Where the Wild Things Are

"Inside all of us is a Wild Thing"
— Where the Wild Things Are

Inside a bottle of Victory's Wild Devil is a wild yeast, whose name is Brettanomyces (or Brett for short).

From the Victory website:

"Bold, spicy, menacingly delicious HopDevil takes on an entirely new dimension when subjected to a ‘wild’ yeast fermentation. A sharp, tart edge has been added by this fermentation that plays into the caramel sweet malt deliciously and creates complex interplay with the citrus accented hops."

I picked up a bottle of this last night from Whole foods on my way home. Now I'm a big fan of Victory and I particularly love Hop Devil, so a Brett version of the Devil sounded intriguing. Here goes:

Look: First, I had to cool this one down quickly as I picked it up at room temperature and didn't get home from work until late. So in order to chill rapidly I used my Cooper Cooler. I think the combination of this naturally being a well carbonated brew and the spinning method used to cool it caused a massive eruption upon opening. Once the overflow settled down I poured into a Chimay goblet-style glass. Poured up a brilliant orange color with lots of off-white foamy head. After a few minutes the head dissipated some, but remained to some extent all the way through my consumption.

Smell: The smell is quite complex. Some citrus and floral hops, caramel malt, and wafts of the Brett horse blanket, leatheriness. Definitely funked up.

Drink: The taste is complex, but more muted than the nose let on. Citrus and piney hops up front. The caramel malt that is so noticeable in Hop Devil is there, but is blended in with some definite earthiness. The Brett funkiness kind of jumbles the flavors up, but not necessarily enhancing things.

Overall: B-, definite street-cred bump to Victory for trying something different like this, but it isn't quite mind blowing. Not bad, but not great. I think I'll keep to the standard Hop Devil and Victory's other fantastic offerings.

Oktoberfest kicks off tomorrow!

Cheers!

Nature's Express

"Meat is murder!" Even as a proud carnivore, the vegan movement is consistently on the rise and awareness of animal cruelty for food purposes is increasing with every day. More and more alternative options are being made available for those who still enjoy eating out and wish to maintain an animal-free lifestyle. Nature's Express is an all vegan and organic DRIVE THRU for vegans on the go! With 2 locations, on in Yuma, AZ and San Diego, CA, this is the first vegan drive thru that I have personally seen/heard of. Formerly Kung Food, the San Diego location boasts an in-house buffet option where you pay by the ounce, and also a drive thru with an indoor and outdoor seating area. The menu is extensive and completely animal free, with catering also available.

On the recommendation of several vegan and non-vegan friends alike, we made the short trek just next to Balboa Park, and I was surprised at the variety of options. I settled on the "Chick'n" Chipotle Sandwich and sweet potato fries, while Ashton opted for the Pesto Burger and our vegetarian friend Joe got the pre-made Tofu Pesto wrap. Unfortunately for Joe, the wrap was a little bit TOO fresh, and some tufts of mold were apparent inside the wrap. He replaced it with his own Pesto Burger, and was extremely satisfied with the switch. I thought the Chipotle chicken sandwich was just great. The chipotle sauce that they used tasted fantastic, a far cry from many of the vegan sauces I've tried, and the fake chicken was cooked firmly and was as close to real chicken as fake chicken can get! I was expecting to get some soggy patty quickly thrown together like "fast" food, but with a 10-15 minute wait it appeared as though they were cooked to order, and cooked RIGHT!

The sweet potato fries were equally delicious. Not greasy at all, cooked crisply but not burned, and an ample amount to share. Even their water was tasty- inside the tank floated fresh cucumber slices to add just a hint of flavor and hydrate to the maximum! All in all, it's definitely worth the try and repeat visits, especially from hungry vegans craving deliciousness!




Nature's Express
2949 5th Avenue (at Quince)
San Diego, CA 92103
619.550.1818
F: 928.317.8304
Dining room open: 11am—8pm Daily
Drive-thru open: 11am—10pm Daily

Almost there! Five days and counting.

Hotlanta and HolzBrew Happenings

During my stay in the glorious south I learned a few things. Chiefly, that Atlanta is a bad ass city for beer. I was somewhat surprised considering that until 2003 the state of Georgia was restricted to beers with 6.0% ABV or lower. Second, Sweetwater is the king of the thing in Atlanta.

While in Atlanta for the Hokie - Tide game (the game that need never be mentioned again, from hereon forward) I managed to sneak in a little beer travel. On the flight, I remembered to bring a BeerAdvocate from last year that featured Atlanta. We were put up in Midtown at the Hotel Palomar (great name, sounds like Shalamar). The closet bar to the hotel was Marlow's Tavern and as this trip was for a bachelor party, we spent many an hour at Marlow's. I was pleasantly pleased to find that Marlow's had a nice selection of draft craft. I got by with a steady diet of Sweetwater's 420 Pale Ale and IPA.

Other haunts that we hit up while on the prowl were The Vortex, a biker style bar with an impressive selection of draft and bottled beer; Engine 11, a cool bar setup in an old firehouse, make sure to ask for Quickie, he'll buy you a shot on the house; Taco Mac, this place wins hands down for most robust draft selection I have ever seen with 140 on tap; Sidebar, a sister bar to Engine 11; Front Page News, a New Orleans style bar with a bloody mary bar and plenty of Sweetwater on draft; and STATS, a massive sports bar, that I was lucky enough to find Terrapin Rye Pale Ale at.

I tried a whole lot of different beers while in ATL, but I'd have to say Sweetwater's IPA was the most impressive. A very balanced IPA, the maltiness and hopiness are quite evenly dominant. The hops provide an intense floral flavor. The malt gives a bready and biscuit flavor.

My only regret was that I did not get to visit the famous Brick Store Pub in Decatur. Oh well, I guess you've can't check everything off the list, because then you'd never have a reason to go back.

Other happenings lately in the homebrew world, I racked the Tripel Sunrise today to secondary. I siphoned off a little for a taste and was pleasantly surprised. Real sweet and fruit juicy up front with a noticeable hop kick. The only thing negative was that it was somewhat dirty in appearance, with lots of yeast in suspension. But considering that I plan to shelf it for at least another 2.5 months before bottling, I hope some of that yeast with fall out of suspension.

I also brewed a Belgian brune ( or brown) ale today. This one I kind of threw together without much in the way of research, but sometimes I find that you are pleasantly surprised when brewing with nothing but an idea. I racked the wort on top of the Tripel Sunrise's yeast cake. Instead of using my usual immersion chiller setup, which frequently takes well over an hour to chill to 75 degrees, I immersed the copper tubing in a bucket of ice water and ran the wort through the tubing. Next time I am going to have to add more ice, because the wort came out around 95 degrees, which is most likely going to mess with my brune.

Last, I have been kicking around a brew project in my mind for the last week or so. Operation barleyquor, why stop at barleywine? Barleyquor would be a naturally fermented libation hopefully reaching 25% ABV. Is it even possible? I have no idea. I have read up on some homebrewers making 120 IPA clones such as Homebrew Chef at 21% ABV. I think this would be a great novelty to brew that could be enjoyed over the next couple of years.

That's all for now. Stay inspired!

-HolzBrew

Kiki Sushi

Sushi is not something I take lightly. I don't like to waste my time with anything other than remarkable-to-the-point-of-giving-me-a-food-orgasm sushi. I hadn't heard much about Kiki Sushi on University in Hillcrest, but thought I'd give it a shot with some friends when the opportunity arose. Hey, you never know when you're going to find the best sushi place on a whim!

However, I didn't have huge expectations going in. Generally, I find the best sushi at hole-in-the-wall places tucked away, dark, tiny, and full of Asians. Kiki Sushi is large, bright, in a small strip mall on the corner and just screamed Americana Sushi, which is NOT what I am looking for. I want authentic, fresh, amazing sushi served to me by a tiny woman who doesn't understand "Tuna" but nods approvingly when you order "O-Toro". The menu was pretty cheesy, but I suppose the pictures of the rolls were helpful to those who are ignorant when it comes to ordering. Decent selections, seemed to be geared more towards "value" sushi which is a GIANT RED FLAG to me. However, I ordered the Sushi sampler and the Harumaki (Japanese egg rolls) to start, and waited to be impressed.



The only thing that really impressed me was their use of actual crab meat in the rolls. Unfortunately, America seems to love imitation crab more than shootin' guns and eating hamburgers. Imitation crab is now the absolute standard for rolls everywhere, and let me let you in on a little secret. THEY DON'T TASTE THE SAME. Their crab was a pleasant addition to their rolls, which overall I'd rate a B-. I'm looking to be wowed, not simply satisfied with my sushi. The fish was fresh and tasty, but obviously not of the highest quality. The tuna lacked real sustenance, and the salmon was mediocre at best. Actually, the squid (ika) was very tasty and a great consistency. The Harumaki should be avoided by anyone looking to have an experience differing from Chinese takeout. I couldn't tell the difference between that and a deep-fried egg roll from a cheap Chinese to go place to save my life. The sauce was sticky and of the most mediocre flavor. Skip it.

Will I be going back to Kiki? Most likely no. However, if you're looking to have a bargain experience with a sushi newbie who wants a Bento Box for a great deal, I'd recommend it.

One week till Oktoberfest!