Envision Washington, DC’s National Building Museum—a structure that’s part Greek temple, part Renaissance palazzo and part reconstruction monument—packed with a mix of foodies, beer connoisseurs, brewing legends and U.S. senators. Now envision that unlikely assemblage, elbow-to-elbow, working their way through dozens and dozens of food-and-beer pairings while intelligently discussing the finer points of all of them during a four-hour feasting period. This was the scene June 6 when the Brewers Association (BA) held SAVOR: An American Craft Beer and Food Experience, an event celebrating American craft beer’s ability to deliciously sync with cuisines of all styles.
With just 60 spots available and hundreds of breweries interested in participating in the country’s largest annual beer-and-food event, the BA must utilize a lottery for its vendor selection process. This year, more than 250 applicants vied for the open spots (guaranteed spots are provided to breweries that sponsor the event). Despite that big number, a trio of San Diego County breweries made it onto the 2015 SAVOR roster: Coronado Brewing Company, Societe Brewing Company and URBN St. Brewing Company. Beating those odds brought on disbelief with folks from the latter interest.
“I had to ask the person who told me about it if they were joking. I couldn’t believe it,” said URBN St. partner Alex Carballo. “I was blown away that a brewery that, at the time had only been open for six months, would get the opportunity to participate in such an awesome event.”
Brewmaster Callaway Ryan, who represented URBN St. with Carballo in DC, echoed that. “When we entered the lottery, I figured it was a total shot in the dark. And when I learned we actually made it in, I felt a mixture of elation and intimidation.”
Any trepidation was wiped away once SAVOR’s grand-scale tasting began. Carballo and Ryan were pleased to discover how knowledgeable attendees were, particularly in terns of San Diego beer. Numerous guests approached URBN St. specifically to sample their wares, which included the El Cajon brewpub’s saison and Mazagran, a “triple brown ale” brewed with coffee. In fact, there were times when URBN St.’s line surpassed some of the larger, more popular breweries in the room.
“That was the biggest ego boost,” said Ryan. “It feels pretty awesome, even if it only lasts for a couple of minutes.”
Eventgoers were similarly complementary when it came to URBN St.’s beers and the dishes they were paired with. Those edible-quaffable marriages were the work of BA executive chef Adam Dulye, who was also responsible for the 60-plus other food offerings built to meld seamlessly with the other beers at the event. It was no small undertaking, but according to the URBN St. team, Dulye (who was in San Diego last month to present a pairing dinner as part of beer-pairing dinner at Societe celebrating the company’s third anniversary) came through with flying colors.
Mazagran was presented alongside a chile- and coffee-rubbed hangar steak and confit potatoes (potatoes slow-cooked in fat until tender). “The crust on the hangar steak complimented the roast and coffee of the Mazagran perfectly,” said Ryan. “The beer’s inherent sweetness balanced out the coffee-on-coffee pairing, while the confit potato smoothed the enter experience out and prolonged the chocolaty coffee finish.”
For the Saison, Dulye went the confectionery route with pound cake cooked a la French toast and served with an apricot filling. Said Ryan, “The accented the beer’s esters while playing against its bitterness. Meanwhile, the creamy texture and tight crumb of the pound cake cut the hops before the next sip’s effervescence washed it all away again.”
Both recipes have been provided for readers to try out.
As for the beers Dulye had to work with, that was the doing of the brewing company that forged them. “The BA invited us to select the beers we most wanted to share with a national audience,” said Ryan. “I love all my babies, but Mazagram and Saison are the two beers I’m most excited to share with other brewers, so I decided to submit them.”
Considering Carballo overheard a number of guests proclaim URBN St.’s pairings perhaps the best of the entire evening, it would seem those selections were successful. It’s no wonder the event left such a good taste in the former chef-turned-business owner’s mouth. “I’m officially counting down the days until next year’s SAVOR.”
Editor’s note: Callaway Ryan and Alex Carballo are both ex-employees of Stone, where Brandon works as a Senior Communications Specialist. He was not incentivized to focus on them for this article. Click the ‘read more’ button below for recipes:
Pound Cake with Apricots
Ingredients for the cake:
2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 t. kosher salt
½ cup heavy cream
1 t. vanilla extract
½ t baking powder
1 lemon, zested
Ingredients for the apricots:
1/3 cup sugar
2 T. water
2 cups apricots, cut into ¼” thick slices
1/2 t. ginger (just a pinch of fresh grated ginger)
Method:
– Pre-heat oven to 325
– Lightly butter and dust with flour a pound cake pan or bundt pan
– In mixing bowl whip the butter until creamy and fluffy
– Add the sugar and blend until smooth
– Add the eggs and blend to combine
– Add the vanilla and the cream
– Scrape the sides down with a rubber spatula as needed
– Add in the baking powder and lemon zest
– Add the flour in and mix until just combined
– Bake in a 325 oven for 45-65 minutes, rotating the cake as needed so color develops evenly
+ method for the Apricots:
In a medium saucepan over medium heat add the sugar and water
Bring to a boil and add the apricots and ginger
Simmer until just tender about 3 minutes
Spoon over slices of pound cake
Chili & Coffee Rubbed Hangar Steak
3# Hangar Steak (Flank or skirt steak can be substituted)
Ingredients for the rub:
1/3 cup cumin seeds, whole
1/3 cup coffee beans, whole
1/3 cup chili powder, medium heat
2 t. Kosher salt
2 t. Black peppercorns
¼ cup Canola oil
Salt and Black pepper
Method:
– In a medium sauté pan toast the cumin seeds until light brown and aromatic
– Add the coffee beans in and toast one minute more
– Add the chili powder, salt and black pepper
– Cool to room temperature
– In a spice grinder pulse the mixuture until finely ground
– Remove the steaks from wrap and pat dry with a paper towel
– 1 tbsp at time rub the spice mixture into each steak. How much you put on depends on the size of the steak but look to lightly coat the outside of each piece
– Lightly wrap or cover the steaks and return to refrigerator for 1 hour
– Pre-heat or light a charcoal grill
– Season the steaks with salt and pepper on the outside and brush with canola oil
– Grill until medium rare or desired temperature
– Rest for 3 minutes and slice thin