PLATES & PINTS


Ringing In Beer Week 2011 Memories and a delectable deep-fried blast from San Diego’s celebratory past By Brandon Hernández


S Photo: Kristina Blake


Brandon Hernández hated beer and had never even heard the term “craft beer” until his first trip to O’Brien’s Pub in 1999. There, in a dark yet friendly space rife with the foreign smell of cascade and centennial hops, he fell into line with the new school of brew enthusiasts courtesy of a pint-sized one-two punch of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot and Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale. Those quaffs changed his perception of all beer could and should be and he’s spent the past decade-plus immers- ing himself in the local beer culture -- living, learning, loving and, of course, drinking craft suds. He’s since taken up homebrewing and specializes in the creation of beer-centric cuisine. A native San Diegan, Brandon is proud to be contributing to a publication that serves a positive purpose for his hometown and its beer loving inhabitants. In addition to West Coaster, he is the San Diego cor- respondent for Celebrator Beer News and contributes articles on beer, food, restau- rants and other such killer topics to national publications including The Beer Connoisseur, Beer Magazine and Wine Enthusiast as well as local outlets including The San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego Magazine, The Reader, Riviera Magazine, Pacific San Diego, Edible San Diego, Dining Out San Diego, Rancho Magazine, North County Times and SanDiego.com.


an Diego Beer Week is loom- ing, and as we prepare to extract the most from the be- hemoth annual tribute to our county’s local craft brewing culture, visions of celebrations past serve as pleasant distractions.


Given the fact we have so many beer festivals, beer-pairing dinners and beer-centric events in our region, many quip that every week in San Diego is Beer Week – but it wasn’t always that way. It took over a decade to achieve this momentum. In fact, Beer Week 2011 has grown expo- nentially since its start three years ago, just like Stone Brewing Co.’s anniversary festivals which started out much smaller and simpler than the multi-session, can’t-miss suds soirees they’ve become. The movement is picking up pace.


I still remember the days when my O’Brien’s-frequenting friends and I would carpool up to the company’s first brewing facility, which in the late-nineties and early 2000s was lo- cated in San Marcos (now the site Port Brewing/The Lost Abbey calls home on Mata Way). And boy was it worth it. There’d be, gee, like two handfuls


Arrogant Bastard Ale Onion Rings


Yield: 6 to 8 servings


4 very large yellow onions 2 cups (16 fl. oz.) cold Arrogant Bastard Ale


heaping ¾ tsp Cajun spice blend


heaping ½ tsp kosher salt,


plus more for final seasoning


½ tsp ground dried chipotle chiles


½ tsp smoked paprika ½ tsp granulated garlic


about 1 cup (4 ounces) all- purpose flour


1 tsp baking powder vegetable oil for frying Stone Smoked Porter BBQ Sauce, for dipping


Cut off the ends of each onion, cut in half crosswise (around the equator), and remove the


papery skin and thin outer membrane. Soak in a bowl of ice water for 10 minutes. Drain the onions, separate the concentric rings, and spread them on a kitchen towel to dry. Pour the Arrogant Bastard Ale into a high-sided narrow container. Stir in the Cajun spice


blend, salt, chipotle, smoked paprika, and garlic. Sift the flour and baking powder together, then add them to the beer mixture slowly, whisking well until they’re evenly and thoroughly incorporated. You may need a bit more or less flour to reach the ideal consistency for a tempura-style batter. It should be just thick enough to coat. Preheat the oven to 200° F. Prepare a deep fryer, filling it with oil to the manufacturer’s


suggested fill level. Alternately, use a wide cast-iron or other heavy-duty pan that’s at least 4 inches deep, pouring in oil to a depth of 2 to 3 inches, and no more than halfway up the side of the pan. Heat the oil to 360° F. Dunk the onion rings in the batter and fry in batches until crispy and deep reddish brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan, as this will lower the temperature of the oil significantly and result in soggy onion rings. Transfer cooked onion rings to a wire rack set over a baking sheet (or directly on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet). Season with a sprinkling of salt and keep them in the oven until the entire batch has been fried. Serve hot, with a side of Stone Smoked Porter BBQ Sauce for dipping. (NO ketchup!)


Stone 8th Anniversary Ale


Release Date: August 2004 Style: Imperial Mild ABV: 7.8% Final volume: 5 gallons (about 54 12-ounce bottles or 30 22-ounce bottles)


82.9% crushed Northern American two-row pale malt


7.6% crushed brown malt 7.0% crushed 150L crystal malt 2.5% crushed pale chocolate malt Conversion temperature 157° F Sparge, no mash out


2-


0.56 lb/bbl Amarillo hops (8.5% alpha acid) [2½ hours]


0.14 lb/bbl Amarillo hops (8.5% alpha acid) [0 minutes]


White Labs WLP007 Dry English Ale Yeast or WLP002 English Ale Yeast


Pitch rate 20


Starting gravity 1.076 (18.5 Plato) Final gravity 1.016 (4 Plato) Ferment at 72° F


Recipes courtesy of The Craft of Stone Brewing Co. by Greg Koch and Steve Wagner with Randy Clemens (Ten Speed Press, 2011).


of breweries pouring what we used to call “microbrews.”


Back then, the local craft beer movement was too low-profile for someone, like me, to really grasp its significance. I was aware of the grow- ing number of brewers in America moving away from the macrobrews that I never could stomach, and that made me happy. Yet, had someone provided a futuristic vision of what was to come—mobs of people cram- ming up the quad at Cal State San Marcos for pours from the top brewer- ies in the US—I’d be taken aback, much like someone after their very first, palate changing sip of sour beer. At the Mata Way festivals, it was all about discovery without any heady talk of where is this industry going, what are the IBUs on that IPA and what’d this score on BeerAd- vocate? I often miss those innocent early days and the same can be said for something else I delighted in at those events: my first tastes of food made using craft beer. I remember a Stone Smoked Porter Cheesecake made by the local company Amore Cheesecakes, that single-handedly inspired me to start using beer as a


Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale Onion Rings. Photo: John Schulz Photography


cooking ingredient the very next weekend. Of course, not all my festival memories are that outlandish, and the simplest of Stone’s gatherings remains a favorite, not only by me, but a contingency of veteran Stone anniversary festers.


Arrogant Bastard Ale Onion Rings


Cut thick and fried in a tempura batter that’s more substan- tial than most, these babies sustained me over the course of several Stone fests and became something to look forward to. My most vivid memory is the most unique anniversary festival in 2004. Unlike its predecessors, it wasn’t held on Mata Way. Stone had recently purchased the acreage for their Escondido combination brewery and restaurant, so they held the festival there. I recall navigating the nondescript, gravely pathways, between bulldozed, man-made mountains of loose earth to reach a rectangular oasis of jockey-box issued liquid heaven. Even with all that craft beer calling my name, my friends and I made a b-line to the ungodly long queue for those onion rings. At the time, I knew nothing more about them than their deliciousness. I had no idea the recipe was actually developed by Pizza Port co-owner Vince Marsaglia, but when I found out recently, I wasn’t surprised. One of the most obsessed foodies I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, he’s been making sure craft beer lovers get fed longer than just about anybody in San Diego.


I discovered this tidbit about the origin of Arrogant Bastard Ale Onion Rings when perusing an advance copy of The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.: Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance. This brand new book was penned by Stone co-owners Greg Koch and Steve Wagner with the as- sistance of public relations coordinator and published author, Randy Clemens. It includes stories about everything from development of Stone’s name to its gargoyle logo, beers, restaurant, and of course, the onion rings. Aside from the ring recipe, there’s many more plucked off the bill of fare from Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens and homebrew recipes for many of Stone’s beers.


I hope this serves as a nostalgic trip down memory lane for those of you who enjoyed the annual trek up to San Marcos. For those unaware of the beginnings, peek into our city’s craft beer past and appreciate even more the brewing paradise San Diego’s become.


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