Browsing Category: beer

Guinness Factory In Dublin, Ireland

 

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When you travel to Ireland for an epic vacation/destination wedding/honeymoon you have to make a visit to the Guinness Factory in Dublin. I may be more beer-inclined than most but it was truly an amazing museum full of interesting exhibits and interactive displays. It’s a self-guided tour which spans through several levels and ends with the Gravity Bar that has an almost 360 degree view of downtown Dublin. Along the way you get to learn about the hops, grain, brewing process, machinery, water, advertisements through the years, the coopers (the workers who made the barrels), etc. It is really well done and pretty much puts most other brewery/distillery tours to shame.

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I really enjoyed learning about the coopers who made the barrels. There was a very informative but entertaining video about how the barrels were made entirely by hand and with no exacting specifications … just by the look and feel of the very skilled coopers. As you stand watching this video, you are surrounded by the tools that were used to manipulate the wood and could feel the energy and awe in the air. The craftsmanship is insane and it just makes you appreciate the work that went into something we take for granted.

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I also really liked learning how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. It was really fun and we got to keep together our giant group of 9 people so we could watch everyone pour their very own pint from start to finish. The tour guide was really fun and it was a great experience. We got our certifications to prove we know how to pour the perfect pint! I should print out my cicerone certification and hang them together in solidarity.

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The artist’s interpretation of a pint of Guinness was really cool. I loved the carved dark wood bottom but the “foam” that was a moving and breathing floating lace pillow was just wonderful. We did grab a bite to eat at the cafe and the food was delicious. We had the Guinness stew (of course) and the ham sandwich. My sandwich was just perfect and I tried some of Sean’s stew and that was great as well. The gravity bar was so cool but I was bummed to learn that you had to present your tour ticket for a beer and couldn’t purchase a second round from the bar! It is so cool up there I desperately wanted to just hang out for a little while and drink a few beers after several hours of walking. I think the reason was it would be too packed in there and not be enjoyable. The Guinness itself was velvety with a rich body and flavors that were gentle yet present. Enjoying a Guinness in the states is totally different. The hops drop-off significantly and the malty caramel are not in the forefront like they are in Ireland. I pretty much drank a ton of Guinness while I was there because, well, it’s just not the same anywhere else.

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After the Guinness Factory we decided to go to Bear, a restaurant I saw on The Layover and since I love and respect Anthony Bourdain I was able to convince my group of 8 to join me there for dinner. We made a reservation and popped into a little pub for a few drinks before dinner. We shared a few lovely pints and then had a wonderful dinner at Bear. I had the rosary cut of steak which was similar to a short rib steak. It was very flavorful but a little fatty for my tastes. The million dollar fried were fawned-over, the thick bacon appetizer was sinful and succulent, and the cheese cauliflower was soft and rich, My sister’s husband is a chef and he certainly enjoyed himself tasting all the different dishes while my mixologist friend Rooney really loved chatting with the bartender about their delectable cocktails. The service was great and the people who work there were very nice. All in all, a wonderful day and evening in Dublin well spent.

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The Place Where I Got Married In Ireland

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The long tree-lined driveway

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The Bert House

Planning a wedding is stressful. Imagine planning a wedding at a venue you haven’t seen (with your own eyes…internet photos don’t count) because you choose to have a destination wedding on a budget and can’t simply fly there to scope-out the place! My stress and anxiety levels were pretty crazy the last few months before the wedding but it was all unwarranted because the venue turned-out to be amazing! I don’t regret having a destination wedding one bit. It was special, small, and very memorable.

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The White Pony we named “Baloney Pony”

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Sheep!

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The place we got married is in a town called Athy (pronounced At-ii or At-ie) just outside downtown. The house is a 300 year-old mansion called The Bert House (also known as The Deburgh Manor) that comes with 15 rooms, a dinning room, drawing-room, two bars (one in the basement), a commercial-grade kitchen, and so much more! We joked about it being haunted and that the basement rooms were perfect for “murders.” It would be the absolute perfect place to have a raucous game of clue! If anyone is looking for a large house to have a wedding or just to centralize a large group for a trip to Ireland, I highly recommend this place. It was an hour from Dublin (45 minutes via train) and was within reasonable driving distance from several wonderful day trips.

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Access to a river

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And now…to bombard you with photos.

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Sean and his Harlis Sweetwater shirt by the river

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Sean didn’t actually lose a finger…

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Alesmith Speedway Stout Balls

Alesmith Speedway Stout Balls

Hello readers! I have returned from my destination wedding and honeymoon and can’t wait to share the photos and stories with you. I am currently in the process of editing down the 4,000+ photos from our trip to Ireland, Scotland, UK, Belgium and New York and will hopefully be posting all about it soon. So many amazing things to share!

Now that I am back, I wanted to make something I have never made before and after soul-searching and pintresting…I decided on rum balls. Of course, I would be substituting the rum for beer. Deviating from the standard rum ball recipe I also made the additions of some coffee and cinnamon to the batter in hopes of boosting the flavors. I also rolled the beer balls in three different types of sugar: vanilla bean sugar, raw sugar and granulated honey. It made for some interesting texture and flavors! This would be fun for a group to do and then try their different rolled toppings after they have set.

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Ingredients:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) of unsalted butter

6 oz of dark chocolate

3 large eggs

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon of course sea salt

3/4 cup AP flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground coffee or espresso

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons beer

sanding sugar or anything your heart desires to roll the balls in 🙂

Directions:

1. Heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Using a “quarter cookie sheet” or 12×17 tray with raised edges, spray the tray with cooking spray and set aside.

2. Melt butter and chocolate in the microwave, heating in 30 second increments. Try mixing between heating and it should become incorporated without the double boiler hassle or burning the chocolate. Set aside.

3. Whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, vanilla and salt in a larger bowl. Then mix in the butter chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until just combined. Put the flour, coffee and cinnamon in a sifter and sift in the flour in three batches and fold until incorporated.

4. Pour batter onto prepared baking tray and spread to the edges with a spatula. Try and be as even as possible or else it will burn. Bake for 10 minutes and then place on a wire rack to cool completely.

5. Once cooled, break the brownie/cake into small pieces and put in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. On medium speed, add the beer and mix until the crumbs get sticky…about 30 seconds to 1 minute. If skeptical, try squishing some together in your hands and see if the shape holds at all.

6. Using a cookie scoop or a spoon shape 1-11/2 inch balls and roll in your choice of topping and place on a baking sheet. Once all your balls are rolled, place in the fridge, uncovered, for at least 2 hours. This will make sure your topping doesn’t get absorbed into the cake and the ball will set.

Yield: 20-40 balls (depending on size)

Season: Any!

Level: Beginner

Lasts: about a week

These were great! I wish the flavor was more intense so next time I think I will make a beer syrup and use that instead of just using the beer. It could have a more intense beer taste for my preference, but these were delicious regardless! The texture on the outside being crunchy or sandy was a nice juxtaposition from the soft and rich inside. I also wish there was more spice coming from the cake/brownie batter, so next time I will up the cinnamon and coffee amount as well. The granulated honey had a lovely aftertaste but the crunch of the raw sugar was the most satisfying. I was in love with the floral notes from the vanilla sugar…I need to find more uses for that in my baked goods. Too bad I only have a small bag of it because it’s so wonderful!

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Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins with High Water Campfire Stout

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I have been craving muffins lately. I am not sure if it’s because they remind me of cool mornings with coffee or autumn flavors but I had the inspiration for pumpkin muffins with High Water Brewing’s Campfire Stout. I have been holding onto my can of pumpkin puree deciding whether to use it for cheesecake cupcakes or something else when it hit me…muffins! Not just any muffins, but doughnut-style muffins. That means they will be not as light as your typical muffin and more cakey and in this case, covered in cinnamon and sugar.

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Ingredients:

1 stick of unsalted butter (room temp)

4 tablespoons of pumpkin pecan butter (can use regular pumpkin butter or regular unsalted butter)

2 eggs

3 cups AP Flour

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 of 1 packet of powdered buttermilk

1/3 cup beer

3/4 cups brown sugar

1 15oz can of pumpkin puree

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Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 12 muffin trays with non-stick spray and set aside. Whisk together all the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, allspice, powdered buttermilk) in a bowl and set aside.  Whisk together the pumpkin puree with the beer in a separate bowl and set aside.

2. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time until combined. Add the flour mix in three additions alternating with the pumpkin mix. Once just combined, scoop 1/3 cups of the mixture into the muffin pan or basically just fill the wells with batter.

3. Cook for 25-30 minutes, rotating once during the cooking process. Poke the muffins with a toothpick and if it comes out clean the muffins are done. They should have a little browning on the edges. Let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. Melt a little unsalted butter to brush onto the muffins then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. The muffins are not really sweet so adding the cinnamon and sugar on the outside really helps round the flavor.

Yield: 12-16 muffins

Lasts: 2-3 days

Season: Autumn / Fall

I love this recipe. The muffins are pull-apart soft without being crumbly. The pumpkin is very present in the flavor and the crunchy edges make a nice texture contrast from the soft inside. This would make a great gift to someone or a nice dish to have for entertaining.

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OC Fest of Ales 2013 Recap

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The 2nd Annual OC Fest of Ales event was a wonderful event filled with fantastic food, amazing beer, and great people. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect with the sunny sky and a break in the recent heat wave. It was nice to not be melting in the heat at a beer event.

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I found parking immediately and proceeded to check-in for my wristband. I was handed a “swag bag” which was actually a drawstring backpack (genius!) that contained the latest issue of The Westcoaster So Cal and a OC Fest of Ales bottle opener necklace and coozie. I had my ID checked and was handed a tasting glass and released into the event full of excitement. The food trucks were first along the street with some local business booths, then it opened-up to the Hangar 24 truck across from the giant jenga game and live music stage. It was awesome to hear a favorite Wanda Jackson song playing as I sipped my Oktoberfest by Hangar 24 pondering my next move.

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I decided to explore the entire event first before I circled back to plan my beer stops considering I wasn’t going to have them all. Of course, plans always seem to go out the window because I run into friends and get distracted. I really enjoyed the Old Rat English style old ale (8.7%ABV) by Bravery Brewing. It was not overly sweet and had a fantastic balance of malt and rye flavors. The always tasty Naughty Sauce (5.5% ABV) was poured at Noble Ale Works booth prompting a line of eager fans bolstering a pour of the golden goodness. Damn, I love that beer.

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OC Fest of Ales

Brian Avery (Bravery Brewing), Evan Price (Noble Ale Works), Matt Becker (NBT, The Bruery)

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Apparently I am not alone in my love for Noble because they won the Mayor’s Trophy for best brewery. I actually got to meet the Mayor of Anaheim, Tom Tait, who was awesome and was the most normal and down-to-earth politician I have ever had a conversation with. Mr. Tait announced the winners of the homebrew competition with Bradley Daniels and Spencer Colman (both avid homebrewers). The winner for best in show was Darren Shelton for his Strong Scotch Ale which will be brewed at Noble Ale Works.

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I missed the 5k because…well… I slept-in that morning. From what I heard the winner, Matthew Klein, kicked-ass and killed everyone else’s time. My fiance was driving the pace truck for the race and said it was difficult at times to stay in front of him because he was so fast! It was really entertaining to see everyone from the race at the event with all their fun costumes and crazy pants. Nothing like a detox and re-tox, right?

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After the winner announcement I wandered over to the VIP area for some food.  I enjoyed a corned beef sandwich from Tony’s Deli, short rib jerky from Hopscotch and 1/4 burger from Slater’s 50/50. The corned beef sandwich was great, I loved the bread with the caraway seeds. There was whispers about the short rib jerky from Hopscotch.. “I’ve already had like 5 of those things…I wish I could stuff more in my mouth at one time….It will haunt my dreams…” so needless to say I was really intrigued by the time I actually ate one. It was amazing…it was juicy and not dry while being spicy and sweet and unctuous. They apparently offer this as an appetizer at the restaurant, so I won’t have to suffer night sweats going through my jerky withdrawal. Plus, I was just there for their cocktail preview recently and the salmon salad was simply amazing and so damn delicious. I want one right now. Literally my stomach is growling in protest.

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The Jerky!!!!

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Overall the event was put-together extremely well and very thoughtful. I can’t wait to try the scotch ale brewed by Noble and Darren, I am sure it will be superb. Cheers to all the volunteers who made this event spectacular and I am looking forward to next year!

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Anchor Big Leaf Maple Popovers

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Popovers are like a mixture of a souffle and a biscuit in the most wonderful way. You can make them savory or sweet with endless combinations. The texture is almost croissant-like on the outside and fluffy like a souffle on the inside. Crunchy and buttery with hints of salt that doesn’t make you feel guilty and heavy after stuffing your face…I’m in.

I used a new seasonal release from Anchor Brewing called Big Leaf Maple which is a red ale with a hint of maple flavor. This is a very well-balanced beer that isn’t overly sweet, so it would make a good addition to the salty popover.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temp

4 3/4 oz of AP Flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, room temp

3/4 cups whole milk

1/4 cups beer

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F, let heat for additional 10 minutes after pre-heat before putting the popovers in.

2. Spray your popover tray with cooking spray. If you don’t have a popover tray, use a muffin tin.

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Popover Tray

3. Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and mix until combined, or about 30 seconds. Fill popover or muffin tray half way. Don’t fill in advance and allow to sit while your oven is pre-heating, it needs to be poured then put in the oven right away.

4. Bake in the middle rack for 40 minutes and don’t open the oven door while cooking. This might make your popovers fall. Place on a wire rack to cool, and pierce the top of the popover to allow steam to escape. Serve warm.

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Level: Easy

Season: Any

Yield: 6 popovers

The fun part is you can add cheese to the top of the popover or sugar to make a fun variation. An interesting combination would be rosemary and cheddar or chocolate and cinnamon sugar popover. Happy baking!

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OC Brew HaHa 2013 Recap

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What an amazing event. OC Brew HaHa 2013 is over now and when I reflect on the day I am filled with memories that make me smile. I always know I had a good time when I took way too many photos. I was stuck with almost 500 photos to edit (I did it to myself) and managed to get it down to something like 60, which is still a lot of photos. 

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The day was hot and sunny with temps reaching the high 90’s. The heat was combated as best as possible with several mister stations along with mister cables strung across the location, cold water stations everywhere, and plenty of shady areas and seating. Besides the heat making me sweat profusely, the whole day was wonderful. I really felt like the people who put this event on revolved everything around the experience of the attendee and not about what was convenient or cost-effective or easy. Here’s why:

1. If you had too much to drink and had driven yourself to the event, you could leave your car there and come and get it the next day. They wanted everyone to be safe, and that was so refreshing. So many events also kick people out of the event right after last call, not giving people a chance to sober-up and eat or have water. This event had a hour grace-period after the event ended for people to filter out at their own pace. So smart.

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2. Water was everywhere, and always super cold. I have been to a lot of beer events and never has the water been so damn cold and refreshing. It makes a difference, it really does. 

3. There was no long lines because there was enough vendors to people. There was a good amount of food trucks, and the beer tents were spaced so people never seemed to bunch-up and create a long line. Beer was accessible almost instantly at any booth I walked-up to. 

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4. There was a lot of seating and shade, especially around the food and stage which makes the most sense. I also would randomly feel cold mist and realized the cable misters were everywhere.

5. The hand-out gave you a map of the event with the speaker times and basically all the FAQ’s you could want. It was so great to have a comprehensive guide! They also had a downloadable version to have on your phone, even though the service out there is spotty at best. 

6. I found parking almost immediately, and close to the event entrance. 

I got to see Greg Koch from Stone Brewing Co. and David Walker from Firestone Walker speak and Reel Big Fish perform. I am a ska lover so it was awesome to see Reel Big Fish again (yes, I have seen them before) but it’s always great to see them. Their energy is so high and it was so cool to see so many people skanking hard despite the heat! 

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But how was the beer? It was amazing, and there was so many choices! I had the Mikkeller Big Worse, Epic Pumpkin Porter, Refuge Whit, etc. I also participated in beer geek island again this year, and it was such a fun way to end the event. Bottle share in a beer event, we must be crazy. 

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Side note: the New Brew Thursday trivia was really fun. It was great to see people running to give their answers in hopes to win a t-shirt. That needs to happen more with more questions! Also, it was awesome to see Ron Bland (OC Beer Society) and his new venture of The Brew House getting some exposure. I can’t wait for his place to open! The Bottle Logic crew was really fun to talk to and I am filled with excitement to taste their beer and see their tap room! They are scheduled to open in Anaheim, CA the end of October (estimated?) and I couldn’t be more delighted! 

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Recent Features of My Little Beer & Baking Blog

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Hi there! It seems like recently my blog has been getting featured by other websites (I noticed because of the link referral traffic) and I couldn’t be more flattered! I haven’t spoken to these websites, besides my thanks for the feature, so I had no idea.

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1. Food Republic

Link to the feature: http://www.foodrepublic.com/2013/08/29/new-blog-obsession-beer-baking

Food republic is a website dedicated to the culture of food in all aspects of life. It’s a very professional-looking website that reads more like a magazine and is visually stunning. A quote from the article:

“Sometimes we come across a food blog so good we have to blow it up. Not like “sabotage the website out of jealousy,” but rather “let you know there’s a great blog dedicated to baking with the ultimate ingredient: beer.” Okay, enough with the quotes. Beer and Baking is an expertly curated collection of cookies, cakes, tarts, bars, pies, cupcakes, scones, breads (deep breath) crackers, something called “doughnut balls” — basically, you can bake anything with beer. This is the indisputable proof.”

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2. Animal Gourmet

Link to the feature: http://www.animalgourmet.com/2013/09/02/cerveza-hasta-en-la-sopa/#axzz2e306HCu1

Animal Gourmet is an information portal that enjoys food, but we are also convinced that the food is a cross-cutting issue that unites people, cultures and countries, other disciplines are also of interest. That is according to their website. It’s originally in Spanish so it’s translated to English version isn’t always completely understandable.
“Today everyone is talking about beer. Handmade, homemade, new brands, special chefs, the growth of small breweries and their fight against the huge, all around gives beer to talk . To make the issue bigger, and expand knowledge in this area, we invite you to cook with beer. Learn to make cookies, for example, with a beer batter recipe stout with sugar , delicious cinnamon rolls with a light beer or souffle with pistachio beer. In fact, the latter already tried it and was successful, yes, it maridamos with Mexican beer, of course.”

I find it incredibly flattering that I was thought-of to feature on these sites. Sometimes you just don’t know if what you are doing is worth it, or if people actually read/appreciate what you are doing. A food/photography blog I follow, Love.Life.Eat, recently wrote about how important it is to have integrity in what you are making because people spend money to try and re-create your recipes and I respect that. Everything I feature is what you see, taken with my Canon T3i, and then usually eaten by my family or fiance’s co-workers. I agree that there is a lot of stimulation in the food world and it’s easy to get sucked-in to the pintrest photos of beautiful desserts that just don’t turn out right. I am happy to hear that some people out there love this blog because it fills my heart with validation and the push to do bigger and better things for the reader.

Cheers!

OC Brew Ha Ha Coming Soon on Sept. 7th, 2013

OC Brew Ha Ha

OC Brew Ha Ha is a beer event that many look forward to all year. It’s one of the best Orange County beer events because they have an amazing line-up of beer, live music, beer expert speakers, great food, etc. I have gone to this event for the last two years and I can attest with personal experience that it’s one of my favorite beer events to attend every year.

Where: Oak Canyon Park right past Irvine Lake off Santiago Canyon Road. LOOK FOR THE SIGN THAT SAYS OC BREW HA HA!

When: Sept. 7th, 2013. VIP from 12-4pm, general admission from 1-4pm.

Who: PIKE BREWING, FIRESTONE WALKER, CISMONTANE, MIKKELLER BREWING, BOOTLEGGERS BREWERY, SPEAK EASY BREWING, ANCHOR BREWING, RITUAL BREWING, IRONFIRE BREWING, EPIC BREWING, TAPS BREWING, IRON FIST BREWING, FIGUEROA MOUNTAIN BREWING, BRASH BREWING CO., AVERY BREWING, SMOG CITY BREWING, BREWERY AT ABIGAILE, CORONADO BREWING, CRAFT BREWING, WICKS BREWING, BELCHING BEAVER, BACKSTREET BREWERY, BALLAST POINT, STONE, CLOWN SHOES BEER, DOGFISH HEAD, EL SEGUNDO BREWING, NINKASI BREWING, BREWERY OMMEGANG, MONKS’ ALE, MISSION BREWERY, NOBLE ALE WORKS, THE LOST ABBEY, SAINT ARCHER, HAVEN BREWING, THE BRUERY, FIREMANS BREW, INLAND EMPIRE BREWING, OGGIS BREWING. VALIANT BREWING, MONKISH BREWING, LEFT COAST BREWING, ALCATRAZ BREWING, REFUGE BREWING, NORTH COAST BREWING, GREEN FLASH, ALMANAC BREWING, DALE BROS., BEACHWOOD BREWING, GOLDEN ROAD BREWING, JT SCHMIDS, WIDMER BROTHERS, MAIN STREET BREWERY, SIERRA NEVADA, HOEGAARDEN, LAUGHING DOG, DRAKES BREWING, STADIUM BREWING, ABBEY LEFFE, TUSTIN BREWING COMPANY, GOOSE ISLAND, PACKINGHOUSE BREWING, NEW BELGIUM, OLD ORANGE BREWING, KARL STRAUSS, MAUI BREWING, NEWPORT BEACH BREWING, BLACK MARKET BREWING, HANGAR 24, and PIZZA PORT SAN CLEMENTE.

You get 10 4oz. tasters so choose wisely!

Also, there will be speeches from: Greg Koch (Stone Brewing Co.), David Walker (Firestone Walker), Dr. Bill Sysak (Stone Brewing Co./NBT Master Pairings/Expert Drinking Podcast), and Ed Heethis (Ritual Brewing)

Music: Reel Big Fish and The Creepers will be preforming.

Food: Slater’s 50/50, The Burnt Truck, Devilicious, Firetruck 77 Pizza, Taco Asylum, Brewcakes, The Slidebar, The Viking Truck, Garlic Scapes, Arroyo Trabuco, Dos Chinos, Rancho a GO GO, and The Sausage King.

Your decision should be simple. Buy tickets

Here is my review from last year

Here is my review from the year prior

Here is their website for any further FAQ’s you might have. 

OC Brew Ha Ha flyer

Stone 17th Anniversary IPA Mango Sorbet

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It’s HOT outside. Sorbet is one of my favorite things to have when it’s hot outside because it’s refreshing and light. That’s something that we could all use right now, considering it’s 83 degrees F as I am typing this at 8pm. I opted to make a mango sorbet and wanted to use the recent anniversary release from Stone Brewing Co. The Stone 17th Anniversary Götterdämmerung IPA is 9.5%ABV and used all German malts and hops which lends a crisp and slightly bitter taste. This will balance the sweetness of the mango and make for a very invigorating sorbet!

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Ingredients:

1 cup of beer

1 cup of sugar

2 cups of pureed frozen mango

3 lemons worth of juice

Directions:

1. In a skillet over medium heat, place the beer and sugar and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Take off the heat and place in the fridge to cool.

2. Puree your frozen mango and lemon juice and place in the fridge to sit while the beer simple syrup cools. After 15 or 20 minutes, mix together the beer simple syrup and mango puree and put into an ice cream machine. This should process for about 20 minutes until smooth. Place in the freezer to set for a few hours (1 hour minimum) and then serve! How easy was that!?

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