Category: Food

Beer of the Week: Naked City Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands

By Iron Chef Leftovers

naked-cityBack in the day when they first started, Naked City was really known for Belgian style beers. Over the past few years, they have really expanded both their beer lineup and brewery, so now when you head into their taproom/restaurant, you are faced with a large, something for everyone beer list. The upside of that is when you are looking for a particular style, there is a chance they have it. A recent trip to Naked City on a warm day lead to me wanting something light and refreshing, so I gravitated towards the Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, a blonde ale clocking in at just 5% ABV.

From the Naked City website:

The name is inspired by the final track on Bob Dylan’s brilliant Blonde on Blonde album. One of the many questions this song asks is: “Who among them do you think could resist you?” Made with British Pale, Munich, Wheat, and Crystal Malts, this light, easy-drinking session ale is hopped with Chinook and Styrian Golding. Once you have one pint of this smooth ale, you won’t be able to resist another.

The beer pours pale yellow in color with a significant amount of pilsner malt and slight floral notes and hints of grain on the nose. The beer starts off with a slight malty sweetness before showing significant pilsner character and touches of fruit. The finish is pleasant, with a malt start and finishing with hints of pilsner with a slightly floral character. The beer is pretty nondescript but pleasant and easy to drink on a warm summer day. I just wish it had a bit more depth beyond the significant pilsner character.

Naked City’s Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands tunes its guitar to 2 Rainy Day Women out of 5.

Ultomato Stakes And The EarthBox — Getting It To Fit

by A.J. Coltrane

In 2013 we used Ultomato stakes in many of the EarthBoxes. One of the early hodge-podge attempts is shown on June 3 of last year, here. We had a couple of boxes where the stakes wound up branching out in many directions, and to some degree it was a struggle to get everything to fit together. More than a few of the “arms” got warped in the process. Even with a “regular”, symmetrical, setup it can be hard to get the poles just the right distance apart for the arms.

What we learned is that the right thing to do is to assemble the Ultomato cage, *then* put it into the EarthBox. Using a “break” in the concrete ensures that all the stakes line up:

140525 ultomato

It seems to be easiest to put on the arms open-side up, pushing the stakes onto the arms, rather than the other way around. Like this:

140525 ultomato close up

And (Note the bent arms. Those went on last.):

140525 ultomato

We’d then flip the entire thing over and “close the loop” with the last of the arms. This leaves the open sides of the arms facing out so that if the plants push outwards the arms won’t pop off of the stakes.

The best path to success is to push the center two poles in slightly, then work the corners in a little bit at a time. Once all of the poles are in place it’s easy to push the whole thing firmly down into the box. In the next picture you can see the arms facing “out”.

140525 ultomato installed

And sure enough, we learned something this year too. The arms need be attached closer to the top and bottom of the stakes. Once the assembly is in place it’s really hard to put on arms closer to the surface of the box.

Fortunately, we’ve got garden twine.

 

Beer of the Week: NW Peaks Single Hop IPA with Crystal

By Iron Chef Leftovers

untitle8dKeeping with a theme of single hop IPA’s, NW Peaks released one also recently, this one done with Crystal hops. It was a new beer for the crew down at NW Peaks and an IPA, so it was definitely on my must try list.

The beer pours hazy pale yellow in color with notes of lemon and lemon peel and touches of grain and grassy hops. The beer starts off with a strong grain profile with just a touch of sweetness before quickly moving into a mild bitterness showing hints of lemon peel. The beer finishes long with notes of lemon juice (without the acidity) and a pleasant bitterness with just a touch of astringency (surprising but not unpleasant) and hints of grassy notes giving the beer a bit of a bite. The beer drinks fine and is a nice use of Crystal hops, but it lacked a great depth of flavor that you would normally expect from an IPA and it seemed just a bit unbalanced.

NW Peaks Single Hop IPA with Crystal goes into the china shop like a bull with 2 horns out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Stoup Brewing Citra IPA

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I am back to bouncing all over my beer notes because every once in a while, I have a beer that is on tap at a local brewery and worth seeking out. I love IPA’s and I love single hop IPA’s even more because they really showcase the hop and its flavor profile. Stoup Brewing has a Citra IPA currently on tap that comes in at a reasonable 50 IBU and 5.9% ABV. Since I really do enjoy Citra hops, this one was a must-try.

From the Stoup website:

We like to call this one Sunshine In a Glass … or Sunshine In Your Belly because it won’t stay in that glass long.  Our Citra® IPA is designed to be light and bright in both color and body.  Your first sniff will elicit images of tropical fruit and citrus thanks to a healthy dose of Citra® hops.  Enjoy a pint of this and you might just find yourself gazing skyward, pondering how in the heck sunshine made its way into your glass.

untitlasedThe beer pours hazy golden in color with tinges of orange and a creamy white head. There are significant amounts of orange and orange peel on the nose with light touches of orange juice showing through. The beer starts out with a mild orange juice sweetness coupled with touches of grain before more pronounced IPA character builds in. First, you get hints of piney resin, then burnt orange peel with a bitterness that is mild and pleasant that carries through the finish of the beer without overpowering it. There is more fresh fruit on the finish, combining with the orange peel and pine notes, causing the beer to finish nicely and tricked my mind into looking for orange pulp at the bottom of the glass. This beer is easy to drink with a nice balance and complexity, showing layered flavors and showcasing Citra hops wonderfully.

Stoup Brewing’s Citra IPA goes down to the groves and picks the best 4 oranges out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Populuxe Amber

By Iron Chef Leftovers

imagesCAAR87MMA long time ago, back when Populuxe first opened, there was an Amber on tap. It then disappeared for a while, only to recently resurface recently on their tap list, thanks to their ever rotating number of beers. That definitely meant I was trying it despite it just being up on the board as “Amber” with no snappy name (more on that later). The beer clocked in at 5.5% ABV.

The beer pours deep red in color with a white head. Nice notes of malt and light notes of dried fruit and hops appear on the nose with just a touch of floral perfume showing itself. The beer starts off on the palate with a nice floral hopiness and a surprising punch of bitterness (not unpleasant, just unexpected) before mellowing out with a touch of sweetness and malt. The beer finishes with a combination of malt, a touch of sweetness, just a touch of caramel and a really nice bitterness that lingers well after the other flavors have gone. This beer is incredibly easy to drink, deep and surprisingly hoppy and worth checking out if it is on the tap list.

Populuxe Amber reads the writing on the wall with 3 for a good time calls out of 5.

Ed Note: I suggested that they call this beer “For a good time call Amber” but my suggestion was shot down.

Beer of the Week: Big Time Whiny the Complainer

By Iron Chef Leftovers

One of the beers that I usually wait for every year is Big Time Brewing’s Imperial IPA, Whiny the Complainer (take a guess what that it a play on words referring to). They were one of the first Seattle breweries to put out a Pliny clone and it usually sells out quickly despite being a big beer, mostly because it is brewed once a year in a relatively small batch. The nice thing is that it is also available in 22 oz. bottles at the tap room upon release for $15. This year, the alcohol was dialed back a bit to 9.4% ABV (it is usually over 10%). This review is for the bottled version of the beer.

From the Big Time website:

A triple IPA that has more of everything. Alcohol and hops dominate the flavor of this intense bitter treat. Hops include Cascade, Magnum, Columbus, Simcoe, Amarillo, Cetennial, Nelson Sauvin.  OG 22 ( Plato1.088),  9. alcohol by volume. Brew # 2,300.

indexThe beer pours hazy orange brown in color with a significant amount of citrus peel on the nose with hints of grain and just a touch of spice hiding in the background. The beer starts out on the palate with a bit of sweetness which lingers a few seconds until it is joined by a significant orange presence and just a touch of bitter orange peel. The finish is fairly low key considering the size of the beer, with touches of bitterness and orange peel and just a touch of resin bringing a bit of burn to the back of the throat. The finish is long but not overpowering, which is a nice change for an Imperial IPA. The beer drinks fine, but not as big and hoppy as it has been in the past and I was expecting more from it based on past experience and the cost of the beer. It was a fine beer, but disappointing compared to its past incarnations.

Big Time Brewing’s Whiny the Complainer steps up to the window and files 2 complaint forms out of 5.

Pea “Pesto”

by A.J. Coltrane

Pea “pesto” on a baguette. It’s this bread with these peas and basil:

140611 pea pesto

Ingredients with approximate volumes:

Super Sugar Snap Peas and Basil at a 1/1 ratio.

Goat cheese (about 1/3 of the total peas and basil)

Dash of Salt, Glug of Olive Oil

 

Super Fresh Ingredients That I Don’t Screw Up = a well received little plate.

I’m not planning to raise goats or grow wheat, so this is as close to truly homemade as it’s ever going to get. It’s sorta satisfying to get even that close.

Beer of the Week: Reuben’s Brews Yirgacheffe Rye

By Iron Chef Leftovers

untitled2One of the highlights of the last couple Seattle Beer Weeks has been Ryefest at Reuben’s. They go all out and brew a bunch of different rye based beers that many of which are generally only available that weekend since they are small batch and it is a popular event. This year’s Ryefest brought us a total of 12 rye beers including the impossible to pronounce Yirgacheffe Rye, which is a coffee from Ethiopia. The beer clocked in at 32 IBU and 5.4% ABV and I believe was based on the American Rye.

The beer pours hazy yellow in color with a touch of white on the head. Touches of coffee, rye and grain dominate the nose of this beer. It starts off on the palate with light notes of lemon peel and hops before adding a touch of sweetness from the rye, with just hints of bite, finishing with a very mild coffee note with a touch of bitterness and hints of chocolate and dried fruit. The beer is light and crisp and easy to drink with a very nice hint of coffee that does not overpower the other flavors in the beer. It is also a nice change of pace from coffee stouts and porters that allows you to drink something lighter and still enjoy the nuances of the coffee contained within the beer.

Reuben’s  Yirgacheffe Rye takes out the jeep and goes on safari with 4 Seregetis out of 5.