dedicated to craft brewing and artisan pizza baking in the golden state

Interview With james spencer of

basic brewingradio

Road Trip &homemade Pizza

Minneapolis style

Off the Beaten Path

Great Pizza inFrazier Park

Beer SpotlightSaison Rue

&Total Domination

IPA

Beer & Pizza ForValentine’s Day?

Beer/Food Pairings Issue #2 January 2010

Beer & P izza

California

It was as natural as eating and, to me, as necessary. I would not have thought of eating a meal without drinking a beer.Ernest Hemmingway

Beer & California

P izza

California Beer & Pizza — January 2010 — 1

Issue #2 - January 2010

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Letter From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Feedback Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Interview With James Spencer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,5,6

Beer/Food Pairing - Shepherd’s Pie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Road Trip - Minneapolis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 & 9

Doh! - Angela’s Pizza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Beer Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 & 11

Off the Beaten Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Beer For Valentine’s Day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Planning to host or attend an ale festival, home brew competition, pizza competition, or any other beer/pizza related event? Send in the info (including links), we’ll add it to the Events Calendar on the web site and in future issues of California Beer & Pizza. info@californiabeerandpizza.

2 — California Beer & Pizza — January 2010

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Welcome to the second issue of the California Beer & Pizza online magazine.

Based on the number of web site hits and issue downloads, it seems that there are more than a few of you out there who are interested in craft beer and artisan pizzas. It’s good to know that there is still an interest in the work of skilled crafts people in a day and age when sitting in front of a monitor is the standard representation of success in the work place. Hopefully more and more people will be inspired to step outside the cubicle, either as a career move or in their free time, and explore their skills, talents, and interests.

In an effort to keep the momen-tum rolling, the features present-ed in this issue of CB&P contain a level of enthusiasm and passion that we hope you will find inter-esting and inspiring.

In this issue:

Home Brewing: CB&P is pleased to present an interview with James Spencer of Basic Brewing Radio. James is the engine that drives the Basic Brewing podcast, home brewing instructional DVD’s, and informational web site.

James is a communications industry professional who brings his skills and talents to the home brewing forum via his audio and video podcasts.

Road Trip: We are lucky to have guest columnist Angela Holden contribute a feature on Pizza Lucé, located in the Uptown section of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Angela also contributed her recipe for chicken-spinach pizza. The recipe looked good so we constructed it and baked it in the CB&P test kitchen. See the results in the Doh! section.

Beer Spotlight: This month’s beer spotlight focuses on two excellent ales.

The first is Saison Rue, a California Farmhouse Ale brewed by The Bruery in Placentia, CA. The CB&P home brewery has been having some problems brewing a saison to style so it was a great pleasure to review one made with such perfect execution.

The second beer review features Total Domination IPA from Ninkasi Brewing of Eugene OR. Readers of CB&P issue #1 may recall that Ninkasi’s Total Domination IPA was a recent discovery at the Freemont Oktoberfest in Seattle.

Off the Beaten Path: The plan for this feature is to provide information on pizza or beer-centric locations that require a departure from mainstream thoroughfares.

The goal is to provide readers

with references for their travels throughout California. Knowing that a “rare find” is just a little farther than the off ramp fast food establishments can be useful knowledge when you’re behind the wheel with pizza on your mind.

Our fist hidden gem is Mike’s Pizza Co. in Frazier Park. Mike’s has been making incredible pizza in the small mountain town since 1999.

Food Pairings: The (non-pizza)food pairing for this month features the peasant favorite - Shepherd’s Pie. Few things in life are more comforting than taking a shepherd’s or cottage pie out of the oven on a chilly evening. We take a look at the history, the ingredients, and the best beer to pair with this humble dish.

For the pizza/beer pairings; check out the suggestions for what types of pizzas to match with the beers in the Beer Spotlight.

Growing Pains: After a minor revision to Issue #1, the revised file was uploaded without the hyperlinks included. For anyone who opened or downloaded the file during this period of time, CB&P apologizes for any inconvenience or frustration.

Thanks for the support,

Look for Issue #3 in April 2010!

California Beer & Pizza — January 2010 — 3

WWW.CALIFORNIABEERANDPIZZA.COM

Feedback:You’ve been out experiencing the best beer & pizza in California. You’ve been home brewing, making your own pizza dough, traveling to interesting beer & pizza-centric destinations, and trying every food/beer pairing you can think of. Your fellow beer & pizza freaks want to hear about it. Write in, tell us about your trials and tribulations, successes and failures. Photo submissions are encouraged.

info@californiabeerandpizza.com

4 — California Beer & Pizza — January 2010

cB&P is Pleased to Present an interview with James Spencer of Basic Brew-

ing Radio. For those of us who are homebrewers, and enjoy listening to podcasts, there is no better resource than Basic Brew-ing Radio. The audio and video podcasts can be downloaded at the Basic Brewing web site and iTunes. The web site also con-tains home brewing resources (including a recipe index) and information on podcast produc-tion.

In addition to being an enthu-siastic home brewer, James is a communications professional and his vocal talent and produc-tion skills shine in the podcasts and instructional DVDs.

The Basic Brewing podcasts are archived back to 2005 at both the web site and iTunes and contain valuable information for novice and experienced home-brewers.

The recipe for the IPA that James mentions in the interview is in-cluded in the recipe index at his web site and was brewed in the CB&P test kitchen. The results were outstanding!

What initially sparked your interest in home brewing?

My friend Andy Sparks convinced me to start brewing. He owns The Home Brewery, a homebrew shop in Fayetteville,

Arkansas, and several years ago Andy asked me to help him produce a couple of TV ads for the store. Instead of paying me in cash, he gave me an equipment kit. I thought it was really cool. Of course, now I know it’s sort of like getting a free inkjet printer - it’s the consumables that cost the

most. Andy kids me that giving me that kit was a wonderful investment on his part.

What do you think is the best way for someone to get started?

The equipment kits and ingredient kits that homebrew shops sell are terrific. They usually have everything you need to get started, and many come with good instructions. Of course, our Basic Brewing DVDs are a great way to see the

brewing process from start to finish before opening the seal on the equipment kit box. We’ve had homebrew shop owners saythat they have more successful newbie brewers coming back with positive first-brew stories after watching us brew. And, there are many books and Web sites out there that do a great job, too.

How important do you think joining a home brewing club and camaraderie is to the process?

It depends on the personality of the brewer. Steve Wilkes and I enjoy brewing and sampling beers among a small group of friends. However, more outgo-ing brewers get a lot of fun and learning experiences from join-ing clubs. Club meetings can be very structured with formal pre-sentations and style tastings or they can be more loosely orga-nized like parties. Each club will be different. Often new brewers need educated palates to tell them how they’re doing, and club meetings are never short of experienced brewers who are happy to help out.

How would you describe your early experiences in home brewing?

MEDIA WATCH - BASIC BREWING RADIO

http://www.basicbrewing.com/

(Continued on Page 5 )

California Beer & Pizza — January 2010 — 5

MEDIA WATCH - BASIC BREWING RADIO (CONT.)

My first batch was not the best. My brewpot boiled over right after I added my hops, so much of the bitterness spilled out on the stove in a sticky mess. When I asked Andy to taste my beer, he took a sip, handed it to a friend and said, “He knows what he did wrong.” Needless to say, I had nowhere to go but up.However, a couple of years later, I entered two beers in my first local competition: an IPA and a Robust Porter. Both beers medaled in their categories, and the Porter won best of show. I immediately retired from competition, undefeated.

Do you think there is any benefit to entering home brewing contests?

In addition to the pride you might get from winning medals and prizes, there is the potential to learn a lot from entering competitions. Most competitions send your score sheets back to you. These sheets show the scores and comments from judges that may hold information that can lead to improvements in the future. The judging is done blind, so there are no biases for or against you. That’s something you can’t get from asking your buddies to taste your beer and tell you

what they think.

What led to your decision to start the Basic Brewing Radio podcast?

In 2004, I left a big corporation after being in their communica-tions department for 12 years. I started out on my own in video production and voice work, and in the beginning, I had some down time as I built my client list. I had always wanted to pro-

duce a project for myself, so I asked Steve Wilkes if he would help me put together a home brewing DVD. That’s how Intro-duction to Extract Home Brew-ing came about.

For the first few months, I be-came a telemarketer, essentially. I did cold calls to homebrew shops across the country, asking them to stock our DVDs.

Sending out samples, following up with phone calls, and making sales took up a lot of time. Then, Apple added podcasting to iTunes. Before, podcasting depended on quirky little shareware apps that were not very easy to use. With iTunes, subscribing to a podcast became as easy as clicking a button. In July of 2005, Andy and I sat down in the back of his shop and recorded the first three audio episodes of Basic Brewing Radio. A few months later, Steve and I started the video version - Basic Brewing Video. That was almost 220 audio episodes ago.

Now, instead of my calling homebrew shops, they call me. We have a direct line to our audience. And, instead of the podcast supporting the DVDs, the DVDs and other products we sell support the podcast, enabling us to travel to events and locations to get compelling content.

You seem to be a very handy and tech savvy brewer, do you think someone without a do-it-yourself background is starting with a handicap?

On the contrary, I feel my brewing setup is very low-tech. Compared to the computer-controlled brewing sculptures

http://www.basicbrewing.com/

(Continued on Page 6 )

6 — California Beer & Pizza — January 2010

out there, my gear is practically stone age.

Brewing is essentially cooking. If you can light a fire, keep a pot from boiling over, and wash dishes, you can brew. Once you get the basics down, brewing is every bit as creatively satisfy-ing as cooking. You can choose to stay within the boundaries of traditional styles or step outside the box and make up your own beers from scratch. The sky is the limit.

How do you think your best home brews compare with commercial examples of the same style?

I don’t want to brag too much about my own brewing, but I really like the beer I brew. Of course, some are better than others, but I can say the same about commercial beers.

When we go to the National Homebrewers Conference every year, I look forward the most to Club Night, where homebrew clubs set up booths and serve homebrew. The variety and quality of homebrew today is mind-boggling. Some of the best beer in the world is brewed five and ten gallons at a time in basements, kitchens, and on patios. And, most commercial brewers started off as home brewers. So, the next hotshot

commercial brewer may be living next door.

What’s next for Basic Brewing radio?

We’re going to keep working to try to find compelling content for Basic Brewing Radio and Basic Brewing Video. It’s challenging to find content every week, but thanks to the homebrew and commercial brewing communi-ties, there hasn’t been a short-age of experts who are willing to share their tips and tricks. Our collaborative experiments with Brew Your Own magazine are also very eye-opening.

Every day, I receive e-mail from brewers around the world who are learning to make better beer through our podcasts. I always respond the same way: we’re learning a lot, too! And we’re having a blast doing it.

RESOURCES AT BASICBREWING.COM

A SMALL SAMPLE OF PODCAST TOPICS

Archived Audio and Video Podcasts

Homebrewing Recipe Index

How-To Podcasting Information

Homebrewing Instructional DVDs

Beer Related Links & Merchandise

The Equipment You Can’t Do Without

Picking the Right Hop Variety

Learning How to Brew Like a Belgian

Brewing With Organic Ingredients

Behind the Scenes of a Competition

Adding a Coffee Kick to Your Brews

Smashing Pumpkin Beer

Beers Gone Wild

MEDIA WATCH - BASIC BREWING RADIO (CONT.)

California Beer & Pizza — January 2010 — 7

BEER/FOOD PAIRINGS - SHEPHERD’S PIE

since We are in the midst of win-ter and in some places it is actually cold outside, it was

decided to do a winter comfort favorite for the beer/food (non-pizza) pairing.

Shepherd’s pie is known by many names and variations through out the world. For the most part the common denomi-nators are local root vegetables, lamb or beef, and mashed po-tatoes. The term “shepherd” is frequently used to distinguish between a lamb or mutton filled pie and a “cottage” or beef filled pie.

Typically these shepherd’s or cottage pies are thought of as having Irish or English origins. Similar variations exist in Australia (potato pie) and New Zealand (potato top pie). In Quebec there is a variation with the peculiar name “Chi-nese Pie ( Pâtė Chinois).”

In the U.S. the most common is the New England version with ground beef and canned corn. There is also a “Cowboy Pie” that has Tex-Mex or Southwest style ingredients.

As is typically the case here at CB&P, the approach is to honor the tradition of the classic shep-herd’s pie and put a bit of Cali-fornia twist on it.

In the spirit of the time honored history of the shepherd’s or cot-tage pie, which most evidence

indicates consists of whatever was available baked casserole style under a mashed potato topping, the test kitchen at CB&P began with that basic approach and expanded the vision in an effort to find out what worked and what didn’t.

The pie that has brought the most consistent raves is baked with braised short ribs, mush-rooms, carrots, parsnips, mashed

potatoes and of course some beer to add extra flavor to the equation.

However you happen to con-struct your particular shepherd’s pie, most people would agree that it should be rich and filling. Even if you’re doing a vegetar-ian version (usually mushroom based) it should be hearty.

Since these pies are most often associated with Ireland and England, it is not surprising that stouts are often thought of as the best accompaniment to have with your pie and many recipes

include stouts in the ingredient list. CB&P is onboard with both of those concepts.

What is the best stout to height-en the experience? For add-ing to the cooking process the exact brand or particular style of stout is not of monumental importance. It would take some keen taste buds to distinguish between stout variations used in baking a shepherd’s pie. You don’t find too many budget stouts on the market so it would be difficult to add anything that wouldn’t compliment the pro-cess to some extent.

Choosing a stout to drink with your pie is another matter. Most beer lovers have their personal stout preferences but in this case the heartiness of the dish requires that you go bold. You want a stout that will keep you warm on a cold night and bring strong, rich flavors that will reward all the effort you put into creating your perfect pie.

CB&P recommends that you serve a big Russian Imperial Stout with your masterpiece. If you don’t have a particular favorite you can’t go wrong with Old Rasputin from North Coast Brewing. Old Rasputin is a huge favorite at CB&P and is consid-ered the perfect pairing for the Shepherd’s or Cottage Pie. Just don’t tell your relatives from the U.K. that you’re serving a Russian Imperial.

8 — California Beer & Pizza — January 2010

the first time i had Pizza lucé i was working second shift in a large Minneapolis

hospital. It was a Saturday night and business was slow when someone had the idea to order pizza for dinner. Rather than the usual Pizza Hut or Dominos, it was suggested that we try Pizza Lucé. Founded in 1993, I’d heard of Pizza Lucé, but had never experienced the pleasure. We downloaded a menu from their website [www.pizzalucé.com] and I knew immediately what I wanted: The Lucé. Loaded with homemade sausage, garlic, onion, mozzarella on a red sauce, Pizza Lucé offered quick delivery at a reason-able price.

That was more than six years ago, and I had always been meaning to eat in at a Pizza Lucé restaurant. With four metro locations, and a place in Duluth, there are more than enough options to en-joy a great night of pizza. In fact, I drive past the downtown Min-neapolis location everyday on my way to work. I decided to ask a couple of good friends to join me, and we ultimately choose the Lyndale Avenue restaurant in Minneapolis’ Uptown neighbor-hood.

Just a few days after the first snow storm of the season, we all piled into my SUV and made our way down Lyndale. It was Satur-day night, but we arrived early,

around 6:30 p.m., so it wasn’t too busy. We were immediately seated in front of a large picture window overlooking the street with its holiday lights. I was open to trying something new, but after all these years The Lucé was still on my mind.

I love everything about The Lucé. The homemade sausage, the fresh garlic, the generous amount of mozzarella cheese, and the not-too-thick-but-not-too-thin crust make it an easy

choice. But what I really love about this pizza are the slices of white onion, and Pizza Lucé’s ability to perfectly cook The Lucé to cheesy perfection while leav-ing the onions so crisp I can taste the garden they must have been picked from. Having had this pizza before, I prepared ahead of time with a dose of Pepcid and dug in to enjoy my feast.

My friends, on the other hand, were undecided and were having trouble choosing between The

Maximus and the Spanish Chick-en. Our waiter was kind enough to suggest that they order a large pizza and split it to order half of each. The Maximus comes with homemade sausage, pepperoni, mushroom, onion, black and green olives, with mozzarella on a red sauce. The Spanish Chicken comes with marinated chicken breast, red onion, toasted gar-lic, mushrooms, mozzarella and smoked Gouda cheese on red sauce. As our pizzas were deliv-ered, they looked like works of

art and smelled delicious.

Adding to the experience was the atmosphere at Pizza Lucé. This particular restaurant is not a large space, but offers enough seating to easily accommodate several dozen people. They have created a cozy atmosphere that still allows for plenty of privacy while allowing their pa-trons to feel warm and comfort-able on a cold Minnesota winter night.

At the end of the night our waiter graciously offered us des-sert on the house. We weren’t sure why, but suspected it was because our pizzas took a bit longer to get to our table than one might expect. It wasn’t an obnoxious amount of time, but it was noticeable. We decided not to inquire about the free des-sert and ordered the chocolate peanut butter bars. It seemed equally gracious to accept the dessert without question and

ROAD TRIP — MINNEAPOLISBY ANGELA HOLDEN

www.pizzalucé.com

California Beer & Pizza — January 2010 — 9

left me feeling as good about the service oriented attitude at Pizza Lucé as I did about the pizza itself. If you’re ever in the Minneapolis area and looking for a good pizza, it is worth the trip to one of their locations to have the Pizza Lucé experience. If you can’t make it into a restaurant, consider going online to order some takeout. Pizza Lucé is a much better choice than any of the fast food options and com-petitively priced as well. You won’t be disappointed.

Even if you don’t think you’ll ever be in Minneapolis it’s worth check-ing out the Pizza Lucé website. The Flash montage of their pizza-porn is very entertaining.

angela Was also kind enough to send along her favorite recipe for homemade

pizza.

We took her recipe to the CB&P test kitchen and gave it a try. The recipe and photos follow.

Chicken Spinach Pizza

2 - 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 pizza crust [see Oct. 2009 issue of CB&P]

1 package fresh frozen chopped spinach

1/2 cup sliced black olives

1/2 cup diced white onion

2 cups finely shredded co-jack

cheese

olive oil

flour

Lowrey’s Season Salt

Slice the boneless skinless chicken breasts into medium sized pieces and lightly coat with a flour and Lowrey’s Season Salt mixture. Brown the chicken in a hot skillet with olive oil until cooked. Thaw, rinse, and squeeze to drain the fresh frozen spinach. Brush the pizza crust with olive oil and cover with the spinach. Layer remaining ingre-dients as you like, but I do it as follows:

Crust

Olive Oil

Spinach

Chicken

Cheese

Onion

Black Olives

Bake in 350 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. The benefit of using a pre-baked crust and pre-cooking your chicken is that the spinach and onion are still fresh and crisp tasting while the cheese is fully melted.

Enjoy!

Since Angela gave the green light to alter the layering it was decided to try the olives & onions below the spinach for stability reasons. The pizza was outstanding and has been added to the lineup. Give it a try!

Angela is a blogger and podcaster from Minneapolis. She presents her views in an entertaining and thoughtful manner with a high level of professional expertise.

www.smartremarkspodcast.blogspot.com

ROAD TRIP — MINNEAPOLIS

DOH! — ANGELA’S PIZZA

10 — California Beer & Pizza — January 2010

the Bruery, located in Placentia, (Orange County) CA has been generating a lot of

buzz and has established itself as one of California’s premier up and coming breweries.

The label offers the following description: “Belgian-Style Ale Brewed with Brettanomycees,” followed by “Rustic, Deep Golden, California Farmhouse Ale.” Saisons are one of the most enjoyable (and underrated) styles, and California Farmhouse Ale has a nice ring to it. Expecta-tions are high after a description like that.

On the pour, the ale presents a pale orange hue with a large fluffy head. Tiny bubbles race to the top, suggesting a moderate to high level of carbonation.

The aroma is clean and citrusy and the dominant citrus scent that emerges is orange. The orange is as it should be and it’s a testament to the tight aroma profile that the orange prevails, not because it is excessive, but because it shines a little brighter.

The first sip reveals an even greater citrus presence but due to the spritzy nature of the ale

the flavors are very pleasing to the palate and not the least bit overwhelming. The dryness of ale maintains the proper balance throughout and the peppery background establishes contrast and adds another dimension.

There is no sense of citrus fa-tigue by the end of the glass and if one is inclined to venture beyond one glass, this ale will certainly hold your interest.

Saison Rue certainly lives up to the BJCP guidelines for saisons and adds a little boldness to the equation. Perhaps that’s what defines it as a California Farm-house Ale.

Pizza Pairing: Saisons will do a good job of clearing the palate between slices or bites but you want to be careful not to get too carried away with bold flavor profiles on your pizza.

Since many Californians grill year round CB&P feels that the charred flavors of a grilled pizza would go very well with Saison Rue. Keep your toppings and sauces light and bright to com-pliment the orange and corian-der flavors in the ale.

You don’t need much more than a little olive oil, herbs, fresh greens, maybe some prosciutto and a little shaved Parmesan to top your individual pizza right off the grill.

In the oven, follow the same strategy but since you’re not getting the charred crust from the grill, try to get a nice golden brown, buttery crust.

Food Pairings: Duck a l’orange anyone? The hint of orange in the ale will create a nice flavor bridge but is restrained enough to avoid turning this paring into too much of an orange-fest.

If you want a little more contrast try a grilled cheese with seared duck breast and a cherry or cran-berry sauce. That should rock your world.

Let us know your favorite pair-ings for Saison Rue or saisons in general.

info@californiabeerand pizza.com

Saison Rue was a Gold Medal Winner at the 2008 Los Angeles International Beer Competition.

The Bruery recommends aging this beer.

BEER SPOTLIGHT

Saison RueThe Bruery (Click photo to link to their web site)

California Farmhouse Ale

8.5% ABV — 30 IBU’s

California Beer & Pizza — January 2010 — 11

total domination Was a surPrise find at the Fremont Okto-berfest in Seattle this past

September (See CB&P Issue #1). There was enough intrigue with this beer to ship some back to California for a more thorough review.

The immediate reaction to the aroma upon popping the cap is that this is definitely a Pacific Northwest IPA. The scent of citrusy hops fills the air.

The pour reveals a barely trans-parent amber hue with a very impressive head. The head is very fluffy, almost Belgian like.

The first sip is dominated by a single hop flavor. Very clean for an IPA, it doesn’t seem that dif-ferent hops are bombarding you from every direction. The sense is that just one or two hops of a mid-range alpha content take command of the situation.

A glance at the label reveals the following declaration, “Multiple hops collide in balanced perfec-tion.” So I was wrong with the single hop theory but I do agree with the label about the hop balance.

A very nice lacing follows down the glass as one proceeds. The head retains its glory to the bot-tom of the glass and adds a bit of creaminess throughout the experience.

The brewers at Ninkasi have done a very good job of creating an IPA with the kind of hop pres-ence you want in the style, but they didn’t stop there; the head retention is unique and displays impressive skills in the brewing process.

Pizza Pairing: Some people hate the idea that Thai chicken pizza exists but as was stated in the first issue; Californians aren’t bound by tradition. If you are a fan of the Thai chicken pizza (and there is no reason why you shouldn’t be) then this would be a good beer to pair with it. The hops aren’t so insane that you’ll kill a peanut based Thai sauce, but it will stand up and compli-ment the pie even if you make yours very spicy.

Food Pairings: That fluffy head gives you a little more leeway than you would typically get from an IPA. It brings a compo-

nent into the flavor and texture profiles that you don’t often get with hop bombs.

The constant presence of the head can act as a barrier be-tween the hop bitterness and spicy foods. You don’t need thick dairy, or avocado, to coat the tongue and balance the hops, the head will do that for you (to an extent).

Feeling bold? Whatever the high end of your spice scale is you can go there and take this beer with you. The grapefrutiness will probably go better with Latin American rather than Asian, so Baja-style fish tacos with a haba-nero based sauce should do the trick. Add some diced tomatoes, cilantro, a squeeze of lime and you’re good to go.

If you don’t like fish, grilled chicken tacos are also a good idea and for a vegetarian option just load up your tacos with your favorite grilled veggies. Just make sure you season every-thing well, you need big flavors that can hold their own with Total Domination.

BEER SPOTLIGHT

Total Domination IPANinkasi Brewing (Click photo to link to their web site)

India Pale Ale

6.7% ABV 65 IBUs

12 — California Beer & Pizza — January 2010

By all aPPearances the frazier Park exit off of interstate 5 (aPProximately 70 miles north

of los angeles) appears to be a typical rural exit with amenities geared towards truckers.

However, a quick 10-minute drive towards the town of Frazier Park on Frazier Mountain Park Road leads one to a small loca-tion offering a unique style of pizza.

Mike’s is a no frills all-about-the-pie establishment. For the pizza-phile it is well worth the quick jaunt off of I-5 to stop in and add one of these sublime pies to your pizza bucket list.

As with most artisan pizza estab-lishments, your pizza will take a little longer to bake here than at the fast-food assembly line franchises. It is well worth the wait and to help pass the time Mike’s craft beer selection in-cludes Firestone Walker Pale Ale and Stone Porter. There are also plenty of soft drink options for your designated driver.

The crust is what makes the Mike’s Pizza Co. experience worth seeking out. The balance between crunchy exterior and soft interior shows an extraordi-nary skill level and expertise. The outer circle of crust curls back over and provides an almost a bowl -like effect. That outer crust edge is unique and deli-cious.

Mike’s provides six size options from an individual pizza to the massive 23” Chicago Cut Party Pizza. There is also a Take & Bake option that can be shipped to any location in the continental U.S.

Mike’s is located at 6929 Lake Place, Lake of the Woods, CA 93225, (661) 245-2941.

In addition to the extraordinary pizza available at Mike’s, the area of Frazier Park and Lake of the Woods provides visitors with a

wide range of recreational ac-tivities. The towns are bordered by Los Padres National Forest, which offers camping, hiking, and areas for 4x4 vehicles. With elevation ranges from 4,500 - 8.500 feet (at nearby Mt. Pinos) there is snow throughout the winter so the area is popular for sledding, cross country skiing and snow shoeing.

OFF THE BEATEN PATH - MIKE’S PIZZA CO.

The Sign in Front of Mike’s

A Tomato and MushroomPie From Mike’s Pizza Co.

Click on the Sign to Map Mike’s Pizza Co.

A group of young pizza enthusiasts wait for their

pies on the porch at Mike’s Pizza Co.

Links:

Mikes Pizza Co.

Los Padres National Forest

California Beer & Pizza — January 2010 — 13

With Valentine’s day right around the corner it’s aBout time to contemPlate

the joy of giVing your loVed one that Very sPecial gift.

We know the problem you face, you’re in a rut, you’ve given her diamonds, pearls, flowers, linge-rie, and every chocolate arrange-ment on the planet.

In an effort to avoid the ho-hum of yet another diamond necklace, maybe it’s time to show her that you really care and give her a gift she’ll never forget.

One viable option is to bake her a Valentine’s pizza. Why deal with the hassle and expense of online flower shops, malls and jewelry stores when you can give her a hand crafted gift, baked personally by you!

Imagine the look on her face when you present her with a hot pie right out of the oven, topped with melted chocolate, raspberries and whipped cream (that you actu-ally whipped yourself ). Your loved one will be thrilled with your incredibly thoughtfulness, imagination, and talent.

To really make this a wow experi-ence you must, of course, pres-ent her with a beer (or beers). You don’t want to get too far away from the traditional Val-

entine themes so CB&P recom-mends beers with chocolate.

Some to consider are: Rogue Chocolate Stout, Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence, and Sam Adams Chocolate Bock.

If you can’t find any beers with chocolate, you can’t go wrong

with the classic stout & choco-late pairing. Serve any stout you like with your Valentine’s pizza. It would be very wrong to assume that women don’t like stouts, get that whole concept of chick beers out of your head. And ladies, if you’re the one doing the pizza/beer presentation, you want to know that your special someone

is stout-friendly. Think of it as test, do you really want to put time and effort into a relation-ship with a lite beer drinker?

For a Valentine’s Day you will never forget, bust out the choco-late pizza, the chocolate beer and have the experience of a lifetime. You’ll be swinging from the chandeliers before you know it.

BEER FOR VALENTINE’S DAY

Give the Candy Back!You’re an Adult,

Tell Him You Want Beer!

Your friends that make up the California Beer & Pizza

universe want to know how your Valentine’s Day beer and pizza extravaganza

turned out. Write in and tell us all about it. Remember to include pictures and recipes.

We want to read about, and see photos of, gooey choco-late pizzas, overflowing pint glasses and whipped cream

flying through the air.

Tell us how it compared with other Valentine’s Days you’ve experienced. Ladies, did you miss the diamonds and flowers? Guys, did you miss the annual pilgrimage

to Victoria’s Secret?

info@californiabeerandpizza.com