Rogue Ales Beer Dinner in TX Hill Country January 27, 2012 - Westin La Cantera

Folks in the Hill Country of Texas should check Beer Dinner this out:

Don't be afraid to go a little rogue this 2012 year with your friends at The Westin La Cantera Hill Country Resort. On Friday, Jan. 27 at 7:00 p.m. in The La Cantera Grille, we are proud to host a beer dinner with Rogue Ales, an American craft brewery who prides itself in doing things differently. 

Five revolutionary handcrafted beers that go against the grain will be paired with a spectacular dinner menu, created by Chef Isaac Cantu and Chef Henry Wesolowski. These chosen beers have earned the highest awards at events including 2011 World Beer Championships, 2011 Great American Beer Festival, 2011 US Beer Tasting Championships and 2011 Mondial De La Biere. 

There are a limited number of tickets for this high-selling event, so please don't hesitate to make your reservation by calling us directly at 210-558-2305. 

Tickets are priced at $55 per person (not including tax or gratuity). 

Click here to download the menu and a list of the beers chosen for your consideration. 

ROGUE BEER DINNER 

January 27, 2012 

CAP’N SIGS NORTHWESTERN ALE 

DEADLIEST CATCH TARTARES AND CEVICHES 

King crab and fresh vegetable 

HAZELNUT BROWN NECTAR 

DEEP FRIED “CHICORY”, PORK AND CHEESE 

Iberico ham, St. Andre, hazelnut and egg yolk 

DOUBLE DEAD GUY 

DOUBLE STUFFED QUAIL 

Duck, foie gras and “cherry” 

XS IMPERIAL RED 

INDIVIDUAL POT PIE 

Lamb and winter vegetable 

CHOCOLATE STOUT 

SOFT CHOCOLATE 

Espresso, meringue and oats 

ob:  I google'd "soft chocolate"  I came up empty handed, however the menu pairings are creative--this dinner should be delicious--especially intrigued by the topping and combinations of flavors & textures of the dessert. I would live to see photos, so tweet me @chocolatestout and let me know how this dinner & pairings go, and what the Sam Hill Soft Chocolate is!   If it were cheese, I'd select pairing Chocolate Stout with local farmstead Pure Luck Farm & Dairy's Hopelessly Blue, Del Cielo or  Sainte Maure. 

Cheers!

The world's best flavored stout - - complex, great mouthfeel, hint of bitterness

I crack up when I read the beer reviews like the one below from the World Beer Awards, especially when parsed into sound bytes. I just wish I had the nerve to do stand-up comedy (how many times fans of this beer have told me "you were great last night"...), but I'd blush myself off the stage in a heart beat.  Still, here is my list of fun(ny) soundbytes from the WBA review:

• great mouthfeel
• creamy
• complex
• hint of bitterness
• great balance
• fresh vanilla aroma
• layered & inviting

Kudos to John "more hops" Maier and his crew at Rogue Ales in Newport, Oregon for brewing this elixir (which I adorn the label of), and for the other beers from Rogue Ales that scored WBA awards!  Yet another couple of awards in their caps. I'm thrilled Rogue Chocolate Stout beer was awarded World Best Flavored Stout  & The Americas Best Flavored Stout, according to worldbeerawards.com

Thanks to the contributors on Beeradvocate, this beer has 1800+ reviews with a score of 94,  (99 from The Bros!) and RateBeer which has 1877 ratings and a score of 99!

Rogue's 22oz (and 64, 101oz) bottle has food group symbols, as a suggestion for pairing this beer with food. The food symbols on Rogue Chocolate Stout are Beef and Dessert -- but I feel the strength of pairing this beer is with cheese!   Here are some of my favorite cheese pairings: 

• blue cheese from producers like Rogue Creamery, Jasper Hill Farms or the classic stilton from Colsten Bassett (UK).
• mature cheddars (with lots of crunch) like Upland's Pleasant Ridge Reserve,  Fiscalini or Beechers 24 or 48 month old reserve.
• new styles like Touvelle from Rogue Creamery (sort of jack meets cheddar...)
• classic goat cheese like Cypress Grove's Humboldt Fog, or MozzCo's Hoja Santa.  
• flavored cheese like Beehive's Barley Buzzed or Rogue Creamery's Chipotle Cheddar.
• a soft / bloomy rind like Cherry Grove's Buttercup Brie,  Kunik form Nettle Meadow farms, or Dinah from Kurtwood Farms.

I also love to blend this beer (Hole Mole')  and have also blogged some of my beer cocktail recipes in the past (Rogue Diplomat Gone Nuts) and will continue to blog new recipes here and on a new site, www.BeerMixology.com 

tags: @chocolatestout  @rogueales

Teal Dragoness, a cocktail for OCNA 2012 Turn Up the Heat: A Celebration of Women Chefs

According to wikipedia, the color Teal is not even 100 years old, but its a color we know in nature (common teal duck, etc.) and has a broad range of tones in the green/blue spectrum.

Teal is also the color associated with Ovarian Cancer causes (as pink is for breast cancer).  For the 2nd year I created a signature cocktail for the annual Turn Up the Heat Gala in DC.  This charity event showcases & celebrates the talent of dozens of women chefs and restaurateurs from the DC Metro Area and raises money for a good cause.  Its a privilege and honor to be the only brewery & distiller invited to pour for past 5 years, and to have a signature cocktail for the second year.  My 2011 Teal Tonic was Rum based, the 2012 cocktail base is Rogue Spirits' Sprue Gin  distilled with 14 ingredients including traditional botanicals like juniper berries, along with Spruce and Cucumbers.

Teal Dragoness is the 2012 cocktail I created, inspired by OCNA, Women Chefs & Restaurateurs Assoc and the Year of the Dragon.

In a cocktail or wine glass, pour over ice and stir:

• 1 part  Rogue Spirits Spruce Gin
• 1/2  parts  Bols Blue Curacao  (just enough to create your shade of teal)
• 1 part  Prosecco or equivalent sparking wine

Options:

• Use Q-Ginger, tonic or club soda instead of Prosecco.
• Add a splash of Midori if more green is needed for your Teal Dragoness.

Raise your glass ~ toast the women who are fighting and surviving Ovarian Cancer & wish them well, and toast those who are looking for and working on a cure.   Prost & Enjoy! 

A shout out to Karen Buhler - an amazing glass artist (and my sister-in-law) who also makes whimsical shot glasses (heat shots of people, buck shots of deer...),  tumbers & cocktail glasses, in addition to her collectible glass art.  My "Buckshot" shot glass is filled with the Teal Dragoness cocktail.


TURN UP THE HEAT -- Event Info:  
 “Turn up the Heat: A Celebration of Women Chefs” Gala will take place at the DC Ritz Carlton at 1150 22nd Street NW on Tuesday, February 7, 2012. Proceeds of the event will support our efforts to raise awareness, educate women and health care providers, and advocate on behalf of women with ovarian cancer.  Tickets start at $250 doe the 2012 Turn Up the Heat Gala. Your contribution is tax deductible above the $90 per-person cost of the dinner.   We hope you will join us!

Here is a list of  Chefs participating in 2012 Turn Up the Heat, February 7th at the Ritz Carlton, DC.

WASHINGTON, DC

• Beverly Bates of Vidalia
• Amy Brandwein of Casa Nonna
• Robin Butler of Red Hook Lobster Pound DC
• Janet Conley of Cowgirl Creamery
• Violeta Edelman of Dolcezza Artisanal Gelato
• Sara Fatell of Grassroots Gourmet
• Ruth Gresser of Pizzeria Paradiso/Birreria Paradiso
• Susan Holt of CulinAerie
• Charleen Huebner of Chef of the Hill
• Katherine Kallinis and Sophie LaMontagne of Georgetown Cupcake
• Ris Lacoste of ris
• Jamie Leeds of Hank's Oyster Bar and Lounge
• Jodi Lehr of Santa Lucia Estate Coffee
• Ana MacDougal of Michel Richard Citronelle, Central Michel Richard and MICHEL
• Janis McLean of 15 ria
• Nora Pouillon of Restaurant Nora
• Alison Reed of Ripple
• Kavita Singh of New Heights Restaurant
• Tamesha Warren of The Oval Room

MARYLAND

• Francis Bakota of My Wish Dish
• Barbara Black of Black Restaurant Group
• Somchet Chumpapo and Patrice Dionot of L'Academie de Cuisine
• Rita Garruba of 8407 Kitchen Bar
• Susan Sorrenko of Moorenko's Ice Cream
• Monica Thomas of Tailored Taste Personal Chef Service

VIRGINIA

• Gladys Abi-Najm and Grace Abi-Najm Shea of Lebanese Taverna Restaurants
• Laurie Bell of Great Falls Tea Garden
• Charleen Huebner of Stratford University School of Culinary Arts
• Kate Jansen and Tracy O'Grady of Willow Restaurant
• Shannon Overmiller of The Majestic
• Yasmine Sandhu of Sugar & Spice
• Aimee Suyehiro of Argia's
• Christine Wansleben of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs of Richmond
• Laurie Weber of The Swiss Bakery

WEST VIRGINIA

• Anne Hart of Provence Market Cafe

Beverages

• Sebbie Buhler of Rogue Ales and Rogue Spirits
• Five Rivers Winery

tags:  @chocolatestout @rogueales @ocna  #womenchefs

Celebrating November 3rd , International Stout Day

Hip Hip Horray for Erin Peters  who declared November 3rd as International Stout day! @Stoutday

Being that my image has been on the bottle of Rogue Chocolate Stout for upwards of a dozen years, it behooves me to  encourage others to imbibe in this elixir--drink on the dark side, go for your inner stout, especially on November 3rd!

Why settle for just drinking your stout when you can eat it too!   Here are a few ways to celebrate  ~ all are available online and made with a stout near and dear to my International Stout Day heart!

Rogue Creamery Chocolate Stout Cheddar - The Lodge gift basket also includes Smokey Blue and other goodies selected by Rogue Creamery. The cheddar is also sold in 8oz blocks at select retailers and through online retailers.
TruffleTruffle's Beer Pretzel & Brittle collection.
Vosges Haut Chocolate's  new  Smoke + stout  chocolate bar
Valerie Confections - gift box of whiskey and stout truffles 
Capogiro  makes a special batch of Rogue Chocolate Stout gelato each year for Philly Beer Week! 

Why not brew it at home?   This 5 gallon homebrew recipe for Roge Chocolate Stout is online.   Better yet, you can celebrate twice this week since November 5th is Learn to Homebrew Day - an annual event sanctioned by the American Homebrewers Association! 

You can also bake your stout and eat it too!   Check out this recipe that Chef Bruce Aidells wrote for Bon Appetite Magazine!    Here is a fun blog post &  brownie recipe (though I have not tried it myself).   Who doesn't love a molten lava cake made with chocolate stout...

On a diet? You can also read all about it -- just remember good beer is real food!  There are dozens of dozens of reviews by the consumers on Beer Advocate  and RateBeer  and a solid thumbs-up from the  beer press in Seattle!

So join me in celebrating International Stout Day, hopefully with something very dark and highly roasted in your glass or a creation thereof on your plate.  No matter whether it has notes of chocolate malt or real chocolate added, its all about the base -- Stout!!

Prost!

The Women of Beer Dinner Oct 25th in Phila supporting Susan G Komen for the cure

I am so thrilled to be part of this charity dinner: The Women Of Beer, Tues Oct 25th at MidAtlantic Restaurant & Tap Room in Philadelphia.

Meet + greet + dine with 8 ladies in the brewing industry:
Carol & Jodi Stoudt from Stoudts in Adamstown, PA,
Suzanne Woods from Allagash in Portland, ME,
Wendy Domurat from Dogfish Head in Milton, DE
Whitney Thompson and Karen Noonan
from Victory in Downingtown, PA,
Megan Maguire from Ommegang in Cooperstown, NY and
Sebbie Buhler from Rogue Ales in Newport, OR.

Chef Daniel Stern has planned an 8 course dinner paired with 11 special beers. Cost is $150 pp all-inclusive, with $50 benefiting the Philadelphia Affiliate of Susan G. Komen For the Cure.

Quite an amazing menu and beer pairings, including a beer washed cheese from Birchrun Hills Farm --yet another reason to celebrate -- October is American Cheese Month! Have you talked to a cheesemonger today? Steve Jones of the Cheese Bar in Portland, Oregon took the 2011 Cheesemonger award!


women of beer dinner menu:

meet + mingle: small bites + snakes / victory brewing co / festbier

first: winter vegetable salad / brewery ommegang / aphrodite - brett beer with fruit

second: saffron-poached trout / brewery ommegang / hennepin - farmhouse saison

third: variations of squash / allagash brewing co / hugh malone - belgian-stye ipa

fourth: green-peppered-crusted monkfish / dogfish head / midas touch - ancient ale

fifth: dry-aged ribeye: two ways / dogfish / hellhound on my ale - double ipa

sixth: birchrun hills farm beer-washed cheese / victory brewing / otto - smoked belgian-style dubble

seventh: a taste of apple / stoudt's brewing / apple pie beer

eigth: chocolate + cramel / stoudt's brewing / london porter & rogue ales / chocolate stout



A big thanks to Evan Oxenfeldt and Chef Daniel Stern!


tags: @RogueAles @ChocolateStout @MidatlanticPHL

October is American Cheese Month

October is American Cheese Month -- a celebration of North America’s delicious and diverse cheeses, and the farmers, cheesemakers, retailers, cheesemongers, and chefs who bring them to your table. Find out more about events and participants from this link...

I have a special interest in American Cheese Month since my friends at Rogue Creamery (Central Point, Oregon) infuse Rogue Chocolate Stout beer into a cheddar cheese.

This cheese has won a hat-trick of awards at the American Cheese Society competition (2nd place in 2007 & 2008, 3rd place in 2011). Its available at select retailers, Rogue Pubs and Rogue Creamery's retail store; or you can order it online -- The Lodge gift box comes with the award winning Chipotle Cheddar, Chocolate Stout Cheddar, the world’s first Smokey Blue® Cheese, Lillie Belle Caramel-Almond Organic Dark Chocolate and 34 Degrees crispbread crackers -- a great gift idea for your favorite rogue during American Cheese Month.


Heads up to folks in Portland, OR -- on October 8th you can meet Oregon's cheesemakers during The Wedge, an annual event sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Oregon, benefiting the Oregon Cheese Guild which will be hosted at Rogue's Green Dragon pub! Learn more about Pacific Northwest Cheeses ~ visit Tami Parr's blog and get a copy of her book.






tags: @RogueCreamery @ChocolateStout @RogueAles @CheeseSociety @34degrees @LillieBelleFarm @TheWedgePDX @greendragonPDX @pnwcheese

Craft Beer Rising to the ICC Occasion in NYC October 2-4

6th Annual International Chefs Congress (ICC) will be held at the Park Avenue Armory in NYC on October 2-2, 2011

Starchefs.com ICC theme for 2011 is the sixth sense: intuition, emotion, and experimental evolution in dining.


I am excited that Craft Beer will be at the Bar@ICC this year! Any brewery interested in participating should contact Will Blunt at the ICC office in NYC 212-966-3775, and secure your spot! Here are some details from the 2010 ICC.

The three day 2011 International Chefs Congress includes a product fair (with culinary equipment & products and craft beer!), 80 demonstrations and panels by culinary trade, for the trade, the 2nd Annual Pastry Competition (with 20 international pastry chefs), 2nd Annual Somm Slam (12 competitors compete over 3 days), the VitaMix Challenge (6 finalists go blender to blender), showcased decor by the winners of Design Competition, receptions and afterparties, and the NYC Rising Stars Gala & Awards on Tuesday evening.

from Starchefs.com, The 2011 ICC lineup includes preeminent figures in the food and beverage industry including

• Grant Achatz (Alinea),
• Andoni Luis Aduriz (Mugaritz Restaurant),
• Massimo Bottura (Osteria Francescana),
• David Burke (David Burke Kitchen),
• François Chartier, Sang-Hoon Degeimbre (L’Air du Temps),
• Curtis Duffy (Avenues),
• Pierre Hermé (Pierre Hermé Paris),
• Bill Kim (Urbanbelly and Belly Shack),
• Paul Liebrandt (Corton),
• Tony Maws (Craigie On Main),
• Ron Paprocki (Gordon Ramsay at The London),
• Gilles Verot (Gilles Verot), and
• Chris Young (Intellectual Ventures) - part of the team behind of the Modernist Cuisine!

One session on my mind is Burger Pairing Showdown: Beer vs. Wine

• Fred Dexheimer of Juiceman Consulting - New York, NY
• Adam Fleischman of Umami Burger - Los Angeles, CA
• Michael McAvena of The Publican - Chicago, IL

I have high hopes for beer and that Michael will take down Fred, so this will be interesting.

Another session that piqued my intersest is on Tuesday afternoon -- Je Ne Sais Quoi: Feminine Finesse in Mixology

• Christy Pope of Cuffs & Buttons - Brooklyn, NY
• Audrey Saunders of Pegu Club - New York, NY
• Naomi Schimek of The Spare Room - Los Angeles, CA
• Katie Stipe of Last Call Consulting - New York, NY

There are a few women on the ICC presenters rooster (including Chef Elizabeth Falkner, Chef Stephanie Izard, and many women in the wine and spirits industry). As a member of

• Women Chefs & Restaurateurs Association,
• American Cheese Society (women dominate artisan cheese!),
• Pink Boots Society -- women in the brewing industry, and the
• Brewers Association,

I take notice if women are speaking or on the rooster, and who is attending.

The Grand Finale of ICC is the Rising Stars, and it is nice to see several women chefs in the 2011 NYC lineup: Chef Hilliary Sterling of A Voce and Pastry Chef Jenny McCoy of Craft. The 2011 NYC Rising Chefs Gala and Awards Ceremony is Tuesday, October 4th.

ICC Passes are on sale now. Get your 3-day ticket (Oct 2-4) for the limited-time discount price of $450 for working restaurant pass and $795 for 3-day industry pass. October 4th -- NYC Rising Star Tickets: $150 per person; $200 VIP admission which includes private reception, tasting preview, Champagne and Petrossian caviar.

Some of my favorite companies are sponsors:

• Nueske's Smoked Meats (got Applewood Smoked Bacon!),
• Wisconsin Cheese, and
• Emmi Roth Kase

Bonus -- they all have products with umami, which strikes a cord with beer! Here is a great article by Charlie Papazian about Beer and Umami flavors (umami is the 5th sense ~ perfect flavors and pairings to bring to ICC and the 6th sense theme!) I gave a beer & umami flavors presentation at the Great American Beer Festival in 2009, albeit it was called beer and comfort food (bacon, cheese and chocolate).

Friends in the brewing industry, here is your chance to bring your beer to the culinary plate, come meet and network with the movers and shakers in the restaurant industry -- sign up as a sponsor! Chefs, Mixologists & Sommeliers, get to know your favorite brewers and their beers, encourage them to participate in ICC, and please include beer on your wine & cocktail lists!

I'll see you in Gotham at ICC. Cheers!

tags: #craftbeer @star_chefs @chocolatestout @WisconsinCheese @Nueskes @pinkbootsbeer