On this New Years Eve, we wrap up this series with a final facet: Women, Beer & Food.

Make it automatic: Beer & Food, Beer & Food, Beer & Food…..repeat it in your head or aloud until it’s automatic.

I’ve had women tell me in no uncertain terms that they want to learn about beer paired with food. They only had to tell us once. And I’ll tell you why it’s important to heed this critical directive:

1. Beer and food go together. That’s the first most obvious one.
2. Beer and food should go together. If you’re promoting alcohol – beer – then you should feel a sense of obligation to make food part of that promotion. Moderation goes hand in hand with responsibility.
3. Beer and food complement each other so well. They bring out flavors in each other that when standing alone may be missed.
4. Women want to duplicate the pairings they have at events. Be sure to share menus, suggestions and ideas. WEB always posts our menus the day after events for everyone to reference. It’s green, available and they can do with it as they wish.
5. The beer community and food community have much to share and benefit from mutually when they collaborate.
6. We like beer and food together. Do you? Then offer it as such.

Women, beer and food. This is yet another universal truth: they go together, and should. Combine them and you’ll see much success.

Happy New Year for Women & Beer!

31 Facets of Women & Beer Series starts here

Feel like Sailing though summer? You can do so with Full Sail Beer – it was the brewery we featured at our meet up last Thursday night at one of our favorite hosts, 4 Daughters Irish Pub in Medford OR.

'regular' Session is delish too

In honor of Oregon Craft Beer Month, we chose Full Sail for a number of reasons: We know some of the great people that make the beer, it’s very high quality beer (made in a nice clean environment), and they brew really tasty beer.

Menu:

• Full Sail Amber Ale with a summer cod wrap (mango-avacado salsa, Cajun spiced cod and crips romaine in a spinach wrap).
• Brewmasters Reserve Imperial IPA with 4 Daughters’ Blarney burger (beef patty with sauteed onions, bleu cheese on fresh house made buns)
• Session Black* with succulent barbequed ribs (fall off the bone tender ribs with house made finger licking good sauce)
• LTD 03 with fried pickles (classic crisp refreshing light bodied beer paired with a fresh fried pickle)

*This beer is a terrific one for educational purposes. It’s the perfect anti-beer racism beer. It was also the favorite course of the night.

SAVOR your beer

June 3rd & 4th will find an incredible cross section of American Craft Breweries participating in a uber tasty and classy event: SAVOR.

This will be my first year attending, the 4th year it’s been in existence and truly, as the tag line states, “An American Craft Beer And Food Experience.” Here’s the list of participating breweries that will be in attendance. They’re picked by lottery due to the overwhelmingly popular opportunity for craft brewers across the country.

Beer is a universal beverage. And libations bring people together. Partner that with food and you’ve got an unbeatable combination sure to delight, please and inspire.

Save the dates – get ready to scoop up tickets (they go fast!). See you in DC.

Photo by Kate Parks

Sample glasses for tasting beer

Here’s the menu we enjoyed at last night’s monthly meet up at the Lovely Lithia Springs Resort & Gardens, featuring Taylor’s Sausage and beers from Summit Beverage.

• Course 1 – Ninkasi Sleigh’r with Taylor’s BBQ links cooked with home made ketchup
• Course 2 - Dick’s Brewing Best Bitter with Taylor’s Swedish Potato Sausage cooked with olive oil and a bit of sugar
• Course 3 - Anderson Valley Boont Amber with Taylor’s Hot Italian Sausage cooked with fresh garlic, salt & pepper
• Course 4 - Great Divide St. Bridget’s Porter with Taylor’s Smoked Chicken & Apple Sausage simmered in apple ginger jam, cinnamon and cloves
  

  Engaged revelers and learners at WEB

We sang a beer carol after each course, everyone got to pick a wrapped present and we learned more about the beers, foods, and each other. (Beer carols to be available soon!)

It was so much fun that one of the regulars brought a ditty to share entitled “Beer or Water”. She read it aloud to much uproarious laughter and then on to more beer.

And that, my friends – is what the hokey pokey is all about. Happy, tasty holidays!

Photos by Mike Sansone

Larry, Lorraine & Gary - "women" all! Photo by Kate Parks

Last night for our monthly event, we decided to open it to the men who were lamenting “what about us?” and feeling left out of the regular women’s only events. So, open the doors and our arms we did to the men. They simply had to come as a woman.

HA! We had several men show up to enjoy the fun and good natured (no pun intended) ribbing and camaraderie at the Come As A Woman Oktoberfest meet up. From Larry and Gary’s full-on hose and wigs, to the feminine props of the others, a great time was had by all.

In fact, our host was having a simultaneous event and we got into a sort of ridiculously fun and silly German chant-off. Of course we won some, they won some. And for the rest of the

Great guests - photo by Kate Parks

evening, we got looky-lous who came into the event room we were cozily set up in.

Stien’s up to the game guests, terrific hosts at the newly opened Bavarian theme Frau Kemmling – especially Stacy, Micheal and Tim, and all the good time goers present.

Here is the menu we enjoyed:

Opening toast with Paulaner Pilsner

1st Course – Spaten Oktoberfest with Leberkase, a German style meatloaf, brie, red onions, and mushrooms on a skewer

Larry & Crasher - photo by Kate Parks

2nd Course – HB Hefeweizen with Spatzle mit kase, (unbelievably yummy) German style dumplings with diced ham, onions, 3 cheeses and herbs.

3rd Course – Hacker-Pschorr Dunkle Weisse with Bratwurst

4th Course – Spaten Optimator (said as a group with our best Ahhnold accent) with German Chocolate cake

This will become one of our annual events – can’t wait for next year already. Our own fabulous Kate took lots of great pictures – enjoy the ones included here.

However you enjoy your beer, have fun with it. Prosit!!

Hello All You Female Beer Enthusiasts!!

Coming right up – this Thursday’s Women Enjoying Beer event will feature HUB beers – Hopworks Urban Brewery, based out of Portland, OR. Perfectly appropriate especially since it’s Oregon Craft Beer Month!!

Hop to it and join us!

If you’ve saved your seat – you’re set. If you haven’t yet or know another woman to forward this to if they’d enjoy it, you can RSVP directly to me until end of day tomorrow (Tuesday the 13th) via this email or by calling 515.450.7757.

We’ll be at 4 Daughters Irish Pub in , OR. Plan on starting at 7 pm and going until 830. You’re very welcome to come early – enjoy dinner and drinks – and stay late (they are open until 11 pm). We’ll be up the stairs, to the back of the building.

Come ready to savor the flavors of these Organic Beers paired with fine 4 Daughters Irish Pub food. Matt, the very accommodating and beer happy chef, will again be taking good care of us.

It’s only $15 per woman – heck of a hot weather value!

Come quench your thirst for tasty quality beer and yummy foods. See you soon -

Slainte!

Ginger

Some of the books I showed the crowd at the recent men’s beer and food pairing included:

1. Randy Mosher’s Tasting Beer

2. Garrett Oliver’s The Brewmaster’s Table

3. Anything by Michael Jackson – in this case one of his pocket guides

4. I would have highlighted Lucy Saunders’ The Best of American Beer & Food had it not been on loan

5. An older (1995) selection by Stephen Beaumont

6. Charlie’s Complete Joy of Homebrewing

We need more women to chime in – in book form – on the beer with food.

Any takers?

Here’s a good story on how beer and food go together. Be informed and plugged into where our drink and food come from.

Getting people together is a perfect format for conversation, as well as good beer, to flow.

I grew up in a family that threw dinner parties – from the arrival cocktail and pupu’s (as my mom called them) to dinner to dessert cordials. I learned how to drink (responsibly), entertain (diplomacy) and take care of guests (customer service). Ever grateful for that early experience, it’s a passion that I have continued.

Farms, homes, apartment, backyards. It doesn’t matter where you get together. People don’t come over to judge your home, they come over to see you. What matters is you. (Do your pub guests feel this way?)

So call a few folks today, make it a late summer potluck if you like. The vegetables available right now, in season, are an even bigger reason to dine with others.

Just do it. You’ll be very glad you did.