Hello Happy Hour Nation! Squigs scoots less than an hour north from New York City to experience the fantastic new Port Chester Hall. Take a peek inside this reclaimed train station and learn about some of what you will find here. Beer! Food! Trains!
And watch to the end for a wee travel tip for the thousands of you who schlep through Grand Central Terminal each day.
Video #284: Artsy's Craft Report - SAVOR 2014!
The Craft industry is filled with one-of-a-kind experiences; but very now and then you get to be a part of something really special. One of those Very Special Events is the yearly gathering of Brewers and tasty bites called SAVOR. The video below features some very talented folk matching incredible beer with outrageously great food (and now I'm out of adjectives, srsly...)
Our top ten favorite pairings from this year's tasting are HERE.
Now click play... and have a drool napkin handy!
PHOTO © 2014 Eddie Arrossi
Our top #SAVOR pairings.
First of all, it's criminal that we had to narrow this down to 10. Because out of the 140+ food and Craft Beer pairing available on the blessed day of Friday, May 9th at the National Building Museum in DC, there wasn't a single clinker in the lot. (Not that I had them all, I would have exploded. But the entire Happy Hour team was in on this one!)
SAVOR, The Craft Beer and Food Pairing experience put on by the Brewers Association is, for us, one of the most anticipated Beer Events of the year. The food, the beer, the setting, the people... it was a night or the ages. Enjoy the pairings that were so good they almost took the top of our heads off:
Sour Heaven.
1. Cigar City Brewing Guava Grove Sour Saison, paired with Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
2. Devil's Backbone Brewing Danzig Porter, paired with Espresso-Crusted Bison on Black Bread
3. Bell's Brewery Bear Hug Imperial Stout, paired with Foie Gras with Lingonberry
4. Odell Brewing Tree Shaker Imperial Peach IPA, paired with and Pickled Shishito Pepper, Lemongrass, Thai Mussels on the Half Shell with Coconut
5. Founders Brewing Company Backwoods Bastard Barrel Aged Scotch Ale, paired with Duck Sausage
6. Country Boy Brewing Papaw’s Red, paired with Rice Pudding
What was better, the name or the pairing?
7. Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Snow Wit and the 7 Dwarf Hops IPA, paired with Fresh Chevre on a Honey Tuile with Orange, Fennel and Pork Crackings
8. Reuben's Brews Imperial Rye IPA, paired with Smoked Brisket on Yucca Chips
9. New Belgium Brewing Company Le Terroir Wild/Sour Ale, paired with Coconut Cheesecake with Coconut Meringue
10. Hardywood Park Craft Brewery Gingerbread Imperial Stout, paired with Dark Chocolate Budino
Thank you, SAVOR. Thank you. Everyone, you may register your curses in the comments below. ;)
Yes. Yes. YES.
Oh, and one of Jimmy's favorite seminars happened to be about Craft Beer and Doughnuts.
Don't hate.
A SAVOR preview. #TREATS
We'll just give you two brewery pairings, so this baby:
And this:
To say that we're in for a treat... is an understatement of epic proportions. This is gonna be AWESOME! Watch the feeds tonight. We're headed to DC!
We're going to SAVOR!
SAVOR is one of the most highly anticipated Craft Beer events of the year - an evening of stunningly great beer and artisanal food pairings, terrific Salons hosted by brewers and taste innovators of all kinds, and this year back in an incredible setting - the National Building Museum in DC. From their website:
"American Craft Brewers Harmonize Craft Beer With Food
A must-attend for craft beer aficionados and foodies alike for six years running, SAVOR offers a memorable craft beer and food experience to a limited number of attendees. Event tickets have consistently sold out extremely quickly in Washington, D.C.
Guests enjoy a reception-style sampling of sweet and savory appetizers and craft beers from over 70 small and independent craft breweries. They will also have the unique opportunity to converse with the luminaries of the craft beer industry—brewery owners, brewers and representatives will be on hand personally serving their beer."
Look for some nifty reporting, video and pics coming from the National Building Museum next Friday, May 9th!
Video #278: Artsy's Craft Report - Queens Beer Week!
Artsy's Craft Report features our own Squigs, giving you the 411 on the upcoming Queens Beer Week:
Hello from NYC and specifically the borough of Queens! The beer scene is booming in this borough and there's a celebration in the works: the inaugural Queens Beer Week! Hit play for all the deets from myself and Dan Bronson. It's gonna be good y'all!
The 14 Best USA Craft Beer Bars.*
*That we've visited.
Alright, keep your shirts on. We know there's a bewildering number of mind-numbingly awesome Craft bars there are out there, and we're aware of how many more there are for us to visit. And it is our QUEST to get to every single one of them - (oh hey, do us a solid and add your suggestions to the comment section, will you?). In the meantime, it's time to celebrate some great locals. Check out these terrific Craft Stops:
First, one of our most recent stops, in Midtown Manhattan; Beer Culture. Just next to the Hirshfeld Theatre in the Broadway District, this new watering hole is also a bottle shop.
Winner of Best Beer Bar in NY in 2013? Check. Long Island City? Check. Amazing owners? You've gotta meet the folks at Alewife NYC.
We happened to stop in to this spot in Hollywood a few years ago, and even though it's weathered some storms it's still going strong: The Blue Palms Brewhouse.
No NYC Craft Beer Bar experience is complete without a visit to Jimmy's. And if you're very lucky, you'll get to hang out with owner Jimmy Carbone, (or Jimmy Pots & Pans), a legend in the NYC Craft Community. Come home to Jimmy's.
HOPCAT. The Midwestern Craft Beer Mecca in Grand Rapids, MI. We didn't shoot video here, but dammit, we visited. And we came away very, very happy. By the way, HopCat is opening a new location in Downtown Detroit this year, and we hear it's going to be massive. Beer hear!
Pacific Standard, on 4th Ave in Brooklyn. We're pretty sure that this is what the dorm rooms at Beer Appreciation College look like.
Tucked away in the Berkshire region of Western Mass, MOE's Tavern is the bar you always dreamt about. No seriously, it is.
Adobe Blues - This may be the best reason to ride the Staten Island Ferry. Over, and over, and over. You'll 'flip' for this place...
Pizza and great Craft in Amish Country? Yup. We've seen rare beers at The Fridge in Lancaster, PA, that we have a hard time finding in a city of 8 million people!
Truly not to be missed, Proletariat is a tiny (and we mean tiny) place in the East Village of NYC that sports some of the rarest worldwide Craft we've ever seen. A bucket list bar.
Ah, the Pony Bar Hell's Kitchen on 45th and 10th Ave in Midtown Manhattan; the bar that helped turn the Craft Beer wave in this part of NYC into a Tsunami. We were there at the beginning.
This place in Minneapolis was Craft long before it was cool: Mackenzie, the Bar Next Door to the Theatre is the place you've always wanted in your neighborhood.
Ever been to Portland, Maine? Once you've seen our episode featuring The Great Lost Bear, you'll be looking to book your ticket.
And lastly, in memoriam: The Collins Bar, which sadly is long gone now, reduced to a hole in the ground on 8th Avenue NYC that's on its way to becoming a tall shiny expensive set of apartments. We fondly remember discovering flavors of Craft here that we never knew existed. Still one of our favorites, and deserving of the memory. And as you can see, also one of the first places we ever shot.
That's how our list starts. What's on yours?