Coronado Brewing Company

It has been a busy week! My youngest son, Matt graduated from San Diego State University, with a degree in Marine Biology. The entire family came together to celebrate his accomplishment. The following day, my son wanted us all to visit his favorite micro-brewery, and had arranged a tour of their facility. We met on a Saturday morning at the Coronado Brewing Company at their tasting room/ brewery on 1205 Knoxville St in San Diego.

From the outside, the 20,000 square foot building looks like any other industrial building in the area, but when you walk in the door, you are greeted by a 750 square foot tasting room, with 25 taps, with tasting benches and tables. There is also a small gift shop area on the far end of the tasting room.

On the right side of the entrance, is a loading dock, and a wall lined with oak bourbon barrels. The bulk of the warehouse is home to a 30-barrel brewing system, along with a bottling and labelling line.

I had been aware of Coronado Brewing since about Christmas of 2013, when my son came home for the winter break with growlers of his favorite beers. Coronado Brewing Company actually opened on August 30, 1996, when there were only six micro-breweries in all of San Diego. Now there are over 90 micro-breweries in the San Diego area, and it has become the “hot bed” of craft brewing in the United States. In April of 2014, Coronado Brewing Company was named the best mid-sized brewery in the world, at an international competition in Colorado.

Coronado Brewing Company is known for its’ hoppy beers. They brew over 40 different beers a year. There are five core beers, four seasonal beers and eight specialty beers.  One of the favorites is known as Idiot IPA. But, if you look online for customer ratings, the top rated beers are Wadeorade, Orange Avenue Wit, and Islander IPA.  I must admit, I am not a hoppy beer fan. It seems that the younger crowd has more of an admiration for these styles. What I like about Coronado Brewing Company is that they have a full range of beers, which meet the requirements for almost any type of beer lover. Their Coffee Stout, Cream O’ the Hop, and Silver Strand were less hoppy, and some of my favorites. We actually bought some of the Coffee Stout, and served it at a breakfast we hosted, later in the weekend.

Earlier, I mentioned the Oak Bourbon barrels. Coronado Brewing Company has created the “Coronado Collection”. These are beers that are barrel-aged. The Barley wine is brewed with brown sugar and orange blossom honey and aged for six months in oak barrels. Continuing on this tradition, Coronado Brewing is also making their Stupid Stout and Old Scallywag, and aging them in the bourbon barrels. These beers are only available for release in January, and get snapped up by the locals at around $15/bottle. Unfortunately, they were long out of stock by the time we arrived.

If you can’t make it to the tasting room, Coronado Brewing Company Beers are available in a number of states, and 11 countries.  Despite their growing international reach, 75 percent of their beer is sold in California.

In addition to the tasting room, Coronado Brewing Company has two restaurants on Coronado. One is part of the Coronado Brewing Company facility (serving lunch and dinner); the other is Tent City Restaurant, located at the other end of the island at 1100 Orange Avenue (serving breakfast, lunch and dinner).

German Wine Pairing Dinner

It has been a few months, but our small gourmet dinner group finally got together for another wine pairing dinner. This time it was my turn to host, meaning I need to come up with the theme, and create the 5-course meal. As the Sommelier in the group, I always have the duty of determining the wine pairing for each course.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know the process...all the recipes are researched and made with authentic ingredients (even if we have to import them) and made in the traditional style. In the past we have done Sicily, Spain, Tuscany, Nicaragua, Chile, Norway, Burgundy, to name a few. This night we gathered for a full German Dinner, paired with German wine and beer.

We decided that rather than focus on a specific region within Germany, that we would create a meal that represented Germany as a whole, and with items we could have some fun with. I have always wanted to try cooking a Christmas goose, so the menu was developed around that idea. What follows is a recap of each course, and the wine that was paired.

The goal of our small group is not only to have a great dinner, paired with the perfect wine, but to also learn new cooking techniques. Our first course was the perfect example. While a soft pretzel with mustard may not be a "glamorous" opening course, it was fun and tasty. My friends, Jeff & Lisa took this as their course, and described the process of making a pretzel, plus the challenges of getting the twist...which they gave up on, and created straight pretzels (which worked better for dipping in mustard anyway). I paired this opening course with German Beer. Originally, I had only purchased a lighter Hopfen Weisse (Wheat Beer), but added a Black Lager at the last minute. I found that the original choice of the Hopfen Weisse paired best with this course, enhancing the yeastiness of the pretzels and allowing the German mustard to come through.

For our first "sit down" course, we had a dumpling soup, made by Bruce & Kathleen. The dish is known as Maultaschensuppe in Germany, and is basically a chicken broth, with homemade meat-stuffed dumplings. The dumplings are more like a ravioli, but made in a slightly different assembly process. For this course, I paired a German Rose of Pinot Noir: 2012 Meyer Nakel Rose from the Ahr region.

By this time, the goose I was cooking was not quite done, so we had a bit of a break. I opened a bottle of German Pinot Noir, to sip, as we waited. Due to the cool climate, German Pinot Noirs are very light, with fairly high acidity.

The main course was a 12 pound roasted goose, stuffed with brandied fruit. I served this along with homemade bread dumplings. If you have never tried cooking a goose, let me give you a hint...cook it like a duck, and not chicken or turkey. It is dark meat, very fatty and rich. It can be served medium to medium rare. My recipe said to cook to 180 degrees, but I took it out at 161. Next time, I would take it out at 140, as I felt it was a bit overcooked. It wasn't dry, but I think it lost something with the extra time. The brandied fruit stuffing was very good, as were the dumplings. I went straight for the traditional goose pairing: Riesling. I wanted something with some fruit, but a bit of age. I chose the Dr. Hermann 2006 Spatlese "Herzley" from Mosel. Now, before you question going from beer to rose to red, then to a white, let me explain...this is a full bodied white, and came across much heavier than the pinot noir. The slight sweetness and fruit flavors paired beautifully with the rich goose, and fruit stuffing. This is a classic that everyone needs to try at least once in their life.

Following the European tradition, the fourth course was a cheese course. I had purchased five German cheeses from igourmet.com. All were cows milk cheeses, and two were smoked. They were: Allgau Emental, Smoked Ammerlander, Cambazola, Rauchkase, and German Tilsit. Also on the cheese plate were blackberries, grapes, pecans and dark rye toasts. We paired this with a dark, fruity 2012 Dornfelder from Gerd Ansleman. This was a nice pairing, except for one cheese. The extremely strong and pungent Tilsit was overpowering, and I would leave that cheese out next time.

We ended the evening with  a dessert course of Frankfurter Kranz. My friends, Lauren and Mark created this dessert. It is a "crown cake" with layers of white cake and jam. The smooth, sweet frosting is covered with cherries and candied pecans. I paired this with a wonderful German sweet Riesling cross: 2005 Pfeffingen Beerenauslese Herrenberg Scheurebe. This worked great with the sweetness of the cake. We also ended the evening with Pharisaeer, and strong coffee, mixed with a sugar cube, Jamaican dark rum, and topped with whipped cream. Delicious!

I hope this simple recap of our German wine pairing dinner will inspire you to try one on your own. Either copy our menu, or create your own. Have fun with it. If you can't afford to go to Germany, dress up the table, buy a couple Oktoberfest music CD's and make an evening of it...just like we did!

Beer - What's the difference?

It's been two years since I wrote about beer production, so it's probably about time I circle back around, and satisfy my beer loving friends.

Last weekend, my advanced Sommelier class to a break from wine study, and we spent the day reviewing beer, cider and sake. As we worked our way through over twenty beers, it was evident that there is some confusion as to beer styles, versus beer types. Read on, and hopefully I'll make myself clear.

Lambics

When studying beer, the process is important, and one of the things a brewer must determine is what type of yeast to use. In most beer courses, you will learn that there are two types of beer: Ale and Lager. I'll argue that there is a third: Lambics. What is the difference between these three? First, Lambics are beers that are fermented with wild yeasts. There is no control over the types of yeasts, and the beers might also pick up ambient micro-organisms (brettanomyces and bacteria) which create this unique, sour beer. The typical flavor profile is dry, sharp, and sour. Sugar (faro) and fruit is often added to balance the sourness of the beer. Lambics are probably the original beer.

The two acknowledged types of of beer are Ale and Lager. Ales are fermented using top fermenting yeasts. These yeasts are no doubt, relatives of the yeasts found in the foaming heads of early beers. the yeasts ferment on top of the beer (or wort) at relatively high temperatures (59 to 68 degrees) for a few days to a week. These top fermenting yeasts leave behind complex esters and sugar, due to their inefficiency. These leftovers result in the complex flavors of ales. Ales generally have a more robust taste than lagers, and are best consumed cool (45 degrees)

Lagers really didn't come into being until the 19th century, when Emil Hansen (a brewer at Carlsberg) followed up on work done by Louis Pasteur, and isolated a pure yeast culture that fermented at the bottom of the barrel, and at cooler temperatures (39 to 48 degrees) than ale yeasts. These yeasts also take longer to ferment, producing dryer, cleaner, rounder beer with less complexity than ales. As a result of their cool fermenting yeast strains, Lagers have less yeast derived flavors, allowing for a clearer expression of the hops and grain. The word "Lager" comes from the German word "Lagerung", meaning storage, due to the long storage periods required for these types of beers.

So, depending on how you look at it, we have two or three types of beers, but that doesn't explain the styles. When it comes to styles, there are two many to discuss in a small blog like this. Heck, there are thick books written on the subject, but let me summarize a bit....there are light, pale, hoppy, malty, chocolaty, fruity, wheat, rice, corn, barley...well you get the point. Each one tastes different. In Belgium alone we find Lambics,  Hoegaarden, Red Ale, Gold Ale, Trappist, Abbey, Saison (all ales) as well as Belgian Lagers. Where Belgium is mostly known for ales, Germany is known for Lagers, like Dunkel, Vienna-style, Helles, Dortmunder, Bock and Doppel Bock. Then there are those beers that can be made either way: Altbier and Kölsch. Most British beers are Ales: Bitter, Pale Ale, IPA (India Pale Ale), Barley Wine, as well as heavier beers like Porter and Stout. Americas most popular (at least as far as sales go) are Coors, Budweiser, and Miller - all lagers.

For those of you who have read this far, I've got a couple fast facts about beer, that you can share with your friends.: 1) In the middle ages, beer was the poor mans drink, but essential to their health, as it provided vitamins and minerals, and the alcohol killed bacteria that was prevalent in the water; 2) Beer makes up 85% of all alcohol consumed in the United States; 3) China is the largest producer of wine in the world; 4) Darker beers are usually lower in alcohol and calories than lighter beers, due to the malting process, which toasts the grains, and accounts for the amount of sugars available for fermentation; and lastly 5) Ever wonder why beer is more popular among males versus females? Sour and bitter tastes trigger built-in genetic warning signs in humans that help us spot potentially poisonous foods and liquids. These senses become more acute in pregnant and nursing women, which may explain the stylistic beer preferences of men and women.

Sake

As a Sommelier, we are expected to know about all types of beverages. One that I haven't written about is Sake. I just don't run out to the store in search of sake, but a large part of the world does. This weekend, I will be discussing alternate fermentations, which includes beers, ciders and sake. So, I thought I would share some of the discussion here.

So what is sake? Is it wine, or is it beer? Wine is made from fruit (typically grapes), and beer is made from grain. Well sake is made from rice, and rice is a grain, so shouldn't sake be considered a beer? Also, sake is brewed, whereas wine is not. The challenge is that sake has a much higher alcohol level than beer (on par with wine), and is not carbonated. For our discussion, let's just say that sake is something in between a beer and wine.

Sake is actually a pretty complicated beverage to produce. The Chinese and Japanese cultures have been producing it for over 2000 years. What started as a mushy porridge type product, with low alcohol, has developed into a quite refined product. The word "sake" can refer to any type of alcoholic beverage in Japan, so in Japan, to clarify that we are talking about the rice beverage, it is called "nihonshu".

The main ingredients for making sake are: rice; water; koji mold, and yeast. Additionally, alcohol can also be added. The rice is not your typical dinner rice. First, all rice is brown in color. It is then milled, to get to the white core of the grain. When making sake, the type of rice used affects the final flavor, fragrance and texture of the sake. Also, the rice grains of sake rice (sakamai) contains a higher concentration of starches in the core. Surrounding the starches are fats, proteins, and minerals that are generally detrimental to the sake brewing process, so they are milled down, or polished (seimai). The amount that is polished off determines the degree of seimaibuai, or amount of remaining grain size. This will be labelled on the bottle of sake. The finer the milling, the higher the potential quality. Ginjoshu is rice that has at least 60% of the original grain remaining, and daiginjoshu has least 50% to 35% of original grain remaining.

Since Sake is 80% water, the source and quality of the water is very important. It is used throughout the sake brewing process. The most famous water comes from the city of Kobe, filtering slowly through the nearby Mt Rokko. It is known as Miyamizu (“Shrine Water”).

Koji Mold on rice grains

As with beer making, the starches in the grain must be converted to usable sugars. In the case of sake, the rice is mixed with a mold, called koji mold  (aspergillus oryzae), which produces the necessary enzymes to  break down the starches in glucose and sugar. Yeast is then added to the rice creating moromi (a porridge like substance). The moromi fermentation takes place in large tanks where the yeast reacts with the newly formed sugars to create alcohol.

After sitting for 18 to 32 days, the moromi is pressed, and the fermented liquid is charcoal filtered, pasteurized, blended, and alcohol level adjusted to about 16% (by the addition of water). Undiluted sake is referred to as Genshu.

Some other terms you might see on a bottle of sake are: 

• Nigori – unfiltered sake
• Honjozo – small amount of pure ethyl alcohol added for lighter, drier taste
• Namazake – unpasteurized sake – making a somewhat fresher and livelier sake. Must be kept and stored in refrigeration. There is a variation called Namachozo– a sake that is only pasteurized one time (most is pasteurized twice: once after brewing, and once before it is stored for maturation)
• Taruzake – sake that has been aged in cedar casks (taru)  
• Tokubetsu – “special” – somewhat nebulous – anything that might be special about the rice, brewing method
• Nigorizake – when the moromi is pressed, the white rice solids that did not ferment are separated from the clear nihonshu. Nigorizake is sake in which some of this white stuff (sake kasu) is left in the sake.

When it comes to pairing sake with food, the same "rules" that we use for wine pairing apply. Since sake varies, just as wine does, each Kura (sake brewery) creates it's own style. Also, most Americans are used to warm sake. The finest sake is served chilled, similar to a fine wine.

This short blog about sake doesn't do justice to the complicated processes involved in creating the beverage. My hope is that you will at least consider picking up a bottle, and exploring these interesting beverages. There is a whole new world awaiting your exploration!

3rd Annual Lake Arrowhead Brewfest

Yes, the wine guy does drink beer too! Those of you who follow this blog regularly know that I mostly write about wine, but the job of a Sommelier does include beer, sake, spirits and in some cases coffee and tea (which I'll leave to others to write about). Last year, I attended the 2nd Annual Lake Arrowhead Brewfest, and really enjoyed tasting all the different beers. This year, the Brewfest celebrated its' 3rd year, and a different venue.

The 3rd Annual Lake Arrowhead Brewfest took place in the center of Blue Jay. The tents were set up early in the day (I know, since my office is across the parking lot). Gates opened at noon, and stayed open until 6:00pm. The entrance fee remained the same as last year, at $30/person, which included a souvenir glass, a program and discount coupons for the local businesses. Steve Nieto was at the music venue, and supplied background music and the occasional announcements. Every so often, the crowd would groan and boo, when someone in the crowd dropped their beer, and the sound of shattered glass broke through the conversation.

The turnout for this years' event was larger than last year (over 500 in attendance) and there were more professional brewers and the addition of the High Desert Homebrewers Anonymous Club. A total of seven craft breweries were in attendance, including: Big Bear Mountain Brewery, Hangar 24 Brewery, Inland Empire Brewery, Stone Brewing, Green Flash Brewing, Dale Brothers Brewery and Firestone Walker Brewing. Each of these craft brewers brought anywhere from two to four beers to sample, and the High Desert Homebrewers had eight home brews, including Vanilla Bean Porter, Jackson Brown Ale, and Butterscotch Caramel Stout.

The local Mountain Brew Club had a total of 23 beers on tap. With out six pour spouts in their booth, they had to rotate the kegs around every hour so guests could have an opportunity to try all 23. I was able to sample eleven on the home brews on tap. I tend to like smoother less "hoppy" beers, and found many of the samples (particularly the craft brewers beers) to be heavy on hops, and very bitter. It appears from conversations with those tasting, bitter is in. For me, my favorites were: Drunk Monk Belgian Blonde, German Girl Oktoberfest, American Amber Ale, Mountain Pilsner, and Cherry Stout.

There were a lot of IPA (Indian Pale Ale) style beers, that were so bitter and hoppy, I actually poured a couple out (just not my style). Stone Brewery had one called "Saison de Buff". I heard great comments about this beer. It was bitter, and infused with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme...sorry, just not what I look for in my beer. As as a wine guy, I savour the aromas and aftertaste. Bitterness is typically not something I enjoy in wine either.

There was also a VIP tasting tent. Anyone who brought in canned food (or made a donation) for Operation Provider (the local foodbank) had their wrist bands punched, allowing them to taste one of four specialty beverages: Hard Cider, Blackberry Mead, Happy Sailor Ale, or a Bourbon Stout.

While sampling the numerous beers available, I ran into Jason Torres, from www.BierBuzz.com. If you are looking for write ups, and reviews of beers, I'd suggest you check out his site. Really nice guy, and he had an entire crew with him (you couldn't miss them in their matching Bier Buzz shirts).

At the end of the day, I was able to sample 25 of the approximately 52 beers available for tasting. Luckily I cut the pours short, as each vendor wanted to fill my glass at least half way. Some were poured out, and others sipped slowly, savoring each taste. It was a mix of good and bitter/sour for me. At 6:00pm, announcments were made for the winners of the homebrewers. 3rd Place went to HoneyDo Agave Wheat, by Jim Beyers; 2nd place went to Drunk Monk Belgian Blonde, by Steve Keefe, and the homebrew winner was Butterscotch Caramel Stout by Robert Regalado (in what I understand was only his third batch of beer ever made). The publics choice for craft brewer of the day was Green Flash Brewing.

Drinks on the beach

As I write this, I am sitting on the beach in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (well not really...I'm in the patio of our condo, where I can pick up a wifi signal). I was trying to come up with an article for this week, that had something to do with a quick getaway from my mountain home. Mexico is known for its' strong tequila, mezcal, and range of beers. Certainly we've all seen the Corona and Dos Equis commercials, and I've had a few already down here (not too much on the wine front in this part of Mexico, but we did go to a wine tasting on Monday, that was not very good...put on by the Tianguis Turistico). While Mexico certainly does make these beverages, it doesn't do justice to the sophistication of some of the tequilas or beers being produced. I will admit that Mezcal is still shaking off its "bad boy" reputation. 

A year ago, I wrote an article about Tequila, and my trip to the Agave fields of Mexico. I've also written about the process used to make spirits, so I thought I'd take a look at some of my favorite "umbrella drinks"...you know, those drinks you only have when you are on vacation at the beach.

Obviously the first drink that comes to mind when in Mexico is a Margarita. There is a good recap of the history (maybe) of the Margarita at the Cactus Club website, however, I have also heard that the Margarita was created at Hussongs Cantina in Ensanada, Mexico. The best I can tell, the authentic recipe is pretty simple: Rub the rim of the glass with the lime slice to make the salt stick to it. Shake together ingredients (7 parts Tequila, 4 parts Cointreau, 3 parts lime juice) with ice, then carefully pour into the glass (taking care not to dislodge any salt). Garnish and serve over ice.

The classic umbrella drink while on a tropical vacation is the Pina Colada. The history of the Pina Colada appears to start in Puerto Rico. Here is a link to a good recap of the history. The recipe for a good Pina Colada is to pour 1.5 oz. rum, 2 oz. cream of coconut and 2 oz pineapple juice into a blender with one cup of crushed ice. Blend until smooth, and pour into a collins glass. Garnish with a slice of pineapple and a maraschino cherry, and of course an umbrella.

A similar drink to a Pina Colada is the Chi-chi. I can't find much history on the Chi-chi, other than it was a take off of the Pina Colada, but made with Vodka, even though there are a few more ingredients in the "authentic" recipes I uncovered....Put in a shaker that is filled with 50% ice: 3 parts Vodka, 5 parts pineapple juice, 2 parts Crème de Cacao, 1 tsp, grenadine syrup, and the juice of one lemon. Shake, and pour into a tall glass.

One of the oldest beach cocktails, appears to be the Daiquiri. History suggests that it was created in Cuba around 1901. The most authentic recipe I can find says to combine 2oz white rum, 1oz fresh lime juice and 1/2 oz simple syrup in shaker with ice and shake well. Pour drink in a chilled cocktail or martini glass and garnish with a lime wedge or mint leaf.

I always thought that the Mai-tai was an authentic Hawaiian drink, but according to history buffs... it looks like it was a California creation. Since some of the rums originally listed for making an authentic Mai-tai are not available anymore, here is the best/closest authentic recipe I could find: Hand shake all of the ingredients (1oz Jamaican rum, 1oz Martinique rum, 1/2oz orange Curacao, 1/2oz almond syrup, 1/4oz simple syrup, and the juice of one lime) briskly with crushed ice for at least 20 seconds. Serve the Mai Tai in a double old-fashioned glass. Garnish your Mai Tai cocktail with a fresh mint sprig.

Yeah, I know, these are the drinks the tourists drink. But, when you are walking around the mercado, and talking with the street vendors, there is always someone selling the traditional cold drinks of Mexico from carts on the streets. We have stopped for some coconut water, but didn't try the Juino Tuba (a fermented drink made from palm tree sap). The most famous are Horchata (made with rice, almonds, cinnamon, and sugar), Licuados (various fruits mixed with orange juice or milk then mixed in a blender), and Aguas Frescas (made with fruit and water and again. blended). Luckily, I'm one of those people with an "iron stomach" so I will dare to eat and drink anything. So far so good!