Tag Archives: Amazon Imperial Red

by Becki | July 9, 2011 · 8:57 pm

Faultline Brewing Company

I’m in Los Altos for the 32nd Annual Arts and Wine Festival this weekend, and got a chance to hang out with my friend Grayson at a brewery that he used to work at (as the brewer’s assistant).

We met in college. Grayson was a senior, living in a house of senior guys. I was a freshman, living in the dorms with my two best friends. Gray and “the Brew” as we so aptly named their house full of boys who brewed beer, basically took care of us the entire year, and we ended up becoming amazing friends to this day. Gray, have I told you how awesome you are?
We went to Faultline Brewing Company in Sunnyvale.
I ordered a style of beer that I’d never tried before – Best Bitter. I didn’t read the description before I ordered and had no idea it was nitro-pushed until it arrived.
Stupid evil bad camera blurriness.
That’s better! It was so pretty, watching all that gas as it seemed to cascade down the glass, dissolving into crystal clear beer. I have to say, I’ve never been a huge fan of nitro-pushed beers. I’ve found them to be bland and watery when they’re served on nitro, but this was amazing! Beautiful creamy head that lasted the entire glass, smooth body with a slight caramel note on the tongue, and a very mild kick of bittering hops. I have been converted!
Return of the evil, blurry camera. Apparently it didn’t appreciate my selection of food – I got fire roasted veggies tossed in a fresh basil pesto. They came with mashed potatoes, which I requested have tons of garlic and bacon in them. Needless to say, those potatoes were the first to go…
Gray ordered the tri-tip. My camera approved of his selection apparently…
I finished with Faultline’s IPA – very mild on the IBUs (50), but still delicious. I’ve yet to find a hoppy beer that’s too intense for me. Stone’s Ruination didn’t really blow my mind. I actually found Amazon Imperial Red to be more intense. Any suggestions?
Gray, being the genius brewer that he is (and also a Cicerone Certified Beer Server), has been helping me with my studying for the Cicerone Certified Beer Server test. I don’t want to half-ass this thing – If I get a question right because I guessed on a multiple choice, that’s not good enough. This is information I actually ENJOY learning about! Anyway, Gray was incredibly patient last night, teaching me about enzymatic mashes and how they’re needed for converting the long strands of starches into fermentable sugars. He also walked me through decoctions and kegging. Awesome.

Good food, great beer, one amazing friend.
Then I tried my first macaron and almost gagged on the sweetness! I finished it though. I’m not one to waste food.

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Filed under brewery, Drinks

Tagged as Amazon Imperial Red, art festival, Best Bitter, Certified Beer Server, Cicerone, college, Faultline Brewing Company, fire roasted vegetables, Grayson, IPA, Los Altos, Macaron, NEED MORE HOPS, Stone Ruination, Sunnyvale, tri-tip, UCSB

by Becki | May 20, 2011 · 7:32 pm

Apocalypse Eve

Have you all decided on what your last meal would be? We went all out tonight since, you know, the Rapture begins tomorrey and all.

Oh come on, you knew it had to be Ladyface.
I was actually here to celebrate Friday, and to claim my $1 Ladyface Ale (I got the Amazon Imperial Red) that I won thanks to a close guess at what their Mystery Cask #1 beer style was. My guess was a Flanders red ale aged in a rum cask. Apparently it was an aged kriek, but they were generous enough to think that was close enough.
As usual, I had to start with some pommes frites and red ale ketchup.
They’re not sweet potato fries, but they’re still pretty danged good!
The roommates and I split the Wood-Fired Mini Burgers. Turns out, it’s kind of difficult to split two mini burgers among three people, but we all got an averaged-sized bite.
We also ordered the Strawberry Fields Salad and the Flatbread of the day – roasted red peppers and spinach.
This is one thing I LOVE about living in California – strawberries are always in season. Or, if they’re not in season, they still taste pretty freakin’ good. This salad was perfection on a plate. Arugula, butter lettuce, strawberries, goat cheese and walnuts. I’m a sucker for goat cheese!
I’ve never tried Ladyface’s flatbread before. I have NO idea why! This was incredible! A thin, crispy herbed crust topped with generous amounts of cheese, sweet roasted peppers, wilted spinach and a sprinkling of basil.

This is one of those foods that I cry tears of joy over. A lot of my meals involve me crying…

Oh boy. More tears. This is their new Chocolate Porter Torte. This delicate torte is served warm and topped with slowly melting gelato. Beware, I think they put crack into this. I would fight to the death for the last bite – it’s THAT good. I fear the bread pudding may have been replaced as my favorite dessert here. Sorry, bread pudding – you were great, but your new sibling is so much better!
I’ve got a late night ahead of me, so we ordered a pot of french press. Yet ANOTHER thing that I stupidly haven’t tried at Ladyface yet. I think they put crack in the coffee too…

Disclosure: Ladyface does not actually put drugs into their food and/or beverages. They’re NATURALLY addictive!

Happy Rapture Eve! What would you eat for your last meal?

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Filed under Apocalypse, Rapture

Tagged as Amazon Imperial Red, Apocalypse, Chocolate porter torte, End of the World, flatbread, french press, goat cheese, Ladyface, Ladyface Ale, Last meal, mini burgers, pommes frites, Rapture, red ale ketchup, roasted bell pepper, strawberries

by Becki | May 17, 2011 · 7:08 pm

Ladies at Ladyface!

Last night, we had the first meeting of the Ladies at Ladyface: The Fermentables & Comestibles Education and Tippling Society. It was a WONDERFUL way to celebrate the start of the American Craft Beer Week.
Our group consisted of thirteen ladies total, including Cyrena, the owner of Ladyface, as well as Nancy, the president of the Maltose Falcons.
We had 8 pitchers at the table, full of Ladyface goodness, and spent over an hour tasting and learning about the Ladyface brews, the specific differences between the malts and hops that they use, and then just hung out chatting for another two hours!
Our first taste was the Ladyface La Blonde. This is the lightest beer that they make. It’s very popular with the people who come in looking for a Budweiser or Corona. The only difference? It actually TASTES good! Good tasting beer – What a conundrum, right?
Up next was the La Blanche Wit. This wheat beer has a lovely banana/clove smell from the amarillo hops, and a permanent chill haze thanks to the extra proteins from the wheat that precipitate. Ladyface’s Wit is a really smooth sip for those new to beer.
Blind Ambition used to be my favorite before I learned some respect for IPAs. Ladyface’s equipment doesn’t have temperature regulation down to a tee yet, so everytime I try Blind Ambition, I’m getting something a little different. I’m okay with this. This latest batch is slightly sweet, with a thick mouthfeel and lots of toffee/caramel notes. This is also where I started to feel a little soft around the edges.
The Trois Filles Tripel. A triple is a golden ale with a higher alcohol content. This one is pretty sweet (my mom loved it, being a wine drinker), and 8.4% ABV. I think this one was quite popular amongst our group – but I was waiting on the edge of my seat for what was next: the IPAs!
Ladyface IPA. They have two IPAs here. Ladyface IPA clocks in at 6.9% ABV and IBU 70. This one is for the intermediate IPA appreciators. You’ll learn a lot about quality IPAs here!
CHESEBRO IPA!!! I’m not excited about this one at all, as you can tell. Chesebro is honestly my FAVORITE craft IPA of all time! 9.5% ABV and IBU 100. This brew is for the real IPA lovers! I love amber beers most of all (hence why Blind Ambition was my previous fave), but I LOVE a hoppy beer as well. Chesebro is the best combination of the two. Ladyface brews this with ELEVEN different hop additions!

Okay, I’ll stop ranting and raving about that and move on to the next one…
Ever since I had Picture City Porter, I’ve felt the need to sprinkle coffee grounds on all of my porters and stouts in order to fully appreciate them.
This porter is 2% coffee. They put five gallons into each barrel, add chocolate malts and push it with nitrogen (creating a finer carbonation so it’s smoother). The result is, as my mom described it, the perfect breakfast beer. No, not because I drink beer with breakfast (unless it’s Shop Brew day!), but because the coffee flavor is so in-your-face, yet the beer is so smooth that you could honestly imagine sitting down to a hearty sundried tomato, goat cheese and spinach omelette, and sip a room temperature glass of porter instead of coffee.

Ooooh, yeaaah!
This baby is the special release: Amazon Imperial Red! Nancy worked with Brewmaster Dave to develop this amazing Imperial Red. (Nancy, I still want to know how you got that head retention!!!)
This. Is. Perfection. In a glass. You guys know I like ambers by now. You know I like hops. This beer is BIG and BOLD! ABV 9.2%, IBU 100, with a rosy red amber hue. I may have cried quiet tears of joy. I definitely thanked Nancy excessively for brewing this masterpiece… with more silent tears of joy…
And yet, Nancy had one more surprise up her sleeve!
Brut du Faucon – a 11% ABV champagne beer, brewed by the Maltose Falcons. This sweet, bubbly beer was my mother’s favorite. This one is very delicious, and very dangerous. It’s an easy-drinker, and tasty to boot. If you’re not keeping track, watch out! I had a few sips, then ordered a full size glass of the Amazon Imperial Red.
Dispersed between the tastings were lessons on different roasted malts…
and a giant pitcher of whole leaf hops was passed around for education purposes. I may have monopolized this pitcher, and taken two hop flowers for photographic purposes… Said hop flowers may or may not have fallen to pieces in my new Ladyface sweatshirts and coated the left pocket with hop resins…

It was an AMAZING night.

The Ladies at Ladyface: Fermentables & Comestibles Education & Tippling Society is open to all women with good taste in beer, and meets every third Monday of the month! If you can say it twice after two beers, you’re out of the club!

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Filed under Drinks

Tagged as Amazon Imperial Red, Blind Ambition, Chesebro IPA, La Blanche Wit, La Blonde, Ladies of Ladyface, Ladyface, Ladyface Ale, Ladyface Alehouse, Ladyface IPA, Maltose Falcons, Picture City Porter, The Fermentables & Comestibles Education & Tippling Society, Trois Filles Tripel