore month of beer hunting, I continue to experience many brew-centric revelations:

#1: The Troubador is legendary for everything except their beer.  Last Friday, the Wife and our pal Melissa Gearhart checked out a show at the Troubador with The Wood Brothers and Amy Helm.  Cool, hipster Americana tunes.  What was neither "cool" nor "hipster" was the Troubador's beer selection, one of the worst around.  Were it not for the saving grace of Firestone Union Jack IPA, I would have stuck with bourbon the entire evening.  I already claimed this beer on Day 2 of my Big Year, so I didn't rack up any new numbers, but at least I didn't suffer through their other swill, which consisted of the usual Bud and Miller and even a Sharp's non-alcoholic beer.  If they're going to continue to carry shit beer, but maintain their status as a hipster hang, they need to at least carry PBR.
#2: It's not necessary for me to patronize Congregation Ale House in Pasadena ever again.  Their beer selection is top notch, their food is excellent, their service blows.  It always has.  Today was no exception.  They hire young women who look good in skirts, and are otherwise clueless, borderline rude, and thoroughly unhelpful.  Pasadena has too many other great beer-based options these days... Haven, Slater's 50/50, The Blind Donkey, Lucky Baldwin's, King's Row, and the Stone Company Store for starters.  Sorry.
#3: I never added a rule about non-alcoholic beer when I posted my Big Year rules.  It's still technically beer, isn't it?  Therefore, I say it counts. Besides I've got an O'Doul's that has been sitting my cabinet for the past 3 years. I think I should at least sip it then throw it away, instead of just throwing it away.
#4: 12oz singles are essential to making your way through a good number of different brews at home.  I've stocked my fridge with almost all 22 ouncers.  It's tough to get through many, or any, of these on a work night when I don't have a drinking partner.
#5: Have a drinking partner!  My Wife is an awesome drinking partner. Even better she's logging her own Big Year. Unfortunately, she doesn't always want beer when I do.  Hence, revelation #4 above.
#6: Cans are rad.
#7: Denver Broncos are dumb.  I'm a Seattle fan, because I was born in Tacoma, but I was somewhat expecting the Broncos to win.  They're a great team.  I live in LA, and since LA doesn't have a team, I've adopted several NFL teams I like... Seattle is one of them, and Denver is another.  But they played like they'd just chugged a few pints of Avery Mephistopheles before hitting the field.
Denver brews = The best.
Denver Broncos = A self-imploding, orange and blue huddle of sadness, despair, and regret.
#8:  Beer tastes even better when it follows a day well spent with my family.

Proof that beer even looks better when you're enjoying with family.

A quick recount of the past few days:
KIRIN ICHIBAN - Beer #155 - Enjoyed with sushi at Matsuda in Studio City, with the family, celebrating The Wife's BDay.
BROOKLYN BREWERY BLACK CHOCOLATE STOUT - Beer #156 - Dessert for the Wife's BDay, fudge suicide cake in a bottle.
HANGAR 24 HULLABALOO WINTER BEER - Beer #157 - Let this winter warmer warm up, and it's even more rewarding.
BUTTE CREEK BREWING ORGANIC IPA - Beer #158 - Tasty NorCal brew, and don't let the "organic" part scare you away.
STONE BREWING OAKED ARROGANT BASTARD - Beer #159 - This bottle has probably been sitting around for longer than it should have, but still damn good, especially when it's not ice cold.
KARL STRAUSS RED TROLLEY ALE - Beer #160 - On tap at Duke's in Malibu, from one of the oldest & most respected SoCal microbreweries.  Reliably good, although they've got superior competition these days.
DRAKE'S 1500 PALE ALE - Beer #161 - Also at Duke's, the best tap at the best restaurant on the coast. Drake's never fails. It's a pale ale with IPA muscle.

Pray to The Fe.

SANTA FE BREWING SAISON 88 - Beer #162 - We visited Santa Fe Brewing about 7 or 8 years ago, and I don't remember their output being as awesome as it is now.  This adds to their legacy.  And the first saison I've ever poured out of a can. I had their Chicken Killer Barleywine last year, and it's one of the best in recent memory.

LAUGHING DOG ROCKETDOG RYE IPA - Beer #163 - Idaho brew. Mildly hoppy. Barley-ey. Yum-ee.

GREAT DIVIDE BREWING COMPANY LASSO IPA - Beer #164 - On tap at Congregation, a beautifully balanced IPA from this flawless brewer

KNEE DEEP BELGO HOPTOLOGIST DIPA - Beer #165 - Also on tap at Congregation, this baby wins. If I'm in a situation later this year where I can only drink duplicate beers, I'm praying this is one of them.

SIERRA NEVADA ESTATE HOMEGROWN ALE - Beer #166 - Kicking off the Super Bowl with a super brew. All proprietary hops and barley grown on their property, so it's no lie to say no other beer tastes like this.

RUHSTALLER HOP SAC 2013 KUCHINSKI HOP RANCH - Beer #167 - Another super unique Cali Central Valley beer. Not a hop bomb, as expected. Barnyardy and rural, just like NorCal itself.

TENAYA CREEK HAULING OATS OATMEAL STOUT - Beer #168 - This Las Vegas brewer is one of many quickly staking Nevada's claim on the beer map. Solid.

FLYING FISH BREWING COMPANY HOPFISH IPA - Beer #169 - From a NJ brewer that I haven't found in SoCal; I picked this up in NV last weekend. Reminds me of a more English style IPA than the hopnados spawned on the West Coast. A nice change of pace.