The Brett Pack Dinner at Avery Brewing, GABF 2015

Brett pack dinner at Avery Brewing was the Wednesday before the GABF 2015. The Brett Pack consist of 5 brewers, Adam Avery, Sam Calagione, Tomme Arthur, Vinnie Cilurzo, and Rob Tod. They all took a trip together to Belgium in 2006 where they learned from the masters at the Belgian breweries and to drink such unique beers. Usually this dinner is at the Kitchen, a restaurant in Boulder but with the opening of the new Avery Brewery facility, I think Adam Avery wanted to showcase his restaurant.  All the Brett Pack was in attendance. Even though this was at the Avery Brewing restaurant and the entrees were really good, this was a dinner where the beer took center stage.

This photo was on the hostess table at
the entrance to the restaurant.

Our table with an complimentary bottle opener.

The start of the dinner pairing was a Welcome beers from each of the breweries.

Allagash          Allagash White, a Belgian-style wit at 5.1%

Avery               Twenty Two, 100% Brettanomyces drie fermented dry-hopped wild ale, at 6.0%

Dogfish Head  Festina Peche, Neo Berliner Weisse brewed with peaches at 4.5%

The Lost Abbey      Hop Concept, hop freshener tropical IPA at 8.5%

Russian River Pliny the Elder, a double IPA with Amarillo, Centennial, CTZ and Simcoe hops at         8.0%

Festina Peche.

Not a bad start to this first major event of GABF.

Amy and Rachael, employees at
Avery Brewing.

The Brett Pack table.

Vinnie Cilurzo and Larry Smith
having a beer conversation.

Rob Tod and Mitch Smith.

Natalie and Vinnie Cilurzo.

Dick Cantwell, Kim Jordan, Adam Avery
and  some Nebraska Brewing staff.

Tomme Arthur, Steve Breezley, Andy Parker,
Rob Christiansen, and Adam Avery.

Ray Decker, Service and Hospitality Director.
He made this evening possible.

The entree pairings were very good but there was too much on the plates to really enjoy each course, by the end I was stuffed. And to be honest the food was a compliment to the beer.

First course was Russian River Temptation and The Lost Abbey Veritas paired with seared scallops, squash and lobster risotto, confit cherry tomatoes, gremolata.  The scallops were perfect and the rest just enhanced it. Both sours went very well with this course. Veritas is a very rare beer, it usually doesn’t make it this far east.

The second course was Allagash Fluxus and Russian River Supplication paired with duck, duck, goose. Duck confit, foie gras torchon, soft boiled duck egg, frisee, and cherry gastrique. Another good pairings, the fruit of the Fluxus and the sour brown ale cut through the richness of this course.

Third course was Avery Brewing Vallum and Dogfish Head 2010 Immort Ale. These beers were paired with a ribeye steak that was coffee rubbed, sunchoke gratin, and maitaki demi. The 11% ABV 2010 Immort Ale added to the richness of the steak while the sour ale, Vallum complimented this course.

The fourth course was with Allagash Farm to Face and Antonius Carmen from Avery Brewing. These beers were paired with a meat and cheese plate of Jasper Hill’s Alpha Tolman, MouCo’s Colorouge, house-made pork rillette, and anaheim date jam. I have to admit that by this course I was stuffed but these sours paired well with the robust cheeses and the rich rillette.

The dessert course was 2008 Fort from Dogfish Head and The Lost Abbey Track 8, they were paired with a raspberry semifreddo, dark chocolate, and toasted coconut. I really can’t remember this course except the semifreddo was good.  I think the beers were excellent, only because I had Fort before and a 2008 could only get better with age, it’s 18.0% ABV. Track 8 is a 13.7% ABV and my husband raves about it.

This is an event that we will probably make a tradition every GABF. It surpassed most of the other events we went to, excluding Sour Sunday which I really enjoyed. Adam Avery and staff at Avery Brewing did a wonderful job setting this event up at their new brewing facility in Gunbarrel, CO.

Russian River Brewing: February is Pliny the Younger

February is the month for Russian River Brewing, Pliny the Younger. This will be it's tenth annual year since the first release of triple IPA at the pub in Santa Rosa, California.

Vinnie Cilurzo is owner/brewer at Russian River said in an email that this years Pliny the Younger will be relatively the same as last years. He states that as the brewery has matured they have been able to "select more aromatic and flavorful hops" for Pliny the Younger. The ABV should come in between 10.25% & 10.50%, but Vinnie likes it when it's a the former range which allows" the hop character to come through a little better".

Pliny the Younger is Pliny the Elder’s big brother. It's a triple IPA, with a load of hops that has obvious hop character in the aroma and in the flavor of the beer.

Pliny the Younger at the Falling Rock Taphouse.

I have gone to many release parties of Pliny the Younger over the years and found that to me, sometimes it taste different depending on the tap house. I recently found that most tap houses use a blend of CO2 and Nitrogen to their tapping systems as a way to alleviate waste from foaming beer. So I thought maybe that was the difference I tasted in the beer. I asked Vinnie Cilurzo about that and he said there shouldn't be any difference in taste between the two systems if Pliny the Younger is tapped soon after being distributed. I think he's mistaken but you can be the judge at the next release.

Pliny the Younger will be available at the Russian River tap house on February 7 and will run it's course for two weeks or less. So if you live in California, head to Santa Rosa for this yearly event. I thought it was humorous that on the Russian River brewing webpage on Pliny the Younger, there are rules of etiquette for these two weeks of the beer.

Russian River Brewing taphouse is located in the downtown area of Santa Rosa where there are many businesses so first rule:

1)No drinking alcohol while in line.

2)No smoking anything within 20 feet of business entrances or where people are standing in line.

3)Don’t block entrances or driveways of other businesses.

4)No cuts in line! Make sure all your party is there at the same time.

What’s cool though is that Colorado gets the most Pliny the Younger. It will be distributed to San Jose, Sacramento, Stone Brewing will pick there allocation at the brewery, Oregon, Colorado, and Philadelphia, in February but dates are TBD. I’m not sure how many kegs are shipped Oregon, it used to be Portland only.

Colorado will probably receive Pliny the Younger a week or so after the release. A good idea is to check your favorite local taphouse on their website or facebook page to see if they are tapping Pliny the Younger this year. In Denver check Falling Rock Taphouse, Hops and Pie, and Freshcraft. In Boulder, Backcountry Pizza and Taphouse, The Kitchen, and West End Tavern.

For more information about Pliny the Younger Craze:
http://voices.yahoo.com/the-pliny-younger-craze-2011-ipa-release-party-7926242.html?cat=22