June Beer Dinner – Pizza & Amber Ales

Nicole, Tibor and Dennis came over for a evening of amber ales and tasty food.  For the menu, Dennis brought over a fresh fruit tray for an appetizer, we made grilled pizzas, and Nicole and Tibor brought over Watergate Salad and 7 Layer Cookie Bars.  Everything was very good and the Amber Ales went well with everything.  I served two homebrewed Amber Ales – Peregrine and Citra Ace.  There was a split decision on these two and I will probably end up entering both into competitions.  We choose Widmer’s Drop Top Amber Ale as the best of the evening – all were good – Drop Top is a bit sweeter and went with the food very well.

For the commercial beers we sampled the following:

North Coast – Red Seal (5.5% ABV and 42 IBU)

Odell – Levity Amber Ale (5.1% ABV and 24 IBU)

Widmer – Drop Top Amber Ale (5.3% ABV and 18 IBU)

Alaskan – Amber (5.3% ABV and 18 IBU)

Full Sail – Amber (5.5% ABV and 31 IBU)

Red Seal - http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/beer-RedSeal.htm
Levity - http://odellbrewing.com/beer/levity-amber-ale/

Drop Top – http://widmerbrothers.com/beer/#drop-top-amber

Alaskan Amber - http://www.alaskanbeer.com/our-brew/year-round-beers/amber.html

Full Sail – Amber - http://www.fullsailbrewing.com/beers/amber.cfm

Pizza Dough Recipe - http://draftmag.com/recipes/detail/227

Ingredients:

1 12-ounce bottle or can brown ale, room temperature (I used an Amber Ale)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons instant yeast

21/2 cups bread flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

11/2 teaspoons salt

Instructions:

Whisk together the ale, oil and yeast in a medium bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes. Pulse together bread flour, all-purpose flour, cornmeal and salt in a food processor fitted with a dough blade. With the motor running, add the ale mixture to the food processor. Pulse until the dough comes together, then process for 30 seconds. (You can also use a stand mixer or make the dough by hand. If using a stand mixer, mix the dough for 4-5 minutes with a dough hook; by hand, knead the dough about 10 minutes.) The dough should be smooth and elastic. Transfer the dough to a large oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

HOW TO: GRILL YOUR PIZZA
1. Preheat a grill to medium-high. Very generously coat a pizza peel, unrimmed baking sheet or the back of a rimmed baking sheet with cornmeal. Gather your pizza toppings together and put on a baking sheet or plate for easy transport. You’ll also want a large metal spatula or tongs. 2.  Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and cut dough in half (or desired size). Roll and stretch one piece of dough into desired size and shape and transfer to the prepared peel or baking sheet. Head out to the grill.
3. Clean the grate of your grill. Using a single, quick motion, transfer the dough to the grill. Top with sauce and desired toppings; close the grill top. Grill the pizza until the underside is brown and crispy and the cheese is melted, 8 to 12 minutes. Transfer to the peel or baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough and toppings.

Full Sail – Imperial Porter

Full Sail is based in Hood River, OR with a second location in Portland, OR.  They make several different styles and have won a number of awards over the years for their various beers.  Imperial Porter (7.5% ABV and 60 IBU) is now retired and a new version that is aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels is the replacement and is part of the 2012 Brewmaster Reserve Line-up.

American Porter – description - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/159 - Beeradvocate

Appearance – this one pours very dark brown / black and you cannot see through the glass.  There is a brown two-finger head.

Aroma – One can detect coffee / espresso, chocolate and roasted malt.  I detected little aroma from hops. 

Taste – Essentially, like it smells with chocolate and a light coffee note to the roasted malt with a slight bitterness on the finish that is also dry.

Overall – B –  Imperial Porter is not bad, but it is nothing special.  The newer version has a higher ABV and I bet it improves with the barrel aging. 

Description – N/A – this beer is now retired

URL - http://www.fullsailbrewing.com/

Pale Ales – Full Sail and Flying Dog

Full Sail Pale Ale (5.4% ABV and 37 IBU) has won a few awards over the years pours clear golden amber with a lacy head.  Full Sail describes Pale Ale as, “a fresh hoppy aroma that comes from two (top secret) Northwest hop varieties, while two-row Pale and Crystal malt give it a mild sweetness that finishes clean and crisp.”  Full Sail’s Pale Ale has a nice balance between sweetness and bitterness and this is another nice offering from Full Sail.

Going across country to the East Coast, I tried Flying Dog’s Doggie Style (5.5% ABV and 35 IBU) is a Pale Ale.  The numbers are very close to Full Sail’s offering and the beer pours a similar color to Full Sail, with a larger head.  The taste is different and I am thinking it is probably from the hops and different malt profile.  The hops are Northern Brewer (probably for bittering) and Cascade (probably for aroma). Flying Dog describes Doggie Style as, “the Alpha of the pack.  Doggie Style compliments a wide range of foods.  Flavor notes: Grassy, citrus, and slight perfume aromas with subtlety sweet malt body.”  The flavor notes are spot on and I did enjoy Doggie Style more than Full Sail’s Pale Ale.  Both pale ales are good; I just liked Flying Dog better. 

Two very tasty Amber Ales

Full Sail’s Amber Ale (5.5% ABV and 31IBU) has been around since 1989, and it is the flagship beer for Full Sail and has won 14 medals over the years.  Amber pours amber with a two-finger head.  Full Sail describes Amber as, “a sweet, malty, medium-bodied ale with a spicy, floral hop finish.  It’s brewed with 2-row Pale, Crystal and Chocolate malts.  And we hop it with Mt. Hoods and Cascades.”  Full Sail’s Amber is very tasty and this is a well-balanced ale with just the right amounts of sweet malt and spicy, floral Northwest hops. 

Next up was Twisted Pine’s American Amber Ale (5.5% ABV and 55 IBU) is a little more bitter than Full Sail’s Amber.  This is another good beer and it pours amber with a frothy head – I had to let is settle a bit before I could empty the bottle.  Twisted Pine describes Ambers as, “medium bodied beer with good hop character.  The aroma is slightly hoppy, malty, and lightly yeasty.  The beer’s texture starts off crisp and effervescent, and becomes a little thicker toward the finish.”  This is another very good Amber Ale and Cascade hops are used along with Northern Brewer.  You cannot go wrong with either of these selections.  I paired these with a dinner of roasted chicken, rice, sauteed Vidalia onions and mushrooms (with some Amber Ale) and sauteed garlic green beans.  Very tasty pairing too.

Full Sail – Session Premium and Black Lager

The other day, I went to Roger’s house to consume a few beers while the wives were away.  Roger had a beer he wanted me to try from Full Sail called Session Premium Lager (5.1% ABV and 18 IBU).  While I prefer ales, I really liked this beer and I appreciate the lower ABV and drinkability of this beer.  Roger said these are available in 12 packs and they are $12 / 12 pack.  This is a great price for a good craft beer and Session Premium Lager has won a number of awards including Gold medals at GABF and the World Beer Championships.

I decided to check out the specials at Davidson’s liquors and Session was on sale for $9.99 a 12er.  I called Roger to inform him of the sale and Roger picked up a few 12ers.  I went over later and picked up a 12er of Session Black Lager (5.4% ABV and 18 IBU) and this one has won Gold medals at GABF, the World Beer Championships, and the World Beer Cup.  This one pours the color of coca-cola and has a quickly receding head with good carbonation.  Session Black is very drinkable with good malty sweetness and hints of chocolate / roast malt.  Full Sail describes Session Black Lager as “Short, Dark and Drinkable”.  Both styles come in 12 packs of 11 oz. stubby bottles.  These are both very good beers at a very good price.  Nicely done Full Sail.