Brew Farm

Homebrewing | Beer Drinking | Vegetable Eating

Craft Brew Going Mainstream?

Worldwideleader

Not even two months ago our beloved Goose Island gets bought by Anheuser-Busch (a.k.a. InBev). And this morning, TGI Friday's tapped into the World Wide Leader's audience of beer drinking guys to launch their new ad campaign "Better With Beer". The campaign introduces new menu items that have been "prepared with some of the best craft brews around." Will the mass consuming beer drinkers of the country bite into this and continue to increase the craft beer growth we've seen over the past few years? It will be interesting to see how Friday's support this initiative. They could stick with smaller, less-known local/regional brews or they can go with more known craft brews like Brooklyn, Dogfish Head, or Sierra. My guess is the latter. Either way, this should have a positive effect on the craft brew industry. The more people that are exposed to some of these great beers is a good thing, right? A big move from these clowns and they're clearly putting a lot of money into the promotion - a single day takevover on the World Wide Leader homepage is no small peanuts.

Comfort

Tatersblwh

Baked potato, tofu with shroom gravy, greens paired with a home brewed Black Wheat. 

The Black Wheat was inspired by Brian and Patrick at Pac Brew Labs from my visit to their garage in November. They're doing amazing things with beer and on my visit, I tried about three or four different styles they had on tap but the one I went back for a few times was the Black Opal. It blew me away and I knew I needed to experiment brewing this at home. And experiment I did. And it worked. Really fucking well. The Black Wheat came out amazingly flavorful yet perfectly light to handle this cold night comfort food. 

Unkegged

Kegging

I walked into SF Brewcraft yesterday afternoon to pick up some bottle caps and I walked out with a full kegging system.  It was only a matter of time I reckon, so why not now. This beer was originally a 'Recession' Pale Ale from Brewcraft created sometime last year, but I waited too long and some ingredients went stale. So, I guess this is a quasi-Recession Ale? Due to laziness, this beer aged for a little over 6 months in my basement, which from what I've read on the beer nerd forums, could be a good thing. Fingers and bones crossed to that. 


TOFU OM NOM NOM NOM

There's a soy beanery in Oakland. Who knew? This kid did and I visited Hodo Soy Beanery a few weeks ago. Hodo is like the Blue Bottle of the local tofu scene - great product, pretty pricey, and a darling at the local farmer's markets. The employees at Hodo aren't assholes though. And yeah, there's a tofu scene and its hot. From small markets in Chinatown to warehouses near West Oakland, fresh tofu is being made like gangbusters. Tofu for everyone! Oh, Oakland, I love you and your tofu scene. Pics after the jump...


1. Yuba - the skin that forms on top of soy milk 2. Folded Yuba waiting to enter my stomach 3. Fresh soy milk getting bottled 4. Hodo's resident chef rolled out a table of dishes. OM NOM NOM NOM 5. Tofu & Citrus Salad. 6. Beet that tofu. 7. sample plate 8. Tofu to go!

Vegan cheese that doesn't taste like cardboard?

Baked_ziti_2

Last month I was back home in New York visiting family for Thanksgiving. My brother Tommy and his wife were gracious enough to host me and M. Green for 5 nights of our stay at their home in the East Village. Way back 13 years ago, Tommy was the person who most influenced and inspired me when I first became a vegetarian and eventually went vegan, so it was no surprise that it was at his home that I first learned of Daiya Vegan Cheese. One night, they ordered a pizza from Cafe Viva that was topped with Daiya and, holy shit!, the Daiya didn't look, smell, or taste like cardboard! 

Vegan cheese has come a long way. My biggest issue with vegan cheese products over the years was the texture and taste. I could never get past the way it feels when eating it - like paste, or chalk crumbling in my mouth, between my teeth. And more often than not, it tasted like horse poop. I haven't purchased any on my own in some time, and I tend to avoid it if I see it on a menu.  But Daiya has done something new and different - they're making their cheeses from tapioca instead of soy. Not only have they made it taste good, but it melts and stretches like a good cheese should. The closest before this was Follow Your Heart products, but when heated, they simply melt and bubble. There is no stretch. And they have a funny, dubious smell.

I was able to get my hands on some Daiya this weekend and put it to the test at home last night with one of my favorite dishes from my childhood days of eating cheese in my hand - Baked Ziti. The cheese was shredded like a mozzarella consistency and was easy to handle when applying it to my sauce mix and when topping off the vessels. It melted better than I remembered and well, the results pretty much ruled. Word it up, knock it down.