Beer Brunch 2012

THE MENU......
PIZZICATO
A plethora of olives, pickled quail eggs with Jolly Pumpkin La Roja
Skip's pickled green tomatoes with Jolly Pumpkin Weizen Bam*
CHIAROSCURO
Kiss Yo' Mama Soup (corn & crab) with Mr Cicerone's Robust Porter
BLUDGEON
Garlic shrimp and grits with Mr Cicerone's (famous) Rye Peppercorn Pale Ale
CATERPILLAR
Bitter greens, tangerine, blood orange, walnuts, lemon-ginger vinaigrette, hop candy crunch with Mr Cicerone's Dynamomium IPA
ANIMALS
Duck, pork, veal & pistachio terrine, La Roja pickled cherries with Mr Cicerone's Buster 2010
INTERMEZZO
Spooky Trail Farm wildflower honey with Mr Cicerone's Atmospherium Saison


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Mrs. C In EID

Nicole of awesome foodie blog Eat It Detroit, formerly known as Dining In Detroit, dropped in on Annette at the store Saturday, one thing led to another, and... check out the nice story and pix here.

MBG Summer Festival 2011

The heck with Christmas and all of those Hallmark holidays, this is my idea of a red letter day. I just looked at the final brewery and beers list, and it is staggering. I didn't count, but am told there are a total of 450 different beers. Check out Dark Horse's lineup- it looks like they account for about 50 of 'em! Michigan Microbrews has the .pdf of the official festival program here.

As if time wasn't short enough to conduct our important field research, we are taking time out to participate in a Brew Bubbas panel discussion on Ciceronery. The program schedule is here, but I suspect that the "subject to change" disclaimer is already in effect... see you there!

UPDATE: The schedule at the link above is finalized, unless someone gets hit by a blimp, or something....

Nice article about Detroit's "women-in-beer"

This posting deserves much more than just a link to this Metromode article that came out today (I'd love to share some stories about Kristy & Gail and talk about what great women they are- I don't really know Sarah), but I'm here, at Merchant's, with a delivery of 93 cases of beer coming in the door as I write this! So, simply put, it's great to be a part of the craft beer industry, especially here in Michigan, and it's wonderful to be a woman-in-beer! Cheers to Kristy, Gail & Sarah. And to Amy who wrote the article!

Great Resource For Aspiring Cicerones

... and others! Almost two years ago, the Brewers Association published their Draught Beer Quality Manual.

This free publication, available as a .pdf download or browse-able online, is a great resource  for anyone who deals with draft beer, from the simplest portable setup to the the biggest trunked long draw system.

I may have posted about this when it was published, but for some reason never added a link to the "Required Reading" sidebar. That oversight has been rectified.

Another Cicerone-y dinner

Oven roasted rare rack of lamb, spiced with a few cloves of garlic and some fresh rosemary sprigs. A confit of onion and shallot (with the special addition of Mr Cicerone's dunkel to replace the beef stock). Oven roasted brussel sprouts, cooked until brownish and caramelly, and seasoned only with salt & pepper. Beers were Jolly Pumpkin's Biere De Goord (A limited release saison that has come and gone, brewed with kale, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin and green tea to help raise awareness about prostate cancer and generate funds for the Pints for Prostates campaign), and Sierra Nevada 30th anniversary Ale #2- Charlie Ken & Fred's Imperial Hellesbock.

 Feast fit for kings. Or Cicerones.

FoBAB....

That would be the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild's Festival of Wood & Barrel-aged Beer, held last Saturday in Chicago. This was the 8th year for this event. I remember going to the first one, in 2003, held upstairs at Rockbottom Chicago. It was the first time I tasted Samuel Adam's Utopias, too- there was a keg of it!

Mr Siebel, Keith Lemke

Some (but not all) of the breweries in attendance....
Bluegrass Brewing (KY), Capital (WI), Destihl (IL), Dogfish Head (DE), Firestone Walker (CA), Flossmoor Station (IL), Founders (MI), Goose Island (Chicago), Glacier (AK), Kona (HI), Lagunitas (CA), Lost Abbey (CA), Metropolitan (IL), New Holland (MI), Piece (Chicago), Rockbottom (many!), Schlafly (MO), Shmaltz (NY), Smuttynose (NH), Stone (CA), Three Floyds (IN), & Two Brothers (IL).

Yay! Aaron from Stone Brewing.

Categories of wood & barrel-aged beer included Classic Porter/Stout (9 beers), Strong Porter/Stout (26 beers), Barleywine/Wheatwine (17 beers), Classic styles not higher than 7% ABV (10 beers), Strong/Double/Imperial Pale beer (18 beers), Strong/Double/Imperial Dark beer (22 beers), Fruit (6 beers), Experimental (19 beers), Wild (6 beers), Wild Acidic (25 beers), and Bottled (17 beers). That's, er, you do the math. Lots of beers.

Fraternizing with The Press. Is that the Ape Man of New Orleans?

Not being a HUGE fan of bourbon/whisky aged beer, Mr Cicerone and I sought out the wild, acidic, and simple oak-aged beers, though we did have a good shot at a few bourbon or whisky-aged ones. Our favourite of the day (we both chose this beer) was from  Metropolitan Brewing in Chicago. Their Docks of Riga Baltic Porter, brewed with a small portion of cherrywood smoked malt and aged with toasted oak, was layered with flavours of chocolate, black malt, and wood. It was truly delicious.

It's Rodney, Sam Adams Longshot winner 2010. And New Holland's Fred.

Other faves of mine were Flossmoor's Rosie Pom (wild acidic beer aged 2 years in whire wine barrels with pomegranate), Firestone Walker's Lil Opal (Saison aged for 17 months in medium toasted American oak), Half Acre's Pear Goss (gold ale with pears aged in French Oak wine barrels with Lactobacillus Delbrueckii & Brett Bruxellensis), Lagunitas Bourbon barrel-aged Cappucino Stout (took Bronze in the Experimental category), New Belgium's Eric's Ale, New Belgium's Tart Lychee (sour beer blended with lychee & cinnamon), and Shmaltz's Vertical Jewbelation ( a blend of all 7 Jewbelation beers aged in Sazerac rye whisky). My sample of the Best of Show winner, Port Brewing's Red Poppy Ale, a Flanders red-style ale produced with sour cherries and aged in French oak, was poured into my glass (it was a bottled beer) by an enthusiastic, but untrained volunteer, and it contained an inch of yeast sludge. Still good, but not a perfect sample for tasting nuance.

Sir Cicerone and The Mighty Karen

Beers I missed out on tasting (they were saving beer for the evening session) were Goose Island's Bourbon County Ancho Stout & Madame Rose, Dogfish's Poppa Skull (Collaboration with Three Floyds, brewed with cardamon), Founders Backwoods Bastard, Piece's Jockey Full of Bourbon, & Two Brothers Heavier Handed IPA (aged in French oak).

Dinner at Revolution Brewing followed- bacon-fat popcorn, "spaghetti & meatballs" (venison meatballs atop spaghetti squash), a pizza with toppings of Cider braised pork shoulder, granny smith apple, gorgonzola, onion, fennel & tarragon, and meat loaf with celeriac mashed potato and turnip greens. Fantastic beers, fantastic food.

A great time was had by all.

Whooo! Beer Week!! Whooo!!

Tuesday night's dinner at Cliff Bell's was great. Great food, great company, great beer. Tonight, Beer v. Wine Cheese pairing at Motor City Wines, New Holland at Grand Trunk, and Biketoberfest with bil! Whoooo!!

Mrs. Cicerone On TV

Annette was asked on somewhat short notice to appear on Channel 2's Saturday morning news show, to plug the Michigan Brewers Guild's Fall Festival. She was in three segments, and managed to get the plug in on the last one. Here are the clips, in the order they appeared:







Being on TV (or in any interview-type situation) is weird. It can be hard to get your information out there when someone else is steering the conversation, under tight time restrictions. Kudos to Mrs. Cicerone for doing a great job under pressure. (Now if I could just get used to being referred to as her 'entourage.') Chef Kelli was very cool, a good communicator, and a consummate professional. Here are links to the recipes from the two segments: Pancakes, Potato Salad, Fondue

The Michigan Brewers Guild Fall Festival will be on October 23rd at Eastern Market, from 1-6PM. More info here.

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A bit late, but maybe next time!

I proctored a Certified Cicerone exam here in Detroit last week, and if I'd thought about this sooner I would have (should have!) posted the fact that one was being held here!

So, as a reminder of why this blog even exists, here's what it's all about.....
www.cicerone.org
Go to the site, register if you've not already done so, and check out all the resources that are now available to those that are pursuing the certification. There are now on-line classes you can take to help prepare, including a class that teaches about off-flavours! How great is that!!

"This class takes a novel approach to online learning by linking standardized tasting materials shipped to you in advance of the class with an online lecture to help you learn.
When you register for this course, you will receive calibrated tasting spikes that you add to beer to quickly and easily create off-flavor samples for the tutored tasting session."

A Cicerone assignment

"Please help us with beer pairings for our wedding. Here is the menu"

Salad: Honeyed warm goat cheese salad with baby bibb, shaved pear, lemon oil vinagrette
Okay, that's easy.
Number one choice has to be Short's Nicie Spicie, a wheat beer spiced with lemon zest and peppercorns. It's one of our favourite beers, and it's on at The Oak Cafe right now if anyone wants to try it. Second choice- Uncle John's Perry. Third choice- Celis White.

Entree: Porcini and truffle infused CAB filet and Chicken breasts atop asparagus and thyme risotto, with broccolini.
Wow. Everything listed above is going to be on the ONE plate. With all those flavours, we decided to make our own version of the meal and taste a bunch of beers. Here we go....
Our version of the meal consisted of a nice piece of well marbled steak and a chicken breast, both coated with truffle-infused oil, and grilled simply. We made a porcini risotto infused with thyme, and drizzled with more truffle oil, and some simple steamed asparagus.

Beers- Dragonmead Final Absolution Tripel, Dark Horse Sapient Trip Ale, Atwater Block Double Down Imperial Amber, North Peak Diabolical IPA, Arbor Brewing Brasserie Blonde, Mr Cicerone's Schepsele Schwarzbier, Amsterdam Nut Brown Ale (from Toronto, not available here), and KLB pale ale from another Toronto brewery. The winners were
*Brasserie Blonde The rich malt stood up to, and complemented all the umami flavours, and the citrus notes complemented the thyme and the chicken. Worked well with asparagus, too. The beer didn't fight with the steak, but there were no fireworks.
*Amsterdam Nut Brown Fabulous with the umami-ness from the porcini, and the complex chocolate malt notes worked wonderfully with the steak. This beer was too flavourful with the chicken.
We recommended having both these beers on the menu, though we changed the Amsterdam Brown to Motor City's Nut Brown Ale, a beer with very similar qualities that is available here.

Nice Chicago Tribune Article

A nice profile of our friend Ray, and the Cicerone program, can be found here. The picture at the top of the article is a good picture, and portrays Ray nicely. Of course, since this came out, this picture is probably going to be more realistic....

Overdue Report: AHA Conference

Another conference come and gone, and us asking wha' happened? Thanks to our friends Jason Smith and Mike O'Brien, our kegs, cases, and cooler made it safely to Minneapolis for our talk, where it was handled efficiently by the hard working folks who volunteered to run this year's event. We think our talk went OK; at the very least, no one died, and we were not chased by an angry mob wielding pitchforks and torches. Our talk contained approximately 10% useful information, and 90% tommyrot, which seemed to go over well enough. Plus, there was beer, which always helps. Here's a picture I copped from David Greenbaum's online album:



Mrs. Cicerone is wearing her Cicerone.org official logo headpiece, thus managing, as always, to look simultaneously 1) like an escaped lunatic, and 2) utterly fetching.

Some conference high points:

The all-Cicerone dinner--


When we arrived in Minneapolis, the first thing we did was head to a great beer bar and restaurant called Happy Gnome for dinner with a gaggle of Cicerones. The only person in the picture that isn't a Cicerone is Raymo himself, and that's OK, I reckon.

Clash of the Luchadores--

One of the speakers at the conference, Mr. Kris England, has been submitting a picture of himself in a luchador mask when asked for biographical information. We thought he might, well, shit a brick if we slipped into the back row during his talk wearing our El Santo (Annette) and El Demonio Azul (Mike) suits. He did. After his talk, we did duly administer groin kicks, eye gouges, and hammerlocks, as required. While we have yet to score a picture of Kris receiving his furious beating, I do have for you a picture capturing my aerial assault of one Mr. Stevie Hamburg.
`


I refused to let go until he said, "Tio!"

Next year, we hope to see you all in San Diego....

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Lights, Camera...

Getting ready to speak at the AHA conference. Wish us luck....

The Cicerones Are Coming!

We are teaming up with Sandina Polgar of "Dinner With The Mrs." for a cooking class/feast:

Friday, November 20- "The Cicerones are Coming!" Enjoy a five-course meal provided by Dinner with the Mrs. accompanied by a beer pairing/lecture by Certified Cicerones Annette May and Mike Bardallis. All beer and fine food fanatics welcomed!
7:00-9:00 p.m.
$48 per guest

The menu, subject to change, looks awesome:

White Bean and Sausage Ragout With Tomatoes, Kale and Zucchini
paired with
Rye Peppercorn Pale Ale
▪▪▪▪
Carrot Habanero Soup
paired with
Ginger Wheat Ale
▪▪▪▪
Chicken with Cider and Bacon Sauce and Cilantro Crouton
paired with
New Holland Sundog Amber
▪▪▪▪
Quinoa Salad with Vegetables And Tomatillo Vinaigrette
paired with
Stone IPA
▪▪▪▪
Toasted Pumpkin Pecan Bread Pudding With Cinnamon Syrup
paired with
Scotch Ale

Additional info at Dinner With The Mrs. or email dinnerwiththemrs@comcast.net

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Belgium VS Michigan Beer Dinner at Roast

Michael Symon's Roast, this past Tuesday.

1st course
HOUSE MADE CHARCUTERIE
A feast of meat and fat. Mmmm. Two types of house-made sausage (the lamb sausage was lean, spicy and marvelous), finochionna, a couple of other thinly shaved cured meats, cured pork jowl (oh my!), and cured duck fat. Some great pickled onions and peppers to go with. And crostini.
BEERS
"BATTLE of the WILD ALE"
DE RANKE CUVEE DE RANKE (Belgium) VS JOLLY PUMPKIN LA ROJA (‘Twas the bourbony Blend 8, 2009)
To be fair, this was comparing apples to oranges. Both are wild ales, but very different, and both are excellent beers. So, no vote for us. The La Roja did pair better with the charcuterie.
"BATTLE of the BIERE DE GARDE"
LA CHOULETTE LES SANS CULOTTES (Belgium) VS LEELANAU GOOD HARBOR GOLDEN
Charles’ beer wins, hands down.

2nd course
MUSSELS STEAMED IN FARMHOUSE ALE with CHORIZO AND ORANGE
Great dish. The mussels were plump and tasty, the broth great, and the chorizo (Spanish, dry cured) was a great addition.
BEERS
"BATTLE of the SAISON"
SAISON DUPONT (Belgium) VS JOLLY PUMPKIN BAM BIERE
We had to go with Dupont. It’s a classic, and always superb. Both beers were great with the mussels, although the Dupont’s spiciness and pepper notes had the edge over Bam.
"BATTLE of the TRIPEL"
DE DOLLE DULLE TEVE (Belgium) VS NEW HOLLAND BLACK TULIP
A nice surprise with the Dulle Teve, a beer we had not had in quite some time. It packs a punch for a tripel with a lot of alcohol and a bitter finish, but it was so well in balance, and just so tasty, that it had our vote.

3rd course
ROAST PORK LOIN, CRACKLINGS, MUSTARD JUS, BRUSSEL SPROUTS, POTATO GRATIN
I can’t remember the last time I ate so much meat. It was just so good. And the cracklings were my "memory trip"; a familiar taste and texture from my younger years when all pork products (in Australia) had a layer of fat and rind attached; always cooked along with the meat, and always relished. (Okay, bad Jew.) The roasted Brussel sprouts were, of course, fantastic.
BEERS
"BATTLE of the OUD BRUINS"
PETRUS OUD BRUIN (Belgium) VS ARBOR BREWING VELVET HAMMER
While both were excellent, the Velvet Hammer was really sour. The Oud Bruin showed more balance with the nice fruity malt notes that one expects in an Oud Bruin. It got our vote.
"BATTLE OF THE BELGIAN STRONG"
DE DOLLE STILLE NACHT (Belgium) VS JOLLY PUMPKIN NOEL DE CALABAZA
We were evenly split on this one. I think I preferred the Noel de Calabaza. Although again, they are very different beers.

4th course
DESSERT. MIXED BERRY CRISP WITH VANILLA ICE CREAM.
Good.
BEER
KASTEEL ROUGE (Belgium) VS KUHNHENN RASPBERRY EISBOCK
It’s gotta be Raspberry Eisbock, any time. It’s just no match for anything else. I think the vote was even though. Kasteel Rouge is a winner with so many people.

TO SUM UP
Overall, Belgium won the battle.

It was a great idea, and Joseph did a fantastic job with the event. We had a wonderful time, and even managed to hide our Cicerone status from all the attendees (although Joseph tried, albeit gently, to have us own up). It was great value for the money, with 14 beers to sample, and enough food for twice as many of us. We were also very fortunate to be sitting next to a nice man who shared his 2008, and 2009 vintages of Leelanau’s Petosky Pale Ale with us.

BRAVO.

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Beer Brunch 2009

Mrs. Cicerone is mopping the floors, and there are about three more loads to run through the dishwasher, but otherwise, it's over. Oh, there may also be a few tasty morsels left over, as well. We're too tired to puke out too much flowery prose about the insouciance of the Belgian ale as counterpoint to the ebullience of the confit, etc, so just check out the menu...

Ginger Wheat Ale
with
Lobster salad in brioche
Rare tuna in wonton cup with ginger cream
~~~
Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout
with
French onion soup & Reyes blue cheese toast
~~~
Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest
with
Heirloom tomato, cheddar, chevre, and brie pie
Salad greens dressed with tomato vinaigrette
~~~
Les Deux Brasseurs Belgian “wild” ale
with
Poached quail egg over linguine with carbonara, shallots & black truffle
~~~
Intermezzo: Grass Roots Saison Sorbet
~~~
Rye Peppercorn Pale Ale
with
Roast pork tenderloin in ginger lemon glaze with artichoke, couscous, and preserved lemon
~~~
Rauchbier
with
Polenta in mole sauce and caramelized corn
~~~
Schwarzbier
with
New York Cheesecake
~~~
The stash from the cellar
with
Assorted Chocolates and Cheeses

(beers not noted otherwise were homemade)

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Slows Oktoberfest Beer Club, Monday September 21st

Just in, from Tara....

"Hello again!!! & Yes it is right around the corner-OKTOBERFEST that is!!!!Yeah!!! And to celebrate- Our way- we will be having an amazing selection of beers from our favorite first couple of beer!!! Cicerones Annette May(Merchants Fine Wine Dbn.) & Mike Bardallis. Also Chef Brian & Chef Michaelwill be serving up their Oktoberfest delights on the Patio!!! MUSIC,BEER AND INCREDIBLE FOOD sounds like a hell of a good time!!!! Anyone have any Lederhosen???? The cost is$30 per person-at lease 7BEERS!!!! Start time is as usual 6:30pm Monday SEPT 21 (rain day will be Tuesday 9/22) And another fun thing we can increase the head count from 30- a patiofull!!! However please still RSVP to either Terry or Tara @Slows313-962-9828- Much THanks & See you then!!!!-Tara"

Cicerone Stuff Next Week in A2

For aspiring Cicerones: (from an email sent by Ray Daniels)

Certified Cicerone(tm) Class and Exam

Class: Thursday, July 23, 2009 - 5:30 pm to 9 pm
Arbor Beverage Company, 265 Parkland Plaza, Ann Arbor, MI

Exam: Friday, July 24, 2009 - 10 am-2 pm
Blue Tractor Brewpub, 207 East Washington St., Ann Arbor, MI

Note: Advance enrollment required for both sessions.

Dear Cicerone Certification Program Participant,

Please join us for a Certified Cicerone class and exam in Ann Arbor MI before the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival in neighboring Ypsilanti on July 23 & 24.
Review Class - Thursday July 23, 5:30 pm - 9 pm

A three-hour seminar featuring lecture and tasting. This course reviews key knowledge required for the Certified Cicerone™ exam and provides attendees with an opportunity to participate in the specific types of tasting problems presented in the exam. Topics covered include draft system terminology and concepts, beer style analysis, taste and off flavor terminology, process and ingredient highlights and a brief review of beer and food pairing concepts.

This seminar may be taken at any point in the candidate's preparation for the Certified Cicerone™ exam, but it is not a comprehensive preparation course and this alone cannot prepare you for the exam. Please review the Master Syllabus on cicerone.org to fully familiarize yourself with the knowledge covered by this exam. See links below to register.
Certified Cicerone(tm) Exam - Friday July 24, 10 am - 2 pm

Here's your chance to take the Certified Cicerone exam in beautiful downtown Ann Arbor perfect for those who want to check out the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival. See links below to register.
Use these links to register for the course, the exam, or both.

Exam Only: $295

Exam and Review Class: $374

Review Class Only: $99

If you have any questions, feel free to email or call.

Sincerely,


Ray Daniels
Director, Cicerone Certification Program
773-769-1300
Twitter: Cicerone_org

Email Marketing by
Craft Beer Institute | 8 Blocks South of the Hop Leaf | Chicago | IL | 60640

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Taking my certification seriously......

...With my "official" Mrs Cicerone headgear (made by Mr Cicerone), proudly worn at the Homebrewers Conference in Oakland recently. It was inspiring that so many homebrewers, and professional brewers that also attended the conference, knew about Ray's program. Mike and I were questioned extensively as well as congratulated by many of the beer nerds that attended. Ray held an exam at the conference which generated a new batch of Certified Cicerones. There are a growing number of us now throughout the USA, including another two women, and a small craft beer distributorship in Chicagoland that lays claim to having its complete sales staff certified! Way to go, Windy City! And congratulations to my friend Judy! We need to celebrate over a beer!