Category Archives: Food

Garrett Announced As 2012 James Beard Awards Semifinalist

Our venerable master brewer is once again a semifinalist in the prestigious James Beard Awards: “Covering all aspects of the industry—from chefs and restaurateurs to cookbook authors and food journalists to restaurant designers and architects and more—the Beard Awards are the highest honor for food and beverage professionals working in North America.”

Somehow beer gets tucked under the “Wine & Spirits” category, but here are this year’s semifinalists for the category:

Outstanding Wine & Spirits Professional
Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, Del.
Ron Cooper, Del Maguey, Single Village Mezcal, Ranchos de Taos, N.M.
Merry Edwards, Merry Edwards Winery, Sebastopol
Greg Engert, Neighborhood Restaurant Group, Alexandria, Va.
Alex Golitzin, Quilceda Creek Vintners, Snohomish, Wash.
Paul Grieco, Terroir, New York City
Ken Grossman, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico
Lance Hanson, Peak Spirits, Hotchkiss, Colo.
David Hirsch, Hirsch Vineyards, Cazadero
Manfred Krankl, Sine Qua Non, Ventura
Jim Koch, The Boston Beer Company, Boston
Steve McCarthy, Clear Creek Distillery, Portland, Ore.
Garrett Oliver, Brooklyn Brewery, New York City
Jorge Ordoñez, Fine Estates From Spain, Dedham, Mass.
Virginia Philip, Virginia Philip Wine Shop & Academy, West Palm Beach, Fla.
Neal Rosenthal, Mad Rose Group, Pine Plains, N.Y.
Jörg Rupf, St. George Spirits, Alameda
Abe Schoener, The Scholium Project, Napa
Eric Solomon, Eric Solomon Selections — European Cellars, Charlotte, N.C.
Sean Lilly Wilson, Fullsteam, Durham, N.C.

Eat This: Brown Ale Banana Bread

From Ansley at NYC Food Discovery:

I love banana bread. When I was a kid I liked it with chocolate chips and more recently I’ve been baking dense, fudgy versions. I got the inspiration for this new recipe from Brooklyn Brewery’s Brown Ale. The notes of caramel, chocolate, and coffee are a natural match for banana. Plus this recipe calls for half a bottle, so please give the other half a good home.

The result is a fluffy, complex banana bread with a moist crumb. I use a mix of regular and whole wheat flour so I can feel less guilty about eating this for breakfast.

Ingredients

  •    1 and 3/4 cups flour
  •    1/2 cup sugar
  •    1 teaspoon baking powder
  •    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  •    1/2 teaspoon salt
  •    3-4 very ripe bananas (I store mine in the freezer once they start to go south)
  •    2 eggs
  •    1/3 cup melted butter
  •    6 oz (half a bottle) Brooklyn Brown Ale

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking power and soda, and salt) together in a large bowl.

2.Mash up all but one of your bananas. Cut the last banana into coins. Mix together your wet ingredients in a small bowl. (Make sure the melted butter has cooled or it will cook your eggs!) Stir your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and combine.

3.This makes one 9 x 13 loaf or two smaller loaves. Bake for 45 mins or longer- make sure the middle of the  bread doesn’t jiggle when you remove it from the oven.

After the bread cools, enjoy with coffee, chocolate milk, or of course, a Brooklyn Brewery Brown Ale.

The Houston Beer Food Experiment

UPDATE // MARCH 5 The results of the Houston Food Experiment are in! Read more here from Theo about his Houston experience, and see below for photos and the winners:

AUDIENCE
First Place / Grand Prize Winner: Magic Hops / Pork & Grits Under the Influence
Second Place: Beer Belly / Fried Pork Beer Belly
Third Place: Sybarite Pigs / Guava Wheat Lamb Stew

JUDGES
First Place: Sybarite Pigs / Guava Wheat Lamb Stew
Second Place: Gastro Chic / Sweet Charcuterie
Third Place: Sorachi Kolache / Oxtail Kolache

Theo Prize For Experimentation: The Brittle Bakers / Spicy Beer Brittle with Chocolate Stout Ice Cream

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SLIDELUCK POTSHOW BALTIMORE II RECAP

The second Slideluck Potshow in Baltimore took place at Area 405 in the Station North Arts District on Friday, February 24, 2012. Photograph by Casey Kelbaugh

King of the Hipsters?  Check.  Director of the Baltimore Museum of Art?  Check.  Seventeen thousand firecrackers?  Check.  Chilean Cornbread Casserole?  Check.  Triple Salted Caramel Cupcakes?  Triple Check.  A slideshow with thirty five local artists?  Check.  A beautiful, diverse, engaged and appreciative crowd of 300?  Check.  A spacious, raw, post-industrial location?  Check.  A rompin’ stompin’ Delta blues band?  Check.  An artist making a 20-foot drawing on a piece of plywood with two blowtorches and a flamethrower?  Check.  An open bar with five kinds of Brooklyn Brewery beers to choose from?  Check.  A fantastic photo exhibition hanging in the front gallery?  Check.  A coat drive to support a local homeless services organization?  Check.  Camera crews?  Check.  A bonfire?  Check.  The Slideluck Global Producer shotgunning beers?  Check.  People with names like Piper, Spoon and Chappy?  Check.  A team of five representatives from the NYC Slideluck office?  Check.  Half a dozen people that road-tripped up from DC?  Check.  An after party with five local rock bands?  Check.  A late night Korean BBQ feast at a place suggestively named Jung Kok?  Check.

Need we say more?  It’s starting to sound like a room full of people from Czech Republic watching their team in the World Cup around here.  Suffice it to say that the Czechs would have little to cheer about if it weren’t for the new SLPS Baltimore Director Piper Watson, our hosts at Area 405, sponsors at ASMP Baltimore, Station North Arts District, the band Swampcandy, SLPS Producer Carly Planker, Assistant Producer Jen Plaskowitz, intern Mesha Bhansali, roadie Dan Teran, blowtorch artist Walker Babbington, exhibiting photographer Jonathan Rosser, Project PLASE Organization, and all of the other volunteers, guests, exhibiting artists.

Charm City, ain’t you just that?

Wednesday Cheese Pairing, Feb 22

Brooklyn East India Pale Ale with Dante. Sweet, tangy, and pleasantly salty, this sheep’s milk cheese is made in the pecorino style in Wisconsin. Its buttery overtones and sweetness will nicely offset the hoppy finish of the EIPA.

Martin Johnson runs The Joy of Cheese, a series of informal cheese tastings held at several venues around Manhattan and Brooklyn; he blogs about cheese daily at www.thejoyofcheese.com.

Eat This: Lemon Glazed Cheesecake from Tapped Craft Beer Events

Lemon Glazed Cheesecake, from Creative Culinary

Blogger Jonathan Moxey pours Sorachi Ace at Tapped Craft Beer’s Beer & Dessert Pairing

From Emily & Matt of Tapped Craft Beer Events:

Ever since we started up Tapped Craft Beer Events last January, I’ve been dying for a client to request a beer & dessert pairing event! Finally, this past week I got my wish when we hosted a super fun and educational pairing of 5 beers & desserts for The Williams Club and The Columbia University Club of New York.

I wanted to ensure that we showcased a wide variety of beer styles and dessert types, particularly because our audience was mostly new to craft beer, and having at least one easier-drinking option is ideal. Also, beers in the Brown Ale, Porter & Stout families and desserts in the caramel, nut and chocolate vein are the perfect go-tos, but what some other flavor profiles to keep things interesting and unexpected?

As I thought back to a couple of our beer & cheese pairings for another Williams Club event last year, the idea struck me — Brooklyn Brewery Sorachi Ace and cheesecake! Perfect! To make it extra special, I knew that I wanted to add a lemon spin to the cheesecake.

Since I couldn’t find a bakery that made lemon cheesecake, I whipped up some homemade lemon glaze, using the following super-easy recipe from Creative Culinary. I added it to a nice store-bought cheesecake, but the link above also includes an accompanying cheesecake recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup water (I substituted 1/2 cup Limoncello for the water but it’s optional. I also ended up adding just a touch of lemon paste color. )
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions

  1. Make glaze by combining sugar and cornstarch, blending in water and lemon juice until smooth. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until thickened. Cook 3 minutes. Chill until cool but not set.
  2. Spread top of cheesecake with lemon glaze. Chill several hours or over­night. Can also be frozen.

One guest commented, “All of the pairings were great, but this one really sings!” It was also the favorite of our event host, Jonathan Moxey.

The acidity and dryness of the beer, due to the champagne yeast and zestiness of the Sorachi Ace hop, cuts (“razor-sharp,” as Jonathan put it) through the rich creaminess of the cheesecake, cleansing your palate and readying it for the next bite. Additionally, the lemon glaze complements the lemon flavor and aroma of the unique Sorachi Ace hop.

And one Brooklyn Brewery beer wasn’t enough for us — the last dessert we served was a beer ice cream float using Black Chocolate Stout and vanilla ice cream. It was a HUGE hit!

Wednesday Cheese Pairing, Feb 8

Brooklyn BLAST! with L’Amuse Aged Gouda. Crunchy (both in terms of a crumbly texture and in terms of lots of amino acid crystalization), tangy and sweet, this is a small producer aged gouda matured by Betty Koster in Holland. Its flamboyant flavors and addictive mouthfeel with pair wonderfully with the complex hop mix of the Blast.

Martin Johnson runs The Joy of Cheese, a series of informal cheese tastings held at several venues around Manhattan and Brooklyn; he blogs about cheese daily at www.thejoyofcheese.com.

SLIDELUCK POTSHOW AUSTIN IV RECAP

[Text by Adrienne Lee]
[Photos by Callie Richmond]

Walking up to Austin’s CTC Garden, you’re invited by an atmosphere that is immediately both comforting and stimulating. The music, greenery, lights and laughs have made a cozy bed in this open-air venue. It’s a funky space, succulent-filled with happy colors, and it was the perfect complement to Slideluck Potshow Austin IV.

Austin’s fourth Slideluck oozed a liveliness different from years past. It even lured passersby who were interested enough to join the party. In the end, some 250 people enjoyed the food, sounds, camaraderie, beer and amazing photographic work on Saturday night.

Old friends caught up, new faces met other new faces, and everyone ate. And we ate it all. SLPS-inspired lasagna. Maple-glazed bacon-covered brussels sprouts. Onion and sun-dried tomato tart. Cookies with dotted with mini peanut butter cups. And to wash it all down, we crushed  350 cans of ice-cold Brooklyn Lager.

It was clear from the beginning of the night that the following few hours were going to be kick-ass. Everyone walked in with a smile — not surprising since Austin is made for friendly greetings and compassionate people.

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