Bothen Beer Blog: Sunday brisket & catching up with beer recent beer stops

The first sunny Sunday in a long time. Time to fire up the smoker and try doing a brisket. Wasn't very happy with my last attempt. Trying a different cook this time. 325* for 4-5 hours instead of the standard 225* for 10-12 hours.

Bought an 11 LB untrimmed brisket at Smart & Final. Trimmed away the fat(about 2.5 pounds!) and rubbed it with my favorite homemade rub.

Using hickory chunks for the smoke.

Should take about 3-4 hours to reach 170*. Then I'll wrap it in foil for the final hour or so.

Beautiful sight.

Good opportunity to try a beer I received in a trade from my good friend & fellow beer advocate, Rusty Diamond(his real name).

This is Baptista from http://www.pisgahbrewing.com/index.htm in Black Mountain, Ga. All their beers are certified organic. This particular brew is a Belgian Noel style. It was a limited edition

From their site: This Belgian Noël takes it’s name from Jan Baptista van Helmont (1579-1644), the Flemish chemist and physician who first discovered CO and coined the word “gas” by recognizing the existence of gases distinct from air. This energy luminary was the founder of pneumatic chemistry and also the first to bridge alchemy and early chemistry. Hats off to the man behind the bubble.

Thanks to Rusty for mailing one out to me. If you didn't know, I'm a pretty big beer geek.

Reminds me. Last weekend I was in Irvine for work. Took the opportinity to drive down to Pizza Port in San Clemente. Place is great. Pizza is awesome. They have 8 of their own bers and 10 or so taps of guest beers. When I was there they had Pliny The Elder, Racer X, Gonzo imperial porter, Alesmith Speedway Stout, and other great beers you don't see on tap every day.

I didn't park on the roof. I parked on El Camino with a view of the Pacific Ocean.

That's a Monterey Pizza(Pepperoni & Artichoke) & a Speedway Stout.

Also went to Stone Brweing in Escondido. Mixed bag. The place is beautiful. By far the coolest looking & neatest vibe of any brewery I've been to. Huge outdoor garden area with streams, walking paths, etc.

Their logo etched into the wall.

The menu is all organic & every item is made with beer. We had the IPA battered onion rings with smoked porter BBQ sauce. Despite how AWESOME they look. They were just ok. The sauce was really good though. Also had the cheddar, garlic, & IPA soup. Wasn't very good. In fact is was gross. I appreciate what they were doing, but it wasn't very good in my opinion.

All in all I'd probably be there once a week if the place was in the Bay Area. Just for the beer selection though, which is incredible. The Orange County/San Diego area is pretty much the Napa of beer right now.

My cat, Tiny, is pretty happy the sun is back too.