Published on November 5th, 2009
The state of Wisconsin has long served as the national focal point of all things dairy. However, Wisconsin is also the epicenter of another American food culture niche, and that is alcohol.
My oh my, do people in Wisconsin love to drink. I live the capitol city of Madison and, at least once every weekend, I see snapshot of that state-bred love, either through an embarrassingly sloshed UW undergraduate or a too-tipsy townie. When I found out the actual statistics— that Wisconsin has the highest percentage of drinkers in the population and that, person for person, the state has three times more taverns than anywhere else in the country—I hardly blinked.
Still, I’ll admit that sometimes I find Madison’s hyper-boozing culture to be intimidating. At a lot of college parties, my three-drink limit is everyone else’s warm-up drill, and I’ve met more than a few Badgers whose Thirsty Thursday extends through Wednesday night. However, I’ve never tried to keep up with the crowd. I’m sure some of my peers think it’s lame that my personal bar time is midnight, and not two a.m., but I bet I look a lot cooler the next morning when I haven’t succumbed to their same fate: the head-stinging, stomach-churning, regret-inducing experience that is the hangover.
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Published on August 15th, 2009
Portland, Oregon is a beautiful city, known for its roses, organic food, environmentally conscious citizens, and its beer. It has truly become a destination for Oregonians and travelers alike searching for locally made micro brews and craft beers.
It’s hard to walk two blocks in Portland without encountering a brew pub, ale house, or beer bar, but there’s one that stands out as being truly exceptional. Located in downtown Portland, Bailey’s Taproom is a cozy, modern facility that specializes in Pacific Northwest microbrews and craft brews. They serve up everything in every imaginable style from a “brutally hoppy IPA, a clean lager, a sour Belgian, a thick stout, or a boozy barleywine”.
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Tags:
cask conditioned,
Craft Beer,
draft,
IPA,
lager,
local beer,
microbrew,
oregon,
porter,
Portland,
stout
Published on June 8th, 2009
dvGreen designs sustainable events without sacrificing style. They show clients that they can reduce their ecological footprint while still throwing a beautiful party - one that just happens to be Green. By featuring organic food, flowers, and table linens; tree-free paper invitations; donating or composting leftover food; purchasing carbon offsets, and more, dvGreen creates incredible events that you can be proud of forever.
Danielle, founder and CEO of dvGreen spent several years as Event Director and later General Manager of L’Olivier, one of New York’s premiere floral design houses. The driving force in Danielle’s event work has always been her belief that parties are important. They are essential celebrations of life that allow us to freeze time and honor meaningful milestones. If we don’t mark these moments, then they risk going away forever.
It is this belief, coupled with Danielle’s very parallel feeling about the environment (if we don’t take care of it, the planet as we know it will also go away forever), that led her to launch dvGreen in 2006, a company that combines excellence in event design with the latest in sustainable practices.
Here’s is some great advice from dvGreen on how to go green for your next event.
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Published on February 6th, 2009
With the ever increasing number of craft brews hitting shelves in recent years, choosing an ale can be a difficult decision. Each crafty label seems coded somehow to project the underlying character traits of the person indulging. Unibroue, for swarthy Francophiles. Brooklyn, for the hip crowd harkening their home borrough. New Belgium for outdoorsy sorts who prefer to pedal and paddle. And Full Sail, for those beer enthusiasts who are simply paying attention.
This week, Oregon’s Full Sail Brewing Company received the Governor’s Sustainability Award for small business in recognition of the company’s ever increasing commitment to the community and the environment.
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Published on December 14th, 2008
My apologies for what seems like a blatant advertisement for New Belgium Brewery, but after seeing the Fort Collins, Colorado microbrewery’s latest coaster/postcard, I couldn’t resist snapping these photos and posting them for you. New Belgium is known for not only its excellent beers, but also for its progressive social and environmental policies, and its quirky advertisements - as is evidenced by the following photos:
Published on December 5th, 2008
December 5th is Repeal Day. That day back in 1933 that ended those dark days of “The Great Experiment” that failed. For those who where sleeping during American History class, the Volstead Act was repealed by the Amendment XXI to the US Constitution:
AMENDMENT XXIPassed by Congress February 20, 1933. Ratified December 5, 1933.
Section 1.
The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2.
The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section 3.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
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Published on October 22nd, 2008
As Barney, from the Simpson’s so elegantly said,
Hey, Homer, I’m worried about the beer supply. After this case, and the other case, there’s only one case left.
All beer use to be seasonal but now seems to be the domain of the craft, micro-brewing world. The Brewers Association, who’s goal is to promote and protect the U.S. craft brewing community’s interests, put it best,
These beers are to be appreciated, and they represent the best in creativity and passion that a brewer can deliver. Seasonal beers focus on seasonal ingredients and highlight flavors that harmonize with the fare of the moment.
Since the weather has turned nippy let’s talk about warming up with a cold one - a hearty winter brew.
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Published on August 20th, 2008
Our family traveled through Salt Lake City, UT, during our National Parks Extravaganza this summer on our way between Grand Teton National Park and Grand Canyon National Park. As always when we travel, we try to find local independent restaurants that source locally. Generally this is easy to do by looking for foodie blogs in a target area and either searching their posts or asking them directly for recommendations. I found the very helpful Gourmand Syndrome, who suggested Tin Angel Cafe.
The Tin Angel Cafe is right across from Pioneer Park at 365 West 400 South. (Addresses in Salt Lake City and in much of the rest of Utah, after some initial confusion, are incredibly helpful — an address actually provides directions to the location.) The funky ambiance manages to avoid both kitsch and preciousness, not a mean feat. The outdoor patio is a fun space overlooking the park across the street, but temperatures were in the 90s at 8:30 on a mid-June evening, and we opted to sit inside. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on July 22nd, 2008
When my family was planning this summer’s National Parks Extravaganza, I did a little research on local eating in the cities through which we were traveling as we moved from park to park – Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Seattle. As expected, I was able to find multiple restaurants and often a farmers’ market open the day of our travel through each city. However, I figured the National Parks food service offerings themselves wouldn’t even be part of my search – of course there’d be nothing local there! It was food service food. Even worse, government food service food. Something to be avoided when possible and put up with when unavoidable. Certainly nothing promising for a fan of local foods, or any foodie for that matter.
Our very first stop forced me to rethink that assumption. Boy, did I underestimate the potential of the National Parks food service. The food was often very good, and several stops were a traveling locavore’s dream. Yellowstone was a standout. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on July 8th, 2008
What was a “look, cool: wild yeast-fermented beer!” afterthought to my post on sustainable brewing has met an indignant commenter crowd who found my two-sentence description rightfully vague and careless. And so, as penance suggested by commenter koelschip, here is a complete guide to making lambic beer. Whether you are an old Belgian couple who ferments outside or a homebrewing web user with closed wild yeast inoculations in your basement, I think we can all agree that sour beer is delicious. And the greenness isn’t so bad either: reclaimed oak barrels, energy-free inoculation and all natural ingredients (provided you don’t start with the sham fruit syrups and packaged yeast…) contribute to its carbon-reduced diet.
Step #1: Move to Belgium
For purists, this is a must. Only in the Senne valley of Belgium can the brewer encounter the true wild yeasts of lambic beers which contain the essential bacterias, Bretanomyces bruxellensis and B. lambicus. In fact, to move to Belgium is the only way to enjoy an authentic lambic experience without compromising the eco-friendliness of the endeavor with trans-Atlantic shipping.
Step #2: Mash Up
A lambic wort is traditionally comprised of 60-70% barley malt and 30-40% unmalted wheat. Read the rest of this entry »
