2011-2012 Favorite Winter Ales

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Andrea

Scott and I have been sampling a bunch of seasonal brews this winter because you know it’s beer season!

It would be nice to be able to purchase more variety of bottles in singles for sampling. Sometimes you don’t want to invest in a six pack (or four pack) of something you haven’t tried yet.

We try to be good sports about it though and my thinking is, if I don’t care for it all that much I know I can still cook with it. That’s something at least.

Alright so let’s talk winter seasonals!

21st Amendment’s Fireside Chat: 21st is one of Scott’s favorite breweries and when he saw this pop up earlier this winter, he snagged it right away. It turned out to be a great beer. Very dark in color with a creamy head. It’s brewed with spices which come out strong in the flavor. You can pick up the heat of cinnamon right away in this beer. It’s mellowed out and not overpowering. Nor is it in any way similiar to that of say, the cinnamon you find in a pumpkin ale.

Beer Affair

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Andrea

Starting this fall and picking up steam this winter, I’ve rediscovered my inner beer lover.

Now those that know me or have been reading this blog for any length of time will know that I have always enjoyed a great beer. However, the past few years I’ve been picking wine over beer.

I would have beer on occasion but mostly preferred opening a bottle of wine. A nice red to go with pizza or maybe a crisp white to go with some salmon. All sounded good to me!

But this fall and then more heavily this winter, I’ve been reaching for a cold brew.

I’m at a point now where I would rather have a very tasty beer than a glass of wine. I still have wine on occasion and almost always when we go out to dinner. But I don’t have it nearly as much as I used to.

And since Scott and I have a favorite hangout, I love going out to get a pint and shoot the shit. It’s one of my favorite things and something I look forward to very much.

Country Ribs with Sauerkraut

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Andrea

Where I come from, pork and sauerkraut is what you eat on New Year’s Day to welcome in the New Year and hope that it brings you some luck.

Homes all over will smell like kraut that day and grocery stores have sales on the stuff starting a few weeks before New Year’s.

It’s just not New Year’s if you don’t have pork and kraut. Scott embraced this tradition with open arms. Not really surprising since his previous tradition was boiled cabbage and ketchup.

Um.

I would wager a guess and say that this dish is probably a little tastier than that.

It’s also made with beer, onions, and peppers. Plus being tossed in a crockpot. Winner!

Andrea’s Country Ribs With Sauerkraut

4-6, Country Style Pork Ribs

1 32oz Jar of Sauerkraut, drained (but not rinsed!)

1 Onion, sliced thin

1 Green pepper, sliced thin

1TBSP Brown Sugar

1C Dark Lager Style Beer (I used Great Lakes Eliot Ness)

Big Pinch Red Pepper Flakes

Beer and Mustard Dip

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Andrea

While on our most recent break, Scott and I had “snackies” one night for our evening meal. Since we were on vacation, I wanted to make snackie night a little bit more special by adding in a few dips to the mix.

On a recent episode of Triple D (because I love it so), I saw mention of a beer and cheese dip. This got me thinking about creating a beer dip that you could have with snacks and that doesn’t need to be kept warm.

By eliminating the need to keep this dip warm, it becomes perfect for having out for parties and get togethers.

I wanted the beer flavor to come through while also having a little bit of a kick to it. What goes great with beer? Mustard!

Once I knew mustard was going into the mix, the rest of the recipe fell into place.

Andrea’s Beer and Mustard Dip

1C Dark Lager Style Beer (I used Great Lakes Eliot Ness)

Fig and Date Coffee Cake

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Andrea

It’s no secret that I like cooking with beer but I also like baking with beer. And experimenting with different ways to use beer in the kitchen.

One of my most recent experiments resulted in what is now my favorite coffee cake of all time. This coffee cake uses dried figs, dates, and nuts as part of the crumble topping.

This helps keep the cake moist while baking and gives a slight nod toward the fig newtons of my childhood. I wasn’t a huge fan of fig newtons as a kid but when I got older I enjoyed them a great deal.

Having found dried figs at the store, I knew that I wanted to use them in something. With seasonal beers out right now, the idea of making a coffee cake with one seemed like a natural fit.

I’ve made this cake several times since the first experiment and it always makes me squee with happiness when I get a chance to nibble on it.

Read more on Fig and Date Coffee Cake…

Beer And Thanksgiving Dinner

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Andrea

When Thanksgiving rolls around everyone starts talking about wine pairings. What is the perfect wine to go with the big dinner. Some how beer kind of gets glossed over and I’m not sure why. Today we’re changing that! I’ve got a post for you about pairing beer with Thanksgiving dinner!

Since I’m not super knowledgable when it comes to beer, I turned to someone who is. Let’s give a warm welcome to Colin! Colin is currently a sous chef at Deepwood restaurant and a brewer for the soon-to-be Born Brewing Company, here in Columbus, OH. To quote him, “I’ve been a beer fanatic for about six or seven years now, and a insufferable food snob since I was fifteen.” You can stalk him over on Twitter at BrewerBornBrew.

Like different types of wine, each beer variety has a certain set of general flavors and aromas that you can expect from it, Stouts are roasty dark flavors like coffee and chocolate. Brown Ales are toasty-chocolate-caramel, Pale Ales and IPAs are variations on sweet pine-citrus-tropical fruit while lagers tend to be crisper and cleaner finished vs their ale counterparts. Belgian beers exhibit a range of flavors and aromas all their own, the Belgians utilize funky yeast and aren’t afraid to add spices and herbs to their beers.

2011 Pumpkin Beer Review Roundup

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Andrea

The pumpkin beer reviews for 2011 have been completed! We tested a great variety of brews this fall and even found a new favorite!

First up was a crowd favorite, Pumpking by Southern Tier. Sadly not a FE favorite at all.

Next was Shipyard Brewing’s Smashed Pumpkin, and won this year’s favorite!

Followed that up with Heavy Seas The Greater Pumpkin, a lovely barrel aged ale.

Last up was Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela, which sadly didn’t rate very high.

We ended the pumpkin ale season with a tasting at our favorite bar, Hal and Al’s.

This was a great season for tasting new pumpkin brews!

Were you able to get any pumpkin ales this season? Did you find a new favorite?

Up next? Perhaps some winter ale tastings!

If you’re into ales as much as we are, feel free to follow me on Untappd!

2011 Hal and Al’s Pumpkin Beer Tasting

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Andrea

The last time we talked about Hal and Al’s I mentioned that we went for their pumpkin beer tasting. Can you imagine how excited I was for that event!

When we were in last, I was informed that they were going to be hosting a pumpkin beer tasting the following week which would include pumpkin beers and ciders.

I may or may not have almost toppled over a parton and bartender as I eagerly inquired more about the event, embarrassing both my friend John and Scott.

Okay, not really, they both know me well enough to not get embarrassed by my antics any more.

I immedately marked the event on our calendar and off we went to the pumpkin beer tasting!

We were serious about this tasting. I busted out the camera and my handy notebook featuring Snoopy with a pumpkin on green paper.

This was an intense tasting as well, there were 9 samples to get through.

Let me repeat, 9 samples!

Hal and Al’s Columbus Bar

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Andrea

My absolute favorite bar in Columbus, is by far, Hal and Al’s. My friend John is responsible for introducing me to this fabulous place.

He kept saying to me, “Andrea, they have a great beer selection and I really think you would enjoy their stouts.”

These are the kinds of friends you need to have in your life. The ones that seriously look out for you and have your back.

John, totally has my back when it comes to beer.

So I finally made it down to Hal and Al’s and fell in love right away. They have an amazing beer selection. I’m not exaggerating here, the menu is three pages long and has the beers listed by type. Meaning the beers are listed as, Lagers, Ales, IPAs, Stouts, Porters and so on.

And there’s usually some stuff they have either in bottles or on tap that isn’t listed on the menu.

Heck yes!

The atmosphere is exactly what I’m looking for in a bar. There’s plenty of seating in a wide open space. The bathrooms are clean and updated. It’s quite, no super loud music and no super loud people.

Read more on Hal and Al’s Columbus Bar…

Review: Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Andrea

It’s the last pumpkin beer review for 2011! It’s been a month already and we are on our fourth pumpkin beer for October! Let’s get to it!

We had a hiccup with one of the pumpkin ales that we bought. It was skunky.

Ugh.

A skunky beer is never a good experience. So we were kind of scrambling to find a replacement beer. The thing with pumpkin beers, they don’t last long. When you see them in the store, you gotta jump on those quick because once they are gone, they’re gone.

Only so many of them get made and sometimes they are in limited release.

We stumbled across this Jolly Pumpkin , La Parcela No. 1 Pumpkin Ale and picked it up.

I have had Jolly Pumpkin’s La Roja which is a sour beer. It’s lovely for a very hot and humid summer day which means it’s great beer for an Ohio summer.

I decided to go with their Pumpkin Ale because if the brewery has pumpkin in the name, they should know what they’re doing, right?