Terrapin Beer + Olive and Sinclair = Moo Hoo

Terrapin Brewery in Athens, GA has teamed upped with our favorite local stone ground chocolate company Olive and Sinclair to create a Milk Stout called Moo Hoo.   While this is not the first time O&S has been combined with beer, it is believed to be the first bottled beer containing the cocoa nibs and shells directly from Nashville's own Willy Wonka. This beer should be hitting the specialty beer stores in the coming weeks.  If you spot this beer out in the wild please let us know. As soon as I can get some, I will post a review.

On a side note, for all you Hop Heads out there make sure you pick up a bottle of Terrapin's So Fresh & So Green, Green. This fresh hop beer is very tasty, and you should really try it based on the name alone.

BBQ SAUCE OF THE WEEK: Budweiser Barbecue Sauce

We've featured a sauce with whiskey in it. Now it's time for beer. Yes, it has Budweiser beer in it. You can taste it in the sauce, but it's very subtle - more of a complementary flavor. But then there are a lot of complementary flavors working here. This is one of the most complex sauces, flavor-wise, that I have tasted in these reports. The first thing you taste is a tomatoey, onioney, garlicky sweetness that is strong, but not overpowering. As the sauce moves to the back of your tongue, the tangy sourness of vinegar rises up to meet the sweetness. Finally, there is a moderate burn, accompanied by the flavor of beer. There are big chunks of onion, garlic and red pepper flakes throughout the sauce, which is relatively thick.

Overall, I'm not sure how well this sauce works. I'm admittedly not much of a beer fan, but I can appreciate it as a culinary ingredient (beer brats, beer batter, beer can chicken, etc). I'm just not sure that the flavor of beer works in a sweet tomato-based barbecue sauce. It leaves kind of a funky aftertaste. Maybe the problem is that it's Budweiser, and not some other kind of beer. In addition to this sauce, Bud also makes a "Beechwood-smoked" barbecue sauce, as well as a wing sauce and a basting sauce.

Grade: C

Porkapalooza

You'll be in Fennville, Michigan this weekend, right?

Well be sure to check out this weekend's big event, PORKAPALOOZA, the all-day festival celebrating local brew, local music, local BBQ and a host of other local goodies.

"Just when you though Saturday couldn't get any fatter...Porkapalooza"

What a great name for an event.

Fat Tire has arrived

Fat Tire has finally arrived in Tennessee. They even put out some special commemorative labels that read, "Now Voluntarily Available in Tennessee". Get it? We are the volunteer state. Well this has been a long time coming, and I hope I don't get burned out on one of my favorite beers.

Cheers!

Read the Press Release

I guess those emails eventually paid off.

Beer Battered Fish Sticks

Fish sticks often carry a bad connotation in just about everyone's mind. However, I have a fish stick recipe for you that might change your mind.

Cut 2-4 Tilapia fillets into 1 inch strips. Dredge the strips in cornstarch before dipping the fish strips into the batter. Shake off the excess and dip into the beer batter. Slowly lower the battered fish into the deep fryer (preheated to 350°) flip once and cook until golden brown.

Beer Batter
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
1/4 teaspoon Bad Byron's Jubilee seasoning (a substitute for Old Bay)
1/4 teaspoon bbq rub
1 bottle brown beer, cold

What would some fish sticks be without tartar sauce? In my first attempt to make tartar sauce I just threw something together and it turned out pretty good.



Tartar Sauce
1/4 cup mayonnaise
several dill pickles chopped
splash of pickle juice
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
shake or two of some garlic powder

mix well

Super Bowl Sunday

Wings + Ribs + Crushers = Super Bowl Sunday

Fat Tire is Coming

I just got word that all Publix stores in Tennessee will start carrying Fat Tire. For those of you that don't know, this is monumental. This is the biggest story in beer since the release of the low carb Michelob Ultra. Fat Tire has never been sold East of the Mississippi river. That is unless you count the illegal sale of Fat Tire in parking lots at ________ shows. (Fill in the blank with any jam band that tours the southeast)

I will no longer need to purchase six cases of Fat Tire when I am west of the Mississippi, because the fine folks at New Belgium Brewery are bringing my favorite beer to my favorite store. New Belgium also brews many other fine beers, but it is yet to be determined if their other beers will be available in this market.

Trip to Maryland - Part 2 Brewer's Alley

This was my first time to visit Frederick, Maryland or even Maryland period, and I have to say I was very impressed with Frederick. It's a very nice little town with lots of history and unique little eateries. My first night there I found a small local brewery called Brewer's Alley. I was still pretty full from the crab cakes, (see Trip to Maryland Part 1) so I just ordered some wings and some hand crafted brews. The beer was excellent. The wings...not so much. They were about what you would expect from a run-of-the-mill bar, but the beers were excellent. I somewhat rediscovered my love for microbrews and this may have inspired me to brew my own beer again. I have all of the equipment, but it has been almost two years since I last brewed a batch. Damn that is a long time. I think that while I have some time off over the holidays I might cook up a batch. Well, back to the brews at Brewer's Alley. Instead of opting for the sampler, I decided to pick and choose the beers I knew I would like. I started off with the Nut Brown Ale. This beer was very smooth and had a great flavor. Next up was the I.P.A. - this beer was very hoppy as are most I.P.As, and I would say that this one ranked right up there with some of the great I.P.As that I've had in the past. The I.P.A. is not my favorite, but it is a good change of pace. I then went with one of their seasonal beers, the Scotch Ale. The bartender was unsure of how this beer got its name because there was no scotch used in the brewing of this ale. This beer was served in a specially shaped thistle glass. According to their website, this serving method allows the beer to be held in the hand to warm up and release its aroma into the flared top-portion of the glass. Whatever. This was a pretty strong ale and reminded me somewhat of the Sierra Nevada BigFoot Ale. I finished my night off at Brewer's Alley with the Oatmeal Stout. It doesn't get much better than a good stout. Oatmeal Stouts can sometimes be a little too creamy for me, but this one was just right. With a strong rich flavor, it served as a great night cap. Overall, I would rank the beers at Brewer's Alley in the following order:

1. Oatmeal Stout
2. Nut Brown Ale
3. Scotch Ale
4. I.P.A