Pour Decisions Brewing Company – An Update

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On April 1st last year Pour Decisions Brewing Company came out. The timing and tone of the announcement led many to believe it was some elaborate beer-geek hoax. There were no names given in the communiqué. Who were these guys? Where did they come from? These unanswered questions sent many off on sleuthing missions, checking addresses on Google Maps and looking up corporate registrations on the state website.

Turned out Pour Decisions wasn’t a hoax. It was a real brewery-to-be, spearheaded by homebrewers extraordinaire Kristen England and B.J. Haun. An article on Heavy Table followed soon after the announcement. Given the reputation of the brewers (both good and bad) the air was thick with anticipation. A couple more blog posts appeared on the Pour Decisions website and then………..silence.

In the intervening 11 months precious little has been heard from Pour Decisions, but they are still out there and moving toward finally opening the taps. I recently chatted with Kristen England at the brewery and got a status report.

On the afternoon of my visit the brewery was a construction zone as finishing touches were being put on the tap room, which should be finished by the time this posts. According to England, the plumbing and electric are all in place. The only thing remaining is to re-assemble the boiler. They are waiting on the proper contractor to complete that task. Once that is done, they should be ready to make beer. England refused, however, to be pinned down on a date. Things happen and that kind of speculation hasn’t worked out so well for them in the past.

So what has been the delay? England cited contractor delays and issues with city inspections. Problems with the contractors hired to install the plumbing and such has been a major source of frustration. Work was promised, partially paid for, and then never delivered. One contractor reportedly even went after Haun with a wrench (or was it a hammer?).

Part of the hold-up around inspections came from unforeseen code requirements. For instance, even though the taproom is only separated from the brewery by a four-foot half-wall, the space requires a separate HVAC system. And then there were the panels. The brewhouse is run from a plug-and-play control panel. In Minnesota all “panels” have to be inspected before they can be used. The keg washer/filler also had a panel that had to be inspected. Costs and delays.

Another problem was the lack of inspectors in Roseville where the brewery is located. If you open a brewery in Minneapolis or St. Paul, they have several inspectors who tend to the business of checking things out. In Roseville there is only one. Says England, “It takes a while. It’s not his fault; he’s got a lot to do.”

Once up and running they plan to launch with two beers. Patersbier is described as “a crisp, Monk’s Golden Ale.” It will come in around 6% and have a good amount of bitterness and hop character. Pubstitute is a dark Scottish session ale listed on the website at 2.8% ABV. England says they are going to bump that up just a bit to around 3.2%. By keeping it that low they not only stay true to style, but also create a beer that can be sold in the grocery store. Don’t fret the low ABV. English session ales have full-flavor and mouthfeel despite their diminutive strength; tastes great and less filling.

England has been involved in beer-historical research with British beer blogger Ronald Pattinson of the Shut Up About Barclay Perkins blog (a great blog if you’re into that sort of thing). Pattinson has been digging into the archives of Britain’s great breweries to discover what beers they were making and how they were making them. England has been translating that research into brewable recipes. Although he doesn’t want to be known as “the guy that makes historical beer,” this research will be a big influence in the beers that Pour Decisions makes. “Everything now has been done before.” says England. “People don’t think so, but everything has been done before. So when we come out with a double IPA it’s going to have English ingredients. It’s going to have all low-alpha hops. Our stouts will be historical stouts using brown malt and amber malt. We’ll use lots of invert sugar. When you taste it you’ll understand the concept. It’s going to be very similar to what you’ve had before, but not like anything you’ve had before. Our beers will be things that you can wrap your head around but different from what you know.”

Expect Pour Decisions to have beer on the street soon. What does soon mean exactly? I can’t say. If I were to wager a guess I’d say this time it’s a matter of weeks rather than months. But things do happen. Only time will tell.

Summit Unchained #9 – Dunkelweizen

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I don’t often drink dunkelweizen. I like dunkelweizen, so I’m not sure why that is. Maybe it’s because there aren’t many of them to be had in the Twin Cities. Those that are available are mostly imports, and German wheat beers, whether light or dark, are best consumed fresh. The long trip across the ocean and then halfway across the continent doesn’t always treat them kindly.

Or perhaps it’s the near-overwhelming diversity of beers available these days. Whether you know too much or you don’t know enough, a trip to the beer store can leave you locked in a paralysis of indecision.  Distracted by all the “bright and sparklies” on the shelf it’s maybe difficult for me to find my way back to the two bottles of dunkelweizen gathering dust amid the pilsners.

Whatever the reason, I just don’t often think about dunkelweizen.

I should think more about dunkelweizen. It’s a great beer to pair with food. Like its lighter sister it is great with salads especially those with more substantial flavors like candied walnuts.  Toasty-caramel melanoidin flavors make for scintillating combinations with the darker flavors of Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes with mole or roasted Poblano peppers. Pulled pork anyone? Okay, now I’m craving Tex-Mex and beer, but it’s only 9:30 am…

I really should give dunkelweizen more consideration.

Summit Brewing Company has pushed the style to the front of my crowded brain with the release of Unchained #9 – a dunkelweizen created by brewer Eric Blomquist. So now there are three examples on the shelf. But one of them is made in St. Paul. For those of us in Minnesota, it can’t really get much fresher.

Here’s my notes:

Unchained #9 – Dunkelweizen
Summit Brewing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota
Style: Dunkelweizen
Serving Style: 12 oz bottle

Aroma: A balanced blend of banana and clove that leans just a bit more heavily on the spice. Bread and caramel form the base with raisiny fruit filling in the cracks. Overtones of lemon citrus pop out of the glass like the tiny fizz splashes on soda pop. And do I detect the subtlest hint of smoke?

Appearance: Beautiful to look at. It pours dark amber to mahogany; murky and opaque. The long-lasting, fluffy, ivory head falls slowly to thick foam on the surface that lasts all the way to the bottom of the glass. Effervescent bubbles rise from the bottom of the glass.

Flavor: Let it warm up just a bit. Fresh from the fridge it is surprisingly bitter with a citrusy hop-like flavor that sits in the middle of my tongue. As the temperature rises, so does the flavor of melanoidin; like burnt brown sugar. And there are those raisins re-visiting from the aroma. The yeasty banana character steps to the background, allowing clove to come to the fore. The citrus from early on backs off toward the end, but leaves a final calling card at the back of my throat on the way out.

Mouthfeel: Light bodied, yet thick and chewy – pillowy. Effervescent – tingly on my tongue.

Overall Impression: A good beer for the kind of weather we’re having; not quite the summery quaff of a hefeweizen, but not as dark, rich and wintery as a weizenbock. It’s a delicate in-between. Let it warm a bit before you start drinking to let the malt character that makes if a dunkelweizen come through. Dark fruit and toasted brown sugar flavors work wonders with the yeast.

Unchained #9 comes out in bars the week of March 5th. Check the Summit website for details of release events. Bottles will appear the week of March 19th.

Odell Footprint

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Footprint, a new single-serve release from Odell Brewing Company, was brewed to recognize all of the ten states in which Odell beers are sold. The concept is interesting; include an ingredient that exemplifies each state. That makes for a lot of ingredients. Any brewer will tell you that a lot of ingredients can be a recipe for disaster.

I myself have participated in just such an experiment. A British/Finnish friend proposed a homebrewing challenge to make Van Rompuy, a beer to represent the European Union. There are twelve stars on the EU flag. We would devise a recipe that would include twelve ingredients, each one representing a country of the EU. Through two iterations of this brew we used hops from Slovenia, yeast from Belgium, malt from England and Germany, Spanish orange peel, Italian wine grapes, and even potatoes from Poland, among too many other things. The first was a bit of a muddled mess. The second was somewhat more successful, but still needed a good bit of tweaking. Perhaps presciently, in both beers Greece ended up setting the whole thing off balance.

Could Odell possibly pull off this same sort of challenge? It’s a complex mix; hops and barley from Colorado and Idaho, wheat from Kansas and Wyoming, prickly pear from Arizona, Minnesota wild rice, New Mexican green chilis, South Dakota honey, and finally oak barrels from Missouri. As if that weren’t enough, this 9.5% monster is blended from different batches; 40% aged in oak barrels, 40% with “natural flavors added,” 10% aged in wine barrels, 5% brewed with honey, and 5% brewed with wild rice. Sounds to me like a cluster-fuck in the making.

Here’s my notes:

Footprint
Odell Brewing Company, Fort Collins, Colorado
Style: ????
Serving Style: 750 ml Bottle

Aroma: Light, bright, and fruity. Yellow grapefruit pulp with canned peaches. There’s a subtle peppery spice and an even more subtle note of wood. A bit vinous and somewhat saison-like.

Appearance: Dark golden in color, leaning toward amber but not quite making it there. Hazy. The full, fluffy, ivory head stuck around for quite a while before dissipating into a film on the surface.

Flavor: There is a lot going on here. Honeyed malt and canned peaches start things off. Midway through some vinous, white-grape notes come in with a bit of wood in the background. It ends sharply bitter; hitting at the back of the throat on the way out. Throughout are alternating waves of peppery spice, golden raisins, honey, citrus pith, orange peel, and even herbs like thyme and oregano (am I crazy?). Hold it in your mouth and you taste prickly pear (and yes, I do know what prickly pear tastes like). As it warms, fresh oak hangs on after the swallow. The only detraction is alcohol that verges on hot.

Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-full body, but high attenuation minimizes the heft. Highly effervescent, almost carbonic. Alcohol is definitely warming.

Overall Impression: Mmmmmmmmm…Like a strong saison or a super-spicy tripel. I don’t know that Belgian yeast was used, but that’s the impression the beer gives. It’s complex and layered. There is a s#@$-ton of stuff happening, but it doesn’t come off murky or muddy. My only complaint is that the alcohol is a tad hot and at the end of a bottle it becomes a bit sticky on the palate (I know, who said I should drink a whole bottle of 9.5% ale. But it was good.)

Crispin Cider Sells To Miller Coors – More Details

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The internet lit up this morning with the announcement that Minneapolis-based Crispin Cider had been sold to MillerCoors. Early reports in the Milwaukee Business Journal and the Pioneer Press gave little detail, stating only that the company had been purchased for an undisclosed amount and was to be run as a unit of Tenth and Blake, the craft-and-import division of the brewing giant named after the Miller’s 10th Street Brewery in Milwaukee and the Coors-owned Sandlot Brewery located on Blake Street in Denver, Colorado. Reports disclosed that the deal includes both Crispin and its affiliate Fox Barrel. Tenth and Blake CEO Tom Cardella cited the precipitous growth of the hard cider sector since 2008 when Crispin was founded and said, “We were looking at the best way to participate in that growth. Crispin stood out.”

I had the opportunity to chat with Crispin founder and CEO Joe Heron this afternoon to fill in some of the blanks. The whole thing came together quickly as far as these things go. Discussions began last year on November 4th and the deal was finished on February 4th. For Heron, selling the company that he started in 2008 wasn’t about money. The company has grown 200 percent since its inception. It was doing quite well. Instead the sale was intended to bring to Crispin a higher level of expertise and access to markets that would take the cider maker to the next level, or as he put it, “To put muscles on the mouse.”

What MillerCoors brings, according to Heron, is resources, expertise, and access to markets that will enable the company to upscale. The intent is to continue making the product in the current Colfax, California facility, but to expand and update that facility as demand increases. In addition the connection with MillerCoors will help Crispin place its cider into lucrative chain-store accounts.

Heron has been approached by others in the past, but was holding out for the right buyer. “The chemistry here is great,” he says. Clearly MillerCoors, like the other big brewers, recognizes the growth of the craft segment in the face of falling sales for their mainline brands. They are looking to get in on that growth by expanding into more innovative product lines. They have entered into partnerships with other small producers such as Georgia-based Terrapin. Heron says that part of what made the offer appealing to him was the sincerity of the folks at Tenth and Blake. “People see these as huge monolithic companies, but these are real people who are all about beer. They make their regular products, but they are just as much into the craft stuff as anybody.” He says that the company was interested in maintaining Crispin’s position as an innovator in the cider sector. In his words, “They like us because we make cool shit.”

Heron will stay on as the head of Crispin. “This is the most fun I’ve had in my entire career life.” he said. “I’m not going to leave it now.” Crispin will be given a large degree of autonomy from MillerCoors. That autonomy was another selling point for Heron. Crispin will maintain its own sales force. Cider production will remain in Colfax, California. The company will continue the kind of adventurous cider making that has begun to spawn imitators. Upcoming projects include a barrel-aged version of their Lansdowne named after late singer Marvin Gaye, and Bohemian, the next of their alternative yeast explorations, this one fermented with a German lager yeast.

Time will tell what this sale will mean for Crispin. If the MillerCoors promise of autonomy holds and the company is allowed to continue in the direction it has already set for itself over the last three years, it could prove to be a good move, expanding the market for the product beyond its current niche status. If quality suffers it will only alienate the brands current consumers. I for one don’t see Miller Coors doing that. As Heron said, they are purchasing a part of the future. They want to cash in on that growth market. They would be shooting themselves in the foot to mess with that. That said Killian’s Irish Red is not the beer it once was.

MN Clean Pint Makes its Return

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Clean glassware is essential for proper beer service, and I’m not talking about that filmy, smeary glass they served your water in at the Bug Tussle Diner. I’m talking about “beer clean” glassware. That means a glass that is totally free of grease, soap, and all other residue and detritus. This is a glass that will sheet water the way the old Cascade dishwasher soap commercials used to boast about. Only a beer clean glass will give you that nice fluffy head of foam when you pour and pretty lacing as you drink down.

MN Clean Pint is an effort to reward bars and restaurants that serve your beer in a properly cleaned glass. It’s an opportunity for you to recognize establishments that make the extra effort and give them the chance to win the coveted title of “Cleanest Pint in MN.”

To participate all you need do is photograph that laced-up, beer-clean glass wherever you may be enjoying a frosty one. Post the photo on Twitter during the month of February using the tag #MNCleanpint, identifying what fine watering hole has met the test. By doing so you also register yourself to win prizes including a $100 bar tab, online Cicerone™ training, glassware, a kegerator kit, and much much more.

MN Clean Pint is sponsored by JJ Taylor, A Perfect Pint, The Better Beer Society, The Cicerone Certification Program, MNBeer, and Micromatic. Go here to find out more.

Now get out there and fight for your right to clean glassware!

The Whistle Stop Restaurant & Brewery in Woodman, Wisconsin

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The Southwestern Wisconsin town of Woodman has a population just over 100. At one time it was the terminus of the “Dinky”, a narrow-guage railroad that connected it to the towns of Boscobel and Fennimore. Of course at that time Woodman was a bit more bustling, with residents numbering in the thousands. The Dinky used to drop mail it passed the post office in Woodman, announcing its arrival with a toot of its whistle. The Dinky tracks are still in the ground behind the Whistle Stop Restaurant, and the kitchen still doubles as the town’s post office.

In almost every way the Whistle Stop is what you would expect from a restaurant/tavern in a tiny Wisconsin town. The décor is simple; it’s relatively unadorned save for the Bud and Miller Lite posters on the walls. The tables are covered with the requisite red and white checked tablecloths. There is taco night on Tuesday and an all-you-can-eat Friday night fish fry. A small number of locals sit around the bar talking and drinking beer. On a busy night they might be joined by bikers. The thing that makes the Whistle Stop unique is the beer that they are drinking. It’s brewed on sight.

After Dennis Erb and his mother Leslie bought the restaurant in 2008, Dennis started looking for a way to make the place a little more special. He started making beer there in 2010. With no prior brewing experience, he has leapt right in, constructing a home-made, half-barrel, electric brewery in the basement. During summer high-season he brews every other day. That’s essential given the six house-brewed taps and numerous bottle selections he keeps available. He also sells a limited amount of bottles in area stores.

Erb says that his brewery is like “Dogfish Head on a smaller scale.” The comparison is not entirely undeserved. Many of the beers in his lineup are one of a kind. There’s pistachio kölsch, hazelnut red stout, the minty-bitter Arctic IPA, and Rose Red, a red-ale brewed with rose hips and rose extract. He takes inspiration from all around him. Sometimes it’s something he sees in the grocery store. Or maybe he reads about an exotic location and sets his mind to translating it into beer.  As he talks about it, the joy he derives from the process is evident. The experiments don’t always work, but when they do they are surprisingly tasty. And you have to give him credit for going out on a limb in a place where Busch Light is king.

Ordering beer at the Whistle Stop is a bit of a crap shoot. About half of the beers I tried were sour; unintentional, but not always entirely bad. Those that hadn’t “gone Belgian” were actually pretty good. There was the deceptively drinkable Amber Bock, a dangerous seven-percenter that drank more like it was four or five percent.  I approached the mint-infused Arctic IPA with trepidation. It ended up being one of my favorites of the night. While the smell of spearmint was intense, the flavor was just enough to enhance the already minty Northern Brewer hops. And the floral rose-hip/rose extract ale was a downright, champagne-like delight.

The food at the Whistle Stop was good as well. My bacon double burger was prepared by postmaster Leslie Erb herself. It was delicious. The French fries were nice and crisp.

Oh, and there is supposedly a ghost.

If you tend to geek out on style guidelines or can’t control yourself when presented with a beer that’s gone over to the other side, then don’t go to the Whistle Stop. If you are looking to have fun tasting some very interesting beers and chatting up the super- friendly locals, then this place is for you. Check it out next time you find yourself in the southwest corner of Wisconsin.

Mankato Brewery – A First Look

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Within three days of launch, Mankato Brewery had already sold 30-barrels of beer. That’s 930 gallons, the entire capacity of one of the brewery’s three fermentation tanks. The rapid sales took them by surprise. When I visited on Thursday, January 12th they had only one sixth-barrel keg left in the cooler and had ramped up their brewing schedule as much as possible. After only a week in business, they are already shopping for more tanks. It’s a good problem for a new brewery to have.

I first talked to Mankato Brewery co-founder Tim Tupy for a June 2010 article on The Heavy Table food blog. At that time Tupy and his partner Tony Feuchtenberger were just getting started. Their website was mostly a space-filler. They had yet to nail down a space. And their search for a brewer was just beginning. They needed someone willing to build the brewery and the brand from the ground up, and willing to relocate to Mankato. As it happens, Mike Miziorko, then a brewer at Summit, was looking for just such an opportunity. He read the Heavy Table article and picked up the phone to call Tupy. In July of last year he celebrated his last day at Summit and headed south to join the team.

The three view themselves as the legs of a three-legged stool. Each one brings a different talent to the partnership. Tupy is an entrepreneur with marketing experience and deep connections in the civic life of Mankato. Feuchtenberger’s background is in production and operations management. Miziorko is the man who makes the beer. Of his switch from Summit’s 220-hectolieter, fully-automated system to the much-smaller and totally-manual 15-barrel brewery at Mankato Miziorko says, “This is brewing. This is what I went to school for. I’m much closer to the beer.” He’s enjoying the ability to put his stamp on the thing from build-out to beers.

Tupy began considering the idea of opening a brewery a few years ago. He’s active in several civic organizations, which makes him well connected to what’s happening in Mankato. He saw a demand. People still had a connection to the old Mankato Brewing Company that closed in the 1960s. Kato beer signs and t-shirts were a common sight. His entrepreneurial spirit – he’s already opened two other businesses – said “let’s go.” He approached his homebrewing buddy Feuchtenberger and the two began to plan. A public brew day at the Brau Brothers brewery in nearby Lucan, Minnesota sealed their resolve. Within three months they had the basics together and started their search for a brewer.

Mankato Brewery launched on January 5th with their flagship beer Mankato Original. Original is a classic Kölsch-style beer. The crisp, lager-like ale has bready malt flavor and subtle fruitiness in the nose. Spicy hops and moderate bitterness keep it balanced but leave it light and delicate. In talking about the beer, Miziorko, who’s college major was German, quotes and old German saying that the “first beer should ask for the third.” My first-hand experience says that the third goes down just as easily as the first.

Miziorko appreciates the subtle complexity of German beer styles. To him they are beers with both depth and drinkability. “I’m a beer drinker,” he says. “I want to be able to enjoy more than one.” He has spent a good deal of time in Germany and admires the sense of community and tradition that surrounds beer there. Beer is a staple of life; it’s food.  He says that beer drinking there is less about the beer and more about the time spent drinking it. “That’s Gem?tlichkeit.”

Mankato Brewery is only distributing in Mankato and St. Peter. If you want the beer, you’ll have to go there to get it. There are plans to introduce other year-round beers and a few seasonals, but those will have to wait until they can keep up with demand for Original.

Badger Hill Brewing Company

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I’m telling you, the rush of new breweries in Minnesota just can’t be stopped. Every time I turn around I learn about another one on the horizon that I had never heard of. On a trip out to the Lucid brewery today, I had the pleasure of speaking to Broc Krekelberg, one of the threesome behind Badger Hill Brewing Company, a new, soon-to-be brewery in the Twin Cities metro.

Badger Hill is still a couple months away from selling beer. They are still waiting for their brewers notice from the TTB to be able to get started. They expect that soon. They plan to launch with an ESB style beer. Other beers planned will be designed for a wide palate. A double IPA or the odd Belgian may be in the mix down the road, but the brewery’s focus will be on more sessionable beer styles. Kölsch was one that was mentioned.

Badger Hill will be brewing at Lucid Brewery in Minnetonka, taking advantage of the federal designation called alternating proprietorship that allows them to have their own brewer’s license while operating in another brewery’s space. It’s not contract brewing, they are a full-fledged brewery sharing equipment and space with another brewery. They have purchased and installed their own fermenters and have plans to bring in a bottling line, which would also allow Lucid to package their brews. Krekelberg emphasized how glad they are to have hooked up with Jon and Eric at Lucid. The chemistry between them is great and the arrangement has allowed Badger Hill to get up and running more quickly and with lower up-front capital needs.

I’m happy to welcome another new brewer to the state. I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more from Badger Hill Brewing very soon.

Rolling Meadows Brewery – Lincoln’s Lager

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Driving to Rolling Meadows Brewery you might forget that you are only seven miles from downtown Springfield, Illinois. As you leave town, the four-lane state highway becomes a two-lane and the signs of city life quickly thin out. Leaving the main road, you follow a barely-improved rural road through rolling farm land until it dead-ends at a dirt driveway. The farmstead at the end of that driveway is the home of Rolling Meadows.

The tiny building that houses the brewery looks as though it belongs in the “holler.” I halfway expected Loretta Lynn to step onto the keg and barrel-filled porch singing Coal Miner’s Daughter. Once you step inside it’s a different picture. The building was purpose-built for making beer. What seems to be a tiny, country cabin is in reality a two-story production facility with grain mill, office and tasting table overlooking the brewery in the lower level. It’s got a sleek, modern design that matches the brewery’s branding and labels. The foundation would support a 7-story building.

Rolling Meadows Brewery opened its doors in mid-2011. Founder and Brewer Chris Trudeau is one of a few in the craft-beer world seeking to return brewing to the land (up here closer to the Twin Cities think Dave’s Brewfarm and Olvalde Farm and Brewery). A hop variety that has grown wild on the farm for years is cultivated in a hop yard out back. Herbs and spices used in brewing are tended in a greenhouse. A field next to the brewery will supply wheat for the brewery’s Springfield Wheat hefeweizen.

Rolling Meadows currently has three beers distributed in the immediate Springfield area. Lincoln Lager is an amber, American-style lager. Springfield Wheat is a classic German hefeweizen. Abe’s Ale is a strong-ish, American brown ale brewed with maple syrup, brown sugar, and Belgian candi-sugar. I liked all three, but my favorite was Lincoln’s Lager.

Here’s my notes:

Lincoln’s Lager
Rolling Meadows Brewery, Springfield, Illinois
Style: American Amber Lager
Serving Style: 22 oz. Bottle

Aroma: White bread with the crust on and the lightest touch of graham-cracker. Limes and spice linger somewhere just underneath, not quite cracking the surface, but not quite going un-noticed. A pleasant and delicate balance.

Appearance: Amber and mostly clear, with just the faintest gauze of haze. White head stood up tall and persisted, falling slowly to a rocky layer of foam on the surface. Nice lacing on the glass.

Flavor: Simple and balanced. Slightly malt forward, with bread crust flavors leading the way. But the hops don’t let go easily. I wouldn’t call it boldly bitter, but it does something more than balance the malt with bitterness that lingers and grabs after the swallow. Spicy hops flavor with tart hints of lime citrus play over the top. Crisp and sharp.

Mouthfeel: Light body. Medium carbonation. Maybe a wee bit of astringency.

Overall Impression: Crisp and sharp as a lager should be. Light and drinkable as an American lager should be. Beer nerds may turn up their noses at this one, but I like it. It doesn’t demand your attention, but it does satisfy. At $10 for a 22-ounce bottle I’m not sure it’s worth the price point. It’s very good, but good American-style lagers can be had for far less.

Upcoming Beer Classes at Cooks of Crocus Hill

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I have a bevy of new classes upcoming at Cooks of Crocus Hill. If you have never been to a class at Cooks, it’s high time you checked them out. You can learn about a wide range of culinary topics from scotch and steaks to how to boil water.  There are demonstration and participation classes taught by some of the area’s best chefs and beverage experts. Two locations, St. Paul and Edina, make it convenient from many areas of the metro. And in my experience (of course I’m teaching them so I may be biased) these classes are a blast.

Home Brewing 101
January 5, 2012, 6-9 pm
Cost $65
You can make good beer at home, and you can do it right the first time around. Cicerone Michael from A Perfect Pint will familiarize you with all of the ingredients, equipment, techniques and processes necessary to make extract beer at home. We’ll also taste several commercial examples of beginner-appropriate beers.
Menu: Light Appetizers and Samples of a Variety of Beers.

Bon Bons and Brews
February 9, 2012, 6-9 pm
Cost $70
With Chocolatier Randy Kingsbury
Beer and chocolate. Yeah, maybe it sounds a little weird. But believe it – nothing goes better with silky-smooth, chocolaty-rich truffles than beer. Add exotic ingredients to the chocolate and the pairing adventure really gets going. Chocolatier Randy Kingsbury and Cicerone Michael Agnew take you on an indulgent tour of the best pairings this taste team has to offer.
Menu: A Selection of Exotic Truffles Paired with Microbrewed Beers from Around the Country.

Best of the Best Beer & Wine Pairing Dinner
February 15, 2012, 6-9 pm (WAIT LIST)
Cost $75
With sommelier Leslee Miller and Chef Mike Shannon
Cooks’ favorite trio, Chef Mike Shannon, Sommelier Leslee Miller and Cicerone Michael Agnew, are back to share some of their favorite trios — of food, wine and beer, that is! They’ve picked the best and most popular taste teams from all of the classes they’ve taught together. Whether you’ve missed their classes and hope to catch up, or you’d just like to come back for more, join Mike, Leslee and Michael for an evening of their greatest hits! You’ll taste their best bites and sips while learning all about how to make some stellar combinations of your own at home.
Menu: Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette; Roasted Root Vegetables with Herbed Aioli; Pot Roast with Shallots; Truffled Baked Potato Skins; Smore Pot de Creme.

Beer, Wine, and Cheese Throwdown
February 20, 2012, 6-9 pm
Cost $75
With sommelier Leslee Miller and France 44 cheesmonger Song Lee
Cheese please! Cheese pairs perfectly to both beer and wine, but Leslee and Michael demand that you to pick a winner. Join Cheesemonger Song Lee from France 44 with Sommelier Leslee and Cicerone Michael for this awesome libation- and fromage-a-thon. A variety of milks, textures and styles make this cheese-off one for the books when both sommelier and cicerone stand off in an epic challenge to tickle your palate.
Menu: Artisanal Cheeses Paired with a Global Selection of Beer and Wine.

The class list for the spring semester hasn’t been released yet, but here’s a sneak preview of my classes.

Spring Beer & Wine Dinner
April 4, 2012
With Leslee Miller and Mike Shannon. This will sell out quickly.

Local Brews & Breweries
May 22, 2012
Take a beer tour of the region.