SF Beer Week event: Beer + Chocolate = LOVE

SF Beer week how I love you so- your insane rare beers, barrel aged goodness, barley wines, guest brewers and of course, pairings. One of which was my own! Beer + Chocolate = LOVE actually had 2 event dates, Thursday and Friday but because Friday was the start of SF Beer Week, Friday was the official event of the evening.

Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate! MMMmmmmmm yet something else I love so dearly. Beer has so many vast varieties of flavors, textures and complexities that truly compliment those in different chocolates. Tannins and the high acidic wines overpower the subtle flavors that you can get out of chocolate.

We also had the great sponsorship from TCHO chocolates, which were kind enough to donate their 4 amazing flavors of dark chocolate-
1-"Citrus"- Madagascar, 67% Cacao and Organic
2-"Chocolately"- Ghana, 70% Cacao
3-"Nutty"- Ecuador, 65%, Organic and Fair Trade
4-"Fruity"-Peru,  68%, Organic and Fair Trade

These chocolates really worked well with the beers that we paired because of their high profile one flavor note (hence the name of each chocolate). A lot of the people who came had never seen or heard of this local San Francisco chocolatier before so they were very pleased to have tried it. Plus they are very excited to know about their location in Pier 17 in the Embarcadero, where you can also get a fantastic Blue Bottle Cappuccino to go with your chocolate should you so wish.  I also bought some great chocolates at their store to be part of a raffle that we did each night- their chocolate covered Cacao Nibs and their chocolate covered Mango Morsels-mmm delish! These were raffled off with a bottle of Dogfish Head's 120 IPA, Deschutte's Abyss, BrewDog's Dogma, a Saison Dupont and with this being pre-Valentine's day and all, a romance package filled with lotions, candles and creams- for $5, not a bad raffle if you ask me!

As always, I make my 'students' take notes and hand them into me afterwards. Everytime I do this, each night is always different, which I just love.

The Thursday night meetup group's top 3 beers of the evening were:
1-Dogfish Head's Burton Baton
2-Saint Somewhere's Lectino Divina tied with Avery's Hog Heaven
3-Dogfish Head's Fort

Thursday's top 3 favorite pairings were:
1- Dogfish Head's Burton Baton paired with Vosges' Naga Bar

2-Saint Somwehere's Lectino Divina paired with Tcho's "Citrus"
3-Dogfish Head's Fort paired with Tcho's "Chocolatey".

I always ask people to switch around the pairings and come up with some on their own. Mike really liked Alesmith's Speedway Stout paired with Tcho's "Chocolatey", Avery's Hog Heaven paired with Tcho's "Fruity" and Dogfish Head's Burton Baton paired with Tcho's "Citrus".

For Friday's meetup group, their top 3 favorite beers of the evening were:
1- Alesmith's Speedway Stout
2-Cascade Kriek Ale tied with Saint Somwehere's Lectino Divina
3-Dogfish Head's Theobroma

Friday's top 3 favorite pairings were:
1-Dogfish Head's Theobroma paired with Chauo's Firecracker
2-Avery's DuganA paired with Vosges' Naga Bar

3- Stone's Speedway Stout paired with Tcho's "Nutty".

Some interesting pairings you guys came up with:
1-Stone's Smoked Porter with Tcho's "Fruity" by Meredith
2-Cascade Kriek Ale with Chauo's Firecracker by Casi
3-Avery's Hog Heaven with Vosges' Naga Bar = OMG Chai! by Courtney
4-Avery's DuganA paired with Tcho's "Fruity" by Sasha
Alex said " I will murder for the curry chocolate (Vosges' Naga Bar).
Devon said "Pop rocks chocolate = awesome".

A good time was had by all. Elissa said "Thank you! You guys are a gracious, cool couple and this was an enjoyable, worthwhile event. Your professionalism and beer knowledge exceeded by expectations. Cheers!". Thanks Elissa! We look forward to the next event- Strong Ales, Barley wine and Samuel Adam's Utopias on March 19th. We hope to see you fabulous ladies there~

A few random tastings....

I admit it, I have not been keeping up writing about my tastings. I have been tasting and taken notes but with the whole craziness of the holiday season, time just seemed to slip away. Now on my plane ride to the East Coast for Christmas, I finally have time to break it down.

Lately I have had the pleasure to have tried:

Dogfish Head, Burton Baton, Imperial IPA, 10%

Avery, Brabant, American Wild Ale, 8.65%

Three Floyds, Anniversary IX Fantabulous Resplendence, Imperial IPA, 7%

Stone Brewery, 13^th Anniversary, American Strong Ale, 9.5%

The Bruery, Saison Rue, Saison, 8.5%

Sierra Nevada & Dogfish Head, Life and Limb, American Strong Ale, 10.2%

In order of personal preference (which is hard due to they are all different styles):

Stone Brewery, 13^th Anniversary.  This beer is limited due to they release a new version each year. It poured a murky deep red color. It smelled pretty hoppy at first, then a strong deep caramel malty flavor took that over. The taste is a bit fruity, malty, some smokiness to it and finishes bitter and tart. It's pretty smooth tasting, even though you can smell the alcohol. I am curious to see how this ages.

Three Floyds, Anniversary IX Fantabulous Resplendence. This may surprise my other fellow tasters, who weren't that big into this beer, but I really enjoyed it! I think this is another beer that a lot of women, as long as you like hops, will particularly enjoy as well. It's made with Jasmine! It pours clear orange. It smelled like beautiful, floral fresh jasmine tea, slight citrus fruits, and hoppy. It tasted like hops and jasmine tea dancing in your mouth! Not in an overwhelmingly way either. Just beautiful. I would definitely love to serve this one at a party as an aperitif or try to pair it with dinner.

Sierra Nevada & Dogfish Head, Life and Limb.Everyone is making such a huge deal about this beer. I recently saw one go for $80 on ebay! Personally I am hoping this one will get better with age. It was good, not fantastic, and definitely not worth the $80 that people are paying. But for $10, it' s a good beer that I would suggest you age and see if it gets any better.  It poured almost black. It smelled like molasses, raisins, prunes, chocolate but no hops. It tatsed like dark chocolate, coffee, burnt caramel, and it was a bit spicy. It was thick in my mouth and you can definitely taste the alcohol. The spiciness added an interesting character to the beer body. But I am hoping the alcohol will mellow out a bit in a year. I wonder how much the bottles will go for then?

Avery, Brabant. I am honored to have tried this one. A friend brought it back with him from Avery itself. I don't believe it's being distributed that much yet. This beer surprised me when it was poured- an opaque dark chestnut brown with a tan head. It almost looks like a stout. It smells like overripe grapes, cherries, dark malt and vinegar. It tasted like roasted malt, currants, cherry, some sweet tones and a hint of chocolate. Vinegar and Brettanomyces were in the aftertaste and not pronounced and definitely not in the forefront, which was a bit disappointing, especially since I am a huge fan of sour beers.

Dogfish Head, Burton Baton. This beer is an oak aged imperial pale ale. It's a blend of an oak aged English strong ale and their 90 minute IPA.  It poured a clear golden sun orange color. It smelled like a fresh pine forest, melon, grapefruit and orange blossom honey. It tasted like citrus/piney hops, toffee, roasted malts, some honey and a hint of wood. It was interesting to have the malt in there. It's not a huge hoppy beer but I felt the malt balanced the wood and orange aftertaste.

The Bruery, Saison Rue, Saison. This beer was a gift from a friend and being a fan of most Bruery beers and made with Rye and Brettanomyces I was excited to try it. It poured a deep cloudy copper. It smelled like spicy rye bread, orange peel, black pepper, honey and some Brett. I tasted only a hint of rye and Brett and a bit malty, which was surprising for a Saison. It just didn't live up to its aroma.

So there you go. I am updated as of now for all of my random tastings. Hopefully I will be able to update you on the way back from all the delicious beer I will try while in NY!