FlavBlog

I enjoy good beer, the only thing left for me to do is to make it myself (something I’m in serious discussion/thought about doing). By beer I don’t mean the absolute crap, that the politicians in D.C. suck down in the name of votes, I’m referring to beer that has complex flavor, that says life is good, that is usually not mass produced, that can give you a headache after one glass, and that uses a careful selection of ingredients.  This summer is no different because I’ve been tasting some outstanding beer.  I thought it was only appropriate to do a gigante post on some adventures around beer that I’ve enjoyed this summer. This includes travels that had a beer adventure, a great book on beer I read, a festival I attended, and a recipe we made involving brew.

I’d like to start with a book I read after a recommendation by Seed Magazine called Froth: The Science of Beer. I actually picked up a copy on our recent “food rampage” trip to Portland (link via Dawn and Eric, Wright Eats) which of course always includes an hour or more in Powell’s City of Books.  Mark Denny writes for all types of readers because he puts the more difficult math and science it at the end of the chapter so people can skim or skip it if they aren’t into math.  He talks about where the bubbles in beer come from, how they move about the glass, and why different types of beer have their various characteristics.   He dives into the history and advances in beer making, not forgetting to describe in depth how and why America has 3-4 major “macro-breweries” that manufacture what he basically calls excrement.  Upon reading this book, I learned quite a bit about the whole process for the microbrew and the homebrewer.  I have a totally new appreciation for how vital the strain of yeast is in making a quality beer.  By weaving in the science  I now feel like I really understand how beer is constructed like through a trial an error process, how it gets its amazingly divergent flavor profile, and the beauty of the variety in hops and malt selection.

Here are a few of the beers that I’ve recently tasted and enjoyed:

Dog Fish Head Palo Santo Marron: ABV 12% | Dog Fish

This is beer is a very serious brown ale aged in handmade wooden brewing barrels. The casks are made from Paraguayan Palo Santo wood.   Palo Santo means “holy tree” and this wood has been used in many South American wine-making communities.  The pour was all coffee and caramel-like in the glass.  The head doesn’t stay around very long, but there is a bit of it left around the edge of the glass after it falls.  This beer was very smokey on the initial smell, with a rum like quality that made me think of a Captain Morgan being poured.  The taste profile was quite different from a standard brown ale…it was much more complex with dark fruit (maybe even a little fig), coco, and some definite smoked wood flavor.  The mouthfeel wasn’t its strongest suit because it seemed a bit more watery than one would expect for all the complexity of the taste.  The mouthfeel would not deter me from absolutely recommending it however.  You will notice that it has very high alcohol content (12% ABV) so  it is a sipping beer for sure.  I’d like to try another one on a rainy day in fall when this darker stuff is more typical of what I drink during that season.

Double Wide India Pale Ale: ABV 8.5% | Boulevard Brewing Co.

I used to drink Boulevard beers (Kansas City, MO) back when I lived in Nebraska.  It was one of the few decent local micros on tap in many of dingy bars I hung out in as a poor Ph.D student.  However, back then Boulevard was mostly known for their Boulevard Wheat beer, which is very popular in that area and served with lemon.  So when I noticed the Double Wide IPA on the shelf I was nearly in shock that they made such a potent brew.  To be frank, I wasn’t expecting the pungent-like qualities of the Northwest IPA I enjoy regularly out here in Seattle.  This beer poured like a champagne.  It has a monster head with larger bubbles and even by pouring slowly it didn’t stop it from showing itself (see pic).  This IPA is pretty hoppy and zingy with more lemon citrus than orange or lime flavors and it is also fuller texture than some NW IPAs.  They also have a Single Wide IPA which I just picked up today and will be curious to see how Boulevard’s standard IPA tastes.

Portland Beer Festival: Portland, OR

While down in Portland four of us stopped by the Beer Festival (July 17-19) in the Pearl district in downtown PDX.  It was 20 bucks a head including a 4oz free taster glass and 20 beer tickets which typically average about 1 dollar each.  Some beer tastings are 1 ticket, others can be up to 8.  The festival was very well organized and had one side dedicated to draft choices, the other for beers out of the bottle (including aged Belgian Ales, etc).  The highlight at the festival was the beer that we all pooled our tickets together to taste called the DeuS (Brut Methode Champagnoise).  This beer was being called “epic” by the festival organizers so we had to wait in the long line to taste it but it did not disappoint.  It is one of the more fascinatingly complex beers I’ve ever tasted.  The Deus is brewed by Bosteels Brewery, it is then shipped to the Champagne region of France to undergo the full Methode Champenoise (one of two in the world that does so) which really makes this brew special.  The taste was uncharacteristic of many belgian brews.  We all agreed that it had some major flavor components that stood out (and this is a simplification to be fair):  Mr Clean pine cleaner, JagerMeister, Sprite, syrup.  So this isn’t really a beer you drink with a brat or slab of ribs.  This is for sippin’.  I’ve never seen it in any of the beer shops, but it allegedly sells for between 40-60 a bottle.

Powerhouse Brewery | Puyallup Washington.

We stopped in recently for a bite to eat and to taste few of their beers.  I was quite impressed on a number of counts.  First of all the building was refinished from an old railroad powerhouse right smack in the middle of Puyallup’s downtown.  It is a tiny place inside and doesn’t appear to seat that many people, but it has a unique “power” theme throughout.  The beers I tried were all above average.  The Summer Seasonal ale was a little hopped and had a nice bitterness that many summer ales lack in my opinion.  Robin had a nice Belgian White, that wasn’t as sweet as they usually are, but still had a nice balance of malt and hops.  The 4 Alarm Nitro Stout was outstanding with a rich texture as typical from a nitro but it carried nice coffee flavors, tobacco, and dark chocolate.  The IPA was traditional for the northwest, but well crafted with quite of bit of citrus zing and yet not overloaded bitter hop taste.  The food is as typical for a brewpub, well below our standards.

Finally, a beer themed dessert recipe that we recently enjoyed.  It started with a bottle of SteelHead Scotch Porter (ABV 6%, Mad River Brewing).  This beer has a dark and roasted malt flavor.  It also has a wonderful nuttiness and a hint of chocolate.  We imagined it would go perfectly with cherries in a cherry porter ice cream after being inspired by some food blogs and Boundry Bay Brewery in Bellingham Washington who serves Cherry-porter ice cream from time-to-time.  The recipe was adapted from David Lebovitz’s vanilla version. We also accompanied the ice cream with a Cherry Frangipane Galette (via Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook)

Cherry Porter Ice Cream

1 cup (250ml) whole milk

A pinch of salt

3/4 cup (150g) sugar

2 cups (500ml) heavy cream

5 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (if you want)

1 cup pitted, halved Bing cherries

1/2 cup  of nice rich Porter

1/4 cup corn syrup

1. Heat cherries, Porter and corn syrup in a heavy bottomed sauce pan until reduced by about a quarter. Set aside to cool.

2. To make the ice cream, set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart (2l) bowl in a larger bowl partially filled with ice and water. Set a strainer over the top of the smaller bowl and pour the cream into the bowl.

3. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan until sugar is dissolves, then set aside.

4. In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks. Rewarm the milk then gradually pour some of the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan.

4. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.

5. Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Stir over the ice until cool, add the vanilla extract, then refrigerate to chill thoroughly. Preferably overnight.

6. Freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Then fold-in the Cherry Porter mixture carefully with a spatula by hand.

The ice cream tastes roasted and nutty with a hint of tartness from the cherries, and a rounded cream texture.

Cherry Porter Ice Cream with a slice of Cherry-Frangipane Galette

When late spring/summer rolls around, I am usually tired of gulping down pints of rich creamy stout, dark roasted porters, and even brown ales to some degree.  The heavy character of those beers I love, but when the weather gets warmer (especially like recently), my body tells me these aren’t refreshing drinks in any sense….so  I usually switch over, almost exclusively to IPAs, Pilsners, and Belgian ales.  This past week, I had two IPAs which I thought were worth mentioning, even to those of you that can’t tackle (understandably so in many cases) the bitterness, or sharp bite of modern American-style, India Pale Ale.

Mojo IPA:  ABV 7% |  Boulder Beer

This beer comes from Boulder Colorado’s Boulder Beer, Colorado’s first microbrewery, and they make some other beers many of you are familiar with like Hazed and Confused, and Sundance Amber.

I served it in a royal imperial pint glass (#562), and poured it off slowly.  The beer isn’t as thick in appearance as some other American IPAs, instead it yields a more clear orange/goldish color.  The smell of the beer was what I really enjoyed because it delivers the classic citrus, lemon/orange zest, but this also had some nice floral aspect and a butterscotch sweetness.  The beer tasted different than many IPAs in this style for several reasons.  For one, the malt is more balanced in this beer, and so one doesn’t get that intense bitterness, instead you’ll find a buttery sweetness that is well balanced against the hops.  The texture /mouthfeel is smooth, and you get the sweetness at the front end with some citrus acid at the very end, but not a lot of harshness (as much as I like that sort of thing, see below).  I think this beer would be outstanding with most grilled food.  I had it with one of Jamie Oliver’s “Botham Burgers” which we make frequently during the summertime because we freshly grind the 50-50 beef pork shoulder, mix it with cumin/corriander, mustard, and the result is a fat flavorful patty with a fluffy texture.  This beer is a “drinkable” IPA in every sense!

Pike Double IPA:  ABV 8% | Pike Place Brewery

This beer comes as a special from Pike Place brewing (Seattle, WA) as it was made to  celebrate Seattle Beer week, in early May.  It is the very first Double IPA designate from Pike Brewery.  A double IPA (also sometimes termed an Imperial IPA) usually has a larger amount of hops and malt and is typically >7% ABV, with higher IBUs international bitterness units (usually above 60), in short a scientific way to measure acidity.

This beer, is definitely less approachable for some palettes given the intense hoppiness, and bitter flavors it brings.   The beer pours much darker than some, but the mouthfeel wasn’t as thick, and the head was lacking in depth, as it faded quicker than most.  This beer, in contrast to the Mojo, is much more classic northwest IPA, with an immediate bitterness in the mouth, and large amounts of citrus flavors, acidity coming through.  I was even tasting a nice lime character, which isn’t as common as the orange citrus flavor of most in this style.  There are also subtle hints of pine.  This beer lacks any extra sweetness except a tiny bit to balance; this DIPA it is so dry in fact, some may want to sip water alongside it.  To me, this is one of the better constructed, Pike Place beers I’ve had as of late.  I was truly impressed with how rustic and robust the hop flavors were.  It is pure to form for a “hop-head.”  I’d recommend this to anyone who loves a modern large bite in their IPA.

I have a few more new beers to try this week that are chillin’ in the fridge.  A Trade Route (formerly Laughing Buddha, now changed their name due to copyright) Infidel IPA (brewed with kaffir lime leaves), and a Belgian Ale Maredsous.  If they are worth sharing, I’ll post.   Cheers!

Now that we have all of the formality of a new blog out of the way, how about posting about something meaningful.  Robin and I sometimes look for new dining options on Friday evenings, and this past Friday we decided to take DailyCandy up on their recommendation regarding a new restaurant in West Seattle called Fresh Bistro.  The restaurant comes from the Herban Feast catering team, including executive chef Dalis Chea (trained at Le Cordon Bleu CA-Portland, and worked previously @ Canlis), who we later met.

Now that we have all of the formality of a new blog out of the way, how about posting about something meaningful.  Robin and I sometimes look for new dining options on Friday evenings, and this past Friday we decided to take DailyCandy up on their recommendation regarding a new restaurant in West Seattle called Fresh Bistro.  The restaurant comes from the Herban Feast catering team, including executive chef Dalis Chea (trained at Le Cordon Bleu CA-Portland, and worked previously @ Canlis), who we later met.

We walked in and were asked if we’d liked to sit at the kitchen bar, which we of course almost never turn down.  Our view of the inner workings of the kitchen couldn’t have been more perfect, and Kevin Kelly (pictured above) one of the chef de partie (Line cooks) was super friendly and we began to immediately probe him as he prepped some of the dishes.  Amanda one of the hostesses welcomed us, and recognized our passion.  I was taken back by the beer menu, as I haven’t seen a respectable restaurant in Seattle put Samuel Smith beers on the menu, and the Oatmeal Stout (one of my top 5 beers of all time) sat flat in the middle of it. I ordered a big bottle of the Sam Smith Organic lager, which I hadn’t tasted. Talk about first impressions!  Robin ordered a Mural cocktail, dedicated to the building’s residents.

In a matter of minutes Chef Kelly, and Dalis placed 2 amuse bouches at our counter.  One was a delicious sweet potato and dungeness crab cakes with chipotle remoulade, smoked paprika and chive oil.  The other comprised 2 shigoku oysters topped with shallot cavier (yes, the homemade mol. gastro kind).  The oysters were as crisp and refreshing as I remembered them from our Chiso Kappo Sukiyaki event (click here and here for more on that) and the shallot kick was a nice touch.  We noticed they also serve a flamed oyster dish, as Kevin was using a torch in prepping an order.

We decided we’d order a few small plates first, and then share a main.  This way we could try 2 different glasses of wine, and have room for dessert, if room allowed.  The shiso crusted honey pecan prawns with green mango slaw, candied pecans, and sriacha foam was interesting, and put a big smile on Robin’s face as she has a special place for shrimp.  The prawns weren’t overly battered, and the green mango cut into the flavors well.  The other plate was quite a bit richer, so I’m glad we ordered a seafood dish adjacent to it.  The Berkshire pork bellies came braised in 5 spices, with fried chickpea cakes, dijon semi, and sweet mustard seeds.  The bellies were diced up into little stripes, and I thought the sweet mustard seeds complimented the salty pork perfectly.  We were recommended to pair the Finca El Tesso Tempranillo (2007) with the pork, and the Verdejo Martina Prieto Pariente (2007) with the prawns.  Both pairings were solid, and we were pleased to get 2 glasses we hadn’t tried, both of which were well made wines, although I’ve had better tempranillos for cheaper.

For our main we decided we’d order the chicken dish.  Something we rarely order when out to eat, because we feel like we’d rather have something a bit more elegant, and we cook it at home often enough.  What caught our eye about this dish?  The red wine rhubarb gastrique, and the fact that it was poussin, something we don’t often have…after much back and forth with Dalis and our waiter telling us the kitchen was out-no wait we have one more left for you all, we tasted.  The dish came as a pretty rich chicken dish given the star anise-infused brine, but the rhubarb gastrique’s tartness balanced the dish.

Dessert isn’t something we often order, especially if they have no official pastry chef on hand.  Robin can bake pretty damn well, and many times we find an utter lack of creativity in this department.  Fresh Bistro surprised us, big time, in the dessert department.  For several reasons we ended up with three desserts out in front of us.  All of which were enjoyable.  The coffee and creme bread pudding with hazelnut creme anglaise.  The “Frozen Trio” contained smoked almond ice cream, cherry marscapone sherbet, and ginger black sorbet.  The step-by-step from one icy treat to the next was a great journey from rich and creamy, to tart, to sweet.  But…the highlight dessert was a creme brulee.  Creme brulee is about as easy to make as a bowl of cereal, honestly.  But Maya Barber-Kurose created a fantastic surprise with this one.  Dalis watched me intently as I dug into it.  It was basil and cherry tomato!  Wow!  After all the rich food, I couldn’t have asked for more pleasant refreshing finish, and a surprise.  I gave him a high 5, as I haven’t had a more interesting dessert in Seattle, in a long time!

The staff at Fresh Bistro are outgoing and are having quite a bit of fun for their first week open.  I think now is a good time to mention that they tend to use sustainable, fresh, farm-to-table ingredients, and that in our view they will be giving the other restaurant in West Seattle (of similar style) some solid competition this summer, as people will be looking for fun places to dine, and eat seasonal fare.

Fresh Bistro

4725 42nd Ave SW

Seattle, WA 98116

206-935-3733