the crow bar and kitchen

Front enterence

Having a daughter, while absolutely incredible, did somewhat hamper Bonnie's and my ability to go out whenever we wanted.  In order to still hang out as just us we try to get together for lunch a couple of times a month.  Our favorite place to do this is the crow bar and kitchen in Corona del Mar.

I first started going to the crow bar back in 2011 for their Pliny the Younger release. In fact one of the pictures I use as my rotating banner was taken during that event.  I had a great time and thought the food was incredible. I'd go off and on for a while, generally if I had people in town I'd take them there for the beer and food.

One day when Bonnie and I were trying to figure out where to go to lunch I suggested we go to crow bar.  Up till that point Bonnie had never been.  Well long story short, she loved it as well and we started going frequently.

Here's a quick breakdown -

Atmosphere - Standard upscale gastropub feel, which we like.  Nice tongue in cheek jokes about pig and pig products.

The menu (beer side of course)

Quality - The food is consistently good, a sign of a quality establishment. The only thing that bugs me in a quality aspect is that they have Craftsman 1903 lager on their menu.

Service - The service for the most part is knowledgeable (on food, wine and beer), fast and efficient. Our favorite waitress Kacie always remembers who we are and makes sure we get our favorite table. She also always lets my wife know if they have Pliny the Elder on tap one way or another.

Selection (beer) - The beer menu is divided into 3 parts; a regular selection of draft beers that stays pretty constant, a "guest kegs" draft selection filled with special beers and seasonals and a pretty decent bottle list which has been a oddly price in the past.

Food - The food is great.  The best item on the menu is the crow ‘black label’ burger ($19) is one of the best burgers in the OC. 8 oz signature meat blend which includes 21 day dry aged prime ribeye served on buttermilk bun w/bone marrow butter and caramelized onions. I save this burger only for special occasions.  Usually we get one each of the daily special, which is generally a taco, grilled cheese and a flat bread and split it, this tactic has never disappointed us.

I need to go check out the crow burger kitchen soon...

Cheers

-SNB

Costa del Sol b3

Making her first starter -
and yes it boiled over

Two years ago I brewed a beer for my wife's birthday inspired by my travels in Mexico plus the availability of WLP940 Mexican Lager Yeast which I called Costa del Sol.  That batch was a hit and went on to place second in the OC Fair.  I followed it up a year later as a ten gallon batch which I split creating the second batch of Costa del Sol and its ale brother Coast of the Sun.

Considering that I brewed this beer originally for her, Bonnie has always consider it to be her beer.  It was therefore only logical that once she started brewing her own beers she would want to brew her own batch of it.

In her continuing brewing education I took yet another step back from the process.  While I provided her with the recipe it was up to her to order the lager yeast from the shop (long story) as well as pick up the ingredients.  

In previous batches I had used this beer to highlight that year's hop blend from HopUnion - b1 Falconer's Flight, b2 Zythos. This year however I decided to make it a canvas for Citra but seeing as how I don't like single hop beers I opted to use Centennial  for the bittering.

When it came time to brew it I was in and out, so she was really on her own with this one, this included making her own starter. Even during cool down I was out and about forcing her to figure it out on her own.

She's really picking it up fast and coming up with some creative solutions.  Plus all this extract is making me long for 2.5 hour brewdays again.

Cheers

-SNB

Wee Bonnie Lass

A while back my wife Bonnie tried her hand at her own batch of BIG IPL.  She had a good time doing it but lacked the amount of time to do it fully herself.  A month or so ago she came to me with the Northern Brewer catalog and told me she had decided what he next beer would be - Dundalk Irish Heavy - she even had the prefect name for it Wee Bonnie Lass (I think that's more Scottish that Irish but then again, so is the beer)

From the catalog - 

The inspiration for this deep garnet ale was actually called a barley wine, even though it weighed in at quite a bit less than you’d expect for a beer of that name. That’s “weighed” in the past tense because the powers that be gobbled up a small brewery in Kilkenny, moved this beer to Dundalk, and then did away with it altogether. Nice work, European corporate brewing industry. Looks like it’s up to us again, homebrewers. 

Nomenclature aside, think of Dundalk Heavy as an overgrown Irish session ale: the color of old mahogany, rounded and full in the mouth easing into an off-dry and slightly biscuity finish. Throughout you will find overtones of butter toffee, juicy malt, and tree fruit with glimmerings of ruby port, earth, and ground coffee. Raise a pint or four to brewing your own and keeping the dream alive: Slainte! 

Time was going to be tight to get it on draft by St Patricks day so she needed to brew it soon. It was pretty straight forward for me to convert the recipe from liquid extract to dry extract so that she could brew it with ingredients from the shop. 

The brewday went well and Bonnie had a great time. I should note that all of the pictures are ones she took during the process. I also mostly stayed in the background doing miscellaneous chores having brewed Westbennetteren 12 b2 myself earlier that day. 

Cheers

-SNB

Westbennetteren 12 b2

I got a corded drill to help me mill

Over a year ago I set out to brew my first Belgium Quadrupel aka quad which I tongue-in-cheek called Westbennetteren 12. Not only did it become one of best beers I've brewed (in my opinion) but helped to kick off QuadFest along with Shawn and Daniel.  If you recall from the post we had such a good time we already started planning the 2013 event. To make the date I needed to get brewing!

According to my notes from QuadFest 2012 

I'm very pleased with how it came out.  Lots of nice dark stone fruit flavor.  Great character from the yeast. Slightly high level of carbonation but not as bad as I had feared.  Similar to the Westvleteren but not as dead on as I was hoping for. It was definitely a little darker and the taste was close but not right there. I had another bottle of it the next day and took some notes for a tasting analysis. Next year I'll follow some of Daniel's advice and simplify the grain bill even more going straight up plisner.

I decided after reviewing Daniel's recipe (which was actually pretty similar to mine) to keep the split between pale and plisner the same. Last year I think I ended up using US grain (despite my notes saying Bel) because it's special order at the shop as I found out when I tried to get Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel so I ended up using some of the 2 row I had on hand (I do love buying grain by the sack). 

A rainbow of flavor

For the sugar portion I again sought out syrup from Candi Syrup Inc. In order to lighten in up and modify the flavor slighty to try and get it more in line with Westvleteren 12 I changed the amount of D-180 from 2 lb to 1 lb and made up for it by adding a pound of D-45.  So my order to Candi Syrup Inc was pretty much one of every syrup they offered (I use Simplicity to prime) with the exception of Golden.

If I recall the logic behind my hop schedule from last year I might have grabbed the Northdown thinking that they were a sub for Goldings which I couldn't find.  This year I was able to find some Goldings so I made that switch.

I briefly toyed with the idea of using East Coast Yeast Trappist Ale (ECY13) but between price, availability and time I decided to stick with good old WLP530 Abbey Ale from White Lab.  To build the projected 336.3 billion yeast cells needed I made a 6 pint starter and tossed it on my stir plate a few days in advance. For some reason BeerSmith 2 stops calculating yeast cell build after 4 pints (which ended up at 465.9 billion) so I know I was nicely north of the required amount.

As before when it came to temperature I took to the mid 80s for the initial fermentation.  I actually got there a little fast (oh no) due to some issues with the balancing act as ask my fermentation cube to do for warming beers. I got it under control and will start lowing it as soon as it enters the below 1.020 range.  After that it will be a nice 6 months of bulking conditioning at lager temps.

Cheers

-SNB

Marshall's Matrimonial IPL

Marshall Mashing

When one of my best friends asked if I would brew a beer for his wedding, I was immediately honored and of course said yes.  I've know Marshall for almost 3 years ever since the first club meeting at AHP way back in 2010.  We we both pretty early in our brewing careers looking to collect some feedback on some of our ordinarily beers.  While I can't remember for the life of me what brought I'll never forget Marshall's. He called it Palate Wrecker and it was a big bastard of an IPA which he severed directly out of a 5 gallon keg keg he'd brought with him.  I thought it was an outstanding beer and given my known affinity for hoppy beers it was clear early on we'd be a good match. It wasn't long before we started brewing a couple of beers together and enjoying even more.

For his wedding Marshall requested a "clone" my most infamous beers - Scott's BIG IPL a beer I have so far produced 6 times now (7 if you count the one I did at Karl Strauss) so by now I've got it pretty much down.  The major problem I ran into was a lack of lager yeasts at the shop, I guess turnover on them has been low and someone recently bought most of his stock.  I therefore I to make a starter with Saflager 34/70, while not ideal was really my best option. 

Tucked in for the night

At this point I've got working with Minute rice down pretty well.  When getting ready to figure out my mash volumes and temps I remove the rice as well as about a half gallon of the strike water.  To prep the rice I bring four quarts of water to a boil and add a pound of rice  I then let it go for about 10-15 minutes while I finishing heating the strike water to temperature.  Once all is said and done I add about after the strike water, the grain, the other half of the strike and finally the entire pot with the rice and water and stir it till everything is incorporated.   I'm pretty sure I need to work a little more on the extract potential on of the rice as I think I'm not hitting gravity correctly because of it.

I had a couple of problems with the sparge,  First was Marshall accidentally disconnecting the tube from the false bottom.  It was pretty obvious as the first vorlauf was entirely grain. The other was a stuck sparge caused by compression around the false bottom, the root cause could either be double milling the grain (which I've done on every batch) or the rice. Or something else entirely.

Personally I think it's going to be a great batch and can't wait to try it in April.

Cheers

-SNB

OC Beer Society 2nd Annual Chili Cook-off & Bottle-share at Peace Brewing

OC Beer Society 2nd Annual Chili Cook-off & Bottle-share

Wow, that title is quite a mouthful, but clearly articulates what went down over the weekend.  For the second year in a row I attended and entered chili at OC Beer Society's 2nd Annual Chili Cook-off & Bottle Share which was held once again at my buddy Brad's house (aka Peace Brewing).  If you would like a rundown of last year go check out the post Greg at OC Beer Blog put up.

This year the turnout was pretty much double what it was last year, and the competition for top chili honors was fierce. Where as last year I helped my wife make a kick-ass turkey chili with IPA this year I was really shooting for the gold with what I thought would be hands down winner - Barrel Aged 33 Brand Chili (recipe below).  To seal the deal I even went the extra steps of topping it with bacon.  Unfortunately in the end it was to no avail and Greg ended up taking the top prize with Daniel coming in second, but enough about the chili let's talk beer!

Beer!

I brought four beers this year; Cuvée Saint-Gilloise (Cantillon), Holiday Beer 2010 (SNB Brewing), Commander (Lift Bridge) and The Auroch’s Horn Aged On Rhubarb (Olvalde).  The Cuvée was excellent and was my 1,200th check in on Untappd. I was really surprised by how good the Holiday Beer 2010 had gotten, all the spices have really melded well into the beer to create something truly special. I've got two bottles left and I think I'm going to continue the tradition of opening them at this event next year and the year after.  The other beer I brought that I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it was The Auroch’s Horn Aged On Rhubarb (Olvalde).  I got a slight sour/tart note on it that reminded me of chardonnay.  I asked someone who knew wine what she thought and while she didn't get chardonnay she could see where I was coming from when I described why I was tasting chardonnay.

Some of the beers I thought were highlights of the event for me were; Four and Five (Surly - shocking I know), Rooster King (Beancurdturtle Brewing - really developing nicely with the Portola coffee), Murda'd Out Stout (Three Floyds - I'd wanted to try it), Kopi-Speedway Stout (AleSmith - score), Le Bleu (Ithaca - fantastic blueberry beer) and Black Note (Bell's - once I'm back from Europe and the frenzy dies down I'm trading for a 4-pack)

Here's the complete list of beers (red highlights = what I brought / blue highlights = highlights for me)

• Rooster King by Beancurdturtle Brewing
• Thumbprint Cran-bic Ale (2011) by New Glarus Brewing Company
• Totality (2012) by FiftyFifty Brewing Co.
• Cuvée Saint-Gilloise (Champions) by Brasserie Cantillon - Untappd Check-in 1,200!
• Trappistes Rochefort 10 by Abbey Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy
• 120 Minute IPA (2012) by Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
• Five by Surly Brewing Company
• Murda'd Out Stout by Three Floyds Brewing Company
• Winter Ale by Kern River Brewing Company
• Four by Surly Brewing Company
• Holiday Beer 2010 by SNB Brewing
• Kentucky Dark Star by Fremont Brewing
• Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale Aged In Bourbon Barrels (2010) by Stone Brewing
• Firestone 13 Anniversary Ale by Firestone Walker Brewing Company
• Earl by Hill Farmstead Brewery
• Commander Bona Fide Barleywine (2011) by Lift Bridge Brewery
• Speedway Stout (Kopi Luwak) by AleSmith Brewing Company
• Bourbon Abominable by Fremont Brewing
• Black Note Bourbon Barrel Aged by Bell's Brewery, Inc.
• Gingerbread Stout by Hardywood Park Craft Brewery
• Bourbon Barrel Aged Plead The 5th (2012) by Dark Horse Brewing Co.
• Excelsior! Le Bleu by Ithaca Beer Company
• Rodenbach Caractère Rouge by Brouwerij Rodenbach (Palm Breweries)
• Excelsior! White Gold by Ithaca Beer Company
• Ola Dubh 18 Year Special Reserve by Harviestoun Brewery
• Trappist Westvleteren 8 by Brouwerij De Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren
• Noyaux by Cascade Brewing Company
• The Auroch’s Horn Aged On Rhubarb by Olvalde Farm and Brewing Company
• 50 25 Sour Belgian Style Quad Ale by Stoudts Brewing Company
• Arthur by Hill Farmstead Brewery
• The Count by Grimm Brothers Brewhouse
• Eclipse - Heaven Hill Rye (2009) by FiftyFifty Brewing Co.
• R & D Golden Ale by New Glarus Brewing Company
• Ruination IPA with Habanero Peppers by Stone Brewing Co.

Scott and Brian (Thee Beer Book)

It was a great afternoon of beer. Brad and Ron (OC Beer Society) really put together an incredible event that was a ton of fun.  I got to try a lot of great beer but more than that I got to hang out and really get to know a lot of the OC beer scene.  For me it was really a fusion of multiple groups; OC Beer Society, SBS (Scott, Steve, Ryan with David and Marisa) Brewluminti etc.  A few people from the OC Beer Society like Chris (Orangey) I'd seen only online while others like Nick (Miklos) and Jeff I'd met before but got to know this round.

I honestly can't wait for the 3rd Annual!

Cheers

- SNB

New Brew Thursday 3rd Anniversary - Woo!

Me hanging out with Stephen (New Brew Thursday)
and Greg (OC Beer Blog) who let me use the picture

On a nice January evening the SBS crew (Scott, Steve, Ryan and Scott), Scott's wife Jennifer and I headed North to Beachwood BBQ and Brewing to celebrate the third anniversary of my favorite online show - New Brew Thursday. 

We got there just before the 7:00 pm start time to find the place already pretty packed with fellow beer geeks anxiously anticipating the bottle share and revelry that was to come. We were told the wait for a table would be about a hour, so we figured we would stash our beer filled bags and grab a drink.  I headed straight back to congratulate host Stephen Johnson on 3 growing years of NBT and was fortunate enough to score one of the last commemorative glasses.  

3rd Anniversary Glass - woo!

After grabbing a beer at the bar we hung out socializing with other party goers while we waited for our table.  As with most cultural communities you tend to run into a lot of the same people over time at various gathering.  This is actually how I got to know the SBS crew.  The first time I met the guys was at the 2011 Bruery initiation party then a few months later at another event.  Phone numbers were exchanged and we started hanging out a couple of times a month. 

It wasn't long after we got a beer that my buddies Brad (from Peace Brewing) and Greg (from OC Beer Blog) arrived with their ever lovely wives. While I was talking with them Matt Becker came up to say hi to Brad and Greg allowing me the opportunity to congratulation him on the success of the show.

About a half a hour in, just about the time we were starting to get really hungry, we scored one of the best tables in the restaurant, a big U shaped table about midway in the which also happened to be right across from the bottle share.  To make things even better within minutes of getting seated the bottle share started! We quickly ordered dinner and started to hit up the share.  I bumped into another acquaintance Chris (beachstrength49) who hooked us up with some of the best beers of the night.

He's a rundown of the fantastic beers I got to try that night

• Alpha Supreme by Beachwood Brewing <Brewed For NBT>
• Fantôme Saison D'Erezée - Printemps by Brasserie Fantôme
• DBA Unfiltered 100% Barrel Aged Cask by Firestone Walker Brewing Company
• Ode to a Russian Shipwright by Olvalde Farm and Brewing Company
• 23rd Anniversary Old Ale by Karl Strauss Brewing Company
• Melange A Trois (Reserve Series, Chardonnay Barrel Aged) by Nebraska Brewing Company
• Eclipse - Elijah Craig 12 (2012) by FiftyFifty Brewing Co.
• Eclipse - Elijah Craig 18 Year (2011) by FiftyFifty Brewing Co.
• Victory At Sea (2008) by Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits
• Bolt Cutter (15th Anniversary Barley Wine) by Founders Brewing Company
• Spring 2012 Biere De Mars by Almanac Beer Co.
• Firestone 13 Anniversary Ale by Firestone Walker Brewing Company
• Papier (2009) by The Bruery
• B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher Oatmeal-Imperial Stout by Hoppin' Frog Brewery
• Genealogy of Morals by Hill Farmstead Brewery
• Lambic by Rivertown Brewing Company
• Barrel Aged Alpha Klaus with Plum by Three Floyds Brewing Company
• Angel's Share (2009) by The Lost Abbey
• The Full Pint 5th Anniversary Ale by Firestone Walker Brewing Company
• Batch #1 by Crooked Stave Brewing Company
• Bourbon County Cherry Rye by Goose Island Beer Co. (AB-InBev)
• 2011 Rum Barrel Oil of Aphrodite by Jackie O's Pub & Brewery
• Mother of all Storms (2012) by The Pelican Pub & Brewery
• Diesel #2 by Cascade Brewing Company

Best shot I had of the party - thanks crappy phone

As luck turned out Stephen spent a good portion of the evening hanging out at our table, which given its location had also become a satellite to the main share. Just like when I hung up with him at the Stone Epic Festival: The Final Chapter I had a great time and learned a lot about various subjects.

Overall it was one of the best anniversary parties I'd been to and we ended up staying deep into the evening hours (technically when we left it was the next day!) enjoying great beer, hanging out with quality people and having a fantastic time.

Cheers to another year NBT crew - woo!

-SNB