paul o' vendange

Mike, booze and college students is indeed a problem - twas ever thus. But I think the marketing gurus were doing a public service, in a way. These kids can't afford a six pack of craft beer. But they can afford maybe one single serve. I don't think too many of the college students are buying 4 of the 22's (in truth, they're probably buying a 22 of Rogue Imperial IPA and a 30-pack of Goebbels, but that's another story). Paul Beans, nice link, thanks.

I know when I was planning on our own brewery, our talks with retailers led us to strongly consider the 22 oz. for a certain demographic - the college age beer fan. In the U.P., where we were going to do it, people are nuts for 22 oz. beers - e.g., Rogue's lineup - as they can't spring for a 6 pack of craft ale, but can for a 22 oz. Paul sorry - should specify for non-U.S. comrades - "da U.P." is the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a remote paradise of snow, big trees, and hearty folks.

Not to put too fine a point on it, that's marketing BS. It's unlikely anyone would be able to pick "Angus" out of a lineup of equivalent graded meat - it all looks the same once the skin's off, and any of the other traditional ("British") breeds such as Hereford or Shorthorn provide the same approximate level of marbling and fat cover. There's currently a lot of research going on to identify genetic markers for tenderness and marbling, and from the preliminary results, there's not a significant genetic difference between Angus and the other two. This is all interesting, and timely for me. I am considering this very thing for my own startup. I have never used Highland beef, but from discussions with other chefs and with our purveyor, fits some nice quality parameters I am looking for. Will have to see, of course, cook with it and see how our guests take to it. Also looking at Longhorn. Nice discussion. Paul

Mayhaw, mostly 100% agreed. Bud has an amazing amount of care in what they do, and a regimen to back it up (and, with Miller, has had a lot to do with the leading edge of brewing in this country, as with Miller's dedication to producing light/skunk resistant isohumulone and hop products). By my taste, just wish it were devoted to something of what I would feel to be deeper character and flavor, but each to their own. A minor quibble - I have never understood nor have I bought the argument of a "finer" bubble of C02 by any process. CO2 of a given purity is just that - C02. No method of artificial or natural carbonation can alter that. In solution, it is not a bubble. Out of solution, as induced by the cap popped off, or tap drawn, it will have the same physicality regardless of the method used to put it there. The things which alter the bubble size have to do with the length the bubble travels to the surface (or the length of run on the beer line), or the serving temp, rather than the manner in which the CO2 is introduced. I have found "creaminess" in lower CO2-volume beers, or, of course, nitro pours, but have never detected any difference between beers of like CO2 volume, regardless of the method. My thunks. Paul

No question, Bud's QC is bar none the finest in the world. It occurs to I've never really thought of diacetyl as a "green component," in the same way I've thought of acetaldehyde as "green" - acetaldehyde being a precursor to EToH, and diacetyl and VDK/diacetyl being chains of other reactions, but I can see why it would be considered so - produced as it usually is by inadequate crash cooling and lagering regimens (esp. among ales). Actually, I have rarely found diacetyl in any lager save spoiled ones; I am more apt to find sulfur (again, absent an incomplete conditioning regimen) as typical lager yeasts produce a tremendous amount of sulfurous by-products. As with all things, what is anathema to some folks is a plus to others. In most of my brewery experience, VDK/diacetyl has been considered an absolute curse, indicative of poor cellarmanship and "dirty" ale. I personally enjoy a touch in the ales I brew - a richer, rounder complexity, esp. among my strong ales. Just a touch, though, e.g., I consider Redhook to be too much a "butter beer." C'est la vie. Sorry to hijack the thread - interesting discussion, though, Mayhaw. Paul

The "green" character is probably due to acetaldehyde. Though Bud denies it, the beer has long been associated with beyond-threshold levels of the compound; it is quite often present in krausened beers, which if I'm not mistaken Bud is. It has a "green apple" aroma and mild taste, in minor quantities. As to the "day old - fresh" idea: water is indeed fresh after a day. Doh! (Sorry, couldn't resist - my glasses are craft-ale colored)... Paul

Thanks, GG. I had not seen this. May every day be the Feast Day of St. Jacques of Pepin. Let me join in the Chorus - I have a deep affection for the man, though I've never met him. La Technique was my bible as a young teen - I tore through it cover to cover and see even now the dog eared pages and food stains of work, encouraged by a master. Reading The Apprentice brought it further home. Many long years, Chef. Thanks. Paul

Perhaps it's a matter of semantics, but I couldn't disagree more. Value is all we have as consumers, which I measure as the right amount of money spent for the experience. I've gleefully dropped hundreds and pissed and moaned about $1.50 -the only thing I require is that I leave the table saying "it was worth it." Apparently, for Adam, it wasn't worth it. And I don't condemn him for the evaluation. Paul Edited to add: Adam, a belated congratulations on getting into Tisch, not an easy thing to do. I wish you many years of good work ahead.

Ludja - Initially, I used 2/3 grated horseradish to 1/3 bread crumbs, but found that I can probably push the flap even more, and have gone up to 100% horseradish and love it. The wash is a simple egg white wash for binding, pressing the fish after into a horseradish "dredge." Cheers! Paul

I, too, like to use it in crusts. The heating mutes a bit of the heat while preserving the wonderful flavor and piquancy. I make a horseradish crusted salmon, with a black pepper-cabernet sauce. Paul

Chris, just came back to the thread after being away. You bet, will send the spreadsheet when I get home. I actually have a ton of things I wrote while briefly a student at Heriot-Watt, and while working in the industry - including an exhaustive protocol for establishing the quality control regimen for a "real ale," cask-conditioning brewery. More than happy to share with any who want it. Paul P.S.: neglected to mention originally, with Chris fully on the dry hopping. With the exception of some of my dark ales, just about every one of my beers - bitters, IPA's, ESB's, at times even my robust porters and imperial stouts - gets a strong dry hopping regimen. If any want to know that routine as well, just let me know. Cheers, Paul

(Minor Sunday celebration - goodbye, Chicago) Gravlax with Red Onion Confiture, Buckwheat Blinis and Creme Fraiche Veuve Cliquot Vintage Reserve 1993 Braised "Poulet a l'Estragon" and some Chimay Grand Reserve Chilled orange mousse with a chocolate-espresso tuile Paul

I would agree on the all grain argument. Syrups are wort that have been mashed for a middle-of-the-road mix of long and short chain sugars; resulting in middle of the road fermentation profiles. Additionally, many syrups contain things other than pure barley malt, to save money. Check out your syrup's content. Secondly, typically when starting out, as most here have said, the culprit for a less than "crisp" beer is a high final gravity - a good deal of residual sugars in the beer due to a less than voracious ferment on the part of your yeast. Go with OKbrewer's comments, use wyeast or white labs, do a good starter and, if you can afford it, buy an oxygenation system, which consists of a stainless airstone, filter and tubing to hook up to those mini-O2 supplies. I bought mine, I think it was, for $25. Prior to their anaerobic phase (fermentation), yeast require oxygen to respire, and to multiply. Each cell will typically produce up to 4 "daughter cells," and so on, up to the capacity dictated by the O2 content of your wort. With a poor O2 content, you will only get so much growth, and a limited number of cells will have to do yeoman's service on your wort - typically petering out and dying before the job is done. With oxygenation, and the proper amount of yeast, you will experience not only a more robust fermentation but a quicker one. Mine takes about 3 days to reach final gravity, and I brew strong beers (6%-8% a.b.v., some higher). Anyone, if you would like a spreadsheet listing wort volumes, starting gravities, and optimal yeast counts at various starting gravities (in terms of Wyest smack packs or white labs vials), let me know by PM and I will send you the spreadsheet I've developed (free - not a sales pitch). Finally, my advice would differ somewhat from what the others have said. I would consider using pellets over whole hops. Hop bittering potential is housed in two essential acids in hops - alpha acids principally (humulone, co-humulone and ad-humulone), and to an almost negligible extent, oxidized beta acids. These acids are extremely volatile. Whole hops, especially those reserved for home brewers (commercial brewers typically get the lion's share of the "good," meaning freshest product), have a good deal of surface area exposed to air - and each month they sit in your homebrew supplier's store, they lose a considerable portion of the alpha acids to the air. To take an example from your Sierra Nevada, which I believe uses Perle, Nugget and the now ubiquitous Cascade Hop. Cascade stores poorly. Whole Cascade hops as "5.9% alpha acid" will only truly be 4.24% a.a. after 6 months at 40F, in your refrigerator, if they are not in some sort of oxygen barrier or inert bag. If they are in an inert atmosphere, they will fare better, 5%, but you get the point. Pellets are made by essentially milling whole hops and then pressing them into pellets. The pelletizing process is harsh, which many use to justify using whole hops. But once made, the surface area exposed to are is negligible compared with whole hops, and they will not degrade nearly as fast. Now, if you have a filter and you are simply straining your wort into your fermentor, you will need whole hops as they act as a natural filter bed. If you use pellets, you can create a whirlpool - stir the whole wort for 5 minutes, creating a vigorous whirlpool. Cover, and let settle for at least 1/2 hour. Siphon off the side and you should obtain a brilliantly clear wort. Carbonation is a function of pressure and temperature, to obtain the actual amount of C02 in solution. Typical amounts for ales range from very low for "real," cask ales, to 2.5 volumes +/- for bottled ale, slightly less for draft beer, say 2.3 (or whatever your taste is). Lagers are typically higher. I maintain 2.5 volumes, as I counterpressure bottle fill all my products. To obtain 2.5 volumes, at 40F, you would need to set your pressure gauge to 12.3 PSI. Either leave this in the fridge for several days, or, as I do, place your tank on the counter, hook up your system, and rock your keg back and forth. First, you should do what you can to bleed air from the keg; I waste a lot of CO2 by filling and then bleeding the tank innumerable times, as air ruins beer. (the only effective way to prevent air intake is to counterpressure rack - beyond most homebrewers). But if you still have yeast in your beer (you will unless you've filtered it), the still-living yeast will help to respire the residual oxygen. You will hear, as you agitate, the gas seeping in from your tank - a good thing - and then will stop as the pressure in your keg equalizes with the pressure in your tank. When it stops, continuing rocking, and so forth, until rocking further results in no more CO2 going into your keg. At that point, presuming your keg is still at 40F (it won't be), you have 2.5 volumes of CO2. I typically put the keg back in the fridge for a few hours, and repeat. (By the way - the tank goes on the counter so that the regulator assembly is higher than your keg gas intake - although pressure out from the CO2 tank should prevent any beer backup, putting the gas tank higher ensures no beer backs up into your tank regulator as you agitate). Finally, at serving, unless you've got a dedicated tap system (as in a bar), I would think serving at 7-10 psi would be high - Bernouli's principle, your 1/4" beer line, at 7-10psi, will cause the beer to rock out the gate and you end up with a glass of foam. When I don't have my beer hooked up to a tap, but rather just a 3/16-1/4" line and plastic tap-spout, I back the pressure off to 2-3psi to serve, and then back up to 12.3 or so to maintain. Force carbonation is not complicated, but it is probably a thread unto itself. PM me if you want further info. To recap, in my opinion: - You will only get so far using syrup, as the mash profile is out of your hands. - Use pellets, not whole hops, to have a better chance of using hops closer in actual bittering performance to the listed alpha acid percentage. - Force carbonate at 40F, 12.3 psi for 2.5 volumes CO2. Higher temps will mean less carbonation; lower PSI will as well. There are pressure/temp charts available to find the carbonation level you would like. Any questions, feel free to PM me. Paul Formerly, Goose Island Beer Company

In theatre school, Trinity Rep Conservatory, 1989. Living on a 25 lb wheel of cheddar cheese - from May of 1987. From the Trinity Rep warehouse. Monotony broken up with cereal, doused with instant coffee, when I could afford it. My cat came bouncing in merrily every morning, expecting something different from "le Fromage Stank." I used to say to her, "when I do well, you'll do well...when I do bad, well, ..." Thus ran about a month or so of my life. Paul

Brine brine brine brine Brine brine brine brine Brine! Wonderful brine! (sung to the tune of Monty Python's "Spam, wonderful Spam!" Paul

I first learned to use the veal breast through Madeleine Kamman, in "Making of a Cook." Some state an arguable axiom, "all meat and no bones yields flavor and no body, all bones and no meat yields body and no flavor," but, personally, I have never found that to be strictly true. Using bones only, with only the barest of meat on the bone, I obtain a wonderfully rich, flavorful stock - aided by a prodigious amount of aromatics, of course, and a very long remouillage. Nevertheless, there is no denying that using the breast or meaty scraps yields more flavor. When I have used the breast, I would strip it down, grind it, and make a ravioli out of the meat that is there, in concert with other things. Additionally, as Kamman warns, there is a danger of so much body in a bones-only stock that viscosity can turn to a clinging mouthfeel - lips "stick together," and so some portion of the animal contribution to the stock should be made up of meat. I feel I avoid this effect by using tomatoes in good amounts, which to her is anathema but which helps to cut the "clinging effect" and, in my view, aids in clarification by the effect of the organic acids. I hold to no dogma. My veal stock leans towards the no roast method of Thomas Keller, as I use it so much as a base and appreciate the "clean" character resulting from the no roast method Keller advocates. I use a ton of stocks - duck, lamb, chicken (white and brown), quail, pheasant, fish, lobster, shrimp, just about any animal I use is also extracted into its own stock, with the exception of pork, which I find too sweet as an integral stock (although my veal stock contains a split pig's foot for its gelatin and touch of sweetness). If you use beef stock you are certainly not alone. Unless I'm mistaken, no less than Paul Bertolli and Alice Waters of Chez Panisse, for example, use it and do not, to my knowledge, use veal stock. They, too, use a combination of meat and bones in their stocks. Paul

Fifi, I find veal is neutrally flavored when compared with beef, so that its concentrated stock won't add a definitive, overriding character to whatever I use it for; rather, I find it adds a wonderful mouthfeel, and a mild, savory sweetness without screaming "beef." Its versatility as a carrier is its beauty - fruit reductions as much as mushroom, etc. Stuck for dollars, I find brown chicken stock is nearly as good, if not having as much depth of character - "length." Paul

Absolutely, breast is great. Loaded with gelatin, nicely trimmed with meat. I'd use it exclusively if I could afford it (on a commercial basis). Paul

I am afraid to admit I couldn't get past his personality, which, as a young lad normally rabid for cooking shows (usually, "best chefs of..." and Galloping, when Graham Kerr was actually galloping) tended to drive me batty. So, I never got into his shows nor did I ever acquire one of his books. I think I was too early addicted to French cooking, and almost single-mindedly wanted to learn everything I could about the culture, language and cuisine. My first "teacher" was Pepin at 11, followed by Escoffier, et al. Have I missed something here? Are his books enjoyable/informative? Paul

I use lobster butter more often, but for either I learned from James Peterson: break up the cooked shells with a wooden mallet, in a kitchen towel, until of manageable size for a mixer. Mix with oil until the oil is uniformly colored, about 1/2 hour. Heat in low oven for about an hour, add water to cover by couple of inches and chill. The oil will rise to the top, the shells will sink. Carefully decant off the oil (or use a separator in this step). Strain the oil through a fine mesh strainer to be sure and remove all impurities.

Well, thank you, but from the looks of your cuisine you didn't need any help. Any time, though. Paul

Did a duck extravagansa, as an experiment on muscovy v. pekin. The Pekin came from Wild Acres, out of Minnesota. The Muscovy, frozen, from Grimaud Farms. Made a duck liver crostini - applewood bacon, marsala, shallot, and a rough chop of capers, anchovies, garlic, and diced, MR duck liver. Excellent. Superlative. Thank you Paul Bertolli and Chez Panisse. (Thank you Mediterranean circle). Treated the breasts the same way - 24 hours ahead of time, s/p; 1 hour before searing, pulled and tempered. Fifteen minutes before searing, dusted with "poultry spice," quatre epice on speed. Both served with sweet potatoes "savonette," creamed corn (creamed with corn "milk" only), and an integral sauce of a cassis-duck stock, and fresh blackberries. Muscovy legs, braised with aromatics (onion, leek, carrot, shallot and garlic), tomatoes, garni, duck stock and balsamic, left to cool for a day and reheated. The jus reduced and served as a sauce. Pekin legs, confit. The braise was universally praised. The toe-to-toe winner on the seared breast was the Wild Acres Pekin. Most found the Muscovy "nice," but reminiscent of filet, not duck. I would agree. Underwhelmed on the muscovy flavor - surprisingly, I felt the Pekin was a touch more gamy, when if anything I expected the Muscovy would be. No surprise in the Pekin's juiciness. The Pekin was, in a word, extraordinary. I will need to get in the Muscovy fresh to make a fair comparison, but as of now, much to my surprise going in, I too voted for the Pekin. I know Wild Acres has developed an extraordinary line of ducks, and that my be a big part of it - generous breasts, very red meat, a great product (standard disclaimer - no affiliation, but may buy when we open). Lemon sorbet with Chambord to finish.

Lucy - Absolutely, unequivocally gorgeous - congratulations on such a triumph. And thank you for the photos and descriptions, they alone are worth the price of admission. Paul

Jin - PLEASE tell me where you obtained your merde du supermarche! I've got a dinner for my in-laws coming up, and need it to accompany my vin, grand cru du vomitesse. I'm stumped where to go. Paul

I would think either way would be great. I tend to like less steps between the freshly cut animal, and a simple, but finished, pristine sauce, an extension or intensification of the main taste (thank you, Thomas Keller, among others). Therefore, it's my preference to add the herbs to the reducing sauce directly. The reason I don't add the rosemary any sooner is because it is so volatile, and, to me, a little rosemary goes a long way. Your mileage may vary, of course. I add the pepper near the end for similar reason - except, I have found that if I add the pepper too long before the end, all the nice, spice and resin quality tends to dissipate and only heat remains. Cheers, Paul Oh, just saw your picture. Nope, these just came from your butcher this way. You could French them, meaning just incise around the rib bone beginning near the "eye," and scrape away the meat to the distal end, for presentation's sake, if you'd care to. Save the trimmed meat for something, i.e., your small sauce, if you're making it.