Category Archives: beer

by | June 28, 2011 · 8:44 am

Beer Tasting: German Pilsner

Just so you know I’m not a beer expert! I’m in the learning process and absorbing as much alcohol…information as I can. Last night I had lots of studying to do – namely tasting two separate German Pilsners and taking notes on the appearance, smell, taste, mouthfeel and overall impression. I picked up two bottles from the Total Wine import section and got to work!
First up, EKU Pils. This one didn’t get great reviews on BeerAdvocate (which I didn’t look up until I got home. Whoops…) so I decided to taste the “bad one” first.
Appearance: Pours a straw yellow color. 1 inch of head that dissipates almost immediately.

Smell: Clean, slightly grassy/earthy flavor.

Mouthfeel: Medium-high carbonation. Rolls nicely on the tongue. Zesty.

Overall: This beer is very light, bland and clean with a mild hops bite at the end. I’m not a fan of light beers in general, and this one goes on the list of “never try again”.

Lammsbrau Organic Pilsner
Appearance: Pours a clear straw yellow. 1/2 in head that retains.

Smell: Herby (marijuana/skunk) essence on the nose. (This can be due to the use of hops or lager yeast (good) or attributed to the green bottle which allows UV rays through and makes the beer “light-struck” and therefore skunky (bad)). From what I’ve read, the majority of Pilsners do have a slightly skunky essense that’s desirable for that style.

Taste: Very light sweet malt. After the initial maltiness, there’s a hint of lime.

Mouthfeel: Lively, medium carbonation. Allows for the lime to come through at the end.

Overall: A very pleasant session beer. Light and clean but not underwhelmingly so.

As you can see, my reviews aren’t quite up to “beer expert” standards, but that’s the point of learning!
LEARNING IS GOOD!

After those light beers (I had 1/3 of each), I needed something a little more full bodied to end the night with.
By “a little more” obviously I meant “a beautiful facepunch more”. Uinta Brewing Company Seventeenth Anniversary Barley Wine Ale.

A beautiful facepunch indeed.

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by | March 16, 2011 · 9:52 am

Shop Brew!

On Sunday I ventured to Woodland Hills for a day of beer brewing with the Maltose Falcons. Thanks to daylight savings time, I woke up late and barely had time to shove a piece of toast in my mouth before I had to leave.
Luckily, I arrived on time, we got our recipe and set to work gathering the ingredients. And yes, that DOES indeed say 36LBS of pale malt, 9lbs of Brown Malt and 6lbs of English Caramel. We were brewing 30 gallons of beer that day – serious stuff!
We got to work choosing our malts.
And weighed out the hops.
Then we got to work mashing the grains.
After letting the grains steep at 154 degrees for 60 minutes, we mashed out by running 168 degree water through the grain bed until it drained all the sugars, starches and proteins into another tun.
Once we’d filled the second tun, we brought the wort up to a boil…
And added the bittering hops.Then we had another 45 minutes to wait until the addition of the aroma hops, so we got to work feeding ourselves – the most important part.
Oops, that’s not the food I meant to show you…
There we go! Espresso shortbread cookies…
And of course my Oatmeal Stout Brownies with Caramelized Bacon. Those disappeared within half an hour!
Along with more beer. It’s the rule of brewing – “Relax, don’t worry. Have a homebrew.” And we sure did!
I also brought along a growler of Dos Beckis, which was quickly consumed!
After the final addition of the aroma hops, we quickly brought the temperature of the wort down with an immersion wort chiller that connects to a regular garden hose. The copper coil carries the cold water through the wort, rapidly bringing the temperature down.
We then filled all of the carboys or fermenters and oxygenated them before pitching in the yeast.
The cold break – the proteins have been chilled so quickly that they coagulate and then drop to the bottom of the carboy, resulting in  clearer beer.

My beer had a very active day yesterday, screaming away through the airlock in my closet, but it’s quieted down a lot already. Possibly TOO much. For now, I’m going to…

“Relax, don’t worry. Have a homebrew.”

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Filed under beer, beer is good, beer tasting, brewing, Caramelized Bacon, Dos Beckis, home brew beer, home brewing, Maltose Falcons, Oatmeal Stout Brownies, Woodland Hills

by | March 13, 2011 · 3:39 am

Ladyface with Bloggers!

Last night I met up with eleven other bloggers and one of my very favorite places in the world: Ladyface.
We got seated inside at one of the long tables, but after a few minutes of screaming at each other trying to be heard, we requested a swap for a table on the patio.
I ordered my favorite: Chesebro IPA. 9.8%ABV and soopah hoppy!
It made me soopah happy.
Kaitlin being a super-creeper and getting WAY better, clearer pictures than I got. I’m not jealous of her camera or skills at all…
From left to right: Dan, Monica, Katherine and Amanda.
Left to right: Danielle and Kelley.
Jessie!
Andy!
We spent the entire night drinking delicious beer, consuming wonderful food, but most importantly, talking incessantly about beer, blogging, food, life in general, and having the most amazing, fun Friday night with new friends. I never would have thought that I would be spending a Friday night with some people that I met on the internet, and ENJOYING myself at that, but I’m hooked!
And then Amanda did the downward dog.
And our night was complete.

We’re all waiting for the group pictures to show up – I think Jessie and Kaitlin have those in their possession. I can’t think of a better way to spend my Friday than at Ladyface with good beer, good bloggers and great friends.


WHEN IS THE NEXT MEETUP??

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Filed under Becki Kregoski, beer, blogger meet-up, brewery, Chesebro IPA, IPA, Ladyface, Ladyface Ale Companie, Ladyface Alehouse and Brasserie, NEW WEBSITE, sweet potato fries, Uncategorized

by | February 3, 2011 · 6:08 am

Urbane Cafe and The Olive Vineyard!

     Yesterday I had the opportunity to try out a new restaurant in Agoura Hills called Urbane Cafe. By “opportunity” I mean I was in the area and my roommate treated me to a sammich. I’m still waiting for my invitations to delicious restaurants, free of charge *hint hint*. 
ANYWAY, Urbane Cafe prides themselves on using fresh ingredients, freshly baked bread, and homemade sauces and dressings.
The art out front isn’t too shabby either!
The setting and service inside is very Baja Fresh-style. You order at the counter and then pick up the food when your pages goes off. My favorite part about this? NO TIPPING! 
It’s always nice to save money when you’re a starving writer/actor.
They have a good-sized menu. Plenty of choices, but not too overwhelming.
I asked for the cashier’s recommendation and ordered the So-Cal Sandwich – grilled chicken, avocado, pepper jack cheese, tomatillo salsa, green leaf lettuce and chipotle mayo.
It wound up being solely a chipotle mayo sammich – not that I was complaining! I love me some fatty foods, I just prefer to taste other ingredients at the same time.
I used about five billion napkins while consuming the mayo sammich.
I love exposed brick! If I ever am forced to move into LA, I’ll only concede if my house or apartment has an exposed brick wall.
Next door to the restaurant is The Olive Vineyard – an olive oil and balsamic vinegar TASTING ROOM aka Heaven!
So many wonderful tanks! Almost as good as beer barrels!
My roommate and I tasted tons of different balsamic vinegars – honey and ginger, tahitian vanilla, 18-year aged, dark chocolate, jalapeno and our personal favorite which we bought: cinnamon and pear!
Their olive oils are all organic (they’re still waiting for their certification on a few), and include flavors like Tuscan herb, wild mushroom and sage, Persian lime and butter – no flavors added (so they say – it’s hard to believe that olive oil can naturally taste and smell EXACTLY like butter)!

It was a good day.

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Filed under Agoura Hills, Baja Fresh, beer, chipotle-mayo sammich, everyday, exposed brick, Redemption, sammich, starving actor, tasting room, The Olive Vineyard, Urbane Cafe

by | January 25, 2011 · 10:48 am

Brewing with the Boys!

     My boys from college are INTENSE brewers and invited me up for a brew day on Saturday. I was out the door by 8am and when I arrived, they’d already gotten started! Post-college guys getting up before noon on a Saturday? 
That’s dedication to the craft!
Frank the Tank already had his mash (the grains are submerged in water and raised to a temperature that breaks down the starches into sugars) ready to sparge.
Sparging is when the wort (the liquid that contains the sugar from the mash) is drained from the mash tun (a big pot with a false bottom where you heat the mash) and water is poured over to extract as much of the sugars as possible. 
Grayson demonstrates here:
Grayson the Scholar sparging his mash in a studious manner.
When brewing, it’s important to have a homebrew on hand. This was one of Frank’s latest kegs – de-freakin-licious. If I wasn’t sure about homebrew quality before (which I was), I sure would be now! This had lovely notes of toffee and happiness.
It’s also important to be well-fed. Grayson and I ran out for propane tanks, jugs of water and burritos. I got a grilled veggie burrito (NO CHEESE/DAIRY FOR A WEEK NOW!) that was so succulent (heehee, succulent) it made me giggle. 
I placed it in a cup, which makes it taste better.
It’s also important to have beer glasses on hand. I don’t know why, but I trust Frank and Grayson when it comes to this stuff.
Frank’s Scottish Midget Ale (yes, that’s really its name) boiling away!
Chillin’ the wort with a wort chiller – an apparatus that connects to a hose or other water source that sends cold water in one end and out the other. When you place it (after sanitizing it!) in your wort, it cools it down much faster.
I will repeat – CLEANLINESS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING when it comes to brewing beer! Grayson knows this, as you can see.
Everything was going just great.
Until…
Beer pong. Oh, dear Lord.
Time ceased to mean anything.
Growlers, homebrews and six-packs covered the table.
It was a good day.

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Filed under beer, beer glasses, beer pong, burritos, college boys, homebrewing, mash tuns, sanitization, Scottish Midget Ale, sparging, UCSB, wort, wort chiller

by | January 22, 2011 · 3:59 am

Back to the Basics!

     Dairy-free for five days and already my skin is looking so much better. Crap. Obviously I’m happy that my skin is clearing up, but DAMN am I gonna miss my gelato!

I am SO thankful they carry dairy-free sorbets and soy options!
I tried a little variation for breakfast yesterday – MIGAS! I snagged this recipe from Jenna, cut it in half and substituted baked blue corn tortilla chips for regular fried, and shallots for onions.
No cheese, but it was still pretty good!
Green Monstas and Kitchen Sink Salads are back with a vengeance! This one had half a bag of mixed greens, 1/2 of a zucchini sauteed with herbes de provnce, 1/2 a cup of lentils, 1/2 a chopped bell pepper and 1/2 a can of yellowfin tuna in olive oil (the oil drained out, obviously).
I’ve missed these!
The hikes are back as well! Went on an INTENSE one this morning to enjoy the beautiful 68 degree day and now I’m full of happy endorphins!
     Today is bottling day!!! I’ll be sipping some good brews while I bottle my beer (the official name will be posted when I pour the first glass), and then cooking up an amazing meal with my new cookbook from Williams Sonoma! Tomorrow is BREWING DAY!!! I’m heading up the coast to brew with some of my boys from college. 
Have I mentioned how very awesome my life is?
😀

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Filed under beer, bottling, dairy-free, green monsta, hiking, home brewing, Jenna Weber, kitchen sink salad, Migas, Paciugo, sorbet, strawberry balsamic sorbet, Williams Sonoma

by | January 12, 2011 · 7:56 am

My First Groupon!

     Well, I finally did it. I went for it and bought myself a Groupon! I’ve been getting their daily e-mails for a few months now, and I finally found something that caught my eye. Can you guess what it is?

BEEEEEEEER!
Groupon in action!
We went to a place way up in Ventura County called Draughts. They had a huge selection of beer that was half off since we came during happy hour!
I got the sampler which included Draughts private honey blonde, hefeweizen, pale ale, IPA, amber and porter. I’m not sure if they brew on premise – the facilities don’t appear big enough for that, but I wasn’t in a big question-asking mode. I was there to relax!
We started off with an appetizer of Stuft ravioli bites.
(This place used to be called Stuft Pizza, and they are still in transition. We got the Stuft menus when we arrived…)
These were HOT, both in temperature and spice. It’s nice to know that you’re eating something that JUST came out of the deep fryer 🙂
I ordered the linguini pesto pasta. Garlicy, carby, nutty and delicious!
Oh, and have I mentioned? I haven’t been doing so well with my “January Challenge“. Dairy just doesn’t seem to want to leave me alone…
Nor I, it.
I guess I was right when I said I don’t do well with restrictions… Maybe I’ll try for February ;-P

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Filed under beer, beer sampler, Draughts, Draughts Restaurant, fried ravioli, Groupon, January Challenge, linguini pesto, Pinkberry

by | January 5, 2011 · 10:38 am

Ladyface Tuesdays!

     Ladyface has a new “thing” for Tuesdays – 20% off any cellar beers (basically any of their guest beers that are bottled). I met up with the parental unit to give it a whirl.
  
     Unfortunately, “cellar beers” are a wee bit pricey, even WITH the 20% off, so we ended up sticking with the Ladyface brews.

“Jumpin’ Juniper” – Blind Ambition infused with Juniper berries. This was served at room temperature since it comes straight out of the cask. I liked it, but I think I would have preferred it chilled.
We split the roasted vegetable dish – roasted beets (which I’ve never liked until tonight), carrots and parsnips (which I’ve never tried before tonight). Tasty, but could have used less oil and a little more salt.
Charcuterie Plate – No idea what it means, but it had crostini, cheese (which I didn’t have because of the whole “no dairy” thing), dried cranberries and dates, prosciutto and sausage.
I sampled the Chesebro IPA and wanted a glass, then it hit me. This thing is STRONG!!! 9.8% ABV!!! I had this sampler and then decided to get something a little tamer for my final beer.
REGULAR Blind Ambition = happiness!
A good time was had by all 🙂
I think I’ve found a new Tuesday tradition!
If you want to come visit, I’ll be here every Tuesday that I’m in town!

P.S. Sorry Andy and Amanda, any similarities to your “Beer Monday” idea was completely unintentional!

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Filed under beer, Blind Ambition, Chesebro IPA, dairy-free, Jumpin' Juniper, Ladyface, Ladyface Ale Companie, Ladyface Alehouse and Brasserie, roasted vegetables, Two Boos Who Eat

by | January 2, 2011 · 7:55 am

Dreams of a New Year!

     Happy New Year! Now that I have my resolutions securely down and written in stone (or in a really pretty notebook), I’m ready to share! FIRST though, I’d like to share some of the “Morning After” quotes that I heard at work today:
1. “Did anyone else wake up miles from their house and not know how they got there?”
2. “Anyone have a great story about last night?” “I do, but I can’t share it…”
3. (In reference to someone’s bruised cheek and split lip) “What happened to your face?” “I don’t know yet. I’m waiting for someone to text me and tell me.”

Yep. Happy New Year.

     NOW for my resolutions!
1. Only try NEW beers when out – unless from a local brewery, like Ladyface, Island Brewing Company, etc… Gotta support the local breweries!
Bonus points if I try beer that scares the CRAP out of me – haha, get it? Weasel Crap Beer!
2. Spend more time with family and friends.
My GORGEOUS parents!
The lovely Tanya.
Serenading Dan.
Sleepy Malachi – who is being lame and flying off to France for six freaking months.
Sweethearts Jenny and Boa.
Grayson the Thoughtful.
Beautiful Allie.
Plus TONS more. It’s a year to focus on what’s really important – the people in my life.
3. Get back outdoors and HIKE!
4. Eat more vegetables, whole grains and olive oil!
Kitchen Sink Salad contains all of this!
5. Quit my retail job.
Seriously, it’s hazardous to my health!
I know I said I was putting in my two weeks notice last week, but I chickened out when I told my sweet coworker and saw the look on her face. I’m such a people-pleaser.
6. Travel more!
Stormy Arizona deserts.
Bee parts.
Me on the road = Ecastatic!
7. Drink more Monstas!
Cuz they’re DELICIOUS! And good for me. And stuffs…
8. Spend more time in the kitchen.
And spend more time out back, with this amazing view!
I need to get back into my apron and start cooking, STAT!
9. Attend more blogger meetups!
Need I say more? No, no I do not.
10. Join the Homebrewers Association, as well as the local homebrew club, and BREW IT UP!
Beer is good! Beer is good! Beer is good! And stuff!
(Lyrics from an actual song)
11. Start my new website and blog. That’s right, I’ll be heading up an actual website this year, as well as changing the name of my blog! I’m hoping the transition will be easy for you, but there’s still some time to get used to the idea before I officially move. EXCITED!!!

     There you have it – a sampling of my resolutions! I have a few more, but decided that twenty feet of pictures was probably more than people could handle as it is. I hope you had a blessed beginning to your new year, and that you’re as excited for what’s to come as I am!
Happy New Year! Let’s make it worthwhile!

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Filed under Arizona, beer, blogger meet-up, friends, green monster, hiking, homebrewing, Island Brewing Company, kitchen sink salad, Ladyface, Morning after, NEW WEBSITE, New Year, retail, Weasel Crap Beer

by | December 27, 2010 · 8:58 am

Brewing My First Beer!

     Merry Christmas!!! I hope you had a wonderful day full of family and love and food and happiness! I’ll try to recap the foods sometime soon, but first, I need to recap a very important gift!

     One of my presents was from my brother and his wife (aka “the vegans”, now to be known as “the brewers”), and I got to utilize that today! I’ll give you one guess…

If you still don’t know, the brewers took me to pick up a homebrew kit! 
     We stopped by The Home Wine, Beer and Cheesemaking Shop in Woodland Hills to get supplies and ingredients for my first ever homebrew! 
Carboy fermenter and fermenter lock and stopper.
The home brewer’s bible.
Pitchable yeast.
6.5 pounds of amber extract.
     I’ll do a basic glazing over of the steps we took to make my beer so I don’t bore you too much. First off, and the most important step:
Try an amazing beer that you’ve never had before – this one was made with Nelson Sauvin hops that are only grown in New Zealand. The aroma is very familiar to apricot and pineapple, and the taste has a slight similarity to orange juice, with plenty of hops aftertaste. 
Me likey!
We boiled about 3 gallons of water, then added the extract and brought it back to a rolling boil.
Stirring like crazy!
Boiling sugar. Yummmm!
We added an ounce of Hallertau hops and boiled the wort for an hour, then added another ounce of hops for aroma and cooled it in an ice bath.
After the temperature had been brought down to about 75 degrees, we sanitized the fermenter and the siphoning setup with Star-San.
After draining the sanitizing fluid, we siphoned the beer directly from the boiling pot into the carboy.
Awesomeness!
Afterwards we topped it off with filtered water to bring it up to five gallons, put the stopper and air lock on, then stowed in my closet to ferment for two weeks.
I don’t have any clothes left in my closet, but I think beer is more important anyway!
     Now I just need to think up a name – any suggestions? It’s an amber ale, so I’ll probably include “amber” in the name. Maybe Dec-Amber? Too corny? 
C’mon, I need help here!

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Filed under airlock, amber ale, beer, carboy, extract, fermenter, Hallertau hops, home brewing, Joy of Homebrewing, Nelson Sauvin, The Home Wine Beer and Cheesemaking Shop, Woodland Hills, yeast