friday feature v1 :: brunch bloodys.

Before my blog hiatus, I was desperately attempting to get Food & Beer Fridays to catch on and maintain a link-up.  I think I'm going to let the link-up die (unless I get more interest?), and I'm ok with that.  Now that I'm back, I'm focusing not on business and link-ups but the parts of life that make me happy.  Great food, beer, and drinks are still things that I love.  One of my favorite parts of traveling is the experience of trying amazing restaurants, local breweries and drinks, so it is only fitting that I continue to feature favorite beers and drinks.  Instead of F&B Fridays, I'm planning to do friday features which will spotlight a recipe/food, beer, or cocktail.

I had my first full "snow day" of the year this week (which means it didn't snow during the day but I did get the entire day off instead of just a delayed start), and my immediate thought was of bloody marys.  I've always had an affinity for a bloody but often never had all the mixings.  I made sure to stock up on everything I wanted for my {almost} perfect bloody mary!

What you need//

• Vodka
• Bloody mixer {I use Zing Zang or Scales}
• Ice
• If you like it spicy: Hot sauce, ground pepper, horseradish
• Garnishes!  My favorites are blue cheese olives, pepperoncinis,  & petite pickles. Bacon is great if you're a meat eater!

I like my cocktails on the stronger side, so I put about 1/3 vodka in my glass.  I never measure it out, just eyeball it depending on your tastes.  Honestly, I never really taste the vodka in my bloody marys even if I put more than a third.

I prefer spicy bloody marys myself.  On hand I had Texas Pete and pepper, but I would have preferred some horseradish too!  I filled the remainder of my glass with the bloody mary mix then topped it off with a few generous shakes of hot sauce and lots of pepper.

Now for the garnishing!  Olives are my absolute favorite bloody garnish, but anything pickled will really do for me.  Pickled green beans are especially delicious.  I used blue cheese stuffed olives, pepperoncini (squeezing the excess juice into the cocktail!) and petite pickles.  If I had celery, I likely would have added a stalk, but sometimes you've got to work with what you've got handy when it comes to the "perfect" homemade bloody mary.

How do you make your {almost} perfect homemade bloody mary?

Food & Beer Friday :: Peachy keen.

This week's feature beer is just perfect for the summer.  I fell in love with Dogfish Head's Festina Peche back in college when D got a case of it for amazingly cheap.  It's characterized as a Berliner Weisse, which is traditionally a beer brewed in Berlin that's typically identified by it's tartness.  We had a Berliner Weisse at our local brewpub recently and they served fruit syrups that you mix it.  Trust me, it sounds weird, but it's great!  Don't be scared off by the term tart; many beginner beer drinkers enjoy this style.

As for Festina, the 4.5% alcohol level makes it really easy to drink.  It's so crisp, bright and delicious.  You can get hints of tartness, but it actually reminded me of this beer I recommended to beginners.  In my opinion, it's the perfect combination of sweet and sour.  While I think this beer is great for sipping at the beach or on the porch after a long day.  As for food, I would go with a light fish.  I'm imagining a fish topped with a mango salsa!

Now, I'm off in DC for a long weekend to celebrate the end of my birthday week!  Head on over and see what Sarah chose to feature this week.  Cheers to the weekend friends!

Do you have a favorite tart beer?  Or can you even tolerate them?

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Food & Beer Friday :: Summatime.

While I've been enjoying my summer, and mainly my books, I'm sort of taking a blog sabbatical.  And I'm ok with it.  In the meantime, I'm definitely still drinking!  I couldn't pass up sharing a beer from one of my favorite breweries.

You may not remember my affinity for Anchor Steam Beer, but it was one of the first I reviewed.  I picked up Anchor Summer Beer in haste at my bottle shop due to my love for Anchor.  After purchase, I realized it was a wheat beer.  I'm definitely not a fan of wheat beers as they tend to be a little too sweet for my taste.  Believe it or not, I was pleasantly surprised by this brew!  While it's an "unfiltered wheat beer," it only had a slight wheat flavor and was otherwise refreshing.  Anchor says the top-fermenting yeast and malted wheat help give this beer a lighter wheat flavor.  I can't say that this would be a go-to summer beer for me, but it's definitely a good transitional beer if you haven't tried many craft beers.

In my delayed summer fashion, this is the perfect fourth of July beer (along with the perfect 4th outfit).  It's only 4.5% alcohol (so low!) and easy to drink in the heat.  It's available all the way through October though, so enjoy the summer even after it's gone!

Now head on over and check out what Sarah is reviewing this week!  Cheers & here's to hoping I have another awesome beer (and more blog posts) for you next week!  What's your favorite summer beer?

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Food & Beer Friday :: May flowers bring Rosa.

While I know I've been gone for a week, I've got a great Chicago-themed beer for you this week!  I'll be back next week with lots of Chicago and lots of updates!

One of the places we visited while in Chicago was Revolution Brewing.  I absolutely fell in love with their Rosa Hibiscus Ale while there.  While I was told that Revolution does not distribute their beer, I remembered Erin featuring this beer in a can a little bit before.  I'm still not sure why Chicagoans say that it's not sold?  Nonetheless, I'm smitten with this beer (who wants to mail me some?).  This brew is a little tart with just the right amount of sweetness.  It's brewed with hibiscus flowers and a bit of orange peel.  The ale has a bit of a pink tint (from the flowers) and is really easy to drink.  At 5.8% alcohol, this is the perfect summer beer.  It doesn't have that overwhelming sweetness of wheat beers, but it's not as tart as a sour beer.

We visited the Revolution brewpub and not the brewery itself.  I loved the open and well-decorated space.  If I lived in Chicago, I would definitely frequent this spot.

Of course we had our fair share of samples, but I couldn't resist the Rosa.  Since we've returned home, I've mentioned this beer at least five times.  The fact it comes in a can is certainly an added bonus (hello beach beer!).   I'm definitely trying to figure out how in the world I can get this beer to my doorstep...

Now go check out what beer Sarah has picked this week (and the chances of her and I picking the same beer are much slimmer this week!) and link-up any food and beer post you have from the past week.

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Food & Beer Friday :: In honor of Earth Day.

In honor of Earth Day last Monday, I knew this beer was the perfect choice.  It's another Terrapin!  Get ready, this is different than any of the other Terrapin beers I've featured.  

While I was rocking the Whole 30, I didn't partake in this delicious brew. My first time trying it was on our trip to the Outer Banks.  I drank the hell out of this beer while we were there too!

Terrapin Tree Hugger Ale is technically an altbeer, but you might be more familiar with amber ales.  This brew is light with only 5% alcohol.  While it's brewed with malts and hops, there is definitely not a bitter hop flavor coming through.  Tree Hugger is so easy to drink.  There's nothing crazy special or out of the ordinary about this beer, but that's why I like it.  This brew is light-bodied and simple.  

Why is this beer Earth Day friendly?  When you drink a Tree Hugger, you're helping support the Dogwood Alliance.  Terrapin partnered with the Dogwood Alliance and a portion of the proceeds from Tree Hugger go to supporting their cause:

"Dogwood Alliance mobilizes the public and exposes the truth about forest destruction to inspire individuals, communities, corporations, and government to take action. At the same time, we work collaboratively with industry leaders to put innovative business solutions to work that result in more protected Southern forests."

You can learn more about the Alliance and their mission here!

Let's finish with the most perfect beer pairing!  Go out and find this easy drinking beer as soon as possible!

Link-up and head over to Sarah's blog to see what beer she picked this week!

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Sunday beer brunching.

You know how I mentioned that we went to a beer brunch recently?  It's just as amazing as it sounds.  Instead of the standard "beer dinner" you might attend, this is a brunch where dishes are paired with beers.  We went to the Raleigh Times 1st Annual Beer Brunch last year, and it was delicious and brutal.  They paired everything with breakfast-type stout beers which were high in alcohol.  The portions were massive.  I left feeling insanely full and a little too tipsy.

[You might recognize this outfit!]

This year, Raleigh Times got things right!

This line-up is pretty stellar, and the chef is pretty dang awesome!  Oh, and even though I'm vegetarian pescatarian flexitarian pescatarian, one of my personal exceptions for eating meat is beer dinners/brunches (which is a story for another day).

First course was a pancake topped with sausage (which I learned I really don't miss unless it's the spicy variety), molasses, and honey.  It was paired with the Mother Earth Tripel Over Head beer.  This is a great beer for those of you who enjoy beers of the lighter variety.  The sweetness, which isn't overpowering, has the amazing ability to hide the 9% alcohol that could quickly catch up to you.  This beer and pairing was pretty yummy.  It was a nice, light start to a brunch.

The second course was probably my favorite.  The frittata had duck confit (which I've had only a handful of times and has been amazing every time), mushrooms, and asparagus in it.  The green chili hollandaise was really where it was at though.  Everyone wanted bowls of that shit to go (apparently they don't do that).  The beer pairing was like the cherry on top for this course.  Stone Vertical Epic is a cool beer with an even better story.  Stone brewed one batch of this beer every year starting on 01.01.01.  They have continued with one batch every year as so: 02.02.02, 03.03.03...you get the idea.  These beers cost ridiculous amounts of money if you tried to get a hold of them now.  We were lucky enough to have the 11.11.11 version.  Perfection.

[No idea why Blogger decided to rotate this picture on its own]

This course was good!  The sorbet was delicious and a great palate cleanser; then there's the mimosa.  The Cascade Apricot was absolutely perfect for mixing with juice to make a mimosa.  I wouldn't recommend this beer alone unless you like sour beers.  I could drink that mimosa all day long.

Surprise!  The bloody mary wasn't on the menu!  That on the left is candied bacon.  The bloody went down oh, so smooth...

This course was a bit of a fail for me.  Remember how I mentioned portion-size was a problem?  This was a major problem.  And as a regular "non-meat eater," I just couldn't handle this one.  I took a few bites max and gave the rest to D.  The Mother Earth Silent Night on the other hand was amazing.  The pairing of the beer and food was really delicious, but I the meat just didn't work for me personally.

I wish the dessert would have focused a bit more, but let's face it, the photographer was not quite taking pictures at her prime at this point.  The chocolate mousse was really delicious, and you know I'm a fan of the Terrapin Liquid Bliss beer pairing.  The peanut brittle was super sweet for me, but I wish I could have eaten more of it.  

How did we leave after this year's beer brunch?  Luckily I could still walk in my heels, but we came home and crashed.  A little drunk and a lot full makes for a great nap.

Food & Beer Friday :: My favorite pumpkin beer!

This is the final fall/pumpkin themed beer to round out the last Friday in October.  Of course, I saved my favorite for last!  Honestly, the Punkin Ale's label does say it all.  This is the perfect fall beer.  At 7% alcohol, you don't want to drink too many (lucky for you in comes in a four-pack!).  Have you guys heard about the Punkin Chunkin?  Where pumpkins are hurled through the sky?  This beer won an award at that event before the brewery even opened!

This Dogfish Head beer is amber in color and just as beautiful in flavor.  The spices are perfect.  It makes me super happy to find it on draft during the fall season!  An amazingly fresh beer like this should be drunk on tap!

Cheers friends!  Drink up and enjoy pumpkin beers while they last!

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What is your favorite fall beer?!

Food & Beer Friday :: It's got nuts in it.

I'm going to be honest, I'm feeling quite under the weather.  A cold has hit me, and I can not even breathe through my nose.  This week's focus is going to be short and sweet.

Abita's Pecan Harvest Ale is one of three Harvest Ales (although you may know Abita best for their Purple Haze beer).  This one debuts in the fall along with the nut and pumpkin season!  I love that Abita has their nutrition facts displayed along with the info about the beer.  A cool 150 calories and even close to 3g of protein!

This beer is brewed with Louisiana pecans, lots of different hops, and caramel malt.  It's an amber color and super easy to drink.  The beer lends a bit of a nutty flavor.  Don't expect a pecan pie or anything, but I thought this beer was light and easy to drink.  While I enjoyed the variety of the Pecan Harvest Ale, I'm still vying to get back to my pumpkin beers in October :)


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