Archive | August, 2012

All Grain Home Brewing – Getting Started

11 Aug

Well, as you can see we have taken on a new passion here at Cali Coast, brewing fantastic Beer.  Below are some photos of equipment you will need to get started in home brewing.  First, get the Book “How to Brew” by John J Palmer.  You are also going to need about 1500 dollars to get all of the necessary equipment.  You can get started with extract brewing for around 200, but all grain, force carbonating and kegging you beer is the way to go, for sure.  a basic list of items follows. Go to your local homebrew store, they can get you hooked up.

1.) 8 gallon boil Kettle

2.) Mash Tun (10 gallon cooler)

3.) Sparge Kettle (at least 5 gallon)

5.) Fermentors for primary and secondary with plugs and airlocks)

6.) Brewing Accessories, including the barley, yeast, and Hops

7.) a Corney Keg to bottle and carbonate your beer

8.) A kegerator to enjoy your finished product with

9.) Wort Chiller

10.) Sanitizer and Brushes

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Boudin Bakery Fishermans Wharf, San Francisco, Ca

11 Aug

Hands down, the best fresh Sour Dough I have ever had at a restaurant.  It was so soft and chewy and warm, fantastic.  Unfortunately that was the bread that was served to our table upon arrival, the bread bowl was old and stale!  That is outrageous.  Then came the appetizers, a bit of wine from the trite section of large batch ho-hums.  Overall all this was a nice experience, however ask for a bread bowl that was baked today!

Boudin at Fisherman's Wharf on Urbanspoon

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Henry’s BBQ Monterey, Ca

8 Aug

Well if you are in Monterey and looking for BBQ then look no further, seriously don’t look any further, I am pretty sure this is the only spot in town.  That said.  this place is built into a quaint little house, outdoor fire pit and friendly staff.  The food is good, nothing that will win them a James Beard award, but good.  Here are some photo’s I had some ribs and sampled the Fare…

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Bouchon Yountville, Ca

2 Aug

Is Thomas Keller a wicked culinary genius.  Yes.  Is Bouchon one of his restaurants. Yes.  Will you love Bouchon.  I don’t know, many people have different expectations, I find many people’s expectations and opinions unreasonable – for instance.  I gave this restaurant (imagine a whiny girls voice) like one star because it took way to long to sit down and the server was so busy he couldn’t even get water to us).   First, this is not reason to give a restaurant a diminished score you are probably at a very busy restaurant who is trying to do everything they can to accommodate their extremely large and demanding client base.

Bouchon, is the Lower end (and by lower end I mean $40 per person in stead of $400 like french laundry) of the Keller restaurants, but no less delicious.  From the squash blossoms, to the truffle fries to the sausage, this restaurant will not disappoint.  You will get very fat eating there, but you will be very happy.  It just so happens on this day, that Thomas Keller himself was there for Bastille day.  He was the first person to sit up on the dunk tank – Yep – the audience had a chance to dunk Thomas Keller. It was completely unpretentious of him especially considering he one of the most celebrated chefs in America Today.  Godspeed Mr. Keller…

Bouchon on Urbanspoon

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