Ballast Point Seafood Pairing Dinner at Sea Rocket Bistro | Sept 8th, 2011

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chad white, colby chandler, Even Keel Session Ale, sculpin ipa, Sour Wench Blackberry Ale, Tongue Buckler Imperial Red Ale, Wahoo Wheat

Taking a look at Ballast Point’s beer names and label’s it’s obvious that the folks at Ballast Point are into fishing. So it surprised me a bit when I read on Sea Rocket Bistro’s website that their upcoming Ballast Point dinner happening tonight, Thursday, Sept 8th was the first to pair Ballast Point’s beers exclusively with seafood.

I’ll admit, I don’t know a thing about seafood, but I met and drank beers with Sea Rocket’s chef Chad White last week, discussing flavors and pairing ideas for a vegan beer dinner we’re planning for San Diego Beer Week with LoveLikeBeer and the guy knows his stuff.

But more on that later. The five course, $60 Ballast Point seafood dinner is happening tonight at Sea Rocket Bistro with Ballast Point Specialty Brewer Colby Chandler on hand. Reservations are recommended (619-255-7049, sorry for not posting about this sooner) but walk-ins are welcome as well.

The Ballast Point beers for the dinner will be Wahoo Wheat, Even Keel Session Ale, Sour Wench Blackberry Ale, Sculpin IPA (on cask) and Tongue Buckler Imperial Red Ale. Click the image above or click through here to see the food paired with each beer.

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Ballast Point Indra Kunindra

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alex tweet, colby chandler, indra kunindra

This beer is like no other beer I’ve ever had before. Brewed with madras curry, caynne pepper, cumin, toasted coconut, and kaffir lime leaf, Indra Kunindra is a 9% ABV stout brewed in collaboration with homebrewer Alex Tweet. Indra Kunindra was the winner of Holiday Wine Cellar’s 2nd Annual Homebrew competition last year, which is why it was chosen to be brewed at Ballast Point and I believe it is Ballast Point’s entry for the Pro-Am competition at the National Homebrewers Conference going on in Mission Valley right now.

Indra Kunindra smells like walking into a highly aromatic Indian food restaurant. It smells like a plate of curry was set down right in front of me. The taste is much the same, I tasted cumin and coconut and a bit of citrus which I can only assume was the kaffir lime leaf. I felt the heat from the cayenne pepper soon after I finished my first sip, but it wasn’t an unpleasant heat. The beer felt much thinner than I expected from a 9% ABV stout, but that isn’t a complaint just an observation.

The four ounce taster, which cost me a dollar plus tax at Ballast Point Linda Vista/Homebrew Mart, was probably just the right amount of this beer that I would want to drink in one sitting. One friend told me the aftertaste lingered unpleasantly for quite a while, which I didn’t experience but I could easily see that happening. As soon as I took my first sip I did immediately wished I had some food, something like a garlic naan bread. This is a beer that seems like it was made to go with food, but you would have to be careful to find the right combo where the beer wouldn’t overpower the food.

The June issue of West Coaster has a recipe for a scaled down version of Curry Stout that looks to be very similar to this one as well as a recipes for Prawn Curry with Fresh Pineapple & Asparagus and a Curry Paste courtesy of Ballast Point’s Specialty Brewer (the brewer that collaborated with Tweet on this beer) Colby Chandler.

Edit: Ballast Point recently received label approval for 22oz bottles of Indra Kunindra

Local Brewers on KPBS These Days

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colby chandler, kpbs, paul segura, san diego craft beer, shawn dewitt, these days

Yesterday the local KPBS morning show These Days had three local brewers on to talk about local beer and the upcoming San Diego Beer Week:  Paul Segura, brewmaster for Karl Strauss Brewing Company, Colby Chandler, brewer for Ballast Point Brewing Company and general manager of Home Brew Mart, and Shawn DeWitt co-founder and original brewmaster for Coronado Brewing Company and current Vice President of the San Diego Brewer’s Guild.

If you missed it live, you can download or stream the half-hour segment on KPBS’s website.

The KPBS Culture Lust blog also took a look at the local craft beer scene yesterday in this post.