Craft Beer.

Can it. Drink it. Enjoy

I talk about craft cans a lot. Partially because I drink a lot of them and also because its an exciting topic and strengthening trend in the craft beer community. But I don't want to bore anyone with the topic so today I won't write or talk, I'll just show this craft can infographic and keep quiet. 

The Petoskey Brewing Story 

Here in the great beer state there are a multitude of breweries to choose from, both local and beyond, which makes it easy to find great liquid for your drinking pleasure. As summer days roll by and many vacation up in the Great North to escape the city heat while others seek solace in brews from the land above. Petoskey Brewing provides that escape with its artisan beers that highlight the best that Northern Michigan has to offer.

Petoskey Brewing’s story has two beginnings; one starts with a friendship and one with a building. The brewery is located in the “Old Brewery” in Petoskey, which back at the turn of the century produced Petoskey Sparkle Beer. The original Petoskey Brewing Company eventually faded out, although the building stayed active serving as various shops including an antique shop and a goat farm.

The second story is about the partnership and friendship between the brewery’s co-owners, Patrick Dowd and Lou Gostinger. In 2008 the two men bonded over shared interests to create a business based on creating exceptional beer. By 2011 they closed on the “Old Brewery” building and started work on creating their product; beer. Their beer is always unfiltered, with water pumped directly from an artisan spring well, which gives the beer a drying finish due to mineral content.

The brewery’s story continued with Petoskey Brewing’s launch into the Grand Rapids market to start off the 2013 year. The next step will be the launch of their product in package, focusing on distributing Horny Monk, North 45, and Mind’s Eye in cans throughout the area. Look for their beer, on draft or in cans, throughout the area and get a taste of the Great North. 

Horny Monk Belgian Dubbel

6.9% ABV 20 IBU

A complex Belgian ale that is delightfully smooth, with a hint of sweetness. 

Mind's Eye Pale Ale

6.7% ABV 74 IBU

A hopped up pale ale with a drying bitter finish that pours like liquid copper. 

North 45 Amber 

5.8% ABV 25 IBU

Vienna, Munich and Pilsner malted barley combine to create a beer full of rich flavor that pours bright amber. 

How Yoga Helped Me Retronasal 

I think yoga is helping me become better at drinking beer.

For as long as I can remember I’ve been attempting to practice yoga. Back when I was a young’n I always switched back and forth from pain to painful boredom and didn’t really understand why people got into this prolonged movement called yoga. Then I started breathing. This past year in the midst of an excruciating hot yoga session I joined the bandwagon of heavy, obnoxiously loud yoga breathers and immediately noticed improvement, both in yoga and in beer tasting.

The most enjoyablepart of beer tasting (besides the fact you’re drinking beer) is that it is such a full-on sensory experience. Sight, smell, touch and taste combine to create the full effect. Smell especially should not be underestimated. Not only do the first sniffs help decipher the beer aroma they also play a huge role with taste, in fact, smell accounts for 80 percent of taste.

To “retronasal” is to breathe in, sip the beer, hold the breath and then breathe out through the nose, allowing for odor compounds to travel from the mouth through the nasal cavity, which enhances the taste of the beer. This is similar to yoga breathe since it is simply breathing in deeply and rhythmically through the nose.

Breathing through the nose should be simple and honestly integrating retronasal into the beer tasting experience is very easy. However, feeling like asphyxiated or choking on the beer due to poor timing happens all too often. The key is in the ability to hold the breath while swallowing and then slowly, enjoyably releasing that breath via the nasal passageway. To have the perfect retronasal technique the breath needs to be a part of the sipping process, so the entire drinking experience is calm, smooth and enjoyable thanks to calm, rhythmic breathing. That’s when a flood of taste will suddenly hit and the full effect of the beer flavor will send wash over and be (hopefully) awesome.

So, get into mountain pose, breathe in through the mouth, sip, swallow, breathe out through the nose and enjoy.

4 Days (until) and 4 Days Reason (to go to) Clips of Faith

There’s nothing I like better than a countdown. It forces you into a state of excitement and increases the actual event or experience that you have been anticipating. It’s that frosting monstrosity known as a cupcake that you think about all day and can’t wait to have instead of the random cookie you discovered in the office that somehow ended up in your mouth.

Don’t let Clips of Faith accidentally end up in your mouth. Anticipate. Prepare. Waited with bated breath for Friday night.

To tide you over until then and to provide distraction from the dizziness due to lack of oxygen (all that bated breath) here are some reasons Clips of Faith in Grand Rapids is worth the 4 day wait.

1. The Beer

16 kinds of New Belgium beer. All in one place. That beer you’ve wanted but keep on missing out on? It’s probably going to be at Clips of Faith, waiting for you.

2.  The Location

In the heart of Beer City USA, on a grassy knoll along the waterfront with a giant screen showing movies. Ah-Nab-Awen Park provides the perfect environment for a family night out, a date night, a boys/girls night out, or an I’m tired from being inside an office all day night.

3. The Cause

Getting in the event is free but the beer is not. All proceeds will go towards the Greater Grand Rapids Bike Coalition. Their mission is to help facilitate a safe bicycling community in order to improve health, recreation and the environment within the Grand Rapids area. There is absolutely nothing not to like about a cause like that.

4. The Environment

New Belgium Brewing is a company that is actively committed to the environment and this event echoes the company’s practices. Clips of Faith, with it’s drive-in movie vibe, brings the nostalgia of the good ol’ days without leaving behind heaps of trash which always seemed to pile up after fairs or other fun summer celebrations. Aside from their encouragement for everyone to ride bikes to the park, New Belgium also is working with the High Five Recycling program to provide recycling options and food options will be from locally minded and environmentally conscious vendors.

Not satisfied with these reasons? Check out New Belgium Michigan’s Facebook page  or check out the Clips of Faith Press Release located below. 

Thoroughly jazzed up now? Fantastic! See you there.

Clips of Faith: Handmade Films, Handmade Beers 

Friday, June 21 2013

8:30 - 11:00 pm

Ah-Nab-Awen Park, Grand Rapids MI 

Bacon Beer Burger: The Ultimate Fathers’ Day Gift.

Memories from growing up during summer are filled with green (probably skunked) beer glasses balanced on worn picnic tables as my dad attended the charcoal grill. This helps explain my love for beer and burgers. I like bacon because it is bacon. That’s argument enough. So what better way to celebrate summer and Fathers’ Day than with a burger topped with bacon and accompanied with beer to bring on a wave of nostalgia and food coma? Let’s celebrate all the dads out there with the ultimate “B” trifecta of bacon, beer and burgers all combined into one celebratory bite.

Beer Braised Bacon Burger*

Directions

To Prep: Cook some thick cut bacon until it is crispy or however you prefer it. Leave some grease in the pan. Pour half bottle of porter into the bacon pan then add sliced onions and cook until almost tender. Then, add a bit of brown sugar and cook a little bit longer until completely tender and translucent.

Burger:Get some beef. Mix that beef with four ounces of your favorite porter and spices (I like garlic, black pepper, meat seasoning stuff, a bit of cayenne pepper and a dash of cinnamon). If you have a grill, then grill it. Brush each burger patty with a bit of olive oil before placing it on the grill. If you making them on the stove or oven, wait until partially cooked then pour porter on the pan to sear the meat. During the 10 seconds add cheddar cheese to melt on top.

Once the burger is done, top it with beer braised onions, bacon and whatever other condiments you want. Open up another beer, cheers to all the great dads out there and then enjoy.

My Porter Picks

Arcadia Ales London Porter

Smoked malt complements the charcoal grilled meat flavor while chocolate and coffee malts lend an almost sweet smoothness to match the bacon’s saltiness. 8.2% ABV 58 IBU

Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter

If you can get your hands on this limited edition porter do it and then eat it/drink it. It is full of big flavors that add a chocolate, roasted coffee malty depth that will help bring out the meat’s smokiness, especially the cinnamon and cayenne pepper. The hops provide a drying bitter bite at the end. 9.1% ABV 85 IBU

*Inspiration for this burger came from the Slow Roasted Italian. If you prefer a specific recipe over my vague instructions I suggest visiting their site for the original recipe.

Craft Beer Interactive Map

Here are a few things that I enjoy; reading, craft beer, maps and clicking on links. The New Yorker combines all of the above into one interactive map that displays the craft beer industry’s growth in one of the most understandable ways I’ve witnessed.

For the Mitten lovers out there check out all the new breweries that have popped up throughout the great state in the past year. Petoskey Brewing, Perrin Brewing and Rochester Beer Co. production facility are all listed. 

In addition, the map highlights Michigan's place as the 5th beer state in the nation, based off of total number of breweries. I also found the numbers on production growth as a fantastic indicator for the continued strength within the craft beer industry. All around, this map is fun to play around with while providing a more visual view of the state of the craft beer industry in the U.S. Check it out. 

National Donut (and beer) Day

In my opinion, any day is another great day to enjoy a beer. Today is requires special celebratory cheering and drinking of beer because it is not only Friday but it’s also national donut day! To end this week with an exclamation point full of happiness and calories I’ve come up with a few donut and beer pairings.

Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Boston Cream Donuts

For the love of Boston, check out this iconic duo. Picture it, the malty balanced brew is strong enough to hold up to the thick sugary creaminess of the donut while the crisp finish helps clear the palette of any remaining residue.

Right Brain CEO Stout with Chocolate Glazed Donuts

The richness of the stout, derived from chocolate, espresso and oatmeal, complements the chocolate duo of the donut. It’s kind of like the perfect chocolate heaven that ends with a slight buzz.

Rochester Mills Cornerstone IPA and Crispy Crème Donuts

The light and sugary sweetness of the crispy crème is contrasted with a light IPA, such Cornerstone, whose bitterness cuts through the sweetness and acts as a palette cleanser in between bites.

Oskar Blues Gubna Imperial IPA and a Bear Claw Donuts

This heavy hitting beer matches the strength of this heavy, almond flavored donut. In addition, the hops bitterness and dry finish keep the donut’s sweetness from being too overpowering.

New Belgium Fat Tire and Jelly Filled Powdered Donuts

Homer Simpson’s favorite donut meets one of my favorite Amber beers to create the perfect match. Fat Tire is a medium-bodied and well balanced beer that doesn’t overpower the light sugar dusted donut while providing a strong enough malt backbone to withstand the sticky jelly sweetness.