Come to the South Shore Brewery and Deep Water Grille in beautiful downtown Ashland, WI, on Thursday, July 14 – 4-6pm and I’ll sign a cookbook for you – Grilling with Beer and the Best of American Beer & Food! We’ll be cooking up some samples to taste, and more details will be posted very soon, cheers!

In its second year, the Wisconsin Beer Lovers Festival hits its stride

Wisconsin Brewer's Guild organized the festival, with Visit Glendale tourism

More beer, more food, more space

As the name implies, the Wisconsin Beer Lovers Festival showcases craft beer exclusively from the members of the Wisconsin Brewer’s Guild (WBG), including fest-only special releases. Held around the Fountain Square of Bayshore Town Center (a mall and residential complex in Glendale, WI), the Festival fills four hours with fresh food from area restaurants, matched with craft brews from participating breweries.

Each of the pairings was detailed in a handy guide book with room for tasting notes, prepared by the fest organizers: Welcome to Glendale tourism and the Mueller Communications company, in addition to the WBG.  The festival drew close to 2,000 craft beer fans from around Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Minnesota.

Deb Carey, president of the New Glarus Brewing Co., pouring at the festival

One of the biggest draws for this festival is the chance to meet the participating brewers and chefs. Each of the 46 booths features a brewer, a chef, or an owner, serving samples – including Deb Carey of New Glarus Brewing Co., winner of the The White House Champions of Change award (http://www.whitehouse.gov/champions/small-business/deborah-carey) and Ernst and Young’s Upper Midwest Entrepreneur of the Year.

Many chefs worked very hard to customize their food creations to highlight the specific flavors of the beer being served – including the Deepwater Grille of Ashland, WI, whose blackened whitefish paired with South Shore Brewery’s Northern Lights Ale. Ovation Restaurant prepared shrimp cakes with a crispy Panko-crust that made the Fixed Gear ale from Lakefront Brewery taste even more rich and malty. Other participating restaurants served their usual menu, such as Panda Express (Spicy Chicken) and Dr. Dawg (Chicago-style hot dogs).  The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board supported the festival with cheeses from many of the state’s finest cheesemakers, including Carr Valley and Sartori Foods.

Thanks to greater space along two sides of the Fountain Square, and additional tables for enjoyment of food and beer, the festival unfolded at a pleasant pace. Lines moved quickly and everyone appeared to be relaxed and enjoying the savoring of wonderful Wisconsin beer and food.

Priced at $35 pre-sale, this fest a fantastic way to explore the flavors of Wisconsin’s top craft breweries, including some not distributed in Milwaukee, such as Lake Louie Brewing Co.

Solly's sliders with grilled onions

It’s a worthy summer destination for a Father’s Day weekend celebration, with many hotels within walking distance of the fest. Consider it a coup for the city of Glendale – I’m already looking forward to next year’s fest.  Cheers to Wisconsin beer!

Participating restaurants included:

Anchorage, Bar Louie, BD’s Mongolian Grill, Bravo! Cucina Italiana, California Pizza Kitchen, COA – The Heart of Mexican Street Food, Devon Seafood + Steaks, Dr. Dawg, Milwaukee Ale House, Ovation Restaurant, Panda Express, Potbelly Sandwich Works, Solly’s Grill, South Shore/Deep Water Grille, Zamboni’s and cheeses from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.

Participating breweries included: Ale Asylum, Angry Minnow Restaurant & Brewery, Bull Falls Brewery, Capital Brewery, Central Waters Brewing, Chameleon Brewing, Delafield Brewhaus, Fox River Brewing Company, Great Dane Pub & Brewery – Madison, Grumpy Troll Restaurant & Brewery, Hinterland Brewing, Lake Louie Brewing LLC, Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee Ale House, Minocqua Brewing Company, New Glarus Brewing Co., Northwoods Brewpub & Grill, O’so Brewing, Pearl Street Brewing, Potosi Brewery, Rock Bottom Brewery, Rowland’s Calumet Brewing Co., Sand Creek Brewing Co., Silver Creek Brewing, South Shore Brewery, Sprecher Brewing Company, Stevens Point Brewery, Stone Cellar Brewpub, Titletown Brewing Co., Tyranena Brewing Company, Vintage Brewing Co., and the Woodman Brewery.

Join me on the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day at Metcalfe’s Market, in the Hilldale Mall on Madison’s west side. I’ll be at the store from 11-3 pm both days, for a festive tasting of Wisconsin craft beer and samples of recipes from my cookbooks and websites.

For starters, enjoy the Carrot Ginger Curry Soup made with Point Horizon Wheat or a St. Patrick’s Chicken Stew with Whiskey and Brown Ale prepared with Nami Moon Chicken and New Glarus Fat Squirrel

Marinated Pork Tenderloin made with the Great Dane Emerald Isle Stout and served over Kerrygold Blarney Castle Irish cheese mashed potatoes

Metcalfe’s house-made Corned Beef and Cabbage Brats with Grilled Beer Onions made with Ale Asylum Madtown Nutbrown

Slow Roasted Wild Salmon with Caramelized Belgian Endive and Almond Piccata paired with Lake Louie Arena Premium American Pale Ale

Bock-Braised Pork Shoulder made with Capital Brewery Maibock

A variation of “ Twice-Baked Lady Apples with Wisconsin Camembert, Raisins and Dates” made with Aeppeltreow Wisconsin Apple Brandy

And to top it off, a riff on Homebrew Chef Sean Paxton’s Chocolate Stout Pudding made with Tyranena Down-N-Dirty Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

I’ll bring cookbooks with me, and there will be seasonal craft beers to sample, too – hope to see you there!

Thanks to CraftBeer.com for posting a collection of my recipes for summer grilling, along with musings on Memorial Day beers – the Imperial pilsner, big and bold flavors for BBQ.
Features Imperial brews by Rogue, Sam Adams, Flossmoor Brewing Co., Point Brewing and more. Here’s a photo of the Grilled Chicken Salad with a link to the recipe online. Cheers!

Recipe online at www.craftbeer.com

2 tablespoons butter
1/ 2 cup white onion, peeled and minced
1 large shallot, peeled and minced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 small jalapeño chili, seeded and chopped
1/2 teaspoon ancho chili powder
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
Pinch of ground cumin seed
Dash hot sauce or to taste
4-5 oz ale of your choice
4 oz. cream cheese
1 1/2 cups (6 oz.) finely grated aged Cheddar cheese
Salt to taste

Melt butter in large skillet, and add onion, shallot, garlic, chili spices, and cumin. Cook over low heat until onion is translucent. Add hot sauce and ale, whisk well and add cream cheese in large chunks, stirring constantly. When cream cheese is melted, stir in Cheddar cheese and remove from heat. The cheese will melt slowly, but texture is rough. You can scrape mixture into a food processor and pulse on HIGH if you want a smooth-textured dip. Taste and add salt if needed. Scrape mixture into a serving bowl and chill until ready to serve, at least 2 hours for flavors to meld. Garnish: top with chopped toasted pecans or chopped green onions.

I came up with this recipe in response to a query from the Brewing Network – always good to have some *real* cheese spread available for snacks….

Sandy Ploy, Milwaukee’s Cupcake Queen, is organizing a wonderful benefit for the Wisconsin Brewers Guild – the Iron Cupcake Beer Edition! Find a way to add the flavors of beer to your batch of cupcakes, and you may be a winner!

Iron Cupcake Milwaukee

Note: bakers must pre-register with Sandy: ironcupcakemilwaukee@wi.rr.com – only 24 spots are available! For more information, check out Sandy’s blog: http://www.ironcupcakemilwaukee.com

It’s becoming a tradition – craft connoisseur Christina Ward and Adrienne Pierluissi organize another “Bake ‘n Take” beer tasting & cookie exchange at the Sugar Maple.

Sugar Maple cookies by Christina Ward

This year’s party will be held at the Sugar Maple, 411 E. Lincoln, on Sunday, December 13, 2-4 pm, bring 3 dozen cookies and prepare to go home with a fantastic assortment – or just stay and sample!

Bakers relax with samples & winter ales

Join Jim Javenkoski, fan of all things beery, at the launch of Arcadia Ales at Sugar Maple, 411 Lincoln in Bayview, Milwaukee, WI. The tastings start this afternoon around 5 pm, with firkins tapped of Angler’s Ale and Hopmouth Double IPA – here are tasting notes courtesy of “Dr. Beer” –

Angler’s Ale (5.4% ABV, 34 IBUs) from the firkin
This strikingly authentic English-style Pale Ale is brewed with all-English malts and a pound-and-a-half of Pacific Northwest hops per barrel. It is medium-bodied, crisp and well-balanced with a flavor profile featuring subtle notes of caramel, toffee and toasted malt, counterbalanced by the ideal level of hop bitterness. The delicate herbal hop finish is produced by Goldings whole leaf hops.

Hopmouth Double IPA (8.1% ABV, 76 IBUs) from the firkin
This remarkably balanced brew has a deep amber hue with a generous white head. Hopmouth showcases a rich, toasty flavor and sweet caramel notes as a result of the high-quality Maris Otter malt, imported from England. The hops are right up front in the aroma, reminiscent of citrus and pine, while the resin-like flavors linger well after the last sip.

London Porter (7.2% ABV, 42 IBUs) 12 oz bottles
This 18th Century-style “smoked porter” has a subtle accent of peat-like, Bamberg smoked malt, which is apparent in both the aroma and flavor. It is brewed with seven varieties of premium European malted barley, resulting in notes of bittersweet chocolate and coffee that are counter-balanced by a long-sustaining finish of Goldings hops.

Jim was one of the key contributors to the Best of American Beer & Food cookbook, and his PhD in food science truly earns him the title, “Dr. Beer.” Cheers!

Thanks to Larry Meiller and Jim Packard, I was a guest on Wisconsin Public Radio, talking about craft beer’s rightful place at the American tables. Publisher Kristi Switzer helped get the cookbooks to the station for a terrific renewal incentive – thanks, Kristi!!

Larry and I also talked about the upcoming Great Lakes Craft Brewers & Water Conservation Conference, the subject of a profile by Barry Adams in today’s business section of the Wisconsin State Journal. Adams’ article includes interviews with Kirby Nelson of Capital Brewery, Dan Carey of New Glarus Brewing Co., and Fred Scheer, brewmaster at Boscos of Nashville, and chairman of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas’ global emerging issues committee.

So, since I’m swamped with conference details, I’m testing the easy crockpot beef recipe from a listener of the Larry Meiller Show – with a few tweaks of course. I’m using 2 bottles of Lakefront Brewery’s Eastside Dark Lager, 3 bay leaves, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 12 cloves garlic, smashed, to cover about 3 pounds of beef rump roast, cut into 3 large pieces to fit into my crockpot. It’s going to take about 5 hours for the beef to turn completely tender, but in the meantime, the Sunday kitchen smells delish.

Milwaukee’s lakefront museum of innovation, technology and the environment is such a cool place. Discovery World offers programs in everything from circuitry to the anthropology and archaeology of brewing. In November and December, you can learn how to brew Mayan Maize Ale, brewed with corn and cocoa (though I hope we don’t have to chew and spit the maize as did Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Brewing in making chicha, a similar ancient brew). In December, learn to make Mead of Meath from Wisconsin honey. Each session is $20 per person – what a fun way to discover the ancient arts of fermentation, as well as ethnographic variations on brewing throughout the world. Here’s a summary from the seminar teacher, home brewer and archaeologist, Kevin Cullen, and his adventures in brewing with rye. Call 414-765-8635 for reservations.

Discovery World is also the site of the upcoming Great Lakes Craft Brewers & Water Conservation Conference. We have brewers coming from all over the country to Milwaukee to learn about water saving operations: Flying Fish Brewery of NJ; Great Lakes Brewing Co. of Cleveland; Schlafly Brewing of St. Louis; Mark Anthony Brewing Co., MI., Bison Organic Brewing, Berkeley, CA, Summit Brewing Co. of St. Paul, Lakefront Brewery, Sprecher Brewery, Stone Brewing Co., Escondido, CA, Bells Beer of Kalamazoo, MI, Capital Brewery, South Shore Brewery, MillerCoors, Goose Island Beer Co., Sly Fox Brewery of PA, etc., and industry reps from Alfa Laval, Gordon Lane from Briess Malts, WaterWise Consulting from CA, and conservation groups including the Shedd Aquarium, Clean Wisconsin, Milwaukee Riverkeepers, National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Restoration Program and more. We’ll be hosting a welcome reception, SPLASH! with special guest speaker Jake Leinenkugel of the Leinenkugel Brewing Co., the platinum sponsor of the conference. Tickets for SPLASH! are $45 each and may be purchased online at the conference website, www.conserve-greatlakes.com, just click on the registration tab to order by PayPal. RSVP required….because we’ll have a fantastic buffet dinner catered by Bartolotta’s, to enjoy with recipes prepared from the cookbook.