The results of an IPA tasting in celebration of the end of the 2008-2009 school year. I'm not going to go into huge detail, but here are some of the beers in contention:
Green Flash Imperial IPA: I really like the Green Flash West Coast IPA, and this Imperial is exactly right in my view. It's a jacked-up version of the West Coast. Copper color, nice full malt body without too much sweetness, and plenty of both bittering and dry hop profile. Delicious and highly recommended, my favorite so far.
Left Coast Hop Juice: "Left Coast" is the brewing arm of Oggi's Pizza and Brewing in SoCal, but unlike BJ's or JT Schmidt's, apparently Oggi's makes serious beer. This one calls itself a Double IPA, and makes a point of telling you on the bottle that they use three forms of hops: extract, pellets, and flowers. Like the Green Flash, Hop Juice is copper colored with plenty of malt to balance the hops. I found this one good if not great. It lacked the piney, citrus-y, floral hop "stickiness" that I love in a well dry-hopped ale. Nonetheless, a very good showing and I would definitely like to sample it on tap.
Port Brewing (Pizza Port) Wipeout IPA: Unfiltered IPA, with a golden, but slightly orange hue. Like Stone's IPA, this one uses only Centennial hops, a policy I'm not particularly fond of. I like Centennials just fine, but use of a single varietal tends to render a beer a little two dimensional. Wipeout is much lower in alcohol than the previous two at 6% abv, but it packs a nice bitterness with a good, not great, dry-hop stickiness. Less malt than the Imperial and Double, of course. This is a "session" IPA, and for that it's quite good.
Alesmith IPA: Bottle conditioned, copper golden. This one might be the bitterest of the four. Only Hop Juice has the same tang. Not much dry hop presence here, which I sorely miss. A little sweet, but well balanced with plenty of malt at 7.25% abv. I had high hopes for this one, and it's a good beer. But it's not my style of IPA. It focuses too much on the bittering hops and too little on the dry hop. However, this is a very respectable beer and if you favor an IPA that foregrounds bitterness and balance, this one could be for you.
Lagunitas Hop Stoopid: Nice. A double IPA with lots of dry hopped goodness. A definite competitor for top prize. 9% abv, I think, but excellently balanced. Paler than some of the other IPAs, with a golden orange hue. Not too sweet, and the alcohol slips by well. Delicious.
Avery Maharaja IPA: Of all of the ales sampled so far, this is objectively the best I think. It's very rich and a little less dry-hop flavor than I might like, but this is just an excellent, huge, but finely crafted, Imperial IPA. Rich copper color, plenty of tasty bitterness, and huge and complex malt body. This is a serious beer.
Moylan's IPA: Moylan's is a Nor Cal brewer that makes this IPA as well as a "double" and a "triple" IPA. I went for the entry level. At 6.5% abv, a relatively "weak" IPA, but don't take that the wrong way. A nice copper-gold look, a nice rich malt body but not too sweet, and the hops are the star, as they should be. And those hops are pretty nice. Piney, "sticky" and full of tasty dry-hopped goodness. Bitter, but not hugely so. A very nice beer with a manageable abv, but strong and well-done hopping. I look forward to the double and triple!
Deschutes Hop Henge: This one is high on my favorite "go-to" beers, but unfortunately this bottle was not good. The freshness of the hops had disintegrated, leaving plenty of bitterness and the ale's quality rich maltiness, but the hop death made this bottle un-reviewable. I still drank the whole thing though. ;)
Russian River Pliny the Elder: Big shit here in Cali. Whenever the campus pub gets a "special" beer, it tends to be a Russian River ale. I'd actually had this on tap at the Anthill, but didn't remember it well. It's a very nice IPA. Another copper colored example, and the concomitant full malt body. Tons of fresh hop aroma , skunky, citrus, pine, floral. More aggressively carbonated than others, giving it that champagne feel. It also has a very crisp, clean bittering hop profile which gives it almost a spicy, astringent (in a good way) quality. Very, very nice. Worth seeking out.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Cervezas Mexicans: Or the Great Mexican Beer Standoff
Mexican pale lagers are pretty weak to those accustomed to American craft beers. Nonetheless, sometimes on very hot summer days nothing beats an ice cold, refreshing Mexican beer. The question is which of these beers should you buy? We did a (quasi) blind tasting to compare imported Mexican macro lagers.
Before we get to the results, a note or two on methodology. We excluded darker Mexican lagers like Negro Modelo and Dos Equis Amber. We tasted the beers one at a time, without lime. (I figured that lime could profitably be added to the best beer without making it worse, and of course lime might improve bad beer as well.) Kristen was our proctor; the test was not blind for her. Brian and I tasted blind. We tasted Pacifico, Bohemia, Tecate, Corona Extra, Carta Blanca, Dos Equis Lager, Trader Jose’s Mexican Lager (available at Trader Joe’s), Sol, and Model Especial, all in bottles. Be advised that canned beers may fare differently.
My pre-test predictions were that Dos Equis lager and Pacifico would finish near the top and that Tecate would finish at the bottom.
On to the results! We had two clear winners, quite a few in the middle, and three that fared quite poorly.
The overall winner by a hair was Modelo Especial. This beer was the most golden colored of the group. Body was “weak but balanced,” and there was a little hint of hop bitterness. Other notes “my favorite,” “pleasant, if hardly bold” and “nice flavor.”
Coming in at a very close second was Bohemia. While this beer was, like all of them, “mild,” it did have noticeably more malt body than many of the others. No real notable hop, but probably only a smidge less than Modelo.(Hops were generally totally lacking from all these beers). “Easy drinking” and “clean and balanced.” Keep an eye out for it.
Both Carta Blanca and Corona were acceptable to all, although “mellow,” “sweet,” “fine, order if pressed” and “got personality like Al Gore” (Corona) and “thin, a little sweet” “nothing to it” and “no aftertaste” (C.B.) might be damning with faint praise. Either will do in a pinch.
Although only available at Trader Joe’s, “Trader Jose’s” finished fairly well although being described as “ok,” and slightly “funky”/“funny.” With a lime, it’ll do the trick and it’s definitely the value winner since it retails for $4.99 a six pack.
Sol struck us as relatively flavorful, but not necessarily in a good way: “musty,” “wheat or grain hints,” “could use a lime.”
Surprisingly, Dos Equis lager and Pacifico were down at the bottom with the real loser Tecate.
Dos Equis comments: “thin,” drinkable with no character,” “skunky,” and “yuck.”
Pacifico: “very little maltiness or richness,” “slightly dehydrated urine” color, “metallic and mildly astringent,” and more positively “easy to drink.”
Tecate: “smells very bad,” “nasty” and “weird” aftertaste/finish, “yuck.”
So what have we learned? Well, these lagers just aren’t very good for the most part. Maybe you’re better off with Negro Modelo or Dos Equis Amber. We were all pretty surprised at the low finish for Pacifico and Dos Equis Lager. I’ll definitely look for Modelo Especial and Bohemia in bottles if I’m at a bar or restaurant, and I’ll probably buy Trader Jose’s for drinking at home with lime. Corona and Carta Blanca are acceptable if not savory. Avoid Tecate (except in a michaleda) at all costs!
(Thanks to Kristen for her help, and Brian for participating. Kristen did most of the work, although there wasn’t too much and all the funny comments are Brian’s.)
Before we get to the results, a note or two on methodology. We excluded darker Mexican lagers like Negro Modelo and Dos Equis Amber. We tasted the beers one at a time, without lime. (I figured that lime could profitably be added to the best beer without making it worse, and of course lime might improve bad beer as well.) Kristen was our proctor; the test was not blind for her. Brian and I tasted blind. We tasted Pacifico, Bohemia, Tecate, Corona Extra, Carta Blanca, Dos Equis Lager, Trader Jose’s Mexican Lager (available at Trader Joe’s), Sol, and Model Especial, all in bottles. Be advised that canned beers may fare differently.
My pre-test predictions were that Dos Equis lager and Pacifico would finish near the top and that Tecate would finish at the bottom.
On to the results! We had two clear winners, quite a few in the middle, and three that fared quite poorly.
The overall winner by a hair was Modelo Especial. This beer was the most golden colored of the group. Body was “weak but balanced,” and there was a little hint of hop bitterness. Other notes “my favorite,” “pleasant, if hardly bold” and “nice flavor.”
Coming in at a very close second was Bohemia. While this beer was, like all of them, “mild,” it did have noticeably more malt body than many of the others. No real notable hop, but probably only a smidge less than Modelo.(Hops were generally totally lacking from all these beers). “Easy drinking” and “clean and balanced.” Keep an eye out for it.
Both Carta Blanca and Corona were acceptable to all, although “mellow,” “sweet,” “fine, order if pressed” and “got personality like Al Gore” (Corona) and “thin, a little sweet” “nothing to it” and “no aftertaste” (C.B.) might be damning with faint praise. Either will do in a pinch.
Although only available at Trader Joe’s, “Trader Jose’s” finished fairly well although being described as “ok,” and slightly “funky”/“funny.” With a lime, it’ll do the trick and it’s definitely the value winner since it retails for $4.99 a six pack.
Sol struck us as relatively flavorful, but not necessarily in a good way: “musty,” “wheat or grain hints,” “could use a lime.”
Surprisingly, Dos Equis lager and Pacifico were down at the bottom with the real loser Tecate.
Dos Equis comments: “thin,” drinkable with no character,” “skunky,” and “yuck.”
Pacifico: “very little maltiness or richness,” “slightly dehydrated urine” color, “metallic and mildly astringent,” and more positively “easy to drink.”
Tecate: “smells very bad,” “nasty” and “weird” aftertaste/finish, “yuck.”
So what have we learned? Well, these lagers just aren’t very good for the most part. Maybe you’re better off with Negro Modelo or Dos Equis Amber. We were all pretty surprised at the low finish for Pacifico and Dos Equis Lager. I’ll definitely look for Modelo Especial and Bohemia in bottles if I’m at a bar or restaurant, and I’ll probably buy Trader Jose’s for drinking at home with lime. Corona and Carta Blanca are acceptable if not savory. Avoid Tecate (except in a michaleda) at all costs!
(Thanks to Kristen for her help, and Brian for participating. Kristen did most of the work, although there wasn’t too much and all the funny comments are Brian’s.)
Best marinara
This sauce is best with *crushed* San Marzano (http://www.thenibble.com/REVIEWS/main/vegetables/san-marzano-tomatoes.asp) tomatoes. These crushed tomatoes come with a rich juice in the can that makes this sauce. They are often expensive, but supermarkets sometimes have them on sale at which point I stock up. Other canned tomatoes (like Muir Glen or whatever) are fine, but just not as good. You may need to add a teaspoon of sugar if you do not use Marzanos. Also, the sauce is based on a modified soffrito, which means don’t be shy about cooking those initial veggies down until they almost disintegrate. The porcinis are entirely optional, but they add a nice meaty (umami) richness without dominating the sauce. To save money, you can buy domestic dried porcini (or boletus/bolete) at farmer’s markets, or pick your own and dry them. I used “Oregon porcinis.”Finally, I used the unconventional X + X formula for some ingredients here that will be added at different times in the process to make the recipe easier to follow.
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium carrot, grated
1 large stalk of celery, diced
1 medium onion (brown/white/sweet), diced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 larges cloves garlic, minced - divided.
¼ cup chopped fresh basil + ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
¼ cup + ¼ cup red wine (Not too oaky. Taste what you use first to make sure. Big oak will ruin the sauce. An Italian Chianti or Montepluciano is fine. I used a fruity cab sauv.)
½ teaspoon dried oregano (1 teaspoon if fresh)
½ teaspoon + ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 28oz cans crushed San Marzano tomatoes
1 or 2 bay leaves
¼ cup dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in ¼ cup boiling water until soft, 20 minutes minimum, then chopped, water strained through cheesecloth and reserved (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
In a large stockpot or dutch oven, heat olive oil at medium. Add carrot, celery, onion half of the garlic, and salt. Stir well. Sauté these veggies on (lowish) medium until soft, 5-10 minutes, stirring regularly. Lower heat to medium low and continue sautéing for 10 minutes. (The idea here is to make a soffrito, which involves cooking the veggies until they almost breakdown in an ample amount of oil. This may take 20 minutes or much longer.) Add mushrooms, and ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes. Continue sautéing at medium low, stirring regularly, for 10 more minutes or until the soffrito is really soft and mushy. The garlic should not burn at this temperature and with all the other veggies in the pot. It also won’t be as soft as the other veggies, but this is ok. Some stuff sticking to the bottom of the pot is not a problem, but lower heat if there is any burning. Add ¼ cup wine and the reserved porcini water. Scrape up anything that’s attached to the bottom of the pot. Raise heat to medium-high and allow the liquid simmer and reduce for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes with juice, ¼ cup basil, ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, oregano, the remaining garlic, bay leaves, and ¼ cup wine. Stir well. You may want to thin the sauce at this point. If so, run roughly ¼ cup tap water into one of the tomato cans and add that (continue as necessary). Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally, paying special attention to scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking and burning, for 25 minutes. Next, taste for salt and pepper and season accordingly. Add the last ¼ cup of fresh basil and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat, remove bay leaves, puree with immersion blender if desired. Let cool for a few minutes and use or freeze as desired!
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium carrot, grated
1 large stalk of celery, diced
1 medium onion (brown/white/sweet), diced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 larges cloves garlic, minced - divided.
¼ cup chopped fresh basil + ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
¼ cup + ¼ cup red wine (Not too oaky. Taste what you use first to make sure. Big oak will ruin the sauce. An Italian Chianti or Montepluciano is fine. I used a fruity cab sauv.)
½ teaspoon dried oregano (1 teaspoon if fresh)
½ teaspoon + ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 28oz cans crushed San Marzano tomatoes
1 or 2 bay leaves
¼ cup dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in ¼ cup boiling water until soft, 20 minutes minimum, then chopped, water strained through cheesecloth and reserved (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
In a large stockpot or dutch oven, heat olive oil at medium. Add carrot, celery, onion half of the garlic, and salt. Stir well. Sauté these veggies on (lowish) medium until soft, 5-10 minutes, stirring regularly. Lower heat to medium low and continue sautéing for 10 minutes. (The idea here is to make a soffrito, which involves cooking the veggies until they almost breakdown in an ample amount of oil. This may take 20 minutes or much longer.) Add mushrooms, and ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes. Continue sautéing at medium low, stirring regularly, for 10 more minutes or until the soffrito is really soft and mushy. The garlic should not burn at this temperature and with all the other veggies in the pot. It also won’t be as soft as the other veggies, but this is ok. Some stuff sticking to the bottom of the pot is not a problem, but lower heat if there is any burning. Add ¼ cup wine and the reserved porcini water. Scrape up anything that’s attached to the bottom of the pot. Raise heat to medium-high and allow the liquid simmer and reduce for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes with juice, ¼ cup basil, ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, oregano, the remaining garlic, bay leaves, and ¼ cup wine. Stir well. You may want to thin the sauce at this point. If so, run roughly ¼ cup tap water into one of the tomato cans and add that (continue as necessary). Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally, paying special attention to scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking and burning, for 25 minutes. Next, taste for salt and pepper and season accordingly. Add the last ¼ cup of fresh basil and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat, remove bay leaves, puree with immersion blender if desired. Let cool for a few minutes and use or freeze as desired!
Moules Mariniere
You want a pound or so of mussels per person. I'd highly suggest buying them from a seafood market. They will be cheaper and fresher than the grocery store.
Throw away any raw mussels that have broken shells or are dead. If the mussel feels very light compared to the others, it may be dead--toss it. Recipes often say to discard any open mussels, but live ones sometimes open up in the fridge. To solve this problem, take any partially opened raw mussels and tap them firmly on the counter. If they close up, they are good. If they don't react, they're dead so toss 'em.
This is a rough estimation, but I'd say you need about 1/4 - 1/3 cup wine per pound of mussels. Any white is fine, except Chardonnay which is too oaky. I'd suggest pinto gris/grigio or sauv blanc.
Also, many of these recipes call for adding cream, a traditional ingredient. I prefer it without, but feel free.
For two:
2 pounds mussels, rinsed and de-bearded (That means you want to tear off the hair-like stuff on the mussels. Usually supermarket mussels are already de-beared, but the fish market ones are not).
1/2-2/3 cups white wine
2 TB butter or olive oil (or a mix of the two)
1-3 cloves garlic chopped, depending on how much you like garlic
1-2 shallots chopped, depending on size
fresh herbs of your choice (thyme, rosemary, tarragon, fennel)
1 bay leaf
2-3 TB chopped flat leaf parsley
[1/4 cup heavy cream is traditional, but totally optional. In fact, I prefer to omit this.]
In a large stock pot or dutch oven, heat the butter/oil at medium to a nice saute temp. Throw in the shallot and saute for 1-3 minutes, until they begin to smell good and become fairly limp and translucent. Add garlic, saute for another minute or two but avoid browning the garlic. Add the wine (and cream if you're using it), half of the herbs you're using, the bay leaf, parsley and some salt and pepper (the mussels will release some salt, so salt it less than you might think). Raise heat and bring this to a boil. Add mussels, cover the pot and turn the heat down to med or med-low. Steam mussels for 3 minutes. Check them and see if they are all open. (Sometimes the ones on top will be open and the lower ones are not.) When the large majority of mussels are opened, you're done. This should take less than 10 minutes, and may be done when you check them the first time. Add remaining herbs and parsley and stir. Discard any mussels that are not open, serve in bowls with plenty of broth (the best part) and either good crusty bread or Belgian style fries. (To avoid grit, you may strain the broth through a cheesecloth lined sieve before adding the final herbs. If you chose to add cream (1/4-1/2 cup), do that after you've strained but before the herbs).
Throw away any raw mussels that have broken shells or are dead. If the mussel feels very light compared to the others, it may be dead--toss it. Recipes often say to discard any open mussels, but live ones sometimes open up in the fridge. To solve this problem, take any partially opened raw mussels and tap them firmly on the counter. If they close up, they are good. If they don't react, they're dead so toss 'em.
This is a rough estimation, but I'd say you need about 1/4 - 1/3 cup wine per pound of mussels. Any white is fine, except Chardonnay which is too oaky. I'd suggest pinto gris/grigio or sauv blanc.
Also, many of these recipes call for adding cream, a traditional ingredient. I prefer it without, but feel free.
For two:
2 pounds mussels, rinsed and de-bearded (That means you want to tear off the hair-like stuff on the mussels. Usually supermarket mussels are already de-beared, but the fish market ones are not).
1/2-2/3 cups white wine
2 TB butter or olive oil (or a mix of the two)
1-3 cloves garlic chopped, depending on how much you like garlic
1-2 shallots chopped, depending on size
fresh herbs of your choice (thyme, rosemary, tarragon, fennel)
1 bay leaf
2-3 TB chopped flat leaf parsley
[1/4 cup heavy cream is traditional, but totally optional. In fact, I prefer to omit this.]
In a large stock pot or dutch oven, heat the butter/oil at medium to a nice saute temp. Throw in the shallot and saute for 1-3 minutes, until they begin to smell good and become fairly limp and translucent. Add garlic, saute for another minute or two but avoid browning the garlic. Add the wine (and cream if you're using it), half of the herbs you're using, the bay leaf, parsley and some salt and pepper (the mussels will release some salt, so salt it less than you might think). Raise heat and bring this to a boil. Add mussels, cover the pot and turn the heat down to med or med-low. Steam mussels for 3 minutes. Check them and see if they are all open. (Sometimes the ones on top will be open and the lower ones are not.) When the large majority of mussels are opened, you're done. This should take less than 10 minutes, and may be done when you check them the first time. Add remaining herbs and parsley and stir. Discard any mussels that are not open, serve in bowls with plenty of broth (the best part) and either good crusty bread or Belgian style fries. (To avoid grit, you may strain the broth through a cheesecloth lined sieve before adding the final herbs. If you chose to add cream (1/4-1/2 cup), do that after you've strained but before the herbs).
Hot Buttered Rum (and love)
For those frigid southern California nights...
Hot Buttered Rum Batter (10-15 servings)
-Stolen and slightly modified from Ye Olde Internetees-
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups dark brown sugar
2 Tb honey
1 Tb vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1 Tb pumpkin pie spice + ¼ ts ground cloves + ½ ts ground cinnamon + ¼ ts ground nutmeg
OR
1 Tb cinnamon + ½ ts ground cloves + ½ ts ground nutmeg (fresh ground is best, of course)
Dark or golden rum
Boiling water
Nutmeg to garnish (optional)
Cinnamon sticks to garnish (optional)
Whipped cream to garnish (optional)
With hand-mixer or standing-mixer cream butter, sugar, honey, vanilla, salt, and spices into an even paste. Mix enough so that the ingredients have incorporated into a uniform paste with no chunks of butter. Do not overmix so that the butter begins to melt.
Place batter in an airtight container and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until firm. Batter can be refrigerated for a week or so, and can be frozen indefinitely. If frozen, divide up into two tablespoon balls before freezing.
For each mug, use two tablespoons of batter. Add 2-3 oz. rum, fill with boiling water and stir until batter dissolves.
Garnish as desired, or don’t.
(This is a sweet recipe, so I wouldn’t recommend adding more than 2 Tb of batter per mug. If you want something a little richer but less sweet, cut the sugar by ½ cup and try adding 3 Tb of batter per mug. Also, don’t skimp with light rum. It’s a waste of your damn time.)
Hot Buttered Rum Batter (10-15 servings)
-Stolen and slightly modified from Ye Olde Internetees-
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups dark brown sugar
2 Tb honey
1 Tb vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1 Tb pumpkin pie spice + ¼ ts ground cloves + ½ ts ground cinnamon + ¼ ts ground nutmeg
OR
1 Tb cinnamon + ½ ts ground cloves + ½ ts ground nutmeg (fresh ground is best, of course)
Dark or golden rum
Boiling water
Nutmeg to garnish (optional)
Cinnamon sticks to garnish (optional)
Whipped cream to garnish (optional)
With hand-mixer or standing-mixer cream butter, sugar, honey, vanilla, salt, and spices into an even paste. Mix enough so that the ingredients have incorporated into a uniform paste with no chunks of butter. Do not overmix so that the butter begins to melt.
Place batter in an airtight container and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until firm. Batter can be refrigerated for a week or so, and can be frozen indefinitely. If frozen, divide up into two tablespoon balls before freezing.
For each mug, use two tablespoons of batter. Add 2-3 oz. rum, fill with boiling water and stir until batter dissolves.
Garnish as desired, or don’t.
(This is a sweet recipe, so I wouldn’t recommend adding more than 2 Tb of batter per mug. If you want something a little richer but less sweet, cut the sugar by ½ cup and try adding 3 Tb of batter per mug. Also, don’t skimp with light rum. It’s a waste of your damn time.)
First post.
I'm going to use this blog as a place to dump recipes that I think are worth preserving. Perhaps you'll like them too.
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