Get Well Soon—Sick and Twisted Brewery, Hill City

Like many good stories…this one started with wine.

The story began when Rob and Kim Livingston had an idea—they wanted to bring a winery tasting room to the Black Hills.  They searched for business partners and found an Oregon winery looking to expand.  In 2011, the initial Naked Winery Tasting Room was opened in Custer, and the Hill City location soon followed.  (Read one of my very early blogs about Naked Winery's opening here.)  

            

Rob and Kim jumped into the world of wine head first.  They expanded their tasting room in Hill City while expanding their clientele.  They brought in additional wines and blended their own. 

             

But this is not the end of the story.  Quite far from it.  It is actually the beginning of another story.

            

Not long after Naked Wines became a success in the Black Hills, Rob and Kim knew they wanted to diversify.  Rob had long been a beer lover, especially of beer heavy on hops that add the strong, biting flavor.  It was a match made in heaven between the wines already at the tasting room and the beer Rob wanted to produce, so he again expanded, and Sick and Twisted Brewing was born.

Sick and Twisted stays in the same vein as Naked’s wines—a little bit of naughty and a whole lot of fun.  If you blush easily, some of the names might make you uncomfortable, but if you take your beer more seriously than you do yourself, this is the place for you.

            

On any given day, Sick and Twisted has 18 beers on tap, but that doesn’t include numerous other batches that might be brewing in back.  Rob and Kim both love to cook, and this love is where many of the beer ideas originate.  Rob creates all the recipes, and always makes sure to have a variety of styles on the menu.  For instance, there is always an ale, a stout, and an IPA from which to choose.

Though these are the “usual” suspects most expect to see, there are many very unusual options here as well.  Yes, a blonde ale is common.  But what about a watermelon blond ale?  An IPA is also common.  But what about a Black Hills spruce tip IPA?  Other unique features include Juicy Ginger and Sour Puss—both fun, citrusy options.  Then there is the Sexy Senorita, a chocolate, coffee, chili stout. 

As Rob comments, he is “having a gas” making these beers.  The twinkle in his eye is visible when he talks about his creations.  One especially has him grinning.  At the Great American Beer Fest in 2012, he saw a peanut butter beer.  He came home determined to make his own.  He took his Nut Hugger, an already earthy and nutty beer, and added peanut butter.  Each time he makes it, he changes the jelly flavoring.  However, also each time he makes it, it is a huge success.  The last time Rob poured this at a tasting event with the public, the first keg tapped out in an hour and twelve minutes; the second was gone in an hour and fifteen minutes. 

Sick and Twisted’s story continues with Rob’s newest project, the exclusive contract for producing Rushmore beers.  The names and labels will not only reflect the four presidents on Mount Rushmore, but they will also be unique brews.  The first is Honest Abe, a red ale for President Lincoln.  The Never Lie Porter represents George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson is on the label of Declaration of Independence IPA.  Perhaps the most unique Rushmore beer is the Big Stick Lemongrass for President Roosevelt, a lemongrass and mint beer inspired by a mint julep. 

            

Sick and Twisted cans several beers and fills growlers too, so these unique Black Hills beers can be enjoyed no matter where home is.  Food options consist of pizzas, sandwiches, soft pretzels, and cheese plates.  Fun events, including comedians and costume parties, are a continued example of the fun vibe Kim and Rob try to encourage here. 

The story of Sick and Twisted all started with a love of wine.  However, the appreciation of beer soon followed to continue to thicken the plot for Rob and Kim Livingston.  They are having a ton of fun taking the “pecksniffery” out of both quality wine and craft beer.  They take customers on quite an entertaining trip, all via a pint of beer.  Luckily, their story is not finished yet. 

Don’t Miss Sick and Twisted Beers

Easy Amber—This is the beer for beginners and Bud Light lovers.  Just 4% alcohol and only 1.5 IBU (international bitterness units), this is a light-bodied beer any drinker will love.

Naughty Red Head—The imperial red ale is a beer for all year.  The more serious beer aficionado will enjoy this one due to its slightly heavier alcohol and much heavier IBU (43.1) than the Easy Amber. 

Peanut Butter and Jelly—So unique and so popular, this is a medium-bodied, nutty, earthy beer.  Mix this with the smoothness of peanut butter and the sweetness of jelly, and the PB&J is a hit.

4^th Anniversary Hop on Top—“Hop heads” will unite behind this fourth generation IPA. This is Rob’s personal favorite; he loves the citrus and grapefruit with the hop finish.  At 102.7 IBU, this beer packs quite a punch.

I am Thankful For…Local Wines

Thanksgiving is a meal filled with foods that have very diverse flavor profiles.  From the salty of ham to the savory of stuffing to the sweet of sweet potato casserole, this large meal can often be difficult to find the exact right wine for serving.  However, never fear!  There are many wines that pair well with all these flavors.  And since I am more of a Small Business Saturday than a Black Friday type of shopper, I have created a list of wines from our local winemakers to serve with all these foods!  Enjoy this wonderful holiday and promote local wines all at the same time!

Naked Winery tasting rooms—Custer and Hill City, SD

Naked’s Riesling and Gewürztraminer are aromatic, off-dry white wines that will pair well with both the turkey and the ham on the Thanksgiving table.  The savory stuffing and flavored mashed potatoes would also present a nice contrast pairing with these white wines.  Though white wines tend to be more prominent during this feast, it is always nice to have a red wine option for red wine lovers, so Naked Pinot Noir or Dominatrix Pinot Noir would be an option.  The lighter-bodied red wines would go with the turkey, stuffing, and green bean casserole due to the more robust flavors of these types of foods.

Naked wines are beautiful in the bottle and the glass.



Stone Faces Winery—Hill City, SD

Pasque, made from Frontenac and Niagara grapes, is a semi-sweet wine with a pink color that will look beautiful on a table filled with abundant fall colors.  Beyond a color match, the slight sweetness will be a nice contrast pairing with the ham, stuffing, potatoes, and gravy. Red wine lovers have an option from Stone Faces as well, the 2013 Sturgis Merlot.  This is a lighter-bodied Merlot, produced more in the style of Pinot Noir.  Because of the lighter style, it would match with the flavorful dishes served. 

Though the bottle is the 2011, the glass on the right is the 2013 Merlot, a lighter-bodied red for Thanksgiving.

Prairie Berry Winery—Hill City, SD

Prairie Berry fruit wines are great options for Thanksgiving dinner.  The Pumpkin Bog is a match made in heaven for the fall festival of food.  Slightly sweet, this wine goes with the salty ham, savory dressing, and creamy potatoes with gravy.  Cranberry and Lawrence Elk (black currant) wines will pair well with this meal for the same reasons. Also of note is the ability to mull wines to enjoy during the Thanksgiving holiday.  All three of the above mentioned wines are great mulled with cinnamon, all spice, and orange slices. 



Cranberry, perfect color and flavor for Thanksgiving food. 

 



Belle Joli Winery—Belle Fourche and Deadwood, SD

Belle Joli’s LaLure wine (La Crescent blend) is a wonderful off-dry wine that would contrast pair with the salty and savory choices of ham, turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and green bean casserole.  It would also go well with the cranberry sauces and chutneys served.  With all of this talk of the main meal, dessert wines to pair with Thanksgiving sweets are also very important.  Belle Joli’s Pear and Peach dessert wines are made to have the same sugar content of traditional ice wines; they will pair well with pumpkin, apple, and berry pies.  A wonderful treat before the tryptophan induced nap.



La Lure, a great pairing for many foods!

 



I must not forget my Wyoming wine friends!

Table Mountain Vineyards—Huntley, WY

Table Mountain’s Cowgirl Blush, with its super cute cowgirl label, would accompany the traditional savory flavors and smells of Thanksgiving.  Its slightly pink color will also look wonderful in a pretty glass as part of the formal table setting.  If looking for a unique twist to the serving of traditional wine, Table Mountain has its Wyoming Nectar, mead (honey wine) spiced with cinnamon.  What a great option for the traditional meal.



Table Mountain Vineyard's Wyoming wines.

 

Buffalo Jump Winery—Cody, WY

Buffalo Jump’s slightly crisp Chardonnay would be a wonderful pairing for all the creaminess of the Thanksgiving meal found in the butters and gravies scattered around the table.  Buffalo Jump also has a new Riesling that would pair well.  Rieslings follow the contrast pairing and are a traditional standby for Thanksgiving dinners. I wish I could get my hands on a bottle of Buffalo Jump Riesling to pair with my meal; however, I have to wait yet one more week to try it!



Chardonnay as part of a great line of Buffalo Jump wines.

 



Though pairing wines with the traditional Thanksgiving fare can be slightly tricky, one doesn’t have to look any further than the local wineries of the Black Hills and Wyoming to find great options for the meal.  Whether you enjoy Black Friday or not, do a little early Small Business Saturday shopping at one of these great wineries.  All have wonderful options for every aspect of the bountiful feast you will be serving or attending on Thursday.  Cheers to a wonderful holiday with family and friends. And please be thankful for local wines!

Wine Drinkers are Made, Not Born--Black Hills Wineries

Okay, I am not sure if this is scientifically true, but I know this is anecdotically (may have just made my own word) true.  What I mean is I have seen numerous people become drinkers of better wine just from drinking more wine.  My favorite story is of my sister-in-law who when she started drinking, drank only the sweetest wines she could get her hands on, like Moscato.  Within one year of drinking wine regularly, she was a California Cabernet drinker!  Now that is a palate that developed quickly!  At the end of June, my daughter turned 21, so I saw the fabulous opportunity to build the palate of her and her newly-21-year-old friends!  They weren’t born with Riedel in their hands, but they are now on the path to learning how to drink wine, that’s for sure!

            Finally legal, the last of her friends to be so, Ashlyn came home for the long Fourth of July weekend.  Before coming I asked if she might want to stop at a winery (or two), and she was very excited.  So of course, I took that inch she gave me and went a mile, deciding to visit three of my favorite wineries in the Black Hills over two days.  Each winery has different qualities that make it special and different qualities for wine newbies to enjoy.  (I have written about each of these wineries at some point before, but they are worth a recap today.)  Of course, Ashlyn, Caitlin, and (later) Dorothy were trying the sweeter wines at each stop.  However, please don’t cringe at this.  I have always considered sweet wines “gateway wines” that will eventually open the door for other wines.  Again, making a wine drinker does not necessarily happen over night!

Winery One:  Naked Tasting Room, Hill City

            Naked Winery is a tasting room for Naked Wines produced in Hood River, Oregon.  There are two tasting rooms in the Black Hills, the Hill City location, where we stopped, and the Custer location.  Hill City is unique in that it is now producing its own beers under the Sick and Twisted label and has started to blend its own wines that were first produced in Oregon and then shipped to South Dakota for blending, bottling, and labeling.  My only rule here was I wanted the girls to try the traditional vitis vinifera grape wines, not the super-sweet other fruit wines.  The novice wine drinkers balked at first…that is until they took their first sip!  They started with an off-dry pink wine—Booty Call Blush—and their love for wine began.  They tried several whites, from Score Sweet White to Tease Riesling to Sundressed Outdoor Vino.  The girls enjoyed them all, but their favorite was Cougar, a semi-sparkling white from Oregon grapes.  They did try one peach-Moscato blend, and I was very pleased when that was almost too sweet for their blooming pallets…all good news for a sommelier mom!

Winery number one--Naked Winery tasting room in Hill City.

Fun and funny merchandise at Naked.

Winery Two:  Prairie Berry, Hill City

            My daughter has been to Prairie Berry on several occasions before; it is one of my favorite places for lunch, and I have requested Mother’s Day brunch here with the family on more than one occasion.  However, she was excited to be able to enjoy some wine with her food for a change!  We ordered food before tasting, and Ashlyn tried a wine cocktail, the Blue Suede Shoes blueberry wine with lemonade.  (I have had this before and knew it was a yummy summer drink!)  After the fabulous food, we started sipping some of PBW’s sweeter wines.  Of course, the first one to try had to be the flagship wine that put Prairie Berry on the map, Red Ass Rhubarb.  This and Lawrence Elk were standouts in the wine lineup.  The girls did try one of the sweetest wines on the menu, Calamity Jane, reminiscent of Concord grape juice.  Again, I love Calamity as a gateway wine that gets people hooked on wine, but to my pleasure, it was also too sweet for my wine drinkers in-the-making.  Stop two and once more, sommelier mom is happy with the palate progress. 

One Prairie Berry's outdoor stairway.

Winery Three:  Belle Joli, Deadwood

            I love Belle Joli’s story.  Winemaker Matt went to enology school in California, then came back to South Dakota to grow the majority of the fruit for the wines he and his wife Choi make.  Belle Joli is very much a family affair, with Matt’s parents also acting as brawn (and maybe some brain) for the operation, which is still small but has plans for expansion with new vines and a new facility near Sturgis.  My group of wine novices had grown to three by this point, and the young ladies were very pleased with all of the Belle Joli wines they tasted.  La’ Lure (an award winning wine) started off the tasting with a splash, and the positive progress continued through the Edelweiss, Mon Cherry, pear dessert wine, and peach dessert wine (both mimicking the sugar content of ice wines).  The favorite was a tie between La’ Lure (a blend of Edelweiss and Riesling) and Edelweiss, showing that the beginners have already moved on to German-style wines, a wine win as far as sommelier Kara is concerned!

Tasting at the outdoor tables at Belle Joli in Deadwood.



            So yes, building a wine palate that can impress others often takes years; however, learning to appreciate wines is the first step to loving more complicated and serious wines.  I often think of where I would be now if I had started appreciating wine at age 21.  Over twenty years of wine experience instead of ten and who knows what I might know now…I guess we’ll see in ten years, won’t we (wink).  I do know that I loved sharing one of my loves (wine) with one of my loves (my only daughter).  I also tried to use it as a tool to teach these college students about responsible drinking for enjoyment, of which I have always said wine is the epitome.  Wine is meant to be sipped and enjoyed, slowly with food, as an experience often shared with others.  This experience is now passed on to three more (hopefully) wine lovers.  And to all of you:  keep building that wine palate!  Cheers!

What the Heck is a Brinery? Black Hills Beer and Wine

And in addition to brinery, what the heck is a portmanteau?  Are these two of those complicated wine terms the average person has no clue about and no use for?  What do these words mean?!? 

Actually, a portmanteau is a word created by combining two words together into one—ginormous, Spanglish, Brangelina.  Lately, our culture is filled with them.  So I decided to create my own:  brinery!  A brinery is a mix of brewery and winery together, and this past Saturday I led a wonderful group on a Black Hills Brinery Tour, getting the best wines, beers, and scenery the Black Hills has to offer. 

Brinery Tour group outside of Crow Peak Brewing.

Stop one:  Naked Winery/Sick and Twisted Brewery Hill City

            Naked Winery is an interesting Black Hills story.  The wines are actually produced in Oregon, primarily from Washington and Oregon grapes.  South Dakota has two Naked Winery tasting rooms; the original in Custer, South Dakota just celebrated its second anniversary in March.  I have been privileged to witness the evolution of these tasting rooms from the very beginning, and what a fast evolution it has been!  The Hill City tasting room has expanded the number of wines it sells, doubled the size of its tasting room, and started brewing its own beer under the Sick and Twisted name.  There are six Sick and Twisted beers, all with some pretty risqué names, adding to the whole naughty, naughty theme of the Naked wines.  Though I regularly admit I am not a beer connoisseur, several in our group who are avid beer drinkers gave the Sick and Twisted beers thumbs up.  (I even remembered to bring the hubby’s growlers from home and filled a growler with the Panty Dropper Porter…I told you, naughty, naughty!)   The wines, as always, were a special treat!  In the past I have I enjoyed the flagship wine of Naked, the Merlot, and the 2009 vintage was no exception.  I also have a special affinity for Oregon Pinot Noirs, and Naked has two that are very nice!  Yes, Naked Winery/Sick and Twisted Brewery is a perfect example of my new word brinery!

Tasting at Naked Winery/Sick and Twisted Brewing, Hill City.

 Stop two:  Prairie Berry Winery

            I have also written about Prairie Berry Winery before, as it was the winery that broke ground for the other tasting rooms and wineries that now call the Black Hills home.  Prairie Berry has also evolved into a premier winery, whether in the Black Hills or elsewhere.  Originally, Prairie Berry produced more (and became famous for) fruit wines from rhubarb, pumpkin, and buffalo berries.  However, as this establishment has attracted more palettes, it has also evolved.  It now produces more dry reds and some very quality dry reds at that!  I happen to enjoy Phatt Hogg Red (a blend in the Pinot Noir class), Rimrock (a Zinfandel), and Sand Creek (a Cabernet Sauvignon blend).  The fruit wines are still incredibly fun and popular, and in honor of the Cinco de Mayo weekend, one could order a Red Ass-arita, a margarita made from Red Ass Rhubarb wine.  We also ate our lunch at this stop.  Though I can rave about how far PBW has come with its wine production, I don’t have the words to talk about the food that can be experienced here!  We had gourmet Paninis and pizzas since we were just breezing through, but the lunches and special dinners here are absolutely amazing!  I am hungry just thinking about the mouth-watering treats served from the kitchen created by specialty chefs Maija and Heidi.

Tastes and lunch at Prairie Berry Winery.



Stop three:  Belle Joli

            Though the Black Hills still has a very small number of wineries and tasting rooms, I love that each one is so unique when compared to the last.  Belle Joli is different still from the last two stops.  Enologist and vintner Matthew Jackson went to CSU Fresno, and then came back to Belle Fourche, South Dakota to grow grapes.  There is the facility and vines in Belle Fourche, but now there is also a small tasting room in Deadwood, South Dakota and more vines between Belle Fourche and Sturgis, SD.  Also, expansion plans include a larger tasting facility outside of Sturgis, hopefully breaking ground this summer.  Jackson grows the majority of his grapes and outsources for some of the fruit used in his dessert wines—cherry, peach, and pear.  The new peach and pear dessert wines I tried this weekend have similar residual sugars to ice wine, and the wonderful smooth flavor showed this.  Belle Joli is still a true family affair, with Matthew’s wife, Choi, and parents taking active roles in the wine production.  I look forward to seeing the continued progress of Belle Joli and its truly South Dakota product.

Purchasing at Belle Joli in Deadwood.

Stop four:  Crow Peak Brewing

            The final stop on our Brinery Tour took us to yet another unique aspect of the growing wine and beer industry:  Crow Peak Brewing in Spearfish, South Dakota.  The brewery started on a small scale in 2007, and then moved to a gorgeous, wood-sided facility in 2009.  (The mantel made of rocks that is in the shape of a beer jug is my favorite part of the décor.)  Many seasonal beers are brewed here, but some of the selections are canned throughout the year for distribution around the multi-state area:  Pile O’ Dirt Porter and 11^th Hour IPA.  Again, I’m not a beer drinker (wine only, thank you!), but I love the ambiance, culture, and environment of microbreweries.  They are just fun places to be!  Crow Peak was no exception.  Our large group split into smaller groups and received tours of the beer production areas from Josh, one of the owners.  We also sipped on many different types of beer, from a lighter cream ale to a hoppy, hoppy IPA.  I was again prepared with the growler that I filled with the hoppiest of the beers for my hubby, since those are his favorites. 

The sommelier had a beer...at Crow Peak Brewing in Spearfish.

            After four stops enjoying Black Hills brinery experiences, the bus ride home was not boring.  (What happens between Sundance and Upton, stays between Sundance and Upton.  Hahaha!)  I truly enjoyed both the wine and beer of the brineries in the Black Hills.  Just like portmanteaus evolve with our culture and society (who would have imagined a word like “sexting” even ten years ago), the wineries and breweries of the Black Hills are evolving into world-class establishments.  My hope is that as these industries boom in all regions of the country, our little corner of the Midwest will also continue to see the expansion of these industries.  Next year’s Brinery Tour can’t get here soon enough!

Sex Sells--Naked Winery South Dakota

Haha!  I bet my title got everyone interested in my latest blog!  However, it is true; sex does sell, and the Naked Winery from Hood River Oregon is using this risqué idea to sell its wines all over the country, including at the Naked Winery tasting rooms in Custer and Hill City, South Dakota.  The first franchised tasting room opened last spring in Custer.  My friend Sonja and I heard about the opening and knew we needed to be there that day for the first pouring of Naked wines.  We drove over after work thinking that we had to support any venture that promoted more wine in the Black Hills.  We also thought this tasting room sounded like a lot of fun.  We specifically said, “This place sounds like a blast; we hope the wine is quality.”  We found out it was a lot of fun…and the wine was AMAZING!  The wine was so amazing, in fact, that we decided to work a part-time job at the Custer tasting room for the summer.  A second Naked tasting room opened mid-summer in Hill City.  Both have great atmospheres, entertaining staff, and unique events.  These two new businesses continue the expanding wine boom in the Hills area.

It is true, that a few customers have been disappointed when they arrived at the tasting room and found that the wines were not produced in South Dakota but, instead, were all produced in Oregon with grapes grown in Washington, Oregon, and California.  It is also true that some people have been offended by the risqué references in the wine names and descriptions.  However, when most people taste the wine, they are very impressed with the wonderfully made wines.  Serious wine drinkers love the quality reds ranging from a Pinot Noir to a Sangiovese to a Nebiollo.  Beginner wine drinkers will like the semi-sweet whites like Riesling and Gewurztraminer.  Then there are a myriad of great wines in between!

Though some find the idea of “Naked” to be offensive, I just find it entertaining.  Not only do I not offend easily, I get the marketing perspective behind the innuendo.  The informal and (dare I say it) cool feel of the wines and tasting rooms will attract those who once thought wine drinking was too stuffy and “hoity toity”…only meant for the old and the rich.  I support any wine producer and tasting room that increases the number of wines available to drink in my small area, and I applaud any wine producer and tasting room that can appeal to those who haven’t yet been exposed to the wonderful world of wine!  So, thank you, Naked Winery in Hood River, for spreading your Naked joy to the Black Hills.  I’m thirsty now…wink.