In the magical words harking the beginning of Oktoberfest, “O’zapft ist!” is called out, which means, “The beer is tapped!” In the traditional German style, with an added American flair, Brew It Up! is for the second year bringing Oktoberfest to Sacramento. This personal brewery, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary last year on the same commemorative day as Oktoberfest, is on the corner of 14th and H St. Although always unique in nature, the festivities of Oktoberfest bring special life to the downtown brewery and grill, with the seasonal offerings of 15 special hand crafted German beers and over 25 seasonal German dishes exclusively for this specific celebration. Additionally, to the Red Bull, Jagermeister, and Jack Daniels girls all in attendance, dancing, and KWOD radio station doing a remote satellite from this location, this local brewery, at least for one evening, is a culmination of Germanic Harvest culture.
As we, The GoodDineGirls, began our selection process of the many dishes offered, the service staff was especially helpful in our choices. From the Cambozola Fondue Bread Bowl; the Baked Spaetzle with a gorgonzola cream, this item is right out of Germany; the Original Blue Cheese Kettle Chips, with a balsamic reduction; and the legendary Onion Rings, these award winning onion rings which sound so simple in name are quite deceptive, possibly one of the best things on the menu, they are breaded in a panko crumb shell and the trade secret seasonings, then served along side a habanero ketchup which make them quite addicting. With so many offerings to eat, the natural conclusion was to then taste many of their award-winning handcrafted beers.
Although not able to try all of the Oktoberfest offerings: the Dunkel Weizen, especially brewed for this one day, was particularly good in its dark, rich flavor, as well as the VolksWeizen, a refreshing wheat beer, Schwarzbier, a black lager, Dunkle Bock, a malty holiday favorite, Dopple Bock, a classic winter lager, the Marzen, an award winning and crowd favorite with toasted and roasted malty flavors, and of course the Oktoberfest Lager, a seasonal favorite dark amber. These were just a small sampling accompanying the first course that gave a wide variety of what this Oktoberfest and Brew It Up! has to offer.
Moving on to the entrees, which included a Smoked Salmon Sandwich, where the salmon was citrus brined and hickory smoked and then served on marble rye; Potato and Leek soup, a warm offering on a cold afternoon day; German Meatballs, served over mushroom and dill spaetzle; and the Oktoberfest Sausage Sampler, this true German dish was a particular favorite as the whiskey fennel, knockwurst, and bratwurst were perfectly smoked alongside red cabbage and apple sauerkraut.
After partaking in these traditional dishes with an added flair, instead of trying one of the many beautiful dessert options we instead maintained our current German theme, and finished with a Vanilla Stout which had the intense smokiness of a traditional stout and the rich sweetness of a dessert beer in the vanilla flavor.
Given such a bountiful meal, what better way to finish this Oktoberfest experience than a brewery tour with one of the many on-staff brewery specialists. These tours, which are always available to the public upon request, help to fully embrace the personal brewing experience. Our brewery guide walked us though the recipe selection and choices, then over to their 32 gallon brewing kettles, which are a main aesthetic feature of the establishment. A member of the brewing staff, who helps those brewing with their own personal blends and recipes, consistently maintains the all the kettles while in the brewing process. After the brewing process for the beer is finished, the brew then goes into the fermentation process. So our next stop was the ale room and then the cold lager room where the brews were air-locked while they age to perfection over the 3-6 weeks required depending on the ale or lager. When the brews are finally ready to be filtered of their yeast before the bottling process they are then taken into the “cold box,” where these beers are individually triple filtered and have carbonation added, after which the novice and experienced brewers alike can bottle their own beers! This station, where many a patron was excited to finish there long awaited product, is also home to where every commercial bottle sold from this brewery is bottled by the hands of the brewing staff; although there forte primarily runs to draft beers available on tap, they do offer a selection of their brews, one in particular a sought after favorite new to their brewing style is a Vintage Belgian Cherry Ale, aged in Oak barrels and now bottle aging over a year, is a sought after and exclusive beer similar in design to a Trappist ale.
After our brewery tour we were lucky enough to sit down with Head Brew Master Michael Costello owner of Brew It Up! Originating from UC Davis’s fermentation sciences field, Costello offers a more distinctive variety of brews than any other brewer in downtown Sacramento. Inspired by their 10th anniversary this past year, Oktoberfest hopes to become a Sacramento autumn past time, with many holiday specialties specific to Brew It Up! In the future, from their eclectic and scrumptious menu, along with the upcoming Valentine “pink” ale, and by-the-glass St. Patrick’s Day green beer, Brew It Up offers a wealth of brewing and tasting options to the Sacramento beer drinkers. When asked, given such a selection of options, what Michael Costello’s favorite beer is he claimed, “Oh, that is such a difficult question, better to narrow it down to the moment – that would currently be the Vanilla Stout and the Nordendorf Lager!” So whether out for the seasonal events or to enjoy the menu and libations Brew It Up! is for the connoisseur’s and everyday drinkers alike. You can find this beverage experience at 801 14th Street, @ 14th & H Sacramento, CA 95814, phone: 916-441-3000 or check them out at www.brewitup.com
Salute! Prost!
As we, The GoodDineGirls, began our selection process of the many dishes offered, the service staff was especially helpful in our choices. From the Cambozola Fondue Bread Bowl; the Baked Spaetzle with a gorgonzola cream, this item is right out of Germany; the Original Blue Cheese Kettle Chips, with a balsamic reduction; and the legendary Onion Rings, these award winning onion rings which sound so simple in name are quite deceptive, possibly one of the best things on the menu, they are breaded in a panko crumb shell and the trade secret seasonings, then served along side a habanero ketchup which make them quite addicting. With so many offerings to eat, the natural conclusion was to then taste many of their award-winning handcrafted beers.
Although not able to try all of the Oktoberfest offerings: the Dunkel Weizen, especially brewed for this one day, was particularly good in its dark, rich flavor, as well as the VolksWeizen, a refreshing wheat beer, Schwarzbier, a black lager, Dunkle Bock, a malty holiday favorite, Dopple Bock, a classic winter lager, the Marzen, an award winning and crowd favorite with toasted and roasted malty flavors, and of course the Oktoberfest Lager, a seasonal favorite dark amber. These were just a small sampling accompanying the first course that gave a wide variety of what this Oktoberfest and Brew It Up! has to offer.
Moving on to the entrees, which included a Smoked Salmon Sandwich, where the salmon was citrus brined and hickory smoked and then served on marble rye; Potato and Leek soup, a warm offering on a cold afternoon day; German Meatballs, served over mushroom and dill spaetzle; and the Oktoberfest Sausage Sampler, this true German dish was a particular favorite as the whiskey fennel, knockwurst, and bratwurst were perfectly smoked alongside red cabbage and apple sauerkraut.
After partaking in these traditional dishes with an added flair, instead of trying one of the many beautiful dessert options we instead maintained our current German theme, and finished with a Vanilla Stout which had the intense smokiness of a traditional stout and the rich sweetness of a dessert beer in the vanilla flavor.
Given such a bountiful meal, what better way to finish this Oktoberfest experience than a brewery tour with one of the many on-staff brewery specialists. These tours, which are always available to the public upon request, help to fully embrace the personal brewing experience. Our brewery guide walked us though the recipe selection and choices, then over to their 32 gallon brewing kettles, which are a main aesthetic feature of the establishment. A member of the brewing staff, who helps those brewing with their own personal blends and recipes, consistently maintains the all the kettles while in the brewing process. After the brewing process for the beer is finished, the brew then goes into the fermentation process. So our next stop was the ale room and then the cold lager room where the brews were air-locked while they age to perfection over the 3-6 weeks required depending on the ale or lager. When the brews are finally ready to be filtered of their yeast before the bottling process they are then taken into the “cold box,” where these beers are individually triple filtered and have carbonation added, after which the novice and experienced brewers alike can bottle their own beers! This station, where many a patron was excited to finish there long awaited product, is also home to where every commercial bottle sold from this brewery is bottled by the hands of the brewing staff; although there forte primarily runs to draft beers available on tap, they do offer a selection of their brews, one in particular a sought after favorite new to their brewing style is a Vintage Belgian Cherry Ale, aged in Oak barrels and now bottle aging over a year, is a sought after and exclusive beer similar in design to a Trappist ale.
After our brewery tour we were lucky enough to sit down with Head Brew Master Michael Costello owner of Brew It Up! Originating from UC Davis’s fermentation sciences field, Costello offers a more distinctive variety of brews than any other brewer in downtown Sacramento. Inspired by their 10th anniversary this past year, Oktoberfest hopes to become a Sacramento autumn past time, with many holiday specialties specific to Brew It Up! In the future, from their eclectic and scrumptious menu, along with the upcoming Valentine “pink” ale, and by-the-glass St. Patrick’s Day green beer, Brew It Up offers a wealth of brewing and tasting options to the Sacramento beer drinkers. When asked, given such a selection of options, what Michael Costello’s favorite beer is he claimed, “Oh, that is such a difficult question, better to narrow it down to the moment – that would currently be the Vanilla Stout and the Nordendorf Lager!” So whether out for the seasonal events or to enjoy the menu and libations Brew It Up! is for the connoisseur’s and everyday drinkers alike. You can find this beverage experience at 801 14th Street, @ 14th & H Sacramento, CA 95814, phone: 916-441-3000 or check them out at www.brewitup.com
Salute! Prost!
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