Category: Food

Beer of the Week: Populuxe CDA

By Iron Chef Leftovers

The nice thing about Populuxe and their ever-rotating tap list is that I can drink a beer, take a couple of months to review it and it will eventually end up back on tap. This means that, unlike some of the beers that I am taking so long to post the review of (say Pumpkin beers in March), there is a good chance that you will be able to drink this beer somewhat soon after I review it. Populuxe continued their foray into the world of hoppy beers with the release of the CDA; Cascadian Dark Ale, or as it is otherwise known, a Black IPA.

The beer pours jet black with a tan head. Lots of citrus and hop notes with a bit of roasted malt hiding on the nose. The first sip reveals some chocolate up front, yielding to delicious roasted flavors that linger for a long time before giving way to an explosion of hops and citrus peel in a very long and pleasant finish. A little bolder than the roast on most other CDA’s (which tend to be more hop forward), but very assertive and hoppy enough to please the most ardent hophead. The best part of this beer is how layered it is. It moves away from the one dimensional palate that you get from a number of CDA’s, which look like a dark beer, but taste just about like an IPA and gives you something much more interesting. The amazing part of this beer is that you still and pick out those layers when you are on your second pint.

When this beer shows up on the tap list again, get yourself down to Populuxe and have yourself a pint.

Populuxe CDA sneaks in under the cover of darkness and scores a strong 4 things that go bump in the night out of 5.

"What is wrong with the large production of animals in this country?"

By Iron Chef Leftovers

A moderated discussion between Dana Cowin, Mario Batali, Chris Cosentino and Anya Fernald took place at the Aspen Food and Wine Festival recently. During that discussion Cowin asked, “What is wrong with the large production of animals in this country?”

Batali had this response:

What’s right with it? Meat is not produce with the intent of good animal husbandry technique, of animal health, which of course together means it’s not produce with the intention of producing a delicious product. Meat in this country often resembles the taste of cardboard.

He is right. They also go on to talk about using the whole animal, which is a very interesting read.

Unfortunately, the article does not seem to have the full transcript of the discussion, but it does have parts of it here. I will post the full transcript if I can find it at some point.

“What is wrong with the large production of animals in this country?”

By Iron Chef Leftovers

A moderated discussion between Dana Cowin, Mario Batali, Chris Cosentino and Anya Fernald took place at the Aspen Food and Wine Festival recently. During that discussion Cowin asked, “What is wrong with the large production of animals in this country?”

Batali had this response:

What’s right with it? Meat is not produce with the intent of good animal husbandry technique, of animal health, which of course together means it’s not produce with the intention of producing a delicious product. Meat in this country often resembles the taste of cardboard.

He is right. They also go on to talk about using the whole animal, which is a very interesting read.

Unfortunately, the article does not seem to have the full transcript of the discussion, but it does have parts of it here. I will post the full transcript if I can find it at some point.

EarthBox Update — June 23, 2013

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous week here.

The Bibb finally bolted. Four plants produced almost exactly two pounds of leaves — right around 20 servings.  The Bibb wasn’t transplanted until late April, which was way too late, so I’m ok with that yield.

The tomatillos are now almost six feet tall. The shorter of the two has a fruit about the size of a ping pong ball, pictured below.

The peppers haven’t been digging the rain, I don’t think. At least two of the fruits have extensive black on them, which I’m guessing is some sort of rot. One of the plants is struggling with wilted and blackened leaves. Not good. It may be that the least resistant of the ten varieties are struggling — hopefully everything else can shrug it off.

The pics, starting with an overview:

062313 overview

Continue reading “EarthBox Update — June 23, 2013” →

Beer of the Week: Speakeasy Big Daddy IPA

By Iron Chef Leftovers

It is always exciting to try an IPA that is not from Washington or Oregon, but that usually means California living in Seattle and in general, California usually means it is coming from San Diego. In the case of Speakeasy, we get to try one made in San Francisco. Big Daddy IPA came in a 22 oz. bottle and runs around $5, and is available just about everywhere you can buy beer.

From the Speakeasy website:

No lightweight, Big Daddy IPA tips the scales with a huge hop flavor and a clean, dry finish that leaves the scene without a trace.

Big Daddy IPA is a hop-head’s delight, a generously dry-hopped yet surprisingly drinkable American-style India Pale Ale. Poured into a standard American pint glass, the beer is a golden straw color, with tight carbonation and a slightly off-white head that leaves a lovely lacing. The aroma is floral, fresh grass, pine needles, grapefruit and subtle notes of fresh bread.
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 55
Color: 5L – Golden
Barley: Two Row Pale, Light Munich
Hops: Columbus, Cascade, Centennial
Yeast: California Ale

Big-Daddy-6pack-1024x1024The beer is golden in color with a white head. The nose is graced with mild hops, notes of grain and citrus and a slightly floral aroma. The beer is very grain forward on its first sip, yielding quickly to the hop character – slightly bitter with light citrus and significant floral notes, followed by a long, bitter finish. The alcohol was not a problem but the beer was a little too floral for my liking and that floral character seems to intensify as the beer warms. It seemed very out of balance between the bitter and floral notes and, while not unpleasant to drink, was nowhere close to being a great IPA.

Speakeasy Big Daddy IPA rolls down the window and shoot with a 2 tommy guns out of 5.

Finally

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I have long lameted that, amid the recent explosion of breweries in Ballard, we could use a few more wineries and a distillery. Well, looks like we can cross the distillery off the list: welcome to the neighborhood Old Ballard Liquor Co. It is located on 14th and Shilshole Ave, not too far from Maratime Pacific. That makes (soon to be) 10 breweries (and maybe 11), 1 winery and 1 distillery in a one square mile area.

More details can be found on myballard.com.

Beer of the Week: Reuben’s Brews Mocha Stout

By Iron Chef Leftovers

photo2
The delicious Mocha Stout. You can even see the famous Iron Chef Leftovers beer notebook in this shot.

With the frequency that that review beers from Reuben’s Brews, you would think that the brewery is paying me to do it. I can assure you that is not the case. I review so many of their beers for a variety of reasons, mostly because the brewery is less than a 10 minute walk from my house. A few months back, they put on a Mocha Porter – I love coffee based beers and this one I had to try. Oh yeah, it also included a nice dose of cocoa nibs – so it really got my interest. It was available on nitro when I had it. It clocked in at a healthy 8.4% ABV and 34 IBU.

The beer poured jet black as expected. For a beer that had both cocoa and coffee in it, the nose was fairly restrained. There are definite notes of both coffee and chocolate, but you were still able to pick out hints of both grain and malt in between them – this was a huge surprise to me for such a big beer. The palate is also very restrained – there are distinct flavors of light roast coffee with hints of sweetness to start out, followed quickly by a pleasant maltiness which then transitions into a moderately intense chocolate finish with hints of bitter coffee. The finish is extremely long and you still get hints of dark chocolate well after you take a sip. It is not as intense chocolate as most chocolate beers and the coffee is more restrained that I would have expected, but the beer is extremely well balanced and you can actually taste the beer.

While most coffee beers are like drinking a good espresso or cappuccino, this one is more like heading down to a coffee shop and ordering a light roast drip with no milk – you know you are drinking coffee but you taste more of the complexity of the bean than the roast of the espresso.

If this beer ever comes back, you need to head to Reuben’s and have one (or two).

Reuben’s Brews Mocha Stout percolates in the pot with a perfect 5 coffea arabica out of 5.

Beer of the Week: Reuben's Brews Mocha Stout

By Iron Chef Leftovers

photo2
The delicious Mocha Stout. You can even see the famous Iron Chef Leftovers beer notebook in this shot.

With the frequency that that review beers from Reuben’s Brews, you would think that the brewery is paying me to do it. I can assure you that is not the case. I review so many of their beers for a variety of reasons, mostly because the brewery is less than a 10 minute walk from my house. A few months back, they put on a Mocha Porter – I love coffee based beers and this one I had to try. Oh yeah, it also included a nice dose of cocoa nibs – so it really got my interest. It was available on nitro when I had it. It clocked in at a healthy 8.4% ABV and 34 IBU.

The beer poured jet black as expected. For a beer that had both cocoa and coffee in it, the nose was fairly restrained. There are definite notes of both coffee and chocolate, but you were still able to pick out hints of both grain and malt in between them – this was a huge surprise to me for such a big beer. The palate is also very restrained – there are distinct flavors of light roast coffee with hints of sweetness to start out, followed quickly by a pleasant maltiness which then transitions into a moderately intense chocolate finish with hints of bitter coffee. The finish is extremely long and you still get hints of dark chocolate well after you take a sip. It is not as intense chocolate as most chocolate beers and the coffee is more restrained that I would have expected, but the beer is extremely well balanced and you can actually taste the beer.

While most coffee beers are like drinking a good espresso or cappuccino, this one is more like heading down to a coffee shop and ordering a light roast drip with no milk – you know you are drinking coffee but you taste more of the complexity of the bean than the roast of the espresso.

If this beer ever comes back, you need to head to Reuben’s and have one (or two).

Reuben’s Brews Mocha Stout percolates in the pot with a perfect 5 coffea arabica out of 5.

EarthBox Update — June 16, 2013

by A.J. Coltrane

Previous post here.

The tomato and tomatillo plants are growing in every direction, so they got some twine to try to organize the chaos. The cabbage worms look to be at least briefly defeated, but the aphids have now found the purple basil. The lettuce and dill are gradually fading, though it was still a good harvest this week. The cilantro and parsley went ballistic and received big haircuts.  The first peppers have made their appearance.

The pics:

Side view.
Side view.

From the back door of the garage:

061513 overview 2

Continue reading “EarthBox Update — June 16, 2013” →