Hallie Braune and Christina Perozzi, Authors of The Naked Pint, An Unadulterated Guide to Craft Beer

“There’s a beer out there for everyone!” said the Beer Chicks, Christina Perozzi and Hallie Braune as they opened the fun-filled “Beer School: A Crash Course in Craft Beer” class yesterday in Santa Monica, California.

The Beer Chicks are the authors of the wonderful book, The Naked Pint, An Unadulterated Guide to Craft Beer.  We joined about 30 other craft beer fans—both experienced and newbies—to learn from the best.

Christina and Hallie are just as delightful and knowledgeable in person as they are in The Naked Pint.  We learned lots about the four main ingredients in beer:
malt, water, hops, and yeast.   We learned about the differences in the two basic kinds of beer, Ales and Lagers and the how to approach the hundreds of different styles of Ales and Lagers.

Pabst Blue Ribbon, Who Knew?

But mostly we tasted about 14 amazing beers.  Well, 13, we did start out with “PBR” (Pabst Blue Ribbon), honestly.  When we all said, “Are you kidding?”,  Christina assured us we had to start somewhere in order to appreciate really good beer.  They guided us on how to smell the aromas before drinking a beer and taste the rich varieties of flavors.  Finding grapefruit, coffee, grass, chocolate and other aromas is half the fun of drinking the tons of wonderful craft beers available to you!

A good time was had by all.  If you’re in Southern California, sign up at the Beer Chicks site click here for their next beer event.   Also, buy a copy of The Naked Pint (now in its second printing) and enjoy!  You can read their blog here .

Santa Monica-Envy
Here’s a shout out to the Rustic Canyon Wine Bar & Seasonal Kitchen, 1119 Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica.  Rustic Canyon was the venue for the Beer Class, a trendy green eatery with a menu that foodies love to love.  We’ll be going back soon to Santa Monica to have dinner.  Lucky Santa Monica residents!  They have the Rustic Canyon Wine Bar, the legendary Father’s Office restaurant and the Beer Chicks!

Just two of the great beers from our tastings at the Beer Chicks Beer School.  More to follow in a few days.

Frannziskaner Hefe-weisse
A Hefeweizen from Germany that is a delicious wheat beer.   Wheat beer? Honestly, you’ll love wheat beers after tasting this puppy from Munich.  If you’re a newbie beer fan and want to try different craft beer styles, Frannziskaner 
Hefe-weisse is a must-try.

Type: Lager

Style: Hefeweizen

5% ABV

Aromas:  banana, clove

Taste: Wonderful.  Hefeweizen beers are often suggested for new craft beer fans because they are lighter.  This is the best Hefeweizen I’ve ever tasted.  Can’t wait to find this one in San Diego to score some bottles for our beer and wine beer cooler.

The BeerList.org has a cool pic of this beer and a detailed description of Frannziskaner Hefe-weisse here.

Foret Saison is another wheat beer brewed in Belgium in the farmhouse style.   Delicious.  This is a rustic Belgian ale with a bit more alcohol that the first one, 7.5 ABV.

Type: Ale, Belgian

Style: Saison (means ’season’), farmhouse, rustic

5% ABV (Alcohol by volume)

Aromas:  grass, citrus (light), not lemonade-y

Taste: Great from first taste sip to last.  To pair with a soft cheese like Humboldt Fog.  This was a real crowd-pleaser.

Bonus:  Certified USDA Organic

Stop by BeerAnswers blog in a couple of days–we’ve got many more delicious beers to share from the Beer Chicks, Beer School!

Cheers!

Cynthia & Jim

The Naked Pint, An Unadulterated Guide to Craft Beer by Christina Perozzi and Hallie Braune (the Beerchick.com) is the most fun book on craft beer ever.

This book will be your guide to the exploding world of delicious craft brews, beer and food pairings and just good fun with great history lessons on the development of beer.

Bucket List of Beers
One of our fave sections of this entertaining and informative book starts on page 132, “Beers to Drink Before You Die”.  It lists about 50 to-die-for (pun intended) craft beers.

We’ve actually had a few delicious craft brews from the Naked Pint’s bucket list.

Anchor Steam Beer, Anchor Brewing Company

Oaked Arrogant Bastard, Stone Brewing Company.  Of course, we live about 10 miles from Stone Brewing so, this one’s a given.  We love it.
Temptation, Russian River Brewing Company.  This one we sampled at the 2009 San Diego Strong Ale Festival.  Temptation is flavorful and well, wonderful with 7.25% ABV.

Pliny the Elder, Russian River Brewing Company.  We tasted Pliny also at the San Diego Strong Ale event.  This is one to sip if you’re a newbie.  On page 162, the Naked Pint authors describe Pliny the Elder Double IPA as a cult-favorite that is well balanced between a large dose of hop and fruity malt.  9% ABV (alcohol by volume).  It’s a big award winner.

My personal note: Pliny the Elder is one of the few hoppy craft beers that I love.

We’d have to count a close second on Black Orchid from The Bruery. We love The Bruery’s White Orchid and scored a few bottles of it on a recent visit to their tasting room, just north of us in Placentia in Southern CA.

Grab yourself a copy of The Naked Pint, devour its contents, and make your own list of “Beers to Drink Before You Die”.  The recipes from great chefs are wonderful.  Check out “Belgian Beer-Braised Short Ribs with Wild Mushrooms and Soft Polenta” on page 200.  Yum!

Get a sample of the fun at the Naked Pint blog, click here.

If you are just starting out with Craft Beer as many of us are, we highly recommend getting hold of The Naked Pint by Christina Perozzi & Hallie Beaune. Why? Well there are thousands of choices many with names that you probably can’t even pronounce. So just where do you start? What’s a Dunkelweizen or Hefeweizer? Singles, Doubles and Triples are not just in baseball, but what’s their relevance to craft beer? Is there a reason to drink a Sour Beer or one made with Cherries or other fruit? The Naked Pint takes you through the maze and provides some guidance.

One thing we liked was how they laid out four areas: The Neophyte, The Sophomore, The Devout and The Promiscuous and then explained each section along with recommended brews. For wine lovers, it’s like going to a winery and having them tell you the sequence of tasting their wines. You can read a section and then set about finding the beers you want to taste. Great idea.

These ladies know their beer. So this isn’t something that was thrown together by people that have just gotten into beer this year. Christina and Hallie are seasoned craft beer professionals. Christina was named the Best Beer Sommelier in LA by Los Angeles Magazine and is considered one of the top female beer experts in the United States. She also has a popular website @ www.beerforchicks.com.

Hallie taught at the prestigious F.O. Beer School and was featured on the hit cable show After Hours with Daniel Boulud as F.O.’s resident beer expert.

So, whether you are a neophyte or devout craft beer fan, this is one book to add to the library.

Pics courtesy Hood to Coast movie

If you love running and beer, and not in exactly in that order, check out Tim Cigelske’s blog at DraftMagazine.com   Especially his post on the Hood to Coast Race, here.  He interviewed one of the relay race runners.  It’s not your typical post-race interview.  Very cool.

It seems that these folks, in various degrees of racing preparation, run a relay race from Mount Hood in Oregon. And I do mean various states of readiness to run a long, long (overnight long) race.

“It’s not a race…it’s a 97-mile party.”

Click here to watch the Hood to Coast movie trailer.

Here is the site for the Hood to Coast movie.   It was accepted at SXSW!  You gotta watch it.

Thanks to Tim Cigelske for the post!

How to:  Drink Wonderful Craft Beers, Eat and Still Fit Into (Most of) Your Clothes

My experience with diets is that the food choices are limited boring.  I don’t buy into the “you can lose weight and still enjoy your favorite foods” philosophy.  Just hasn’t worked for me.  Maybe you’ve had better luck?

Must Love Workouts
Here’s one idea for how to enjoy your favorite craft brews, pair them with delicious foods, and still maintain some semblance of your ideal weight.  I workout five to six days a week for 45-55 minutes.

After an afternoon or evening workout, I love a cold craft beer.  Stampede Light PLUS, a Karl Strauss Red Trolley, or anything from The Bruery.  But to get ready for an early morning fitness class, I need the right combo of carbs, protein, and energy.

Here’s my fave breakfast before an am workout—which is everyday that I don’t have a meeting or other commitment.

Low Carb Breakfast Menu
At least two hours before a morning workout I eat a quick breakfast:
-    One slice of low carb toast
-    Low carb yogurt.  I eat Ralph’s Carbmaster because it has only 80 calories,  3 grams of sugar, and tastes great.
-    Cup of coffee or green tea

A Low Carb Energy Drink is Key

Ninety minutes before my workout I add an energy drink.    Recently we worked the Los Angeles Firecracker 5K/10K Run beer garden.  It was a great day!  Lots of fun was had by all at the beer garden and we made some new friends.  One of them,  Erle Hoffman, owner of 7-eleven in South Gate (LA County)  introduced us to Xenergy Energy Drinks from Xyience. Xenergy drinks are now my new fave.

Xyience has a low carb version and the two flavors I like the best are Cran Buzz (shown in my breakfast pic above) and Xenergy Mango Guava (very yummy).

It’s almost like having dessert for breakfast!

Xenergy provides just the extra punch I need to maximize my group strength workout,  Pilates class, or treadmill session.   I buy Xenergy at the local Alberston’s food store.  Click here for a link to the list of stores that sell Xenergy.

If you like energy drinks, try a Xenergy it and let me know what you think.

If you’re in the Los Angeles area, stop by Erle Hoffman’s 7-Eleven at 8708 Atlantic Ave, South Gate, CA 90280 tel: (323) 566-0722‎.  For a map, click here.

It was fortunate that I exchanged about couple of email with Chris Kramer, Karl Strauss CEO, a couple days ago. He sent me an invitation to their 21st Anniversary event at their downtown Brew Pub. I always enjoy seeing Chris. He is always upbeat and seems to energize those around him.

Their special event including taping a Cask of their new 21st Anniversary Ale. This is certainly one brew that you should not miss. It is certainly a hearty brew, a Belgian Strong Ale that was brewed with juice from Old Vine Zinfandel grapes that give this brew an interesting flavor. The strong ale part equates to a 10% ABV not for the faint of heart. As Chris mentioned, a few of pints of this is equal to a bottle of wine. Luckily for you, they have this on tap at their Brew Pubs and I heard tale about maybe their bottling this. I sure hope so because I will certainly stock up.

Strauss’ chefs create a food paring each month to go along with their special selection beer. Last night I got to try their Beer Flat Bread. A grilled thin crust topped with beer onions, Kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, goat cheese, parmesan, garlic, basil and arugula that had some special aioli drizzled on top. It was a big hit and went great with the beer. Gunther Emathinger, Head Chef at Karl Strauss, and his team did a great job on this selection.

My wife wasn’t able to make it to the event, but she did get to celebrate. I brought home a growler of the 21st Anniversary Ale and she called ahead to the Carlsbad Strauss location near our house and ordered a couple of flatbreads that I picked up. Made for a great dinner! She is not the only one who is lucky; it is only February 5th, which means that this pairing will be available till the end of the month.

Chris, congratulations to you and Mark on 21 years for Strauss! It’s quite a mark for any company especially one in the restaurant business. Also, keep me in mind for these special events.

We love dogs, beer and entrepreneurs. San Diego-based Bark4Beer combines the best of all three. The innovative folks at Bark4Beer (and their dogs) have made it possible for you to never again have to search for your bottle opener to enjoy your favorite craft brew. This video from the Inside the Doghouse blog says it all.

Just call Fido over when he’s wearing his Bark4Beer dog collar and  beer opener in one.  it just doesn’t get any better.  Click here to visit the Inside the Doghouse blog.

To buy your best friend the world’s best dog collar, click here.

During the final event of San Diego Beer Week 09, this recipe for Barleywine Ice Cream was shared by Amy DiBiase,  Executive Chef at Roseville in San Diego.  Roseville is a popular and highly-rated eatery.

Barleywine is a beer that has a very high ABV (Alcohol By Volume) usually 8 to 12% ABV.  It’s called barleywine because it is strong as wine, but is not made from fruit so is called a beer.  More about barleywine here from Wikipedia.

We plan to try this recipe soon. If you do first–let us know how you like it!

Recipe Courtesy of Amy DiBiase, Roseville

Yield: ½ Gallon

Ingredients:

• 12 Ounces Barleywine
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• ½ cup Whole Milk
• 2 oz. Orange-Flavored Liqueur
• 1 Egg plus 2 Egg Yolks
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 Cup Crème Fraiche

Mix the barleywine, sugar, milk, liqueur, egg and yolks together in the top of a double boiler over medium heat. Whisk until smooth. Simmer the mixture whisking constantly, until it coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and let cool. Mix the cream and cream fraiche and strain. Chill the mixture. Process the cooled mixture in an ice cream machine per the manufacturer’s instructions. Place churned ice cream ice cream in the freezer to set up. Serve.

Rock Bottom La Jolla Photo Courtesy of parislemon Flickr

A few days ago we were out running errands and found ourselves in the University Town Center area in La Jolla today around lunch time. While driving and discussing possibilities, we came upon Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery.

Now we’ve eaten at Rock Bottom for business meetings and networking events for years.  Always imbibed in wine.  But these were prior to our new status as (newbie) beer-o-philes. So we decided to give it a try.

Rock Bottom offers a nice selection of pub-brewed beers.  Besides the five standard selections, a number of specials are listed on a blackboard and on the menu. They also provide taster samples.  Samples seemed like a good idea to us  since we were hungry for burgers and were unfamiliar with their offerings.

The special selections looked interesting and we sampled:

• Bourbon Barrel Imperial Porter – 9% ABV (Alcohol by Volume), Cask Conditioned, with a nice creamy head with the bourbon being the dominant flavor but no in the aroma. Cynthia thought it would be a nice drink with a rich chocolate dessert.
• Naughty Scots Scottish Ale – 6.5 ABV, a dark red ale with more of a dark carmel taste but low on the hops side, which Jim preferred. This was Jim’s favorite and thought it was go best with his order.
• Black Seal Imperial Oatmeal Stout – 8% ABV, a dark, rich, toasty complex ale with tastes of chocolate and expresso. The flavors worked nicely together and this was Cynthia’s favorite.
• Rudolph’s Red – 7% ABV, described as a hoppy West Coast red with an IPA style and taste.  We agreed on the hoppy part and it’s a pleasant brew.

As for lunch, Jim had a Brew Burger, their classic with lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion and American cheese.

Cynthia went for the Chimichurri Turkey Burger with chimichurri sauce with (lots of) melted cheese on top and pickle de gallo (a tasty topping).  Also (sigh) no bun since it was still the holiday season with plenty of carb-filled foods to enjoy over the next few days. This burger is just fine without the bun!

Jim’s burger was well made and came exactly medium rare as requested. He chose a Naughty Scots Scottish Ale.  Perfect with the burger.

Cynthia chose the Black Seal Imperial Oatmeal Stout and found it tasted just as described:  rich, coffee-like with a touch of chocolate.  It was delish with the turkey  burger.

We thought Rock Bottom was a great choice for burgers and brews.   Evidently we’re not the only ones that think so…Rock Bottom has won over 100 Beer Awards for brewing!

We enjoyed tasting the well-made beers that brewmaster Marty Mendiola created and the great service provided by our server Kara.

If you are looking for some great beers and good food, Rock Bottom is definitely worth a visit.  You can find Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurants in four  California cities and a few other states.  Check out their location map here.

What’s your opinion of Rock Bottom La Jolla?

This post is created for Beer for Chicks’s roundup of blog posts for the 35th installment of The Session. Which is a group writing project where beer writers and bloggers from around the globe write on a single beer-related topic on the same day.

2009 was my first year as a Spanish/California red-wine-lover turned beer-o-phile.  Now I’m hooked.  I frequent the San Diego-land retailers with the best beer choices (Whole Foods, BevMo and Texas Wine & Spirits) and the best brew pubs (O’Brien’s, Karl Strauss, Breakwater Brewing).

My best beer moments: The many memorable pairings at San Diego Beer Week 09’s finale event, Chef Celebration of San Diego Beer.  My overall favorite—Molasses  Braised Short Rib with parsnip puree, from Chef Danny Bannister of Red Marlin restaurant paired with a Lost Abbey, Gift of the Magi.  Pure heaven.

Most enlightened beer moments: Discovering AleSmith’s  (San Diego) wonderful offerings especially their Nut Brown Ale, Yulesmith Ale…. Tasting Skinny Dip on tap for first time in Santa Barbara and realizing that you can get a good tasting Light Beer.

Most embarrassing beer moment (for Jim, my husband):  at SD Beer Week’s opening event our friends at Breakwater Brewing (Oceanside, North San Diego County) offered Krieg as a tasting.  I said sure!  Jim said, ”You hated that a few weeks ago at their restaurant.” However, I loved it on second taste.  Jim said to Breakwater guys, “Don’t you love it when your wife makes a liar out of you?”  They said, “Happens all the time.”  So I realized that in a few short weeks as a new craft beer fan, my taste buds had dramatically changed.

Beer Resolutions for 2010:

1. Taste and cook with a wonderful new beer every week.
2. Secure a year-long supply of Dogfish Head Punkin Ale next fall. (That’s a 4-pack a week, 52 weeks…)
3. Motor north to Santa Monica on my inaugural visit to Father’s Office Gastropub to imbibe in their divine beers and pairings.

What were your best, worst, most fun beer moments of 2009?

–Cheers to a wonderful New Year’s!

Cynthia