House of Jerky and Their Jerky Lineup!

While most of my blog is devoted to wine reviews, I do occasionally try to add in other things that interest me. You may have noted the beer blogs I've posted over the past months as well as various blogs detailing my often-futile attempts in the kitchen. In keeping with that theme, here's a blog about jerky. Most Americans are fans of jerky, and I'm sure everyone has had the common varieties you find in supermarkets and convenience stores. I grew up eating the stuff during Cub Scout and Boy Scout trips, and I must admit that it did help me get through flight school during late night sessions in the simulator and long cross country trips in a Cessna 172.

The other side of the jerky coin is the gourmet jerky, from purveyors like House of Jerky. This is the top quality stuff, made with natural ingredients, no added chemicals, and often using old family recipes instead of big factories. I was sent a huge sampling of the various kinds of jerky that the folks at House of Jerky make, and got to taste through them over the past few weeks. Both beer and wine were paired in an attempt to draw some conclusions as to the nature of these pairings. Last year I introduced the San Diego Wine Mafia to my favorite jerky pairing, featuring pinot noir and beef jerky. Here I'll explore other varietals and other kinds of jerky.

Since I want to keep the listing concise, I'll just list the kind of jerky, what I liked it about it, and what wine and/or beer would pair well with it.

Black Pepper Wild Boar Jerky - This is a chewy, earthy jerky with the spicy pepper notes meandering throughout. A salty/sweet kick at the end just begs for something interesting like and off-dry riesling from Oregon, or a rich, tannic syrah from Washington. Either way, you better prepare your mouth for an epic adventure of taste and flavor.




Black Pepper Venison Jerky - Lean, gamey taste with spicy pepper bursts at the edges of your tongue. Great texture and the heat from the black pepper carries on for a while. Bring me some Chocolate Stout or a Paso Robles zinfandel for this awesome stuff. And also please bring me some salty potato chips to complete the palate pleasing trifecta.

Sweet and Spicy Beef Jerky - This reminds me of the stuff from my youth, the sweet is great because it shows first, but the spice is powerful and demands something equally strong. A nice oak aged Porter would do well, as would a sweet gewurztraminer or Spanish grenache. My experiments with India Pale Ales and cabernet sauvignon didn't go well and the pinot I tasted simply wilted under the jerky attack.

Hot Beef Jerky - While the previous beef jerky was spicy, this is HOT stuff! It's definitely beef jerky, there's a sweet, earthy flavor there behind the wall of spicy hotness. Bring on the sweet riesling's, nitrogen conditioned stouts, and port wines. Basically though, this is in a class by itself and perhaps needs a pear or apple cider. My friend Becky suggested a red like barbera or carmine, they're worth a shot too.

Black Pepper Turkey Jerky - One of the drier jerkies that I received, also one of the saltiest. I think this would pair exceptionally well with Champagne or sparkling wine. Perhaps one that has some residual sugar, a demi sec or extra dry instead of a brut. There's a mild pepper flavor that's incredibly pleasing, making this one of my favorite samples out of the entire box. Try it also with a big, hoppy IPA and you'll be happy as can be.

Black Pepper Beef Jerky - The driest of the jerky samples, so I think that the barbera I mentioned earlier would pair extremely well with this one, also a full bodied amber ale like the Calico from Ballast Point. There's  hardly any pepper here, instead, a nice mix of salty, beefy flavors with a hint of sweet right on the finish. Honestly this might be the most versatile jerky in the package.

Teriyaki Turkey Jerky - Moist, tender, sweet teriyaki flavors along with the poultry flavor of turkey. Wowie, so damn tasty! I want that strong IPA now or a big California cabernet that's bursting with berry notes and oak. One of those usually-nasty fruit bombs would absolutely kill it in a pairing here. Also, I had some Willamette chardonnays last week that would rock too, like the 2008 Estate from Johan especially!



Natural Style Beef - Another dry jerky, but oh my goodness is this one good! Pure beef flavor, like eating dried filet mignon. Give me an American Pale Ale with this or crack a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape, from a year where they didn't screw it up with too much extraction. I also found that this paired exceptionally nicely with a Russian River Valley pinot noir, surprisingly good in fact.



Black Pepper Buffalo Jerky - If I have one gripe about this one, it's just too dry. I loved the texture though, the gamey buffalo meat and the pepper complement each other so well, and there's just this crazy-cool hint of cocoa powder in there too. Give me a bottle of Cana's Feast merlot please! That and leave me in peace to just enjoy some awesome flavors in my mouth.



Teriyaki Beef Jerky - Perhaps the most straightforward jerky in the amazing sampler pack, but also the one that brought me back to childhood. Nice thin sheets with a sweet teriyaki sauce that kept the beef moist and chewy. A hint of nuttiness on the mid palate was very pleasant. Since this took me back to childhood, so too will my wine (in a way). I'll take a bottle of Gary Farrell Russian River Valley Pinot Noir please. My dad sold Gary's wines down here in San Diego until the winery was gobbled up by a conglomerate, so I grew up with cases of this stuff around the house. I suspect it was my first domestic pinot noir ever.


I just tasted through ten different jerkies for you all, feel free to tell me what a committed, awesome author I am. What sacrifice, all to please and entertain my readers!

Kidding aside, the samples sent to me by House of Jerky were all outstanding and I cannot urge you enough to go to their website and check out the selection. I want to thank Janie for reaching out to me and sending these sampler bags along. You can follow them on twitter @HouseofJerky and Janie is truly one of the more engaging people out there.


Beau Carufel

Westvleteren 12, Hopworks, Great Divide Beers Get Tasted

On Friday the 13th, my friend Walker and I got together again to taste awesome beers. A few weeks prior, we had our first tasting of some great craft brews so I have a feeling this is going to become a regular occurrence. Anyways, Walker is on a quest to taste the top 100 beers as rated by beeradvocate.com, and I am more than happy to help out with that. Their #1 beer,the Westvleteren 12, is something that can only be purchased at the brewery in Belgium, or bought for a huge markup here in the United States. Luckily for us, Walker found some on ebay for $40, shipped. In a 12 ounce bottle. So he and split the bill, and the beer. I got six ounces for my $20, or roughly the cost of a premium glass of wine at a very nice restaurant.

Left to right: Great Divide, DOA, Westvleteren 12

While all of this was taking place, I received some samples of various kinds of jerkies and thought that pairing them with beer would be a ton of fun. Of course, my buddy had no objection either. The kind people at House of Jerky sent me a sampler pack of their styles and I'll be featuring each one in a blog post coming soon. You will want to read that one!

Hopworks Urban Brewery - "DOA" Deluxe Organic Ale


6.9% abv
Cloudy pale amber color. Light to medium amber with nice depth.

Aroma: Very faint aromas of grain and the barest hint of something tropical, like dried mango slices fresh out of the bag. Somethign akin to a roasted malt comes through as it warms up more. Faint aromas of citrus oil, specifically orange.

Palate: Soft, light, and delicate for an ale. Pleasant mouthfeel, the flavors are all muted though. Very malty and bretty on the finish. Nice bit of something pepper-ish too, keeps the malt from being too sweet. Not quite what I expected, not in a bad way though.

Rating: B. Good beer! Almost "there".

Jerky pairing: Teriyaki turkey jerky.

Westvleteren 12 - Belgian Quadruple Ale


10.2% abv
Dark brown, opaque. Hardly any head and no bubbles.

Aroma: Smells stunning. Raisins, brandy soaked pastry, candied prunes. Very complex, each flavor is impeccably balanced. Alcohol aromas but in a great way, doesn't overpower at all. It's like unwrapping the foil from a holiday, booze soaked cake and inhaling it. In this cake, rasins and candied prunes galore. Lots of spice like cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander or cardamom?...

Palate: The taste brings the same complexity, all sorts of flavors bouncing around and still incredibly well balanced. The finish lasts about one minute, incredibly long for a beer. All ripe, sweet black fruit, raisins, molasses, what a sensational set of flavors. Completely un beer-like. Absolutely wonderful, beyond impressed and well worth the $20 I spent for 6 ounces.

Rating: A+. Yes. Stunning

Jerky Pairing: Black pepper venison, or teriyaki turkey jerky.

Great Divide Brewing Co. - Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout


9.5% abv.
Black as motor oil in my pint glass, opaque and deep.
Aroma: Smells like dark roasted malts and grains. Baking chocolate, hints of spice, coffee. Complex but entirely straightforward. Aromas of fresh roasted hazelnuts, almonds, and walnuts. Faint whiff of a super ripe blackberry. Awesome.

Palate: A monster, full of: dark chocolate, toasted nuts, and fresh roasted coffee. Wonderfully complex, each flavor balances the other so none dominate. Very, very well crafted beer. Black tar flavor adds a very nice restraining factor to the ripeness. Again the emphasis seems on balance rather than power. The acidity on the finish is another foil to the sweet flavors and is much appreciated.

Rating: A-. Extremely good beer.

Jerky Pairing: Black Pepper Buffalo Jerky or Natural Style Beef Jerky.

Two bloggers hard at work!

Walker has posted a couple of reviews on his blog, the Westvleteren 12 and the Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti, they're well worth a read as he does a better job than I do in describing the beers we tasted. In a week or two we'll do another tasting, hopefully with a bunch of beers I bring back from Portland.

Two pours of Westvletern 12

Stay tuned, I have a full feature on the various jerkies I was sent coming up along with a new project from Don Sebastiani. Also I'll be tasting through some New Zealand wines next week, crisp whites to get you in a summer mood.

Beau Carufel