50 States, 50 Beers

I saw an article at SeriousEats.com.

50 States, 50 Beers We Love

If you scroll down, you will find an interactive map and then continue scrolling to get a small write up for each beer.

I don't agree with all their picks, but even the "marginal" picks were good.  I think Texas could be represented by a beer more beer lovers would go for, but you have to give kudos to the brewers at Jester King for always pushing the envelope.

I would have a hard time picking a favorite in their list.  Partly because I haven't had them all AND with any beer list, I would like several "best" for different reasons.

Pour The Perfect Pint | 5 Scientific Steps For The Ultimate Beer

I saw this video and like to share anything that is scientific.  There is some good information here.

Pour the perfect pint | 5 scientific steps for the ultimate beer

Enjoy!

The Great and Most Excellent Sumner Beer Tasting!

I apologize in advance for the length, but there was a lot.  Here goes...

The final results:

What got us there - the beers and pairings:

India Pale Ale – Samuel Smith, India Ale

asiago, crab dip, carrot cake muffins, ginger cookies (these cookies totally made the beer!)

American Pale Ale – Oskar Blues, Dale’s Pale Ale

camembert (delicious with the crisp finish), asiago & feta, chicken, chili, maple syrup & shortbread (again, a sweet surprise)

American IPA – Boulevard, Double Wide

pepper jack & sharp cheddar, chicken, pumpkin muffins

Double IPA –Odell, Myrcenary

pepper jack & sharp cheddar, chicken, caramels, Boston cream pie muffins

Black IPA – Odell, Mountain Standard Double Black IPA

steak & smoked beef sausage

Dubbel – Ommegang, Abbey Ale

steak & smoked beef sausage, BBQ sauce, brie & gouda, milk chocolate

Tripel – Unibroue, La Fin du Monde

beef sausage, turkey, blue cheese (stood up to the tripel beautifully, sharp cheddar

Quad – Allagash, Four (my favorite beer on the planet)

beef sausage, turkey, brie & blue, gouda & sharp cheddar; pecan pie (a fabulous pairing)

American Porter – Deschutes, Black Butte Porter

BBQ sauce, steak & beef sausage, brie, gouda, milk chocolate & peanut butter (BAM - my favorite pairing of the night!), pecan pie

English Porter – Fuller’s London Porter

steak, beef sausage, camembert, milk chocolate

Milk/Sweet Stout – Left Hand, Milk Stout

chocolate (of course!), cinnamon cheesecake muffins

Oatmeal Stout – Breckenridge, Oatmeal Stout

steak, buttery cheddar, chocolate, chocolate-covered coffee beans

Russian Imperial Stout – Great Divide, Oak-Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

parmesan, dark chocolate, raspberry jam (especially if you dragged the dark chocolate through the jam!)

Barleywine – Avery, Hog Heaven

blue cheese, sharp cheddar, toffee, caramels

Chili – Twisted Pine, Ghost Face Killah

pepper jack, beef sausage, chips & peach salsa (a lovely combo)

Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy – Moylan’s, Kilt Lifter

Brie, gouda, turkey, toffee & milk chocolate 

Flanders Red Ale/American Wild Ale (Sours) – Brouwerij Verhaeghe, Duchesse De Bourgogne (I actually liked this beer much more than I thought I would)

pepper jack, chips & peach salsa

Fruit – Dry Dock, Apricot Blonde (while not technically a "fruit" beer, it's just so fruit-forward...)

dark chocolate

And that was our evening!  We dropped some knowledge on our beer novice guests, and a home brewer in attendance gave us some schooling on the processes involved.  A most satisfying and exceptionally fun evening!  We'll have to do it again sometime. 

Two Weekends of Fun

Next weekend, we're planning a beer tasting for some of our new found friends in CO.  We have a few beer snobs attending, as well as a home brewer, and a couple of beer novices.  It's been a blast choosing beers and coming up with pairings, "handouts," etc.  The weather will be nice, so we're looking forward to a fun weekend.

But this past weekend was fun, too...because we went shopping for all the beers we plan to offer at the tasting.

We met up with beer guy Jeremy at the Argonaut (our go-to beer store) and shared our ideas with him.  He was very helpful and made a few recommendations.  (I also learned from him that Founders is making it's entrance into CO sometime this year, and that he has five bottles of Saint Arnold's Pumpkinator 2013 in his fridge...I sense a bottle trade in the near future.)

So here's what we bought:

IPAs

India Pale Ale – Samuel Smith, India Ale

American Pale Ale – Oskar Blues, Dale’s Pale Ale

American IPA – Boulevard, Double Wide

Double IPA –O’Dell, Myrcenary; Upslope, Double IPA; Bear Republic, Racer X; Avery, Maharaja

Black IPA – O’Dell, Mountain Standard Double Black IPA; Firestone Walker, Wookey Jack

(Joe just couldn't decide what he wanted to offer in the DIPA and Black categories.)

Belgians

Dubbel – Ommegang, Abbey Ale

Tripel – Unibroue, La Fin du Monde

Quad – Allagash, Four

Porters/Stouts

American Porter – Deschutes, Black Butte Porter

English Porter – Fuller’s London Porter

Milk/Sweet Stout – Left Hand, Milk Stout

Oatmeal Stout – Breckenridge, Oatmeal Stout

Russian Imperial Stout – Great Divide, Oak-Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

Misc.

Barleywine – Avery, Hog Heaven

Chili – Twisted Pine, Ghost Face Killah

Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy – Moylan’s, Kilt Lifter

Flanders Red Ale/American Wild Ale (Sours) – Brouwerij Verhaeghe, Duchesse De Bourgogne

Fruit – Dry Dock, Apricot Blonde (not really a fruit beer in the technical sense, but so fruit forward!)

For this tasting, we skipped over lagers completely.  We also passed over wheats/wits, browns, ambers, pilsners, and a number of other styles…there are just too many to squeeze into a single tasting.

I'll report back after the tasting with a full accounting of pairings and hopefully some great pics!

Does Alcohol Kill Brain Cells?

We have all heard the herd theory from the character Cliff Claven from the TV show Cheers about how alcohol helps make you smarter:

“Well, you see, Norm, it’s like this. A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it’s the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.

In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Now, as we know, excessive intake of alcohol kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine.

And that, Norm, is why you always feel smarter after a few beers.” 

BTW: This was never actually said on the show.

Whoda thunk that alcohol doesn't actually kill brain cells!

Drinking Alcohol Doesn't Actually Kill Brain Cells

So, there may be OTHER issues from excessive alcohol consumption, but that isn't one of them.

You are welcome!

A Marriage Made in...

Your Thoughts, Tabbers?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/01/09/255830836/blending-red-wine-with-porter-ale-a-crossover-beer-worth-the-buzz?

Like I Don't Already Have Enough To Do

A friend of mine posted this on facebook the other day:

20 breweries that plan to open in Denver in 2014

Geez.  It's truly an epidemic.  When my husband, Joe, and I moved to Denver in July of 2011 there were about 150 breweries and brewpubs in all of Colorado.  Now there are over 250.  And about 30 of them are in Denver!

Sure enough, we've enjoyed exploring and have a few designated as favorites.  But until we hit the jackpot and have unlimited funds and time...oh, and somehow acquire the metabolism of an 18-yo, I don't see how we're ever going to get to all of them!  Not that I'm complaining.

About six years ago we - through no real plan - decided that we would be beer snobs.  That we would consciously and with steady purpose strike out to find and sample the widest variety of beer possible.  We would eschew the ordinary and seek out the remarkable.  We would invite temptation right in and taste the earthly delights that we have come to know as craft beer.  Wait. that sounds like a plan.  

Anyway, we have indulged ourselves and attended the GABF twice (when in Rome, right?) and as many local beer fests we can load onto our calendar.  We get all sparkle and pop when a new tap list comes out at Lucky Pie.  And we can hardly make a choice at Falling Rock, which has a tap wall of extraordinary beers comparable only to...um...er...well, let me get back to you on that.  But these are bars and fests...I digress...they are not breweries...merely purveyors of that wonderful stuff of barley and hops.

There's a badge on Untappd called Find the Source.  It's awarded to those who visit breweries.  I'm two beers away from level 7.  That means that I have been to almost 35 different breweries in just over a year (since I've been on Untappd).  While I'm no where close to hitting all the breweries in Colorado, now it seems that I'm going to have 20 more in Denver alone to add to the list.

Apparently I need to hit the jackpot.  And start working out.