Taking off to the Great White North, eh!

I'm off to the Great White North to visit with family and friends in Canada's wine region, the Okanagan Valley of Southern British Columbia. There are about 70 estate wineries spread along the 155 mile Okanagan Valley and certainly some fantastic wines are produced, but B.C. is also home to some great craft-breweries and brewpubs as well. I should have plenty of time to enjoy both on this trip and will hopefully post a few things during my stay.

"I Am A Craft Brewer"

This video is popping up everywhere on the web today, so I thought I might as well post it too. It was created by Greg Koch of Stone Brewing and was used as an introduction to his speech at the Craft Brewers Conference.

Beer and Brats

My wife came home with a little surprise for me from Central Market on Saturday. She bought a package of bratwurst from the Smokey Denmark Sausage Company of Austin, TX. According to their website, they've been around for 35 years, but I don't think I've ever heard of them. Although, that's not really a big surprise since I don't live in Austin and there are dozens and dozens of sausage companies in Texas. The package indicates the bratwurst are made with beer from Live Oak Brewing.

We fired up the grill on Sunday after the torrential downpours had disappeard and tried them out. I have to say that they were probably some of the best brats I've ever had. I'll certainly have to look for them and other products from Smokey Denmark. I wrapped mine in a fresh tortilla with a slice of swiss and some stone ground Dijon mustard and enjoyed it with an Independence Freestyle Wheat. Delish!

Let's get Sirius

I stumbled across five bottles of Sirius from Lagunitas Brewing Co. way in the back of my cellar while looking for the Ommegeddon. I must have picked up a sixpack when it first came out in Texas, drank a bottle and then the sixpack got lost in the cellar and forgotten about. Fortunately, its about 7.5%, so it could stand a little aging. Basically, it tasted like a creamy barley wine. It's a little sweet and the higher alcohol was definitely noticeable, but the creamy mouthfeel softened the hop bitterness and kept the alcohol from being too biting. I'll have to make sure the remaining four bottles don't get lost again.

Homemade Pizza and Beer

We haven't ordered a pizza from a take-out place in at least a couple of years. My wife bought me a cast iron griddle after watching an episode on the Food Network about grilling pizza and we've been making our pizza and cooking it on the grill ever since.

Here's one we made on Friday night that had fresh tomatoes, basil, mushrooms, red onions, garlic and mozzarella. The fresh ingredients with the flavours from cooking on the grill make a pizza that is far superior then any take-out pizza. Being able to wash it all down with a couple of bottles of Independence Austin Amber and Pale Ale makes it even better.