An Afternoon with Stone Brewing

We were invited to participate in a pair of classes up at Stone Brewing World Bistro this past Sunday and it was a great time.

Our friend Marnie Clarke (who is planning to open her own cheese shop up in LA County later this year) joined us for the classes and also added a great dimension of her own. She recently spent time making cheese at Winchester Cheese Co. up near Temecula and also hails from an extensive line of dairy folk – her grandfather founded Alta Dena Dairy – so her insights on the process of making of cheese were a great addition.

Stone’s Education Director Ken Foster and our favorite cheese monger George Palmer were miked up and gave introductions to each of the six tasty flights. The groups were raucous and made for a grand time. The first class was joined by the ‘Arrogant Bastard’ himself, Stone founder Greg Koch, who had some nice words to share and took a few snaps he then tweeted to his massive group of Twitter followers. Always spreading the love!

With the beautiful backdrop of Stone’s lush gardens, the setting was almost as perfect as the menu! Here’s what you missed…

1) Stone Sawyer’s Triple paired with Winchester Cumin Gouda
2) Stone Pale Ale paired with Bellwether Carmody
3) Stone IPA paired with Piave Vecchio
4) Stone Smoked Porter paired with Pecorino Nocino
5) Arrogant Bastard Ale paired with Purple Haze Stuffed Peppadew
6) Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale paired with Noord Hollander

Malheur & Cheese Tasting with O'Brien's Pub

We are thrilled to join our friends from O'Brien's Pub for a very exclusive event featuring a lineup of incredible beers from Belgium's Malheur Brewery. If you've attended a few of our beer and cheese classes with O'Brien's, then chances are, you've sampled at least one of these rare, bottle-conditioned brews. As it happens. O'Brien's is the #1 Malheur account in the western US and as such owner Tom Nickel has been able to pull together an unprecedented lineup of 5 distinct Malheur brews for this event including the rare Malheur 6, as well as the 10, 12, and the champagne-style Brut, and Dark Brut. The brews will be paired with an equally exceptional menu of fine artisan cheeses from Taste. Add the lively and informative discussion lead by Tom and Taste cheese monger George Palmer and you have an incredible evening in store. Don't miss out - we expect this to sell out quickly! Sign up at either O'Brien's or Taste.

Malheur & Cheese Tasting $40
Sunday, July 19th, 6:30pm
***Second Class Just Added!***
Sunday, July 26th, 6:30pm
O'Brien's Pub
4646 Convoy Road, San Diego

First Brew Part III - tasting

Finally cracked a bottle of our first brew May 4. Surprisingly good! Tasted like a poor man's Orval or Duvel, moderate alcohol level, some sweetness on the finish, mildly carbonated, with some hint of cardomom/spice on the finish. Drinkable. So, with that under our belt, on to the next beer.

Monday 5/18 we brewed an ESB style beer. Started by steeping some English dark crystal and dark carastan grain, then this time used a malt extract rather than the dried extract. Much cleaner and swifter process this time around. Tuesday it was bubbling madly through the airlock, today not so mad but still bubbling well. I'm optimistic. Bottling in about 10 days I expect. Then two weeks before sampling. This process is difficult for those who demand immediate gratification (like me).

First Brew Part II - Bottling

Last Sunday was time to bottle our first beer. After sterilizing the bottling bucket, hoses, racking cane, bottles, caps, etc., put the carboy of beer on a high metal table, with the bottling bucket on a stool below. The instructions say to put the racking cane in the carboy, fill the hose with water, attach one end to the racking cane, drop the other in the bucket, and voila, the beer will start to flow. Nope. Try again. Nope. Problem is I can't get the hose full of water, try as I might. I've got our friend Jeff holding one end under the faucet, and I'm stretching the hose out straight down to the floor, pinch it off when the water is running through all over the floor (finally got smart enough to put a pan down there), but still the dang thing is only half full.

As a backup (the book says only as a LAST resort), I decide to siphon the beer by sucking on the hose. To do this, you must sterilize your mouth by gargling with vodka. Not a problem, but the only vodka I have is in the freezer. So now I'm standing in the kitchen, gargling ice cold vodka. Good news is, I'm sure I don't have cavities.

Down on my knees, I start sucking on the hose until the beer flows. Can't spit it in the bucket, so have to swallow the mouthful of warm, flat beer. Several times I get the beer flowing, but then it stops. Mouthful after mouthful of warm, flat beer. But the great thing is, it tastes like beer!

Finally I call on my high school physics, and this time once I get the beer flowing I plunge the end of the hose into the beer in the bucket. Now we're flowing well. Have to hold the racking cane through the whole process, as the sediment is deeper than the end cap on the cane...don't want all that sediment in the beer.

Bottling from the bucked proves much easier due to the nifty bottling cane. Attach the end of the cane to the hose, hose to the spigot, turn on the spigot, and then push the other end of the cane into the bottom of the bottle. Lift up, and the flow stops. My trusty assistant Jeff and I fill 2 cases of 22 ouncers, me bottling and him capping. Finally all done, put down in the basement to rest for a couple of weeks.

Next report - How does it taste?

New Cheese Classes @Taste!

Cheese classes at Taste are a lot of fun - hopefully as much fun for the students as they are for us! We've met some great new folks at our recent classes and look forward to seeing them - and you - at an upcoming class or two. And we've even given a bit of incentive to get folks to enroll before the end of April. Sign up for either the May 12th or June 3rd classes before April 30th and save $5 off the enrollment fee. Enjoy a great evening of cheese and wine for just $40!

In addition to the great lineup of classes listed below, we've been invited to participate in a Spirits & Cheese pairing on May 6th at Wine Vault & Bistro and to join our friends up at Stone World Bistro & Gardens in a pair of Beer & Cheese classes on June 14th. Check their respective websites for details and enrollment information and be sure to let them know we sent you!

And without further ado, here's the schedule for Taste classes over the next couple months:

Springtime Beer & Cheese
w/O’Brien’s Pub

**3rd Class Just Added!**

Sunday, May 3rd, 6:30pm

@ O’Brien’s Pub

$40

Once again we have sold out of the two scheduled sessions of our biannual Beer & Cheese classes with our friends Tom and Lindsey Nickel from O’Brien’s Pub in Kearny Mesa. And by popular demand, we have added a 3rd and final class to be held at O’Brien’s on Sunday, May 3rd. If you thought you missed out, think again! But not for too long – this class is also filling fast. To enroll, stop by Taste or O’Brien’s or call us at (619) 683-2306. If you miss out this time, you’ll have to wait until fall!

Wines for the Blues**

Tuesday, May 12th, 6:30pm

$45 (**$40 if you enroll by 4/30)

At Taste, we love the blues. From sweet Gorgonzola Dolce, to fruity Cashel Blue, to decadent Roquefort Carles - if it's blue, we're a fan. And likewise, we love wines. Pretty much any style has a place at our table. And so we decided to pull together a class that marries 2 of our favorite things...hence 'Wines for the Blues'. From sparkling wines to lush whites to fruity reds and luscious ports, we'll introduce you to some incredible blues to pair with your favorite wines. We'll give 'singing the blues' a whole new definition!

Whites & Knights**

w/Rey Knight of Knight Salumi Co.

Wednesday, June 3rd, 6:30pm

$45 (**$40 if you enroll by 4/30)

We've been loving the incredible meats from San Diego's Knight Salumi Co., and by all accounts, so have our customers - it's been tough to keep stocked up! So we've invited the producer himself - Rey Knight - to join us for a fun class where we'll match his salumi with tasty white wines and artisan cheeses. This class is definitely non-vegetarian! Meat eaters rejoice...and plan to join us for a tasty tour of San Diego's finest salumi!

DIY Taste Cheese & Wine Class!

Call Taste to schedule a date!

From $45 per person (Minimum 6 guests / Maximum 10 guests)

What's that you say? Missed out on one of our great Cheese101@ Taste classes? Well then, let us help you create an event just for you and a few friends! DIY Taste Cheese & Wine Classes are custom events we create with you. Just pull together a group of 6-10 people, pick a theme (or call for suggestions), and schedule a date. Your group will have a private, in-shop event, hosted by Taste cheese mongers George and Mary Palmer. Prices start at just $45 per person for cheese and wine classes! Call or email Taste for more information.

FIRST EFFORT TO BREW

Having been gifted by my lovely wife with a beer making kit for Christmas, I finally worked up the courage to brew. Well, not really courage...we had a move and it's tough to lug around a 60lb. jar o' beer. Never tried this before, so armed with instructions from Home Brew Mart and my new kit, off we went. Oops, should have checked this earlier... hydrometer is broken.

Off Mary goes to HBM to get another one. Second oops, I really don't need a hydrometer immediately. Oh well, she'll come back with a growler of Dopplebock from Ballast Point, so the trip won't be wasted.

Sterilize everything, get a couple gallons boiling in my 12qt stockpot, here we go. Turn off heat, dump 3lbs of malt extract into the pot. Ouch, boil over. Not only that, but the malt has congealed immediately into this thick, tar-like cap over the water, so break it apart and stir to mix, making even more mess. Add the remaining 3lbs and repeat the process, including the mess. Turn the heat on, bring back to vigorous boil as instructed, dang, another boil over, extinguishing my flame. Re-light, bring back to a boil, add hops, almost a third boil over.

Now the flame is caramelizing the malt extract all around my burner...this will be a bear to clean up. This is all so tragic, but I'm brewing beer, so all I can do is laugh my butt off at how hopeless I am. Mary arrives with the growler, and we pour us each a big glass and laugh again.

After an hour of boiling the wort, time to add the final hops and turn off the heat. Move the stockpot of wort to the sink, and bathe it in cold water while Mary pours a couple gallons of cold water into the glass carboy which will be home to our beer for the next week or two. Add the wort, top off with cold water. Now pour us another beer. Set the air lock on top, but not sure I'm doing this right? Does the plastic cap go over the top while the beer ferments, or is the cap over the glass tube all I need. Call our friend Ray Taylor, an experienced brewer, to ask a couple questions.

After trying to explain what the air lock looks like to Ray, we finally decide we've done it right. Now I'm explaining what the beer looks like to Ray. He asks "did it do anything when you added the yeast?" Yikes, I totally forgot about the yeast. Good thing we called, it might have been hours before we saw our mistake.

Ray tells me I've got to get the yeast distributed. Dang, that'll be one heavy bottle to pick up and shake. Ray says just tilt it on it's edge and swirl it. Doh! Guess we won't leave it on that stool. Set it on the floor, get a good swirl going, put the air lock back on, and then we're off to clean up.

Now, here's a couple things I'd do differently next time. If I can find a cheap, bigger pot, I'll get one. I'm a vigorous stirrer, and I think this will save us mess. Next, I sure won't dump a whole 3lb. bag of extract in all at once. Trying to stir was tough and another contributor to the whole mess. Adding slowly, stirring at the same time, probably is the call here.

Second day, beer looks good, bubbles coming up in the air lock, guess we're fermenting. I'll post tasting notes in a couple of weeks. Big thanks to Cy at Ballast Point/HBM and Ray for their tips, advice, and support. And Mary, for the kit, her love and support, and scraping all that crap off the stove top.

Spring’s here…must be time for Cheese & Beer!

This past Wednesday we held the first of our springtime beer and cheese pairings – and our first class with our friends from Hamilton’s Tavern and Green Flash Brewing. It was an amazing class and we learned a lot about how San Diego’s favorite style – hopped up IPA – was developed, while sampling through the full lineup of its predecessors. It was great to learn about it from the perspective of Hamilton’s proprietor Scot Blair, a home brewer and all around beer geek, as well as from GFB’s master brewer Chuck Silva. We still have a few of the handouts left from the class and if you’re interested in obtaining a copy, just send an email to mary@tastecheese.com, or stop in and ask for one.

And looking ahead, next month we have our Springtime Beer & Cheese Pairings with O’Brien’s Pub. We’ve been collaborating with our friends Tom and Lindsey Nickel, owners of O’Brien’s, for more than 3 years and this round marks the 7th in our ongoing series. As always, we’ll hold one class at Taste and another at O’Brien’s. They always seem to fill up quickly – probably because they’re so much fun. If you’ve wanted to learn about beer and/or cheese, then these classes are definitely the way to go. Tom is one of the key players in San Diego’s burgeoning craft beer scene and O’Brien’s was recently voted one of the top 10 places for beer in the US. He’s joined by our favorite cheese monger George Palmer, and together, they inspire and entertain the class with their passion and knowledge for artisan cheese and craft beer.

SPRINGTIME BEER & CHEESE PAIRINGS w/O’BRIEN’S PUB
Wednesday April 22nd, 7pm @ Taste (only 10 seats left)
Sunday April 26th, 6:30pm @ O’Brien’s Pub (only 22 seats left)
$40.00

**Early Enrollment Special Offer**
Sign up for either the 4/22 or 4/26 class before 3/31 and your name will be entered into a drawing to help us select the menu of pairings for the class. Think you’re up to the task? Then sign up soon or you’ll miss out.

To enroll, send an email to cheese101@tastecheese.com, call the shop at (619) 683-2306 or visit Taste.

Preview of "The History of IPA" Class 3/24

Cheese Selection & 2 of the Featured Beers

Next week we're excited about hosting our first event with Scot Blair of San Diego beer mecca Hamilton's Tavern, and Chuck Silva, award-winning brewer from Green Flash Brewing Co. The class is called "The History of IPA" and I think you'll see from the pairings we have planned, it's a pretty extensive history and an ambitious menu.

Last Thursday we met with Scot and Hamilton's general manager Dennis Borlek to set the menu. And believe me, it was no small task given the intense flavors of the beers!

Some of the beers we considered

After tasting and debating pairings for a couple hours, we were all quite pleased with the 8 (yes, that is a lot!) pairings we selected for the class:

Flight One - English Pale Ale
Bass Pale Ale w/Cave-aged Gruyere
St. Peter’s Organic Ale w/4-mo Mahon

Flight Two - English India Pale Ale
Bellhaven Twisted Thistle w/Valdeon Blue
Meantime IPA w/Old Quebec 4yr Vintage Cheddar

Flight Three - American India Pale Ale
Anchor Liberty Ale w/Reblechon
Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale w/Fiscalini 18-mo Cheddar

Flight Four - A New Generation
Green Flash West Coast IPA w/Purple Haze Stuffed Peppadew
Green Flash Imperial IPA w/Winchester Cumin Gouda

There are still a few seats left for this class, but it will fill up. If you're interested in attending, don't delay, call the shop (619-683-2306) today!

Taste Presents...
"The History of IPA"
w/Hamilton's Tavern & Green Flash Brewing Co.
Tuesday March 24th 6:30pm
@ Taste Artisan Cheese & Gourmet Shop
$40

We hope to see you there!

Valentine's Day Beers

George and I decided to take a pass on the insanity that is dining out on Valentine's Day and instead, hit Toronado - one of our favorite beer haunts- for a few beers and pizza (romantic in it's simplicity, no?). In honor of the hallmark holiday, I tried two VDay inspired brews.

1) Rejection - Russian River Brewing
They bill this as a Belgium-style black ale. It was fantastic! I don't know if I've ever had a black ale before and I was surprised at how tasty this was. Unlike stouts and other darker beers, I didn't taste much coffee in this one, nor did I find any hints of chocolate. Instead, it was just malty goodness and a bit fruity. Yum.

2) Next up was My Bloody Valentine, locally brewed by Alesmith. These guys make some of our favorite beers (Anvil is amazing!). They bill MBV as a red hopped ale - and hopped to the max it is! You could smell the hops from across the table. And you could taste them too, but what was surprising was the lack of bitterness. I expected a biting finish but instead found it kind of sweet and fruity. Another winner.

I know a few great spots around town are pouring these and seeing as they're seasonal, I recommend you hop on over to your favorite pub and have a pint or two.

Happy V-Day-After
/m

New Cheese Classes on the Calendar

We've just announced some great new cheese classes...check them out! Pre-enrollment is required and we've already had a good response so sign up soon if you're interested. Send us an email (Manager@tastecheese.com), call the shop (619.683.2306) or stop in soon.

CHEESE101@ TASTE PRESENTS…
The Wild, Wild West – Wines & Cheeses from California, Oregon & Washington
Wednesday, March 11th, 6:30pm@ Taste$45
We’re excited to present our first exploration of the excellent wines and cheeses from the states of California, Oregon and Washington – aka The Wild, Wild West! Join us as we take a 90-minute tour of our favorite wines and cheeses from this fertile region. We’ll sample a variety of wines, and discover the variations – some subtle, some not so subtle – in wines, some stylistic, some terroir-based. We’ll pair the wines with incredible cheeses from small, independent producers from each of the three states.

TASTE PRESENTS...
The History of IPA with Hamilton's Tavern & Green Flash Brewing
Tuesday, March 24th 6:30pm@ Taste$40
Join us as we welcome two of San Diego's beer icons and explore the history of the beer style that put San Diego on the beer map - IPA (India Pale Ale). We're excited to welcome Scot Blair, proprietor of beer mecca Hamilton's Tavern and Chuck Silva, award-winning brewer from Green Flash Brewing. They'll be joined by our favorite cheese monger George Palmer as they take us through a guided tour of IPA's then and now, paired with some of our favorite artisan cheeses. This class is offered for one night only - space is very limited.

CHEESE101@ TASTE PRESENTS…
Cheese & Wine On a Dime
Wednesday, April 15th, 6:30pm
@ Taste $35
April 15th is Tax Day so we thought it was a good time to explore cheeses and wines that stretch your dollar further. We’ll sample a range of wines from lesser-known regions like Argentina, Chile and others offering excellent wine values. Our favorite cheese monger, George Palmer will dig Taste’s selection of artisan cheeses to create pairings that are as easy on the budget as they are on the palate. And for this special class, we’ve knocked $10 off the enrollment fee…and no taxes required.

First Impression - Blind Lady

Mary's take:

We made it by the Blind Lady in University Heights for the first time last week. The place was packed and the vibe good. We ordered a caesar salad and the prosciutto pizza - perfect for 2! The beer selection is akin to what you'll find at Toronado, Hamiltons and O'Briens, tho IMO, not as extensive a selection.

Cons - the process. You order from a receptionist/cashier (I couldn't ascertain any other role she played) and they give you a number and a receipt that you then wait in line for a missing bartender to fill beers from. It's kind of beer centric so we were disappointed that it took so dang long to get a beer filled. This is a definite area that needs work.

Pro- community tables. Very cool vibe from mixed parties sitting together. And surprisingly, the noise level wasn't overwhelming.

Pro- Pricing. Decent food for the price. Our salad was $7 and the pizza was $11 and 2 of us were too stuffed to finish it all. Beers were priced similar to the 30th St brew pubs - maybe a bit higher.

Con -Selection... No Stone? Wassup with that? And as far as the beer selection- taps anyway - we found it to be a bit, meh. Had a 30th Street from Green Flash and a glass of Pliney the Elder. Really was hoping for a surprise or two among their tap selection

Overall, we'll be back and watch the progress but at this point, there isn't enough differentiation to give it preference over our more local haunts.

George's take:
Yes, pizza was good, and fairly priced for how tasty it was. Beers maybe half a buck or so higher in price than O'Brien's, Hamilton's, etc. I'm not a hop monster, but there were still a few selections on the list that made me happy. Can't speak to the bottle selection, as I didn't get a good look at the cooler, but seemed limited compared with the other great pubs. Also had a Caesar salad. Decent enough, but the anchovies were way too fishy, and I need anchovies on my Caesar!

The crowd was nice, mostly locals. Ran into one of the tenders at Hamilton's. Even saw Sampson's mom from the bark park there. Parking in this neighborhood sucks. But we enjoyed the crowd inside, not too noisy and mostly being good.

As M sez, the process is awful. They make you work to get a beer. And after paying, we had to wait on the bartender both times to get a beer, as she seemed to wear more than one hat. The seating is problematic, as in most pubs. But since these folks seem to be playing the restaurant side as much as the beer side, I think they need to figure out a better way. After ordering and paying for your food, then waiting to get your beer, you look for a seat. Frankly, after I've ordered and paid for food, I don't want to hope I find one. They need to lose the line of people waiting to order and pay(it got quite long), and hire a server or two to take your orders after you've found a place to sit. The process in place will turn many off.

Some bugs to be worked out, but we'll check them out again.

Batten down the hatches...a Toronado is coming!

For a couple months now we've been trying to get in front of the decision makers at one of our favorite local beer pubs - Toronado - and today was the day we succeeded...woo-hoo! We met with the owner Ian - a great guy who worked up at the original (legendary) Toronado in San Francisco's Lower Haight for more than a decade before migrating south. ToronadoSD opened on the epicentre of tapdom - 30th Street - just before Memorial Day weekend and they've already become a key stop on the beer lover's unofficial tour of San Diego. (See Pete Rowe's recent San Diego UT article here.

We've scheduled a promotional event on Tuesday, September 23rd. Mark your calendars and plan to come out and enjoy some tasty Taste cheeses with some of the best taps in San Diego.

Event - Complimentary Taste Cheese Sampling
When - Tuesday, September 23rd 7-9pm
Where - ToronadoSD
4026 30th Street
http://www.toronadosd.com/

The Avery Experience at Hamilton's Tavern

A few weeks ago we were part of the inaugural beer dinner at one of our favorite local haunts Hamilton's Tavern. In the bar's previous life it was known as Sparky's Broadway Pub, and while it had it's own divey charm, the best beer they offered was one marketed by clydesdales.

Well times change and when the bar changed hands a couple years ago, a lot more than the name changed. In just a few short years, the new ownership have taken a fairly run-down local watering hole, and morphed it into one of San Diego's premiere destinations for beer afficionados.

When Hamilton's owner Blair showed us his ambitious menu for The Avery Experience beer dinner, we have to say, we questioned whether the bar could pull it off. After all, a 5-course menu is tough for restaurants to execute well, but Hamilton's is a bar. And one that had yet to even try a basic sit-down. And when you add the fact that they planned to serve 3 different beers for every course - that's right...15 beers in all! - we frankly wondered how he'd ever make it work.

But make it work he and his excellent staff did! They somehow managed to serve all 5 courses and 15 beers to more than 40 guests seated snugly - using just half of the bar. The main bar remained open and was packed, further adding to the circus-like atmosphere of the event. Somehow, amid all the organized chaos, we managed to be fed a pretty fine meal and drank a wide range of crazy beers, while learning about each of them from their creator Adam Avery. The Avery Experience...was a great one!

Here is a quick recap of the menu. Note that the beers were grouped, not by style, but by ABV (alcohol content) and I neglected to capture that info. I do know that the first course beers were around 6-7% and the final ones were all over 15%. Whew! You can visit http://www.averybrewing.com/ for more info on the beers - or stop into Hamilton's and try them yourself.

The Avery Experience Dinner at Hamilton's Tavern

8/19/08

First Course: Heirloom Tomato Salad w/Herbed Goat Crostini
Beers: Karma Ale, White Rascal, India Pale Ale

Second Course: Spinach Salad w/Chicken, Walnuts & Raspberry Vinaigrette
Beers: Ale to the Chief, Collaboration Not Litigation Ale, 15 Anniversary Ale

Third Course: Pork Ribs w/Avery Mephistopheles' Stout BBQ Sauce, Cole Slaw, & Taleggio/Comte Cheeses from Taste
Beers: Salvation, The Reverend, Hog Heaven

Fourth Course: Grilled Steak, Potato Salad & Fourme d'Ambert/Fiscalini 18-mo Cheddar Cheeses from Taste
Beers: The Dictator Series - The Maharaja, The Kaiser, The Czar

Fifth Course: Eclipse Chocolat Truffles, 5-year Farmer's Gouda
Beers: The Demon Flight: The Beast, Samael's Ale, Mephistopheles' Stout