beernesday

from the lovely folks at deschutes: MIRROR POND PALE ALE CITRUS-CURED PRAWNS Ingredients: 1-12 oz bottle of Mirror Pond 6 oz fresh orange juice 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 Tbs soy sauce 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp chili powder 3 sprigs fresh cilantro 24 large prawns (deveined, peeled and clean) 1 Tbs olive oil 2 Tbs butter 1 tsp parsley, chopped Pinch of salt Pinch of black pepper Directions: Combine all ingredients for the marinade. Pour over prawns and refrigerate for 8 hours. Remove prawns from marinade and season lightly with salt and pepper. Preheat large saute pan on medium high. Add 1 Tbs olive oil to pan. Saute prawns until just done. Remove prawns from pan and toss with butter, parsley, and cilantro. Can be eaten alone or over pasta. Garnish with parsley and serve with a pint of Mirror Pond Pale Ale ! (Serves 2-3)

tomorrow evening i will be at portland craft for the modern malt ipa mingler which is a sold out event... but for the rest of you, don't fret, you can still get your american beer on by going to the new oxford for the deschutes/phillips tap takeover anniversary party: The New Oxford Two Year Anniversary Party Thursday December 6th - 5pm - late Two years, two breweries taking over. Join us on Thursday for complimentary canapes & drink samplings as we host you alongside representatives from Deschutes & Phillips breweries to celebrate two years in Yaletown. Both breweries will be taking over six taps and will feature notable and rare craft beer selections all evening. $5.15 featured craft beer sleeves. Please RSVP to ts@donnellygroup.ca The New Oxford Public House 1144 Homer St., Yaletown 604.609.0901 www.donnellygroup.ca/n ew-oxford

wednesday, november 17, 2010 rogue kitchen and wetbar deschutes brewery dinner beer pairings created by chef cory chapman pre-drink:  hop trip seasonal fresh hopped pale ale (part of their bond street series, an ode to the hop harvest) lovely, enjoy the fresh hops, but its not nearly hoppy enough to drink after warming up with an inversion ipa! course one:  mirror pond ale cured arctic char gravlax with dungeness crab fritter, fingerling potato chips, bitter greens, horseradish cream mirror pond features cascade hops, by the whole flower and pairs wonderfully with fish (factoid:  the mirror pond began as a seasonal) course two:  jubilale carmelized onion soup with rich porcini broth, roasted mushrooms, gruyere crouton i don't like the mushroom, so i just had the crostini, which was delicious the jubilale was a malty change from all the hoppy beers prior still quite a few hops in there, and yay, no vanilla no cheap gimmicks in this winter ale ...

always questioning! at the craft show, as i was extolling the virtues of hops, i got asked about beers with hops a-plenty but with plenty of malty balance to keep the bitterness down you know, lots of hops for medicinal purposes, but flavoured for the non-bitter among us i came up with the driftwood bark ale and deschutes mirror pond but drew a blank after that i love the super hoppy and bitter so the others haven't stayed in my head nearly as well (and frankly i'm off on vacation for the long weekend so don't have time to research... lazy maybe, but that's just the way its gonna be!) so, help a sister out any suggestions??

no sooner do i post about my beer snobbery and lack of enthusiasm for most bars' beer lists than i find an amazing watering hole! praise the lord! apparently its been a little while since i ventured out to the biltmore and stayed out far too late on a school night because since i was last there they have started carrying a plethora of really great craft brews! they had six taps on the go (for $5.50) phillips blue buck lighthouse ipa okanagan springs 1516 okanagan springs black lager okanagan springs something else and something else (might have been cider actually) great memory i have eh? and then the bottles!  i only wish i could remember half of them but alas, i cannot what i do remember is:  anchor steam, phillips hop circle, deschutes mirror pond, heineken, leffe... cans of pabst blue ribbon... what did i have? well, i'm glad you asked! i had a pint of the lighthouse ipa first (and second) followed by a bottle of mirror pond followed...