New Year = New Beer!
This year I’m on the hunt for new and exciting beers to try as well as my quest for my 2,000th unique beer. As for what makes up my t0-try list for this year so far — It’s starting as a short list that will get longer as the year progresses.
Here’s what I’ll be hunting:
It should be no real surprise to anyone that I hopped on to the Susquehanna Ale Trail last weekend. However, what may be surprising is that of all the lovely places on said trail, I had only been to one of the venues before last weekend. Yes, I’m completely serious. While I’m a creature of habit, there is no excuse for me not to have checked out these local spots. I decided to divide the trail up into two weekends — with a few extra pit stops built in — and chose Lancaster first. So, I grabbed some companions and hit the road!
First stop: Lancaster Brewing Company. Located in an old factory building, it has a very comfortable country feel and still features the original floor scale and service elevators. We enjoyed our two free samples as well as a quick pint and headed onward to our first “pit stop,” or beer spot not included on the official trail.
Next we pit stopped at one of my favorite date night spots: Iron Hill Lancaster. The food here is absolutely phenomenal, so we took this opportunity to nosh. I had some spicy lettuce wraps to complement my Irish Coffee Stout, which would be the only beer I sampled while visiting. Iron Hill has nine locations throughout Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, with the Lancaster location nested right next to F&M College on the Harrisburg Pike. While here we took note of the upcomingHop Attack event on May 25, which we added to the calendar and headed back to an actual stop on the tour.
I couldn’t have been more excited to check out Bube’s Brewery when we arrived. The idea of having catacombs in a brewpub is awesome to me. This spot is full of amazing history including the enormous original wooden beer barrels used for storage underground. Also, while I was there, I learned that my great-great grandfather was a brewer based on a vintage sign I just happened to stumble upon. I guess that’s where I get this love of beer from!
Our final stop on the tour was at Troeg’s Brewing Co. I’ve been here about a bazillion times, so I won’t spend a lot of time here. I will report, however, that despite their initial intentions it appears as though they will be a full-scale brewpub come mid-summer with the addition of a full kitchen for their new chef. It is going to be strange to me to see a day when people go to Troegs to eat and not drink, but that seems to be the way the trends are going.
We couldn’t stop everywhere we wanted that day as time was flying by quickly and maintaining sobriety or something close to it was key. Here are two places of note that you should try to check out while out and about:
JoBoy’s Brewpub. Located in Manheim and a little off of the Susquehanna Ale Trail path, JoBoy’s has been rocking out some delicious barbecue and equally yummy beers for around two years now. I love their home-style cooking, especially the sides, as well as their fresh pulled pork sandwiches. My favorite beer there is definitely their Porter as it is what I consider to be a “malty-mess” of sweet creaminess.
St. Boniface Brewing in Ephrata. Technically, they are a nanobrewery, which is defined as a brewery using a fewer than four beer barrel system and typically producing a much smaller quantity of beer per year. Most nanobreweries are the beginnings of microbreweries and brewpubs, so it’s always neat to check out places in their early stages. I haven’t been there myself yet, but I love their ideals of keeping it simple and enjoying beer for the delicious beverage that it is.
So, as you hop out on to the Susquehanna Ale Trail over the next few weeks, be sure to take in the full craft beer scene as support local businesses. Next up for me? Well, York of course!
originally posted on www.SaraBozich.com – Thanks Sara 🙂
Have a craft beer lover? Wondering what you could get them for Valentine’s Day to show your understanding of their passion? Put together a beer pairing dinner, and you have a recipe for a great gift and wonderful evening with your love.
Appetizers
Figs with Ricotta, Pistachio and Honey – This light appetizer looks like you spent hours on it, when really the total prep and cooking time is just 12 minutes! The combination of sweet and salty with a bit of a crunch will provide a great way to get your tastebuds started. 
Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Mushrooms – Another recipe in the category of things that only look difficult, this recipe will take about 30 minutes. Plus, every man that I polled wanted something with bacon! These will do great as a precursor for beef entree.
Artichokes with Roasted Pepper Dip – The best part about using something like this as an appetizer is that your honey can start digging in as soon as they get home. Let them snack a little while they unwind while you finish up your main course concoctions. Just add pita chips!
Main Courses
Eastern Shore Crab Imperial – The very first suggestion I received was for seafood. If you were going out for dinner on Valentine’s Day, you would probably be going somewhere with really good seafood or steak, because these are the special occasion meals. Making Crab Imperial puts a little bit of a twist on the traditional seafood and it’s unexpected. Although it may seem like an appetizer, this meal is so decadent that it easily becomes the main course.
Scallop Burger Sliders with Cilantro-Lime Mayo – The words ‘cilantro-lime mayo’ alone make this sound ridiculously good. Going with something like this will still stick with the idea of seafood but presented in a whole new manner. This recipe will require you to chill the patties for awhile, which make it great for multiple-course meals. Prepare this first, then work on the rest while you wait.
Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers – Another suggestion from the guys I polled was stuffed peppers. To me, stuffed peppers is something I enjoy in the summer on the grill, so maybe they’re all sick of the winter? Either way, these vegetarian stuffed peppers are a quick and easy way to get a ton of veggies in your meal and enjoy the flavors of comfort food
.
Desserts
A Chocolate Beer Float – After all that cooking, you deserve an easy-to-make dessert. Grab a chocolate stout, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and maybe a cherry for good measure. I love these on any occasion, but I think this will make a great finish to your Valentine’s Day.
Chocolate Sorbet with Raspberries – Like I said, keep dessert easy after all the effort you put into the meal. Scoop some sorbet into a bowl and add some raspberries for something different. You know what, share the bowl, and put a little whipped cream on top.
Mocha Truffle Cake Recipe – So after all that cooking, you still want more? Try out this rich coffee and chocolate combination for real happy ending. Finish the presentation with a little hot fudge or even a scoop of ice cream and segue into movie night on the couch.
Take the recipes, mix and match to your liking, and enjoy a wonderful low-stress evening at home.
Special thanks to http://www.SaraBozich.com for allowing us to cross-post this!
Beers can be used as a dessert alone, due to great flavorings such as chocolate, vanilla, and even creme brulee. Beers being added to a dessert, besides cupcakes, is a concept I wasn’t very familiar with, however after a visit to Troegs Brewing Company, I discovered an idea that I had previously shunned: beer floats.
For most of my life, the thought of consuming an alcoholic beverage at the same times as something milk-based sounded like a recipe for disaster. First of all, I love milk. The morning after a long night of drinking, lots of cold milk always makes me feel better. I once drank about 5 or 6 little cartons of milk at continental breakfast after a wild night in Philadelphia. I can’t risk ruining milk in my mind. Second, beer + milk = throwing up right? All that lactose creaminess in there curdling after a splash of beer. It just sounds like the worst possible idea.
Then, I saw this in front of me one afternoon:
One pint of Troeg’s Scratch#54 Cocoa Porter + 2 scoops local organic vanilla ice cream = beergasm! It started off separated, but when a glob of ice cream was scooped up by my spoon it produced a perfectly balanced blend of chocolate, vanilla, and creaminess. The best part was as I drank it, the ice cream and beer began to mix together to create the ultimate chocolate milkshake. No sick feeling, nothing strange, and milk is still my favorite. All was right in the world.
A few weeks later, I found myself at Troegs again and craving a little ice cream fix. This time I tried the ice cream with their Java Head Stout, a stout brewed with espresso and coffee beans from St. Thomas Roasters in Harrisburg, PA. I love iced coffee, and this beer with the scoops of ice cream became the most amazing iced coffee flavor yet. Once again, still no sick feeling, no weirdness, and most importantly my precious milk is still my favorite beverage.
After finding that mixing two of my favorite things, I can’t wait to try this out with other beers on my own. Next up, I think I’ll see how Southern Tier Choklat (the love of my life) mixes with a bit of ice cream and possibly a splash of Lindeman’s Framboise. The combinations are truly endless!
Variety is the spice of life right? That’s what I’ve heard and that’s what I’ve been told, but that’s not what I’ve always been doing. We all have our go-to beverage right? For some it’s the standby rum and coke, for others it’s the house white, for many it’s Miller Lite, and there’s nothing wrong with this, in fact it makes things easy when in a hurry. I do it all the time, in fact I did it earlier this week. I walk into my establishment of choice, look for something familiar on the tap list, and grab it. Well, not this year, and not from now on because I’m on the quest for 500.
When it comes to craft beer, there seems to be endless variety. Tons of breweries, styles, and ingredients and countless combinations thereof. However, it is human nature to go with what you know. I love wheat beers and stouts, so I’m much more likely to check those out when I come to your establishment. I couldn’t care less if your double IPA has won a million awards, it’s not a style I like so I’m not getting one. Sure, I may sip it if someone else gets one, but I’m not committing to a beer I probably won’t like. Not any more, because I’m on the quest for 500.
Beer samplers are your friend when trying things.
I’m sure you’re wondering, what is this ‘quest for 500.’ Well, it’s the quest to have the bragging rights to say that I have had 500 unique beers (and a silly virtual badge, more on that later). No, this isn’t a giant drinking binge, in fact it’s quite the opposite. This is about exploring my own palate, preferences and testing my limits when it comes to stepping out of my comfort zone. According to the beer tracking/rating app that I use, Untappd, since December 9th 2010 (when I started keeping track of my beers) I have already had 434 unique beers. This includes, of course, different batches of the same beer, such as 2010 Infinium and 2011 Infinium. This also takes into account brew fests I have attended, where one is usually only given a small 5 oz sample. It even includes many ‘rare’ beers such as the first batch of Ta Henket. Overall, it’s not too shabby. When I tried 10 different Hefeweizen’s it gave me the Hefenista badge. When I sampled three different summer beers, I got the Summer Fun badge. This year, when I check in to my 500th beer, I will get the Legendary badge.
Why, you’re asking, do I want to have 500 unique beers? Doesn’t this make me an alcoholic? Au contraire! What people of the craft beer community want you to understand is that craft beer consumption is very comparable to wine consumption.Different beers can be sampled, discussed and rated just like different vintages of wines. In fact, I’ve found hangouts on Google+ that do just that. Everyone gets a bottle of something new and different for them, discusses the color of the beer, accuracy to style, flavors expressed on their palate and whether or not they liked it. Not very different than those who make notes on different wines they’ve tried.
Spruce flavored beer? Sure I'll check it out!
The site is based entirely on the honor system, so I’m sure you’re saying, “Why don’t you just cheat, they’re not real badges anyways.” Well, if you’re thinking that, I’m pretty sure you’re missing my whole point here. I’m trying to branch out. I’m hoping to walk in somewhere and instead of saying, “Oh boy look there’s Dreamweaver Wheat [which I love] that I’ve checked in to a billion times. Let’s go with that – it’s safe,” I will be saying, “Hey, there’s a whole bunch of new stuff on tap here. Have I tried any of this yet?” I have lots of great friends who already do this on a daily basis, and they’ve inspired me to follow suit.
Once I hit 500, who’s to say I can’t get that Extraordinary badge at 1,000 or even the Elite badge at 2,500? That seems a bit ambitious, but I’m excited to begin trying new beers and hopefully gather many more badges along the way.
What are you trying new this year?
Special thanks to http://www.SaraBozich.com for letting us cross-post!
Stouts and Stilettos 