There is no good use for bad beer

So over on Gizmodo there's an article on trying to change crap beer to good beer*. Someone commented that cheap beer is only good for cooking. I say it's not even good for that. My reply: "Don't even cook with the crap beer. Stone Arrogant Bastard or Rogue Chipotle Ale are excellent for beer brats. Fruity beer like Sea Dog Wild Blueberry and Pyramid Apricot Ale make delicious marinade for pork chops. Steaks are best with dark coffee beers like Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout."

I have been marinading meat with these beers for years now and always get compliments from people who have tasted them. Of course, credit must also out to Greg for doing a fabulous job on the grill, and he has also helped with choosing the beers to use as marinade.

Quickie Chops recipe:

Get some nice thick pork chops (the ones from Costco are my favorite).

Marinade overnight in blueberry beer (Wild Blue is my fave for this), and use one of those flavor injectors that look like a huge hypodermic to get the beer all the way in the meat.

Grill until there is no pink at the center (this is Greg's job so I can't say how long it will take).

Serve with a slice of  Blueberry Wensleydale cheese on top. 

Pair with a Shipyard Smashed Blueberry!



*The Gizmodo article is about the Randall Jr. from Dogfish Head. I know I am nuts, but I want one of these damn things. I so want to try using some coffee beans or star anise on a good stout...

Don't Barrel Age Me, Bro!

The other day we were down at Bottlecraft for Greg's birthday and Brian was talking about some of the new beers they had recently received. He mentioned that they had some new barrel aged selections and I said that I was over the whole barrel aged beer trend. Greg commented to me that  I should've explained why as I ended up just sounding negative for no good reason so I figure I'll write about it here.

I am bored with barrel aged beers. If I wanted a drink that tasted like bourbon I would just go pour myself a shot of bourbon and not be grabbing a beer. I know that there are a lot of people who do enjoy the added flavor that barrel aging brings to a beer but I am finding that I am not really one of them. This surprises some of my friends as I regularly drink Imperials, Doubles and other high alcohol beer styles but it is specifically the "burn" that is often times present in the barrel aged beers that turns me off.  For me, the beer loses something when the other flavors get drowned out by that hard alcohol burn amd I'd rather be drinking most any other beer style.

All that said I am not a huge fan of most "extreme" beers - overly bitter hoppier-than-thou IPAs, Saisons that smell like a barnyard, and Sours that are tarter than sucking on a lemon are on my shit list as well. It's strange then that the style I have been ordering a lot of lately has been sour beer, I just don't like the super sour ones. Because really, if I wanted a beer that tasted like a Sweet Tart I could just throw a pack of them in a can of Pabst and be done with it.

OMG WTF dinner

So sometimes I have no clue what to make for dinner and will end up just throwing random things in a dish and calling it food. Here's one I made earlier this week that the family enjoyed:

OMG WTF Dinner

half a bag of frozen cubed hash browns (not the shredded ones)
half a bag of frozen IKEA meatballs
about a cup and a half of frozen mixed veggies
two cans of cream of mushroom soup (straight outta the can, do not dilute)

Throw all the stuff in a 8x8 cassarole dish, mix, cover and bake at 450 for about 45 min

Add a bit of salt, pepper, or whatever floats your boat to spice things up a bit

April Fools?

From the West Coaster event calendar: Pliny the Younger CASK @ O'Brien's
Sunday, April 1st we will tap the only cask of Pliny the Younger that has ever been made at noon. Russian River loves making cask beer and they have made this very special cask just for this special day. If it is ready in time, we will also be serving Russian River Procrastination as soon as the cask blows.

So, real or fake? A bit of Googling has shown me that PtY has been on cask before, back in 2006 or so. I'm finding contradictory info as to whether or not Procrastination is a real beer - I found a couple of ratings for it, but the Russian River website just lists it as "coming soon" and it looks like Procratioation is RR's little inside joke. O'Brien's website doesn't mention this event at all, so maybe West Coaster is pulling a fast one on O'Brien's? At this point I'm really not sure...

I am so hoping this is a prank - I have made it pretty well known that I am not hip on the whole ultra-limited release and crazy beer hype that surrounds PtY (and other beers that fall into this category). Part of me wants to show up at O'Brien's on the 1st and just sit back and watch... of course I used to get my kicks working at the Mann movie theatre box office the Sunday after a time change (back in the '80s when people didn't have cell phones that updated the time via satellite). Now if it's real, well, let's just say I'd rather be at any other beer bar.

Growling About Growlers, Part Deux

Change California Growler Laws is trying to tackle the current CA laws so we won't need to have growlers from each individual brewery. If you want to show support then you can sign the petition here. Now that San Diego has over 40 breweries this law change would really come in handy - I don't have room for that many growlers in my garage!