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Sweets and Sours Goose Island Tasting Event w/Chef Andrea Machuca

Posted on June 16, 2015
andrea machuca, baking, beer, beer dinner, Beer Event, beer pairing, Beer Tasting, beer travel, Brewery, craft beer, craftbeer, dtsa, goose island, native son alehouse, Photography, Travel
Comments: 0

Goose Island recently hosted a beer pairing event at Native Son’s Alehouse in DTSA dedicated to women who love indulging in a bit of decadence & full glass of craft beer. It was dubbed “Sweets & Sours” and the food was made by my friend, the elegant Chef Andrea Machuca. It was a wonderful evening of glittering lights, lovely beers with truly decadent and delicious food.

Chef Andrea is embarking on a new venture called The Culinary Underground where she does beer pairing dinners or tasting events with craft beer and it’s starting to get noticed. She’s previously executed the “Dining with the Brewmaster” Bootleggers Anniversary Beer Dinner which I attended, and now it seems she has caught some attention because Goose Island choose her to host their Sweets and Sours event which was dedicated to a tasting event of sweet and sour beers with cheese and dessert dishes. It was kinda genius.

1st Dish: Cheese Pairing Dish: Wash Rind Epoisses Brie from France – topped with picked cherries soaked in Juliet, Fromage D’Affinois double cream brie topped with Bourbon County blackberry jam, crusty bread, walnut crumble, and marcona almonds. The paired beers was the Juliet and Madame Rose by Goose Island. The Juliet was one of my favorites from the evening. It was funky and slightly sour, with lots of fruit flavors and a dry finish with moderate carbonation. This cheese dish is exactly what I want from a cheese pairing, it was funky, rich, silky, crunchy, sweet and fruity. Both cheeses were delightful but I preferred the brie a bit more, and the nuts were a wonderful textural element on the plate.

2nd Dish: Dessert Pairing Dish: Raspberry creme panna cotta, beet cremeux, mint, strawberry pearls, dehydrated citrus paired with Lolita. The Lolita is a Belgian-style ale aged in French oak Cabernet Sauvignon barrels. Each barrel receives 50+ pounds of fresh raspberries. Spontaneous secondary fermentation in the barrels. Aged 8 months or more. It makes sense they would pair it with the panna cotta, because the dessert was creamy and light and the beer was complex and bold with deep flavors of raspberries and caramel notes. I loved the strawberry pearls because it added a crunch that was needed but didn’t distract from the overall dish.

3rd Dish: Last Dessert Pairing: Bourbon County brownies, white chocolate creameux, raspberry fruit roll-up, almond crumble paired with Bourbon County Coffee. The brownie was fluffy and rich, the Bourbon County was sweet and intensely flavorful. It was a great cap to a generous and decadent evening.

Christina Perozzi Taranouchtchenko of The Beer Chicks was also in attendance to talk about the beer pairings and educate about all things Goose Island. Overall it was really cool to sit at a table with all women, appreciating the food and beer together. Thanks to Goose Island for hosting the event, and thanks to Native Son’s Alehouse for providing the venue. A special thanks to Andrea for making the night one to remember.

Beer Cactus Cookies W/Evil Twin

Posted on June 3, 2015
baking, beer, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, Brewery, cactus, cookies, craft beer, Evil Twin, Photography, recipe
Comments: 2

One session beer I have been seeing a lot is the Evil Twin Citra Sunshine Slacker. The description explains it all: Despite his bitterness, lack of power and insuperable aversion to any kind of extravagant labor – he kind of has a charming charisma, and perhaps he is even loveable. Somehow we find him unbelievable irresistible and stimulating because he is one of the few that masters the ability to effortlessly impress with his sharp intelligence and make it look so damn easy.

In one had I had this session IPA that was citrusy and hoppy but light, and in the other hand I had these brand new and super rad cactus cookie cutters that I was dying to use. Screw convention, I am making cactus cookies with an IPA. Let’s take the bitterness head-on with some lime juice, why not.

Ingredients:

4 cups of sifted AP Flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 cup or 2 sticks of unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (or beer!)

Frosting:

1 lb. of powdered sugar

1 tablespoon of light corn syrup

2/3 cups of beer

1 tablespoon of lime juice

Gel food coloring

(you might need to adjust the amount of powered sugar depending on consistency…more for thicker frosting and less for a thinner more runny frosting. I opted for a thick frosting that was easy to control)

Directions:

1. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together into a bowl.

2. Beat butter and sugar together on medium speed in an electric stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix until pale and fluffy, for 3 minutes or so. Add in the vanilla (or beer) and eggs and mix until incorporated. Add flour mixture in slowly until incorporated.

3. Put cookie dough in plastic wrap and let chill in the fridge about 1 hour or until firm. I wrapped it into three disks and only used two of them and froze the third. This yields a good amount of cookies.

4. Roll-out the dough in between two sheets of plastic wrap until about 1/4 inch thick. Using the plastic wrap will help keep the cookies from getting too dry from adding extra flour during the roll-out process.

5. Cut out the shapes and place on cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpats. Put in the freezer for 15 minutes so the cookies will keep the shape while baking.

6. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Cook for 15-18 minutes until the edges are brown. Let cookies cool before icing.

7. Whisk icing ingredients together, make sure that the icing is very thick so it will keep the piping shapes you want. Make sure to add more powdered sugar if necessary. I made three colors of frosting, one pink for the “pot” and one bright green for the cactus and a dark grey/black for the cactus spikes. They will get completely dry overnight and will be pretty hard so they can be put in an airtight container to travel if needed. If it gets too hot the frosting will get melty again.

These turned out great. I got the bitterness and beer flavor, but it wasn’t overpowering. The cookie wasn’t really sweet, it just had a nice crunch to it. The frosting was an interesting balance of sweet, tangy and hoppy. They turned out so cute! I can’t wait to figure out more ways to use my cactus cookie cutter.

cheers!

Holy Mountain Brewing in Seattle

Posted on June 1, 2015
beer, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, Brewery, craft beer, holy mountain, holy mountain brewing, Photography, Seattle, Travel
Comments: 2

It was love at first visit to Holy Mountain Brewing in Seattle. Let me count the ways:

1. The tap room: sheltered and unassuming in a industrial area off a main road, it was a hidden gem that exceeded my first impression. The concrete floors, stark white walls, tall ceilings, wooden booths, white subway tile, minimalist aesthetic meets a thoughtful design that was so damn good. I loved everything about it.

2. The beers, oh the beers: this really should be number 1 because they are really what matters the most ultimately, but I can’t help but swoon over the concrete floating tables. Either way, Holy Mountain is killing it. They have some of the most interesting and well done beers I have ever had in Seattle, and I have been to quite a few breweries in Seattle. They are focusing on seasonal, hop-forward and yeast-driven beers, including saisons/farmhouse ales as well as some lagers, but most importantly is they were all extremely drinkable and clean. I tried several of the beers and here is what I thought:

The OX – Farmhouse Ale 6% – Was light and fruity, had a lovely citrus quality that finished dry. Reminded me of a fruity chardonnay, very approachable. I need more of this in my life.

Kiln and Cone – Pale Ale 5.2% – Hoppy but very well balanced. Had some notes of citrus and pine, so drinkable it made me believe I could fall back in love with the IPA.

King’s Head – Brown Ale 7.9% – Falls between a porter and brown in my opinion. Had great flavors but wasn’t overly sweet, mostly tasted of brownie and marshmallow with a slight bitter backbone.

3. The people: I met one of the co-owners Mike Murphy when I went to the taproom and he was as nice and forthcoming as one could possibly get. He answered all my questions, dug-up a shirt from the back, let me get behind the bar to get the shot I wanted of the tap handles, all while being the only person behind the bar and handling all the other patrons. He never seemed flustered or annoyed, he just was so mellow and easy to talk to. He was so happy to hear how much I loved his beers it seemed to mean a lot to him.

Believe it or not the brewery name isn’t from a religious nod, but yet is from a song and album name from a band called Sleep. It’s also a reference to Mt. Rainier, but mainly from the band. I am not sure about you guys but I like to keep religion and beer separate like good ol’ church and state, so it was a relief to learn it had no religious affiliations tied to the name.

A brief search around the web confirmed that I wasn’t alone in my admiration for this brewery.

“Holy Mountain is a true blessing upon Seattle’s beer scene.”

“The space is open, clean, and feels comforting in that minimalist-this-place-looks-like-it-just-came-out-of-a-magazine way.”

“the most Highly Anticipated new Seattle Brewery Opening of the year.”

The Holy Mountain taproom is located at 1421 Elliott Ave W in Seattle. They have a 60-seat taproom and 12 tap handles, and are 21+ and no dogs allowed. If there was one bummer about Holy Mountain is they don’t allow dogs like many other Seattle breweries, but I understand why they choose to have those rules. It’s meant to be a heaven away from reality, and for those who want to get away and those who have allergies, it’s should be fun for them too. Hope to see y’all there next time I visit!

Einstok Beer Tasting in Santa Monica

Posted on May 31, 2015
beer, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, Brewery, craft beer, einstok, Photography, santa monica, stout burgers and beer, Travel
Comments: 0

Right before Sabroso I went to a media beer tasting event at Stout Burgers and Beer in Santa Monica thrown by Einstok. It was mainly to celebrate the release of their specialty beer, Snorri’s Awakening, which is a coffee pale ale in collaboration with Yards Brewing Co. from Philadelphia, PA.

We arrived to Stout around 6:30pm and I was eager to get some food and have a cold beer on this balmy weekday evening. We found the event happening in a narrow small room in the back, and food was being brought out pretty regularly so we snagged a bite of the burgers when the next round arrived. The food was delicious. The burgers were juicy and very flavorful albeit messy, but hey I don’t mind a messy burger. The fries were well cooked and had fresh herbs on them. I would probably come back again for the food. The place was small, but super close to the beach so that’s a nice plus.

The drinks were good. We were provided an Einstok tulip glass to taste some of the different beers and the most anticipated offering of the evening, the Snorri’s Awakening. It was tasty, but didn’t match up to other coffee beers I’ve had. I think I am just spoiled, but it lacked the body I wanted and the coffee flavor dropped off too fast for my liking. I much rather enjoy the Doppelbock and the Toasted Porter, which after I had the initial taster of the Snorri’s I opted to drink the remainder of the event.

The hospitality and professionalism from the Einstok team was very well received. They were very forthcoming and attentive. If you read my blog, you might already know I have a bit of an issue with tight, crowded, hot, confined spaces and the restaurant was so small that I ran through my tolerance with the space relatively quickly. We opted to walk to the beach to get some fresh air and snap some shots of the sunset, and head back home. Thank you so much to Einstok for inviting me to the event and it was great to see some of my beer colleagues and hang for a bit. I hope you understand why I didn’t stay longer! Cheers 🙂

2nd Annual Sabroso Craft Beer & Taco Festival

Posted on May 25, 2015
beer, beerandbaking, bottle logic, craft beer, jarritos, lucha libre, Noble Ale Works, OC Brew HaHa, sabroso, the good beer company
Comments: 2

Sabroso had everything that I love about beer events: great food, fantastic beer selection, some hints of violence and drama, and probably some of the best music I have ever heard at a beer festival. I knew Sabroso was going to be a lot of fun, and this year they didn’t disappoint.

I was again a taco judge this year and got to taste 16 different tacos and judge them based on taste, texture, originality, and visual appeal. I took a picture of each taco and will try and do my best to describe what I thought of each. I honestly don’t know who did most of these tacos because we didn’t look at the name of the restaurant for most of them to rule out any possible bias that might be factored in.

The pancake taco shell was interesting, but hard to eat. It didn’t hold the ingredients together as well as I had hoped. The flavors were really great, but overall it wasn’t my favorite. I think the orange part of the taco was pickled ginger and I kinda hate ginger. Not the taco’s fault.

This taco was simple and beautiful, and it had good flavor. The meat had good texture and the onions and cheese were a nice touch, but I kinda was missing a little more liquid because the cheese helped make it kinda dry.

This taco had good flavor, good texture and balance of flavor. It wasn’t the most visually appealing of the bunch, but good none the less.

I liked this taco, but I think it had too much going on. It was a bit hard to eat, but had good flavors and the meat was cooked well and not dry. Overall, not a show stopper.

I liked this taco a lot. There was good sauce to meat ratio and it wasn’t dry at all. It was loaded with meat that had great flavor and not too much frills. Could maybe improve on the visual aspect, but good overall.

Come on, everyone knows who this taco belongs to. I know it’s the Iron Press taco, because they are the only ones doing waffle tacos. Regardless of knowing who this was, I tasted the taco with an open mind. I am sorry guys but I really didn’t like it. It was too dry and all I could taste was the kimchi and a lot of dough-y-ness from the waffle. I would recommend par cooking the waffle then flash frying it next time to keep a crunchy exterior to allow for the inside meat to really shine through.

I thought this taco was very inventive in it’s flavor combinations. They had various peppers and cucumbers and different sauces, and it made for a very good taco. The pork belly was also cooked perfectly.

This taco had lamb with a cream sauce, which is not normally something I want on a taco but somehow it worked. I am kinda in the middle of the road about it still. I liked the egregious amounts of cheese and fried things though…very compelling argument here.

This taco sounds good in theory but having a large amount of mole sauce on a taco, then having said mole sauce running down your face doesn’t make for a good visual. The duck was great on it’s own and the freshness of the cabbage was very needed to balance the mole sauce.

Can I just say, I freaking LOVED this taco. I love bao buns so goddamn much, and it takes a skilled hand to make the perfect stuffing inside the bun to not ruin the overall experience. This was perfect. The simple pulled lamb, pickled red onion, herbs and sauce let the ingredients shine and provided enough texture to win me over.

This taco was seriously wacky. It was like having a stew inside a taco. I wanted to hate it. I really did. Somehow, I couldn’t hate it because it was comfort food on steroids and even the green taco shell was griddled to perfection. What the holy hell you guys.

I think this taco was one of my least favorites because of the lack of acid and the really dry meat. Not a huge fan of it.

This taco was well done. The fried shrimps with the light herbs and cabbage was a nice change from everyone else’s pork dishes. The shrimp provided a nice crunch and chew, and the flavors were really nice.

I will put pretty much anything in my mouth (hey-o!) but I was a bit apprehensive of this taco. I swallowed my anxiety and dived in mouth first (zing!). It was a veritable fireworks display happening with the crispy squid and fire roasted hazelnuts and sea salt and scallions booming and popping around my tongue. Hot damn that was a good taco.

This taco had promise, but I wasn’t a fan of the potato shavings on top. I think perhaps because it was sweet potato or yams? Not a fan of those. It had good flavors though. Kinda in the middle about it.

Now that all of the tacos are out of the way, I can talk about the rest of the festival! The beer was great. I loved seeing a giant line at Bottle Logic’s booth and again I curse my never-ending fangirl-dom for giving them such popularity. It’s all my fault. It can’t be because their beers are fantastic at all. The cucumber/melon beer they had on tap was light and everything I wanted in the hot sun. I loved the beers that The Good Beer Company brought too. I could drink those sours all freaking day. It also helped a girl out after eating 16 tacos. Ok, fine…I had bites of 16 tacos and not 16 tacos in it’s entirety but it felt like I had eaten all those tacos. I felt light a floating pinata balloon of tacoy goodness ready to blow.

The Mexican Wrestling was amped-up this year because Bottle Logic and Noble Ale Works had an IG war going on that helped pump-up the hype about an impending wrestling match between wrestlers representing both breweries. In the end, I think it was a tie, but it was sure fun to watch.

Overall, it was a super fun event. I need to find out who the DJ was for the first half of the event because I have never heard someone who had such amazing picks of music. It was like he raided my playlist! Everyone commented about it.

Cheers!

Update On Things

Posted on May 25, 2015
beer, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, craft beer, craftbeer.com, hefe shandy, Photography, Travel, widmer
Comments: 0

Hey everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve done an update on what’s been happening with my life so I figured it was time. So, here goes:

I was featured in Craftbeer.com ‘s list for “10 Beertographers You Should Be Following On Instagram” and things got a little nuts after that. I was gaining followers at a crazy pace and next thing I knew, I had ballooned from about 1,250 followers to 1,900 followers in the span of a few weeks. The crazy amount of followers has died down a lot but it was crazy to see the response. I was very surprised and grateful to be listed with some IG’ers who I have followed for a while and really admire.

I shot pictures for two different websites, and gave authorization to allow my pictures for a third website, info to be released when they go live.

One of my pictures made it to the most recent issue of Orange Coast Magazine, in the feature about Orange County breweries, written by my good friend Greg Nagel. It was really cool to see my photo in print alongside other great photographers like John Holzer. Glad to see John get the accolades he deserves. You should grab a copy of the magazine if you see it. My pic was of The Good Beer Company. It’s very well written and I am bursting with pride in my buddy Greg for getting a cover story.

I sat down with Rob Widmer and Greg from OC Beer Blog for an interview and shoot some pics afterward. Link to the article Greg wrote here. It was really cool to talk to Rob and listen to what craft beer was like 30 years ago. I love hearing stories from people who has made their living on beer, the good and the bad. I won’t ever turn down a chance to meet someone new and hear their story.

Some other really fun and exciting secret projects are happening so, hopefully I won’t fall completely off the map. I am making a promise to myself to blog a bit more because it helps me remember why I started doing this crazy stuff way back when. What’s been going on in all your lives?

Cheers!

Ritual at Roy’s Beer Dinner

Posted on May 11, 2015
beer, beer dinner, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, craft beer, Photography, Ritual, Roy's
Comments: 0

I must admit, I haven’t been to a Roy’s restaurant in quite some time. My impression is Roy’s is an “older crowd” place with stuffy cuisine that doesn’t excite me. I was pleasantly surprised to find new and interesting food that offered twists on the stated “Hawaiian Fusion” style. Roy’s is making food that I want to eat, and they now have a decent craft beer selection on top of it.

Ed Heethuis has always been a big fan of Chef John Vega, who previously has been the Chef at Taps, and finally was able to host a beer pairing dinner with his food featuring Ritual Brewing Co. beers. Ed gave riveting speeches about each beer and taught the crowd about craft beer in a very entertaining and approachable way. It was truly a joy to watch him work the room.

1st course: Kona Kampachi Crudo: kumquat, fennel, fennel pollen, orange & thyme gremolata. Pairing: Ritual Wit’s End. I was a bit worried about the fennel since I am not a fan of the licorice flavors that can sometimes happen with fennel. My fears subsided once I bit into this dish. I didn’t taste licorice at all, only fresh crisp greens with the incredible fish and citrus pop from the kumquat. The fish went wonderfully with the Wit as it was light and didn’t overpower the subtle flavors of the dish.

2nd course: Fried Egg Noodles “Ramen”: pork shank, pea shoots, cilantro, fermented black bean. Pairing: Ritual Hellion. Ramen! So exciting. The fried noodles were perfect texture, with the soft chunks of pork that wasn’t fatty at all. I loved all the pea shoots and cilantro because it helped brighten the heavyness of pasta with meat and a very flavorful broth. I loved it overall, but I would say the broth was a tad salty. It did pair expertly with the Hellion because the sweetness and carbonation of the beer cut into the salty broth and made for a wonderful bite. I would eat it again for sure.

3rd course: IPA Poached Chilean Sea Bass: pickled ramps, barley succotash, leeks, morel mushrooms. Pairing: Ritual Single Rye IPA ~ El Dorado. This fish was like butter on a warm day as the pieces just slid off because it was beautifully cooked. The ramps were delightful and the barley succotash was very yummy. This might be my favorite course from the day. The IPA was the palate cleanser to invite you to take another bite as you ate, another great pairing.

4th course: Lamb T-Bone: mushroom ragout, lamb sausage savory bread pudding. Pairing: Ritual Hop-O-Matic. Another terrific course. The bread pudding was possibly my favorite thing of the evening. It had crispy browned edges and reminded me a cross between a quiche and a popover. I kept muttering to my husband how much I loved it. The lamb t-bone was perfectly cooked and slightly rare in the middle, and the charred leek on top was so good. This was comfort food but without all the fatty shortcuts. The beer went really well with the dish as it lent a citrusy and sweet component to the savory and rich flavors.

5th course: Olive Oil Cake: red ale caramel, duck ice cream, citrus espuma. Pairing: Ritual Extra Red Ale. To me, the star of this dessert was the duck ice cream with the crumble around it. Chef John said he was going for the flavors of a carrot cake, and I think he nailed it. I loved the frosting that was on top of the olive oil cake, I think that was the citrus espuma? The cake by itself was a tad dry, but I think that’s because it was meant to soak-up the caramel and ice cream. Overall it was a dreamy dessert that was fun to eat.

I hope Roy’s keeps doing these beer dinners as the people who attended seemed genuinely interested in learning about craft beer. Sean and I met an adorable couple that night who asked us several questions while jotting-down notes on their menu to take home later. Things like “tell me about what a cicerone is” and “why does the Hef have banana and bubblegum flavors” makes my heart smile. Chef John Vega did a fantastic job and the staff at Roy’s was attentive and very professional. Cheers!

Bootlegger’s 7th Anniversary Beer Dinner

Posted on May 4, 2015
andrea machuca, beer, Beer Event, beer pairing, Beer Tasting, Bootleggers, craft beer, craftbeer, dinner, Fullerton, Photography
Comments: 4

Recently I was fortunate enough to be a part of Bootlegger’s 7th Anniversary “Dinner with the Brewmaster” presented by OC Chef Andrea Machuca and Certified Cicerone Charlie Perez. It was located at the production brewery for Bootleggers and since I have never been there before I was stoked to see a new place, take some pics and eat and drink some amazing stuff.

If you know me, it’s no surprise to you that I got lost. Once we finally found the place, I was greeted by a smiling Charlie, who promptly filled my empty hand with beer and all was right in the world. I sipped on my delicious 7th Anniversary beer by Bootleggers while milling around the foreign space, idly snapping some pics. Once I polished off the first beer, I went outside to take some more pics and before I knew it, the dinner was ready to start.

There was a long table nestled between the tanks, adorned with hop centerpieces and mason jars. Our first course was a salad with butter lettuce, pickled lotus root, red oak greens, citrus, toasted chili peanuts, sugar snap peas, zucchini ribbons & Knuckle Sandwich vinaigrette. The butter lettuce and sugar snap peas were just so fresh and the peanuts added a lovely crunch, but the kicker was the pickled lotus root. Pairing: Palomino Pale Ale was the perfect beer to drink with this salad.

Second course was salmon rillettes, granny smith apple, pickled mustard seeds, dill, charred leek emulsion, micro cilantro & toast points. I love rillettes so much and I can’t believe I have never had salmon rillettes before. It was so delicious. There were a few unadventurous peeps at my side of the table who didn’t seem to get it, but everyone has different tastes. I like to make little sandwiches with the salmon and mustard seeds and apple with the dill and it was divine. Pairing: Lupulin Thrill American IPA that was a great cutting beer to go with the fatty rillettes. I wish I had some more right now.

The intermezzo was a cucumber cup, honeydew melon, sage granita, chile dust, pineapple & mint. This was a perfect little palate break with the fresh flavors and lightness. I believe this was paired with Mountain Meadow which was light with flavors of honey. Soon after it was on to the next course, the chicken dish.

The main course was black phoenix braised jidori chicken, gota lentils, confit garlic, avocado mousse, thai basil & chipotle coffee stout au jus. I’ve had Andrea’s jidori chicken before and all I can say is…damn it is good. She also made what might be my favorite lentils I have ever had, and I am normally not a lentils fan. They were fluffy and flavorful. Pairing: Rocco Red which complimented the tangy avocado and complex chicken.

The dessert was cap’n crunch berries panna cotta, mango coulis, raspberry fruit roll-up stars + strawberry pearls. The panna cotta was thick and creamy with the wonderful crunch of the cereal to add texture. Pairing: Sour 79 which was a wonderful compliment to the sweet cereal flavors and a perfect end to the beer pairing and to a wonderful meal.

Afterward I snapped some photos of the Bootleggers crew and chatted about camping and beer. It was a magical night, with good company. I am really excited with the interesting sours I tried from Bootleggers and fell in love with their beers all over again. Cheers!

Firkfest 2015 Recap and GIFS

Posted on April 1, 2015
anaheim, Ballast Point, barley forge, beer, Beer Event, Beer Tasting, craft beer, drink local, Photography, Travel
Comments: 1

This year’s Firkfest was quite an event. The event coordinator, Greg Nagel of OC Beer Blog, outdid himself once again.

Greg Nagel

This year it was a very hot day, and I was very thankful there was shade and water readily available throughout the event. Unfortunately I still got burned on my neck because I didn’t put sunscreen there, like an idiot. It doesn’t help to be a crazy extreme level of pale, but that’s neither here nor there.

Jill Cook

All of the beer was delicious and interesting, especially since it was mostly flavor combinations I have never had before. The thought that every brewery in attendance went to the trouble of making a cask beer just for the event is pretty humbling. One of my favorites was the Good Beer Company “Pinkest West”, a Belgian Pale aged in wine barrels which was dry-hopped with Citra, Amarillo, Centennial Hops, hibiscus, and fruit juices. It had a slight tea flavor, but not overly bitter, lightly floral and oh-so-drinkable.

This year Firkfest was also a chili contest between a group of formidable local chefs. The idea of eating chili on a very hot and sunny day wasn’t my idea of a good time, but I surprisingly had fun and didn’t really think much about it. I really liked Chef Cody Storts of Grits in Fullerton’s chili. It was not too watery, and had a nice creeping heat that I love in a good chili. I do also recall sneaking several of the fried grits from another table because it was a nice texture change and damn tasty. Another refreshing element to this year’s event was the Hop Water, that was like having carbonated water that had been dry hopped. It was delicious!

It was really cool to see 4 Brewers do a live podcast at the event as well. One drawback to doing a live podcast is you have creepers on your “set” like that dude in the green shirt playing the air violin. What was going on with him? Another fun people watching sighting was the two guys from Ballast Point dressed as sailors with ladies white denim short shorts. I am buddies with Dallas Hammons (one of the Ballast Point guys) and I loved following him around taking rapid fire pictures thinking to myself “that’s a gif.”

It was great to meet some amazing beer people ranging from Tomm Carroll and Victor Novak to Erika Bolden and Cleo Tobbi. Overall, I had a lot of fun. I can’t wait for next year’s event!

Firkfest Is Almost Here

Posted on March 16, 2015
anaheim, beer, Beer Tasting, craft beer, Firkfest, OC Beer Blog, OC Beer Society, orangecounty, Photography
Comments: 1

One of my favorite events of the whole year is almost here: Firkfest! I am so excited! Saturday, March 21st from noon to 4 you can find me having a wonderful time tasting chili and sipping on one-of-a-kind cask beers in the beautiful Farmers Park in Anaheim. If you haven’t bought your ticket yet, you should hop on that now. Like ASAP. I am pretty sure it’s gonna sell out tonight if it hasn’t already, so if you are contemplating buying it but are looking to procrastinate until the last possible second – you might just lose out. Don’t be “that guy.”

You can read about my recap from last year here. Cheers!