Among the first things one may notice upon receiving a bottle is the label. The ‘Manneken Pis’ (aka Petite Julien and Little Man Peeing) is a famous statue in Brussels depicting a young boy urinating into a fountain. The history of this landmark is as confused as it is humorous. One story of the fountain goes that during a siege of Brussels in the 14^th Century, a young boy within the city spied the opposition setting explosives and urinated on the fuse, thus saving the city of Brussels. Another story says that the boy was the son of a wealthy merchant that was visiting Brussels. During his stay the boy was lost, and the whole city was scoured in search of him. He was finally found in a small garden relieving himself and smiling contently. Whichever story you may believe, the depiction of the ‘Little Man Peeing’ on the Blanche de Bruxelles label adds a bit of whimsical humor to go along with a delicious beer.

Witbiers and white ales were widespread and popular style from about the 11^th century through the late 1800s. Witbiers were among the first styles to use hops, which is ironic because today they are viewed as one of a few styles that necessitate seasonings other than hops. Orange peel, coriander, chamomile, and sometimes black pepper are carefully chosen to add the spicy notes to witbiers. An over or under ripe ingredient could end up adding vegetal, moldy, or sour flavors that aren’t complimentary to the style or other ingredients.

Blanche de Bruxelles doesn’t disappoint in any category. It pours light bodied with a pearly white head. Aromas of coriander, orange peel, and noble hops leave your mouth watering in anticipation. A touch of apricot and apple fruitiness makes way for a dry, spicy finish. Light bodied and refreshing, Blanche de Bruxelles is perfect for a hot day, and a favorite of Monk’s staff with our mussels and scallops dishes.

Cheers!

Also, keep an eye out for our Roof Top Honey, as the bee hive recently installed on the roof at Abbots is already putting out some beautiful honeycomb.

And for those that missed it, a new “At the Bar” menu is now available from 5:30 to 7pm nightly.  Grab a seat at the bar or chef’s counter and enjoy!

Cheers,

The Kettle and the Abbot

De Proef has specifically outfitted itself as a developer and producer of beers for third parties. With brewing systems ranging in size from about 6 barrels to 90 barrels, Dirk is able to offer his expertise to both large and small breweries. Many of the smaller and start-up breweries that come to Dirk either don’t have the money to produce the beer on their own, or are looking for an amazing or different product out of the gate. The larger breweries that approach De Proef may be looking to make a beer that is very different from their normal product lines, they may be contracting De Proef to help them meet demand on their normal products, or they may just be looking to collaborate on something special.

Each of the breweries that approach De Proef have a consultation with Dirk to figure out whether or not the beers and companies are a good fit for one another. Dirk frequently collaborates with the head brewers of these companies in creating the recipe, selecting raw materials, and adapting the technology of the brewery to meet the customer’s needs. Three brew houses, 58 fermenters, two bottling lines, two kegging lines, and a very committed team of beer geeks lends De Proefbrouwerij flexibility and integrity in everything they do.

This month we are featuring a beer of Dirk’s that hasn’t been brewed for another company. The K-O, or Knockout, is all De Proef. Brewed with pure malt, loads of hops, and tons of candi sugar, the Knockout tends to live up to its name. A very malty profile with honey, yeast, and caramel on the nose, K-O opens up with ripe apricot and a touch of vanilla. A large hop profile, mainly pine and citrus, help hide the high alcohol like a sucker punch. This one will sneak up on you if you let it. In the blue corner weighing in at 10% alcohol by volume, the commander from Flanders, the muscle out of Brussels, the Knockout!

The Trappist certification was created primarily to prevent commercial companies from abusing or misrepresenting the Trappist name. To be registered as a Trappist brewery the brewery must meet very specific criteria.

1. The beer must be brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery. The brewing process itself must be either done by the monks themselves or under their direct supervision.
2. The beer must be of ‘secondary’ importance to the monastery after prayer and the monastic way of life. In addition all the business practices of the brewery must follow monastic principles.
3. The brewery must make itself available to constant monitoring by the International Trappist Association to ensure the beers are of the highest quality.
4. The monastery must not use the brewery as a profit making business. The income should only cover the costs of sustaining the brewery, monastery, and monks. Incomes beyond these costs are donated to social charities.

Gregorious, Engelszell Abbey’s first American export certainly belongs in the same class of beer as Rochefort and Achel, but it has some very distinctive characteristics. Gregorious pours a dark caramel color with an off-white and very compact head. It is a little boozy on the nose, but you get hints of plums, brown sugar, raisins, and honey, the signature ingredient. Gregorious has a light to medium body despite its 9.7% ABV. This is due to the brewers using honey in place of large portions of candy sugar, as is the standard practice for the style. We at Monk’s first had the Gregorious for a Trappist Beer Dinner we did in February, and it blew us all away. Enjoy!

To purchase tickets and for more information, please click HERE to be directed to the Outstanding the Field website.

For a video re-capping our experience last year, click HERE (and the picture above is from last year’s dinner, by the way…).

See you in the field!

Cheers,

The Kettle

For those that missed it, a PDF of the menu can be viewed HERE.

Cheers!

The Kettle

Sunday February 10^th 1PM-3PM:              FiftyFifty Brewing Eclipse bottle signing

Brewmaster Todd Ashman will be available to sign bottles of the highly-sought after Eclipse series.  The Eclipse series is released every year in December: an imperial stout that is aged in different whiskey barrels.  Each bottle is hand-dipped in wax and hand numbered.  They also age incredibly well.  We’ll be pouring on draft the base beer (Totality) and several of the Eclipse beers by the glass: we will be pouring from the bottle two vintages of Eclipse Elijah Craig 12 Year (the 2012 release, as well as the 2009 vintage).  Thus, we will be offering a vertical and (with the base beer, Totality) a horizontal.

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Monday February 11^th 6:30 PM:                3^rd Annual Trappist Beer Dinner (SOLD OUT!)

Featuring all eight Trappist breweries, including Stift Engelszell, added this year, and Westvleteren, only available at the monastery itself but for a single American release earlier this year (the last is a gift courtesy of the owners).  The menu can be viewed HERE. We are taking names for a Waiting List (Tix are $195/person).  Please email Greg Brown at greg@monkskettle.com

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Tuesday February 12^th Noon:                     “Abyssident”

Every December, Deschutes releases its barrel-aged imperial stout called Abyss.  In 2009, the batch was in part infected with some bacteria that is welcomed in sour beers when used intentionally—and as a result much of that vintage went sour.  But it was still really good—and it was named “Abyssident” by the beer geeks, combining the name with “Dissident,” Deschutes’ barrel-aged sour beer released every two years.  We will be exploring “Abyssident” by pouring 2012 Abyss (the current vintage), 2010 Dissident, and 2009 Abyss (“Abyssident”).

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Wednesday February 13^th Noon:              Pliny the Younger

One of the most sought-after beers made in this country.  We get one keg of it, and this year it’s all going to charity (an idea borrowed from our friend Tom Peters, owner and founder of the famed Monks Cafe in Philly).  $10 for 10 oz.  Proceeds will go to benefit La Cocina, a very worthy Mission group focused on helping low-income food entrepreneurs.  We will pour it until it’s gone.

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Thursday February 14^th Noon:                    Sweet & Sour Valentine

We will be offering a glass pour of something sweet and something sour for Valentine’s Day, each paired with a different dessert.  The sweet is 2011 Adoration, and the sour is 2009 Temptation.

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Friday February 15^th Noon:                          Blind Lady Alehouse

Located in San Diego, Automatic Brewing is usually not seen around these parts.  It’s a 10-bbl brewery located at the back of Blind Lady Ale House, and we are lucky enough to have them join us and pour a few of their beers.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

For other beer & food options, please check out our sister restaurant, Abbots Cellar, on Valencia between 18th and 19th.

Cheers,
The Kettle

PS

For information on all SF Beer Week events here at the Kettle, please click HERE.

For details on them all, click HERE, and we’ll hope to see you all soon!

Cheers,

The Kettle

All the best to you and yours!

Cheers,
The Kettle