Confessions of a Brew Wife

Harry's Beer Slam

Last Tuesday we went to Harry's Pizzeria to participate in the first ever Harry's Beer Slam! It was such as great experience of delicious food and tons of beer and awesome people. The idea behind it was to vote on the best beer and food pairing between two participating local breweries. The breweries competing were Wynwood and Biscayne Bay, and each surprised us with a distinct beer they selected to pair with the dish. It was up to us to select the best match by voting with these really funny cardboard face cut-outs of the brewers.

As soon as we got there we were offered amazing appetizers for the reception part of the evening. We had Morel Mushroom Arancini with taleggio & aioli (croquetas!!), Shrimp toast Banh Mi, Baby Back ribs, and Kale Pizza; all this was offered along with Wynnewood's IPA and Biscayne's Miami Pale Ale. I believe this part was kind of the warm up for the voting, we tasted and decided more or less which was the best paring between the two beers and each of the appetizers.
>>>that's 2 beers

Ribs!

1st course was next....
Crispy Pork Belly +++ Wynwood Magic City Pale Ale & Biscayne Saison
- the pork belly was perfectly crispy and tender, with just the right amount of fat! and it was served with oranges which added a nice sweetness and tanginess. This complimented beautifully with the Saison. With the Pale Ale, all the flavors came together in a kind of harmony making the citrus really shine which I really liked because I thought the Pale Ale was a bit on the bitter side.
                                                                          >>>2 beers
2nd Course
Braised Oxtail Terrine +++ Wynwood Pop's Porter & Biscayne Double Nine double IPA
-(terrine is like a pate, so in this case it was the deboned meat of the oxtail shaped into rounds ) this was my favorite dish of all...I just love, love, love oxtail! It had a nice smokey flavor, the beef was tender and it was served over barley and mulberries. The IPA was nice with the mulberries and the beef, I felt it was the best pairing, but most people, including Laz felt that the Porter was the best with the beef and all the other flavors.
                                                                          >>> 2 more beers

Pure Deliciousness!!

3rd Course
Florida Blueberry Crostada +++ Wynwood La Rubia Pale Ale & Biscayne Buenas Noches Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
-This was served with a tiny scoop of malted milk ice cream!! Yum!! The Stout was really good with the ice cream and it was somewhat sweet and thick and dessert-like (I usually go for Stouts), but I am surprised to say that the Pale Ale was the best match with this. It was crisp and refreshing and was the best compliment with the blueberry.
>>>the last 2 beers

In the end.. the brewery with the best pairings overall was Wynwood, the interesting part was their choice of beers for each dish; especially the Pale Ale paired with the dessert which was a surprising but definitely a winning combination.

our selections

I'm really looking forward to the next beer & food paring event, these are just too much fun and I feel you learn so much about food and flavors, I just might need to skip two meals in order to be able to eat and drink everything.

...at the end of the night...

3.17.16 St. Patrick's Day

In the spirit of St. Patty's .... but mostly because we just wanted to take advantage and do something....we went to M.I.A beer company to join in the festivities.
This is the closest brewery to our house right now, so we do frequent it somewhat often. We really enjoy this place, they have an extensive beer selection on tap and they dish out amazingly great food!
And one of the perks ... they do growler fills of ANY growler!! you do not have to buy theirs! just bring whatever you got and get it filled! Awesomeness!!
On St. Patty's we went pretty early and grab seats in their outdoor space which I prefer because 1. I like people watching 2. Outdoor stuff keeps baby entertained 3. Baby falls asleep easily outdoors
The weather was also a big plus, not quite that hot yet with a subtle breeze, and people are extra friendly during festivities so we had a really nice time.

itty bitty road trip

For a while now we decided to bring back a little normalcy and keep our beer excursions alive, the only difference was having to bring the baby along!....Big!! difference with the baby!!
So we are responsible parents, meaning super responsible drinking, meaning a lot less beer to sample, and a lot of more eating to balance things out. But it is all good.... She is indeed an amazing baby, genuinely happy to be out and about, and generally well behaved.
We have tried a bunch of places but never too far from home, but we decided to push or luck a bit and drove to Pompano Beach.

We visited Banging Banjo Brewing and 26º Brewing Company. We had such a great time at both places, and the best part is that they are about 15 min drive from each other.
At Banging Banjo we ordered a sampler and I was really satisfied by their variety and how delicious all the beers I tried tasted. The place is really spacious, no frills, super relaxed environment.
26º is a much bigger operation, very modern and sleek decor with a space that can host possibly hundreds. The beer was also very delicious but we were not able to sample enough, so we are definitely planing to go back.

It feels nice to be able to still do our little beer excursions and take our little one along with us.
Here is a pic from Banging Banjo!

Life lately....

So its been a good long while since I posted anything here. Not that I wanted to abandon the blog or that I was uninspired; my focus was somewhere else.

Our family has been blessed with a beautiful baby girl! We are so happy, happier than I ever imagined possible, but at the same time we are so consumed by her. It is a wonderful time which we are experiencing now as new parents, its full of joy, wonder, trial-and-error, night wakings, and sleeplessness altogether.

Many times I've been tempted to share snippets of our new life; about the baby, her many cute faces, and other baby musings. But I felt that my energy and focus was just not quite here.
But now that many months have passed and we are finally back on a rhythm I have more time to dedicate to this wonderful outlet that it is blogging, and blogging about Beer!

I must be honest!, during my pregnancy I had major beer cravings....especially since Laz was still brewing and buying amazing stuff. But of course, the most important thing was the baby and her health, so no beer for me. But while still pregnant I decided to ask Laz to brew a batch of beer that would aid in milk production. There are many claims out there regarding beer consumption, in particular stouts, and increased breast milk yield. And I am in no way endorsing drinking while breastfeeding, but there is some research based evidence that does prove that barley and yeast do stimulate milk production. Is it true, not sure, do we believe it, its up to you.
Anywho, it was a fun idea, especially since I was able to help and bask in the beer aromas while brewing,... and so we named it "Mother's Milk Stout"
To this day, and I am no longer nursing, I'm still not sure if it helped or not, but it was amazingly tasty and satisfying to finally be able to enjoy a beer. And yes, of course I was mindful not to drink and nurse right away, and yes I did have "clean" pumped milk as a backup, yadah, yadah, yadah...I am a responsible Mom!

So it begins again....hopefully I have a lot more interesting things to share, but more importantly, I am happy that I am writing and posting stuff again.

xo

brew stop PTY

So you are in Panama City, in need of a beer.... but you have developed a taste for American craft beer.... where do you find it?

It was about time Panama had a place like this! Brew Stop, as the name implies is your one stop bar/shop where you can find a great selection of American craft beer and also domestic craft beer! Which is excellent! I am so happy that finally my little city of origin is getting on the craft beer movement bandwagon, catering to tourist as well as a newly developed niche of Panamanian beer lovers who are tired of the bland tasting, mass produced beer that is popular in the country.

check out the beer selection...

This place has been open for almost a year now and they draw-in quite an amazing crowd of faithful locals, tourist, and newbies to the craft beer world. It is a small space but very cozy with indoor and outdoor seating area, they also offer small bites for after hour munching. The staff is great, super friendly, extremely knowledgeable, and they had great recommendations and suggestions.

I'm super happy Panama has a place like this and that I was able to visit, it will definitely be my hangout spot every time I come to Panama.

You can find out more about Brew Stop here.

too cold for fermentation

Living in Miami most of the issues we face with fermentation is trying to keep things cool enough. Most beer yeast require low temperatures for optimal fermentation depending on the beer style. So of course we have those cold-ish days in the "winter" time; and that is exactly the time Laz picked to make a Saison.
Saison is a Belgian style beer that requires yeast to ferment at a higher temperature, this is because at this temperature, above 80F or so, the yeast gives off characteristic Saison flavors.

So what do we do to warm the fermentor? ..... put it in a Jacuzzi, of course!
Well, not exactly, but that is the general idea. We made sort of a pool for the fermentor by placing it into a bucket with water and heating the water with an aquarium heater.