Last year by accident I didn't reminisce about the previous year until the end of January. I enjoyed that month's delay so much that I'm going to make it a tradition. Now that you've had a breather from all the looking back, looking forward, and the Top 7 Top 5 Lists, it's time to take a walk down memory card lane. Here is a slideshow of pictures that I took at various beer events last year that never made it into the blog:
It's great to look back on the good times of last year, and reflect on the good times to come this year, though my enjoyment is dampened right now by some terrible news about an old friend I received as I was compiling this slideshow. Come what may, I hope you all have a great year.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Don't Cook with Expensive Beer!!!
Cooking with beer is nothing new, but the trend does seem to be taking flight as of late. I have occasionally cringed to see recipes that use a beer that would be better put to use by drinking it -- say, making an ice cream sauce from Deschutes Abyss. But the recent event that made today's rant inevitable was Beer Advocate's Thanksgiving installment of the Homebrew Chef, which counseled readers to brine their turkeys with 4 (four) 750 ml bottles of Allagash Tripel, and serve it up with cranberry sauce made from an even rarer Deschutes beer than Abyss: The Dissident.
Beer can chicken is one thing, but soaking a turkey in $40-$50 worth of beer which then has to be dumped down the drain is just sick. And no matter what your opinion is on extremely sour American takes on Belgian ales, can you see opening a bottle which is nearly impossible to get hold of right now, and pouring it into cranberry sauce?
Look, if you find that beer adds a flavorful dimension to your cooking, that's great. But suppose a recipe calls for red wine. Are you going to add 2 cups of Châteauneuf-du-Pape to it? No, because it's an insult to a wine of that quality, not to mention a silly waste of money. You'll use a good-enough table wine, and your food won't be any worse for it.
I suppose a Deschutes chef cooking with Abyss is just using what he has on hand, though I don't think the dish would have suffered any from the use of the less costly Obsidian Stout instead. Here's a picture of Alan Sprints whipping up some chocolate-raspberry sorbet that includes some Hair of the Dog Adam. It's not a cheap beer, but he's the brewer and it's what he's got. Even so, I doubt he would pull out some of his barrel-aged creations and give them the same treatment. [Oops! Matt points out in a comment below that Alan has made cheesecakes and ice creams with Cherry Adam from the Wood. Now I don't have to feel so bad for making him the expensive-beer-cooking poster boy.]
I'm not the first person to inveigh against the evils of cooking with rare beer Here's a year-old blog post from across the pond that gets it about right: "Sometimes, it seems the point is to impress with big beer names. Regardless of the impact it actually has on the dish’s flavour." There are also a couple of quasi-sensible comments about it on the Beer Advocate turkey-brining fiasco mentioned above.
Respect beer: don't cook with the rare stuff!
Beer can chicken is one thing, but soaking a turkey in $40-$50 worth of beer which then has to be dumped down the drain is just sick. And no matter what your opinion is on extremely sour American takes on Belgian ales, can you see opening a bottle which is nearly impossible to get hold of right now, and pouring it into cranberry sauce?
Look, if you find that beer adds a flavorful dimension to your cooking, that's great. But suppose a recipe calls for red wine. Are you going to add 2 cups of Châteauneuf-du-Pape to it? No, because it's an insult to a wine of that quality, not to mention a silly waste of money. You'll use a good-enough table wine, and your food won't be any worse for it.
I'm not the first person to inveigh against the evils of cooking with rare beer Here's a year-old blog post from across the pond that gets it about right: "Sometimes, it seems the point is to impress with big beer names. Regardless of the impact it actually has on the dish’s flavour." There are also a couple of quasi-sensible comments about it on the Beer Advocate turkey-brining fiasco mentioned above.
Respect beer: don't cook with the rare stuff!
Monday, January 23, 2012
Portland Pub Crawl: SE 9th to SE 12th
Not long ago I claimed to have invented the Portland pub crawl. But looking back through the pub crawls I've written up over the years, every single one of them is out of date. The other day when I asked your advice on where to send tourists drinking in Portland, a common theme was that a pub crawl is the best way to experience Portland's beer scene. I heartily concur, so I propose to outline a few easy-to-walk Portland pub crawls. The audience for these posts is more likely to be visitors than natives, though of course I welcome your input if there's something you would change about the routes.
First up: a no-brainer through my own zip code of 97214:
View Portland Pub Crawl: SE 9th to 12th in a larger map
The green pins represent the main points on the pub crawl. I recommend that you go from north to south, since Apex and the Firkin are open far later in the night than anywhere else, though if you're hoping to visit the worthy Beermongers, keep in mind that they close at 11 on weekdays and midnight on Friday and Saturday. The yellow pins are optional (except for Commons Brewery: don't miss it if your pub crawl happens during the few hours they are open). Here's the green-pin plan:
Clicking on the bus icons will tell you the last departing times for the main buses to and from downtown Portland, and also gives you the Trimet stop IDs so you can check bus arrivals in real time. If you click the "View larger map" link, the Google map lets you select the Transit overlay to see more bus routes in the area.
I added the optional yellow pins to give you more choices if you decide on one of the smaller routes, or if you need to stick close to TVs for some kind of sporting event, or if you want some different food options. As I said, even though its pin is yellow, don't miss the Commons Brewery if your pub crawl is early on a Friday or Saturday evening -- it's a small brewery that makes high-quality, approachable beers in a variety of interesting styles. There are many other optional places I could have added, but I didn't want to clutter the map too much. If you crave more variety, click to the larger Google map and search nearby for "bar".
Enjoy your pub crawl!
First up: a no-brainer through my own zip code of 97214:
View Portland Pub Crawl: SE 9th to 12th in a larger map
The green pins represent the main points on the pub crawl. I recommend that you go from north to south, since Apex and the Firkin are open far later in the night than anywhere else, though if you're hoping to visit the worthy Beermongers, keep in mind that they close at 11 on weekdays and midnight on Friday and Saturday. The yellow pins are optional (except for Commons Brewery: don't miss it if your pub crawl happens during the few hours they are open). Here's the green-pin plan:
- Cascade Barrel House: Nice patio, Crazy wild beers, but also more accessible beers available in honest pints
- Green Dragon: Great taproom. Maybe the least Rogue-ish Rogue establishment.
- Lucky Labrador: A Portland classic. The patio isn't very scenic, but it's a convivial hangout if the weather is good. Great setup for darts.
- The Firkin: New place with 14 rotating taps, midway between Lucky Lab and Beermongers.
- The Beermongers: Super casual bottleshop, with great prices, and 8 well-curated beers on tap.
- Apex: Portland's answer to Toronado. No frills, just reasonable prices on excellent beers.
Clicking on the bus icons will tell you the last departing times for the main buses to and from downtown Portland, and also gives you the Trimet stop IDs so you can check bus arrivals in real time. If you click the "View larger map" link, the Google map lets you select the Transit overlay to see more bus routes in the area.
I added the optional yellow pins to give you more choices if you decide on one of the smaller routes, or if you need to stick close to TVs for some kind of sporting event, or if you want some different food options. As I said, even though its pin is yellow, don't miss the Commons Brewery if your pub crawl is early on a Friday or Saturday evening -- it's a small brewery that makes high-quality, approachable beers in a variety of interesting styles. There are many other optional places I could have added, but I didn't want to clutter the map too much. If you crave more variety, click to the larger Google map and search nearby for "bar".
Enjoy your pub crawl!
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