Source Deli, Ormskirk

3 beers of Christmas Dinner or The Non-Stop Rise of Beer Part 2

2011-12-06T13:42:00.000-08:00

This post is for brookstonbeerbulletin.com/the-sessions/ A collection of beer bloggers, who once a month write on a chosen subject. This is my first post for them and further evidence of my growing interest in the world of beer. The subject is loosely based around the 3 ghosts of Christmas, my own thoughts lead as ever to how this relates to food.

Christmas day is about family, presents, soppy films, booze and as much food as you can possibly handle. Therefore I've switched my ghosts from Past, Present and Future to Starter, Main and Dessert. After the day time grazing of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, chocolates, mince pies and for some reason un-shelled nuts (even though the rest of the year they come conveniently shelled, salted and ready to eat.) You come to the main event, the meal of the year, Christmas dinner.

In previous years, this would have been a time to select your favourite wines, sparkling to fortified to white to red to fortified, back to red, back to fortified and so on. However, this year there could be an alternative. Beer. A meal (which effectively continues throughout the rest of the evening) which holds more calories than would normally carry you through a week and a drink with each course. So how would a beer convert plan this event.

To start - With the ensuing pork and poultry based onslaught of Christmas dinner, there really is no need for a starter, simply an aperitif, a palate sharpener that will help your taste buds experience everything put forwards. For me this year it will be Marble and Dark Star's collaboration, Saison. Dryness lifted with the characteristic Marble hit of hops.

The main event - I'm very traditional when it comes to the Christmas dinner, pigs in blankets, stuffing with sausage meat, sprouts, roasted carrots, roasted parsnips, roasted potatoes, cranberry sauce and a huge turkey. This is rich, slightly sweet and packed with different flavours. Therefore I'll match this with Liverpool Organic's Imperial Russian Stout. A slight sweetness, full body, but enough alcohol to cut through the different meats.

To finish - Christmas pudding and cream. A dark, rich, sweet pudding with a load of alcohol added at the end to finish it off. Hardknott have over the last year become one of my favourite breweries, and their new Vitesse Noir (a triple stout made with chocolate, vanilla and espresso coffee beans) has the strength and sweetness that will match this most decadent of desserts.

There is my dinner paired with 3 of my favourite beers, I'm sure I'll experience a number of new beers, new breweries and new styles over the next year, but these will make this a very happy meal. As the Shiel tradition states, I will then disappear into the lounge to drink Port, eat Stilton and fall asleep in front of this years film; but some traditions should never be lost.

Prospect Brew Day

2011-10-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

With the beer and food festival this month, we wanted to brew our own beer to bring to the event. I rang Patsy from Prospect brewery in Standish and discussed the idea. This brewery are never shy of trying different styles and agreed to try a new beer for the festival. So the idea was born and on 10th October, the beer was brewed.

Camper Van Beethoven

Not only did we want a signature beer, we wanted to be there along the process of brewing it as well. So early Monday morning I fired up the ever reliable Beethoven and drove to an industrial estate in Standish.

The mash tin

My knowledge of brewing is almost zero, all I know is it creates beer, so I had a lot to learn. The process is started by adding hot water (liquor) to malted barley and wheat in a large metal tanker called a mash tin. This process produces the sugars that will eventually become alcohol. With the maltiness of the barley, it smelt like a cup of Horlicks. With all the sugars extracted, this liquor is filtered into a whirlpool (or keep safe) which removes any other proteins.

The next stage is the boiling. This is done in another metal vessel called a copper. The liquor and malt (called a wort) is brought to the boil at which point the hops are added. The hops give the beer it's bitterness and adds more flavour. The 3 different hops (Amarillo, Centennial and Stella) are added at different intervals, so the flavours travel.

Adding hops


The copper

Then came our next ingredient, not usually used in brewing, basil. The idea was to produce a citrusy, strong IPA with a hint of basil in the after taste. When all the flavours had been extracted from the hops, the wort is then passed to the fermenting tank. This was one of Prospect's original tanks and was featured in Oz Clarke's and James May's programme : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZm1C5hrpGs&noredirect=1
At this point it all got a bit technical. Patsy took a sample from the wort to check the gravity (which defines its alcohol content,)the yeast was added and the tank sealed.

Fermenting tank

Adding the yeast

This is then left to ferment for a week, before it is racked (put into barrels) and dry hopped (more hops added at the barreling stage.) At this stage, you taste the wort, it's not a great job, it is very sweet (because the yeast hasn't broken down the sugars yet) and also very bitter (due to the hops), but gives an indication of the finished brew. You could just pick out a slight basil after taste which was what we wanted to achieve.

The final stage was my least favourite, the cleaning. To stop each brew contaminating the next, you had to thoroughly clean the apparatus. This meant, a shovel, a scourer, caustic soda and elbow grease.

Scrubbing the mash tin

Clearing out the used hops

My finished work (I'm quite proud)

This was a really great way to learn about the processes behind beer making, also it was nice to see the birth of our beer. Patsy is a skilled brewer who is passionate about the quality of the product, this is why I picked her for our beer. Although don't think for a minute she let me get away with not working. A lot of skill and hard work goes into each beer brewed and this gave me a better appreciation of this. Best of all I received my wages at the end of the day.

September '11 Tapas weekend

2011-09-26T13:41:00.001-07:00

Appetisers on arrival

Ajo Blanco

Figs & Serrano ham

Grilled goats cheese with celeriac remoulade

Salt fish croquettes

Devilled Cornish Sardines with tomato salsa

Mussels Romesco

Halloumi stuffed peppers

Albondigas

Pork belly with a chorizo, spinach

and chick pea stew

Manchego & Membrillo

This was the menu that was served on our 2 sold out tapas nights in September. Although the tapas style of eating is meant to be a light accompaniment to food, Spanish bar snacks, we changed it here to allow a meal with a wide range of flavours. We also didn't stick strictly to Spanish food, there was also some French, Italian and Greek influences as well.

We started with Ajo Blanco (White Gazpacho) which is a chilled soup made with garlic, almonds and bread. There is an added spikiness to this soup with sherry vinegar, this lends the dish to a sharp palate livener at the beginning of the meal. We served this alongside the figs wrapped in Serrano ham. The rich flavour of the figs was intensified by roasting them and serving them with a dressing made from the cooking liquor and olive oil.

Next there was a French goats cheese, grilled and served on a celeriac remoulade salad and lemon & basil pesto. A nice blend of lactic sourness of the cheese with the earthiness of the celeriac and acidity of the pesto. The salt fish croquettes were served very simply with an aioli (homemade garlic mayonnaise.) The quality of the salt cod was highlighted in this simple serving.

The same simple style was used with the sardines. Cornish sardines are fantastic quality, a simple dusting of spices with a little chilli and parsley left them to be the main focus of the dish. The Romesco sauce served with the mussels had much more oompth to it. The fabulous sweet Welsh mussels were able to withstand the sauce of tomato, red pepper, chilli and almond.

Cypriot Halloumi is a very distinct flavour and the salty sharpness of the cheese worked well with the sweet, smoky taste from the roasted pepper. This was filled with a simple roasted vegetable cous cous which added some body to the dish. Then came Albondigas, Spanish meat balls. Rich and meaty, and served with a piquant sauce, a simple classic.

The pork belly (sourced from a farm in Much Hoole) was served with crisped crackling and sat in a stew of chickpeas, spinach and chorizo. The sweetness of the pork set perfectly alongside the spiciness of Spanish sausage, richness of the spinach and earthiness of the pulses. As this was the 9th course, we kept the portions small, but the flavours built this up.

We finished the evening with the classic pairing of a 2 year aged Manchego cheese with Membrillo (Quince paste.) This combination raised some eye brows, but the full flavoured cheese is perfectly matched with the sweet, spicy fruit paste.

This was an enjoyable weekend and the chance to try out new dishes. It also allowed people the opportunity to try flavour combinations they may not normally have tried.

The Non-Stop Rise of Beer

2011-08-15T16:17:00.000-07:00

Roughly five years ago, on a squash court in Ormskirk, I put to my long suffering business partner an idea for a new venture. A deli, with informal dining and a killer wine selection to drink on and off the premises. In four months time, Source Deli will be in it's fourth year.

We have a carefully selected wine list which offers something different from supermarkets. Along side this, we have always had a small selection of interesting beers. Some, local breweries, a smattering of Europe and a couple from around the world. Our customers kept asking for new beers, new breweries and new styles. This fed into our passion for discovering new flavours. Over the last 12 months, our range has continued to grow and we are becoming recognised as much for our beer, as for our food and wine.

To celebrate this, we're holding our first (of many) beer & food festival this October. As anybody who knows us will appreciate, we like to add a spin to all of our events. Friday 28th will be a classic beer, barbecue and pub jukebox night. Saturday 29th will be a 10 course tapas (from around the world) and beer matching meal. Sunday 30th will focus on our chosen charity, Macmillan, and run through the afternoon.

We look forward to seeing a lot of our growing number of beer enthusiasts, as well as some new devotees. As long as everybody understands that I will finish the night with my customary glass of red wine, I'm sorry, habits are hard to break.

Italian Tasting Evening

2011-07-19T15:32:00.000-07:00

June's tasting evening was a five course Italian meal.

To start, a Caponata. A slow cooked blend of vegetables, spiked with the spice of chilli, the sweetness of raisins and the acidity of capers. The slow cooking style lets the peppers, tomatoes, aubergine and onions flavours mix together. This is served at room temperature with bread to mop up all the juices.

The next course was Minestrone alla Milanese. This follows the classic tomato, vegetable and mixed bean soup, which is then enhanced with pork belly to give a light stew consistency.

Spaghetti Vongole is a very simple pasta with clams. The strength of the dish is with the quality and freshness of the clams.

The main course is Saltimbocca alla Romana. This is a thin slice of veal with Parma ham and sage. Simply sauteed, this is served with a Peperonata, a mix of peppers slow cooked to develop their sweetness.

The final course is a lemon & vanilla panacotta. A mousse made with milk enthused with vanilla bean and lemon peel. We served this with a crisp almond biscuit as a contrast to the soft texture of the panacotta.

We kept to quite traditional recipes with this evening, highlighting the diversity of Italian food. This uses the idea of slowly prepared food using the freshness of the ingredients to their strength.

Meet The Brewer with Liverpool Organic Brewery

2011-07-12T14:47:00.000-07:00

June 18th saw the second of our meet the brewer nights. This time with the Liverpool Organic Brewery.

Karl Critchly, the head brewer from Liverpool Organic lead us through a range of his beers, including one which was new to all of us (including Karl.)

The beers in order were:

24 Carat Gold
Honey Blond
Best Bitter
Josephine Butler
Ship Wreck IPA
Imperial Russian Stout

The first three beers were decent quality session style. Gentle murmurs of appreciation for them all, very polite and sedate. It was the next 3 that made it a lot more interesting.

Josephine Butler is the new elderflower ale that had just finished conditioning in the bottle. This is the new experimental beer and, although slightly too sweet and floral for some tastes, was generally received well. Also by this time, the noise was growing gradually and the atmosphere was building nicely.

Next came the Shipwreck IPA. At 6.5%, it's quite a full on beer for some people. However the reaction was very good. The night was in full swing now which made it perfect for the final beer of the tasting, the Imperial Russian Stout. I'm happy to put this forward as one of my favourite beers, a really rich, decadent, chunky beast of a beer. Some people were tentative in their first sips, 8.1% being far stronger than they'd normally drink .But it actually ended as one of the most popular beers of the evening.

The final part of the evening is where the guests get to pick their own bottles. I was impressed to see how many went for a full bottle of the Imperial Russian Stout or Shipwreck IPA. Karl was similarly chuffed that a number went for his new project, Josephine Butler.

Great night and a big thanks to Karl for his help.

French Bistro Evening

2011-05-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

Friday 20th May was our French Bistro evening. A 5 course meal with some classic French dishes. Here is the menu:

Asparagus with poached egg and hollandaise sauce

Rabbit and pork terrine with celeriac remoulade

Petit salad nicoise

Pot au feu

Crème brulee

The asparagus was a rich taste of spring. I matched this with De Perriere sparkling chardonnay and Gwynt y Ddraig Perry Vale. The perry has a light, dry style that is reminiscent of a sparkling English wine, this helps balance the richness of the hollandaise.

The terrine, was paired with a Cabernet Rose from the Ardeche. Dry and mouth filling with rich fruits. Also, Southport Brewery's Golden Sands. A SIBA award winning pale ale. This has a light, zingy style with a faint ginger aftertaste. Very refreshing, which will pair with the remoulade, but with enough body to stand up to the terrine.
The nicoise was a deconstructed version. The tuna and capers in a boiled egg, with a little gem leaf, Jersey Royal, fine bean and marinated anchovy salad. All dressed with a tarragon vinaigrette. I matched this with a superb Macon Villages Blanc. I also recommended Pelforth Blonde. This is the lightest of the Pelforth range, but still has a depth of flavour that will match the various foods on the plate.
The Pot Au Feu is a rich monster of a peasant stew. Ham hock, oxtail, shin of beef and Toulouse sausages with whole root vegetables. However, the stock is purely that, so this needed a big flavoured, but subtle companion. My 2 choices were Chateau De Dracy Bourgogne Pinot Noir and Stringer's Dry Stout.
Finally there was the Creme Brulee. A decent Haut-Rocquefort dessert wine was perfect. To throw the cat among the pigeons, I also added a Dutch Trappiste Quadrupel. A classic blend of rich sweet beer, with a good hit of alcohol to finish. Would work nicely with the creamy Brulee.
The next tasting is Italian. Hopefully there'll be more interest in the beer this time round, it's something I'll persevere with.

Liverpool Organic Bewery beer tasting

2011-05-24T08:23:00.000-07:00

In the ever growing world of beer blogging, the Baron Orm is a well known name. Based in Aughton, he is a regular at the deli where we'll often discuss the various new beers we've been trying. We've organised a couple of beer tastings together and decided to try a Meet The Brewer night with The Liverpool Organic brewery (http://www.liverpoolorganicbrewery.com/.) Following on from the success of the Marble brewery night.
Karl Critchey (Head Brewer) and Mark Hensby (Managing Director) run the brewery with quality in mind. As well as producing a number of good quality traditional ales, they're not scared of experimenting with some interesting flavourings; including the award winning Kitty Wilkinson, a stout with added vanilla and chocolate.
Karl from the brewery sent some beers for a rating and I brought these to "Baron Towers". The Baron (I'm not allowed to reveal his name) and Chris Routledge give audio ratings for all the beers they try. As a special guest for the May 3rd tasting, we tried four of the beers we plan on having for the Meet The Brewer night, as well as a couple of the others he'd saved (knowing my particular love of dark beers.)

First beer of the evening was 24 carat gold - http://www.theormskirkbaron.com/2011/05/liverpool-organic-24-carat-gold.html. Slight cloudyness to this pale coloured beer (may have been due to transport issues, ie in my back pack) with a rich, inviting, citrus fruit smell. There was quite a dry taste, that is common with the brewery, with a slightly less powerful body; but had a long refreshing finish. Baron rating 4/5.

Next up was the Honey Blond - http://www.theormskirkbaron.com/2011/05/liverpool-organic-honey-blond.html. This has a nice copper colour and a sweet, nectarine nose. The rich, syrupy beer is balanced with a slight dryness to finish. There are floral, fruit flavours infused through the use of honey. Baron rating 4/5.

The Best Bitter is Karl's favourite from his range - http://www.theormskirkbaron.com/2011/05/liverpool-organic-best-bitter.html. This is quite light in colour for a best bitter. The bouquet is intense and multi layered, with blue berries and a slight smokiness. Big full bodied flavour with more of their bitter finishes. Baron rating 4/5.

The last Liverpool Organic beer of the night was the Shipwreck IPA - http://www.theormskirkbaron.com/2011/05/liverpool-organic-shipwreck-ipa.html. Caramel, floral and fruity smell. This carries on in the body of the beer, with a syrupy, spicy, marmalade style that ends in a sweet, resinous, long lasting after taste. Baron rating 5/5.

We tried some other beers that evening, including Mallinsons, St. Austell and the rare sighting of a Kernel (outside London.) An enjoyable night with lots of great beer, perfect.

On a previous tasting, Chris and the Baron tried Liverpool Organics Imperial Russian Stout (one of my favourites) - http://www.theormskirkbaron.com/2011/04/liverpool-organic-imperial-russian.html. This received 5/5.

See the website for all the information on the tasting nights and food themed evenings.

Asparagus, the ultimate seasonal treat

2011-05-11T15:29:00.000-07:00

Starting at the beginning of Spring, the English Asparagus season is very short lived. The deli started getting some from our green grocer in April and expect to finish early June. Therefore we try and use Asparagus as many ways as possible during this time. There is a difference in quality between the English and the imported versions, so it is important to utilise this now.

The classic way with Asparagus is simply to griddle or barbecue to gain a slight char mark. This leaves a reasonable amount of firmness to the spear, as well as enhancing the flavour. In the upcoming French evening we will simply be dressing this with a Hollandaise sauce and poached egg. As a starer, we are currently serving this with a lime and chilli potato salad. The piquant salad balancing the earthy, green flavours of the asparagus.

However, there are a number of other ways to serve this. We've used it to add colour and vibrancy to a chicken, leek and bacon pie; it balances the rich anchovy dressing of our crayfish Caesar salad and mixed with goats cheese, adds a filling to a spinach omelette.

Like strawberries in Summer, game in Autumn and beetroot and apples in Winter, Spring is the time to enjoy this seasonal treat. It is immensely versatile and should be used at every opportunity while it lasts. Living as close to Formby as we do, there really is no excuse.

Good Friday 5 course seafood meal

2011-05-01T04:04:00.000-07:00

As I'm sure you are all aware, Good Friday should be a non-meat day. Therefore Source decided to host a seafood night. As with all our tasting evenings, it sold out very early, one table even needed to bring an extra chair as their numbers out grew the amount we own. Here's the menu:

· Soup de poisson with rouille

*Suggested pairing – Loxarel Petit Arnau Rosado*

· Smoked mackerel & horseradish fish cakes

with chilli jam

*Suggested pairing - De Perriere Sparkling Rose*

· Coquille St. Jacques

*Suggested pairing – Vallemayor White Rioja*

· Goan fish curry with chapatti

*Suggested pairing – Chateau de Valmer Vouvray*

· Grilled red snapper with new potato salad &

mango salsa

*Suggested pairing – Santi Apostoli Pinot Grigio*

We matched each dish with a wine, as it was a fish evening we stuck to whites and roses. Some particularly interesting pairings were the fish curry with Vouvray and the fishcakes with a sparkling rose. The spiciness of the curry and coconut in the sauce matched well with the medium style of the chenin based wine. The slight acidity of the wine helped in cleansing the palate. The sparkling rose was matched with the fishcakes to keep the palate refreshed. It has a very light style, which meant there was no conflict with the strong flavours of the fishcake. The light sparkling nature helped cut through the rich, smoky fish and chilli.

In future events I will be offering beer recommendations to the menu as well as wine.This is due to the growth in beer being seen as important to a meal and our expansion of styles that we now offer.

In defence of lager

2011-04-19T14:15:00.000-07:00

I love wine, and I adore a well crafted real ale. I drink rustic farmhouse ciders and am quite partial to a decent whisky or brandy. There are books written in their honour and whole conferences set up to explore the diverse range. One product that is often looked down on is a good, humble lager. This is my attempt to turn this tide.

There are many crimes made in the name of lager. The insipid, watery, tasteless bilge served in pubs up and down the country is beyond redemption. At best it is very cold and will quench your thirst, that's it. However, there are many great versions of this drink that shouldn't be ignored. Germany is where the name Lager is derived from. The whole country produce a depth of styles that range from pale to dark, light to strong. The classic crisp, bitter, pilsners are one end of the spectrum while the dark, smoky, rich dunkel beers are their polar opposites.

Kaiserdom Pilsener is a good example of the lighter German style. It's a very pale colour, but is full of body and flavour. It has a malty hay smell that is quite common with many decent lagers. The mouth filling feel of the beer is set off with the carbonation. There is a slight smokiness to the taste and the whole drink is finished with a crisp, clean bitterness.

Hawkshead brewery from Cumbria, England, make their own version with the Lakeland lager. They take the the classic pilsner version and add just a slight twist of a real ale brewer. Like a good pilsner, it's bitterness is matched by the fullness of the body. It fills the mouth and yet has a slight stringency at the end that cleans the palate. With a spicy curry, this style of drink complements the food, slows down the heat and allows you to taste the different parts of the meal.

George Wright Brewers from Rainford, Lancashire go for a different style of Pilsner. Unlike the German style, this is a more amber colour. There's a touch of grassiness in the nose and the body has a creamy texture through low carbonation.There is a faint floral note that is balanced with the clean bitter aftertaste. This style of cask beer can bridge the gap between real ale drinkers and the usual lager drinker.

The Spanish Alhambra Reserva 1925 is a completely different beer. This has a darker body and much heavier style. There's a rich malty smell and a pronounced sweet grapey taste. This is then followed by a balancing punch of alcohol that rounds all the sweet malty notes. Lending some influence to the Belgian and Dutch styles, this is an incredibly complex beer that is a million miles away from the watery, tasteless styles that are so often synonymous with lager.

Hello

2011-04-19T14:13:00.001-07:00

We've set up this blog to keep you up to date on all the things happening in the deli. We're constantly getting in new foods, beers and wines. Plus our menus are forever being argued over and adjusted, this will keep you abreast of these changes.
As many of you know, we regularly have different tasting evenings. We will keep an account of all of these with menus as well. Also this is where you can keep up with OutSource, our outside catering arm of the business. We regularly travel to shows and mini festivals and will plot our travels around.

Cheers, Paul and Matt