Family, Food and Beer Appreciation Blog

Well, I came home to Edmonton this weekend to do a bunch of beer and food pairings for a class presentation I'm working on. I got together with my Aunt Jadzia and my Babcia and we made some delicious Polish foods and drank a bunch of beers to see what works..... This got me feeling rather sentimental, so I thought I'd post up a bunch of pictures of my family and I enjoying delicious food and beer!

My sister Danielle acting a fool and my Aunt Jadzia preparing Zupa Orgorkowa (pickle soup)

We paired it with: Warsteiner Dunkel, Deschutes' Chasin Freshies IPA, Tyskie Pale Lager, and Pilsner Urquell

Mmmmm..... Jadzia loved the fresh hop grassy taste of Chasin Freshies with the sourness of the pickle soup

Danielle preferred the bitter bite from the Pilsner Urquell...

We also had goulash over rice with my Heartbreak Porter. Nice dark mushroom gravy and beef really went well with the roasty richness of the beer. There's also a nice sweetness in the beer that balanced out the savouriness of the dish. Man, can I compose a food photo or what?

The next day, we made Bigos (cabbage stew) with our Babcia and paired it with a bunch of other beers.

Finished Bigos. Ready to eat!

My Babcia and I doing the tedious prep work! Lots of bacon, kielbasa and mushroom chopping!

So we paired it with Zywiec Pale Lager, Steam Whistle Pilsner, Erdinger Dunkel, Lindemans' Framboise Lambic, and Red Racer.

Surprise surprise... they all paired well with Bigos. You can basically drink anything with this old timey Polish dish. Red Racer was a big hit, however. The bitterness cut through the sour cabbage for sure and the citrus notes really complimented the tang of the dish.

 

The lambic really worked too! I was surprised that sour and sour did so well together, but they did! The raspberries also added a sweetness that complimented the sourness. Really interesting pairing. The cabbage was sour in the front of the mouth and the beer left a tang in the back of the palate. Just delicious!

 

 That's it for now.... Now I've actually got to work on the presentation. Na Zdrowie!

Update on Heartbreak Porter V.1 and Ginger Beer V.2

A few weeks ago I made up my first batch of Heartbreak Porter and finally last night was the dreaded bottling night. I made a few changes to the batch due to what I had available and I came out with a thick 7.3% mother of a beer. When I made this first batch, I couldn't find any Willamette, so I changed my aroma hops to Fuggles. Also, I just plain couldn't find our Black Patent malt, so I threw in some Kilned Coffee instead. I'm liking the way it's tasting so far... nice roasty with bit of sweetness. Like I said, it's a thick, chewy big bitch of a beer.... Hopefully, perfect for those long, snowy winter nights coming up.

Here's Andy and Graham helping with the tedious process of bottling......... They also made me watch the Canucks game and refused to play any Dolly Parton...... Not cool!

And here they are.... carbonating as I type this..... Not too much longer now, my pretties.... 

Andy and I also revisited a Ginger Beer recipe we made last year that turned out pretty well. Simple malt bill of Pilsner, Wheat, and some Crystal. We added some ginger to the kettle near the end of boil and we're going to dry hop it with some noble hops and more ginger and see how it turns out.

Just look at that sexy, sexy krausen! Just look at it!

Beer. It Goes With Food... Some Food/Beer Pairings from Central/Eastern Europe

I was born and raised in Canada but my stomach’s home is in the beer halls and sausage houses of Eastern Europe. I grew up in a family where our Polish and Ukrainian heritage was not only known to us but experienced on a daily basis through language, food and eventually beer. That means that my siblings and I grew up on all the things that you associate with Central and Eastern European cuisine: pork sausages (kielbasa), garlic pickles, tons of pierogies covered in sour cream and potatoes sprinkled with dill. That means rye bread and butter with every meal. And of course cabbage, cabbage, cabbage….. And more cabbage. Did I mention pickled carrots and beets yet? Because, yeah. Those too!

So, when I was assigned to do a food pairing blog post for class my mind went immediately to what I know and what I love: Rich, meaty, starchy foods that pair best with the beers of the region. That translates into Pale Lagers, Dark Lagers, and Pilsners for the most part…..

So, let’s examine a few pairings, shall we?

Bigos (Cabbage Stew)

There are as many Bigos recipes as there are Babcias making it, but the basics in my house were sour cabbage and sweet cabbage, fried up kielbasa and bacon, some mushrooms, and tomato paste. Throw that in the oven and let it cook low and slow… Usually, eaten with rye bread.

My immediate beer pairing here is Pilsner. It’s crisp and effervescent, which cuts into the richness of the pork sausage and the bacon. Also, Pilsners are great palate cleansers, which helps with the assertiveness of the sour cabbage and tomato paste.

You could also substitute a Pale Lager, which is light and refreshing against the heaviness of the stew. On the other hand, a Dark Lager could offer some caramel notes and sweetness that will balance out the sourness of the cabbage and complement the fattiness of the meat. Do whatever makes you happy.... or drink whatever's in the fridge.... 

Pierogi (Dumplings):

Everyone knows and has had pierogies at one time or another. They come in many varieties but are often just cheese/potato dumplings served with sour cream. They’re usually boiled and served with some fried onion and bacon bits on top.

The trick to pairing this with beer is not going too intense in any direction because the flavours in the pierogi are fairly bland. In my opinion, a Pale Lager is the way to go. The sweetness will balance out the sourness in the sour cream and the richness of the bacon bits. Also, it will complement the earthiness of the potatoes and the slight bite of the fried onions.

If you were to go in a different direction with the beer, I’d suggest a Wit or another light bodied Belgian ale with some citrus/peppery zest.

Kielbasa (Sausage):

Pork sausage is king in Central/Eastern European cuisine, so I can’t not mention it. It’s fatty, it’s rich, it’s salty, and it’s often served with horseradish and mustard…. I’m literally salivating as I write this… So, what beer to pair? As far as I’m concerned, Dark Lagers are it! They’re refreshing and can be slightly hoppy, which will balance out the fat and they can be quite malty, which will complements the richness of the meat. Also, that malty sweetness with serve as a great balance to the heaps of spicy as hell horseradish you must eat with it!

Porters, Stouts, Brown Ales, and other malt forward beers would lend themselves well to the high fat kielbasa as well. 

In the end, beer and food pairing is about eating the food you like and drinking the beer you like. So, I will leave you with my personal philosophy on the subject:

I LOVE BEER AND I LOVE FOOD, AND I WILL EAT AND DRINK ANYTHING DELICIOUS YOU PUT IN FRONT OF ME.

Here's links to a few restaurants in Edmonton that serve fine Central/Eastern European food (as seen here) and the delicious beers that go with them! Go there! Now!

http://www.ctfinebistro.com/home

http://bistropraha.com/

https://www.facebook.com/syrenaclub/info?ref=page_internal

Heartbreak Porter: It's in the Water

Water makes up most of beer and, as such, it is an important ingredient in brewing. Historically, beer styles are based on a location because of the water that is available there. For example, Pilsners originated in Plzen, where the water is very soft, which brings out the best in that style. Hard water in Burton-On-Trent in England brought out the hopiness in their India Pale Ales that were made for export during British colonialism.

For Heartbreak Porter I don't need to make any water additions because it's such a dark beer and the hardness of our water in Olds won't be an issue. Porters also originated in the hard waters of England... so I feel I'll be to style.

And to celebrate this brief discussion of water and beer, here's an old picture of me enjoying beer while lazing in water..... what a time to be alive!

A little ESB in the Morning

After spending a fun weekend at Edmonton's Oktoberfest (pictures coming up), I thought I'd get up early Monday morning and brew an English Special Bitter for fun.

I threw together a malt bill of Maris Otter and a variety of Crystal malts with some EKG hops and we're going to see what we end up with.

Here it is in its super high-tech, ultra-special fermentation chamber (aka, a cabinet in the Land Sciences Building)

Heartbreak Porter: Hops!

So, as mentioned, I'll be posting a recipe I'm creating step-by-step for class. Last week I put up the malt bill; this week the hops!

So, malt is super sweet and without hops to balance it out, you're going to have cloying, awful sugar booze...

I've decided to go with Bravo for bittering due to it's high alpha acid % (and I know we have it in the brewery). For aroma, I've decided to go with a 30 minute addition of Willamette and another addition at flameout.... I think it'll give my porter some nice floral notes and some grassy zest....

And while we're on the subject of hops, here's a picture of a Hallertauer Hop Queen.... Just for funzies :)

Beers of Poland Part 2: Lezajsk

Continuing with the Beers of Poland series, I present to you: Lezajsk:

Lezajsk is owned by Zywiec, which is, as mentioned in my previous post, part of the Heineken family. The brewery itself is located in the town of Lezajsk in southeast Poland and was founded in 1525.

The beer is clear and golden in appearance and offers a medium to high carbonation. The aroma is very sweet and biscuity but as it warms up more flowery notes from the hops can be picked up. The first thing I pick up in the taste is molasses type sweetness. There's also something of a burnt caramel quality. I find the bitterness in this one is at the end of the palate and in the aftertaste. There is also a very distinct metallic taste that lingers long after the sip.

For Lezajsk, like many European lagers, malt is the driver of taste and hops is used to balance out the sweetness, however, I still find it a bit too sweet for my liking compared to other beers of the same style. It's not my favourite beer but I wouldn't kick it out of bed either.

And in the end, it still pairs well with a chicken salad sandwich, which is always important.

Here's a picture I found of the outside of brewery itself

Recipe Project for Heartbreak Porter: The Malt!

So, it looks like I'll be using this blog for a few class assignments, the first of which is the malt portion of a recipe I'll be designing throughout the semester.

I've decided to create a Robust Porter that is partially based on a recipe I found in John Palmer's "How to Brew" but with a few adjustments. I'm calling it Heartbreak Porter.

The malt bill (as of now) consists of 80% Maris Otter, 10% Crystal 60, 5% Chocolate, and 5% Black Patent.

I chose these malts because I think it'll give a nice biscuity and rich sweet quality to the beer. The Black Patent, of course, will provide a lot of the colour that I'm looking for (over 30 SRM when all is said and done). Also, this malt bill will take the ABV% to around 7, which is on the high end of a Robust Porter.

Here is an interpretation of me preparing this recipe! Next up in this series will be the hops additions that will balance out the malty malty goodness. Cheers!

Beers of Poland Part 1: Zywiec

Dzien Dobry!

I've been feeling nostalgic for the beers of Poland as of late, so on my latest trip to the beer store I picked up several beers from the Motherland.

First one up is Zywiec (which is part of the Heineken family of breweries).

This is the most recognizable beer from Poland. You see their umbrellas all over the place when you visit no matter where you are in the country. From the large metropolis of Warsaw to the mountain town of Zakopane, you can be sure that Zywiec is on tap!

Zywiec is your very prototypical European Pale Lager. It gives a clear, golden appearance and a nice frothy white head. The aroma is very sweet and bready with a hint of yeast. You can also pick up some sulfur and metallic notes. The taste offers a floral bitterness upfront that can be attributed to the hops. This is followed by a sweet bready malt and a hint of pear. There's a bit of metallic flavours in there as well, but I find that the sweetness takes over in this beer. Overall, it's a good European Lager. I find the sweetness can be a bit cloying but it's refreshing and it is my go to at most Polish functions.

So, if you want to take a short vacation in your mind to the hustle and bustle of Krakow's old square... just open up a Zywiec and imagine yourself here for a little while..... Na Zdrowie!

Back to Brewing!

Finally! After about 4 months of mostly just goofing off with home kits over the summer, I finally got to brew on our Olds College pilot system this last Thursday!

We brewed a pale ale we're calling the Wet Hopped Canadian Summer Pale Ale. We kettle hoped it with Bravo and then circulated the wort through wet Centennial hops we acquired from Northern Girls Hopyard in Alberta.

It's been fermenting away vigorously the last few days! I tasted it today and it's coming along very nicely.... Very floral. Lot's of tang still.... but it's young. Can't wait to see how it turns out once it conditions!

Our Summer at Alley Kat in Edmonton

I'm trying to get my old blogging legs back and thought I'd post up this picture of my friend Jim (on the far left) and I at the Alley Kat brewery. This summer was the summer of working so I don't go into crushing debt via student loans. So, instead of travelling and goofing off, as I do, I got down to work in the packaging department..... It was a lot of work but my back held out and I made it through!!

We did a lot of filling bottles and kegs, wrapping pallets, and scrubbing floors.... and in case anybody is confused, let it be known that the majority of brewery work is cleaning! It's not glamorous.... but at least it's honest! And you get a fair share of perks in the form of beer :)

                          And here's one more of Jim and I at K-Days! We ate a lot of ribs!

BACK AT 'ER!!!

Hello!

Well, it has been a while since I've updated this blog! Years, in fact! Of course, the reason for that is that the purpose of this blog was to document my cross-Canada beer tour in 2011. And, what a trip it was! I met a lot of cool people and drank a lot of great beers during my travels... Once I got home, life went on.... I pursued other interests in my life and left my little beer blog to live on amongst the millions of others that have been abandoned in the black hole of the internet... So, why am I back now?

By some series of events that I don't completely understand, last year I found myself accepted into the Olds College Brewmaster and Brewery Operations program.... I am going into my second and final year of the program and have decided to flirt with blogging once again. Maybe it'll help me land a job when I'm done school!

Now, giving the day to day of what I learn at school is boring and not necessary and I know I won't keep up with it at all once I start getting into the meat and potatoes of the semester... So, I figure I'll use this blog to write about some of my beer musings and such... beers I taste, articles about brewing and the like that I find interesting, and so on.... :)

So, thanks to whomever may stumble in here.... hope you enjoy!

Me at the Edmonton Craft Beer Festival June 2014