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.

Coffee + Steak = COFFEESTEAK

These are a few of my favorite things...

No, I'm NOT just listing two of my favorite things. With the inspiration of (inevitably) Everyday Food Magazine, I endeavored the other night to create an coffee, chile, brown sugar and cinnamon rub, which I used on a good-sized skirt steak before pan-frying.

Martha Stewart's EDF minions suggested a three-ish to one ancho-chile powder to instant espresso powder ration, but I decided to reverse that and reduce the brown sugar, while upping the cinnamon. There was eyeballing involved, but if I had to pretend I remember the recipe, the rub worked out to:

-4 tbsp. instant espresso powder
-2 tsp. ancho chili powder (next time I might experiment with chipotle)
-4 tbsp. granulated brown sugar
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1/2 tsp. black pepper

Mix all the ingredients well (whisk is good, or covering and shaking works too).

I brought the skirt steak to about room temperature so they'd cook evenly. I cut it in two, the better to fit in my 13" skillet, and massaged handfuls of the rub deeply into the beef (both sides). I would have used more of the mixture, but even using significantly less chile powder, I was concerned about the heat.

Now, I've recently taken to pan-frying steaks, since our grill is currently a no-go and I don't think my George Forman grill gets quite hot enough for the seared exterior, rare interior effect I like my steaks to have. I've yet to spring for a good grill pan or some such, so in-the-pan it is.

First, I preheated my oven to 225 degrees. I heated a little butter (enough to coat, but not pool in) the bottom of the pan and brought it to a strong medium-high. The steaks went in, about 2 minutes a side, until well-seared, then I popped the pan into the oven for about 5 minutes to finish cooking to rare. Were my steaks any thinner, I might have skipped this step entirely.

When I finished, I pulled the steaks to my cutting board, cover them loosely with tin foil, and let them sit. ALWAYS let meat sit for a few minutes. Why? I don't know. Some people say it's about letting the juices redistribute themselves evenly throughout; others claim it's about letting the meat fibers reabsorb juices. I don't care which one it is, but after I finish cooking a steak I tent it loosely with foil and let it rest for five minutes.

Verdict: I'd cooked the steak slightly longer than I intended so it reached more of a medium rare than rare, but the flavor was fantastic. Rich and spicy and hearty, slightly sweet and dark, the steaks tasted like the sensation of being in front of a woodfire on a cold day. Delicious, but also just kind of unexpected; I can't say as I've had beef with these flavors before.

Awwww yeah. Here she is:

I ate the steak with sweet corn (microwaving about 2 minutes is the simplest and easiest way to do it) and strawberries, the light sweetness of both cutting through the earthy complexity of the meat.

All around, this rub is a keeper. I might try it mixed into ground beef for burgers -- the surprise intensity would be a fun dish to serve at a barbecue or party. Try it yourself, and tweak the spices -- just use good, rich spices with great depth of flavor.

The Sandwich on my Desk: With Basil!

THAT's the basil.

This sandwich features thyme-rubbed fresh turkey breast with Boar's Head aged swiss, spinach, avocado, tomato, and stone-ground mustard on some totally mundane whole wheat bread. Although everything but the bread would have otherwise constituted an excellent sandwich, what pumps this sandwich up into the realm of exciting new hotness is the addition of fresh basil leaves.

The herb infused every other element of the sandwich with fresh, spicy goodness. Plus, since I'm actively growing this basil (I've managed to avoid killing my plants so far) I feel super awesome and self-reliant -- a fun illusion.

The basil (which indeed, I fear, nary a Hungry Sam sandwich will again omit) was not my idea -- Jen's mom made us sandwiches with fresh basil for our recent drive out to Annapolis for a wedding. Her sandwiches were better than my lunch today, in that they were constructed atop superb and nutty sunflower-seed encrusted whole grain bread -- but I managed to emulate the effect.

I seriously cannot think of another sandwich I'm likely to make that couldn't be improved with fresh basil. Tuna melts -- with fresh basil! Grilled cheese -- with fresh basil! Croque Monsieur -- with fresh basil!

The possibilities are endless.

Also, quick point on that wedding -- there was a PAELLA BAR. Like, they provided the rice/spice/tomato-base, then mussels, shrimps, sausage and chicken for folks to add. BRILLIANT.

"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!