We all hear about beer and cheese pairings but usually from the craft beer side of the ledger, but if you want to see what the fromage POV is, then the latest edition of Culture magazine might be helpful….
Fromage e Biere
Steeped Peanuts
In my time blogging, I have seen a lot of beer flavored foods from potato chips to candy to jerky. But I have never seen the phrasing, alcohol steeped liked this…
I would be OK with the Irish Stout and bourbon but the head scratcher is Jamaican Lager. What will that add past the salt?
The Emmy Goes To…
Pizza from Emmy Squared plus beer from Santa Monica Santa Monica Brew Works leads to Introducing, Emmy Italian Pilsner.
“Crisp, effervescent, and a little snappy, Emmy Italian Pils is perfect for when you want an easy-going beer with a bit of a bite.”
Tasty
Taste is subjective but that doesn’t mean we can’t improve our tasting ability and one way to do that is to educate yourself with book learning from someone who can guide the way.
That person is Mandy Naglich. And she has an impressive CV. Advanced Cicerone, check. Certified Taster, check. Certified Cider Professional, check. Completed all levels of WSET Spirits, check.
Also a journalist with credits for Vice, Taste of Home, VinePair, and Wine Enthusiast.
Oh, and a book about tasting too. With the simple title, How to Taste. It is pre-order now and it is on my reading list.
Out Russelled
One of the best things about The Great American Beer Festival (GABF®) is their Paired food and beer section of the convention floor.
But I got questions about this….
“This year’s festival will offer a sweet surprise on Thursday as sponsor Russell Stover Chocolates stops by on a nationwide tour celebrating its 100th anniversary and Guinness World Records title.”
It measures “30 feet 4.5 inches wide by 15 feet 5 inches tall and held more than 5,000 lbs. of chocolate. Russell Stover Chocolates will provide free chocolate samples to festivalgoers while supplies last.”
Maybe I am a See’s Man but even if I wasn’t one, I would avoid Russell Stover cause it don’t taste like chocolate and I sure don’t want a bigger piece of it. I would prefer a local chocolatier instead.
Osborne
The long in the works, twist and turns journey to a brewpub is now reality for 8one8 Brewing.
Their new pizza restaurant is called the Osborne Pizza Kitchen and is located right next door to the brewery taproom. They had a soft launch on July 10th.
All the more reason to re-visit this corner of the Los Angeles beer scene.
One Ringey Dingey
Francis Ford Coppola Winery is launching a ”Coppola Pizza WineLine” at 601-706-WINE (9463). It is a free text line will be staffed by live, pizza-loving wine pros at Francis Ford Coppola Winery, who will provide advice to help pizza lovers take their next bite of their favorite food to new levels of cheesy, chewy bliss.”
Maybe a brewery can do a craft beer version of this to answer the age old question of what beer pairs with a Hawaiian pizza.
Needed or Not – High Life Truffles
Miller High Life , the (don’t call it the) champagne of beers, is getting into chocolate.
They have tasked the chocolatier Phillip Ashley with creating not just truffles made with the watery beer but “Bar Snack Truffles, a collection of beer-infused chocolates that celebrate iconic bar snacks.” All for $35.00!
The weird and unappetizing flavors are:
– Grilled Cheese: triple cream cheese white chocolate ganache in a blond chocolate shell
– Lemon Pepper Chicken Wing: a fried chicken ganache infused with lemon pepper seasoning
– Pretzel Praline: salted pretzel and roasted pecans combined with handcrafted caramel and blond chocolate
– Beernut: freshly roasted peanuts soaked in the beer then ground into our fragrant butter and enrobed in a milk chocolate shell
– Buttery Popcorn: white chocolate ganache infused with movie theater style popcorn
– Sweet Potato Fry: garnett sweet potato mash blended with blond chocolate.
Needed? – Truffles and chocolate can work well but this is too much savory. So the answer is Not.
Dessert Day – Nostalgic for Hops
Are you pining for a hopped dark chocolate? Or just for chocolate with a note of pine?
Nostalgia Chocolate describes it as “age the bars for at least 3 weeks in Chinook hops from The Bineyard in Cazenovia, NY. Chinook hops are most well known for their piney, fruity flavor notes.”
Dessert Day – Pie Fest (& Beer)
So, I am a pie guy. Cake is OK but pie is where it’s at. Of course I went to the KCRW Good Food Pie Fest, and part of the intrigue was the presence of…
…what beer would be on offer? Well, it was more an hard Agua Fresca….
…and light and even lighter lager. So here is my recommendation for pie and beer. Find a nice brown ale for general cream and custard pies. If you have cherry pie, a cherry sour would work great. Stay away from hoppy or too sugary pastry stout but a saison would do nicely with fruit pies.