Back by popular demand, it looks like these little craft beer collaboration shorts are going to become one of the regular house brews around here. Full feature episodes of Inside the Craft should be up on tap sometime in October but in the meantime, I hope these collaboration features and the stuff I’ve got goin’ with the beer hounds over at hopshighway.com will keep your taste for craft content satiated without getting you inebriated.
Once again I found myself back at Pure Project in Miramar, but this time for a collaboration of a slightly different flavor. Prepare to pair as I followed Chef Chuy from Urge American Gastropub into Pure Project’s brew house where Winslow was whipping up his first triple IPA to help celebrate Urge’s 6th Anniversary bash slated for the last weekend in July.
Every year Urge celebrates their “birthday” with special delectables paired with some exclusive beers they’ve been hoarding, in addition to something crafted locally, purpose-brewed for the 3-day event. As one of their very first keg customers, the Pure/Urge relationship was already firmly established so when Chef Chuy decided to put down his gravy ladle and pick up a mash paddle, it was pretty much a no-brainer as to where he was going to turn.
Between the Samurai Chef’s affinity for Asian flavors and the Ninja brewer’s need for an excuse to unleash his first triple IPA onto the unsuspecting townies below, this is indeed a mighty joining of forces, the likes of which haven’t been seen since Jack Burton and Wang Chi found Big Trouble in Little China.
Chef Chuy’s building a burger for the event decked out with a duck egg to provide sauce for the gander and a Hoisin infused duck confit over a big-ass, wasabi dry-rubbed beef patty, all sitting on a bed of pickled carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes.
In keeping with the Asian persuasion, Winslow’s triple IPA “Oni” (a kind of yōkai from Japanese folklore, variously translated as demons, devils, ogres, or trolls) features a combination of rice to lighten the body and Sorachi Ace Japanese hops. At 11% ABV, disrespect it and ya risk fallin’ on your own sword…
If that ain’t enough for ya, Urge will also have some wings on hand blasted with ghost peppers, named as such because a ghost is what you’ll be if you think you’re gonna power ’em down like the standard buffalo variety… Seriously, the bhut jolokia is an alleged killer so yeah… Expect to sign a waiver before taking the roof off your mouth with these bad-boys and that ain’t no joke.
Those of a lesser constitution might want to stick to the burger because if you drain a few Oni’s and go wrist deep into the wings, you could very well end up going straight from the gastropub to the nearest gastroenterologist.
Mark yer calendar for July 29th…
Banzai, Daniel-san!!!
