My Wine Education

How to Host a Beer Tasting

A few days back, Michelle and I hosted a beer tasting for a few friends and I learned a few tips. The full review of the beers tasted along with recipes will follow later, but here's a quick list of what I learned.

1. When hosting a tasting try and pick foods that pair with multiple selections.
   The beer we served had different flavor profiles and I found a few items that matched with multiple beers. A few examples were a selection of stinky cheeses from Cork and Bottle, a nice salty prochuttio, mini quiches and a lean meat like buffalo or lamb. The stinky cheeses were able to hold up to a few of the hoppier beers and the lean meat (buffalo) worked with a few of the more herbal beers. However, having multiple different flavors of food allowed people to try different flavors along side the beer to how food changed what they were drinking.
2. Try to prepare food that can sit in a crock pot or warming plate.
   This is something I have learned for all parties. The worst feeling is having to stay in the kitchen waiting for food to finish cooking and missing the socialization that was the reason for the gathering in the first place. Most of the food I listed above was able to sit out the entire time everyone was here. I planned for the last dish to finish about 5 minutes after the party was supposed to start which seems to work well for when most of our friends arrive.
   
   
   
   
   
3. All sizes of beer can be shared.
   Most of the bottles I had were 750 ml bottles shared across 5 beer drinkers and 1 person who was just sampling. The origonal plan was for a total of 8 people and each of those bottles had enough with lighter pours that we could have easily served 10 or so. Later in the evening, I broke out a few 12 oz bottles that I had and those were also easily shared with the entire group. I was surprised as I thought that the smaller bottles would not have enough to share, but everyone poured enough to taste and there was still plenty to share.
4. Remember to relax and enjoy the evening.
   As a know beer lover and someone who tries to make sure that there is something for everyone, this is one of the tougher things to remember. If a pairing does not work like it should, treat that as an excuse to discuss why you picked the flavors and figure out what may have worked better. This time, I made the mini quiches with a Kahill's Irish cheese with Guinness. My thought was the stout in the cheese would complement a few of the darker beers that we tried. It was a less than perfect pairing as the dark beers were porter styled and the quiche worked better with a few of the lighter IPA styles instead. I did not expect that, but the egg mixture offset the cheese more than I expected. It was not what I intended, but I learned something from the experience and had a great time discussing why something worked and figuring out why it did not.

Overall, the evening was a great success and I am working on getting notes and recipes put together for a future post. Any other suggestions on how to host a beer pairing party? Tips or tricks that I don't know about?

 - Kevin

St Patrick's Day in Cincinnati

There will be no Weekly Event posting today, as Kevin & I are gluttons for punishment. We're heading to the industry/trade tasting at the wine festival, stopping for dinner, and heading back to the special tasting room and evening session. Thank goodness we're staying in a hotel. We're kicking off Saturday with breakfast at Hathaway's and then the Cincinnati never-ever-cancelled St. Patrick's Day parade.

A quick reminder that next week is also Restaurant Week. Now, onto St Patrick's Day.

Image Credit

In Cincinnati, our German heritage is forgotten as the St. Patrick's Day celebrations kick off on Friday night and continue all day Saturday on Fountain Square. Urban Cincy has a great round-up of the downtown events.

Metromix has an entire section for St Patty's Day festivities including all those great little pubs across the city. The folks at CinWeekly also have a few listed, and there are a couple of events listed on CityBeat / ZipScene.

Midwest Winter Beer Festival

The Midwest Winter Beer Festival returns to the Radisson Cincinnati Riverfront on February 6th and 7th for the second year. For $35 you have the opportunity to try over 75 different beers from some  great micro-breweries. It looks like Bell's, Great Lakes, Stone, Bluegrass Brewing Company and Kentucky Ale will all be in attendance. There will be 3 sessions this year:

Friday 2/6 from 7 until 11 PM
Saturday 2/7 from 2 until 6 PM
Saturday 2/7 from 7 until 11PM

Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door, a very reasonable price for a tasting event with proceeds going to the Big Joe Duskin Foundation. Also, designated drivers can pay $10 at the door that will get you everything except the beer.

Michelle and I missed out last year, but are excited the event has returned and we have a second chance to attend. Any readers brave last year's event? Any good stories?

As always, I recommend checking out our post on the Wine Festival Survival Tips. Most of them translate to any event with a lot of alcohol to try and maybe find a few new favorites. 

 - Kevin

Holiday Beers: Wrapping Up

We're wrapping up our Christmas Ales series on Christmas Eve with another American craft beer and a brew from the country that knows how to celebrate Christmas, Dicken's style: England.

In an NPR story this morning, they talked at length on Christmas beers. One thing they mentioned is that wassail was originally heavily spiced beer. When you went a-wassailing, you went carolling for beer. It's a shame carolling sort of went out of fashion. Our first beer, however, is considered a bit of a modern wassail. Samuel Smiths Winter Welcome Ale, from the oldest brewery in Yorkshire, had a sour cherry nose that Michelle detected while I focused more on the very traditional ale yeast and sour characteristics. The taste was a full flavored ale with a decent amount of carbonation on the palate. Michelle thought the end was similar to brambles, where I was detecting a grainy taste with a good amount of cream. Hints of spice started to appear at the end of the finish, but quickly faded. A very nice ale, but not exactly something that I overly enjoyed.

Kevin and Shel:

Ending the holiday beers is the Christmas Ale from Bell's Brewery. In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a huge fan of almost everything that I have tried from Bell's. This is a Scotch Ale that started with a heavy dose of maltiness and non-fruity spices like ginger and cloves. The finish was short and crisp. Michelle found a Bretty sour taste that reminded her of a sugar-free peach jolly rancher. This was probably my least favorite of the different Bell's offerings I have tried.

Kevin:      Shel:

As a final note, the print version of that NPR story also lists 10 recommended Christmas ales, 3 of which I tried in the last few days. I've also tried the Anchor (Shel's favorite of all of them), which I highly recommend.

Cheers and Happy Holidays!

- Kevin

Christmas Ales Series

• Part 1: Belgian Ales
  
• Part 2: Solstice & Shiner

Holiday Beers: Solstice and Shiner

I guess there's nothing more American than sitting back watching Monday Night Football and cracking open a couple of beers. Once again, these are two different craft holiday entries that are quite different from yesterday's mellow Belgians.

Up first is the Winter Solstice Ale from Anderson Valley Brewing Company. This traditional ale has their secret blend of holiday spices that seem to include flavors of clover, cinnamon, and a slight hint of sweet cherry. It ends with a rich malty flavor which is typical for what I find in most ales. This is my first exposure to the AVBC and I'm rather pleased with the result. At about $2.20 a 12 oz bottle, this is a beer that can be enjoyed all month at a reasonable price.

Kevin and Shel:

Up next is a very odd winter beer. My thoughts usually turn to cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, chestnut, ginger or evergreen smells. Shiner Holiday Cheer from the Spoetzl Brewery opted for peaches and pecans. Added to dark wheat ale, this brings forward flavors of candied pecans and the juiciness of a fresh peach. A great example of something a little different, but not quite up my alley.

Kevin:

Note: Michelle avoided the second beer due to her severe nut allergy and the use of pecans in the brewing process. After our recent run-in with peanut flour in sugar cookie dough, we're not sure if brewing with pecans would cause a reaction. Better safe than sorry.

- Kevin

Christmas Ales Series

• Part 1: Belgian Ales
  
• Part 3: Wrapping Up (American & British)

Holiday Beers: Belgian Ales

Hello and Happy Holidays!

We start of the week with a pair of very different Christmas beers from the great beer producing country of Belgium: Delirium Noël and Anker's Gouden Carolus Noël. Both of these are re-fermented in the bottle, which is typical of these two styles of Belgian beer.The rest of the week I'll focus on some American brews.

 

Up first is the Delirium Noël from Delirium Brewery. Delirium is an older brewery located in Ghent and has been brewing the Christmas beer since 2000. This is a Belgian Dark Lager with a kick at 10% AbV. The aroma and taste were of butterscotch sweetness that led to a well balanced malty and dry finish. After trying a fair number of Christmas beers that went between sucking on a pine tree and coating my mouth in ginger, everything about this beer was subtle. The flavors, smell and alcohol were all well-balanced and I hope intentionally mild. Overall, I was very impressed but Shel wanted a little more spice. The price point on this one is about $4.00 for 11.2 oz and should be available in most places.

Kevin:           Shel:

Our second Christmas ale is the Gouden Carolus Noël from Anker Brewery. Anker has been brewing this particular style since 2002 when it returned to production after a lapse. This year, the dark strong ale was brewed in August and aged until a holiday release. Six different spices were added throughout the process and I found wintergreen in the nose and a hefty amount of mint in the taste. Shel noticed mulling spices and the feeling of sipping a beer in front of a roaring fire. There is more bitterness and a fresh mouth taste at the very end. Once again, this is also roughly $4.00 and has 10.5% AbV.

Kevin:           Shel:

 - Kevin

Christmas Ales Series

• Part 2: Solstice & Shiner
• Part 3: Wrapping Up (American & British)

Chimay Tasting at Morton's

Being a blogger can have its benefits. Sure, there's pressure to write well and write often, there's blogger's guilt, but there are also things like last night's event at Morton's.

Lauren, from Wordsworth, and the nice folks at Morton's decided to put together a Chimay tasting preview event for a few of [my favorite] bloggers around town. We ran the gamut of blog topics, but we all enjoyed the beer. I should mention that the preview was complimentary. *

The official Chimay tasting, complete with a representative from Chimay, will be held on October 24. The ticket price of $45 per person includes tax and gratuity, plus Morton’s will donate $5 from every ticket to the Make-A-Wish Foundation®. Guests will also recieve a nifty Chimay goblet.

When we first found out about the tasting, we were sad to miss it as we'll be in Sonoma. Lauren came to our rescue, however, when she came up with Beer for Bloggers. In attendance we had Wine Me Dine Me, Buy Cincy, 5chw4r7z and Don't Call Me Mrs, and a West Side Foodie Wannabe. It was a fun group, and we definitely enjoyed ourselves.

I'm not really the food girl, so for a review of the salmon, tuna tartare, and filet mignon sandwiches, I suggest you check out Julie's blog at Wine Me Dine Me. I will say I tried some of the salmon and it was, well, salmon-y. I'm trying to learn to eat it though, so it was a start. Must expand my horizons. However, I was amazingly taken by the Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake. It was 100% nut free and somehow I ended up with an entire cake on my plate while Julie & Kevin split one. I'm not complaining. We all know that I'm a dessert girl, so this really hit the spot. With the diet, I haven't had dessert in weeks and weeks. I blew the diet last night, but folks, there was all this chocolatey gooey goodness in the middle of the sponge cake. It was worth a returned pound or two.

You don't come here for food reviews though, so onto the beer. Since it was a beer tasting, Kevin took the notes. However, I wanted to get this post up today and he's off to a Cirque du Soleil rehearsal (grumble, grumble, envy), so you get my interpretation of his writing. Enjoy our beer thoughts after the jump.

Southern Brewers Festival

Occasionally, I like to have guest authors. My friends Carla and Tom are both travelers and beer connoisseurs. They recently attended the Southern Brewers Festival and Carla sent in her report.
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It must be said that Tom and I are travelers. And if the travel destination includes the chance for great beer or wine, so much the better!  One of our favorite spots for combining great beer and travel is Big RIver Grille and Brew Works on Disney’s Boardwalk at Walt Disney World.  We go there often enough that we have our favorite server (Ursula), and the brewer there (Evan) knows us as the "smoked porter" couple. 

Our most recent beer trip is thanks to a heads up from Evan. Big River is based out of Chattanooga and in June, we did a long weekend trip there doing the touristy things like checking out the Tennessee Aquarium and also trying both Big RIver locations. We had a great time and quickly decided to go back for the big event this past weekend: the 14th annual Southern Brewers Festival, a one-day event that celebrates beer and raises money for New Kids on the Block, a Chattanooga-based group that uses puppets to educate children on diversity and other social concerns.

Big River is part of the Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group and it seemed that representatives from the entire group were at the festival, including A1A Ale Works from St. Augustine, FL and the two Rock Bottom Breweries in Atlanta that are owned by Gordon Biersch. The other breweries and microbreweries weren’t all from the South (though that region was definitely well represented). The list included Abita, Atlanta Brewing Company, Barley Mob (a group of home brewers from Chattanooga), Foothills, Good People, Heiner Brau, Highland, Magic Hat, Moccasin Bend, Moon River, New Belgium, SweetWater, Terrapin, Yazoo and Yuengling.

"Foam follows Function."

I'm not a beer connoisseur. I am, however, a gadget freak, and this is one nifty gadget. So nifty, I may need to order one for Kevin (who is a beer connoisseur).

Brütül has apparently worked long and hard to develop the Black and Tan Turtle - a turtle whose sole purpose in life is to help you pour the perfect black and tan.

For those of you who aren't familiar, a black and tan is a perfectly balanced glass of beer, with lager, pilsner, or ale on the bottom and stout or porter on the top. Now, I don't claim to understand exactly how this Turtle gadget works, but it definitely does work. It even has a built-in bottle opener. If you want a black and tan at home, this is the gadget to use.

In keeping with the turtle theme, the Black and Tan Turtle is sold through the Terrapin Beer Co.

Check out the video:

American Homebrewers Conference: Pro-Brewer Night

This is the last of the AHA posts. Next week - back to wine and wine reviews! In fact, watch on Monday for a cool Riesling review, complete with multi-media.

At the pro-brewer night, there were over 20 breweries serving over 75 different beers. This brave blogger attempted to try them all, but sadly my notes slowly degraded over the night. Most of what I can make out is that all the beers were good, but most of my notes seem to concentrate on updating our top three selections from across the different breweries. So I present the top three from both Michelle and myself.

Michelle's Top 3:

1. Festina Peche from Dogfish Head Brewing Company
2. Matlida from Goose Island Beer Co
3. Zoomer from New Holland Brewing Company

Kevin's Top 3:

1. Bourbon Barrel Oatmeal Stout from Barley Island Brewing Co.
2. Oaked Arrogant Bastard from Stone Brewing Co.
3. Oro de Calabaza from Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales

We learned a lot about the use of brettanomyces (brett) in beer. In wine, brett is often accidental and not wanted (although it can be used judiciously). It can often cause a barnyard flavor in the wine. We were surprised to find it used in several beers, most notably from Goose Island and Jolly Pumpkin. Jolly Pumpkin specialized in using brett, lending a purposefully sour note to their beers. Michelle, however, accustomed to some poor uses of brett in wine, had trouble getting past the aroma. Not so with the Goose Island Matilda, a reserve beer that uses brett without cultivating the sour. It all added to a full and complex beer.

Looking at the list, I was apparently in the mood for a dark heavy beer, while Michelle was looking at the lighter summery offerings. Sadly, neither of us were able to try all the beers offered, but I think we covered a good amount between the two of us. I'd also like to thank New Holland for providing an extremely full final glass of Dragon's Milk to close out my night once they learned I was not driving.