Sometimes a pairing plan doesn’t pan out. It seems like a good idea at the time, but when push comes to shove, it just doesn’t jell quite right.  That’s what happened last night.  I started by braising from beet greens on the stove, along with some pancetta, onions, white wine, and chicken stock.  I also started some of Alton Brown’s [...]

  Eli had a hankering to make a savory tart.  She found this base recipe on the Food Network site, and set to work.  Rather than use a store bought crust, she made a pastry crust from scratch, and set about caramelizing the pears.  Meanwhile, I was tasked with finding a pairing.  The gorgonzola and cream cheese filling would [...]

After breakfast on the Friday of GABF, we had some time, so we joined many other fellow beer travelers, and headed over to the Great Divide Brewery, which had opened it’s doors wide open for visitors during the conference. Inside, the brewers were freely pouring samples in their brewery, as well as in the tap room. Conference goers mingled on the [...]

   As I packed my car and prepared for the drive back from Humbolt to San Francisco, I was pretty sure I was done with my beer adventures for the day.  After all, I had to drive a fair distance, and it seemed a shame to only be able to sip a few beers.  But [...]

  Who doesn’t love brunch?  It has everything you could want in a meal: a leisurely pace, drinks and pancakes.   In Denver, Brian, Kimberley and I asked what was a good spot for brunch, we were told in no uncertain terms to get over to Snooze as quickly as possible.  Once there, we found the place [...]

One of the reasons I was most excited about GABF was the taste test sessions being held on the main convention floor.  In the middle of the madness was a series of plexiglass glass, holding a set of chairs, a stage, and a list of slated presenters to bring the latest in beer and food tasting.  I managed to [...]

Wow.  Just… Wow.  GABF was something else. According to William Brand, there were 46,000 attendees, 2,600 volunteers, 432 breweries, and a staggering 2,052 beers being sampled.   That’s a whole lot to cover, so I’m going to break up my posts into a few different sections.  This post will focus on samples poured on the floor, with forthcoming [...]

I’m still recovering from GABF (and a four hour delay on the way home.  Thanks Frontier!) and will have some notes coming soon.  Many others are covering the event, including Brian Yeager, William Brand, The Thirsty Hopster, and Rick at Pacific Brewing News. In the meantime, enjoy a few pictures!    

  On Friday afternoon at GABF, I attended a beer and food pairing session hosted by Jim Koch of Sam Adams and Chef Jorge de la Torre, Dean of Culinary Education at Johnson & Wales University.  They prepared several great looking dishes that thanks to some logistical mishaps and a packed crowed, I didn’t get to [...]

             Want more Great American Beer Festival action?  Check out my roomie for the weekend Brian Yaeger’s Beer Odyssey blog for his take on the event so far, including my top for beer tastes from Day One.