Dockstreet Brewing Company - Illuminator Double Bock

President of the American Association of Brewers and widely respected author and homebrewer, Charlie Papazian, found Dock Street’s Illuminator to be, "Abnormally smooth and seductive … A double bock worthy of your attention…" So there you have it. Prepare to be seduced. The beer was also rated a 90 in the Malt Advocate. Bock Beers trace their roots to the 13th century German town of Einbeck. The first great beers of Einbeck were made by the citizens of that town. They supplied their own malt and hops and were visited by the town brewmaster who, with his equipment, helped them to brew a strong, dark beer. It’s believed that they beers of Einbeck were abbreviated to "beck beer" and later, evolved to "bock beer". "Bock" in German, also means billy goat, and thus the goat has come to be the symbol of bock beer.

As should be, we found a big malty nose with evidence of high alcohol to come in this orange-hued amber, rich and full-bodied brew. Note a complex fruitiness with a richness of malts, toffee, caramel and some suggestion of toasted malts in the body. Floral hops evident, but in the background and complementing the overall character. Look for a sweet and slightly dry finish. Overall, a very complex, extremely drinkable, big beer.

Dock Street Beer & Seafood Fest

This is a serious recipe for serious appetites. What more could you want? You got your potatoes, your shellfish, your fatty fish, your meaty fish, some nice spice and a vegi to boot. And of course, one of the best handcrafted Pilsners in the country. So what are ya waitin’ for Julia? Get busy!

12 oz. Seabass fillet (skin on)
12 oz. Salmon fillet (skin on)
8 oysters in shell, brushed and cleaned
½ lb. Cleaned mussels
4 russet potatoes peeled and cut in an oval
1 lb. Asparagus tips
¼ tsp. Caraway seeds
3 oz. Good butter
12 oz. Dock Street Bohemian Pilsner
2 Tbsp. Chopped parsley
salt, pepper to taste

Cook potatoes thoroughly in salty water. Cook asparagus al dente in salty water, then refresh in iced water. Cut each fish fillet in 4 slices and season with salt and pepper. Butter bottom of a lg. Sauce pan, add fish pieces plus the 8 oysters and pour the beer and caraway seeds into pan. Bring to boil, cover and reduce heat. After 2 min., add potatoes and mussels. Cover and let simmer until mussels open. Remove the fish, shellfish and potatoes to a deep plate. Bring the remaining liquid to a boil. With a whisk, gently introduce the cold butter to the liquid a little at a time. Turn the flame on and off to keep the butter from breaking. Add the asparagus to the liquid and pour over the seafood. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and proceed to inhale food in mass quantities. Recline to couch and pop in "Raising Arizona" video for good laugh. Do not attempt to clean kitchen.

ON TAP (BREWER’S ASSOC. OF CANADA) - Almost 100 alcoholics were required to watch reruns of Dallas for a study conducted by the Addiction Research Foundation. Some patients watched the show with drinking scenes, others watched it with the drinking scenes cut out, and all patients viewed the program with either beer, non-alcoholic beverage or food commercials. Results indicated that the patients who watched both Dallas’s drinking scenes and beer commercials were "more confident in their ability to resist the urge to drink heavily" than those who watched the drinking scenes with food commercials. The reports were published by the Journal Studies on Alcohol and contradict the assumption that beer commercials influence alcoholics to drink. Researchers are reported as feeling perplexed and should perhaps study the effects of food commercials.

S.F. EXAMINER - Pyramids built by beer drinkers. Egyptian excavations revealed that the workmen who built the Great Pyramids were beer drinking, bread-and-garlic-eaters. Not unlike modern Americans , many died from cancer or industrial accidents. The mustachioed workers, whose tombs were discovered when a horse’s leg went through the roof of one of the tombs, had learned to brew five types of beer and bake 12 varieties of bread, as evidenced by a menu on one tomb wall.