drinkmemag_issue23 by Drink Me Magazine

lifest yle through the gl ass

the white issue – Drink Me Lightens Up –

is sue

2 3 . . . de cem b er + ja n ua ry 2 012 – 2 013

“Clean slate, mate”

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the white issue ingredients keep it clean | is sue

f e at u r e s

12 from white dog to white knight White whiskey and why you should drink it Hal Klein

18 white sake Beyond what you know about nigori Jessica Furui

25 white ales: wit, witte, weiss, white White beers in every language Brian Yaeger

30 white wine: rias baixas All AlbariĂąo all the time Constance Chamberlain

50 egg whites Experiments with no yolks Genevieve Brazelton

d e pa r t m e n t s

6 from the editor 8 design Coasters! Dava Guthmiller

10 seasons change Winter Courtney Harrell

22 new booze Vodka David Driscoll

36 book review Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bring Back: The Cocktail Edition Daniel Yaffe

38 eat your booze Pistachio Sherry Napoleon Denise Sakaki

40 48 hours in... Ghent, Belgium Spencer Spellman

46 focus on... Chablis Daniel Yaffe

54 profile Brooklyn Breweryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world-famous brewmaster Brad Japhe

59 libation laureate Ale Gasso

60 featured recipes

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from the editor

If you’re dreaming of a white holiday season, we’re already on the

same page. Nothing shakes up the short, dark days like freshly fallen snow and a smorgasbord of delicious drinks. This is issue is whiter than Vanilla Ice. With a blank canvas we’re splashing through the best white booze out there— white sake, white ales, white spirits, and the joys of white wine. All of which accompany you beautifully as you shovel snow, bundle up, or unravel holiday lights.

Your editor: chilled out (artist’s rendition)

The next time you grab a drink, think about how much color plays into your experience. Leave your pink candy martini at the door; it’s time for something subtler—Frosty would be proud! Hey, the Beatles did it, why can’t we? Have a wonderful winter and a sparkle-filled New Year. . . . . . And let’s all hope the Mayans were wrong.

Skál,

Daniel

daniel yaffe,

editor—in—chief

white riot EDITOR IN CHIEF: Daniel Yaffe wite-out ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Victoria Gutierrez creative DIRECTOR: Tracy Sunrize Johnson white rabbit copy editoR: Rachel Wexler WEB DEVELOPER: Aman Ahuja distributor: Darrow Boggiano

ADVISORY BOARD: Jeremy Cowan, H. Ehrmann, Cornelius Geary,

Hondo Lewis, David Nepove, Debbie Rizzo, Genevieve Robertson, Carrie Steinberg, Gus Vahlkamp, Dominic Venegas

scan this qr code with your smartphone to link directly to us! To find out more, check out redlaser.com

CONTRIBuTORS: Dava Guthmiller, Courtney Harrell, Hal Klein, Jessica Furui, David Driscoll, Brian Yaeger, Constance Chamberlain, Denise Sakaki, Spencer Spellman, Genevieve Brazelton, Brad Japhe, Sierra Zimei, Tracy Sunrize Johnson

THANk YOu: Sangita Devaskar, Sitar Mody, Mary Samson, Skylar Werde, John Lennon

PuBLISHER: Open Content

www.opencontent.tv Eriq Wities & Daniel Yaffe

more than 100,000 people read drink me ! interested in advertising with us? ads@drinkmemag.com

recycle me Drink Me magazine is printed on 20% recycled (10% postconsumer waste) paper, using only soy-based inks. Our printer meets or exceeds all Federal Resource Conservation Act (rcra ) standards and is a certified member of the Forest Stewardship Council.

please! drink responsibly.

design

Paperwhite the love of the coaster

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text by Dava Guthmiller of Noise 13 Branding and Design

The coaster: the one soaked at your local bar, plastered in ads, or the lace doily on your grandmotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coffee table. Starting in 1880, the first coasters, called beermats, were made of cardboard and produced in Germany. Gott love them for thinking of the little things. Of all the materials used for coasters, slate or sandstone, fabric or crochet, my favorite is still the thick cotton blend paper version, especially when covered in great design or letterpress.

Since the holidays are coming up, let’s chat about the coasters for your yuletide soiree. There’s the very direct and simple one that just says “Cheers!”, the holidayinspired snowmen and reindeer, or the more styled ones with French Hens, intricate patterns, or bar games and recipes. You can get them custom made or DIY (check out crafty ideas at Apartmenttherapy.com).

facing page: French Hen coasters by Jill Labieniec, available on etsy.com this page, from top left: Cheers coaster, shopsocietysocial.com; Vintage Owl coaster, ruffhouseart.com; ‘Mr Snogglebaum’ and ‘Edna’ from The Cranky Pressman promotional coaster series, crankypressman.com

Cork or felt last longer and are great for the home. But for the party or pub, paper is still the best. Here at Noise 13, we’re getting our own holiday coasters in all their letterpress glory!

Seasons Change… So Should Your Drinks

winter text by Courtney Harrell

Whether you spin the dreidel or sit on Santa’s lap, yuletide cheer abounds come December. Between buying gifts and getting ready for that New Year’s Eve party, take a break and enjoy one of these refreshing winter beers, wines, and handcrafted cocktails mixed with seasonal herbs and spices.

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beer When the bitter cold lingers and all you want to do is curl up by the fire, I have just the brew for you: Sixpoint Brewery’s Diesel (6.3% ABV) out of Brooklyn, New York. This beer is part IPA, part American Stout and is fueled with the flavors of robust chocolate and toffee. If the thought of holding a cold beverage in your hand sounds uninviting, try a barley wine. Anchor Brewing Company’s “Old Foghorn Ale” (8-10% ABV) is a cellar-aged blend of malt and hops melded smoothly together and can be enjoyed at room temperature, if you please. wine

During the winter, choose a rich and full-bodied wine like a Sangiovese or Cabernet Sauvignon. Or get toasty with some mulling spices: heat red wine, such as Claret, with cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and sugar. Top it off with a slice of orange.

HOLIDAY INSPIRATION No matter what you celebrate, December and January are sure to bring on a little indulgence. When asked to think of a drink inspired by holiday candy, Regina Butler at Blackbird in San Francisco came up with the classic Pink Squirrel with a little something extra. For your holiday party, multiply this recipe by 4 and fill the blender with ice.

PINK S Q UIRREL b y r e g i n a B u t l e r

1 oz heavy cream 1 oz white Crème de Cacao 1 oz Crème de Noyaux 1 oz gin or vodka Small scoop of ice Blend; sprinkle cocktail with peppermint bark and serve in a festive glass.

cocktails

What could be more perfect in the winter than to warm up your insides with a hot toddy. Much like a mulled wine, it’s a classic cold weather libation. Try brandy, whiskey or rum with hot water, lemon, and honey. For a caffeine kick, add black tea.

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From

White Dog to

White Knight White whiskey and why you should drink it text by Hal B. Klein

rown, sweet, and oaky, wellmade bourbon is widely regarded as the king of American spirits. In sharp contrast, its wild, unrefined ghost of a cousin has long been relegated to the slagheap of booze horror.

Unaged American whiskey has many names: white dog, white lighting, hooch—and, most infamously, its illegal pseudonym—moonshine. White whiskies were, at best, unaged baby bourbons, meaning that instead of resting for years in charred oak barrels, the booze was rushed into a bottle—or a mason jar, or even a jug labeled “XXX”—warts and all. Whiskey needs time in a barrel to smooth its rough edges; without aging, these white dogs are as prickly as unused sandpaper.

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However, in the last few years, a new style of white whiskey—largely pioneered by a boom in craft distilleries in Northern and Western states—has made White Dog an increasingly popular spirit. These “White Knights” have more zing than vodka but aren’t as distinct in flavor as a swig of gin or bourbon.

“I’ll have it on Friday.” Labeling law states that anything called “whiskey” must spend some time in an oak barrel. The loophole: it doesn’t say how for long.

So Ellison’s whiskey rested for a measly seventy-two hours in uncharred Minnesota oak.

Unlike the baby bourbons, distillers purposefully designed these to be bottled, sold, and consumed . . . white.

eath’s Door was one of the first brands to get

into the modern day white

whiskey market. It happened, according to owner Brian Ellison, because one of his distributors wanted a whiskey to add to his company’s vodka and gin portfolio. Ellison initially rebuffed the offer, saying he’d make a whiskey when he could do it the “right” (aged) way. However, he says, the distributor stood by his guns, offering to buy fifty cases right away. Ellison’s reply?

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“There is a spot for white whiskey behind the bar. but its rightful place is still below properly aged bourbon” Of course, the process of the first batch has undergone some refinement. The flavors of the grains used to make white whiskey shine brighter than they would if the spirit was aged. Death’s Door is made from organic wheat and a touch of organic barley—both of which are grown near the brand’s Wisconsin Distillery. Ellison is also especially proud

of the hint of yeast you get from his whiskey. He amps it up by using a strain of yeast that is best suited for wine; the result, he says, is an unhappy yeast “that gets a bit stressed out and produces flavors it normally wouldn’t.” If whiskey lingers for any significant amount of time in oak, complex flavors from the yeast are lost in the mellowing process.

or better or worse, there’s no doubt that a white whis-

key can kick-start a distiller’s

business; many new distilleries don’t want to wait a few years to get their brand into your glass. In Pittsburgh, home of the 1791 Whiskey Rebellion and the center of a region once internationally renowned for its whiskies, a White Knight is charging ahead full steam. Wigle Whiskey (named for one of the two men sentenced to hang after the rebellion) is the city’s first distillery since the repeal of Prohibition. Distiller Mark Meyer is running a small family business and couldn’t wait to release a fully aged

product. The solution: two separate distillations for every recipe they make. The batches destined for aging are “rougher and dirtier, with more flavor,” he says. On the other hand, the white whiskies (which spend a single day in oak, and then are rested in steel for six to ten weeks) are pumped through a fancy-pants contraption called a reflux column, a series of pipes that strips down the liquid into a “cleaner” product. Meyer likens the two processes to cooking different cuts of meat: when you make a long-simmered beef stew, you want a fatty cut that melts and mixes with all the other flavors in the pot; when you’re searing a prime steak, you want to trim the excess fat and enjoy the pure flavor of what you’re grilling.

eanwhile, three hundred miles from

Pittsburgh in upstate New York,

Finger Lakes Distilling is tapping into its own regional flavor. Distiller Thomas McKenzie has his own brand of what

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appears to be white whiskey—Glen Thunder. While it may be unaged, Glen Thunder is in an entirely different class of whiskey: it’s made from corn. By law, any distiller who wants to label their spirit “corn whiskey” must begin their process with at least eighty percent corn. But unlike other whiskies, corn whiskey need never touch oak.

However, Finger Lakes Distilling’s brand White Pike is a proper White Knight. This whiskey—oddly enough—was conceived of by an advertising agency (Mother New York). White Pike comes from a locally-sourced blend of openpollinated corn, spelt, and wheat. The mix highlights the sweetness of the corn, the spelt adds creaminess, and the malted wheat gives it a hint of cornbread. White

However, not everyone thinks a White Knight should be jousting in the King’s Tournament. “When people get a taste, that’s when it really drives home the point about the importance of aging,” says Kris Comstock of Buffalo Trace Distillery. Down in Kentucky, Buffalo Trace produces the White Dog the old fashioned way. They currently bottle three expressions of white whiskey, but they’re the same liquids that usually go into barrels to be aged into bourbon: White Dog Mash #1 matures into Buffalo Trace Bourbon, White Dog Wheated Mash matures into Pappy Van Winkle, and White Dog Rye Mash matures into Sazarec, Van Winkle, and Thomas Hardy.

Comstock thinks there is a spot for white whiskey behind the bar but that its rightful place is still a step below prop-

White Knights have more zing than vodka but aren’t as distinct in flavor as gin or bourbon Pike might also represent the quickest barrel aging process in the white whiskey world: the company proudly boasts that this whiskey is “aged for 18 minutes.”

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erly aged bourbon. However, Buffalo Trace whites have become popular with consumers, and Comstock is okay with that. “It’s fun, and we’re glad people like

it,” he says. He also recognizes that his brand has “a couple hundred years head start” on the upstart micro-distilleries, and that those distilleries are offering a deliberately different product than what’s coming from Bourbon County. “You’ll see a lot more producers, and you’ll have more variety and brands out there,” he says, approving of the emerging market.

he best way to sort this

all out is by taste. Line up a few white whiskies, perhaps some of the deliberately crafted White Knights, alongside baby bourbon, corn whiskey, and aged bourbon. Or, make a cocktail—White Knights ride best in the company of friends. The Brand Manager behind White Pike suggests a Bloody Mary mash-up, switching out vodka for white whisky; the Whiskey Mary will be softer and sweeter than its vodka-based companion. If you want a second-opinion (or just a second cocktail), try the same experiment with a Greyhound.

While the White Knights might never be as legendary as King Bourbon, the best brands capture the essence of the region that they’re distilled in and aren’t riding off into the sunset anytime soon.

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White Sake Beyond the Nigori that you know text by Jessica Furui

“I really like the milky sake, do you have that?” “Ah, nigorizake, the cloudy sake,” (technically, when you put ‘nigori’ and ‘sake’ together the ‘s’ becomes a ‘z’ . . . but we’ll just call it nigori) “Sure do. Would you prefer something sweeter or a little more dry?” And that’s where things get tricky.

She never thought there was an option, just that “super creamy, sweet stuff ” she gets at the local liquor store. Like a gateway drug, unsuspecting consumers are taken by the thick, creamy, and sweet flavor. They take it cold, warm, or with a splash of Chambord (oh my!). They get hooked by the affront, the flavors and textures, and sometimes go down this road for far too long. However, humbly sitting on the shelves of reputable Japanese markets, sake stores, and of course Japanese restaurants are some of the finest cloudy sakes.

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In the world of sake, price is very often indicative of quality.

The higher the price, the higher quality ingredients, fewer additives, and more labor went into it. Quality nigori ranges from those that are light and delicate with just a bit of remaining moromi (unfermented rice) to others that are thick and rich with a sweetness balanced by bright acidity. At one point in history most sake was a sweet, cloudy mash. This was consumed mainly until the Heian period (800 AD) when Shinto monks developed a method to remove moromi from the liquid—they simply let physics do the work. Gravity pulled rice particles to the bottom of the tank and the clear(ish) liquid was taken from the top. During the Edo period (1600s) there was a whole lotta moonshine going around. Like other

M as u mi brewery of N agano p refect u re makes nigorizake des p ite their name : M a , meaning ‘ tr u th ’ or ‘ clear ,’ and s u m i , meaning ‘ mirror .’ p u t them together and the meaning comes close to ‘ p erfectly clear mirror .’ T o p rod u ce something clo u dy wo u ld j u st be so u n -M as u mi .

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Japanese staples such as soy and miso, some families made their own sake. Lacking “modern” filtering devices, what was produced was often a cloudy, thick, and sweet mash. Warmed up during the winter months, it was quite a treat for travel-weary samurai, and a wickedly good cure for hangovers. Sadly, doburoku, as it’s called, was later banned; the government had to get their piece of the pie somehow, and filtering regulations were enforced. Home brewers were unable to find space for these large devices, let alone afford them, and most doburoku production came to a screeching halt.

A few hundred years went by and still no cloudy sake, the legal kind at least. In fact, not until 1964 was cloudy sake allowed back into the commercial market. The brewery, Tsuki no Katsura, in the Kyoto prefecture, showed

government agents that coarse filters produced a cloudy sake that still obliged Uncle Suzuki’s regulations. Today, you can find at least one, if not a choice of nigorizake at your local Japanese restaurant. FLAVORS AND MOUTH-FEEL ARE A DIRECT RESULT FROM THE INITIAL SAKE GRADE

(daiginjo, ginjo, junmai, etc.), and more specifically, how much moromi remains in the final product. Because nigorizake clouds the refined flavor of clear sake, finding daiginjo nigori (from the most polished rice) is hard. However, the historic brewery named earlier makes one and it’s a doozy. Light, fresh, and slightly effervescent, it’s worth every penny and pairs beautifully with fresh oysters. In the U.S., this ancient beverage is served piping hot (tasting like rocket fuel), or bombed into an unsuspecting glass of beer (creating a complete mess for the poor souls who have to clean up after their patrons). Take it as they did during the Japanese Cultural Revolution; cold sake is a step in the right direction.

Jessica Furui has been a sake lover for 10 years and is the Director of Sake for Ozumo Contemporary Japanese Cuisine. O z u mo.com

facing page and page 19: Kamoizumi, Wakatake, Yuki No Bosha (see list at right)

N igori to try yuki no bosha nigori genshu akita prefecture Delicate bouquet of honey water, radish, and cucumber. The palate is akin to weighty coconut water. A slight nutty flavor increases on the finish to round out this overall delicate sake. It is considered an usu-nigori, or light nigori, and contains little to no moromi. Pair with salt grilled fish and vegetables, lightly dressed salads or burrata cheese and pears.

wakatake nigori junmai shizuoka prefecture This baby cousin of the famous Demon Slayer brand stays true to the style of making complex sake with a dry, clean finish. A rich buttery, almost oily palate follows intense aromas of watermelon candy, banana, and citrus. Wisely placed astringency on the finish makes for a perfect balance of textures. Super fine, silky moromi makes it look almost like a milkshake. Try it with creambased pasta sauces like Carbonara or Alfredo.

kamoizumi nigori ginjo hiroshima prefecture Tropical aromas of honeydew, coconut, and tangy lemon. The palate envelopes with rich coconut and melon flavor and a dense, silky feel. A big kick of acidity on the finish prevents this sake from coming off as slightly too sweet. The moromi is variable in size making for a playful texture. Great to pair with salty cheeses like bleu or Roquefort, with a bit of honey. Also nice with fried crab cakes.

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new booze

Vodka: The Maligned White Spirit text by David Driscoll, K&L Wine Merchants

e’re living in a renaissance for brown booze.

Bourbon couldn’t be hotter. Single malt whiskies are selling like mad. Even Cognac and Armagnac producers are getting in on the surplus. Aged gins are starting to pop us as well, but the clear ones are still considered pretty cool by the hipster cocktail crowd. Vodka, however, is so dead that it doesn’t even have a pulse. It’s less popular than Merlot after Sideways. The pre-Prohibition era is alive and well among popular drinking culture and there is no room for neutral alcohol in this crowd. Why did the alcohol that doesn’t taste like alcohol get the boot? Because it’s no longer cool to simply drink for fun. You’re all supposed to enjoy

the flavors of each spirit. You’re supposed to appreciate how the inherent herbaceous character of gin mingles freely with the botanicals of the vermouth and the citrus from the fresh lemon juice. You’re supposed to marvel in the pure, unadulterated essence of whiskey—basking in the glory of its concentrated core. I’m definitely on

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board with booze that tastes good, but I’m beginning to tire of the exercise that consuming it has become. When I first started working at K&L I was primarily interested in wine and all of the different forms it could take. I began dabbling in spirits after the sacrosanctity of pairing my wine with a meal became too much. This is supposed to be fun. It’s not about rules, pedantry, or proving you know more than the guy next to you. No one wants to hang out with a boring cocktail nerd. When I go out on the town I want to have a drink and I want that drink to be fun. All of the snobbery is starting to get old.

So that brings us back to vodka—the white spirit that has become the Vanilla Ice of booze. There’s nothing sentimental or idealistic about vodka production compared to how we glamorize the small whiskey distillery or Cognac chateau. However, do we really believe that only whiskey, brandy, and rum have any semblance of romantic tradition?

Potocki Vodka

What about Potocki Vodka, made at the same distillery in Poland since 1816? Are we really saying that this traditional Polish spirit, that has seen regime changes and the invasion of communist rule, has no place in the modern age of spirits geekdom? Are we saying that Jan-Roman Potocki’s vodka, made from locallysourced rye and distilled only twice at low speed to keep the natural flavors of the grain embedded in the final product, has no place in our farmer’s market society? The purity of Potocki Vodka is impressive. It’s clean in the way that bottled water tastes cleaner than your tap. You don’t need to mix it. You can drink it straight the same way that Eastern European communities have been sipping it for over a century, or you can mix it into a Moscow Mule with ginger beer. The question is: are you so cool that you can’t enjoy vodka? If you’re too cool to drink vodka, then you’re too cool to have fun, I guess. Drinking fine quality spirits is always a good time, no matter the color.

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Wit, Witte, Weiss, White

--- White beers in every language --text by Brian Yaeger

Look around: about nine out of every ten glasses, bottles, or cans of beer you see are yellow. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s because the Earth is flooded with light lager, which gets its straw color from lightly kilned malted barley.

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Sure, there are plenty of other colors,

usually hinted at by the style’s name. There are Amber and Red ales— courtesy of caramel and other specialty malts. There is the nutty Brown ale— from darker toasted malts. Germans gave us Schwarzbier, which translates to Black Beer. Black lagers and ales, along with stouts and other pitch colored beers, derive their color from Carafa, black patent, or a host of dark roasted barley malt— unmalted barley, really. As an aside: beer can even be green, either dyed so as a St. Patrick’s Day gimmick, or simply called “green” as in “not ready,” which, if you’ve ever had an off beer that tasted like butter or apples, you know well.

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But back to the Germans and their penchant for using words that sound exotic in English, but are really just hyper obvious in their native tongue. Just as Schwarzbier sounds cooler than Black Beer, Weissbier sounds sort of sexy —or if you really want to impress, use the German letter eszett, “ß,” and call it a Weißbier— but just know that all you’re talking about is a common wheat beer.

We can argue semantics, but Germans in the south call it a Weissbier while those in the north refer to this style as Weizenbier. Weizen means “wheat” while Weiß/Weiss means “white.” However, for the sake of this issue’s theme, we’ll ignore the many Germanic styles of wheat beers such as Hefeweizen, Kristallweizen, and Weizenbock. And for some fun trivia: Dunkelweizen can also, oxymoronically, be called Dunkelweiss, meaning “dark-white.” Weissebiers are white due to the balanced foam that comes from using pale wheat malt. It has been brewed in Bavaria for at least six hundred years, perhaps dating back to the twelfth century. Some of the best examples of wheaty white beers are Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier and Schneider Weisse, the latter dating back to nineteenth century braumeister Georg Schneider. The Flemish gave us Witbiers and the French produce Bière Blanche, originating in Belgium.

That being said, leave it to American craft brewing awesomeness to equal these brands with Sierra Nevada Kellerweiss (Keller meaning “cellar”) and the hard-to-find-outside-of-Austin Live Oak Brewing Hefeweizen, revered as one of the best in the U.S.

What makes these beers wit, witte, or white isn’t just the use of wheat malt, but unmalted wheat to boot. Equally as crucial is unique spicing such as coriander and orange peel (though nowadays, anything from grains of paradise to juniper goes, and back in Austin, (512) Brewing Company makes a delicious Wit substituting grapefruit peel for orange peel).

The modern world has virtually one man to thank for these delicious Witbiers, Pierre Celis. While Celis did at one time live in Austin, his story starts in his hometown of Hoegaarden, just outside Brussels. Celis lamented the loss of his hometown’s native beer style when the world’s last Wit brewery, Brouwerij Tomsin in Hoegaarden, tapped out in 1955. Eleven years later, he revived the brewing technique and named his beer after its town of birth (which, if you care, is usually mispronounced “Ho-garden” when it’s supposed to be “Who-garden”).

Twenty years went by and Celis enjoyed great success until his brewery burned down—one of the leading causes of brewery demise. The funding to rebuild came from Interbrew, which, after several mergers, is where the “In” from “AB-InBev” comes from.

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Once the brewing giant bought Celis’s baby in its entirety, the not-so-young Belgian decided to weigh anchor and set sail for America. In 1992, he created the Celis Brewery with its flagship beer Celis White, later bought by Miller Brewing. The small irony there is that while Miller sold the brand name to a brewery in Michigan, over in Colorado, Coors launched Blue Moon Brewing that now makes the best-selling homage to Hoegaarden. Today this brew falls under the unified MillerCoors. As for our friend Pierre Celis? He passed away in 2011 at the age of eighty-six back home in Hoegaarden.We tip our caps to Celis for reviving Wits, and to brewmaster Keith Villa of Blue Moon for re-popularizing Belgian White Ales; even more than German Weissbiers,

Wit beers remain a darling of the craft brewing industry.

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It’s why Belgian-centric Allagash Brewing in Portland, Maine calls Allagash White their flagship brew. It’s also why my wife makes me buy Kiuchi Brewery’s Hitachino Nest White Ale by the case (that Japanese beer with the cute owl on the label). Coriander and orange peel is clearly a winning combination in beer. As with all things craft, it doesn’t end there. Deschutes from Bend, Oregon collaborated with Boulevard Brewing in Kansas City to combine the former’s forte with hops and the latter’s strength in wheat beers for a White IPA resulting in a Witbier with zesty orange peel and spicy coriander plus straightforward IPA. The results were dubbed, respectively: Deschutes Conflux No. 2 and Blvd Collaboration No. 2. Emulators including Samuel Adams and Saranac Brewing now brew White IPAs. Primed by Orange County’s The Bruery’s rare retired beer, Black Orchard—essentially a Black Witbier— we just have to wait to see what brewers will whitewash next.

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Rias Baixas

All Albariño All the Time text by Constance Chamberl ain

Albariño (al-ba-REEN-yo) is a grape that’s, quite literally, rolling off of wine lover’s tongues. Despite its small plantings and somewhat intimidating accent mark, this white grape has proven itself in the past few years as a foodfriendly and fun grape that’s definitely worth a taste.

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The largest concentration of plantings are found in the region of Rias Baixas (ree-ahsbuy-shuss), a white wine Denomination of Origin (DO) in Northwest Spain, where it makes up ninety percent of the region’s plantings.

According to Spanish wine expert Kerin Auth, owner of Tinto Fino, a wine shop in New York City, “Depending on the style-producer, I find Albariño to have the texture of Chardonnay, the freshness of Sauvignon Blanc, and the fruit of Riesling. Most importantly,” she adds, “The right albariño is hard to not appreciate.”

The Facts:

Rias Baixas is located in the political region of Galicia, which is sometimes referred to as “Green Spain” due to its lush landscape and rolling hills. Nestled between Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean, the region has a distinctly maritime climate that is cool and damp with a rainy season that starts during harvest. Paradoxically, Albariño requires a ripening period filled with sunshine. It is a small, white berry with a thick skin and many piths (seeds). Fortunately, despite its wet conditions, the region

and grow up trellises that help ward off rot. These testy conditions make vintage variation quite common leading to interesting exploration but also an inconsistent product. Wines produced in Rias Baixas express a fat, weighty mouthfeel, but also a bright fruit character on both the nose and palate, backed with an intense, somewhat briny minerality and strong floral component. Rias Baixas’ less than four thousand hectares of vine is divided into five subzones each with its own unique character due to their soil and climate. Because there is generally little to no oak used in the production of Albariño wines, the varying soil and microclimate of each region express the wines’ terroir. Throughout Europe, the “rule of eighty-five percent” is used for varietal labeling. This means that only eighty-five percent of a wine labeled Albariño need be made from Albariño grapes. The white varieties Treixadura, Caino Blanco, and Loureiro are commonly blended into the wine; Torrontes and Godello are also permitted. Together, however, these varieties make up less than ten percent of the region’s plantings.

experiences an average of over twenty-two hundred hours of sunshine during the growing season. To encourage sun exposure, vines are planted on steep, north-facing slopes

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Albariño tends to be moderate in alcohol, high in acidity, and bursting with flavor

Rolling hills and ripening sunshine

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What to pair Albariño has a naturally briny character due to its proximity to the sea, and begs to be enjoyed with a dish with the same salty taste. Auth suggests, “Albariño with seafood of course, sushi, anything from the sea… ‘what grows together, goes together,’ I always say… and of course cheese. Lactic cow’s milk and Albariño are textural mates; they pair well together and play off similar notes.” Essentially, the food’s flavor components and intensity must match that of the wine.

Conversely, and perhaps most importantly, Albariño isn’t a grape that always needs food. It tends to be moderate in alcohol, high in acidity, and bursting with flavor so it can be easily enjoyed as an aperitif or solo.

Steep slopes lead to interesting exploration

Rias Baixas is located in the region of Galicia sometimes referred to as “Green Spain” due to its lush landscape and rolling hills

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Focused Tasting

The following wines are one hundred percent Albarino. The 2010 vintage in Rias Baixas was very fresh and lively, full of aromatics and quite expressive of the region. Similarly, the 2011 vintage is characterized by lively acidity and generous yields without compromising quality. Both have been rated very good or excellent vintages by several sources. Pazos de Lusco Adega Zios Albariño 2010 ($13): This wine is produced from fruit in the Condado de Tea, one of the southernmost regions of Rias Baixas featuring alluvial soils and granite. It’s bursting with bright green apples and citrus with a round mouth-feel from time spent on the lees. There’s a good minerality with just a hint of caraway and lots of white flower expressive of this region’s generally earthier wines. The finish is slightly bitter, but this adds to its charm. Adega Condes de Albarei Salneval Albariño 2010 ($12):

This Albarino is fruitier and full on the palate with less vegetal notes. Its roundness hints at malolactic fermentation, but its racy acidity balances this out. The Salneval is full of lemon, lime, and lots of white flower, but also is distinctly earthy.

Valminor Albariño 2010 ($19):

Hailing from the O Rosal, arguably the most sought-after region of Rias Baixas and the most Southern, this wine is all about minerality and citrus. Yellow grapefruit, lemon, and lime in the front, a hint of caraway and a great, briny, mineral backbone that begs for seafood. Laxas Albariño 2011 ($18): The Laxas Albariño is full of green apples and stone fruits complimented by floral notes. It’s somewhat smokier than the others and full of brine and minerality. Pazo de Senorans Albariño 2011 ($24): This wine hails from one of

the northernmost areas of Rias Baixas, Val do Salnes. It features strong floral aromas and ripe fruits such as melon and green apples with a good bit of minerality. It’s fairly light on its feet and is meant to be consumed young. Albariño de Fefinanes 2011 ($26):

This Albariño embodies what the grape is truly capable of achieving. It’s full of bright, refreshing minerality enhanced by its acidity, and is full of vibrant stone fruit, citrus, and grapefruit as well as an enticing floral component. Although it is the winery’s entry-level wine, it will hold for two to three years.

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bo ok review

Let’s Bring Back: The Cocktail Edition A Compendium of Impish, Romantic, Amusing, and Occasionally Appalling Potations from Bygone Eras au thor --- Lesley M. M. Blume s u bject --- Reviving obscure, irreverent, and delectable cocktails lost in the annals of inebriated history

Looking for that perfect drink

bartenders and tipplers of yore

that you need to make your

were shaking quality ingre-

landlady while you explain that

dients with classier (yet still

you can’t pay rent? How about that

ridiculous) names. It’s all documented here and the book is a reminder of how and why we all got back into classic cocktails to begin with.

recipe for the Hanky Panky (a cocktail with vermouth, gin and Fernet-Branca)? This book is a throwback to the times of classy louts, top hats, and mustachioed bar culture, centuries before hipsters were invented. Let’s Bring Back has 144 recipes, with relevant history and the obscure stories behind each one. Author Lesley Blume has not only done extensive research into forgotten cocktails, she supplies gaudy carriages full of historical, whimsical, and irreverent information to fill your cups. The collection is a spectacular homage to drinking like your great-grandfather did (with his scandalously laced-up mistresses). Why we love it: Not every drink has

a world-famous name—chestnuts like the Martini, the Margarita, and the Manhattan are few and far between. Fortunately, before there were surfers on acid, redheaded sluts, and sex on the beach,

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About the Author: Lesley M. M. Blume is an author and journalist based in New York. She has a background in news and journalism and in 2010 came out with her first Let’s Bring Back book—an encyclopedia of “forgottenyet-delightful” objects, pastimes, and phrases from older, dearer times. It’s been a massive hit and we’re excited that she followed it up with a book all about cocktails. We’re so excited, in fact, that we just might go and make ourselves a “Fluffy Ruffles.”

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eat your booze

Sherry Winter Wonderl and Pistachio S herry N a p oleon text and photograph by Denise sakaki

Showy desserts are a perfect way to celebrate the holiday season, but you don’t want to be spending all your time in the kitchen while everyone else is making merry. Enter the mille-feuille or Napoleon, a French pastry and cream-stacked dessert. This simplified Napoleon uses store-bought puff pastry layered with a cream made from mascarpone cheese flavored with pistachio, sherry, and orange zest. Sherry adds pleasant notes of smoky caramel, especially Pedro Ximenez—which is also wonderful to sip along side. The pistachio and sherry cream layered with flaky puff pastry is a wonderful texture combination. The components can be made ahead of time so you can enjoy this dessert right along with your dinner guests, no holiday stress needed.

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P i s ta c h i o S h e r r y N a p o l e o n

serves 6 1 sheet puff pastry dough, room-temperature 1 ½ cup mascarpone cheese, softened 1 ½ cup heavy whipping cream 1 cup superfine sugar, divided

1 tablespoon Pedro Ximenez sherry 2 teaspoons vanilla extract ½ teaspoon orange zest 2 cups crushed pistachios Powdered sugar to serve

1. Place your mixing bowl and whisk in the refrigerator or freezer for 15 minutes to fully chill; this will help the cream mixture come together more easily. In the cold bowl, whisk the whipping cream and a half-cup of the sugar until stiff peaks form. Set the whipped cream aside. In a separate bowl, combine the softened mascarpone cheese, the rest of the sugar, sherry, vanilla extract, and the zest. Mix until smooth and fully incorporated. Using a spatula, carefully fold the whipped cream into the cheese mixture. Sprinkle in a cup of the crushed pistachios and mix until just combined, but not overmixed, so that you keep the airy texture of the whipped cream. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and place into the refrigerator for at least an hour to set. This can be made up to a day in advance.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, or according to the instructions on the puff pastry dough package. If your puff pastry dough was previously frozen, make sure it is fully defrosted before using. Let the puff pastry dough sit at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes to make sure it’s soft enough to unfold . Cut the pastry into six equal pieces and place on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper or a silicone mat. Lightly brush the top of the pastry with milk to give it a nice golden brown color while it bakes. Place the sheet in the oven and bake until it is tall and crispy, about 20 minutes. Let the finished puff pastry fully cool before constructing the dessert. If making ahead of time, keep in a covered container after it cools. 3. When you’re ready to serve the dessert, gently separate the layers of cooled puff pastry into three pieces. Layer the pistachio sherry cream between each layer of puff pastry, like a stacked sandwich. Add a little dollop of cream next to each serving if people want more. Sprinkle the dessert with the remainder of the crushed pistachios and finish with a liberal dusting of powdered sugar.

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travel

48 Hours in

Ghent

b elg i u m

text by Spencer Spellman

“I’ll need a shoe from you.” I handed over one of my flip-flops. The young Belgian man took my shoe, placed it in a wire-framed basket hanging from the ceiling, and hoisted it up to the rafters.

No, I wasn’t at the bank or visiting a loan shark,

but rather at De Dulle Griet, an old-style tavern on Ghent’s famous Vrijdagmarkt. Their beer isn’t just any ordinary beer, it’s not even your everyday Belgian beer, it’s Max van het huis (Max of the house). The 1.2-liter blonde ale is served in what could be described as the largest test tube I’ve ever seen, requiring one shoe as a deposit in case I felt inclined to walk out with a souvenir.

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The main canal is a major gathering spot; youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll find restaurants, cafĂŠs, chocolate shops, and boats going to and fro

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travel ctd.

I searched what seemed like every nook, cranny, and alcove in Ghent

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When you think of Belgium’s cities, you probably think of Brussels, as it’s the country’s capital and largest city, or Ghent’s smaller sister city, Brugge, which gained exposure due to the film In Bruges. However, spend a day in Brugge, especially after 6 p.m., and you’ll see why I’m highlighting the drinking scene of Ghent instead.

During the Middle Ages Ghent was one of Europe’s biggest cities and, while it slid down those ranks centuries ago, you can still find the spirit that made it a hub. While the liveliness and the beer are a matter of course, my quest in Ghent was more of the nuanced sort, and that was: why is Belgian beer so good?

here are nearly 200 breweries in the small country—but they’re not easy to find. I searched what seemed like every nook, cranny, and alcove in Ghent (and still probably missed half of them), and came up with nothing. While Ghent was a hub for breweries centuries ago, the scene has since changed. Just south of town, though, I finally found the Holy Grail: Gruut is where the magic happens.

Gruut has that small, personalized feel that can only come from a long family history of brewing. To prove it, the name of the brewery comes from gruit, referring to the pre-hops herbal mixture

historically used to flavor beer. It’s a tradition, however, that Gruut continues to this day. I opted for a food and beer tasting (including local sausage and cheese). While Belgium is no doubt known for its beer, Ghent offers more than just that. Take Jigger’s, for example, a new cocktail bar in the Patershol district. As soon as I stepped through the door, I was taken aback, feeling like I had entered a trendy prohibition-era bar so familiar to me stateside. If only I had packed my waistcoat and pocket watch.

They take a limited number of guests each night, so if you’re headed that way, call ahead to make a reservation. Ghent makes you do a double take. It’s reminiscent of Europe’s great cities, but smaller and with fewer tourists. At one moment, the fairy-tale like homes and buildings are a reminder of nearby towns, yet a moment later, I feel like I’m in Amsterdam as I walk over Ghent’s bridges and along its canals. The city’s main canal is a major gathering spot; you’ll find restaurants, cafés, chocolate shops, and canal boats going to and fro—picturesque to say the least. As charming as it would have been to sit at a café overlooking the canal, an even more enchanting notion was to grab a sandwich and a bottle of wine, and dangle my feel over the canal wall as the sun slowly set over the medieval buildings.

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s I headed home for the night, I followed the faint sound of a beating drum down an alley. Getting closer, I heard a trumpet and saxophone join in. After a couple more blocks I came to a double-arched medieval doorway that opened up to a monastery-like courtyard. Despite its biblical bent, the place was filled with beer garden picnic tables, bartenders carrying trays of blonde ales, and folks dancing to music from a five-person band. What’s one more drink?

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Photos on pages 42, 44, and top of page 41 by Spencer Spellman

p laces of interest

De Dulle Griet

Jigger’s

Vrijdagmarkt 50 9000 Gent, Belgium +32 (0)9 224 24 55z

Oudburg 16 9000 Ghent, Belgium +32 (0)9 335 70 25

Hours: Monday 4:30 p.m.–1 a.m. Tuesday-Saturday 12–1 a.m. Sunday 12 noon–7:30 p.m.

Facing Ghent’s famous Vrijdagmarkt, visitors come here for not just the 250 beers, but more for the experience of the “Max of the house”. This 1.2-liter Belgian beer comes to you in a slender test tube, resembling the yard drinks you’d expect from the likes of Vegas or New Orleans. However, before taking that first sip, visitors have to give up a shoe as collateral.

Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 5 p.m.—1 a.m. Friday-Saturday 5 p.m.—2:30 a.m.

Jigger’s takes the nightlife experience beyond iconic Belgium beer. Here you’ll find Ghent’s newest cocktail bar, and not just any cocktail bar: Jigger’s is a continental take on prohibition-era speakeasies. The bar features classic cocktails of old, as well as new twists on your favorite liquors. Reservations are recommended.

Gruut

Grote Huidevettershoek 10 9000 Gent, Belgium +32 (0)9 269 02 69 Hours: Sunday-Wednesday 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Thursday-Saturday 10 a.m.–12 mid

City Brewery Gruut keeps the old brewing tradition alive. Several different brews are featured, including lager, brown, and wheat beer. Gruut offers tours as well as food and beer pairings.

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FOCUS on

CHABLIS text by daniel yaffe | photographs by BIVB/Joël GESVRES

Getting tired of those buttery, oaky California Chardonnays?

Lest we forget, the Chardonnay grape is a delicate fruit that can do much more than remind us of the musty insides of an oak barrel. To get back to the real thing, we went straight to the source. The vintners of Chablis, in the hills of northern Burgundy, France only grow Chardonnay grapes. The region is separated into four appellations set apart by different microclimates and soil makeup. Chablis wines are deliciously refreshing —usually unoaked or mildly oaked (in part aged in stainless steel)—white wine loved for

purity. While some winemakers create their own independent wineries, a large portion of the wines coming out of Chablis are regulated by the main wine coop in the area—La Chablisienne.

The small region of Chablis is bisected by the Serein River that flows north towards Paris. Back in the fifteenth century, the river helped Chablis spread into the metropolis and was among the first wines to be exported to England and Northern Europe. Its popularity in the region and across the globe is well-rooted.

its freshness, minerality, and facing page, top to bottom: View of vineyards and a typical village in Chablis; Chardonnay grapes

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How to drink it

We sat down with Jean-François Bordet, winemaker of Séguinot-Bordet and President of the Chablis Commission, to have a dinner paired with a flight of Chablis. Though there is a wide range of flavors that result from different vintages and microregions, all paired extremely well with umami-laden foods; the wine’s clean minerality and acidity cut rich foods nicely. Though our mouths were blown away by the pairing created at the Michelin star rated restaurant Spruce in San Francisco, you can reach for some amazing pairings on your own. One of the stand-outs was fresh halibut with a black truffle sauce with a Domaine

William Fèvre Chablis Premier Cru Vaulorent 2009. Doing it at home? Reach for your bottle of truffle oil. Stinky cheeses, pates, bacon and smoked meat, mushrooms and other savory and fatty foods also pair well with most Chablis.

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. . . special section . . .

Taking Cream to the Extreme by sierra zimei

white cocktails normally take their color from some half & half or an egg white. Of course there are the traditional Irish Cream liqueurs, but those recipes are already firmly planted in cocktail books. After some research we found two overlooked and interesting cream liqueurs for your next cocktail inspirations. Hailing from South Africa, Amarula Cream is a liqueur made simply of sugar, cream, and fruit from the amarula tree. Famous South African Mixologist Jacques Bezuidenhout tells us, ”Back in SA we love Amarula. South Africans generally drink it on the rocks or in coffee.” As legend would have it, Mr. Bezuidenhout explains that “the elephants and monkeys… wait for the ripe fruits to fall off the tree which breaks them open. Then over time they naturally ferment

and the animals eat the fermented, low alcohol fruits which then get them nicely buzzed.” taking cream to the extreme is the rum-based Tres Leches Triple Cream Liqueur. Inspired by the Latin American cake of the same name, this liqueur is white, rich, and definitely creamy. Jon Ojinaga and Edgar Tamayo, the owners of Azucar Lounge in San Francisco, recently discovered Tres Leches. Inventing a fun cocktail for the holidays, they of course thought of family and traditions. Ojinaga’s Mexican heritage prodded him to add some Abuelita Chocolate, a traditional hispanic chocolate powder used in moles as well as desserts. Tamayo’s Asian family roots lent the idea for five spice powder.

a m a ru l a d o n p e d ro

abr aso de ab uela

Jacques Bezuidenhout, Kimpton Properties Master Mixologist

Edgar Tamayo & Jon Ojinaga, Azucar Lounge

3 oz Amarula Cream M cup vanilla ice cream 3 tablespoons milk Blend ingredients with ice until smooth. Serve with a straw.

1.5 oz Tres Leches  1 oz bourbon  2 slices of orange  1 tsp abuelita chocolate  Pinch of five spice Muddle orange, chocolate, and spice. Add alcohol, shake until cold and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with registered orange wheel.

Experimenting with Egg Whites text and photographs by Genevieve Brazelton

On a recent trip to the farmer’s market, my husband bought two dozen eggs with the promise of crème brûlée. My job was to use all the leftover egg whites. An egg white omelet was out of the question; we’re just not those kind of people. I thought about making egg drop soup, but we were having a stretch of uncharacteristically warm winter weather. So of course it came down to cocktails!

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grew up being told not to eat cookie dough— I’m sure you can

relate. Of course I did it anyway, but each bite of cookie dough was tinged with the possibility of death… my sixyear old version of eating fugu. These days, I know that I’m more likely to choke on my dinner than encounter salmonella. Plus, it turns out that the alcohol and lemon juice used in most egg white cocktails will probably kill anything harmful. Eggs have been mixed with wine or ale since the sixteenth century, the purpose being to cure a cold or insomnia. By the mid1800s, flips were commonplace, using the whole egg to make a smooth, velvety drink. The fizz and the sour were lighter versions that used egg whites only, but kept a creamy, frothy texture. According to Jerry Thomas in his 1862 version of How To Mix Drinks, a sour is any shaken spirit with lemon, sugar, and egg white.

Egg whites bring a smooth, creamy texture that coats your mouth and extends the flavor of a drink; egg whites also suspend sugar, so your last sip isn’t thick and syrupy. Sugar balances the acidity of lemon and emulsifies the egg white. This power trio is the foundation for many a drink. I decided to try three different cocktails: the traditional Boston Sour, the rediscovered Pisco Sour, and the What Is It? because of the name (which I could find no information about) and because it was one of the few egg white drinks without lemon. I experimented with dry shaking versus shaking with ice. Shaken with ice, the foam on top was creamier and held together better than the cocktails that were shaken dry. Bartenders will sometimes drop a spring or whisk ball into the shaker to really froth up the cocktails before they add ice (and others will take a cappuccino frother to the glass).

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ith deference to tradition and bourbon,

I started off with the Boston Sour. I put the aforementioned trifecta into a cocktail shaker, added two shots of bourbon, and shook vigorously. The pungent lemon disguised the bourbon’s spicy, caramel undertones. I experimented with a second one made without the egg whites, the way sours are generally made these days. Egg whites really do bring all the ingredients together. I followed the recipe for Pisco Sour to the letter, not something I usually do—pisco, sugar, lemon, egg white, and a few dashes of bitters shaken well and strained into a cocktail glass. It was smooth and bright with just a hint of cinnamon spice from the bitters, a great alternative to our usual Old Fashioneds. It is evident why this cocktail is an easy yet impressive classic.

C heck o u t one of o u r favorite bartenders , J amie B o u dreau, as he shows yo u how to u se eggs like an e x p ert.

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Our final cocktail, the What Is It?, was made from port, white rum, sugar, and egg white. It sounded good, but was missing a bright note; for the first time, I noticed the flavor of the egg white. While lemon and port don’t really mix, this drink does need an added something sour before its resurrection. The final verdict? I won’t be raiding the chicken coop every time I make a cocktail. However, I also won’t hesitate if I see egg whites in a recipe. I may even throw an egg white into my next Side Car.

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Because the highest form of art is drinking with friends.

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garrett oliver B rewmaster at B rooklyn B rewery text by Brad Japhe

Over the past two decades, craft brewing has blossomed into a scene of unimaginable complexity. Garrett Oliver remembers when a good beer bar had three or four taps, total—not three or four dozen. A man ahead of his times, Garrett’s been enjoying front row seats to the revitalization of the industry. In a recent conversation with Brooklyn Brewery’s world-renowned brewmaster, we discussed this evolution and much more.

DM: When did you start brewing (professionally)? GO: 1989. My first job was as an apprentice for a place called Manhattan Brewing Company. I was working for Mark Witty—he had been the senior brewer for Samuel Smith’s in England. He moved to New York in 1984, and opened the first modern brewpub east of the Mississippi after Prohibition. It was quite a pioneering place. I came to Brooklyn Brewery in 1994. DM: What are some of the most significant changes you’ve seen in the Craft Brewing Community since then?

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GO: Oh boy, almost everything really. Aside from just the huge difference in availability, you see a much wider range of styles. In the mid-90s, you almost never saw or heard of anything being brewed in a Belgian style in the United States. There weren’t really yeast banks and so you didn’t have wide availability of all the different yeast strains that you can get today. Back then it was all mass-market beers. If you were to go back to 1995 and look at a place that had been thought of as a ‘beer bar’, today, it would be just a regular every day bar bar—not even a great bar. A beer bar is now a much more specialized type of place.

DM: The West Coast is known for its unapologetic ‘hopheads.’ Is there a particular flavor profile that you would use to categorize what people in the Northeast tend to enjoy?

DM: Upon moving to the West Coast, I developed a fondness for extreme bitterness. Do you feel that location frequently alters the experience of taste?

GO: The extreme hoppiness of the West is not as prevalent here. 80 to 100 IBU beers are definitely more popular out West. On the East Coast, things with more of a heavy Belgian influence are more prevalent. People are more interested in balance here. The taste for hops is really regionally different. West Coast brewers have a tendency to like hops that to us smell kinda skunky, oniony, garlicky. Hops that smell kind of like weed. West Coast brewers love them and East Coast brewers tend to hate them.

GO: Hops are very much like chili peppers in that regard. If you move to Thailand and you start eating much spicier food, the level of spice that you can tolerate in food is gonna go way, way up. [In regards to hops] that change in tolerance is referred to as the Lupulin shift. The thing that worries me, is that there are some people who move out West, they get so used to the West Coast hops, and everything else tastes bland to them; now they can’t enjoy the beer they used to enjoy.

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15 Romolo 604 Reviews $$

15 Romolo Pl, San Francisco, CA 94133 First, allow a white grape to bask in an aged barrel. Then, let it travel down the solera for a fortified kick. Now, see how 15 Romolo includes this fantastic elixir known as Sherry in their updated drink program. For cold nights (yes, winter is coming), their Spanish Coffee takes a heated snifter, hot coffee, Spanish brandy, rich cream Sherry, and crème de cacao and tops it with a head of whipped cream. Next up, The Gardener’s Flask of gin, Dolin Blanc, Sherry, lemon, thyme shrub, and celery bitters will have you smelling the roses (because you’re likely to faceplant into a bush after sipping a few). And if you’d really like to show off your esoteric side, the Sweetwater’s Sin implements a white port with Pisco, maraschino liqueur, Gran Classico, and bitters. The Vibe: Alli Q, “The décor is trendy and lowkey at the same time in a San Francisco kind of way. The bar is in a really small alley off of Broadway and the sign is really ambiguous (there is barely a sign) so my best advice is to follow the bar sounds. Overall, our drinks and the experience as a whole were fantastic – I’ll be back! P.S. Happy hour is every day between 5 and 7:30pm!”

Hours: Mon-Fri 5pm - 2am, Sat-Sun 11:30am - 2am Pro Tip: Saturday-Sunday brunch starts at 11:30am. Take the stool in front of the bar mats to have a better view of the bartending.

For more reviews of 15 Romolo, as well as hundreds of other bars, restaurants, and any other business you’re looking to connect to, shimmy on over to www.yelp.com, or download the Yelp mobile app today!

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DM: How do you feel about the growing popularity of barrel aging? GO: It’s great, and it can be done really well. It’s bringing some wonderful flavors back to beer. It’s not new to beer, its been done for thousands of years. We often forget that up until fairly recently most beer was in fact stored in wood. Now, however, in the modern craft brewing movement, it’s a new thing. The bourbon barrel is becoming part of the American idiom of flavor in the same way that American hops are. It’s a distinct offshoot of the fact that the bourbon industry has to cast off so many barrels because of the laws that say you can only use a barrel once to make bourbon. We have all these barrels to work with, which is great. DM: Are there any new flavors that you are currently experimenting with? GO: We’ve done so many things over the short term, from ginger, honey, and lemon in Concoction last year, to things a little tamer like the huge amount of maple syrup that went into our Mary’s Maple Porter. Right now we’re doing a little more exploring with wild yeast strains, local yeast strains from our environment around here, and a range of newer hop varieties that we haven’t had a chance to use yet. There are certainly a lot of things that we’re looking at but nothing that I’m ready to announce yet.

DM: Some of your beer is brewed in Upstate New York. Do you have any plans to expand production in your Williamsburg [Brooklyn] facility? GO: As of today, our production in Williamsburg is about six or seven times what it was eighteen months ago. We’ve undergone a massive expansion. And when we get about eight more tanks in at the end of this year, our production in Brooklyn will be close to one hundred thousand barrels. We took over another eighteen thousand square feet in neighboring buildings and we now wrap around the block. DM: How do you feel about collaborations? GO: Well, we were the first brewery in the United States by a long shot to do collaborations in the first place. We had done five or six before anyone else had even done one. Now that collaborations have become so common, we have tended to go off in other directions. It’s like suddenly everyone shows up wearing your favorite shirt. It’s not like you don’t like the shirt anymore, you just don’t want to look like everyone else. So you go do something else. As we do more collaborations with chefs and wine makers, we’ll certainly make our way back around to collaborations with other brewers, but there’s nothing currently planned.

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We have a whole line of beers that is a joint project with the Amarcord Brewery in Italy, called Ama. They are produced and sold in Italy and we import them here to the United States. You’ll see a lot more new stuff coming out of our international side over the next year. DM: What beer-food pairings do you enjoy? GO: My personal favorite right now is at the Nomad Hotel [1170 Broadway, New York, New York]. We make a beer called Le Poulet. We make it specifically for the Nomad Hotel, which has three stars in the New York Times. We made that beer to match their signature dish, which is a chicken layered with brioche, butter, foie gras, and truffle stuffing. So this beer was made to go with that dish . . . And it is the bomb. DM: There seems to be a great deal of camaraderie in the Craft world. Given the proliferation of microbreweries over the past few years are you seeing things get more cutthroat? GO: Not really. I’m seeing things become, if anything, more cooperative in many ways. After you’ve been around for a while, as I have, part of the joy of being here is being able to give back to the community. I certainly enjoy seeing younger brewers come along, having the opportunity

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to talk with them about what they’re doing, and possibly passing along some ideas or experiences. There’s plenty of room. DM: What are some beers out there that you make a point of drinking, when possible? GO: I’m certainly always happy to try stuff from New Glarus. I’m interested in the resurgence of Sierra Nevada and what they’re going to do. I think some of the stuff that the guys at Cigar City are doing is daring, trusting, and creative and often quite well balanced. I also enjoy St. Somewhere, also out of Florida, some very cool stuff coming out of there. I’m always happy to drink anything new coming out of Russian River. I love their new project with Sierra, The Brux. DM: I recently tried a beer by Flying Dog in Maryland that was made with Old Bay seasoning. New York is known for their world-class pastrami, can we hope to see any Pastrami beer coming out of Brooklyn Brewery? DM: I think people will live just fine without seeing any pastrami beer in their future. And besides, we made bacon beer many years ago.

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I Almost Wrote Tonight text by Ale Gasso

I almost wrote tonight caught, eventually by the night and all its stars dark and bright behind crisp air

coaxed here

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instead by a fire some old friends and a bottle.

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featured recipes

Winter Revolution

Spiced Tincture

Shawn Vergara, Blackbird

1 cup 151 Barcardi ¼ cup plus 6 star anise 6 cinnamon sticks ¼ cup cloves

1¼ oz Lairds Applejack ½ oz Snap ½ oz Grahams Six Grapes Ruby Port 5 drops spiced tincture (see recipe at right) 2 oz unfiltered apple juice 2 oz hot water Apple match sticks Combine all ingredients except the apple in a pot with a lid on low heat. Bring to a light simmer and remove from heat. Pour into in a heated mug, garnish with apple match sticks, and serve.

P l ay W i t h F i r e

Kyle Ford, Ford Mixology Lab 1 ½ oz Lillet Blanc 1 oz Cointreau ½ oz fresh lemon juice 2 dashes Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas’ Own Decanter Bitters 2 slices jalapeño Muddle the jalapeño in the bottom of a mixing glass. Add remaining ingredients with ice. Shake and fine strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a slice of jalapeño.

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Combine all ingredients in a covered jar and let sit for 1 week.

We have over 100 beers for all your beer needs.

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O R I G I N A L LY C R A F T E D F O R T H E H O L I D AY S

Named after the Holiday star, Stella Artois was first brewed as a holiday beer as a gift to the people of Leuven, Belgium. A golden lager in contrast to the popular dark ales of the time, its brilliant amber color illuminated holiday celebrations for generations thereafter. “Artois” acknowledges Sebastian Artois, t h e m a s t e r b rewe r a n d ow n e r o f t h e b rewe r y.