Archive for the 'Beer' Category

While New Year’s resolutions frequently involve promises of eating less, giving back more or finally kicking that terrible habit, if you’re not ditching booze altogether it might be the best time to take a look at your beverage routines and question whether they are in need of a shake-up of their own. If you think about your purchasing, education and consumption rituals and realize that you have not bought anything different, learned anything new or shared anything spectacular with friends or family, then you might in fact be stuck in a drink rut. Lucky for you, I’m here to help; adopting these 5 simple and fantastic resolutions is certain to spice up your consumption lifestyle, liberating you from monotony and reminding you about all of the possibilities and pleasures you once yearned to find in the world of fine wine and craft beer. Here’s to a happy, healthy and fun new year!

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Last year, I wrote a blog called “Without Beer … Would We Be Celebrating Thanksgiving?” While no one knows for certain the validity of the claim that without beer (or the need for it) we might not be celebrating Thanksgiving on the day that we do, the main point of the blog remains a valid one: do as the Pilgrims and celebrate with some brews!

This year, instead of providing you with some more recommendations of my own (regardless of how fabulous they are), I decided to reach out to some of my favorite beer authorities to see what frothy goodness they like to recommend for the big Turkey Day feast.

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One of the hottest (and my most favorite) trends in the restaurant industry right now is the pairing dinner. You know, those dinners that you pay a little extra up front with the prix-fixe so you can enjoy perfectly matched beverages (usually wine) with the various courses of the meal. Now this in itself might not be a new occurrence, but what has been recently updated to make this craze popular again is the format that these dinners are now taking on… battle.

That’s right… they are now a fight to the death for the two worlds of alcoholic beverage choices (sorry, spirits): beer and wine.

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While summer technically goes until September 22nd, I really consider the end of the season to be Labor Day weekend. We have a big party every year to celebrate the end of the summer (check it out here) and honestly, after that, nothing feels the same to me. All of the sudden I notice the wind feels a bit brisker, leaves start to take on a touch of red amidst the sea of green and I no longer need to have the AC on to feel comfortable. I love the fall and all of the changes that it brings, but most of all I love the fabulous beer fests that pepper the season with good drink, great places and awesome people.

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This past weekend was Labor Day, one of my favorite holidays to take some time off and enjoy life a bit. Actually, I pretty much use any national holiday as an excuse to celebrate, but this one truly is special. Yes, most of us get the day off work, and yes, it traditionally signifies the end of the summer, so there are two solid reasons to celebrate and get your kicks in while you still can. But Labor Day weekend is also the time of year that my boyfriend and I hold our annual Smokefest… a day of smoking food and drinking with friends.

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It was a somewhat stereotypical Fourth of July for me this year. Tons of good friends and some family came over for the weekend to bake at the beach, barbecue some burgers and dogs, enjoy some adult beverages and light off some mildly entertaining fireworks in the yard (the small fountain type stuff is legal in CT where I live, though we did have a couple more exciting items thanks to my crazy friend Shane). All in all it was good old, moderately clean American fun.

Of course I offered a large range of beverages, from soda and beer to wine and whisky, and it’s always interesting to me to see who goes for what.

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Summer is finally here, and with the hot sunny days and warm nights ahead we’re all looking to stock up on our favorite thirst quenchers. Of course, I have my stash of wheat beers, crisp lagers and homebrewed pale ale ready to go for any outdoor social gathering requiring beverages to be served, but I have discovered a new favorite to add to the usual mix: cider. 

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I am not a craft brewer, but I sure do wish I was. Maybe that was part of the reason for my recent foray into the homebrew world, as all of the information and reading in the world can’t directly translate into the lessons learned through real-life experience. I’ve been enjoying craft brewers’ fabulous, widely varying concoctions for years now, and yet still, every time I take that first sip of a well-made sudsy libation, I smile and think to myself gosh, do I ever love and respect those folks. The care and integrity that they put in to each and every bottle of their finest is so clearly apparent to those that enjoy their offerings, like an exquisite oil painting or a beautiful sonnet to be thought upon, deconstructed, and savored. Is that too much? Did I mention that I like beer? A lot?

Well, for those of you who are ready to point your finger and laugh at the over-appreciative beer geek, do I have a video to share with you that’s sure to bring you over to the dark, losery side! 

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Last weekend, I had the immense pleasure of returning to Washington, DC for the Brewers Association’s second annual SAVOR: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience.  Given my victory at the salon I participated in last year called “Cross Drinking Without Social Stigma,” I was invited back to defend my winner’s title in a “Craft Beer and Cheese Pairing Taste Off!”  Invitation aside, I would have jumped at the chance to attend SAVOR again, given the exciting beers poured, thoughtful food pairings, and opportunities to meet some of the rock stars of the brewing world.  Sure enough, SAVOR did not disappoint.

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When you’re sitting back after a long day, trying to relax and unwind with a nice glass of wine or a cold brew, do you ever stop and wonder how amazing the beverage in your hand is?  I mean, what a wonder that someone eons and eons ago actually thought of a way to combine water with other solid materials (grapes, wheat, barley, etc) to make a sublime libation that tasted so good as well as held various mystical and magical properties (as in make me stop thinking so much and take a deep breath for a change).  I often stop and mentally say thank you to that person, and more importantly the winemaker or brewer of the specific drink I am enjoying at that exact moment.

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