The cost for barley and hops, the two main ingredients in beer, have risen 30-40% over the past year. For craft brews that means consumers can expect to pay $5 a pint and $9 a six-pack. This is very distressing news.

“Our ingredient costs are up 40 percent from last year,” said Rob Widmer of Widmer Brothers Brewing, one of the largest craft brewers in the country after its recent merger with Redhook. “We’re talking about how much we’ll eat and how much we’ll have to pass along.”

Call it a quadruple whammy: Hops and barley acreage has been declining — hops because of a 10-year glut and barley because many farmers are planting corn for ethanol instead. Ethanol has also diverted corn from the feed market, often making it more lucrative to sell barley for feed instead of to the malting houses that supply brewers.

But wait, there’s more: Two years of failed hop crops in Europe, a 2006 warehouse fire in Yakima that destroyed 4 percent of the U.S. crop and two years of disastrous barley harvests in Europe, Australia and Ukraine. Factor in a weak dollar that has the world clamoring for our hops and barley and you have the makings of a uniquely bad patch for brewers and consumers.

It’s bad news for Oregon, where all our 60 or more brewing companies are craft brewers and where we consume craft beer at three times the national average. The beer industry has a $2.24 billion impact on the state’s economy, says the Oregon Brewers Guild.

Let’s just hope this isn’t as bad as expected.

One of the simplest pleasures I get out of life is cooking and entertaining for friends. It should go without saying that I’m not much of a cook. Sure, I know how to make a handful of tasty meals, including a mean pizza, but compared with someone who does it for a living, well, let’s just say that the gap in skill level is noticeable.

But I love experimenting and trying new recipes and using said friends as guinea pigs. The process of cooking, actually preparing a meal is just endless fascinating. How to flavor profiles work together or opposed to one another? What about acidity in dishes to cut through certain flavors and balance them out? What about courses? I could go on forever. Sometimes I spend days perusing Food Network or Epicurious just looking for that next great meal.

The bonus is being able to do all of this in the company of friends and a glass of wine. Which is one of the reasons I got Jacob, aka The Wine Guy, to write so that I could learn all he has to offer.

I came across this site, Food Pairings, after scanning Kottke really quickly. I’m hooked. The site has created detailed maps of which foods go with other foods. You know when you’ve found something that you’ve always wanted but you didn’t know you were looking for it or even needed it? That’s how I’m feeling now, I don’t know how I’ve ever lived without it.

A list was made of 250 food products each with their major flavour components. By comparing the flavour of each food product eg strawberry with the rest of the food and their flavours, new combinations like strawberry with peas can be made. The way to use is, is just to select a food product like strawberries. You will get a plot where you have strawberry in the middle surrounded by other food products. Take one of those other food products and try to make a new recipe by combining those two. The more flavours food products have in common the shorter the distance between the food products.
- FOOD IS INTERCHANGEABLE -

A food product has a specific flavour because of a combination of different flavours. Like basil taste like basil because of the combination of linalool, estragol, …. So if I want to reconstruct the basil flavour without using any basil, you have to search for a combination of other food products where one contains linalool (like coriander), one contains estragol (like tarragon),… So I can reconstruct basil by combining coriander, tarragon, cloves, laurel. The way to use it is to take from each branch of the plot one product and make a combination of those food products.

The science of cooking… now that should have been my college major… dang it.

It starts innocently enough: in a small village, a man setting up dominoes as the crowd patiently awaits. But then the dominoes turn into books and the books turn into clocks and then mattresses and as the falling objects roll on, the objects get bigger and bigger, before finally ending with cars.

The village cheers. Well, we won’t give away the conclusion but this is the latest ad from Dublin brewery Guinness. It’s how advertising should be. Since you know it’s for Guinness, you can image the payoff in the end.

The advert, part of a £10 million campaign, was directed by Nicolai Fuglsig, who was behind the Sony Bravia “balls” commercial.

“It was a really tough job. From the remote high altitude location to having to frequently reset thousands of props as well as working with hundreds of villagers who had absolutely no understanding of acting or film making,” he said.

The advert took a week to film, with some of the sequences having to be reshot up to 15 times.

Setting the dominoes on the table at the start of the advert took a team of three experts two days, but it took just 14 seconds to topple.

Paul Cornell, the marketing manager for Guinness, said: “The ad is fundamentally a celebration of community.

“It shows an entire village coming together to create an awe-inspiring spectacle of toppling objects.”

We couldn’t have said it any better ourselves. (via: Boing Boing)

Cuz, even on his Channel 5 Newsteam salary he’s not going to be able to afford the 10 most expensive Scotches in the world. Try on $415 for a two-ounce pour of Kinclaith 36-year-old; or would you consider paying $75,000 dollars for a bottle of Scotch?

It’s a great question and one I’m not qualified or rich enough to answer. The catch is once you pay that much money for a bottle of scotch are you gonna drink it and share it with friends or are you going to let it sit on the mantle as a pat-yourself-on-the-back-I’m-so-rich kind of decoration?

The bottle above is worth an estimated $13,000.

We’re spending the rest of the afternoon doing our best The Wine Guy impersonation. We’ll be touring and tasting and reporting on the Ken Wright Cellars in Carlton, OR.

Of course pictures and reports will be relayed tomorrow. And we’ve got the Lotus concert tonight so we’ll have a review up this weekend of the show. We’re also prepping a review of their new live album as well.

Cheers.

One of my most favorite wine memories was a wine dinner I did with the Napa Valley winery, Darioush. Thankfully, my position as the Wine Director allowed me countless tastes of their amazing wines that night. Oh…what a tough job that was!

Singling out just one of the wines is utterly unjust, as they are all top notch efforts every vintage. However, the one that I was most enthralled with that night was the Viognier. A lot of people have no idea about Viognier (VEE-o-nay).

This effort from Darioush is very much on the rich side of the spectrum. The unctuous, seamless texture travels along the palate caressing and seducing each taste bud to have another sip or gulp. The aromas of peach, honeysuckle, yellow apple, cedar & vanilla are only intensified within the mouth once imbibed. This is a very vibrant & floral wine that has a touch of sweetness and may be considered sweet my many although it clocks in at very low percentage of residual sugar (sugar that remains in the wine even after fermentation).

This is a wine that pairs amazingly with Thai food, sushi, full flavored fish (tuna, sea bass, salmon, hebi, tombo) and spicy foods. It is rather difficult to locate and is only made in small production, i.e. less than 1500 cases per vintage. But it is a gem and should be enjoyed on special occasions

. . . Unless you have a sugar momma or daddy who treats you well.

It hasn’t quite struck the consumer’s palate as an everyday wine. The Darioush Viognier, perhaps, is not an everyday wine simply just from its hefty price of $30. Most domestic Viogniers will come in at about $15-20. Much of this varietal is also grown in Australia and the south of France. However, its native home is in the Rhone Valley where it produces a very highly regarded wine from the region of Condrieu. This grape also contributes a lot to white Cotes du Rhones and Chateauneuf du Papes.

A little background on Darioush: They are based in Napa Valley and produce all estate-grown, extremely high quality Chardonnay, Viognier, Cabernet, Shiraz. They recently added a Pinot Noir to their repertoire too. The owner, Darioush Khaledi, made his fortune initially as a supermarket tycoon. He spared no expense in acquiring a stellar property, and built a visitor center that makes most others pale in comparison. He actually constructed the building in Turkey prior to having it brought over to be rebuilt in Napa. Steve Devitt is the winemaker and brings a minimalist, hands-off approach to producing these outstanding and costly wines.

This is a pretty cool announcement. We’ve been digging on this internet only show, which combines our duel love for food and music. Celebrated hipster chef Sam Mason, who’s done pastries for Wiley Dufrusene at WD-50 and now operates his own restaurant Tailor, has an easy going demeanor as he cooks and interacts with some of the coolest bands in NYC.

One wonders if Mason hand picked all the bands that appeared this season, but it’s nice to get a little food and some live performances. Every episode is shot on location at Mason’s apartment. Thanks to Brooklyn Record for the above photo and some cool background info on the show, which I didn’t really know until about five minutes ago.

I’ll say one thing, it sure as hell beats watching any of the shows you’ll find on PBS (with the exception of Yan Can Cook!) or The Food Network.

The entire first season is available for free at iTunes. Grab it while you can and watch it when you want.

I will never forget the first time that I used the word VOLUPTUOUS, to describe a wine. It was the 2002 Domaine Serene ‘Yamhill Cuvee’ Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley in Oregon.

The story goes something like this…Once upon a time in a land far far away, one of my more wine savvy couples came in and wanted something different, not on the wine list. I looked through to see what I had tasted lately that had given me chills. (That’s one of the ways I know I have a killer bottle on my hands!)

I saw the Domaine Serene bottle and immediately described it to them: a sexy, voluptuous Pinot with plenty of red cherry hinting at black cherry fruit, cola, spices of cinnamon & nutmeg, aromas of evergreen or “forest floor” with a wonderfully pleasant and full finish.

I probably didn’t have to go any further than saying the word “voluptuous” because as soon as I finished my verbose wine description they inquired, “Voluptuous, huh?” They nodded their head in agreement with each other.

They fell in love with the wine and winery just as I had. Unfortunately for some, this winery has spared no cost in producing what they and many people believe to be the best Pinot Noir in Oregon and perhaps the world. They advertise a lot, as you may have seen the full-page ads in Wine Spectator stating that they have ousted some of the best French Burgundies in blind tastings.

They recently built a state of the art gravity flow winery. This allows the wine to flow naturally through the wine making process without the use of pumps. They have very low yielding vines and they only use the best new oak barrels. Ultimately they use the best of everything.

This translates to a higher cost for us, about $30-35 for the Yamhill Cuvee. This is just their entry-level Pinot Noir too! They also make about five others:

• Evenstad Reserve $52
• Jerusalem Hill $75
• Mark Bradford $90
• Grace (pdf) $90
• Monogram (pdf) $200

They have also begun producing a Coeur Blanc (a white Pinot Noir!), the only domestic one to date! There is no doubt in my mind that this is a Pinot Noir worth splurging on. If I could pick one Pinot Noir to drink for the rest of my life, under $50, I would definitely imbibe Yamhill Cuvee without any qualms.

Wine Tip: Every so often us wine geeks find a word to describe a wine that really entices someone’s palate. Using masculine and feminine designate words are a great way for consumers to procure an idea about how the wine will taste.

Why am I just hearing about this now? How is it that the arguably the most delicious and un-nutritious thing to hit state fairs in 2006 is just making its way into my knowledge? It’s a shame, really, but what can you do about it. This summer was perhaps the first time I didn’t make it to a state fair, given the moving preperations and what not.

With that said, this really gives me something to look forward to in 2008.

Fried Pepsi

The tasty treat seems to have burst onto the mainstream scene this year, being served in both Pepsi and Mountain Dew flavors at minor league baseball team The West Michigan Whitecaps. Kids love it, adults apparantly not so much.

Trying to ascertain the history of this treat turns up very little. It’s been around for several years and supposedly invented in NY, but it seems to have made a splash at the Texas State Fair in 2006 and spread out to other state fairs. The Candy Addict swears it was invented by Abel Gonzales Jr. and this WESH Channel 2 in Dallas story seems to confirm that notion.

Harump. Well we’d love to track down Mr. Gonazales to talk about his fried confections and the art of the fried food. Until then, our taste buds will only dream of the day when they are smacked around by fried Pepsi goodness.

So what is it you may be asking yourself? How about this:

“A batter mix made with Pepsi syrup, a drizzle of strawberry syrup, and some strawberries.

Balls of the batter are then deep-fried, ending up like ping-pong ball sized doughnuts which are then served in a cup, topped with Pepsi syrup, whipped cream, cinnamon sugar and a cherry on the top.”

Next year he’s going to roll out fried Sprite and fried Diet-Pepsi… you know for the health conscious fair goer.

I know, I know, a Chardonnay you say? A lot of you might think that if you’ve had one you’ve had them all. Believe it or not though, I could list more than ten different styles of the king of white grapes.

This one, crafted by Rombauer Vineyards in the Napa Valley, is definitely a 90+ by my standards and by multiple wine publications.

Prepare to be profusely rewarded with this one, trust me! This Chardonnay does not bear false pretenses AT ALL. Upon first nose, it whacks you smack dab in the senses with peaches and cream, pears, a hint of mango & toasted almond. That’s all before you take a sip!

Taste it and your palette will be perked with a subtle oak note and it clocks in at about an 8.5 out of 10 in richness. After all that you are still rewarded with the solid 15-20 second finale. Evoking a sublime wine rhyme time; At least for me!

More often than not, producers who make this rich, unctuous style of Chardonnay go too heavy on the oak or the wine is flabby and one dimensional sans acidity. Nothing could be further from the truth with this Rombauer. It delivers with a force and runs on all cylinders.

Consumer’s caveat: Occasionally a lot of really good wines that haven’t quite reached the upper pricing tier (for domestic Chardonnay, $40+) are sold at discounts to retailers and restaurants. This is usually because the distribution of the wine is still in a growth phase. I just heard of the Rombauer brand in July 2006 but they have been a family operation in Napa since 1982. My point is that you can find this wine for a deal sometimes when the new release comes out and the local distributor has the previous vintage still in stock. I found this Chardonnay at a semi-fancy wine bar in St. Petersburg, FL for $34 a bottle. Just a mere $4 above MSRP!

Carneros 2006 $30 Retail

There are four basic steps to tasting wine efficiently and effectively. The first is of course sight. This allows you to form an initial judgment of how the wine is going to taste. It’s best to hold the wine up against a white or neutral colored surface to ascertain the true color. Generally lighter colored wines have less intensity, tannins and texture than darker wines, but that is not always the case.

As far as age affecting color, red wines lose their color as they mature. A fine claret or Bordeaux from an older vintage will have a much lighter brick or ruby red like color and it can still have considerable length, density and finish. White wines are the opposite. As they age they gain color. Even the lightest Sauvignon Blanc will get darker with age. It won’t gain quite the golden yellowish hue of a Chardonnay but it changes none the less. If you become good with this color association it can actually be helpful when buying white wines in the retail store. As you practice this method of color relativity, you can get an idea of how heavy or light the wine is going to be before you even open it.

The second step of tasting is to swirl the wine in the glass. This is where the novice and the connoisseur differ because often the novice will skip this step. With this step you not only are able to determine the viscosity of the wine but also how talented of a taster your companions are. I personally like to swirl in a clockwise motion, but counter clockwise works just as good! The most important thing about swirling is that it allows oxygen to permeate the wine and release more aromas. I’ve also heard it referred to as “volatizing the esters”.

This is the stage where you get a lot of people talking about the “legs” of a wine. Legs are referred to as the way that the wine slides down the inside of the glass after it has been swirled. Th