SPECIAL REPORT the Story of C3
Greetings,
While it is not unusual for a restaurant to have a "house" beer, it is most unusual to hear of a beer brewed specifically to pair with a restaurant's menu. This is the story of such a beer.
Oleana, a James Beard Award winning restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts, offers Eastern Mediterranean/Turkish cuisine and is known for its fine wine list. What makes this fine dining restaurant unique however is its C3, a unique beer brewed with cumin, coriander and cardamom, presented in 350 ml brown bottles with a distinctive label.
In early May of 2002, I had a chance to taste this beer paired with three of the restaurants better known dishes. The beer added depth of flavors to the tamarind glazed beef short ribs with the malty base and pungent spice flavors in the finish. On a lighter side, it blended the flavors of broiled baby sole with raki, crab and eggplant soufflé and refreshed the pallet with a hint of sweet finish rather than bitter hop flavors. With grilled lamb steak the malty finish, and the cumin, coriander and cardamom, emphasized the spices used to rub the lamb. I would have been hard put to choose a wine from their well-appointed list that could have done the same.
On a stifling Sunday afternoon three months later, just before dinner service, I sat down with Chef Steve "Nookie" Postal in the garden of Oleana, to hear the story of C3.
First of all I wanted to know how Chef Postal "discovered" beer and just how serious he and Chef/Owner Ana Sortun were about the beers served at Oleana.
Postal's appreciation of unique beer began five years earlier when he was enjoying a night out with friends and choosing a beer from the tap list at the Toad in Porter Square, "It was Allagash White," recalled Postal. "I remember how great it was the first time I had it. They had twenty beers on tap and I had never heard of it, so I figured I'd give it a try. It was like no beer I had ever tasted before. After that I made a real effort to try new beers."
Chef Postal admitted that Oleana is best known for its wine list. "Our beer list is for the non-wine drinkers who are looking for familiar brands, and for regular customers who know Turkish beers and ask for them by name. In fact we probably use more beer in our "beer batter" dishes than we sell. The fact is that we are known for our wine list and 85-90% of our customers drink wine. But everyone who has tried the beer has told us they loved it."
He also admitted that, "After work on ‘the line' all night in the kitchen I don't want a heavy dark beer... My favorite is a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon."
Nevertheless, from the beginning he and Chef Sortun were determined to have a house beer that would pair well with their cuisine. While working on the details in the beginning stages they started looking for a brewery that took brewing as seriously as they did cooking. They happened on Cisco Brewers on Nantucket Island and it was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
As Chef Postal told me, "In November and December of 2001 we approached Randy and Wendy Hudson at Cisco Brewers (a seven barrel brewery) on Nantucket Island. I went out to visit with them and Jason "Jay" Harmon offered to show me how to brew. I stayed with them for a while to get a real understanding of the brewing process."
From the beginning it was not smooth sailing. Postal said that, "The first experiment was with orange blossom water and rose rosewater but something happened during the fermentation and it didn't work. Then, in May and June we tried another batch using fifteen pounds of organic rose petals. It was amazing how many rose petals make up fifteen pounds. That batch also ran into problems and, again, something went wrong with the fermentation."
"Then we started thinking about hard spices," said Postal. "We knew we didn't want a "Christmas" style beer so we tried the three spices (cumin, coriander and cardamom) that we use in a lot of the dishes here at Oleana. The basic brew was an IPA and the spices were just enough to give it a unique flavor, but not overpowering. They brewed 65 cases the first time and in the eight or nine months we have had it on the beverage menu we have sold over sixty-one cases. We just ordered a second batch."
"It is great working with the Cisco folks," said Postal. "They not only brew the beer, they are willing to hold them for us in the right environment so all we have to do is go and get what we need."
The entire process impresses Chef Postal and he made that clear when he told me quite bluntly, "I think they are true artisans."
And that's the way it was...
Cheers!
Peter LaFrance
( peter.lafrance@beerbasics.com / http://www.beerbasics.com )
