LIFE

Cafe Society: Homebrewers' contest features surprising ingredient

You know that old saying about how you don't buy beer, you just rent it? No one actually came out and said it during the Pure InFATuation Brew Competition last month in Oxnard, but I couldn't have been the only person in the taproom who was thinking it. 

Israel Bautista, a member of the homebrewing group Ventura Independent Beer Enthusiasts, holds up a glass of "So Fresh, So Clean," an American lager entered in the Pure InFATuation Brew Competition by VIBE president Andy Carter. The contest called on homebrewers to use full advanced treated (FAT) recycled water.

That all-caps FAT offers a hint why. The letters stand for "full advanced treated," as in wastewater that has undergone a purification process that includes microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet light with hydrogen peroxide and is now "potable," ie, safe to drink. And if it's safe to drink, the thinking goes, it's safe for brewing beer.

To help prove that point, KEH & Associates, Inc. — a consulting engineering firm that specializes in water projects — offered more than 120 gallons of FAT water from the Orange County Water District and the Orange County Sanitation District's groundwater replenishment system in Fountain Valley to members of the homebrew group Ventura Independent Beer Enthusiasts, or VIBE. The challenge: Turn this toilet-to-tap water into beer.

A taster of Kentucky common ale by homebrewer Ron Baran is seen with a souvenir metal cup during the Pure InFATuation Brew Competition in Oxnard.

"When KEH approached us to do this water event, I sent an email out to our club and within an hour I got 12 responses," said VIBE president Andy Carter. "It's a good event to show off the water, and to show off what we can do with it."

The project, which echoed the WateReuse Pure Brew competition held in San Diego in March, led to the creation of a dozen beers in as many styles. Carter's entry was an American lager dubbed So Fresh, So Clean.

"Homebrewers like to experiment, so this was right up our alley. It wasn't tied to any guidelines beyond, 'Here, use this free water!'," said Ron Baran, a retired carpenter who started homebrewing about a year and a half ago. His entry was a Kentucky common ale, a regional brew made with corn grits. Baran said the style "almost went away after Prohibition."

Homebrewers Ivan Ortiz, left, and Ron Baran compare notes during the Pure InFATuation Brew Competition Sept. 26 at Casa Agria Specialty Ales in Oxnard. The by-invitation event featured 12 beers made by Ventura Independent Beer Enthusiasts members using full advance treated (FAT) recycled water.

Georgia Flair named her entry Tormund the Red, a reference to "Game of Thrones."

"Imperial red was the next beer on my list of beers to make, and I was pretty stoked to get the free water to do it," she said with a laugh.

"(This project) was exciting to me because I like to support anything that has anything to do with recycling or reusing," Flair added. "The water was fantastic. I added the same nutrients that I would add to a normal imperial red, and it turned out wonderfully."

Kegs of beer made by members of the homebrewing group Ventura Independent Beer Enthusiasts are attached to the club's portable bar during the Pure InFATuation Brew Competition in Oxnard. The contest featured beer brewed with full advanced treated (FAT) recycled water.

The limited-edition brews were served Sept. 26, during a by-invitation-only event in the barrel-aging room of the Oxnard brewery Casa Agria Specialty Ales. Taplines running through VIBE's portable bar were sheathed in foam insulation tubes to help keep them cold. 

More than 50 people, including Mehul V. Patel, director of water production for the OCWD, and representatives from Ventura WaterLas Virgenes Municipal Water District, Channel Islands Beach Community Services District and the Pleasant Valley County Water District, cast votes for their favorite brews by dropping tickets into numbered canning jars.

Votes were collected in decorated canning jars during the homebrewing competition featuring beers made with treated recycled water.

It came as no surprise that the printed schedule for the evening quickly fell by the wayside as attendees chatted, sipped and compared notes. When the time for informational presentations passed without comment, I went outside to visit the pop-up tent offering materials from Ventura Water, the city's municipal water and wastewater facility.

There I saw charts and graphs detailing residents' thoughts on direct potable reuse water, or DPR. One takeaway: Support for adding DPR water to the drinking-water supply rose significantly among residents polled after they toured the VenturaWaterPure demonstration facility, which was in operation from mid-2015 through early 2016. A Water Research Foundation report on the project is due this year.

And the beer-competition awards ceremony? I'm not sure when or if it happened as advertised, but I did track down the results. Carter and Flair tied for first with their American lager and imperial red ale entries, respectively.

For more about VIBE, click on http://www.vibebeer.com. For more about Casa Agria, which is open to the public Wednesdays through Sundays, call 805-485-1454 or go to https://www.casaagria.com.

Members of the homebrewing group VIBE, or Ventura Independent Beer Enthusiasts, gather for a group photo at the Pure InFATuation Brew Competition in Oxnard. The contest featuring beers made with full advanced treated (FAT) recycled water resulted in a tie for first place by Andy Carter, third from left, and Georgia Flair, fourth from right.

OPEN, SHUT AND IN BETWEEN

Author's note: An earlier version of this story included information about the opening of Grocery Outlet Bargain Market in Ventura. That opening has since been postponed until early November.

Burgerim is coming to the Camarillo Premium Outlets food court, according to a public notice of application to sell beer and wine seen taped to a window.

At the Camarillo Premium Outlets, a food court-adjacent space last occupied by the clothing store Vertigo has been claimed as the future home of Burgerim, a chain specializing in customizable mini burgers.

Named for the Hebrew word for "multiple burgers," Burgerim made its Ventura County debut in March, via a location owned by franchisee Balbir Khinda at the Ventu Park Center in Newbury Park (587 N. Ventu Park Road, Suite 587A, 805-375-0066, https://www.burgerim.com). Signs for a second location to be operated by franchisee Frederic Miller went up this spring at the former Subway in downtown Ventura, with no visible signs of progress since then (440 E. Main St.).

The Camarillo site will be operated by franchisee Michael Nunes, according to an application to sell beer and wine at the address. The location's windows and doors have been blacked out, but a quick peek through a sliver of uncoated glass reveals that metal framework is taking shape inside (740 E. Ventura Blvd., Suite 228).

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Published in the Oct. 18 Business section of The Star, this week's Open and Shut column included news about the temporary closure of The Sportsman restaurant and cocktail lounge in downtown Ventura, and, in Camarillo, the debut of Mi Super Taqueria and the return of Rudy's Fresh Mexican Food. To read it, click on http://bit.ly/2hNZuUD.

Read more: Sportsman restaurant in Ventura temporarily closed by water damage

LAST-MINUTE PLANS

Is your calendar wide open on Oct. 22? Consider filling it with one of the following events.

The 17th annual Taste of Ojai food-and-wine festival will take place from 2-5 p.m. on the 10th green of the golf course at Ojai Valley Inn & Spa.  The event organized by the Rotary Club of Ojai as a benefit for its educational foundation will feature tastes from restaurants and food purveyors ranging from Boccali's and East End to Ojai Harvest and Thacher Road Cookies, plus liquid refreshments from Ojai Valley Brewery, Revel kombucha bar and brewery, and Topa Mountain Winery. Tickets are $75 in advance and $85 at the gate (905 Country Club Road, http://tasteofojai.com).

Paradise Pantry, a combination cafe, wine bar and wine-and-cheese shop in downtown Ventura, will serve a by-reservation-only spaghetti-and-meatball dinner from 4-8 p.m., with proceeds from the $50-per-person cost going to charities helping those affected by the wildfires in Northern California. 

In addition, a Big Cabs of Napa tasting on Oct. 26 will include flatbread specials, with 10 percent of Napa wine sales and $2 from every wine tasting donated to the cause (222 E. Main St., 805-641-9440, http://www.paradisepantry.com).

Chef and restaurateur Jeffrey Zurkofsky, right, pictured with fellow "Best New Restaurant" judges Tom Colicchio, left, and Maggie Nemser will oversee the menu for an Oct. 28 dinner benefiting the sustainable agriculture program at Besant Hill School in Upper Ojai.

CHEF-DRIVEN MENUS

Ojai is the place to be for two fundraisers featuring chefs who can rightfully claim local and/or TV celebrity status.

Jeffrey Zurofsky, co-host of the Bravo series "Best New Restaurant" and co-founder — with Tom Colicchio and Sisha Ortúzar — of 'wichcraft and the New York urban farm-to-table restaurant Riverpark, will serve as guest chef during an Oct. 28 dinner at Besant Hill School in the Upper Ojai. The event is a benefit for the school's sustainable agriculture program.

Zurofsky will be joined by the Besant Hill culinary staff "and possible surprise special guests" in preparing the meal, which will showcase locally grown items from Rio Gozo Farm and cocktails using Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal, the James Beard Award-winning brand founded in 1995 by Happy Valley School alumnus Ron Cooper.

Tickets, $150 per person, are available by calling 805-646-4343, ext. 344, and by clicking on http://besanthill.org/farmtotable.

On Nov. 12, Tony Sewell, who as executive chef for Main Course California of Ventura recently shared the Ventura County Star Food & Wine Experience kitchen with Martha Stewart, and Mashu Nishi, a season-five "MasterChef Junior" competitor who lives in Thousand Oaks, will team up to provide culinary creations for Delicious Wishes.

Co-presented by Main Course and the Ventura chapter of NACE, or the National Association for Catering and Events, the event organized as a benefit for Make-a-Wish Tri-Counties will also feature dishes suggested by some of the children helped by the wish-granting organization. Cocktails, wine and beer tastings, a silent auction and live music will add to the scene when Delicious Wishes takes place 4-8 p.m. at Topa Mountain Winery in Ojai (821 W. Ojai Ave.). For tickets, $95, call 805-419-0709 or click on http://deliciouswishes2017.eventbrite.com.

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HOW YOU LIKE THEM CIDERS?

Now in its third year, The Core Pour on Nov. 11 will feature hard-cider tastings and a self-guided walking tour of downtown Santa Paula from 1-4 p.m., followed by a music festival in Ebell Park. The event is presented by the Santa Paula Chamber of Commerce as a fundraiser for itself and the Santa Paula Optimist ClubGeneral tickets, $65, include tastings at 15 sites and entry to the music festival. VIP tickets, $100, include the general tastings plus a pair of UV-blocking sunglasses, food and drink tickets and access to a VIP lounge with separate seating and bathrooms. For details, click on http://www.thecorepour.com.

Lisa McKinnon is a staff writer for The Star. To contact her, send email to lisa.mckinnon@vcstar.com. To have the VCS Eats newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, visit http://bit.ly/VCS_Eats and type in your email address.