St. Bernardus Tripel

Before I get started talking about this fabulous abbey ale, a quick story about how I even ended up at the store looking for an interesting beer for the evening.  I had purchased some wine last week at Beverages & More, and, looking for a deal, I grabbed the cheapest thing I saw in the "5 cent" wine section.  You know the one.  Where you buy one bottle of wine, and the second bottle of the same wine is only 5 cents?  Right, well, apparently, I should actually read the back of the bottle and not just glance at the write up.  I ended up buying a "soft" red wine.  I had never heard of such a thing, so if I did read that, I just glanced over it.  I wasn't in the wine buying mood, I was just getting my girlfriend something so my trips to the store weren't just about me getting more beer. Anyways, "soft" red wines (it was something from Italy believe.  I still don't know.  I didn't even read the label when I was taking it back.) are slightly carbonated, and meant to be served chilled, and presented at a baby shower or something of that nature.  Not exactly what I was looking for. So today, I took it back (with no receipt), and after a couple of irritated looks from the BevMo employees, I got to exchange the wine for something actually drinkable.  This will make my girlfriend happy, and get me out of the wine buying dog house.  Since I was already at the store, it would have been silly to not look around and get something for myself.  And that brings us to our current situation of me telling you about this awesome beer, St. Bernardus Tripel!

This beer pours a beautiful amber color, with just a tint of orange to it.  My pour came out very active, and would have left foam all over the counter had I looked away for a second.  I don't know if that is typical of this beer or not, but it made for an interesting start.  In the glass, this beer is by no means translucent, presumably clouded by the continued secondary fermentation in bottle, common to many Belgian beers of this type.  The aroma is very mild, with a slight smell of banana and sweetness.  That sweetness is definitely noticeable after you put this beer to your lips.  No shortage of residual sugars here.  The higher alcohol percentage (8.0%) is noticeable, but not over powering in any way.  It is very drinkable.  As I got further into this tasty treat, I did have a dry, puckering develop in my mouth, which in turn, put a little bit of a boozy sensation in my throat. Not a bad thing.  I've got nowhere to be and nothing to do other than write up this review.  This is an excellent beer for the present occasion. 

St. Bernardus is located in Watou, in West Flanders, in Belgium.  It's history goes like this: Originally, the Catsberg Abbey Community was located in Godewaersvelde, France.  Strong anti clerical policy in the late 1800's forced them to move a few kilometers to the North, into Belgium. They transformed a farm into the "Refuge Notre Dame de St. Bernard" and began making cheese. In the 1930's, attitudes towards the monks improved, and in 1934, they returned all Abbey activities to France.  A man named Evarist Deconinck took over and expanded the cheese factory at Watou.

After WWII, the Trappist monastery St. Sixtus in Westvleteren was looking for someone to commercialize their beer, and gave the license to the cheese factory, and that was the beginning of the Brewery St. Bernard.  Brewmaster Mathieu Szafranski came from St. Sixtus and brought the recipes and the St. Sixtus yeast strain.  For 46 years, the brewery brewed and sold the beer under the names Trappist Westvleteren, St. Sixtus and Sixtus,  while the monks brewed for themselves and a couple local pubs.  In 1992, the license came to and end.  The brewery kept brewing the same beers, but under a different name, St. Bernardus.  Today, they are imported exclusively by D&V International.

Brasserie St. Bernard

Trappistenweg 23

8978 Watou

BTW BE 0463.544.291

Tel: +32-57-38-80-21

info@sintbernardus.be

www.sintbernardus.be

Santa Barbara Public Market - A fun, interesting, new place to grab a beer

This past weekend, the brand new Santa Barbara Public Market opened it doors on the corner of Victoria and Chapala Streets, just a block off of State Street.  I didn't make it there until Tuesday, but I couldn't believe how big the crowd was inside the spacious location.  People were lined up at every purveyors shop, waiting for a taste of the goodness inside.  Everything looked wonderful, and everyone manning the shops was extremely friendly, knowledgeable, and willing to answer any and all questions.

Of course, it didn't take long before I found my way into the very conveniently located beer and wine tasting room, simply called "Beer + Wine."  It sounded like my kind of place, and it most definitely was.  With 11 beers on tap, there was no problem finding something fresh on tap to my liking.  They also have quite the selection of beers by the bottle as well.  They also had some interesting selections I wasn't familiar with.  I see a return trip in my near future.

I opted for a La Fin Du Monde, a triple-style golden ale from Unibroue in Chambly, Quebec.  My beer was presented in an official La Fin Du Monde tulip glass.  This was a great touch that you don't see very often in Santa Barbara.  You might get your beer served to you in the proper shaped glass, but it was a real treat to get it in the actual glass the brewery recommends and produces. Very cool.  I'd tell you a little of the history of this beer, but I think this guy does such a good job telling the story, I won't bother repeating it.  Watch the video.  It's worth the couple minutes of your time.

The setting at "Beer + Wine" is casual with four raised bars to sit or stand at, but the vibe is certainly upscale.  People were in after work, enjoying some beer and wine with coworkers and friends.  The place was lively.  My girlfriend and I chatted up some other patrons across from us. They, like us, live in the neighborhood, and were in checking out what all the buzz was about.  

It was nice to meet some new people, and have a drink at a great new place in town.  Stop by the Santa Barbara Public Market when you get a chance.  It's a fun place to overload your senses with the smells of fresh pasta, seafood, meats, cupcakes, coffee, produce, cheese, and of course, some great, unique beers.  Cheers!

Santa Barbara Public Market

38 West Victoria

Santa Barbara, CA  93101

Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout

Ah, it's time for an adult beverage, and the weather this evening was just right for one of my favorite cold weather beers, Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout (I'm talking Santa Barbara cold.  It's 56°F right now.  Brrrrrrr).  Now, this is not just any oatmeal stout, this is the one that all other oatmeal stouts are based on.  This is one of the originals, dating back to the late 1800's, and still using water from the same well that was sunk in 1758 at the Old Brewery at Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, in the North of England.  That sort of longevity should be a pretty good clue that these guys know what they are doing when it comes to making beer.  They also have a pretty cool tradition of still delivering the beer around town, five days a week, with the horses you see below. The brewery keeps those "Shire" horses in a stable behind the Angel & White Horse (pictured below), which is the pub next to the brewery. 

Ok, about the beer.  This lovely oatmeal stout pours a deep, almost opaque brown, with a small, lightly mocha colored head.  Man, does it look good in the glass.  The aroma is definitely sweet from the caramel malts, but not over powering.  Some people notice hints of chocolate, but I get more of that caramel notes.  The taste is smooth from the tight carbonation.  Bitterness from the hops is noticeable, but the balance with the malt is just right.  This beers sticks in your mouth for a while, but doesn't go down thick. It's an easy drinking stout, for sure.  Maybe too easy.  I could easily spend an afternoon in the yard sipping on a few of these, especially at only 5.0% ABV.  An interesting part of what makes this beer unique is the brewery's continued use of a very old fermenting technique known as using "Yorkshire Squares." This adds a distinctive bitterness and silky mouth feel.  The beer is then cask conditioned to allow the residual yeast to ferment any remaining sugars, which will mellow out the bitterness by producing a little more alcohol and carbon dioxide.

This oatmeal stouts pairs well with just about any meal, but I especially enjoy it with fish, and if things are going really well for me, a nice shellfish, like oysters, clams, or lobster.  Yum, yum!  It also goes well with hearty dishes like steaks, rich gravies, and cheddar and blue cheeses.  Really, it goes well with all the good stuff!  Desserts work nicely with this beer as well.  Try a with some chocolate. That's a fine way to round out a meal.

If you haven't tasted Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout, you definitely should give it a try.  It's an easy drinking beer that you won't soon forget, it goes well with just about any meal, and it has a pretty cool history to go along with it.  Cheers!

What is a Certified Cicerone®, and why should I care?

Before I get to telling you about what a Certified Cicerone® is, I wanted to give you a little bit of background about myself and how I found out what a Certified Cicerone® is.  I've been in the same job for a long time.  A long time being almost 7 years.  That's a personal record for me at one place of employment.  I usually bore of a job, or find a better one, or move to a new city, or some combination of all those things, and I move on to greener pastures (or less brown pastures, at least).  I probably would have moved on from this current job by now, but it's not too bad, pays the bills, keeps food on the table, and keeps me out of trouble (for the most part).  I do look around at other opportunities, but for what I need, I can't just quit and start at the bottom some place entirely new.

So I starting looking into some sort of training.  A new skill that I would have with me forever. Something that wasn't specific to one job.  My girlfriend, knowing that I love beer, and all things beer related, mentioned to me that a friend of hers had recently gotten a job managing a local brew pub, and part of the reason that friend got that job was because of her getting specific training in beer knowledge.  Well, holy sh$t, I thought, that's the ticket!  I want to learn everything there is to know about beer, and get a job that is based around that!  Sounds pretty awesome to me!  I learned that the gateway to this knowledge came from www.cicerone.org, which is an online site that, basically, tells you where to go get the knowledge you need about beer, and then come back to them to take a test for certification.  Perfect, I thought.  Something I can do on my own time, and at my own pace.  So, I checked out the site, and I was very pleased with what I discovered.

A Certified Cicerone® is to the beer world what a sommelier is to the wine world, or at least that is the best comparison I can come up with.  Being called one is an honor, and carries with it proof of your knowledge in your respective field of study.  The Cicerone® Certification Program is put together by Ray Daniels (pictured above), who anyone familiar with homebrewing will tell you, is a major player in the craft beer world.  He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience on what it takes to really know your stuff when it comes to beer.  Most importantly, he brings complete credibility to the program, which was an absolute must for me.  His credentials speak for themselves on the bottom of this page  There is no point in spending the time to learn everything if the certification you get at the end doesn't mean anything to people in the beverage industry.  Well, actually that isn't entirely true.  Learning about beer is a lot of fun on its own, but it is  nice to have something to show for your knowledge.  I have truly enjoyed learning all that I have about beer, especially the history of different breweries and styles of beers, and those are things I might not have found out as much about without this program. Every book I have read from the programs' excellent resource list has been full of interesting and useful information.  I plan on getting into the history of various beers and breweries in later posts.  I think it makes drinking beer much more interesting if you know a little about what you are sipping on and where it came from.

As far as my progress in the program goes, it is slow and steady.  There is a lot to learn.  I have passed the first exam, which is the Certified Beer Server.  It involved a series of multiple choice questions, and was pretty simple in its structure.  The next exam is the Certified Cicerone® exam, and it is much, much more thorough.  It involves both a written and tasting exam to be completed over the course of a weekend, and from what I hear, the pass rate is under 50%, so this exam is no sure thing.  I'm pretty excited about the challenge of passing this exam and I will chronicle what I am doing to get ready for it in this blog.  I've seen certificates posted up in some of the local breweries that I visit, and I know when I see those, that the person I am talking to behind the bar knows what they are talking about and truly cares about their craft.

The third, and final level of certification in the program is the Master Cicerone®.  This level of certification requires a vast amount of knowledge, acquired through years of study and practice. There are only 7 Master Cicerones® in the world, so it is truly a prestigious honor to be a member of this exclusive club.

If you are interested in diving into the world of beer, and want to take your knowledge and career in the beverage industry to new heights, check out the Cicerone® Certification Program.  I'm sure you will find it as rewarding as I have.  Cheers!

www.cicerone.org