Brother Thelonius

"If you want to understand the meaning of bebop, you have to understand the meaning of freedom." 

Thelonius Monk

For many years, Thelonius Monk wrote and performed music in an improvisational and unorthodox style. His music clearly and unquestionably demonstrated that he understood the meaning of freedom. That understanding gave rise to songs such as Straight, No Chaser, Epistrophy, Blue Monk and Round Midnight. As David Graham once observed in The Atlantic, Monk's "catalog - some 60 to 70 songs, many of them familiar to even moderately serious jazz fans - form the spine of contemporary repertoire." Indeed, Monk's song, Round Midnight, stands as the most recorded jazz composition of all time ... and, for good reason. 

Yet, not everyone was a fan of Monk's music.  One jazz critic described Monk as "an elephant on the keyboard." Yet, that is what makes Monk so special. He flattened his fingers when playing notes, sometimes hitting a single key with two fingers or splitting single line melodies with both hands. Yet, to some, Monk "adjusted his finger pressure on the keys the way baseball pitchers do to the ball to make its path bend, curve or dip in flight."  Sometimes there would be chord changes in Monk's music that seem wrong or out of place. To Monk, those chords were "the logical result of countless hours of musical exploration." 

For years, North Coast Brewing has honored the legendary jazz artist with a Belgian style abbey ale known as the Brother Thelonius. The beer is described as a "Belgian Style Abbey Ale," which does not lend itself to categorization in what is a realm of well defined beer styles - such as the Belgian dubbel, tripel or quadrupel. Perhaps that was intentional, a nod to an artist who sought to free himself from conventional labels.

As for the beer, I am reminded of a quote by Thelonius Monk: "the piano ain't got no wrong notes." The same can be said for North Coast's Brother Thelonius. The beer pours a reddish brown to amber, with a slight layer of foam as the beer is poured into the glass. The aromatic elements of the beer fit quite nicely into the Belgian styles. There are the yeast notes, which are accompanied by scents of banana and sugar. Those latter notes carry through to the taste, which has the  same sensory effects on the tongue as Thelonius Monk playing Sweet and Lovely. There are other elements in the taste of the Brother Thelonius, such as notes of figs and caramel, along with just a faint sense of the hops in the background.

The Brother Thelonious is very much the tribute to Thelonius Monk, as complicated and deep of a beer as Monk was a jazz artist. The beer sells for approximately $12.99 for a four pack of 12 ounce bottles or $8.99 for a 750 ml bottle. It is totally worth it, especially if you do what I do and enjoy the beer while listening to Monk playing in the background. 

ENJOY!

New Belgium Brewing Company Grand Cru Abbey Ale

New Belgium Brewing Company produces some great beers, such as its Fat Tire Amber Ale.  However, the beers that truly get my attention are the special or limited edition beers.  These beers include those that are part of New Belgium's Lips of Faith Series. The Lips of Faith Series are small batch beers, usually produced for internal consumption.  I've previously reviewed one such beer, the Le Fleur, Misseur? Ale, which involved a very good use of Brettanomyces.   

Fortunately, Clare and I have a couple of friends in Colorado who provided us with a couple bottles from the Lips of Faith Series.  I decided that these beers deserved special treatment.  Not only would I do a review of the beer, but I would also research the food pairing for each beer.  Based upon my research, I would create a Chef Bolek Original dish.  I would serve the dish to Clare and myself while we tried the beer. 

The first beer that our friends provided us is New Belgium Brewing's Grand Cru Abbey Ale.  After every one thousand batches of beer brewed by New Belgium, a batch of the Grand Cru Abbey Ale is brewed.  The Grand Cru is a nod to the Abbey Ale, which was New Belgium's first beer.  The Abbey Ale has collected sixteen medals at the Great American Beer Festival, seven of which were gold medals.

The brewer uses an array of ingredients to brew this beer.  There are five malts used to make this beer, including Chocolate, Carapils, C-80, Pale and Munich malts.  There are also three hops used in the brewing process, including Willamette, Target and Liberty hops.

The Grand Cru Abbey Ale pours a nice amber and gold color, with a nice foam that hugs the edges  elements of the glass.  The aromatic elements of the beer foreshadow the alcohol in the beer,  which, after all, has an ABV of 9.5%.  The aroma is far more complex than alcohol.  There are also aromatic elements such as vanilla, sugar, cloves, and rum.  Some of these elements carry over to the taste of the Grand Cru.  At least for me, the beer is full of flavors that are associated with trappist beers, such as cloves, as well as cloves and caramel.  

In terms of food pairing, the brewer provides several suggested pairings on its website; however, one pairing caught my attention ... a roasted vegetable stew with dumplings.  Drawing my inspiration from roasted vegetables, I developed the dish, Seared Sea Scallop on a Roasted Root Vegetable Puree. The puree is made from roasted root vegetables, such as leeks, onions, carrots and radishes.  What ties the flavors of the puree to the flavors of the Grand Cru is the use of certain spices.  In particular, I used clove and coriander, which are intended to complement the clove and banana flavors in Grand Cru Abbey Ale.  The cloves and coriander also tie the root vegetable to the flavors of the protein ... the pan seared scallops.

For my first time creating a dish in order to pair it with a beer, I think I did a fairly good job.  I still have a lot to learn, but that is one of the reasons for this blog.  

With this beer, New Belgium declares, "[t]oast to the monk's virtue and have a heavenly experience."  In this case, both Clare and I toast the our friends' kindness and have enjoyed a very, very good beer.

ENJOY!