Custom Brewcrafters: Beer, to Order

Just a few of Custom Brewcrafter's 30-odd beer choices.

Once in a while, you come across a company with a truly brilliant business model, an enterprise that contributes a wonderful product in an innovative way. Custom Brewcrafters is one such, a brewery that taps into the creativity of its clients while drawing on age-old recipes and techniques to make its suds.

Clearly I'm a fan. But before I delve into my visit, let me explain what makes CB so special.

Micro- and craft-brewing has taken off in the last few decades. In fact, during the recession, sales of craft beers have remained strong and actually increased. My uneducated theory is that it's a testament to growing American interest in products that were grown, crafted, or brewed with some level of attention and care, even love. Sort of a "mass-produced=evil, small-batch=sustainable" attitude that may or may not be at all rational. Another reasonable explanation for the trend may simply be that making beer in small quantities is a better reflection of how beer's been made for the last 11,000 years -- we're returning to our roots, in a way.

Whatever it is, most people I know tend to prefer these craft brews, or at least certain varieties (such as my personal favorite beer, Allagash White). BUT.

Let's say you own a restaurant and you already have an excellent beer list, with German Pilseners, Trappist ales, double-dark coffee stouts, and Vermont-made organic beers. But let's say you want to provide your clientele something special. You want to serve you OWN brew, one that perfectly complements your menu. But you don't have the know-how or wherewithal (or the capacity to make it profitable).

So you call up CB. You talk to their master brewers and you go over your menu and your specialties. You talk about the sort of beer you want to drink and sell, and you know what they do?

CB's stills.

They Custom Brewcraft it.

So, my visit to CB: It's come up that I went to the the University of Rochester in New York, home of garbage plates and awesome wings. My mom actually grew up in Rochester, and her parents are still in town, so we swung up through town last weekend for the Fourth. I'd only been to CB once while in school, but a weekend back in Rochester seemed like an opportune moment to return.




My Dad, Granddad, and one of our family's oldest friends, Joel, visited on Saturday afternoon, excited for a walk through the brewing facilities and hoping for a full-fledged tasting. With a few minutes to kill before our walkthrough began, we explored a few of the non-beer samples available -- the Bhut Jolokia chile (or "Ghost" chile; over one million Scoville heat units) sauce on a meatball was...painful.

So. Spicy. You can even see the chile-induced sweat.

Afterwards, a very knowledgable fellow named Steve walked us through the whole facility.

We tasted the grist and some of the roasted barleys as well as the hops (bitter!), and he answered our questions about everything from the water CB uses (Monroe city water; some of the freshest in America) to the filtration process.

We must have spent an hour wandering through the brewing area before returning to the tasting bar. I'm not going to go into detail about every beer we tasted (I tried about 12 of the 30-odd brews CB makes, both under its own brand and for numerous area restaurants), but my favorite was the double dark cream porter, which overflowed with the rich, earthiness I'd expect from dark roasted barley and a hoppy but not overly bitter finish.

Some dude at the bar. There are more taps around either corner.

After three hours, I came away better educated about the beer making process, better enlightened as to more than a dozen qualities brews native to upstate New York, and, I'll freely admit, a little tipsy.

My Granddad mostly liked the beers; this may, however, have been the one he declared "shit."

Custom Brewcrafters has a fantastic approach to brewing beer, and clearly hires men and women who know and love their ales and lagers. Despite their relatively small capacity, they create a broad range of interesting and unique beers, from IPAs to Pilsener styles to red ales. The tour was the best I've been on, and is a must-do for anyone in or visiting Rochester with an eye to learn something more about beer.

The View from my Phone: Darth Vader

Stay tuned for a lengthy look at one of Rochester, NY's greatest treasures: Custom Brewcrafters. Until then, I leave you with this photo I took on my phone:

This was such a whim, and so poorly thought out, and so much simply an urge to view Darth Vader in his natural (i.e. cookie) form, that I used the sugar cookie recipe on the back of the box (terrible) and we failed to decorate (unconscionable). Next time I will a) use my mom's cookie recipe (life-changing) and b) have black icing on hand.

Fresh Figs have Ruined Dried Figs for Me

Of all the dried fruits there are, dried figs are probably/obviously the best.

But Hungry Sam, you ask, how can you discount the wide world of other dried fruits?

Easily! I answer. I mean, raisins? Don't make me laugh. Apricots? Better than raisins, but never as intriguing as a plump, dried turkish or black mission fig. Carob? What am I, a dog? Blueberries, strawberries, apples, bananas? Weak, at best.

Ah, but FIGS! Figs are complex, they have real, fascinating, texture, sweet, nutty flavor, and they instantly transport me to the Levant and Near East; they make me think of the lunches of countless ages of nomads wandering the emptiness between city states and oases.

But you know what's INFINITELY BETTER? Of course you do, because you saw the title to this post!

Honeyed, melon-y, succulent, juicy, plump, fresh, off the tree black mission figs.

Oh my god. I had my first fresh fig only a year ago (Jen's neighbors have a tree), and have only had perhaps a dozen in my life, but they're memorable, each one. They have an otherworldly-looking interior, with weird-tentacly tendrils, and each one looks a little different inside. The flavor is sweet but not saccharine and presents irresistible honeydew tones. Because the sugars are still dissolved in the fruit's juices and not crystalized, fresh figs have a smoother texture and don't have the grittiness of the dried fruit. Each bite pierces through taut skin  and a thin, soft flesh, right into the aforementioned interior.

FEAST THINE EYES:

Run, don't walk, to a place where you can get fresh figs. Then eat them. Eat them allll.

"Supported" Cycling; Or Lots of Free Food

 As any of you who read my last post know, this weekend I rode Bike MS, a cycling fundraising event for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Many of you contributed, and with your help, I raised more than half again my goal of $500 -- thanks to you all.

One of the best parts about actually RIDING Bike Ms, though, is how well "supported" the ride is. That means that there were frequent SAG (support-and-gear) vehicle drive-byes and well-stocked rest stops every 12 miles or so. Well-stocked here means apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, Cliff bars, granola bars, trail mix, PB&Js, gatorade, and water.

Obviously, I enjoyed this immensely. I "refueled" (i.e. stuffed) myself at most of the stops, not just because I was quite hungry, but also because the food was good (and I love PB&J). Now, from a cycling perspective, this is a good thing, as long as I was doing a good job of balancing quick energy (sugars) with protein and a little fat for recovery.

All around, though, it adds up to a LOT of food. I probably consumed about 2500 calories just during the ride, which on another day would be a problem. Not, however, on a day in which I burned well over 3500.

Awesome.

Hungry Sam Poll!

As you all know, I eat (somewhat) healthfully. I bake instead of fry, I use bison instead of beef (sometimes), and I try to limit my caffeine intake. But before epic bike rides, I get to carbo load.

Epic bike rides like the 100 km ride I'm doing this Saturday (June 11) to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. NMSS is a wonderful organization that invests in promising MS cure research but also helps provide supports and services for those already living with MS and Bike MS is one of their premier fundraisers.

I'm riding because I love cycling, because the Maryland Eastern Shore area is supposed to be beautiful, but also because I have a personal connection to MS that strengthens my resolve and provides the impetus for 62.4 miles of hard cycling. If you're interested in helping to sponsor my ride and fight MS, as I know many of my readers already have, here is a link to my donation page.

But here's where the poll comes in: CARBO LOADING.

If I'm going to bike that far, you'd better be sure I'm going to eat my weight in total junk the day before (and let's not kid around, probably the day after, too). So: tell me in the comments section what/where I should eat before or after my ride!

• It could be a greasy, cheesy, gloopy Five guys or Shake Shack burger!
• It could be a serving of Hush Puppies that would kill a lesser man!
• It could be a Gatorade cooler full of milkshake!

THE LIST GOES ON AND ON. But for this to work, I need YOU to tell me: What should my horrible/delicious treat to myself be?

I'll post about the results, and obviously a picture of the food. Comment away!

Food Photo Round-Up

I'm starting to move to using a real camera (as opposed to the camera on my phone) for the blog -- hopefully you've noticed. Still, when I'm excited about something I'm eating in a given moment, I'll often snap a picture with my Droid.

The problem is, these photos tend to remain on my phone, since many don't warrant a whole blog post. But they still represent fascinating meals and delicious dishes, so here is the first semi-annual Hungry Sam Photo Round-Up!

1) Sample plate of mom's Christmas cookies!  

My favorites are the decorated cutouts and the lumpy chocolate ones (called Chinese new year cookies).

FESTIVE

 2) Homemade eggs benedict, grapefruit, and mango! 

My hollandaise was a little too lemony, but still pretty tasty.

POACHED

 3) My colleague Peggy's homemade whoopie pies!

REGIONAL

 4) Tandoori chicken from Naan and Beyond (D.C.)! 

Pretty good, and not at all dry, as tandoori chicken can sometimes be.

RED

 5) Butternut squash soup from Le Pain Quotidien (D.C.)!

SOUP?

 6) TONS of sushi at California Rollin' in Rochester, NY

The ones with sauce are BBT rolls -- regular tuna rolls, tempura fried, with Dinosaur BBQ sauce on top. AMAZING.

ETHNIC! AND ANTHONY!

I hope you enjoyed the photos! Next time, maybe some pictures of food from my trip to Savannah this coming weekend. I will leave you with the traditional blessing of my people: May you eat brunch.

DISCOVERY: Chipotle Breakfast!

'Borrowed' from the web.

I eat breakfast every morning. Every single morning. I don't think I've missed a single breakfast in three years, with the possible exception of a few weekend days -- on which I sub-in brunch.

I'm hardcore about breakfast because a) it's healthy and I keep myself full through most of the morning and b) I get to cook something every day before doing anything else. The key to making breakfast happen every day is habit, which means I tend to go on "kicks" -- long stretches in which I make variations on a particular breakfast recipe.

I've been on an eggs kick, adding onion, peppers, Canadian bacon, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes in some combination and often spicing with dried dill weed and garlic. I generally do an omelet, with the occasional scramble or frittata, and I frequently use one egg and two eggs-worth of store bought egg whites (fewer calories, more protein).

Well, last night I was watching a "Dexter" rerun, and among the fantastically sinister "getting-ready-for-the-day" opening credits scenes is one in which bright red hot sauce is violently splashed across an egg. Color me inspired.

This morning, I did the same thing with my morning omelet. I picked up a bottle of Chipotle Tabasco hot sauce (which I'd purchased without a clear sense of what I'd use it on) and drizzled my eggs with the sweet, smokey, burning flavor of chipotle peppers. Turns out, I'm hooked.

Simple onion, garlic, dill, and Parmesan omelet DRENCHED in chipotle hot sauce.

To make my morning omelet, you'll need (at a minimum):

• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. egg whites
• 3 T. diced onion (about 1/2 of a small one)
• 1 t. minced garlic
• 2 slices (or one serving) of Canadian-style bacon (the leanest of breakfast meats; unavailable in Canada) cut into cm squares
• 1/2 t. dried dill weed
• Little bit of butter, salt and pepper

TO make, smear a little butter (enough to coat) on the interior of a nonstick skillet. Set over medium/medium-low heat. Once hot, throw in onion and garlic and cook til fragrant, about 2 minutes. Beat the egg and egg whites together until slightly foamy; add dill and season with salt and pepper. Add meat to the pan (and any extras, such as sun-dried tomatoes, capers, other veggies) and cook until you're happy, then add egg mixture.

For an omelet, don't disturb the pan until the edges set -- then you can swirl the uncooked egg around onto the pan. For scrambled eggs, start scraping and pushing using a (non-metal!) spatula pretty much right away. For a frittata, cook in an oven-safe skillet over medium-low, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and don't disturb eggs until nearly fully set. Finish a frittata in the oven until it starts to brown nicely.

In all cases, add Parmesan cheese before eggs are done (or for a frittata before they go in the oven) but after they're mostly set to avoid a mess.

I think I'll be on a hot sauce kick for a while.