James Beard House- Farmer’s Bounty Holiday Dinner

A couple weeks back, CT & I were once again graciously invited by my parents to dinner at the James Beard House. We have been quite spoiled as they have brought us to a number of events at the house over the past couple of years. This time the event was called “Farmer’s Bounty Holiday Dinner” and featured chefs from Vie and Perennial Virant in Chicago. As an added bonus, it was also a beer dinner featuring various vintages of Goose Island beer (also from Chicago). Just to make sure that we were well lubricated there would also be a [...]

Revisit: Sierra Nevada 2010 Bigfoot Barleywine

My very first review here, introduced by The Feisty Foodie, featured the Sierra Nevada 2010 Bigfoot. I thought it appropriate to re-review today, and check how it’s come along since then. Without following that link, I doubt you remember all the “pearls of wisdom” (ha!) I laid out nearly two years ago. Bigfoot, created nearly 30 years ago, has stood the test of time, tweaking but never overhauling the recipe for this standard-bearer of American-style barleywine: appropriately over-the-top Pacific Northwest hops, huge, full malt backbone to carry the booze and bitterness, a little bit sweet to let you know it’s [...]

The Gamble Mill, Bellefonte PA

What do I like to do when I have to burn vacation time? Why, rent a car, drive well over a thousand miles, visit some friends, and take in some brewpubs in areas remote and urban, of course! One of the several Pennsylvania brewpubs I sought out (that you, Mr. Lander, for the recommendations!) is located in Bellefonte, a sleepy Victorian town just off the Interstate and near State College, home to the Penn State Nittany Lions. The Gamble Mill dates from the 18th century. Though, like most wooden structures of a certain age, much has been rebuilt due to [...]

Shacktoberfest 2011

One recent beautiful day, TC and I met up for Shacktoberfest, so even though it’s over and TT did a great job blogging it – better than this post will be – I’m going to share…  At Madison Square Park, TC and Krista both got the pumpkin beer, which they seemed to like.  I opted for the … crap, I don’t remember.  It’s the one on the left and was on the special menu though.  (I told you this is not a good post… I’ve been drinking and it’s late.)  Unfortunately, we’d actually visited Shake Shack for the steins, and [...]

Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen

Do I really need to mention Oktoberfest and its German roots? The annual celebration in Munich, with the Big Six breweries hoisting gigantic tents for two weeks starting in mid-September, creating a carnival atmosphere, and charging an awful lot of money for liters of the festival beer, represents everything positive — and quite a bit of the negative — about beer. But we will have none of that. Here, every German beer bar (and an unhealthy number of non-German ones) do their own mini-Oktoberfest. The German bars tend to bring out as many of those Big Six breweries’ Oktoberfest beers, [...]

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