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Weekly Online Newsletter Vol.77

What a great weekend of games, chalk full of last second buzzer beaters. March madness is in full swing  which typically will coincide with watching basketball, overindulging on food, and drinking beer. If we are going to overindulge we should do it with great food and beer pairings.

The three most common pairing interactions are complement, contrast or cut. Take a look at what goes into each dish before deciding what interaction will best compliment your food and beer. For example spicy food; IPA will make the food even spicier complementing the food, Vienna Lager will contrast the spiciness with the sweetness of its malt, and Blonde Ale will cut the flavors refreshing your palate from the spiciness.

 

These are just a few examples of how you can pair one spicy dish with three different beer styles. Below I will give you a few more examples of beers that can pair with some of your March Madness food. To learn more on this topic check out http://www.craftbeer.com/category/beer-and-food and watch the video below.

 

Published on Nov 16, 2016

The CraftBeer.com Beer & Food Course gives chefs an overview of pairing techniques, beer styles and the important place beer serves on your menu. Download the free CraftBeer.com Beer & Food course now at https://www.craftbeer.com/course

Beer & Food Pairings Create Experiences

Food & Beer Pairings  

Pizza with Red Sauce

 Try with:                   August Schell’s Firebrick Vienna-Style Amber Lager

Rhombus Guys Brewing Company Illusion American Amber Ale

LakeFront Brewing Company Fixed Gear Red India Pale Ale

Hamburgers

Try with:                   Odell Brewing Company 90 Shilling Ale

Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Base Camp Brewing Company Hop in the ‘Pool Helles Lager

Buffalo Wings

Try with:                   Lagunitas Brewing Company India Pale Ale

Summit Brewing Company Extra Pale Ale

Fulton Brewing Company Lonely Blonde

Pulled Pork Sliders

Try with:                   Fargo Brewing Company Iron Horse Pale Ale

Odell Brewing Company Myrcenary Double India Pale Ale

Samuel Adams Fresh as Helles Lager with Orange Blossom

Chili Beef and/or Pork

Try with:                   Base Camp Brewing Company S’more Stout

Rhombus Guys Brewing Company Into The Darkness Porter

Empyrean Brewing Company Dark Side Vanilla Porter

Macaroni & Cheese

Try with:                   Fargo Brewing Company Stones Throw Scottish Ale

Grand Teton Extra Special Brown Ale

Finnegans Irish Amber Ale

Nachos with Queso Dip and/or Guacamole

 Try with:                   Summit Brewing Company Unchained #24 Spring Saison

Blue Moon Belgium White Ale

Paulaner Hefe-Weizen

 

CHEERS!

 

Weekly Online Newsletter Vol.75

One of my favorite Holidays is just around the corner on March 17^th – St. Patrick’s Day!

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated every year on March 17th, honoring the Irish patron saint, St. Patrick. The celebrations are largely Irish culture themed and typically consist of wearing green, parades, and plenty of drinking. Some churches may hold religious services and many schools and offices close in Suffolk County, the area containing Boston and its suburbs.

People all over the world celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, especially places with large Irish-American communities. Feasting on the day features traditional Irish food, including corned beef, corned cabbage, coffee, soda bread, potatoes, and shepherd’s pie. Many celebrations also hold an Irish breakfast of sausage, black and white pudding, fried eggs, and fried tomatoes.

It’s the one day that friends and family can gather around raise their pint of Guinness and celebrate their Irish heritage; most out celebrating don’t have a lick of Irish in them but enjoy the festive atmosphere….. It’s a good excuse to raise a pint!

Bergseth Bros. is your Irish Beer Headquarters with iconic brands such as Guinness, Harp, Smithwick’s, and Murphy’s. Bergseth Bros. also carries Guinness Rye, Guinness Antwerpen, Guinness Nitro IPA, Guinness Blonde, Kilkenny, Finnegans and Killians Red.

I’ve included some videos of the assorted Guinness Brands available and a Guinness stew recipe perfect for St. Patrick’s Day.

Guinness Draught Stout — It’s All About The Balance

Behind Guinness Blonde

Guinness Nitro IPA “Behind The Beer”

Discover Guinness Rye Pale Ale

Guinness Antwerpen Export Stout Now Available In America

Beef & Guinness Stew – St. Patrick’s Day Special – Beef Stewed in Guinness Beer

CHEERS!

Weekly Online Newsletter Vol.73

This time of year it seems like a lot of us in the beer industry not only have beer on our minds but also bacon. Last weekend, was the Beer and Bacon Festival in Grand Forks, and coming up soon is the Bacon and Beer festival in Fargo. Congratulations to Rhombus Guys Brewing Company for bringing home the Best Beer trophy at the Grand Forks Festival!

I wanted to showcase the Breweries along with a style from each brewery that we’ll be representing at the festival in Fargo.  I paired a style of beer from each Brewery with a type of bacon, so if you cannot make it the festival, you can try a few pairings on your own at home. Lastly, check out the Beer-Glazed Bacon recipe – Trust me its delicious!!

 

ACE Pineapple Cider – 5% ABV, Gluten Free

First pineapple cider developed in the world, Instant sweet taste with tart finish, Mixes well, Refreshing

Paired with Classic Canadian Bacon

Base Camp Brewing Company S’more Stout – 66 IBUs, 7.7% ABV

The S’more Stout is an absolute all-star: Aromas of chocolate, coffee, fig, and smoke invite you in to a gigantic maltiness that is distinct in its smooth and refined character, with flavors of chocolate and hints of smoke mingling with rich caramel, fruit, and warming alcohol.  We like to top it with a roasted marshmallow and you have the ultimate S’more experience!

Paired with Hickory Smoked Bacon

Empyrean Brewing Company Long Route Peanut Butter Porter – 20 IBUs, 5% ABV

With the delightful aroma of a peanut butter cup, this porter maintains a porter-like backbone with notes of chocolate, peanut butter and toast. Pairs perfectly with caramelized meats, curry, Thai, baked apples and chocolate desserts.

Paired with Chocolate Covered Bacon

 

Fargo Brewing Company Fargo Original Helles Lager – 17 IBUs, 5.1% ABV

This traditional un-filtered German style helles lager pours a brilliantly clear light gold color and is capped with a head of white foam. The aroma is led by clean pilsner malt paired with subtle spicy hop notes and a clean lager yeast character. The flavor is well balanced between the pils malt sweetness, the restrained bittering, and the crisp finish from the extended lagering. This is the perfect beer for when you want something light, crisp, and uncomplicated. Prost!

Paired with American Bacon

Fulton Brewing Company 300 Mosaic IPA – 74 IBUs, 6.9% ABV

Originally brewed as a one-o­ in celebration of the 300th batch at our original downtown Minneapolis brewery, this West Coast IPA was so well received we had to make it available year-round. It’s built on a base of Pilsner malt and heavily hopped with Mosaic, one of our favorite — and unfortunately nearly impossible to procure — hop varieties. 300 is pure hop candy!

                Paired with Pork Belly Bacon

Grand Teton Brewing Company Bitch Creek Extra Special Brown Ale – 60 IBUs, 6.0% ABV

Bitch Creek perfectly balances big malt sweetness and robust hop flavor for a full bodied, satisfying mahogany ale. Like the stream for which it is named, our Bitch Creek ESB is full of character… not for the timid.

Paired with Irish Bacon

Lagunitas Brewing Company Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale – 65 IBUs, 7.5% ABV

Way smooth and silky with a nice wheatly-esque-ishness. A truly unique style featuring a strong hop finish on a silky body. A hoppy pale wheat ale that is great for IPA fans but so smooth that the hefeweizen fans dig it too.

Paired with Peppered Bacon

LakeFront Brewery Hop Jockey Double IPA – 89 IBUs, 8.2% ABV

What do you do when you’ve already got one of the best craft IPAs? Double down. This hot-blooded thoroughbred pours freshly-polished copper color with a foamy, off-white mane. Centennial, Cascade, and Citra hops supply grapefruit, mandarin orange, and pineapple aromas and flavors, while lightly roasted Belgian caramel malts add a subtle biscuit aroma and balanced sweetness in the backstretch

Paired with Lamb Bacon

Odell Brewing Company 90 Shilling Ale – 32 IBUs, 5.3% ABV

90 Shilling is our smooth and complex flagship beer. A medium-bodied amber ale with a distinct burnished copper color and a deeply pleasant aroma. The name 90 Shilling comes from the Scottish method of taxing beer. Only the highest quality beers were taxed 90 Shillings. We think you’ll find this original ale brilliantly refreshing, and worth every Shilling

Paired with Candied Bacon

Rhombus Guys Brewing Company Dark Matter Imperial Coffee Stout – 43 IBUs, 10.3% ABV

Dark Matter is an unidentified type of matter distinct from dark energy… sip on this mysterious wonder of dark chocolate, toffee, tobacco, leather and coffee flavors melded together in space and time. Conditioned on locally roasted BULLY BREW COFFEE beans!! For everything, there is a first time. Enjoy.

Paired with Maple Bacon

Samuel Adams Rebel Juiced Mango IPA – 55 IBUs, 6.2% ABV

Swirling with ripe aromas of mango and tropical fruits, this IPA is jam-packed with juicy, citrusy hops and mango juice.  It’s as if we took fresh hops and mangos and put them in a juicer.

                Paired with Pancetta Bacon

Summit Brewing Company Black IPA – 60 IBUs, 6.8% ABV

Spicy, citrus-forward hops from the U.S. are layered over a unique blend of roasted malts to produce a powerful boot-polish black ale. Smooth flavors of mocha coffee, dark fruit and toffee are balanced by notes of citrus, pine and mint. Available for a limited time on draught and in 12oz bottles. Bottles exclusive to the IPA Collection 12-pack.

Paired with Apple-Wood Smoked Bacon

 

Beer-Glazed Bacon

POPSUGAR Food

PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES

YIELD: 8 SLICES

This beer-glazed bacon made with Samuel Adams’ Boston Lager from POPSUGAR Food will make any beer-lover’s breakfast a little more sweet.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup dark lager, such as Samuel Adams Boston Lager
• 1/2 tablespoon grainy mustard
• 1/2 tablespoon dry mustard, such as Colman’s
• 8 slices thick-cut bacon

 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. Add the honey and maple syrup to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil; reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add beer and simmer until the volume has reduced by half. Take off the heat and whisk in both mustards.
4. Meanwhile, arrange the bacon on the prepped half-sheet pan. Cover with one more sheet of parchment paper and bake for 14-15 minutes.
5. Using a paper towel, blot the rendered fat from the bacon. Brush the glaze onto the top side of each strip.
6. Reduce the oven temperature to 275°F, and cook the bacon until crisp-chewy, about 40-45 minutes.
7. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate, keeping the bacon glazed-side up. Serve immediately.
8. *Adapted from Samuel Adams.

 

Please check with your sales person on availability and pricing (please note some products are not available in certain markets)

 

CHEERS!

 

Online Weekly Newsletter Vol.71

I hope you got to enjoy the exciting game yesterday with family and friends – it will surely go down as one of the greatest Super Bowl’s ever! We have lots of new and exciting things “brewing” at Bergseth Bros.

Fargo Brewing Company Mighty Red Imperial Red Ale was released today in both cans and draught. This is the fourth time that Fargo Brewing Company has brewed this beer. Three years ago, being the first time it was brewed in very limited amounts. Due to the success of Mighty Red, Fargo Brewing Company decided to make this a yearly, early spring beer (February time frame).  Please see the attached beer description sheet above.

Fargo Brewing Company Mighty Red Imperial Red Ale – Mighty Red is a West Coast style Imperial Red Ale with rich, malty body supporting a huge citrus and spice hop presence. Caramel malt and oats provide rich, smooth body, while  Midnight Wheat provides the red color and roast character. The Chinook hops provide a slightly sweet, spicy and fruity counter. Remember, when the waters get high, don’t get mad. Get Mighty!

ABV: 6.6% IBU: 55

 

 

Click on the Picture Below to Watch –

Brewery Bulletin: Sean does Malt

 

Click on the Picture Below to Watch –

Now on Tap: The Story of Fargo Brewing Company

CHEERS!

Weekly Online Newsletter Vol.69

This week we’re excited to introduce two new products from Samuel Adams Brewing Company; Samuel Adams Rebel Reborn India Pale Ale and Samuel Adams Rebel Juiced Mango India Pale Ale. Samuel Adams Rebel Reborn IPA is a reformulated brand new product and package. Samuel Adams Rebel Juiced Mango IPA is a brand new line extension to the Rebel Family of Beers.

(Press Release)

BOSTON—For the first time, the brewers at Sam Adams have completely reformulated a popular flagship beer: Rebel IPA.  After more than four years, the brewers undertook what they called “Project Lupulus,” an experiment that takes advantage of hops that were not readily available or have been newly cultivated since Rebel IPA first launched in 2014. As part of this project, the brewers collaborated, starting in 2013, with a hop breeder in Yakima Valley, WA to create a new hop variety proprietary and exclusive to Sam Adams called HBC 566. After months of experimenting with dozens of trial batches at the Boston Brewery, the brewers are now ready to release the new Rebel IPA recipe which is brewed with HBC 566 and another new experimental hop variety for bittering, HBC 682.  Rebel IPA now has a more intense juicy, tropical and citrus flavor supported by a leaner body and a crisp, clean finish to optimize the hop character.

About Rebel Reborn

So what changes? Paying homage to the original recipe, Rebel IPA is brewed with a few of the original hop varieties including Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe^® and Chinook. For the 2017 release, the brewers added Mosaic hops, alongside HBC 566, a new hop proprietary to Sam Adams, and HBC 682, a new, experimental bittering hop.

Project Lupulus refers to the scientific name of a hop, Humulus lupulus, and its special lupulin glands which are the fundamental source of flavor, bitterness, and aroma in hops. For Project Lupulus, the brewers looked to optimize the flavor of each hop variety by changing up the blend and ratio of hops for the new Rebel IPA. Ultimately, seven hops were chosen for their unique character, including:

• HBC 566: A Sam Adams proprietary hop variety, HBC 566 adds a touch of lemon/lime, orange and eucalyptus flavor that can be found with the addition of this exclusive hop variety.
• HBC 682: Experimental hop HBC 682 is used solely as a bittering hop in Rebel IPA to impart a pleasant bitterness with a strong and earthy aroma
• Mosaic: New to Rebel IPA, Mosaic hops impart tropical, fruity, and pines notes. In 2011, Sam Adams was one of the first breweries to experiment with Mosaic hops in a collaboration beer with Dogfish Head called SAVOR Flowers;
• Cascade: A leading hop in the new Rebel IPA, Cascade hops impart floral, spicy, citrus, and grapefruit character;
• Simcoe^®: A staple of IPAs, Simcoe hops impart a strong piney character as well as apricot and citrus notes;
• Centennial: Centennial hops are intensely floral with hints of wood and a medium citrus character;
• Chinook: Chinook hops provide a piney character and a light spice note;

To dial up the hop impression, the newly reborn Rebel IPA removed caramel malt from the grain bill and now is brewed only with Samuel Adams special two-row malt blend.  By removing the caramel malt, Rebel IPA’s body is less malty, resulting in a cleaner, brighter IPA with more tropical, citrus, and pine-forward notes.

Founder & Brewer of Samuel Adams, Jim Koch, on Reformulating Rebel IPA:

“This is the first time we’ve significantly changed the recipe of a flagship beer.  As hop varieties evolve, we want to use the new varieties to keep brewing the best beer possible,” said Jim Koch. “Like with the original Rebel IPA recipe, this release isn’t a palate-scorching hop-bomb. Our goal was to showcase the intricate aromas and flavors of hops, especially with new, experimental hop varieties HBC 566 and HBC 682. Not that long ago, it was a challenge just to find quality, flavorful hops and now, we’re developing our own proprietary hop with unparalleled lemony-lime, orange and eucalyptus notes. It’s wild to think how far the brewing industry has come and that today, a beer can evolve.”

Nano Brewery Manager, Megan Parisi, on Rebel IPA test batches:

“Even before we started brewing Rebel IPA, we were exploring the many varieties of hops and how they affect the flavor of a beer with Project Lupulus,” said Brewer Megan Parisi, who manages the nano brewery. “We averaged at least one new test brew in the nano each week since we started tinkering with the Rebel IPA recipe and our new hop varieties. It was awesome being able to brew with a new hop variety that had never been used. After dozens of test batches of single hop brews, various blends, and of course, taste testing, it is a pleasure to finally share our new Rebel IPA recipe with drinkers.”

About the Rebel IPA Family

Rebel IPA was the first beer that originated in the Samuel Adams Nano Brewery, the epicenter of experimentation for new beers located within the Boston Brewery. When Samuel Adams launched Rebel in 2014, the brew became the most successful release of a craft beer brand [1]. Now, IPAs are the primary driver of craft volume growth¹. Since 2014, the Rebel family has expanded to include Rebel Rouser Double IPA, Rebel Grapefruit IPA, and Rebel Juiced IPA.

In January 2017, Samuel Adams Rebel Juiced IPA, a West Coast IPA infused with mango, will be now available in cans and bottles. At 55 IBUs, the brewers selected the hop varieties based on their tropical aromas and juicy flavors rather than for their bitterness. Zeus hops were used in the kettle and Mosaic and Mandarina hops were used to dry hop. The result is a medium-bodied beer with a slightly veiled golden color that brings a big tropical aroma of guava, passionfruit and mango.

Please check with your sales person on availability and pricing (please note some products are not available in certain markets)

 

CHEERS!