Bottoms Up

Here’s a Corkheads first. We’re offering five sets of tickets to an Appellation St. Helena tasting at Flora Springs Winery & Vineyards on May 10. It’s a gorgeous property and so are the wines. Read below for more information and drawing details.

WIN: two tickets
VENUE: Flora Springs Winery & Vineyards, 1978 West Zinfandel Lane, St. Helena
TIME & DATE: 2 to 5 p.m., Saturday, May 10
DRAWING ENDS: May 7

Taste more than 90 wines from the wineries of Appellation St. Helena and enjoy scrumptious food prepared by the one and only Dean & DeLuca. Soak in the ambiance of the beautiful Flora Springs Winery, a 19th-century stone structure featuring fabulous views of the Napa Valley. Stroll in the vineyards, explore the caves, or simply relax as you enjoy the elegant wines of Appellation St. Helena.

Join the fun of the blind tasting and be included in the drawing for your own wine cellar. The “instant cellar” is actually three cases of assorted St. Helena wines valued at more than $1,500. Hello! You don’t have to be a wine pro to enter the tasting. Good guesses are perfectly acceptable. And to help you out, many of the unidentified wines will be poured at the regular tasting tables so you can do a little detective work in advance. Each pair of tickets is worth $150.

You must be 21 to enter this drawing. I have five sets of two tickets to give away. I will give away one pair this week, one pair the next, and three pairs the week of May 5. Read the wine trivia question below and email the answer to me at jyadegaran@bayareanewsgroup.com. Do NOT post the answer here. The winners each week will be selected at random.

This week, for two tickets, here is the trivia question: Besides drinking, wine is used as a cleanser. What is it good for cleaning, and why? Be specific. Deadline to email me is Friday, April 25 at noon. Good luck!

A posting I did here two weeks ago: Is Budweiser Going the Way of Wonderbread? and a column I wrote in the Oakland Tribune/Contra Costa Times and on the Aleuminati on “why do Americans still drink light lager and what can we do about it” drew a lot of response.

Among people calling, e-mailing me and posting was George Reisch, whose official title is “Brewmaster, Anheuser-Busch. I’m not sure if this means he’s the head brewmaster of all the many brewmasters at A-B, but I do know he’s the point person when it comes to craft-style beer at the company.

In truth, a lot of craft beer fans disparage A-B’s efforts, but I don’t. They don’t make a bad craft-style beer. I might find some of them way too bland for my taste, but bad beer? Nope.

OK, here’s what he wrote me:

William – As any good brewer, AB gives the customers what they want. They want Bud and Bud Light for a variety of reasons. First and foremost is refreshment. Secondly, both beers enhance the flavor of foods (humble servants of culinary taste).

Lastly, pour your Bud or Bud Light in a glass (right down the middle) and see how refreshing it tastes at serving temperature (38-40 degrees Fahrenheit) and then how great it tastes as the beer warms to 50 degrees F prior to the last sip. I like to say that any great beer needs to “start with refreshment” and “finish with great taste”. That is a winning combination.
Budweiser is by far the most difficult beer I have ever brewed. Bud provides the brewers no room for errors in taste and aroma. I know as I have brewed many styles over my 29 years with AB and also thru my home brewing.

George elaborated on what he meant in a cel phone conversation with me as he drove from Los Angeles to San Diego last week where was a judge (one of more than 100 judges) at the World Beer Cup.

It’s unfair, he said, to compare say Budweiser with a strong and rich craft beer. In food, one never compares, say a souffle to a rich chocolate dessert. We should compare beers within a style. “If you want to compare stouts, for instance. We make Bare Knuckle Stout You can compare our stout with other stouts. But why compare it with Budweiser?”

About serving temperatures, he says, it’s correct to serve Budweiser ice cold. “Ice cold, Budweiser is refreshment. “

I can’t argue with you George. Bud is indeed refreshing. It’s easy to drink several. It’s just too dry and the flavor’s too delicate, far too thin for my clumsy tastes. I like thick malt and savage hops _ the malts exquisite, silky and mouth-filling and hops taking the edge off the sweetness, providing a peppy counterpoint to all that malt.

No, I couldn’t down a sixer of a beer like that if my life depended on it. So I’m willing to pay a lot more for the experience.

But when it comes to sales, A-B has it down. They’ve got over 50 percent of the beer market. My hope is that someday, a larger percentage will be Bare Knuckle Stout or the new (coming this fall) Budweiser American Ale and less of it Bud and Bud Light.

What is it about beer and Pennsylvania? Both Obama and Hillary campaigned relentlessly here in California. Did they ever enter a pub or a brewery. Nope. Just sipped Napa Valley wine.

But in PA, oh my. Consider this photo in this morning’s Philadelphia Inquirer by Sarah J. Glover. That’s Obama hoisting a glass at Bethlehem Brew Works in Bethlehem, PA.

You can read all about it on Lew Bryson’s blog here.

It’s actually a photo grabbed from a video by Ms. Glover covering Obama campaigning in Pennsyvlania Sunday, posted on the Inquirer’s website.

Here’s another grab from the video: Obama actually drinks the beer and likes it.

I clicked on the link for Bethlehem Brew Works. The place is huge: 250 seats and beers like “Steelworkers’ Oatmeal Stout. Too bad there aren’t any more steelworkers in Bethlehem to enjoy it.

Bethlethem Steel Works by David Robert Crews
Found this on the Steelworkers Archives:
After 122 years of steelmaking and the employment of up to 165,000 people in 1957, the once mighty No. 2 U.S. Steelmaker, Bethlehem Steel, made its last cast in Bethlehem on November 18, 1995…READ MORE.

Well, at least we have Steelworkers Oatmeal Stout. It is some (very small) consolation.

The World Beer Cup results are in. This is the world version of the Great American Beer Festival. Both are sponsored by the Brewers’ Association, the Boulder, CO.-based craft beer trade association. It ended yesterday, Saturday, Aprtil 19, 2008, in San Diego. The cup’s a big deal. Nearly every brewer and beer importer I know was there.

Unlike the similarly named “World Beer Championships,” the World Beer Cup is professionally judged in flights of blind tastings. None of the judges know the names of any of the beers presented and some care is taken to keep judges away from beers in the styles they make themselves. For example, a brewer I know at a big brewery famous for light lagers drew barley wines.

How big is the World Beer Cup: Here’s what the Brewers’ Association says:

Brewers from five continents earned awards from an elite international panel of judges this week in the 2008 Brewers Association World Beer Cup. The seventh bi-annual competition awarded medals to brewers from 21 countries ranging from Australia and Italy to Bolivia and Japan.

This year, 644 breweries from 58 countries and 45 U.S. states vied for awards with 2,864 beers entered in 91 beer style categories. The top three entries in each category won gold, silver and bronze medals.

You can find the entire list here. But if you’re in a rush and live in the Bay Area, here are the local winners and a few from Southern California and Oregon, whose beers are readily available here.

Category 3: American-Style Wheat Beer, 14 entries
Gold: Crystal Wheat Ale, Pyramid Breweries Inc., Seattle, WA and Berkeley, CA.
Silver: Shiner Dunkelweizen, Spoetzl Brewery, Shiner, TX
Bronze: Spanish Peaks Crystal Weiss, Spanish Peaks Brewing Co., Polson, MT

Category 4: American-Style Hefeweizen, 34 entries
Gold: Widmer Hefeweizen, Widmer Brothers Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Silver: UFO Hefeweizen, Harpoon Brewery, Boston, MA
Bronze: La Bianca, Apostel Bräu, Hauzenberg, Germany

Category 9: Specialty Beer, 20 entries
Gold: Morimoto Soba Ale, Rogue Ales, Newport, OR
Silver: 1: Orig. Dinkel Bier (Spelt Beer), Apostel Bräu, Hauzenberg, Germany
Bronze: Morimota Black Obi Soba Ale, Rogue Ales, Newport, OR

Category 11: Other Low Strength Ale or Lager, 15 entries
Gold: Firestone Extra Pale Ale, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Silver: Polygamy Porter, Utah Brewers Cooperative, Salt Lake City, UT
Bronze: Provo Girl Pilsner, Utah Brewers Cooperative, Salt Lake City, UT

Category 13: Experimental Beer (Lager or Ale), 27 entries
Gold: Ichabod, Alpine Beer Co., Alpine, CA
Silver: Iwate Kura Beer Oyster Stout – B, Sekinoichi Shuzo Co. Ltd., Iwate, Japan
Bronze: Veritas 002: Port Brewing Co. and The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, CACategory 37: American-Style Dark Lager, 18 entries

Category 17: Wood- and Barrel-aged Sour Beer, 14 entries
Gold: Cuvee de Tomme, Port Brewing Co. and The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, CA
Silver: Temptation, Russian River Brewing Co., Santa Rosa, CA
Bronze: Stevns CCC, Nørrebro Bryghus, Copenhagen, Denmark

Category 22: German-Style Pilsener, 72 entries
Gold: Trumer Pils, Trumer Brauerei Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Silver: Waldhaus Diplom Pils, Privatbrauerei Waldhaus Joh. Schmid GmbH,
Weilheim/Waldhaus, Germany
Bronze: Troegs Sunshine Pils, Troegs Brewing Co., Harrisburg, PA

Category 30: Traditional German-Style Bock, 21 entries
Gold: Bock Lager, Elk Grove Brewery and Restaurant, Elk Grove, CA
Silver: Lakefront Bock, Lakefront Brewery, Inc., Milwaukee, WI
Bronze: Troegenator, Troegs Brewing Co., Harrisburg, PA

Category 41: Belgian-Style White (or Wit)/Belgian-Style Wheat, 35 entries
Gold: Hoegaarden, InBev Belgium N.V./S.A., Jupille-sur-Meuse, Belgium
Silver: Ommegang Witte, Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY
Bronze: Mill Street Belgian-Style Wit, Mill Street Brewery, Toronto, Canada

Category 42: Belgian- and French-Style Ale, 37 entries
Gold: Brugse Zot Blond, Brouwerij De Halve Maan, Brugge, Belgium
Silver: Matilda, Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, IL
Bronze: Tiburon Blonde, Marin Brewing Co., Larkspur, CA

Category 43: Belgian-Style Pale Ale, 8 entries
Silver: Belgian Blonde, Black Diamond Brewing Co., Concord, CA
Bronze: Special , Brewery De Ryck, Herzele, Belgium

45: Belgian-Style Flanders/Oud Bruin or Oud Red Ale, 5 entries
Silver: Red Poppy, Port Brewing Co. and The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, CA
Bronze: Phat Phlemish Red, Upstream Brewing Co., Omaha, NE

Category 49: Belgian-Style Dark Strong Ale, 28 entries
Gold: Salvation, Russian River Brewing Co., Santa Rosa, CA
Silver: Malheur 12°, Brewery Malheur, Buggenhout, Belgium
Bronze: Brother David’s Double, Anderson Valley Brewing Co., Boonville, CA Category

Category 52: Classic English-Style Pale Ale, 35 entries
Gold: MacTarnahan’s Amber Ale, Pyramid Breweries Inc., Seattle, WA, Portand, OR, Berkeley, CA.

Silver: Saranac Pale Ale, F.X. Matt Brewing Co., Utica, NY
Bronze: Bass, Samlesbury Brewery, Preston, UK

Category 54: Ordinary Bitter, 10 entries
Gold: Cutthroat, Uinta Brewing Co., Salt Lake City, UT
Silver: BridgePort Blue Heron Pale Ale, BridgePort Brewery, Portland, OR

Category 56: Extra Special Bitter or Strong Bitter, 39 entries
Gold: Standing Wave Pale Ale, Kannah Creek Brewing Co., Grand Junction, CO
Silver: The Wise ESB, Elysian Brewing Co., Seattle, WA
Bronze: Stone Pale Ale, Stone Brewing Co., Escondido, CA

Category 59: English-Style Brown Ale, 47 entries
Gold: BridgePort Beertown Brown, BridgePort Brewery, Portland, OR
Silver: Sweet George’s Brown, Dillon DAM Brewery, Dillon, CO
Bronze: Big Ben Brown Ale, Bull & Bush Brewery, Denver, CO

Category 63: Oatmeal Stout, 35 entries
Gold: Sless’ Stimulating Stout, Iron Springs Pub & Brewery, Fairfax, CA
Silver: Sleeping Dog Oatmeal Stout, Chama River Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM
Bronze: Velvet Merkin, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA

Category 68: Barley Wine-Style Ale, 61 entries
Gold: Old Diablo, Schooner’s Grille & Brewery, Antioch, CA
Silver: Hopsquatch ’07: Four Peaks Brewing Co., Tempe, AZ
Bronze: Alaskan Barley Wine, Alaskan Brewing Co., Juneau,

Catergory 76: Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout, 20 entries
Gold: Blarney Sisters Dry Irish Stout, Third Street AleWorks, Santa Rosa , CA
Silver: Dark Starr Stout, Starr Hill Brewery, Crozet, VA
Bronze: Irish Stout, Schooner’s Grille & Brewery, Antioch, CA

Category 77: Foreign (Export)-Style Stout, 26 entries
Gold: Zonker Stout, Snake River Brewing, Jackson, WY
Silver: San Quentin’s Breakout Stout, Marin Brewing Co., Larkspur, CA
Bronze: Tsunami Stout, Pelican Pub & Brewery, Pacific City, OR

Category 79: American-Style Pale Ale, 66 entries
Gold: Widmer Pale Ale, Widmer Brothers Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Silver: Sharptail Pale Ale, Montana Brewing Co., Billings, MT
Bronze: Maui Pale Ale, Maui Brewing Co., Lahaina, HI

Category 80: American-Style Strong Pale Ale, 52 entries
Gold: Organic IPA, Hopworks Urban Brewery, Portland, OR
Silver: Nectar IPA, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Bronze: Peg Leg Pale Ale, Ham’s Brewhouse, Greenville, NC

Category 81: American-Style India Pale Ale, 77 entries
Gold: IPA, Odell Brewing Co., Fort Collins, CO
Silver: Union Jack IPA, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Bronze: India Pelican Ale, Pelican Pub & Brewery, Pacific City, OR

Category 88: American-Style Wheat Wine Ale, 4 entries
Gold: Winter Wheatwine, Rubicon Brewing Co., Sacramento, CA
Silver: Wheat Wine, Great Adirondack Brewing Co., Lake Placid, NY
Bronze: Star Brew, Marin Brewing Co., Larkspur, CA

A gigantic, utterly succulent and delicious pastrami sandwich at The Refuge San Carlos, CA. This humungous baby cost $12 and worth every penny, especially when paired with a flagon of St. Bernardus Abt 12., just one of the beers from The Refuge’s well-stocked cellar.

Photo: Matthew Sumner, San Mateo County Times

IF YOU LIKE GREAT BEER AND REALY GREAT pastrami, the kind one usually can find only in New York City, then crank up hupmobile and go to the The Refuge, 963 Laurel St. in San Carlos. Where’s that? It’s on the San Francisco peninsula. Check out the map.

Prorprietor Matt Levin makes the pastrami and stocks his cooler with some of the best Belgian beer available anywhere.

Here’s Bay Area News Group Food Editor Nick Boer’s review…

Pastrami impossible: Fine dining redefined

By Nicholas Boer
Staff writer
Article Launched: 04/18/2008 12:11:05 AM PDT

For anyone other than our readers in San Mateo, it might seem like a stretch to suggest a trip to San Carlos for a sandwich. After all the (totally killer) Reuben is $16, and you need to factor in $8 for a drink, a few bucks for a tip, and another $20 for five gallons of gas (the trip took 50 miles from my workplace in Walnut Creek; slightly less back home to Livermore). If you’re in for a bite, you’re in for $50.

But this is more than a meal. It’s a rich cultural experience. The pastrami, thick hand-carved slices, rivals any found on my deli tour of New York City. The Belgian beer selection is also second to none. The 20 French wines by the glass cover tantalizing ground. There are Jewish classics — sparked by a chef’s fresh imagination — such as chopped liver and chicken noodle soup. Alongside regional favorites such as cheesesteak sandwiches, you’ll find European cheeses and charcuterie. You can order a Single with Cheese ($12) after your Sauteed Foie Gras ($16). Or have a Cobb Salad ($10) and a Creme Brulee ($6).
If this seems jarring, off-kilter “… Welcome to the Refuge. Read more…

Here’s my take on the beer…

THE BEER: The Refuge is definitely not light lager land, and that’s fortunate. The food here tends toward rich and mildly spicy, and you need a beer with legs to match the intensity of the food.

Fortunately, there’s an awesome list of Belgian beers that pairs nicely, especially with the pastrami. Two that worked well were St. Bernardus ABT 12 and Duchesse de Bourgogne (and you thought wines had complex names). St. Bernardus ($9) is great beer: huge, creamy, long-lasting head, a spicy nose with hints of herbs, chocolate and vanilla. But be cautious, it’s strong: 10.5 percent, double the strength of an ordinary lager.

The Duchesse ($9) — Duchess of Burgundy in English — is totally different. It’s a mildly sour Flemish brown ale. There’s an initial hit of sweetness with a sour edge that grows in intensity. It’s a nice counterpoint to the rich sweetness of the pastrami. Those are just two of the 14 excellent beers on offer. The management serves free two-ounce samplers, so try a variety.
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Dogfish Head’s off-centered ales for us off-centered people are truly coming to the Bay Area next week,

Bob Stahl, of DBI Beverage Inc. (used to be Golden Brands), the San Francisco distributor, says DBI has distribution for SF, Santa Clara County, Napa, Solano, Mendicino, Lake, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Yolo, Sutter, Yuba and El Dorado counties.

“We are just beginning distribution as we just received the product. Whole Foods, Bev Mo and other independent retailers will start receiving product deliveries next week,” Stahl says.

In May, Morris Disributing begins distribution in Marin and Sonoma counties.

But what about us over here in the East Bay? I’ll use an old Navy expression: We’re S.O.O.L. Translation: We’re neglected and ignored AGAIN. Damn.

One sure place to sample Dogfish wares will be Monday, April 21, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Toronado, 547 Haight St. in San Francisco.

Here’s an update from DBI on the beers they’re pouring: 90 Minute IPA, Midas Touch, Palo Santo Marron, Olde School, Immort Ale, Chateau Jiahu.

“The last three styles are just being brought in for the kick off party so the initial styles to be distributed will be 90 Minute, Midas touch and Palo Santo Marron.,” Stahl says.

Fabulous post today from Don Russell who writes the Joe Sixpack column in the Philadelphia Daily News and the Beer Radar Blog. Fab, that is, if you’re a Democrat. I can’t/won’t print the entirity, butt if you don’t like the present occupant of the White House, I suggest you follow the link and read the rest… Hint: The dork gives toasts with water.

If you want to win votes in Pennsylvania, you better show us you can drink. This month I’ve marveled while watching Barack Obama sip Yuengling and Hillary Clinton polishing off a whisky.

Marveled? Well, yeah, after 8 years… Read more…Beer Radar…

Don posted this shot of Hillary tossing off a whiskey and Barack drinking a made in Pennsylvania Yuengling Porter. I scrounged around and found Hilarry hoisting a pint.

Here’s what the Associated Press said about it…
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) toasted Hammond, Ind., Mayor Tom McDermott, left, during a stop at Bronko’s restaurant in Crown Point, Ind., April 12, 2008. Ed and Patty Hall are seated at right. (Associated Press)

Lagunitas hop field near Marshall, CA.
The hop shortage has caught every brewer’s attention, even breweries with an assured supply of hops. At Lagunitas in Petaluma, CA., co-founder Tony Magee proudly notes they’ve planted one-third of an acre with Emperer and Pathetique hops.

Emperor hops add a spicy note to Maximus, the brawny Lagunitas IPA. Pathetique, a hop that I know nothing about and nobody at two home brew stores had heard of, is also listed as used in Maxiumus. Do you know about this hop? Let us know. Post something here or send me an e-mail: whatsontap@sbcglobal.net.

Oh yes, the hop field’s in Marshall on the shore of Tomales Bay. “The well is in, the irrigation all set up, the trellis’ are strung, and the little buggers are all in the ground and ready to climb!” Tony says.

Go you buggers go!.

If you’re like me, you’re more than willing to eschew huge, elbow-smashing events like ZAP in favor of events small enough to feature intellectual seminars and an opportunity to meet legends in the wine business, and big enough to enjoy walk-around tastings of cult producers.

Women for WineSense’s Grand Event, which runs May 2 to May 4 at various locations in the Napa Valley, is a prime example of the latter.

I attended last year’s Grand Event in San Francisco and got so much out of it: I took a sensory evaluation seminar with UC Davis legend Ann Noble (to date the best lesson in evaluating wines that I’ve had). I got to meet Margrit Mondavi and hang with Leslie Sbrocco.

It’s this kind of full, satifsying experience you’ll get next month. If you can’t attend all three days, I suggest you attend Saturday’s festivities at the gorgeous Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena. You’ll be able to choose from fascinating seminars, from the effect music has on the palate to the latest in organic winemaking.

Over a Greystone lunch, you’ll hear from trailblazers in the industry, like Harlan Estate’s vineyard manager Mary Hall. By the end of the day, you will have tasted wines from 30 wineries with women in the roles of vineyard manager, winemaker, or CEO.

The cost for Saturday is $140 ($115 for WWS members). Space is limited so go to WWS Web site to purchase your tickets today.

It’s finally happening. Dogfish Head’s beers, well three of them, are officially being distributed in the San Francisco Bay Area, starting now.

The official kickoff is this coming Monday, April 21 at 6 p.m. at the Toronado, 547 Haight St., San Francisco.

Dogfish founder Sam Calagione will be on hand. The official name of the event is “Olde Beer and Moldy Cheese.”

Toronado will be pouring:

• 2007 Olde School Barleywine, served with Fiscalini Bandaged Cheddar (This cheese is a famous, raw, cow’s milk cheese from Modesto (Yes, Modesto).
• 2007 Immort Ale with Isle of Mull Cheddar. (This is a cheddar from the Isle of Mull in Scotland.) Immort Ale, Dogfish says…

Vast in character, luscious & complex. Brewed with peat-smoked barley, this strong ale is brewed with organic juniper berries, vanilla & maple syrup. It’s aged on oak and fermented with a blend of English & Belgian yeasts.
11% abv
40 ibu

• 2006 Chateau Jiahu with Berkswell cheese. (Berkswell is a very famous. sheep’s cheese from Coventry, England.) ….Well let me quote from Dogfish….

Preserved pottery jars found in the Neolithic villiage of Jiahu, in Henan province, Northern China, has revealed that a mixed fermented beverage of rice, honey and fruit was being produced that long ago – right around the same time that barley beer and grape wine were beinginning to be made in the Middle East! Read more…

There’s a tiny hitch about all this: Dogfish has a distributor for San Francisco, for Marin and Sonoma, but no one in the East Bay or the Peninsula or the South Bay Damn.For now those of us among the 2.8 million people who live over here who like Dogfish Beers will have to trek to San Francisco.

Oh yes…the Dogfish beers being distributed here initially are…
90 Minute Imperial IPA, Midas Touch, and Palo Santo Marron. Read about them here….