Wine, Waves & Beyond ... and Whoopie Pie!

What we used to call a BFO (Big Fat Oreo) back home, pastry chef Willie Vey (from the adorable Apple Farm Restaurant and Bakery in San Luis Obispo, CA) has transformed into haute deconstructed cuisine, featuring delectable dark chocolate,  bruleed 'fluff' and classic whoopie cream.  To add insult to injury (both the good kind) Chef Vey topped the pie with a caramel sauce made with Firestone Walker Brewing Company's cocoa-y and espresso-y Velvet Merlin Oatmeal Stout.  An amazingly big, but well-balanced beer that's been aged in bourbon barrels. 

The Whoopie Pie was paired with another Firestone Walker beer.  This time it was the much sought after 13%  limited reserve series barrel-aged American Barleywine called Abacus. Boozy whiskey and woody oak aromatics combined with milk chocolate and sweet malty undertones to make this a perfect Whoopie Pie pairing.   

If you want in on this beery Whoopie Pie goodness (along with the added backdrop of the beautiful Pacific Ocean), check out this year's Brew Masters Dinner at the Wine, Waves & Beyond which is taking place on Saturday, June 4th at 6:30 pm at the Cliffs Resort in Pismo Beach, CA.  All proceeds from this event go to support the Association of Amputee Surfers (AmpSurf).  The dinner is $60.00 and you can buy tickets to the Brew Masters Dinner as well as other WW&B events by clicking here.

Firestone beers will be paired with each dish prepared by executive chefs from area restaurants. Some of the featured pairings include the Cayucos Abalone Ceviche with Meyer Lemon Marinade and Black Bean Relish paired with Firestone Honey Blond, Hearst Ranch Skirt Steak Tacos with Pickled Exotic Garden Watermelon Radish and Kumquat Slices paired with Firestone Union Jack. 
(Click here for a complete menu.)

Houblon Who?

This is Houblon Chouffe Dobblen IPA Tripel from Brasserie d'Achouffe brewed in the heart of the Belgian Ardennes.  It's a big beer with an even bigger name. But for this beer chick, it's a perfect blend of old-world Belgian sass and new-world, west coast smack you upside the head with some hops. Insert 'Angry Birds' cheer here!

I had the opportunity to sit down at a lunch with Chris Bauweraerts (can't pronounce it), the founder of Brasserie D'Achouffe, the famous 28-year-old Belgian brewery who now acts as the brewery's ambassador, and here's what he said about my delicious Houblon  Chouffe.

This beer was first brewed in 2006 with the American market in mind.  Using three kinds of west coast hops, including Amarillo (which is my favorite hop), La Chouffe brewed a kind of Belgian Double (or Imperial) India Pale Ale, and it was really the first of its kind.  Bauweraerts amends the IPA distinction calling it an 'International Pale Ale' as this style of beer is the marriage of old-world and new-world styles that is sometimes poo poo'd by traditionalists.

I appreciate tradition and can sometimes be quite the purist, however, I love this developing style and felt that this beer was made just for me I think.  Bright and fruity, with complex malty and spicy notes and floral aromatics that starts just like a strong Saison and finishes dry and tight and grassy and citrusy.  Unfiltered, and bottle-fermented, this beer comes in at 9% ABV, which I didn't pick up on because of the supreme balance, but of which I was quite happy upon discovery!

If you love this beer, you should also try some of my other favorite Belgian (or Belgian Style) IPA's. De Ranke XX Bitter, from Brouwerij De Ranke in Belgium, Allagash Brewing Company's Hugh Malone from Portland, ME and Green Flash Le Freak from Vista, CA.

Aarti's Beer Party

I had a great time drinking beer and eating great beer snacks with my friend and fellow beer chick Aarti Sequeira, who happens to be the winner of Season 6 of The Next Food Network Star, and now she has her very own rad show called Aarti Party (She also has an awesome blog at aartipaarti.com).

I've received about a trillion emails asking everything from what glassware we used at the party, to how we came up with the beer pairings for Aarti's delicious and interesting dishes, to what beers to pick if the ones listed on her show aren't available in your area.

The first dish that Aarti made was called Chewda a crunchy Indian snack mix made with cornflakes, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, plantain chips, golden raisins and my favorite fried curry leaves. I thought that a crisp, dry and lighter bodied beer would be best here. A traditional Kolsch is perfect for its depth of flavor and its lightly sweet finish. I chose the Reissdorf Kolsch by Privat-Brauerei Heinrich Reissdorf, a brewery in Cologne, Germany.  Alternatives: Schlafly Kolsch from St. Louis, Missouri; Goose Island Brewing Co. Summertime Ale and Alaskan Summer Ale from Juneau, Alaska.

The next pairing was the Lebanese pita snacks called Arayes.  They are baked with a spicy beef and pine nut filling.  I chose the dry and nutty Deschutes Black Butte Porter from Bend, Oregon.  Don't let the look of this beer fool you.  It pours dark, but it's got a light and bright body, nutty and smoky flavors and a dry finish that works perfectly with this snack.  Also try this recipe with Anchor Brewing Company Porter from San Francisco, CA; Sierra Nevada Porter from Chico, CA and Bell's Brewery Porter from Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Finally, Aarti's Fish Tacos featured pan-seared mahi mahi with coriander and ancho chile powder, with warm corn tortillas, garlic-mint mayo, shredded cabbage, and pickled banana peppers. They were paired with Allagash White Ale) from Portland, Maine.  This beer is brewed with coriander and bitter orange peel that harmonized with the spices in the dish and also providing herbaceousness and citrus! Alternatives: Unibroue Blanche De Chambly from Chambly, Quebec; Alaskan Brewing Co. White Ale from Juneau, Alaska or Blue Moon Belgian White Ale from Coors.

Just like with wine, the right beer glass can make a huge difference in the flavor, aromatics and the mouthfeel of a beer.  Spiegelau makes the beautifully designed glassware that we used at the party.  Their Beer Classics line has a "Stemmed Pilsner Glass" that I use when I'm evaluating almost all beers.

Now I can cross "Get on the Food Network" off my bucket list!  Thank you to all who watched and wrote.  Beer is good!

Cook It: French Onion Beer Soup

Doctor Please, Some More of These

Many people think that because we are big beer geeks that we only like "big" beers. Au contraire mons frères! Just because most of the bad beer that's out there in the world (you know who you are) are Pilsner style lagers, doesn't mean that it’s the Pilsner's fault. Today, several craft breweries are making delightful light-bodied, nuanced Pilsner style lagers that are made with great ingredients and traditional methods!

One of our favorites (and an amazing take on a Rolling Stones song) is a beer from Oskar Blues Brewery in Lyons, Colorado called Mama’s Little Yella Pils. This beer is a bit of an amalgam of both German and Czech styles of Pilsner, using very traditional Czech Saaz hops as well as Bavarian hops from southern Germany. This beer also differentiates itself by using 100% pale malts, instead of the cheaper corn and rice that is found in a lot of other – ahem – lower quality beers.

This beer is deliciously refreshing, bright, crisp and dry with a completely clean finish. Perfect for a lunch with the girls or when you want to take your football Sunday to another level.

A point of interest is that Oskar Blues is a brewery that puts its beers in cans. But once again, don’t assume that a beer in a can isn’t a high quality craft beer. Today’s cans are much different than the cans of yore. They are now lined with a coating that keeps the beer from tasting metallic. Cans are also virtually unbreakable, are lighter to ship and keep the beer protected from light – which is what causes beers to be skunked (not age)!

Wanna try some other great Pilsner style beers? Try these Beer Chicks picks:

• Reality Czech - Moonlight Brewing Co
• Pikeland Pilsner – Sly Fox Brewing Co.
• Goose Pils – Goose Island Brewery