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Beer News You Can Use

Most urgently, in the domain of events, it's not yet too late to sign up & get on down to Mr. Goodbar for Wednesday's (12/13) Good Beer Club. Manager Bobby Raab has been consistently throwing down a monthly tasting that brings you hard to find and excellent beers paired with intense food and above all, a great deal of camaraderie and fun, and this month's lineup is no exception. Expect to see beers such as: New Holland Poet, New Holland Oak Aged Old Ale, Victory Hop Wallop, Boulder Never Summer, Wild Goose Snow Goose, Anderson Valley Winter Solstice, Great Divide Hibernation ‘05, Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti, EKU 28 & Middle Ages Druid Fluid. Clearly there is a bit of a winter warmer theme going on here- I'd come on down for the Oak Aged Yeti all on it's own, a robust (9.5%!) stout with 75 IBUs and a deep, mellow woodyness that rides the middle of the sip very well, yielding to a respectable malt & hops bitterness in the finish: all this topped with a thick, dirty, stick-to-the-glass head. Yum! These beers will go great with promised menu items like baked brie wrapped in puff pastry, glazed ham, cheddar mashed potatoes & assorted stout breads. Tix are $20.00, available at the bar; for info call 430-1169 or email mstrgdbr@aol.com. Also check out the beer club at their MySpace page

While we're talkin' bars, take note that Ulrich's 138th Annual Christmas party will be held Thursday, Dec 21, starting at 5 pm. Come on down for Buffalo's best complimentary buffet and Ulrich's house beer, Hoops Special Dark. This beer is made by local brewers Flying Bison, and is available exclusively at Ulrich's- read my review here, or just trust me that you wanna get a few pints in ya while this year's supply lasts. If that fails to tickle you, expect to see the usual collection of German tap handles in the lineup. If it's music you want, stop in on the 22nd for German Christmas with music by the Auslanders, starting at 6 pm. Ulrich's information & history is available 24/7 at their website: Ulrichstavern.net

Speaking of Flying Bison, what's new at the brewery? Tim Herzog was kind enough to detail it all in this short email:

We have a few things going on. Not too many events slated for January, but big beers aplenty.

We bottled the first batch (we may need to make a second) of the Herc Barleywine today. It is mostly bottled, but we will be putting up a limited number of 1/6 barrel kegs for tasting events at beer geek bars around Buffalo and the burbs. I'll get you the dates when I know them.

We still have a few cases of Imperial Porter available, so a big beer mixed pack will be available at the brewery.

If that's not enough, Bird of Prey IPA comes out February 1st, all 7.5% and 65 IBU's of it. Oh, by the way, we will be running Skye Pilot Scotch Ale until the end of January.

I have to add myself that if you didn't get a taste of their Imperial Porter at the brewfest or elsewhere, you really should hustle on down to the brewery and get yourself some. I am compelled to say that it is, in my estimation, the best Flying Bison beer yet. YET!

Exciting news coming from brewer Jay Malone over at the Pearl St. Grill. All sorts of great new beers are coming soon, and better still: they're increasing capacity! "More beer?" "Why, yes.... yes, thanks!" In Jay's own words:

Currently, we have 7 house brews available on tap, beginning with our five standards: Trainwreck-a German alt beer; Lighthouse- a blonde ale; Lake Effect- an India Pale Ale; Canal St. Oatmeal Stout- a hearty and sweet stout; and the Waterfront Wheat- an unfiltered German hefeweizen.

We also have 2 seasonal varieties available for a limited time: Face-Off Fall Lager- a well balanced lager with a complex malt flavor; and Santa's Naughty List Xmas Lager, which is a Munich Dunkel (dark) style lager, devilishly red with a bold hop finish. These are the final installments to our Lager Trilogy this year. Truly better than a lump of coal, so come in and treat yourself!

Our next round of Specialty Brews will feature Imperial brews, these will all be characterized as strong ales; BIG flavor and higher than normal alcohol content. The first to appear will be Lord Stanley's Imperial Scotch Ale, boiled extra long to bring out caramel flavor of the malt, and easing out to 10%+ alc/vol. Mid to late January, The Blizzard Imperial IPA will hit just in time to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the namesake. Hopped up to 77 IBU's (intn'l bittering units) and projected at 9% abv, this'll warm you right up. Feb/Mar will bring a Russian Imperial Stout, a black beauty, dry and around 8% abv.

We now feature the Beertube, affectionately known as "the Widowmaker", 100 ozs. of your favorite Pearl Street Brew, brought to your table and tapped by you. $19.00-25.00, serves up to six ppl.

Finally, we're going to be expanding our in house brewing capacity by 50% in the next few mos. bringing in 2 more 15 barrel fermenters to join the 4 we already have. Its gonna be a fun and diverse year for our BeerBoard.

If you haven't been down to Pearl Street recently--or ever--you really owe it to yourself to check out their tremendous tap lineup. Jay has been cranking out some great beers and their range is more diverse than ever now- and besides, the stylin' decor is a joy to behold- I refer the interested reader here, and keep your eyes on the print edition of Buffalo Rising...

Final news/event of note: If you haven't heard the thundering buzz, I am now hosting semi-regular beer & food pairing events in conjunction with Debbie down at Delish!. Ok, "thundering buzz" might be overstating it, I've only done one so far... but it was a huge success, or so the feedback seemed to indicate. My follow-up is scheduled for Friday, March 2nd, which might seem pretty far down the road to you now, but I thought my loyal readers should get the most advanced notice. The last one was a sellout! Cost is $35, and while I haven't plotted out the menu yet, I have some great ideas in mind. Come one, come all... all 20 maximum of you, anyway.

Reviews You Can Use

For this month's review I've opted to preview something you might get at, for example, the beer & food pairing I co-host at Delish!. Nothing about the turn of seasons through autumn and winter and the darkening days makes me happier than hauling out the crock pot. Hearty soups and stews are the winter mainstays round my house, and really, any meal is better with beer: why not make it... well, better. with beer. in it. I took my traditional split pea with ham hock recipe, subbed some well-suited beer for some of the liquid, and boom: a match made in heaven. Though I dare say the flavors of this pea soup as made with no beer at all would still pair nicely with the type of beer I chose.

I said "type" for a reason, as I found the actual token a little disappointing- but, allow me to back up. As I contemplated the earthy and dark flavors of the pea soup, I considered a number of beer types, from an inky porter to a bright copper vienna or munich lager, but it then occurred to me the component that could really marry this dish to a beer is: smoke. I use smoked ham hocks, so why not a smoked beer?

Rauchbier, then, is a traditional German beer, typically from the Bamberg region, which is made with a proportion of beech-smoked malt in the grist. As with all things smoked, this lends a unmistakable dryness and earthiness to foods, and so also to beers. Prior to kilning, all malt would have been smoked to some degree, and modern day varieties like to play with the types of woods used. While the likely signature example of the style is probably Aecht Schlenkerla Marzen Rauchbier, I went for one a bit closer to home: Saranac's, available in their really pretty amazing 12 pack (which has 12 different beers in it- you never see that!). I was, however, a little disappointed with the level of distinctive smoke flavor in their beer- certainly not absent, but understated for the style. In the end, the crystal malt dominated, and the hops seemed a bit limpid to boot- no lovin' on this beer down in Utica, I fear. Perhaps if you're uncertain about the Rauchbier concept, you might start with a Saranac, but if you want to really get the point, I suggest getting to the roots of the style.

I'll leave you with my version of the recipe, then, and bid you great feasting & drinking over the yuletide and into the new year!

Rauchbier split pea soup

ingredients:
16 oz dried split peas (rinsed & sorted)
2 smoked ham hocks
mirepoix
1-2 cloves garlic
2 fresh bay leaves
1/4c. parsley, chopped
salt/pepper (as preferred)
1.5q liquid (I use: box of low-sodium chix broth + bottle beer + H2O to total)

directions:
1) brown/render hocks over high heat in cast iron skillet, until you have enough fat to saute; set hocks aside
2) lightly saute mirepoix, add garlic for last 30 sec or so
3) layer ingredients in crock pot in order given above
4) cook on high for 3-4h., low for 6-7h.
5) remove hocks, return meat to soup before serving

(may take out a portion and blend if prefer more thick, or cool & defat if hocks especially fatty)