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We are currently preparing for our upcoming Artisan Dinner here at
the Brewhouse. Here are some photos of the fellas hard at work.
Brent took on the duck confit course. He started the process
on Friday by cleaning his duck quarters and adding some base aromatics,
salts and garlic. Todd also helped get the duck ready for the confit
process. Today Brent finished up his duck and put it in the oven for
what could possibly be a 10 to 12 hour cooking process. (Slow and low,
that is the tempo. Yes, I did just reference the Beastie Boys. :) ) As
always, Brent's enthusiasm was infectious and we all enjoyed working
together on this project.
Doug is trimming up his wild King Salmon from Yakitet, Alaska. He also started the "Gravlax" process. He did a really great job and was and easy study. He learned the principles of cold-curing fish and some basic fish butchery.See y'all Thursday!Chef Kerry White
The brewers at Elliott Bay Brewhouse and Pub in Burien cranked up the mash tun shortly after 4:00 AM to begin brewing their versions of Herbert's Legendary Cask Fest Ale for this year's Tenth Anniversary Washington Beer Commission Cask Festival.
Nine other WA breweries will brew interpretations of this Imperial IPA in honor of the late Bert Grant, all of which will pour at the event being held at Seattle Center on 03.28.09.
Advance tickets are currently available ON LINE and at both Elliott Bay pubs.
Swing by Beveridge Place Pub between Friday 2.27 and Sat. 3.7 for a taste of our Portside Barley Wine. It will be on tap alongside a host of other mighty strong ale offerings.
This year's recipe was one we brewed as part of the Pro-Am project, where professional brewers produce beers based on award-winning homebrew recipes and enter them in competition at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival in Denver, CO. Our beer was based on a recipe brewed by James Golovich.
Check out BPP's web site for more details about this event.
Over the Valentine's/President's Day weekend we paid a visit to the Napa Valley and a couple of local breweries for some mid-winter inspiration. One of the stops was Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa. The owner and brewmaster, Vinnie Cilurzo, showed us around on a busy Friday afternoon. His 50 barrel system was pretty impressive, but nothing compared to the moment he rolled up the door to reveal "The Barrel Room." This is where all the magic happens for the oak-aged beers and where the sour beers take shape. We made it over to the pub too, where they were pouring the recently released Rejection, a Belgian black ale, and a barrel-aged sour beer called Consecration, which was infused with black currants. Both were mighty yummy. Rejection reminded me quite a bit of our Noir von Boorian. Not bad company to keep with the 1999 Small Brewing Company Brewmaster of the Year!
We also toured a few wineries and explored a couple of caves chocked full of oak barrels. These were wonderful to see and to sample. At Sinsky we walked through their extensive cellars dug into the hillside of volcanic rock. They produce their wines bio-dynamically and have a wonderful sampler flight that comes with small morsels of cheese, nuts, and olives to complement their fine wines. Del Dotto winery goes one step further on their tour, giving patrons the opportunity to sample directly from the barrels in their hand-hewn damp and romantically moldy caves. Getting to taste the same juice from a number of different barrels of different origin and degrees of toast helped drive home the more subtle points of just what wood does for wine (and beer). It will be good to apply some of that knowledge to the projects in our brewery's basement back in Burien.
A couple of weeks ago I paid a visit to Salmon Creek Brewing in Vancouver, WA. They bought the original kettle and mash tun from the West Seattle pub when we moved our brewing operations out back. It was great to see the old equipment in its new setting. We brewed about 600 batches on that system, three of which won GABF medals. And after some minor modifications, she's still going strong for the brewers at Salmon Creek. Old brewing equipment never really dies, it just gets reappropriated for new jobs.
We're brewing a series of lager beers this month, including a Schwarzbier and Helles in West Seattle and Märzen and Irish Red in Burien. Given that we mainly focus on producing ales, this is a major seasonal departure for us. But the first two batches are tasting good and should be released in early March. Look for a cask-conditioned / kellerbier version of the Märzen at the Third Thursday Cask Night in West Seattle on 2.19.08. It was tasting yummy today when we drew a sample from the keg!
Last week we brewed a variation on a Belgian spiced ale using our house Belgian yeast and cardamon seeds.
The hazy, faintly orange color is characteristic of these farmhouse style ales that were traditionally brewed for consumption during the warmer months of the year. Now that we've had a few days over 40F and are looking forward to some more sunshine, this style seemed appropriate.
Look for the Saison to be pouring in both pubs by late February.
Burien Birthday Beer #2 is now in the fermentor and will be ready to drink in about a month. This year we brewed our first lager beer at the Brewhouse - a Märzen style that is a lovely orange color and only mildly hopped.
Come by on Sat., March 7 and celebrate our second anniversary in Burien. There will be music, food, and beer specials. Prost!
We lauched a new seasonal earlier this year, a robust Porter in which we steeped organic cacao nibs from local chocolatier, Theo Chocolates.
The beer was brewed in West Seattle but kegs are currently pouring in both locations.
The nibs help round out the the beer with a touch of added sweetness and a mild amount of bitterness that complements the dark roasted malts.
We are currently preparing for our upcoming Artisan Dinner here at
Doug is trimming up his wild King Salmon from Yakitet, Alaska. He also started the "Gravlax" process. He did a really great job and was and easy study. He learned the principles of cold-curing fish and some basic fish butchery.
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