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Beer is better than cookies
Every year I know someone who hosts a cookie exchange, and coworkers, friends and family give these homemade treats away as gifts. Whether I participate myself or not, I get sent home with so many different types of cookies, and so many comments of, "You must try this chocolate turtle one," or, "This time I added coconut." Every year, I can't help but try them all, and surprise, they are always delicious. Well this brings many of us to wonder --why not do this with beer instead of cookies? After all, the bakers who make all styles of cookies are just as excited about it as we are with craft beer varieties. And the best part is, if you're part of both the beer AND the cookie exchange, you get beer and cookies. You always win.
It's easy to make this happen. You can do it at work (as long as the boss allows) or have guests come over to your place for a holiday gathering. Make sure each guest brings only one variety of beer, and the quantity depends on the amount of people. A 6-pack is a safe bet, but you could bring a case if there's more people or simply a couple bombers (750ml or 22oz bottles) if there's less. Be sure to keep the group in numbers by 6 (6,12,18, or 24) so that each person actually gets one of each beer.
Now each person gets a bottle of everyones' beer they brought to take home or drink one while you're there. The important part is to try to be creative. We're talking beers that could be new, seasonal, unique, or "special" in which the group may have never had. Local beers are a great option as well, and if you want you could even bring your own bottled home brew.
If you decide to make this an annual thing, be sure to keep a running list of what beers were brought each year to make sure nothing is repeated to keep it fresh.
Craftbeer.com also offers up some insight on some other ways to incorporate craft beer into your holiday part here.We hope you enjoy whichever way you are celebrating the holidays, and wish you a happy and healthy New Year. There's sure to be a lot of craft beer growth to come for 2014.
Cheers,
Brown Specialty Team
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12/21/13, 2:00 PM, CLEARWATER
Join the Sea Dog crew for the launch of the new Shipyard Brewing Black IPA! There will be happy hour discount prices during the launch as well as food specials and prizes! ...>
Lightning Bus Trip with Sea Dog Brewing Co.
12/21/13, 4:30 PM, CLEARWATER
$75.00 per person. Departs from Sea Dog Brewing Clearwater at 4:30pm, tailgating at the Marriott Tampa Waterside before game. Includes game ticket, food, beverage, dri-fit sea dog shirt, prizes and games.
For Tickets available, call Dan 207-420-0413. ...>
Date/Time: Dec 22 12:00 PM - Dec 22 6:00 PM
1st annual fundraiser with proceeds to benefit abused animals. Live Bands, Beer Garden, BBQ, Root Beer Floats, Raffles, Games, Prizes, Santa Claus Photos, Pet adoptions, $5 Pet Vaccinations, Face Painting, Dunk Tank and more. Featuring a variety of Shipyard Brewing and Sea Dog Brewing beers on draft. ...>
For all events, please see our event calendar.
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We want to see your beer pictures! Feel free to share and post pictures of the beer you are drinking on our facebook pages with us,
or hashtag #BeerExpertsFL on Twitter.
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NEW AND RETURNING PRODUCTS
VISIT OUR BEERFINDER TO FIND THESE PRODUCTS
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Breckenridge Ophelia
The quintessential good girl gone mad, Ophelia's aggressive hoppiness contradicts her soft, tropical fruit flavors for a complex beer so perfectly balanced you'll question everything you thought a session beer could be. 7.5% ABV
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Ommegang Hop House
Brewery Ommegang sits on a historic hop farm, allowing the brewery access to fresh hops each season. That's the inspiration for Hop House. Ommegang Hop House is a dry-hopped Belgian pale ale that commemorates the hop farm where Brewery Ommegang now resides. 6.0% ABV.
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Red Brick Sacred Cow
Appease your divine nature and drink in the mysteries and sacred flavors of this milk stout is brewed with organic Masala Chai spices. Dark chocolate notes combine with an exotic blend of ginger, cardamom, black pepper, coriander, and cinnamon, which is softened by the milky sweetness of lactose. Meant to be revered, this handcrafted stout may product spontaneous midnight mooing, awaken your chakras, or set you sailing on your own passage to India. 6.0%ABV
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Shipyard Mint Chocolate Stout
Mint Chocolate Stout is a dark, silky beer with aromas of chocolate and licorice. Smooth chocolate and coffee flavors upfront lead to a subtle spearmint finish. To fully enjoy all the flavors of this ale it is best drunk at 55 degrees Fahrenheit. 9.0% ABV
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Stoudt's Smooth Hoperator
This medium bodied, copper colored strong lager is in a class all by itself. First released in celebration of our 20th Anniversary. Ed Stoudt calls this beer an "American-style Dopplebock." He believes it to be the first high gravity lager brewed with German malts and American hops. This brew has a delicate malty palate up front, which is abruptly overshadowed by the dominating hop presence that can be attributed to the 1.5 lbs / bbl. of hops that were added to this brew for aroma and flavor. A hop lover's beer indeed. 7.2% ABV
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Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence
The aroma immediately speaks of dark chocolate and dark malts. The taste continues with the intense Belgian dark chocolate gliding across the tongue; starting sweet up front but giving way to rich cocoa flavors at the back. Through it all, a subtle fruitiness from our special Belgian yeast gives the beer brightness otherwise foreign to a beer style normally associated with gray foggy skies. Lingering chocolate entices the drinker to taste more. Go ahead. Dessert is good for the soul. 7.0% ABV
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Humboldt Brewing 500 BC Double IPA
This double IPA does everything twice. Double the hops, double the ABV. Named for the California coastal redwoods, the oldest and tallest living species in America, we're proud to say this giant brew does these imperial giants justice. 8.3% ABV
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Left Hand Widdershins Oak Aged Barley Wine
This English-style barleywine pours burnished copper with a bone colored head. The aromas will wind you up with upfront scents of oak, earthy hops, and caramel with an afterthought of peat. Brewed since 2002, Widdershins' Germanic name means to move counter clockwise - or better yet, left-wise. Floral and fruity notes of orange and apricot rest upon a foundation of oak, garlanded with earthy hop aromas and the sinister presence of peated malt. This backwards beer will pull you in with its saccharinity, and finish with a hop boom and deceptively high alcohol. 8.8% ABV
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Shipyard Black IPA
This dark black IPA is for the pirate in you. It combines a rich malty character with the crisp flavor and aroma of American Northwest hops. It's a beer the legendary Blackbeard would have hoisted as he sailed the seven seas. 6.2% ABV
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Look out for new and returning favorites like Narragansett Bohemian Pilsner, Cisco Winter Shredder, Avery Old Jubilation, Bell's Christmas Ale, Bell's Winter White Ale, Boulder Never Summer,, Erie Ol' Red, Coronado Blue Bridge Coffee, Coronado Stupid Stout, He'brew Jewbelation 17, Highland Cold Mountain. Hoppin' Frog Frosted Frog, Innis and Gunn Scottish Porter, Left Hand Fade to Black Vol. 5, Magic Hat Heart of Darkness, N'ice Chouffe, Peak Organic Winter Ale, Rogue Yellow Snow IPA, Rogue Santa's Private Reserve, Southern Tier Krampus, Southern Tier 2Xmas Ale, Southern Tier Old Man Winter, Samuel Smith Yorkshire Stingo, Shipyard Prelude, Shipyard Longfellow Ale, Summit Winter Ale, and Cigar City Invasion Pale Ale in cans!
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*Check with your Brown sales representative for availability or products not available in certain areas
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 Beer concentrate lets you take brews on an outdoor adventure
By: Jim Galligan
Weight is the enemy of the backpacker, as every added ounce can lead to increased muscle strain, fatigue, and the desire to turn around and stay at the lodge. For fans of craft beer, enjoying a decent brew while hiking or camping away from the car usually involves lugging around heavy cans of beer, which can turn a lovely trek into a grueling slog through the woods. But now the folks at Pat's Backcountry Beverages have created a solution - their new Brew Concentrates come in featherweight 50ml packets and can be reconstituted with carbonated water (courtesy of their trail-ready 16-ounce carbonator bottle). If you're using a water purifier or good old-fashioned boiling to transform lake or river water into a drinking supply, the weight savings are significant. Plus, you don't have to worry about pressurized aluminum cylinders exploding beer all over your gear if you slip and fall or are a little rough with your pack. For full article |
A few of my favorite things: Holiday gift guide for beer lovers, homebrewers
By : Rob Fink
WASHINGTON - The winter holidays are the perfect time to either get new gear for the homebrewer in your life or give the title of 'homebrewer' to someone.
Brewing your own beer is incredibly rewarding, and best of all -- it's not complicated. With a few hops, some gadgets and a bucket, you can produce suds in no time.
Below is a list of brewing gift ideas, which range from introductory and advanced equipment, to local homebrew gift cards and books on beer. Most of the items below can all be found at your local homebrew store.
Gifts for the Homebrewing Beginner:
Complete starter kit: Complete starter kits have everything you need to ferment your first beer. Most kits come equipped with a fermentation bucket, a bottling bucket and an auto-siphon. More advanced packages usually include glass or plastic carboys for increased storage capacity. And no need to worry: a recipe kit, with all of the ingredients needed to make an entire batch, will accompany the rest of the equipment. For full article
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Get ready for a beer cocktail boom 
By: Tom Rotunno
It appears that 2014 will be another great year for beer consumers. With more than 2,500 breweries in operation and another 1,500 in planning, there has never been a better time to be a beer drinker. While brewers continue to push the innovation envelope, here are three things beer drinkers can expect to see in 2014.
Lower alcohol in session:
Look for more brewers to balance out their portfolios with more sessionable beer offerings in the year ahead.
Although India Pale Ale (IPA) has dominated the craft beer market in recent years and consumers have adjusted to the higher alcohol volume that comes with this style, this year you can expect the alcohol pendulum to swing back toward lower alcohol-by-volume (ABV) beers, nicknamed "session beers" by many in the industry due to their less-than-5 percent ABV.
As Dogfish Head Craft Brewery's founder and president Sam Calagione recently wrote on the company's blog: "From the day we opened in 1995, the average beer we've brewed has been 9 percent ABV. We love going big, but we also hear the calls for a more sessionable off-centered ale."
For full article
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Featured Cocktail:
A Clockwork Orange
This cocktail was devised in the 1960s by novelist and playwright Anthony Burgess, who is best known for the novel A Clockwork Orange.
Ingredients:
- 1 shot (1.5 oz) of gin
- 1 shot (1.5 oz) of rum
- 1 shot (1.5 oz) of whiskey
- 1 shot (1.5 oz) of brandy
- 1 shot (1.5 oz) of Port
- 3 oz champagne
- 2 oz Stout
Directions:
Pour all liquor in a pint glass. Add Champagne and top of with stout.
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Featured Recipe
Beeramisu
By: Pieter Vanden Hogen, Oregon's Pelican Pub & Brewery
Ingredients
- 1 (8 oz.) container mascarpone cheese - 3/4 cup heavy cream - 1/4 cup Kahlúa - 1 (7 oz.) package Italian-style crunchy ladyfingers (savoiardi) - 1 1/2 cups Left Hand Milk Stout or Breckenridge Vanilla Porter - 1 tablespoon cocoa powder Directions
1. Line a 5- by 9-in. loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving at least a 1-in. overhang on all sides. Combine mascarpone, cream, and Kahlúa and beat on low speed, then medium, until mixture is thick enough to spread (do not overbeat). 2. Set 1 ladyfinger cookie vertically against a long edge of loaf pan and trim it flush with rim of pan. Use it as a guide to trim 12 more cookies, reserving trimmed ends. Soak 1 ladyfinger at a time in beer, about 1 second per side; then arrange in rows along the long sides of pan, picket fence-style. Arrange 4 ladyfingers lengthwise on bottom of pan. 3. Spoon half the mascarpone mixture over bottom layer of ladyfingers and smooth evenly. Top with another layer of soaked ladyfingers (using reserved trimmed ends first), then top with remaining mascarpone mixture, smoothing evenly. Sift cocoa over top of cream. Wrap beeramisu and chill at least 8 hours and up to 24. 4. To serve, use plastic wrap to lift cake out of the loaf pan. Unwrap and slice crosswise. Dust each slice with additional cocoa, if you like.
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