Featured Beer Blogger: Jesse Friedman

DRINK WITH THE WENCH PRESENTS:

The Beer Blogger Interview Series

Curious what goes on in the minds of your favorite beer bloggers? Well, The Beer Wench is and she has embarked upon a mission to interview as many beer bloggers that she can — from all over the world. Are you a beer blogger? Do you want to share your story? Send me an email!

INTRODUCING: JESSE FRIEDMAN

Author of: BEER & NOSH

Beer Blogger Interview

Full name: Jesse Friedman
Internet nickname: “hey you, with the camera!”
Twitter handle: @beerandnosh
Name of blog: Beer & Nosh
Current location: SF, Mission District

Background “Snapshot”

1. Where did you grow up?

Lots of places – Chicago, Milwaukee, LA Area. But I call SF “home.”

2. What sports if any did you play growing up, through college and beyond?

Not really. I was/am a slightly pudgy jew boy, and was always better at watching sports than playing them. I’m not even every good at that.

3. How old were you when you had your first beer?

I’m sure I was pretty young – my family always believed that if there was alcohol on the table, everyone was entitled to it, in moderation.

4. If you can recall, what is the story of your first beer? Where did you have it? What style and brand was it?

My earliest, clearest beer memory was my dad giving me a taste of a homebrewed IPA what i was 13 or 14. I didn’t like it.

5. Where, if applicable, did you go to college? What did you study? What additional activities, organizations, sports did you partake in during college?

I went to UC Davis (go aggies!) where I majored in American Studies. On the side, i got a chance to take winemaking and beer making classes, the latter of which had a big impact on me. My beer course was taught by Professor Charlie Bamforth, who is fantastic.

In fact, stop reading this, pour yourself a beer, settle in, and watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjLHsUOraHI

Craft Beer Epiphany

Every craft beer enthusiast has at least one pinnacle craft beer experience that completely changes ones perspective on beer. I refer to this mind-blowing moment as a “craft beer epiphany.”

1. What was your first craft beer epiphany? Recall as many details about it as you can:

I don’t remember having a specific beer that really turned the lights on for me. I more specifically recall the first time I homebrewed: the bag of grains scorched and burned, we had boil overs, and our priming sugar wasn’t distributed properly – half the bottles were gushers, the other half flat. But it didn’t matter – I was hooked.

2. Have you have additional craft beer epiphanies since the first? Detail as many of them as you wish:

I wasn’t sold on sour beers for a long, long time. Then I had a bottle of Russian River Temptation, and that’s easily the beer style that i’m most interested in today.

Beer Blog Background

1. How long have you been writing BEER AND NOSH?

According to the blog, my first post was in July 08 – so about a year and a half.

2. What inspired you to start writing BEER AND NOSH?

I wanted a creative outlet, and a place to post links and thoughts that I thought were interested in, and my family and friends were sick of hearing about.

3. Why did you chose the name BEER AND NOSH?

The name was cute, reflected my attitude and point of view, and most importantly, the domain was available.

4. What are you personal goals for your blog? What do you hope to achieve with it?

Ideally I’d love to eventually do it full time – but for now, i’m more than content with the relationships with people and breweries it’s generated, and the doors it has opened to great beer and food.

5. What is one of the coolest things that happened to you as a result of being a beer blogger?

The tour I recently had at Goose Island in Chicago was pretty spectacular – it was over four hours long, given to just my and my fiancee, spanning two locations, and included barrel tasting. Also, putting on my own beer dinner for the first time last year at Scala’s Bistro was amazing – it felt like I was actually doing something, creating an experience real for people, and not just shouting opinions from the cheap seats. It’s easy to just give criticisms on others hard work – it’s much harder to put yourself out there, and see if people really want it. Every official beer dinner I’ve done has sold out – so I must be doing something right. Oh, and the dinner I just put on with Humphry Slocombe / Valley Brew / Ryan Farr - the most fun I’ve had at my own event.

One last one would be cooking with Sean Paxton, the hoembrew chef. I’ve learned a TON, not just about beer pairings and cooking, but also about leadership in the kitchen.

6. What are you top 3 favorite beer blogs/beer websites?

That’s tough. In my “beer” section of google reader, I’m subscribed to 12 feeds, plus I get a lot of reading through twitter. But If I have to pick 3:

• Pfiff – in spite of the fact Rob hasn’t posted in forever, he’s a great writer, and every time he finally does post something, I read it and wish I had written it.
• SF Craft Beer Examiner – Brian is a good friend, so i suppose his selection is a bit of a cheat – but his book “Red White & Brew” is a great study of brewmasters as people. In addition, his examiner blog keeps tabs on local events, so i don’t have to.
• Hopinions – Brewed for Thought / Better Beer Blog – I dunno if this really counts, but the Hopinions columns that is a collaboration (which is all the rage in the brewing world now!) between Mario & Peter is always a great read, and a deeper examination of an issue that you’d usually find in one single blog. It perfectly captures the kind of minutia that a beer nerd cares about, and drops you into the conversation.

Beer Talk

1. What are your top 3 favorite beer styles?

My answers to this are likely to change before I’m done writing this, but here we go, anyway.

• Extra Pale Ales - Like Alesmith X, or Drakes 1500 – I love that citrusy hop forward aroma, with a great light graham cracker malt backend. We need more beer on the market like this. Also, I’d like somebody to teach me to homebrew one.
• New American Sours – I’m going to cop out, and make up a giant, fake category for myself here. I’m thinking sours from Russian River, The Bruery, Valley Brew Decadence, New Belgium Lips of Faith, Cascade Brewing
• Farmhouse Saisons - Ideally, bottled with a touch of Brett.

2. What are your top 3 favorite breweries?

Again, I hate picking just 3 but: Bruery, Russian River, New Glarus

3. If you could work with or for any one brewery, which one would it be and why?

My own brewery

4. Are you a homebrewer? If yes, what is the most unique and interesting beer recipes you’ve brewed as a homebrewer?

I am. I’ve got two neat beers going right now: a beer designed to taste like banana’s foster, which is a wheat wine with vanilla and rum soaked oak chips, and a persimmon beer, which has ten pounds of persimmons flouting in it now. It looks like an alien science experiment. I’m working on how to get the persimmons out, since i don’t have a filter.

5. Do you have any beer certifications (BJCP, Cicerone, Siebel, American Brewers Guild)?? If so, what are they?

I used to be apple hardware repair certified, but I let it lapse.

6. What is your favorite beer and food pairing?

Right now, it’d half to be a really sour beer (like la folie) paired with white chocolate. I didn’t even like white chocolate before, but it’s a killer example of a contrast pairing, where the white chocolate brings out new qualities in the beer.

The Personal Side

1.What is your current day job?

I work on education technology for the UCSF school of medicine.

2. If you could change your career at this very moment, without any restrictions on what you could do, what would you want to do and why?

Beer & Nosh, fulltime. Because I’m sick of turning down great beer events on weeknight since i have to be at work in the morning.

3. Are you married? Children?

I’m engaged to a awesome girl named Elianna. Her favorite beers are DFH Midas Touch and DuPont Saison.

4. Outside of beer and writing, what are some of your other hobbies?

Photography of things beyond just dinner, Travel, Playing Wii, Cooking, and an ongoing fascination with media criticism.

Off The Beaten Path

1. If you were a style of beer, what style would be an why?

A double IPA, but with some age on it. Because I’m bitter, but have a sweet side.

2. You were caught smuggling beer illegally, which has now been made punishable by death. Right before you are sent to the executioner, you are offered one last beer. What beer would you chose and why?

New Glarus Cherry Red. Hopefully it’d take a while to get that wax top off, so that I can buy myself some extra time. Plus, it taste like summertime.

3. If I contracted you to brew a beer (or design a beer recipe) called “The Beer Wench” — what style would you chose and what, if any, extra ingredients would you add?

I suppose i’d add some rye. since it makes every beer better.

4. If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?

Flying. Because I hate the beer selection on airplanes. (cue plug for 21A Brew Free on Virgin America)

5. What is one of the craziest things you have ever done and lived to tell the story?

Taking a motorcycle taxi, driven by what appeared to be an eight year old boy to get around an island in thailand, and thinking “how is somebody going to explain to my mother that this is how i died?”

6. What are your thoughts on bacon?

I’m wearing a bacon themed short right now. Also, lamb belly is the new bacon.

SPECIAL THANKS TO JESSE FOR HIS AWESOME INTERVIEW!!

CHEERS!!

DISCLAIMER: All pictures on this site are property of Jesse Friedman.