11 August 2008

Burgers & Beer

I recently made some incredible burgers: ground round seasoned with crushed allspice and fennel seed, topped with pepper jack, red onion marmalade, mesclun greens, and sliced Cherokee purple tomatoes, and served with mustard-based potato salad from the deli. The spice mix came from the buffalo steak recipe I found, and I'm tempted to continue hand grinding that blend in the mortar for all sorts of dishes. But man does not live by bread alone, so to wash it all down, I poured a glass of the New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale.

I'm really excited that we're now able to get New Belgium beers here in Memphis. They're brewed in scenic Fort Collins, Colorado, just north of Denver. The brewery is excited as well--click on the photo and you can see that the label has a red box with the text "Now Voluntarily available in Tennessee". The Amber Ale is clean and crisp with a nice hoppy flavor, and the 22 oz. bottles make two convenient servings at dinner. I've tried most of their beers while on trips to Colorado, and my favorite by far is the 1554 Enlightened Black Ale, which has a deep coffee/chocolate/malt profile. Despite the fact that it's black as night, it's a smooth and easy drinking beer. Don't be afraid of beer that you can't see through!

3 comments:

Michael Hughes said...

I just recently went to a beer class that was very interesting & filled with tasty beers. Have you ever had any beers from the Ommegang brewery in Cooperstown NY? We tried a few that were exceptional. Hopefully we will be having a beer tasting soon!

Benito said...

I've heard good things about Ommegang and have seen their products on menus up here in Cleveland, but haven't tried any yet. I'll keep an eye out!

Sally said...

I'm glad for this heads-up on New Belgium; I've been intrigued by the array of their beers which recently popped up at my local beer fridge but haven't tried any yet. I'll almost certainly rectify that tonight.