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by snebbu

Endless Beers: What Difference Does a Glass Make?

Hopefully most of our readers have finally bought in to the #drinkcraftbeer movement. Really, it’s not even a movement, but common sense. Why would anyone pay to drink something that tastes like (a) nothing, (b) pee, or (c) crap? You wouldn’t. So the next step in becoming an all-out beer snob is to drink beer from a GLASS, not the bottle or can. I originally thought the whole experience of picking glassware depending on the kind of beer was a gimmick. However, after testing various Spiegelau glasses out, I’ve changed my tune.

First of all, the main reason behind drinking your suds from a glass rather than the bottle or can is to get the aroma of the beer and to allow it to properly carbonate. The aroma will indeed change the taste of the beer – typically heightening your senses as you indulge in a cold one. Typically, I’ll just pour it into a pint glass no matter what kind of beer, and enjoy. But there are different and innovative ways to drink our beer now. Here are two taste tests (I know…my work is difficult) of the latest innovative beer glass collaborations.

The Glasses:

by snebbu

Endless Beers: Top 10 “Winter Rarities”

What’s a “Winter Rarity?” Well, you know those “seasonals” you like so much? Yes, they are great…but odds are they will be around next year as well. How about the ones that won’t be around? THOSE are winter rarities. The special treats that breweries bless us with once a year—only during that year. Next year, they’ll have at it with a tweak. I won’t waste my breath, but here’s one simple tip. These rarities are meant to be enjoyed, but not all at once. Save at least six and compare with the next year…and the next…and the next. Within six years, you’ll have six beers to compare against each other. Anyway…here it is.

10. Bell’s Black Note Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout (2013)

ABV: 11.5%

Bell’s brewery decided to combine the Exhibition Stout with the Double Cream Stout. The result is a delicious beverage filled with malty flavors of chocolate, coffee, and even some fruity flavors. As you can imagine, this is not for the faint-hearted. OH—did you noticed the whole “aged in Bourbon Barrels” thing? Yup. Find one…if you’re lucky.

(Bell’s)

9. Weyerbacher’s Althea (2013)

ABV: 7.7%

With visions of the occasional sugar plum still dancing in your head, you’ll enjoy this brew. This is a dubbel style beer with notes of fruits coming through. Weyerbacher brewed this beer to raise Breast Cancer Awareness and donated one dollar per bottle to the cause.

(Weyerbacher’s)

by snebbu

The w00tstout: Made by Geeks, FOR Geeks

In the spirit of YouTube’s self-proclaimed “geek week,” I bring to you the tale of three geeks and the journey to great taste and libations. Stone CEO Greg Koch has apparently corresponded with actor Wil Wheaton on a number of occasions and since Wheaton is a homebrewer (with an impressive set up at the “Wheaton Castle”), Koch decided to ask him to collaborate on the next Stone collabo-brew. There was only one problem—who would the third collaborator be? Wil Wheaton had the answer: fark.com founder Drew Curtis. Three proud geeks (of beer, and much more) came together to create: The Stone Farking w00tstout.

When I asked Wil Wheaton what the most enjoyable aspect of the brew was, his answer was simple: “All of it.” Wheaton is a homebrewer of two years and already has a regular brew schedule for every other weekend. As a fan of craft brews and a beer geek himself, Wheaton couldn’t help but boast about the opportunity to brew with Stone, using some of the best brewing equipment around. For him, the hardest part was staying focused and not getting too excited about the one-of-a-kind opportunity at hand. Wheaton’s advice for any brewing beginners? “Just give it a try. You will always learn something from it, and you will always have beer.”

in Celebs / Drinks 0 comments

by snebbu

Endless Beers: A Stout You Can Drink Like a Chocolate Milk

I know that summer is here and the summer shandies, wheat beers, and other light brews are out, but we”ll get to those later. Right now, let me enlighten you about the best stout I”ve ever had: The Old Dominion Oak Barrel Stout. I learned of this beer while visiting a friend and I now crave it often.

Before I tell you how good it is, let me learn you on how it got there. First, there are the typical malts, hops, water and yeast that of course go into every beer. Then, there was more—a dry hop with oak chips and vanilla bean. Listen up: dry hopping occurs during the secondary stage of fermentation when hops OverdoseAlthough buy-detox.com overdose is not common, it can occur and can be fatal. are typically left in the wort (pre-alcohol and carbonated beer) to “infuse” the beer with the taste of the hops. However, Old Dominion decided to drop some oak chips in the tasty syrup along with vanilla bean. I”ve done this myself with vanilla bean and it tastes delicious. In fact, they may have stolen my idea.

in Drinks 1 comments

by snebbu

100 Ways to Use Beer in Food and Drinks: #14 Cake

Upon skimming through the latest version of Cooking Light, we fell upon a “breads” section—correction—“quick breads” section. You’re wondering why I’d be skimming through Cooking Light? The gf has a subscription and you do know I’m watching my girlish figure… Anyway, we decided to go with the maple stout “quick bread” recipe since I had some of my homebrew stouts left.

But first: I’ve come to the conclusion that the jerks at Cooking Light have some gall to call this thing bread…er “quick bread.” I have no f’ing clue what the hell quick bread is, but this thing is cake…and I’m proud of it. I’m not doing research on what quick bread is either—I don’t want to know. Okay, now we can move on.

I got out my Vanilla Cafe Con Leche Stout and we started baking. Typically, when the two of us do some form of cooking/baking, there is an ample amount of bickering (and in my case, exaggerated *sighs*) occurring. However, this time we did well as a team; I had a good feeling about this.

The cake came out really well, with rave reviews from the fam. Probably the best of these cooking with beer recipes to date. I claim fame to this recipe for two reasons:

in Desserts / Drinks / Recipe 2 comments

by snebbu

100 Ways to Use Beer in Food and Drinks #13: Cupcakes

Cupcakes: a man’s food. Something you hear every day right? Right…and you see plenty of men on Cupcake Wars. But then you put beer in them . Now we’re talking. Previously, the only way I knew how to make cupcakes was with the contents of a cardboard box. But alas, I’ve matured. And through this maturation I bring to you Chocolate Stout Cupcakes.

These cupcakes are nearly 100 percent made from scratch. Beginning with the batter (containing an entire bottle of my own Cafe Vanilla Con Leche Stout), the cupcakes also include stout-infused ganache, and cream cheese frosting. And guess what? As most of my original recipes are—they are healthy cupcakes! Instead of butter in the batter, we used applesauce (we had to save the butter for the cream cheese frosting). Thank the g/f for preventing me from ruining the frosting by trying to use low-fat cream cheese.

The end result: moist chocolate cupcakes with rich ganache filling and topped with creamy frosting. Add a glass of milk and you have a match made in heaven. There was concern about using the applesauce rather than the butter, but I couldn’t tell a major difference. In fact, adding some cinnamon to the batter complements the overall flavor and it even stands out a bit. I took the cupcakes to work for the true test. Everyone loved them. And so should you. You’re welcome.

Vanilla Con Leche Stout Cupcakes

in Desserts / Featured / Recipe 1 comments

by BS

Corn Dogs Gone Gourmet

State fair season may still be several months away, but at ES we think about corn dogs 24/7/365. Now, here’s a corn dog even ya’ll uppity foodies won’t be ashamed to embrace.

Chef Kyle Rourke of Red Star Tavern in Portland has been giving corn dogs all kinds of gourmet upgrades, serving rabbit corn dogs with carrot-habanero dip, lobster corn dogs with mango relish, and venison corn dog with fig preserve. We asked him to share a recipe for one from his menu that’s just slightly more acceptable for home cooks.

Chicken Kielbasa Corn Dogs

in Featured / Fowl / Recipe / Restaurants / Trends 2 comments