mtigges

Personally I think Sablefish is underrated. I have been quite lucky in my life to have fished our coastal waters so much I personally feel guilty for having caught so much coho, spring, rockcod, ling, snapper etc. Unfortunately, I've never caught a sablefish. But it hasn't stopped me from loving it. The fat that exists between the meat and the skin is definitely fishy ... quite gross actually. Far be it from me to suggest it wasn't cooked right, but the meat on Sablefish is amazing. Don't give up on this fish. I've also had the big tasting menu at C, and like you, I would count the best dish as a meat dish. I came away suspecting that they likely do a much better job on their a la carte menu than the tasting menu. Regardless C, is a great restaurant, but the point of this post is to herald Sablefish (not that I want the price driven up), not everything will be loved by everyone, but ... give it another try. Personally, any nice briney marinade for ~5 hours, baked upside down on parchment for enough time to render, peel off the skin, serve with a citrus based sauce (no butter, sable is rich enough itself) ... best fish on the west coast.

My wife just came back with some of that granola, I have to agree ... it's great. As for my contribution to this thread: JNZ deli (I think that's the name) on commercial just south of first on the west side of commercial. For any of their smoked sausages. M.

So has anybody been yet? I'm going today for lunch, but was interested to here from others first. ← went by today and they definitely ain't open yet. looks very close though. give it a day or two. ← Just got back ... as you said not open. The big guy (can't remember his name) said they're expecting the inspector today, and should be open next week. Had a good burger at Veras though. But the doorknobs working back there need some more practice. (Sorry Gerald.)

So has anybody been yet? I'm going today for lunch, but was interested to here from others first.

Re Salt: "and Brooklyn beers" That is quite interesting. If I'm not mistaken this will be the only place in Vancouver selling these beers. I'll have to head down and try them.

I only know them from the 90 and 120 min. We don't get their beers up here. But, I love those that I've tried. Oh, and the world wide stout, that was amazing.

I would be VERY interested to try these beers. Somehow I doubt that we'll be able to get them in Canada though. I'm going to Portland in Sept, hopefully I'll find some! Mark.

I think peated malts are dried over a smoldering peat fire. It doesn't make sense to call a smoked malt peat malt if it's dried over a fire of some other fuel. Schlenkera (and the other beers from Bamburg) are dried from smoldering hardwood. Could very well be beech, I'm not sure on that. I've brewed with peated malt. I think I used 30% or so in the grist for a scottish wee heavy. I hated it. But I don't like peaty whiskeys either. And it's the same flavour. I've had Alaskan Smoked Porter once, and I liked it. But I hate Schlenkera Aecht Rauchbier. Tastes like an ashtray. Last time I visited relatives in Germany, I bought 6 of them, I'm guessing the other 5 are still in their cellar. Mark.

Around here (North America) it is very common to produce 10 US gallons. About 40 litres ... there's a very good reason for this number which I'll get to. For the most part, brewers convert Sankey kegs. These are the kegs that are used around here (not sure about UK) for dispensing commercial product at bars. They look like this: http://home.insightbb.com/~benschoep/keg/keg.jpg eG doesn't allow embedding of img src with outside urls, sorry. This page (where the image is) discusses opening a sankey: Opening a sanke Personally, I just relieve the pressure and go ahead and take my angle grinder to it. Anyways. Brewers turn these into big pots. They hold about 60 litres. Typically you put a drain and a filter bottom for the boil kettle. I use two, one for heating hot water for the mash, and one for the boil. They are fired with propane or natural gas burners. Pretty simple. The reason these are convienient, is that most serious homebrewers use Cornelius kegs. These hold almost 20 litres. So, a forty litre batch fills two kegs. This is VERY convient, since you can fill two fermenters, and use two different yeasts, different dry hops ... etc. To get two similar, but different beers. As for lagers, I'm with cdb. I'd brew an ale first. But if you have a spot which is naturally around 12C, that's where you ferment a lager for about 3 weeks. Then transfer it to a keg, and put the keg in that fridge you mentioned for about another month. Done. Lagers aren't hard, they just require different temperatures. Ales are just as difficult constraint wise ... you still need to be at the right temperature, around 20C, you don't want much more or much less. They are not less temperature sensitive, it's just that their preferred temp is very close to room temp, so they're in general easier to brew. But if you already have a cellar that is around 12C (and you have fridge space) then lagers are just as easy. BTW, if you want to brew a pilsner with Belgian yeast ... well, not a good choice. It's kind of oxymoronic actually. There is a Belgian lager yeast (I think), but in general Pilsner yeasts are Czech/German/Swiss in origin. I didn't read all of cdh's post, so I'm not sure if I've rehashed any info he's already related. My apologies for cluttering up the board if I did. I just wanted to encourage you to pursue lager beers ... Mark.

So then the next question is...where does the "tank" waste go? ← It is recycled to fertilize Bruce's adjoining wasabi ranch. ← It would appear he is adding crawfish to the mix. Don Genova has a little blurb on Bruce Swift the farmer in question. http://pacificpalate.typepad.com/pacific_p...palate__2.html/

I've given in and ordered a reg, some lines and a couple of kegs. I've realized that I've got more brewing to do this summer than I've got room to keep it, so something needed doing. The two keg setup will cost me less than $100 before the CO2, which I hope to rent locally for a pittance, so it is even affordable. ← Renting is IMO the better way to do , you never have to worry about getting your tank checked. I use a 20lb cylinder which is about the size of a corny and it lasts me about a year. Have you got the goods yet? What are your plans for dispensing? Don't cheap out on faucets. Trust me. I wish I'd bought SS perlicks, the regular faucets get REALLY funky inside. The perlicks (because of the way they work) reportedly are much more sanitary. And with taps that see relatively little use (a couple of pints a night) it becomes a big issue. And cleaning faucets, while it isn't difficult, is boring and a bit of PITA. You will need more than two kegs though. I use the kegs for conditioning as well. My primary runs two weeks to a month, depending on how lazy I am. Then straight to the keg that it will eventually be served from. Rarely (Kolsch, Pils) I will rack to a new keg before serving - only where appearance really is important. The added benefit of this is that you can get rid of those glass carboys. Liabilities IMO. Alchohol and fragile heavy glass bottles don't mix too well.

I see it at Urban Fare often. I have never bought fresh ... so I am not sure about the availability there, but I have seen it many times.

Jalisco in the Lonsdale Quay market if you're on the North Shore.

I believe that you might be peering down a slope. It isn't necessarily true. At some point we must sacrifice progress. Can we live without the extra industrial capacity? No automatic presumptions please.

The ling cod fishery is supposed to be closed from October to May. I'm pretty sure that this is inclusive of May. IMO both it and Rock Cod should be permenantly closed. Steam them (or boil doesn't matter), take them out, grab all the legs on both sides, force them together under the crab. Everything comes apart, it's quite messy too. Then rip the claws off. Discard the rest. Though others value some of the innards, they are where the bad stuff lives. Mark.

More work for sane electricians. "Known to be haunted ..." ????? I think your friend shouldn't have complained about the pasta, the cook wouldn't have tried to grab him.

I agree with TongoRad, you should first try a mash from malted barley. But, I encourage you to try to malt your own too. Why not, it's just fun hobby stuff. But learn to mash / lauter first. As for how enzymatic power, don't worry about it. Barley has way more than enough to convert itself. How much power exists after the drying stage is dependent on how it was dried. Do it with a lower heat and you will have more surviving enzymes. Do it too slowly though and you will spoil the grain. Mark.

Personally, I would grind them up, but Gourmet Warehouse likely has some Ancho powder. On the North Shore, Jalisco in the Lonsdale Quay market might have some too. Mark.

There isn't anything great. You mentioned Boathouse, there's a place called Bay Moorings which isn't quite as good as the Keg. Personally, if it were me, I would get a Oyster burger from Ya-Ya's Oyster Bar. Right near Trolls. The sushi place isn't horrible, but it isn't fantastic either. Mark.

Listen to TSquare. I LOVE braising. But have stuck to beef and lamb for the most part. Last week I braised a pork shoulder roast, and it was amazing. I used a tart apple and rosemary, and the liquid was apple cider vinegar, juice of a lemon, chicken stock and ketchup. I would have used tomato paste, but I didn't have any. It was incredible. Very tender, but very filling too.

Tomorrow is the second week for the Lonsdale Quay market. I went last week and we picked up beautiful kale flowers ... my new favourite vegetable. Really nice leeks, oyster mushrooms and something else ... can't remember what. There were a few other offerings too. All from the Glenn Valley Farm. We were at the farm three weeks ago, and there is a non-trivial chance that there will be salad tomorrow. The only other farm/produce was Janes Bees for some nice honey. Mark.

The only drawback to kegging that I'm aware of is that you can't quickly grab a bottle or two to take to a party. (And of course you need a second fridge.) But, really, the bottle thing it isn't much of a drawback. It's a bit of a pain filling bottles from a keg, but on the plus side, they won't get cloudy from yeast sediment and protein being shaken up. The beer in the keg doesn't have yeast, and the protein usually settles out quickly enough. So when you do bottle a few for a party, it's crystal clear. Not the case with bottle conditioned beer that you drove across town. If I may ask, why do you have a CO2 tank if you don't do kegs? NB: If you are considering getting into kegging, start looking for kegs NOW. They're becoming very scarce. I'm very glad I have my nine.

Start kegging Chris. You'll never look back. It truly is homebrewing heaven. I have nine cornies, and a fridge which has a CO2 regulator & manifold in it such that three kegs get dispensed through the door and 1 can be carbonated and cold conditioned. It takes only half an hour to package 10 gallons of beer. Bottling that much would take hours.

We ended up less hungry and with more time than we expected, so we went for an excellent little meal at Wabi Sabi. Then a post reception Martini at Lumiere.

Guess where the recepetion is. I guess we won't be going to Mexi Cali. Thanks again everyone. Spice Islands might be the ticket.