Maple Brioche Burger with Maple Cured Duck Bacon and Sweet Potato Fries:

Some days you just need a good burger, and this one more than got the job done with a one-two maple punch! A 100% beef patty smothered in melt-y cheddar cheese topped with hearty thick-cut slices of homemade, hardwood smoked, maple cured, duck bacon; snugly nestled inside a home baked maple brioche bun (all this and a side of baked sweet potato fries to boot)! This tasty maple burger was served with a vintage Dogfish Head Brewery’s “Immort Ale” from the beer cellar, an oak aged American strong ale brewed with maple syrup, juniper berries, vanilla, and peat-smoked barley for a great complementary pairing.

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Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Sauce:

Not much beats warm, home baked oatmeal cookies straight out of the oven, that is, except for warm home baked oatmeal cookies with a side of chocolate! These cookies were made with a blend of steel cut oats and rolled oats for maximum oatmeal flavor. For a great way to recycle all those unwanted leftover hollow chocolate Easter bunny candies, a painless decapitation breathes new life onto the confection by transforming it into a chocolate pint glass; the perfect chalice to savor the 10^th anniversary version (2014 vintage) of Terrapin Beer Company’s “Wake-N-Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout”; an oatmeal imperial stout with coffee roasted by Jittery Joe’s Coffee. The dark, roast-y, coffee flavor in the oatmeal stout meshed wonderfully with the dark chocolate’s similar roasted flavor, elevating this beer and dessert pairing to a higher level.

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Fish Chowder in a Bread Bowl:

The seasons are changing but there is still a chill in the air; so a hot, warming meal with the herb-like floral characteristics of spring is a welcome feast indeed. This seafood chowder was made with some of the first tender spring leeks and herbs to poke their heads above ground this season; and the home baked bread bowl it was served in had Old Bay seasoning baked directly into it for a customized seafood pairing experience. Served with New Belgium’s dry hopped sour ale “Le Terroir”, a beer with enough acidic tartness to enhance the seafood and spring-like fruitiness with a floral punch from the citra and amarillo dry hopping!

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Bacon, Cheddar, and Apple Grilled Cheese with Pot Au Feu for National Grilled Cheese Day.

Pot Au Feu with a Bacon, Cheddar, and Apple Grilled Cheese: It’s National Grilled Cheese Day; and a soup and sandwich beer pairing is a great way to celebrate. This melty sandwich had tart Granny Smith apple slices, a hefty portion of gooey cheddar cheese, and a thick-cut serving of Stoltzfus Meat’s hickory smoked bacon, all lovingly sandwiched in between slices of home baked sour dough bread; coupled with a bowl of homemade pot au feu soup. Served with a glass of Iron Hill Brewery’s “Winter Wheat Wine Ale”; a sweet 10% abv wheat wine which while complementing the freshly baked bread was robust enough to handle the rich, herbal stock in the soup.

Extreme Beer Fest 2015 (EBF 2015): Learned so much last month at Beer Advocate ‘s Extreme Beer Fest sampling some extraordinary brews, hanging out with great people at the fest / other beer events, and savoring the food in Boston!

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Duck Matzo Ball Soup with a Hillel Sandwich:

Chag Sameach! Today is the last day of Passover 2015, and that means no chametz (no leavened food with wheat, barley, spelt, oats, or rye). So while not traditional, it’s the perfect opportunity to use gluten free beer! Korech sandwich made with pulled beef shoulder roast (braised in New Planet Beer’s Brown Ale), homemade horseradish sauce, bitter herbs, and home baked “Matzah Rolls” made from crushed Streits Matzo whole wheat matzos; accompanied by a springtime duck matzo ball soup made with homemade duck broth, home rendered duck schmaltz, and gorgeous homegrown chive flowers (preserved from last year). Served with Greens Beers’ Dubbel Dark Ale; the dark, sweet, raisin-like dark fruit flavors in the dubbel paired particularly well with the residual sweetness contributed by the brown ale that the beef was braised in, while the herbal bitterness from the arugula and the horseradish provided counterbalance for the meal.

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Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Sweet Potato Waffles: It may technically be Spring, but it feels more like autumn around here! Time to warm up with some hot, golden-hued fried chicken sitting on a throne of crisp sweet potato waffles with a side of home pickled watermelon rind and greens with bacon, mushrooms, and blue cheese; drizzled with a deglazed pan dressing. Against The Grain Brewery’s (@ATGBrewery) “Kentucky Ryed Chiquen” proved to be a near perfect pairing for this southern style meal, since it’s brewed with rye malt and aged in oak barrels that previously contained rye bourbon.

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Flourless Chocolate Stout Cake: homemade Flourless Chocolate Tart baked with Russian Imperial Stout accompanied by Dark Chocolate Mousse with Honey Buttercream swirls. Paired with Shawnee Craft Brewing Co’s framboise, Frambozenbier, a blend of two vintages of their Raspberry Blanche that creates a pleasantly tart, but fruity brew that paired wonderfully with the dark chocolate.

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Chinese Dumplings: Chinese New Year is here and what better way to welcome the Year Of The Sheep than with a Dim Sum Beer Pairing. A hearty portion of hot steamed Shumai dumplings served with a dipping sauce followed by a sweet Beer And Dessert course of homemade, cast iron baked, Green Tea Sponge Cake drizzled with Honey Butter cream; served with Asahi Beer’s Asahi Super Dry, a very well attenuated (due to Asahi’s yeast strain No. 318) rice lager.

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Orange Chicken: Chinese New Year is only a day away and there’s nothing quite like a Beer Pairing to get you in the mood for the Spring Festival celebrations! Homemade whole wheat battered fried chicken pieces slathered in a delicious homemade orange sauce made with homegrown oranges for that bright, citrus zing that can only be provided with “fresh off the tree” fruit. Paired with Crooked Stave’s and Evil Twin Brewing’s Ryan And The Gosling, a 100% brettanomyces (CMY-1, CMY-5, and CMY-7 strains) fermented pale ale brewed with citrus peels, zest, and juice. The beers slightly tart brett funk serves as a foil to the sweetness of the honeyed orange sauce on the chicken, while the citrus peel, juice, zest, and citrus-y hop flavors meshed well with the orange chicken providing for a truly exceptional Beer And Food Pairing.

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