Snacking, New Mexico style

This is how we roll in the Southwest, baby!

So I picked up a six-pack of Odell Brewing’s St. Lupulin Extra Pale Ale on my way over to my brother’s place tonight (it was a virtual impossibility 5 years ago to find beer like this in Las Cruces).  We were having dinner with the wives and kids and had some grass-fed sirloins to grill up.  Being the hungry, growing boys that we are, we decided to have a snack with our beer.  What to eat?  Ruffles? Chips and salsa? Carrot sticks?  How about some Hormigas Culonas?  I’ll spare you the details (you can click the link to get that), but the short and skinny of it is that these are a species of leaf cutter ants from Columbia that are dried and rolled in butter and salt as a snack.  And they are delicious.  It takes some getting used to, but they go really great with beer.  My sister-in-law has family in Columbia and gets these from time-to-time.  Both her and my brother love them.  They are starting to grow on me.  And in case you don’t believe we actually were eating these, check below the jump…

I met a monk in El Paso…

Far be it from me to dog my hometown as not being very “cosmopolitan”, but it has historically lacked some of the finer things in life.  Namely places to get something other than a Coors Light.  Well, it looks like El Paso has started to take itself in a new direction I am happy to say!  A couple of blocks down from my Mom’s house is a relatively new joint called The Hoppy Monk.  With an emphasis on beers from Europe, Texas, and California, this tap house has about 150 bottles and 45 + drafts.  There were the standard Deschutes and Rougue offerings, along with some NY beers as well.  With the saying “Good people drink good beer” as their motto, I was happy to find a place that is trying to bring some craft beer to El Paso.

Kickin’ It

Swimming in IPA infested waters…

Nothing like kickin’ it at the pool.  Especially when it’s 95 degrees out, dry as a bone, and you can actually score some pretty damn good beer.  Used to be only two of those things were possible in El Paso, Texas.  Turns out craft brew has started to make a dent in the Bud Light/Coors Light-dominated market…and I didn’t even have to look hard to find it!  More to come on how beer is blowing up here in the coming days, but for now scope the two beers my brother and I had with our ribs, poolside: Happy Camper IPA from Santa Fe Brewing Company and Fireman’s #4 Blonde Ale from the Real Ale Brewing Company in Blanco, TX.  This trip is off to a good start.

Texas beer and ribs? I want to go to there.

tried and true? or something new?

it’s a friday happy hour celebration, and i find myself at Produce Row pondering the beer menu as everyone else at the table has already ordered a drink. no surprise, i’m the last to order. but i’m contemplating an important question. i mean, i could have already ordered. a few favorites on the menu jumped out immediately: Boneyard RPM, Terminal Gravity IPA, or Upright’s 4. but then a few beers catch my eye that are new to me and i think…should i order something new?

berries and beer

It’s officially summer here in Portland. We’ve gone over an entire week at 85 degrees, no rain, no humidity. It’s absolutely gorgeous and that means it is time to go berry picking. There is really no point in buying berries at the store here. Within 20 minutes you can be on a farm, in the sun, picking the freshest berries of the season, paying only a fraction of the cost. On Saturday, Michael and I drove to Sauvie’s Island for our first berry trip of the season. One of our favorite places to go, Columbia Farms, had Black Caps, Blueberries, Blackberries, Boysenberries, Marionberries, Currants, and two varieties of Raspberries. This was the first time we’ve seen that many berries ready to pick all at once. I think it is going to be a great season!

Well, 30 lbs of berries and a sunburn later, I decided I needed a refreshing beer to top off the day. I went to the beer fridge and saw I still had a bottle of Birra del Borgo’s Rubus. A beer made with raspberries…that seemed very fitting.