On Sunday July, 11th My good friend Stephen (from New Brew Thursday) and I were fortunate enough to attend a limited seating “Beer and Chocolate” presentation at the Stone Brewing World Gardens and Bistro.
“Dr.” Bill Sysak, Beverage Manager for the Bistro (and host of Master Pairings) and Will Gustwiller, the proprietor/creator/alchemist from Eclipse Chocolat put together an amazing array of pairings. Will’s truffles are probably the most unique and interesting truffles I have ever had. He finds ways to blend flavors you would never expect together into incredibly delicious creations.
Dr Bill spent countless hours with Will going over the specific truffles and the ways to pair beer with them. Some of the pairings were very fluid and complementary, while others were designed to bring out specific flavors in the beer or the chocolate.
I know the photo is a tad fuzzy, so the pairings were as follows:
Tarragon Goat Cheese Truffle paired w/ Stone OAKED Arrogant Bastard
Sweet Potato Spice Truffle w/ Brasserie d’Orval Orval
Roasted Banana Bourbon Smoked Salt Truffle w/ Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Ur-bock
Vanilla Bean Sassafras Truffle w/ De Ranke Noir de Dottgnies
Balsamic Pink Peppercorn Truffle w/ Struisse Pannepot
Lemon Ginger Truffle w/ Oud Beersel Framboise
Black Sesame Anise Truffle w/ AleSmith Decadence 2010
Needless to say, the pairings were magnificent and Will’s truffles were (and are) works of culinary art!
One of my favorite pairings of the evening was the Sweet Potato Spice truffle paired with Orval, as the sweetness of the chocolate and pumpkin pie/sweet potato spice were cut by the mild tartness of the Orval. Simply divine!
I also thoroughly enjoyed the Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Ur-bock paired with a Roasted Banana Bourbon Smoked Salt truffle. The melding of smoky beer and the bourbon smoke salted truffle was like a chocolate banana barbecue explosion on the palate! Absolutely fantastic!
I think my favorite truffle by itself was the Balsamic Pink Peppercorn truffle. On the surface, these things just don’t go together! But in reality, I can think of no other truffle that merged and integrated such diverse flavors into such a seamless taste experience!
I was so blown away by the pairings and the possibilities for pairing beer and chocolate that I look forward to putting together something like this for VCBW 2011!
Many thanks to Dr. Bill for putting this event together (and letting me participate) and to Will from Eclipse for sharing his incredible creations!
Cheers,
Andy the Beerman
July 26th, 2010
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Before I get to all of the exploits and adventures, I want to send out a special thanks to all of my good friends in the BC Craft Beer Scene. When I sent the email asking for beer donations for the trip, I expected a couple responses, not the flood that I actually received:
Driftwood came through with samples of all 4 of their wonderful beers; Driftwood Ale, Farmhand Ale, White Bark and Crooked Coast Amber, thanks Ian!
Rob & Oliver from Vancouver Island sent 2 of their Pod Packs, featuring Pipers, Hermanns, Spyhopper and Sea Dog.
Phillips dropped off 650ml bottles of their finest along with 6 packs of Slipstream and Hefeweisen. Thanks to Matt & Kurtis!
Steve, PJ and Andrew at Russell helped out with a mixed case of their Brewmaster series beers; IP’eh, Marzen, Wee Angry, and Black Death Porter, and threw in some Cream Ale for good measure.
R&B was kind enough to bottle up several of their fine offerings, including Raven Cream Ale, Sun God Wheat, Hoppelganger IPA and the infamous Iceholes Celebration Lager. Thanks, Alli!
Vern at Granville Island kicked in with 2 of his special releases, GIBitter and his wonderful Ginger Beer.
Leslie @ Howe Sound even came to meet me at the Granville Island taproom to drop of samples, that’s dedication! She brought Total Eclipse of the Hop, King Heffy, Pothole Filler, 3 Beavers and Devil’s Elbow IPA.
There was so much great beer that we didn’t get to sample all of it during my trip. What was sampled and shared was incredibly well received, even by the jaded SoCal beer snobs! We featured several of the beers in an episode of New Brew Thursday, a terrific craft beer advocacy podcast. Numerous beers were tasted with Dr. Bill, beverage manager of Stone Brewing and host of Master Pairings, and several we left behind at Churchill’s Pub & Grille for folks that want to drop by and experience BC Craft beer after the New Brew Thursday episode airs in the next week or 2.
As we delve further into the road trip, I’ll share detailed impressions of the beers from various sources, but I’ll tease a bit and let you know that they were all really well liked.
Well, today is a brew day for me. It’s been over a month and I’m itching to brew. I’ll post more in the coming days.
Cheers,
Andy The Beerman
July 22nd, 2010
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The California Adventure is complete. So much amazing stuff to tell you about; Stone Brewing’s Sour Fest 2010, brewery tastings and tours, brewer interviews and just so much more!
Here are a few teaser pics…
So many awesome people to tell you about, too!
Check back later for updates!
Andy The Beerman
July 21st, 2010
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Beer, Travel |
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