Tag: beer

Goose Island Four Star Pils

On By greg@kandflivingIn Beer/Cocktails, Photo Gallery, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’ve been broadening my horizons with lighter beers lately.  Be it this crazy warm summer or the fact that IPA’s give me heartburn now that I’m over 40, I have had a lot of great varieties of beer lately.  A great pilsner isn’t always easy to find so I was pretty excited to try the new Four Star Pils from Goose Island Brewery.  This golden brew is light, crisp and still taste like a real beer!  You can dress it up in a glass, but it’s perfect for shoving a six pack into a bucket of ice and spending an evening on the patio.  What I love is that they’ve used a combination of American and German hops to give it a depth of flavor beyond your typical pilsner.

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Try this great one with your favorite chicken or fish cooked on the grill.  I’ll wager that your favorite white wine drinker (AKA wife) will actually find this a great alternative to the vino.  I could go on and on about the other beers I love from Goose Island, but you can check out their website for the full list at gooseisland.com.  Crack open a little taste of Chicago and enjoy the last month of summer!

Fifty West Brewing Co. – Cincinnati

On By greg@kandflivingIn Beer/Cocktails, Eating Out, Uncategorized1 Comment

It’s no secret that I, like most of America, love craft beer!  One of the gems in Cincinnati is Fifty West Brewing Co.  Located on the east side of the city, they have a wonderful selection of house brews and a good menu to match.  What I love most, is that they have a great variety beyond the typical IPA-heavy selections you see elsewhere.  Still, I started with the Petroglyph Pale Ale, which was aromatic, slightly hoppy and had a good bitter finish.  My wife went with the Fuzzy Feeling Golden Ale, a crisp fruity light beer with a good apricot flavor.  You could drink that one all day – it just tastes like summer!

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The atmosphere is warm and comfortable in the bar and the restaurant.  They also have patio space as well as a shuffleboard table room with additional bar seats.  We sat in the bar area and started with a couple of appetizers.  The Pretzels & Pimento Cheese are salty, warm and buttery.  The pimento cheese isn’t memorable, but it was definitely good.  We also tried the Cornmeal Crusted Goetta Balls.  For those that aren’t from here, goetta is a pork product made with spices and cut oats.  It’s served all different ways, but in this application it makes for a creamy “sausage-like” center in contrast to a crispy exterior.  Dipped in grain mustard, these were delicious, but really heavy – they could totally be an entree.

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We decided to split an entree and the Brontosaurus Beef Rib with Gouda Grits was really good.  This is a huge piece of slow-cooked meat with a great outside char.  Pull pieces of this rib away from the bone with just a fork and make sure you get some of the great Carolina-style BBQ sauce with each bite.  It was moist, smokey and was complimented really well by the creamy grits and crunchy cole slaw.  It’s a huge portion and I think you’d be hard-pressed to polish this thing off on your own.  It would be a lot of fun trying though!

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Overall, it was another excellent meal at one of our favorites.  The menu has a lot of great choices and I highly recommend the wings and the mussels – especially the mussels!!  Brewmaster Blake Horsburgh and Chef John Tomain will keep you coming back again and again for new beers and seasonal menus.  Check out their website fiftywestbrew.com and grab a growler at their location or one of the other outlets they distribute to around the city.  You will be as big a fan as I am!  Oh, I almost forgot to tell you to stop in for “Penny Tuesdays” when you flip for every beer and either pay full price or just a penny – either way, you’ll come out a winner…

Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin IPA

On By greg@kandflivingIn Beer/Cocktails, Uncategorized3 Comments

I love that beer has had a revival over the past 5 years!  There’s been an explosion of local brewers and innovation in types, flavors, bottling, canning, etc.  What’s not to love, right? The starting point for many new breweries, and always a crowd favorite, is the IPA.  I’ve had more than I can count, but Ballast Point hit the nail on the head with this one.

There is great body in this beer with a crisp citrus hop flavor.  You’d think that the addition of grapefruit would make this overpowering, but it really compliments the beer well.  Who would have imagined that a winter fruit would make for a great summertime beer?  I love this beer with salmon or chicken, but it pairs really well with a lot of dishes.  I’d like to say it’s an all-day sipper, but at 7% ABV, it gets a little boozy on a long afternoon in the sun.

You can find this gem on tap and canned or bottled in lots of places due to their purchase by Constellation Brands (Corona, Modelo).  Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed in this diversion from the everyday IPA!  Check them out at ballastpoint.com.

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