Your sour beer under microscope, courtesy of bevshots

Shortly after rescuing the Anchor Brewery in 1965, Fritz Maytag threw a party to spread the word. A veritable who’s-who of San Franciscans, including the mayor, RSVP’ed. But instead of celebrating, the fete nearly turned into a funeral. “We had in those days,” said Maytag, “two tanks of beer and we filled about one hundred kegs per tank. And it was all sour.” The beer, it turns out, was grossly infected with sour-taste-making bacteria, to the point where Maytag jokingly referred to it as a “Belgian beer.” The story has a happy ending—employees fortunately tracked down enough refrigerated kegs to slow the bacteria’s growth, and folks were none the wiser—but that’s where Anchor’s strict adherence to thorough sanitation originated. So while each of Anchor’s early products pioneered their American craft iterations from IPA to porter to barleywine, the brewery is now one of the few craft breweries in the nation not championing, or even dabbling, in this thing called ‘sour beer.’

A one-man Lewis and Clark of the American sour frontier is Vinnie Cilurzo, owner and brewmaster at Russian River Brewing Co., just a short hop north from Anchor. He’s the guy responsible for a series of Belgian-influenced sour ales including Consecration, Supplication, and others that start with Brettanomyces (yeast that plays a big part in sour beers) and end with “–ation.” In penning the entry for ‘sour beer’ in the Oxford Companion to Beer (OCB), Cilurzo reiterates Maytag’s knock that, “When speaking of beer, the word ‘sour’ is usually a pejorative.” He adds, “That said, there is a range of older beer styles that are traditionally acidic, and together with modern variants inspired by them, they have been termed, perhaps a bit rakishly, ‘sour beer.’”

A great many beers fall under that category, from Flemish Reds and Oud Bruins to Lambics and an entire host of ‘wild’ ales, so termed for employing rapscallion yeasts and bacteria that can take an infected beer down a thrilling journey way off the beaten path. Make no mistake about it; when a beer ferments spontaneously via wild yeast, it is indeed infected. For this reason, makers of sour beers tend to view themselves less as brewmasters, for that implies being the master of the brews, and more as wranglers or curators guiding the end result via blending, patience, and a little prayer.

Going to extremes

Whether a beer is intentionally inoculated with yeasts such as Brettanomyces, or simply allowed to become host to these untamed critters through the allure of wort (beer’s unfermented origins) cooling beneath the night sky where ambient yeast and bacteria hitchhike on the breeze, the result offers flavors found at the extreme fringes of what is often called beer’s flavor wheel. Seriously, go to Beerflavorwheel.com to learn more. And if there’s one thing beer connoisseurs dig above all else, it’s extreme flavor. Join said fanatics at Puckerfest held at Belmont Station in Portland and Sour Fest thrown at the Stone Brewery near San Diego. Each festival is celebrating its sixth anniversary this July.

When you think about it, the history of craft beer has always been about pushing the boundaries of flavor and taste. Thirty years ago, the revolution began by shifting from pale lagers to pale ales like Sierra Nevada’s. From there, we’ve rapidly evolved to Russian River’s Pliny the Elder being a benchmark for double IPA, pale ale’s cousin on ‘roids. It stands to reason that Russian River’s Sonambic ales are the standard bearer for American craft sour beers. Sonambic, by the way, is what Cilurzo dubs his spontaneously fermented beers. Lambics are the provenance of Belgium’s Senne Valley, where breweries produce authentic, spontaneously fermented sour beers. Because the native bacteria adrift in Sonoma are different than those floating around Brussels, Russian River Brewing Co. refrains from purloining Lambic’s classification. Two things Lambic producers and Russian River Brewing Co. have in common are profoundly acidic beers and devoted fans. It’s those fans, perhaps more than the makers of the beers, who are propelling the popularity of such ales.

Sour passion kids

The practice of inoculating beer with earthy, funky Brettanomyces and sour-producing microflora such as Lactobacillus and Pediococcus is infecting the brewing industry. “What is certain, if improbable, is that sour beers are taking hold, especially in the United States,” writes Cilurzo in the OCB.

New Belgium Brewing

in Colorado lured brewmaster Peter Bouckaert from the Rodenbach brewery in Belgium, before beer geeks vociferously started clamoring for more sour beer, resulting in their heralded beer, La Folie. In Portland, Oregon, the Cascade Barrel House is a domestic mecca for sour beers, earning both gold and silver medals in the wood- and barrel-aged sour beer category at the 2009 Great American Beer Fest for their Bourbonic Plague and Vlad the Imp Aler beers, respectively.

But the category’s popularity permeates the beer culture beyond the American West, and delicious offerings emanate from New York’s Captain Lawrence Brewing and Massachusetts’ New England Brewing, to the somewhat surprising locales of Nebraska and Indiana, where the Omaha Brewing Co. and Upland Brewing Co, respectively, keep less metropolitan regions awash in sour.

While statistics aren’t available for how many craft breweries create sour beers, more and more are experimenting with the style, meaning you’re likely to find at least a few barrels of the stuff stashed away somewhere in the brewhouse. Moreover, a significant handful of the new breweries in the planning phase—numbering over 700 altogether, according the Brewers Association—aim to offer sour beers predominantly, if not exclusively. Examples include The Rare Barrel in Northern California and the Ale Apothecary in Central Oregon.

If you delve into this acidic world, sip gingerly. Just as you’d probably have a hard time devouring a whole lemon, palate-obliterating sour fatigue is a real thing.

by Brian Yaeger

The event kicked-off shortly before 1PM on Saturday, as hordes of beer-lovers from across the state descended upon the green pastures of the Mendocino County Fair. Several large tents were setup throughout the landscape, each one providing countless taps of microbrewed bliss. Taking advantage of my early arrival, I wanted to make sure to enjoy some of my favorite Russian River beers before their lines inevitably swelled to preposterous proportions.

After a few swills of the peerless Pliny the Elder Double IPA and their lip-smacking Supplication sour, I was ready to engage in the most alluring joy offered at this festival of unsurpassed frivolity: exploration. With so many nanobrews and gypsy brewers on hand, you’re guaranteed to come across a multitude of ales and lagers that you’ve never tried before and are likely to never try again. You got to make the most of such a unique experience and you DEFINITELY need to pace yourself. As many of the specialty brews you encounter here are upwards of 8% ABV, you’re going to start feeling the heat sooner rather than later, especially with California’s unfettered springtime sunshine pounding down overhead.

Thankfully there are more than a few ways to keep yourself in check throughout the action-packed afternoon: enjoy some local grub, like delicious deep-fried pickles, or sensational slow-cooked BBQ, rock-out to some live music being played at multiple stages throughout the venue, seek out shade from time-to-time (my personal angle of attack), and get your hands on some lower-ABV favorites such as stouts and porters that are still high on flavor.

I was thoroughly impressed by High Water Brewing Co.’s Campfire Stout. With the aroma of marshmallows and taste of s’mores, this dangerously drinkable 7.3% behemoth made me thankful that my campsite was within stumbling distance. Knee Deep Brewing Company out of Lincoln, CA also knocked me off my feet with their bitter blast of their award-winning Hoptologist Double IPA. As an unapologetic hop-head, it had all the flavor I crave in a pale ale. And as an obsessive drinker of craft beer in general, Boonville Beer Fest 2012 had only one downside: having to wait another year until it happens again!

Photo: Brad Japhe

For almost a decade now, John Colins (138 Minna Street) has stood apart as one of the hippest bars in San Francisco’s traditionally white-collar Financial District. Boasting an inventive, ever-evolving drink menu, rowdy crowds and gut-thumping live music, it certainly brings action to a neighborhood that hasn’t always been known for its nightlife. But when SF bartenders John O’ Guiffre and Colin O’Malley teamed up in 2005, they brought years of indelible expertise into their joint venture and the hordes of loyal patrons that line up nightly along the sidewalks of the nondescript Minna alleyway are a testament to the bar’s continued success.

Yet for a true sampling of what this unique watering hole has to offer, there is perhaps no better day of the week to amble on over than Thursday Nights—an evening dedicated to an all out art free-for-all: live bands, DJs, painters, jewelers, Tarot-readers, and designers are all on hand hammering out an unforgettable flow of creativity.

But of course nothing get’s the juices flowing like some lively libations and John Colins is certainly in no short supply. Sure, you could order beer on draft or even a shot or two. However, it’s the creative cocktails that will keep you coming back for more. From their spectacularly spicy Beso De La Muerte–mixed around a Habanero-infused tequila, to a signature JC Mai Tai served with a Kraken Rum Floater, you’re not just going to get a great-tasting drink, you’re gonna get tipsy…fast.

Soon thereafter you’re going to feel compelled to move your feet to the funky-ass rhythms emanating from the small stage at the end of the bar. This is a perfectly normal reaction and you shouldn’t resist the urge. With invigorating concoctions like the Cotton Candy -flavored Snow Job, or the fresh-basil, all-ginned gimlet, Thursday nights in the financial district has got a bit more swing than you may have realized.

Photo: Brad Japhe

Taste Buds and Molecules: The Art and Science of Food, Wine, and Flavor

By François Chartier

Proper wine pairings for high-concept food have long been the realm of sommeliers relying on their mastery of classic pairings and, to an even greater extent, their highly subjective palates. Wine is ethereal, of the land and the people, and its connection with food is one that can only be pinpointed and perfected by a virtuosic conductor of flavors in a process of trial and error.

Well, the work that Francois Chartier has been doing in his lab, as well as in the elBulli kitchen with Ferran Adrià, turns that classic process on its head and throws it under the microscope. Chartier starts with a wine, breaks it down to volatile molecular components, and pairs it with flavors and foods possessing those same components. This field of research, called “food harmony and molecular sommellerie,” informs the makeup of Chartier’s book, Taste Buds and Molecules.

Perhaps the most powerful, and even empowering, elements of the book are the charts that link a main flavor with all of the culinary components and wines with which it shares a common molecular makeup. Take maple syrup, for instance: it includes beta-caryophyllene and furanones, woody and caramel-tasting molecules respectively, which chemically (and flavorally) link it with oak-aged wines… as well as licorice, coconut, peaches, and even roasted fenugreek seeds.  Take any of those flavors, and any wine with prominent oak flavors, and you’re going to pair just fine. As a general resource for creating highly inventive and well-paired meals, these charts are culinary gold.

With the small caveat that the book is sized rather too small to be a truly useful tool for playing in the kitchen and wine cellar, Taste Buds and Molecules is a must-have for oenophiles-turned-cook or cooks looking to pair wines with more confidence.

The aptly-named Kentucky Fat uses a special infusion of Bulleit bourbon—one of my personal favorites—combining it with unusual bedfellows: Goji berry liqueur, Antica Formula sweet vermouth, and Angostura bitters doused in pure bacon fat. Let’s consider that last component for a moment. In order to lace the bitters with the smoky-goodness of cooked pig, the staff at Bourbon Steak steep the bitters in heated bacon fat and then wait for it to solidify. After, they simply scrape off the congealed lard, and voila: the precious gift of bitters, enhanced with a profoundly robust explosion of pork. If this process doesn’t sound like pure magic, clearly there is something seriously wrong with you, and I’m not sure that we can be friends.

One taste of this inventive cocktail, however, and I’m sure that you’ll be great friends. There is a layered complexity to the flavors, as the sweetness of orange zest, Goji, and vermouth crosses your palate before giving way to the deeper, darker intensity of bacon-laced bitters. The end result is a surprisingly well-balanced drink that has the general aura of a classic Manhattan, but arriving there through an unctuously alternative path.

The Kentucky Fat is on special for the month as part of a celebration in honor of National Hamburger Month. For the remainder of May, you can enjoy this unique, fat-speckled spirit with a trio of succulent sliders for just $20. Burgers, bacon, bourbon? I love this country.

Finally, spring is here! A soft, warm breeze has rushed in a promise of youthful energy, and fun is waiting to be had. It’s time to turn off your heater, come out of hibernation, and work off that winter layer you’ve added to your belly. It’s also the time to revitalize your drinks with juicy berries, melons, and citrus while you do your closet cleaning.

BEER

Kick off your snow boots, throw on your flip-flops, and drop the heavy porters and stouts. Pick up a lighter, thirst quenching beer such as an ale, lager, or wheat beer. Spring beers are crisp and refreshing as they steer away from winter’s spices and are fermented with the clean taste of citrus, honey, and even fruit. From March 1^st to June 1^st you can enjoy toasted malt with a brisk hoppy finish in Ninkasi Brewing Company’s Spring Reign Ale (6% ABV). If you are looking for a brew with a touch of sweetness, grab an Abita Strawberry Harvest Lager (5.1% ABV) made with real Louisiana strawberries.

WINE

Whether you like white or red, your wine is more enjoyable when it goes hand in hand with the outside temperature and your days’ activities. A springtime picnic in the park calls for a tasty bottle of chilled white wine. Pick up a Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough Valley in New Zealand. It’s a versatile wine with aromas of apples, melons, and green bell peppers, ready to compliment your fresh tomato salads or your goat cheese and crackers. If red is your choice, a Grenache is divine with its flavors of raspberry and a hint of spice. And for something a little different, grab a chilled Lambrusco. It’s slightly sweet, slightly sparkly, and completely affordable with tones of strawberry, raspberry, and cherry.

COCKTAILS

While sitting on your front steps, luxuriating in the afternoon sunshine, pour yourself a rejuvenating cocktail over ice. Store away your heavy dark liquors and reach for the clear stuff. Vodka, gin, rum, and tequila are lighter and mix wonderfully with many of spring’s fruits and vegetables. For a surefire Sunday morning hangover cure, shake up a pepper vodka Bloody Mary with a pinch of celery salt and a dash of horseradish. You can use your creativity and reach for your muddler to bruise up a fresh and minty rum concoction or blend a cucumber, kiwi, or pineapple for some cocktail satisfaction. And if you just need a good old stand by, there’s always a gin and tonic.

by Courtney Harrel

MOM-osa

• 1 oz Frangelico
• 1 oz passion fruit juice
• Champagne or sparkling wine top

 Combine Frangelico liqueur and passion fruit juice in a shaker, add ice and pour into a champagne flute. Top with sparkling wine or champagne.

 (as another option to straight juice you can use “Cascal” which is a great tropical fermented soda available at Wholefoods nationwide)

Cityhouse in San Francisco’s scenic Parc 55 Hotel (55 Cyril Magnin Street) is serving up a specialty cocktail this weekend that is—as they say—sweet and a little bit nutty, just like Mom.

Mommy Dearest

• 1 ¼ oz Frangelico
• 1 ¼ oz pomegranate liqueur

Stir over ice and pour over ice in rocks glass.

The following recipe comes courtesy of Level III (500 Post Street), a hip and modern cocktail lounge in the heart of San Francisco’s photogenic Nob Hill neighborhood:

Mama’s Little Helper

• 1 oz X-Rated Fusion Liqueur
• 1 oz Grapefruit Juice

Top with Champagne, serve in a flute.

To save us all from this unspeakable malaise, Blind Tiger Ale House (281 Bleecker Street) in the West Village comes to the rescue, offering 31 taps of microbrewed goodness along with an expansive bevy of limited edition bottled beers. Here you’ll come across a whole slew of West Coast style IPAs from the likes of Bear Republic and Green Flash—the good stuff that is very difficult to find anywhere in the East Coast, let alone in a city not exactly known for craft beer offerings.

The taps are running until 4AM, 7 days a week and you’ll always encounter a good crowd while parked in their friendly confines. The wood facades and dim lighting make for an inviting vibe and the bartenders know a thing or two about the suds they serve. There’s also an impressive food menu here featuring artisanal cheeses and familiar pub grub like chicken wings. I can’t speak for their desirability, however, because I come to this place to drink and for that I’m never disappointed.

As they say in their Mission Statement: “Craft beer is our focus..And our passion.” One trip to this Greenwich Village all-star will prove to you that they’re not just mincing words. And best of all, the taplist is constantly rotating. So come on in and come often!

The Macallan is the second biggest selling single malt by volume (behind Glenlivet).  They will be sampling a variety of whiskeys at the San Francisco event, held May 8 through May 11. Tastings are free but you do need to be 21 or over, of course.

As you can imagine, The Macallan has a proud and rich history. What else would you expect from a brand that requires the definite article in its title. So if you want to appear a bit more knowledgable about this storied spirit, go and check The Macallan’s blog so you can fake it ’till you make it at the big tasting. Personally, I’ve never been too much of a Scotch guy myself, but what I am is a tremendous fan of free booze, like virtually every other soul in my demographic. So I’m definitely willing to give it a shot, or six. Hope to see you there…

RSVP online for the event by clicking on the preceding link.

If you were at all like me growing up, you probably drove your mother to the liquor cabinet at least once or twice… on a bad day. How fitting is it—now that you’re all grown up—that you can bring the liquor cabinet to her with a magnificent Mother’s Day Martini. This thoughtful libation is sweet and delightful, just like Mom. Best of all, if you share a few of them before going out for dinner; it’s bound to make the entire evening more lively for everyone involved.

All you’ll need to make it happen are a few specialized ingredients, such as pomegranate liqueur, coarse sugar and pink grapefruit juice. Rub a lemon wedge around a martini glass, then dip the glass into the coarse sugar in order to sweeten the rim. Next, mix 2 ounces of high-class vodka (you can break out the Goose for Mom) with an ounce of the liqueur and an ounce of the grapefruit juice. Shake vigorously and strain the mixture into your garnished martini glass and voila! Happy Mother’s Day, Moms!