Thursday, October 31, 2013

LE2013 - South African Chenin Blanc Roussanne

South African Chenin Blanc Roussanne 
Order by November 29th for January 2014


REGION 
Paarl, South Africa 
Blessed by the same combination of hot sunshine and moderating ocean breezes that favor Worcester, the Paarl is encompassed by huge granite outcroppings that provide rain shadows to the vineyards and produce the sandy, mineral-laden soils. Low yields in these soils (less than 2 tons per acre) allow the vines to concentrate all of their growth on pristine, intense fruit.  

WINE 
The three grapes make a unique wine of elegance, power and delicacy: crisp, but honeyed, with aromas of apricot, orange blossoms, herbal tea and melons give way to a medium body and a long rich finish of floral notes.  The depth and complexity of this white wine make it an excellent partner with richly flavored foods: curries, Satay, and South-Asian dishes, along with creamy or buttery sauces and soups. 

FOOD PAIRING 
Sweetness: Dry 
Body: Medium 
Alcohol: 13%

 
 
 

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

LE2013 - Red Mountain, Washington Cabernet Merlot

Red Mountain, Washington Cabernet Merlot
Order by November 29th for April 2014
 


REGION 
Red Mountain, Washington 
Red Mountain in Washington State is graced with southwest facing slopes for warmer temperatures and more sunlight hours than any other part of the Columbia Valley. The Yakima River moderates temperature, and the cool air flowing from the north prevents frost from forming, allowing grapes to safely hang for extended periods.

WINE 
A darkly powerful wine with immediate notes of oak and blackcurrants on the nose come to mingle with peppery spice and cedar, supported by a fruit-driven palate of boysenberry, plum, redcurrant and black cherry. The finish is boldly tannic, with a mouth-filling grip of dense, brambly fruit. 
The tannins in this wine call for grilled meat and game: steak with blue cheese butter, saddle of venison, and especially roasted lamb with herbs. 

FOOD PAIRING 

Sweetness: Dry 
Body: Medium-Full 
Alcohol: 13.5%

 

Sunday, October 27, 2013

LE2013 - Pacific Quartet

Pacific Quartet
Order by November 29th for February 2014



REGIONS 
The Pacific Rim, encompassed by North and South America on one side and Australia on the other, has micro-climates that match those from all over the world, from the blazing sunshine to crisp mountain air, and soils ranging from sandy loam, stony red clay, nearly pure limestone and everything in between. The range and variety provide perfect terroir for almost any grape, and Winexpert has searched out the best for this blend, reaching all the way from one side of the Pacific to the other.

WINE 
The four grapes showcase a host of brilliant flavors of bright fruit, excellent structure and a long finish. Viognier from Chile gives apricots, blossoms and stone fruit. Chenin Blanc from California gives a wonderful melony-honeyed aroma with hints of apple. Gewürztraminer from Washington contributes lychee, rose petals and floral notes, and Muscat from Australia's Murray-Darling Valley gives wonderful grapey notes with dried fruit and hints of orange peel. 
Full-bodied yet supple, this wine has a range of fruit character and  enough acidity to stand up to a wide range of foods, particularly spicy and savory dishes, including Thai cuisine, grilled fish, herbed roast chicken or salmon, but is delicious enough for sipping by itself on a golden afternoon on a patio or deck.

FOOD PAIRING 
 
Sweetness: Off-Dry 
Body: Medium-Full 
Alcohol: 11.5%

Thursday, October 24, 2013

LE2013 - South African Shiraz Cabernet with Grape Skins

South African Shiraz Cabernet with Grape Skins
Order by November 29th for January 2014

 
REGION
Worcester Vineyards, South Africa
The sunny southern tip of Africa bathes Worcester vineyards, located north of Capetown, with immense sunshine hours and heat. Luckily the proximity of the Indian and Atlantic oceans not only brings much needed rain, but also the perfect Mediterranean climate to grow extremely ripe, rich grapes. 

 

WINE
This classic blend showcases the depth and ripeness of these intense grapes. Cabernet Sauvignon's classic character of blackberry, currants, black cherry and cedar blend seamlessly with the densely packed berry, chocolate, espresso and pepper characters of Shiraz, with a hint of earthiness. As it ages it will show ever more blackberry along with plum and a hint of tobacco leading to rich vanilla and toasty-smoky notes. Definitely a carnivore's wine, this will complement grilled meat, roasts and game, but will also work extremely well with mushroom risotto.


 
Sweetness: Dry
Body: Full
Alcohol: 14.5%
 

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Gluten Free Beer

We get a lot of people that ask whether or not we have a gluten free beer recipe, so I thought that we should try and tackle this in a post, but there are a couple of things to clarify.

Gluten is a mixture of gliadin and glutenin proteins that are found in wheat, barley and rye, and from the research that I have done, oats are excluded since oats only carry one of these proteins.

Beer is an alcoholic beverage made from malted cereal grain (wheat, barley, rye), flavored with hops and fermented. Now while there are root beers (sarsaparilla, and birch), the word Beer is a newer classification most commonly used to group together Ales and Lagers into one category.

So with these definitions working as a baseline for what we are talking about, I think it is pretty easy to see that there is no such thing as Gluten Free Beer, by definition. So until recently the question really was, “do you have a recipe for a gluten free alcoholic beverage that is fermented without the sugars from fruit or honey that has a similar body and flavor to ales or lagers?” Well, that is a mouthful, but we know what you mean, and yes we do. Here is our “house recipe”.

Sorghum Syrup 3.3lb @ 60min
Rice Syrup Solids 2.0lb @ 15min

Light Candi Sugar 1.0lb @ 15min
Malto-Dextrin 8.0oz @ 15min

Cascade Hops 1oz @ 60min
Cascade Hops .5oz @ 30min
Cascade Hops .25oz @ 15min
Cascade Hops .25oz @ 0min

Nottingham Ale Yeast

...But, like many other commercial gluten free products, this is absolutely Gluten Free, but is not what most would think of as Beer. Sorghum is a great base for alcoholic beverages, but it has a fundamentally different taste than barley or wheat, so we add other sugars to mask that flavor a bit and the Malto-Dextrin to simulate the body of an ale. And, until recently this is how Gluten Free beers were built; trying to mix different kinds/amounts of other gluten free sugars to simulate traditional beer. But, for brewers, this landscape has change dramatically over the last couple years.

Clarity-Ferm was originally designed for brewers to fight chill haze, which is a “precipitation of complexed polyphenols and protiens”, that appear while storing your beer cold, but will disappear when the temperature increases. This is just a visual defect of beer, but many people like the look of a nice clear beer, so Clarity-Ferm was designed to fight this unsightly cloudiness. Clarity-Ferm is an enzyme that essentially breaks down proteins, and it just so happens that these same proteins include gliadin and glutenin. The gluten levels of a beer can be lowered to under 20 ppm, which is under the international standards for “Gluten Free”. This means that you can add Clarity-Ferm to ANY homebrew at the start of fermentation (as long as there is no rye) for a drink that is absolutely Beer, but not exactly totally Free of Gluten.

What does this mean for the consumer? What is the best option for a Gluten Free Beer? Well, if you are fundamentally opposed to gluten for dietary reasons that have to do with loose interpretations of what a small portion of ancient homosapiens consumed for survival, then you may have a small inner battle on your hands on what “gluten free” means. However, if you are gluten intolerant, or have Coeliac Disease you are most likely free to drink either the barley based beer or the non-barley based beer without any complications. But with that said, if you are highly allergic to any amount of gluten or maybe even one of the two proteins that make up gluten, which some people are, I would hesitantly try the Clarity-Ferm beer with an EpiPen on hand for any allergic reactions that may occur... along with a ambulance at standby, and a doctor close by, and your Will filled out, and well, you get the point. Try a small sample and be very careful.








Thursday, October 10, 2013

Get to know your beer – Belgian Dark Strong

New beer styles can be too different to truly enjoy the first time you try them, and Belgian beer are pretty out there, now make it dark and high alcohol and you can intimidate many who are just wading into the craft brew scene. The Belgian Dark Strong is a big beer with big flavors.



The BJCP style guide describes this beer as “Complex, with a rich malty sweetness, significant esters
and alcohol, and an optional light to moderate spiciness. The malt is rich and strong, and can have a Munich-type quality often with a caramel, toast and/or bready aroma. The fruity esters are strong to moderately low, and can contain raisin, plum, dried cherry, fig or prune notes. Spicy phenols may be present, but usually have a peppery quality not clovelike. Alcohols are soft, spicy, perfumy and/or rose-like, and are low to moderate in intensity. Hops are not usually present (but a very low noble hop aroma is acceptable)”... and that is just the aroma.

While this is a lot to take in, it is a great beer for those cold months. It will certainly warm you up on those long winter nights, and despite all of what is going on in the aroma and flavor, it should be a fairly dry and light bodied beer.

By the numbers:
OG: 1.075 – 1.110
IBUs: 20 – 35
FG: 1.010 – 1.024
SRM: 12 – 22
ABV: 8 – 11%

Aromatic Malt 8 oz
Biscuit Malt 8 oz
Special B Malt 8 oz
Candi Sugar Dark 2 lb
Light Liquid Malt (LME) 9 lb
Northern Brewer @ 60 1 oz
Hallertau @ 30 1 oz

Yeast: Wyeast 1762,
Wyeast 1214 or
Safbrew T-58

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Preserve your Jack-o'-lantern

Want to preserve your Jack O'lantern this Halloween? Good news, since you are a brewer, you already have access to a solution that is quick, easy and works wonders.
 

Potassium Metabisulfite, also know as campden, works well as a preservative. It used to be used to keep lettuce and other vegetables looking their best at the salad bar, but when it was over used and people put their vinegary salad dressing on the veggies it would produce an unpleasant gas, that would make you choke… so it’s use was limited.

The good news is you don’t normally put dressing on your Jack O’lantern, so you shouldn’t run into any issues. Just make up a solution of water and Campden (I did one tablet per gallon of water. Either spray it all over the finished carving with a spray bottle, or fill your sink with the solution and roll your JO’L around in it. You want to get the inside and outside rinsed off.

The campden will kill any of the bacteria and wild yeast on the pumpkin and help it look healthier for several days longer than if you did nothing.