On Sunday, beginning at 11:30 a.m., I sat down with 80 or so beer lovers at the Toronado in San Francisco for a Belgian beer lunch, a blunch? The Toronado has been putting on this mostly word-of-mouth event, which sells out every time, for a number of years, but this was the first year the food was done by Sean Paxton, the Homebrew Chef. The blunch lasted almost six hours through a total of eleven separate courses and at least sixteen Belgian beers (plus a few more American ones). We all agreed that Sean Paxton is a mad man, a culinary alchemist. Read the description of the blunch in the photo gallery and see if you don’t agree.

The blunch was hosted by Toronado owner Dave Keene and the food was done by Sean Paxton.

Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo, from Russian River Brewing, among the Belgian beer and cheese plate.

For many more photos from the Toronado Belgian Blunch, visit the photo gallery.
 

I’ve long admired Eric Asimov’s column or blog at the New York Times entitled “The Pour.” Asimov is one of those rare wine writers who not only enjoys good beer but also understands it. He occasionally writes about it, too, and when he does so it compares favorably to the best beer writing. So while I often bristle at wine and food writers tackling a subject they know precious little about, Asimov is the exception to the rule. His column today, Beers Worth Waiting For, is another stellar example and as a study in contrasts neatly demolishes the debacle at the Wall Street Journal from last Friday.

Asimov, while waiting in a very long line in the hot sun for the outdoor salmon bake at this year’s International Pinot Noir Celebration with two French winemakers, was not having any fun. The winemakers fortuitously suggested a beer run. After enjoying several craft brews, their waiting was made considerably more congenial, sparking Asimov to ruminate about beer and wine. His sentiments filled me with admiration, and a lot of head nodding.

In the course of a day it seems that many winery workers drink a good bit more beer than wine. The two beverages in fact co-exist quite well, and therefore it irritates me when wine and beer are pitted against each other, especially when wine-lovers demean beer. Beer-lovers have a bit of catching up to do in terms of achieving status and understanding, so I have a little more tolerance for them when they feel compelled to demonstrate how well good beers can go with certain foods, usually at the expense of wine.

My friend Garrett Oliver, the brewmaster at the Brooklyn Brewery, has engaged in more than a few competitive wine-and-beer tastings, because he has a point to prove. Yet he has the excellent sense to be an unapologetic wine-lover as well as a beer-lover. Rigidity and self-deprivation rarely win people over, but open minds go a long way to opening other people’s minds.

Amen, brother. If only more wine writers and wine lovers shared his views, what a better world this would be for both grain and grapes.
 

I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. Pizza and beer, of course, are one of the most beautiful pairings and one of the most natural, rivaling such other hit duos as peanut butter and jelly or warm apple pie and vanilla ice cream. But it may have been taken too far, as homebrewer Tom Seefurth has combined the two into one beer, which he calls Mamma Mia Pizza Beer and claims is the “world’s first culinary beer.”

Since Walter Payton’s Aurora Roundhouse has been brewing and selling Tom’s Pizza Beer, the local and national media has been covering the novelty beer in print, television and radio. Sunday’s Daily Herald, a local paper covering Kane County, Illinois where the Seefurths live, has probably the most comprehensive account.

It sounds like an herb and spice beer leaning heavily on Italian seasonings. Adjunct ingredients include tomatoes, oregano, garlic and basil. The Herald article describes it as “tast[ing] of oregano, onions and tomatoes” and they offer that it should be paired with pizza or pasta, though that seems a bit too obvious. I’d be more interested in trying it with some strong Italian cheeses. There have been plenty of herb and spice beers I’ve tasted over the years, using both common and more unusual ingredients. To my way of thinking, they’re a mixed bag. Sometimes they work and sometimes not and it’s not always clear why that is. Some I’ve enjoyed and others not so much. So while my first reaction is somewhat apprehensive, I’ll reserve judgment until I can actually try some, if that’s even possible. I love beer. I love pizza. If it’s all about the beer then who knows, maybe it will be great.

Tom Seefurth in his home brewery.
 

When Ray Daniels and Randy Mosher put on a tasting, I sit up and take notice. This should be a good one. If you’re in the Chicago area in early July, you should definitely try to go to this one.

Chicago Beer Society Tasting Features Flavor & Diversity of Belgian Cuisine

From mussels to carbonnade and risotto to artisanal cheese, Belgian cuisine was made to pair with its flavorful and often quirky beers. On July 8, the Chicago Beer Society showcases the variety of Belgian-style beer and food with “Inspired by Belgium” a tasting grounded in the gustatory traditions of the European lowlands.

“In the past ten years, Belgian-style beers have captured the hearts and tongues of sophisticated American beer drinkers,” said Randy Mosher, organizer of the event and long-time Chicago Beer Society board member. “The unique flavors of the beers go beautifully with the flavors of Belgian cuisine.”

On Sunday, July 8, the Chicago Beer Society celebrates this culture with a tasting of Belgian-style beers and food. The event will take place from 1 to 5 pm, at the Dank-Haus, the German-American Cultural Center, at 4740 N. Western Ave., in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood. Ticket price will be $50, for member and $60 for non-members.

Catering by the Hearty Boys, an nationally known local firm, will include Belgian-style cheese, kriek-glazed chicken wings, carbonnade Flamande (beef in beer stew) and a beery risotto with sautéed shrimp and asparagus. In addition, The HopLeaf’s Michael Roper, will serve their signature dish: mussels steamed in beer sauce.

A range of beers from Belgium and innovative American brewers will allow attendees to experiment with flavors and pairings of this rich culinary culture. Attendees can expect to find everything from witbier to saison and abbey style to sour beers as well as the utterly uncharacterizable creations that define the Belgian approach to brewing.

As for the facility: “It’s a gorgeous room, with plenty of space for this walk-around event,” says Mosher. And since it is across the street from the Western Avenue stop of the Brown Line and steps away from the intersection of Western and Lawrence, public transportation is readily available.

Founded in 1977, the Chicago Beer Society is America’s oldest beer appreciation society. We are a not-for-profit, volunteer-run group dedicated to promoting great beer in the Chicagoland area. We have a reputation for producing well-run, creative and educational beer events. Our membership currently is around 450 persons. Our website is www.chibeer.org.

For more information and tickets, contact the Chicago Beer Society or call 773-905-ALES.

If you’re looking for something fun to try eating this Memorial weekend, this looks pretty tasty. It’s a recipe or “Beer Cheese Fondue,” which comes from Linda Larsen by way of About.com’s Busy Cooks

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 clove garlic, split in half
• 2 cups beer
• 1 lb. sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 lb. mild Colby cheese, shredded
• 2 Tbsp. ketchup
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. hot red pepper sauce

 

PREPARATION:

Rub fondue pot with garlic and discard garlic. Pour beer into pot and heat over low heat until steam begins rising from surface.

In heavy skillet cook onion in olive oil until tender. Stir into fondue along with remaining ingredients and, stirring constantly, cook over low heat until melted and blended.

You may add more cheese or beer to reach the desired consistency. Serve immediately with dippers, including bread cubes, hot cooked sausages, and vegetables.

Fondue is one of those cheesy dishes — yes, pun intended — that had its social heyday in the swinging seventies. My mother had a fondue set and threw fondue parties, as did many of her friends. I’ve also been to one fondue restaurant, which was actually pretty good. Maybe it’s making a comeback, it’s not one of those things I pay attention to. But cheeseball perception of not, it’s very tasty, especially if you love cheese as much as I do. Putting beer into it and enjoying it with beer, too, could make it a lot of fun as a meal, too. I’m willing to give it a try, at least. Who’s with me?

Alright, it didn’t make the magazine, but it is a “web exclusive” on the Newsweek website. It is an article by Andrew Romano entitled Beer By the Year (thanks to Joe in Florida for sending me the link). The article is about vintage beers and the 25 of them Gramercy Tavern in New York City has added to their menu. It’s great to see Newsweek do a piece on aged beers, though the article suffers from the usual snide disbelief that beer could be worth spending money on and be something beyond a drink for the masses, or as Romano envisions it, an “equal-opportunity inebriator.”

Then there’s this dissmissive description:

This is beer we’re talking about. You know, the stuff shirtless football fans drink from a helmet. Sure, boosters might do well to take a page from wine’s playbook: according to the latest figures from the National Institutes of Health, alcohol consumption from beer (per capita) is down 6 percent since 1992, while “classier” vino is up 17 percent.

A little later in the article Romano grudgingly admits that some beers may benefit from aging but then claims that that’s true only “in theory.” He makes this claim because the final product may not necessarily turn out to be good after all. Why? One explanation is that the aging must be done properly: at the right temperature, in a dark place, etc. Here’s his other reasons.

Brewers, unlike vintners, release their beverages when they’re ready to drink, and aging is an inexact science. Given time, some bottles soar; others sour. With vintage beer, you always run the risk of liking the final draft less than the first.

This makes it sound as if he’s inferring that wine doesn’t have such issues, that aging wine is an exact science. But the exact same risks he brings up are true for wine, as well. First of all, plenty of wines are released too early but just as many are ready to drink, too. And then to age a wine properly, all the same steps involving light, temperature and so on must also be followed for the wine to have benefitted from the aging process.

Many — if not most — of the beers meant to be aged are not released when they’re green, but have in fact been aged for a period of time before being released to the public for further aging. I spoke to Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing and he confirmed that he does age many of his beers either in the tank, barrel or bottle before releasing them to the public, some for a few weeks and some for many months. He wants the flavors to be right and the taste to have mellowed or changed in a positive way before they’re out of his hands.

I don’t quite understand why the author feels the need to qualify aging beer as having unique risks. “Given time,” not every bottle of wine will age well either, so why is he making it sound like aging is a different process for wine and beer?

Happily, Romano doesn’t stick with that tone and for the most part is convinced that vintage beers are worth their higher price tag. Romano and his dinner companion try six vintage beers and like all of them, and love a couple, especially the 1992 Thomas Hardy.

According to the article, Gramercy Tavern “gave beer-by-the-year its big-league, fine-dining debut with a select 25-bottle list of vintage suds from Europe, Japan and North America. The response, says assistant beverage director Kevin Garry, has been ‘amazing’—and it could mean more mainstream acceptance to come. ‘Based on how our guests have reacted, I can totally see vintage beer catching on at other places,’” says Garry, who pairs his bottles with cheeses and desserts. ‘I’d love to see it become the next cool thing in the fine-dining world.’”

As the article ends, Romano can’t resist bad-mouthing beer one more time in his last sentence, which concludes, “[w]e stumble home shortly thereafter.” Let’s see, two men share six bottles of beer. That’s three apiece. And not all were big 750 ml bottles. Thomas Hardy bottles are 11.2 ounces. Yes, some of the beers were strong, but overall not compared to the average wines. Would a wine writer having consumed an equal amount of wine ever claim to have “stumbled” home afterwards? Not in a million years.

Thanks to my friend Pete Slosberg, who sent this item in. Today’s San Jose Mercury News has it’s food section devoted to soup and includes a yummy looking recipe using Newcastle Brown Ale. The recipe, called Newcastle Brown Ale cheddar soup, is reprinted below. I know what I’m making for dinner tonight.

Newcastle Brown Ale cheddar soup

Serves 4

2 cups cauliflower or broccoli florets
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 (12-ounce) bottle Newcastle Brown Ale
1 (14.5-ounce) can chicken broth
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups half-and-half
2 cups aged cheddar cheese, shredded
Croutons, to taste

In small saucepan over medium heat, cook cauliflower in water to cover until tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in onion, garlic and Worcestershire sauce; cook until onion is translucent. Pour in Newcastle Brown Ale and bring to a boil. Pour in chicken broth, then return to boil.

After contents boil, reduce heat and stir in cauliflower. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water; stir until dissolved. Set aside. Stir half-and-half and cheddar into the soup until the cheese melts. Stir in cornstarch mixture. Continue to cook and stir until soup thickens. Serve immediately with croutons.

Today’s Statesman-Journal from Salem, Oregon has an article interviewing Fred Eckhardt and Rogue brewery owner Jack Joyce about the joys of pairing cheese with beer.