SLO LIFE Jun/Jul 2017

Libertine Brewing Company
JL: For our next food/brew experience, we head to San Luis
Obispo where the beer scene is positively on fire: you can’t swing
a dead cat without hitting a new brewery. At Libertine Brewing
Company, their wild ale style shines through in everything from
decor and soundtrack (e.g., vintage Bowie spinning on vinyl) to
service and menu. The words home-grown, funky, and confident
safely describe just about everything I know about The Libertine.
BM: If you think their ethos is funky, you should check out the
owner, Tyler Clark. There’s definitely a lot of personality coming
through in this place. Where do we start? I know where I would
start: the beer. Libertine’s self-described “San Luis Wild Ales”
are European in concept, but can’t officially be named after the
regions of their style, so this new moniker has been coined to
reflect the terroir of our town and all the uncountable microbes
floating through the air and shaping the flavor of the beer. Made
in coolships (open top fermentation vessels), these wine and
spirit barrel-aged ales are truly local, exposed to the microscopic
yeast found on fruit they source from Stepladder Ranch in
Cambria. With over twenty of their house beers on draft, it’s
hard to pick between dark and earthy or bright and tart. Luckily,
we leave pairing to manager Anna Corwin. Thank goodness, I’m
practically starving.
JL: Yes, Anna is definitely an authoritative guide to pairings. She
shares that Libertine’s pulled pork nachos are made with cheese
that’s melted down and blended with the Aubree Rye Saison.
I’m not a massive nachos connoisseur, but, for what it’s worth,
these were among the best nachos I’ve ever eaten. The pulled
pork— which is glazed with barbecue sauce made in-house with
Libertine’s Wild IPA—is flavorful, rich, and zippy in all the right
places. The cheese, meanwhile, has an extra earthiness to it that I
believe must come from the Rye Saison blended in. Kudos to Chef
Bernard Livingston, truly, for composing a dish so decadent, fun,
and (dare I say?) profound.
BM: Another home run pairing of the Pacific Blue Gose with
Libertine’s fish and chips is brilliant in its simplicity. Gose is a
style traditionally brewed with coriander, for a hint of lime, and
salt. One of my favorite styles, it is both robust enough to give
the sense of drinking a proper beer, yet refreshing like enjoying a
beer margarita on a hot day. Staying true to the Libertine style,
the brewers elevate this beer and showcase local ingredients by
using water pulled directly from their oceanfront pub in Morro
Bay (don’t worry, it’s cleaned up before adding to the boil) to
achieve the saltiness true to the style. This blonde ale, with a hint
of sourness from the lactobacillus, cuts right through the oily
goodness of the fried cod and gets you reaching for the salty chips.
Can we talk about their proprietary barrel-aged malt vinegar
dipping sauce? I think we can. I think that’s exactly what we’re
doing here…
JL: Yes—a sweet, sour, and umami bomb. As I mentioned to you
at the Libertine, I’m not a seafood eater (she said to the chagrin of
food writers everywhere). But the crispy, flaky fried fish, hand-cut
fries, house-made malt vinegar, and salty Gose to reset my palate
made for a thoughtful, tasty lunch that even I could enjoy. When
I return to Libertine, I plan to make a run on all those guest
taps they have—what a spread! But for now, they’ll have to wait
because it’s dessert time. >>
88 | SLO LIFE MAGAZINE | JUN/JUL 2017