Great American Beer Festival

Magic Hat Hop Drip IPA Release | Events

During Great American Beer Festival, all kinds of new beers were debuted. One of them was Magic Hat’s newest creation, Hop Drip IPA. The brewery invited me to the morning release to try out the new coffee-infused IPA along with some donuts. I’m sure I’ve had a coffee IPA before, but none of their names seem to come to mind. Hop Drip on the other hand, is a name I won’t forget. When I think of coffee and beer, my mind usually goes right to porters and stouts – never an IPA. Hop Drip is brewed with coffee from Speeder and Earl’s – a coffee shop that is down the street from the brewery and fuels brewers like Ross Thompson on a daily basis. Now that I’ve officially tried a coffee infused IPA (that I can remember), I can proudly say that I’m a fan. You’d think that hops and coffee would be overwhelmingly bitter, but that wasn’t the case. Hop Drip was actually quite refreshing, including the flavors of the roasted coffee beans without adding to much bite. It also happened to be perfect way to start day 2 of GABF.

Continue reading Magic Hat Hop Drip IPA Release | Events

GABF Media Luncheon | Bringing Beer Back to the Dinner Table

The Great American Beer Festival is over and I’ve now had enough time to recover so I can finally start writing about it. On Friday October 3rd, the Brewers Association invited the media to a working luncheon at which we ate 4 courses paired with various medal-winning brews. During the luncheon, we heard from several panels of brewers/brewery staff about their experiences in the craft beer world, how they got started, and what they hope to create in the future. We also heard about some exciting news from the Brewers Association. The thing I’m most excited about is the new Food and Beer course created by the Brewers Association (which you can read more about here). Their goal is to bring beer back to the dinner table and I think that is absolutely fabulous. Why shouldn’t beer be as highly regarded as wine? There’s no reason! Especially when it goes so wonderfully with so many dishes. As soon as I get some free time, I plan on working my way through the material so I can get even better at food and beer pairing. You should too – go check it out!

And now for the food pics…

Smoked Trout Fuille de Brick, Grapefruit and Chervil Persillade

Paired with:

Serenity, Wicked Weed Brewing

Opal, Firestone Walker Brewing

Granny Smith Apple with Ginger and Grapefruit (my favorite part of the luncheon!)

Paired with:

Berliner Weisse, Napoleon Complex – Brewers Association Team Homebrew

Grilled Ribeye Filet, Roasted Shallow Demi, Salsify, Yukon Gold Potato and Horseradish Galette, French Green Beans, Horseradish Chip

Paired with:

Black Eagle Baltic Porter, Black Tooth Brewing

Old Tom Porter, Piney River Brewing

Old Tom Porter, Piney River Brewing Company (just had to represent my home state)

Dusty Miller Semifreddo, Warm Toffee Sauce

Paired with:

Balt Altibier, Union Craft Brewing

Tsunami Stout, Pelican Pub and Brewery

Hop the Vote Results

Hop the Vote results: In the end, 894 votes were cast with the majority going to the House of Representatives and Denver Beer Co. – I’m pleased to see that the saison won in the end! I voted for it at Great American Beer Festival because it was so delish. Congratulations House of Representatives!

For those of you who don’t know, Hop the Vote is a spirited but friendly brewing competition held between the Colorado State House of Representatives and the Colorado State Senate.

“We are thrilled that Representative Saison won,” said Patrick Crawford, co-founder of Denver Beer Co. ”We like the Senate, however clearly the House knows a bit more about brewing a beer for the people.”

2014 GABF Fantasy Brewery Draft

I recently drafted my (the best) Fantasy Brewery Draft team for Great American Beer Festival. We win points on medals awarded. We all know who’s going to win (me) so keep up with the action on PorchDrinking.com to see what we all know is going to happen.

http://www.porchdrinking.com/2014-gabf-fantasy-brewery-draft-results/

Smoked Salmon Pasta with a Consilium Cream Sauce

So I’m not a huge seafood person. Of course, I love sushi like every other white girl in America but I just have a hard time getting past the fishy taste of most cooked sea creatures. Although I will pretty much never order salmon at dinner, I will frequently request a bagel with lox. Part of me likes to believe it’s making my bagel healthy (which is not possible). In order to get over my fear of the pink fish, I decided to face it head on and take my favorite parts about salmon at breakfast and use them to create a delicious dinner. Beer fits into this equation because Consilium, the brew by Renegade used in this dish, is made with orange peel – adding the perfect amount of zippy zest to the pasta.

Continue reading Smoked Salmon Pasta with a Consilium Cream Sauce

Colorado – The State of Craft Beer

Yesterday (Sept 16^th) I went over to Renegade Brewing Company to check out the unveiling of the ‘Colorado – The State of Craft Beer’ brand created by the Colorado Brewers Guild. With Colorado being home to 9 regional breweries, the oldest microbrewery in the country (Boulder Beer), and over 200 other breweries, it’s no wonder that we are claiming this name for ourselves. The brand will be rolled out in separate phases with merchandise, signage, and a comprehensive brewer-friendly website coming out at later dates. Colorado currently holds 7% of the nation’s craft beer sales and CBG is hoping to increase that to 20% by 2020, with the help of this new brand. One way in which they will do that is by working with the Colorado Tourism Office, which already boasts the state’s craft beer abundance to potential visitors. Of course the CBG will use the power of the internet to get the word out there as well but I expect you will start seeing the ‘Colorado – The State of Craft Beer’ brand everywhere as it is made available to put on beer packaging, clothes, festival tents, etc. Want to check it out for yourself? Head over to the Colorado Brewers Guild tent at Great American Beer Festival where you can also get a fresh beer brewed and poured by state representatives!