The Blue Moon Controversy?!?!?

I read something once that called Blue Moon 'the most controversial beer in America' (http://blog.beeriety.com/2010/03/18/blue-moon-the-most-controversial-beer-in-america/) and maybe it is. I know, I know, Blue Moon has been largely responsible for getting people interested in craft beer, but much like it's compatriot AC Golden Brewing Company (which I wrote about here) Blue Moon Brewing & Sandlot Brewing Company (the Blue Moon Brewery at Coors Field) is in fact owned by MillerCoors (aka one of the, if not THE biggest brewer in the country). I guess that's why the Blue Moon Brewery is in Coors Field, right?!?!?

Really the only problem that I have with these beers is that they try so hard to keep themselves from being connected to the MillerCoors name, it kinda makes it seem like a 'wolf in sheep's clothing'.

That being said, from time to time I really do enjoy a Blue Moon with a slice of orange.

Can't you tell by the way I cut an Orange that I used to be a bartender, 

I never met someone who wasn't a bartender who cut fruit like that 

(gotta cut it that way to put it on a glass)

I have to admit that even I didn't know that Blue Moon made more than just their standard Belgian White (which is what I got today), but one of the cashiers at my favorite little home town liquor store knows all about my beeriosity (beer + curiosity) and mentioned that they were now carrying a few other of Blue Moon's brews. They also carry the Agave Nectar Ale, Farmhouse Red Ale and Rounder Belgian Style Pale. So in the interest of expanding my beerizons (beer horizons) I am planning on picking up another Blue Moon brew for my usual Friday evening boozestravaganza.

And because Blue Moon always makes me think of this song (yep, I grew up listening to oldies), here is a little tune.

Buy Local Mondays - CCFA (Buena Vista Farmers Market)

CCFA (Central Colorado Foodshed Alliance) lists their mission as:

"The Central Colorado Foodshed Alliance (CCFA) is a cooperative organization created to stimulate and support the local food economy in our foodshed, defined as the area within 100 miles of Salida, Colorado.

Within the foodshed the CCFA works to unite local producers and consumers, provide education about the value of local food, and foster a vibrant local economy while promoting productive open space and sustainability. 

The CCFA provides many resources, for the benefit of the membership, to reach these goals. The Salida Farmers Market, the Guide to Local Food, and an active website facilitate the building of relationships between those who produce food and those who eat food. Community workshops, the film series, and Foodshed Education sponsored events provide exposure to local and global food issues.

Shedfest, a harvest season celebration, and the annual membership meeting are venues to highlight the vibrancy of our community and inspire new ideas.  Individuals, businesses, producers or consumers; everyone has a role to play in the local food economy and therefore, also has a place in the CCFA."

One of my favorite things about summer has to be fresh produce and my weekly trip to the farmers market. On my last trip I picked up a couple of types of locally grown lettuce and tomatoes, from Weathervane Farms (because salad is definitely a staple in the summer) as well as some fresh baked from Styria Bakery.

Buy Local Mondays - Nature's Pantry

Nature's Pantry, is my local natural/organic/health food store, when you live in the middle of nowhere, there are no Wild Oats or Whole Foods or Vitamin Cottages. We have City Market (Kroger) or Nature's Pantry.

I know with all drinking that I do, it's hard to believe, but I really really do care about what I eat...

I saw this tent at a brewery festival I went to a few summers ago, and that pretty accurately sums up how I feel. I think that if you're going to drink like I do, it's probably a good idea to eat healthy food (gotta keep your body guessing). As I've mentioned before I like to stick with locally produced food as much as I can and if I can't get it locally, I at least try to eat organic. While, yes the regular grocery store does have some local produce and organic items, it's not like a bigger city where they have a large selection...

So, off I went today to Nature's Pantry in search of some local produce and GMO free tortilla chips (and to support a small local business).

and because every now and then I forget to take pictures, 

this one came from the Nature's Pantry Facebook Page

 I found lots of yummy, tasty, healthy things on my little outing, including some GMO free blue corn tortilla chips and locally grown eggplant, yay and NOMS!!!

So, ,while not everything is local here are a few super yummy and healthy meal ideas:

A super HUGE salad made with all Colorado grown veggies (Romaine Lettuce, Mushrooms, Tomato, Cucumber) and GMO free Ranch Dressing (and a little cheese that I'm not sure where it was made). And a Gin and Tonic with a slice of organic lime!

Soft tacos made with GMO free tortillas, local ground beef (from Scanga Meat Company) and locally grown lettuce and tomato. (and Tapatio Hot Sauce, gotta have my Tapatio).

Yes, it may be a little more pricey, but as I've mentioned before I think it's worth it! And supporting the local economy is good for everyone!

Buy Local Modays - Scanga Meat Company

Obviously I support my local/in-state breweries, but I try to support locally owned businesses and buy locally produced products as much as possible. I could go on and on about all the reasons I choose to support local businesses, but nothing sums it up quite as well as what I was once told by a customer at my 'day job'.

This particular customer is a salesman at a local car dealership (well the next town over, our town is too small to have a car dealership) and over the years we have purchased a few of our business vehicles from him.He came into the office looking for an item after I told him the price, he told me:

"I saw it for a little cheaper online, but they aren't going to buy a car from me."

 There isn't much of a better reason than that, keeping money in your local economy helps everyone.So on that note, I am going to try to reserve Mondays for posting about local businesses that I support (and I'm going to try my hardest to post something every Monday, that's why I picked Monday, it's payday and my day off).

It seems like every other day (if not every day) I find another reason to believe that it is important to know where your food comes from, whether it is GMOs or meat having e-coli or pink slime (if you don't know what that is you can read about it here). And so for that reason I have (for the most part) stopped buying meat products from the grocery store (and if I must it comes from my local natural/organic grocer). But, hey, I like meat and don't plan on becoming a vegetarian any time soon (although I was a vegetarian for a few years). I have, however chosen to support a local company instead. And maybe most importantly, I like a rare bloody burger, but I have always been terrified to eat meat picked up from the grocery store without making sure it is thoroughly cooked!

Scanga Meat Co. is located twenty-some odd miles away, they process their own meats and it gives me some peace of mind knowing that. They have a little shop at their ranch just outside of Salida, CO where you can pick up their meat products as well as cheeses and a few other natural products (although the other products aren't made there).

Even my brother who isn't really one to take a stand on much of anything, and used to mock me for going to the farmers market and spending a little extra, has recently began to realize that eating foods produced locally is a good idea. I know that local and organic products have a reputation for being a bit more expensive, and hey, I am a girl on a budget, but for me the peace of mind is worth spending a little more.Even though, it is a little more expensive, I still bought quite a bit for fairly inexpensive. I got 2lbs of ground beef, bacon, italian sausage and chicken for under $20 and that is definitely enough to get me by for a few of weeks (meat wise anyway).

STC (Small Town Colorado) Summer Beer Picks

Technically it is now the 3rd day of summer, so I am a little bit behind on this post (I meant to post this on the first day of summer), but I suppose it is better late than never. Without any further ado, here is my list of 10 must have summer beers!

# 10: New Belgium Brewing - Rolle Bolle or as I call it "Fat Tire with a Twist", it is very similar to Fat Tire, but with a citrus (orangy) twist.

#9: Left Hand Brewing Company - Polestar Pilsner I first tries this beer when I grabbed one from the 'mix and match' section of my favorite liquor store. A Pilsner is a type of Lager (like you know Bud, Coors and all those beers), but it has a bit of a kick to it (it's just a little hoppy) and although I am not generally a fan of hoppy beers that kick sets it apart from the other lager type beers.

#8: New Belgium - Fat Tire. Fat Tire has always said summer to me, when I was in college I used to work at a rafting company during the summer and Fat Tire was the beer of choice for most of the rafting industry, and my introduction to craft beer (if you haven't read it yet, you can read my full post on Fat Tire -Beer, It's A Love Story - here).

#7: Bristol Brewing Co. - Yellow Kite Summer Pils (available April - October) I first tried this beer at The Colorado Brewers Guild's Brewer's Rendezvous (my favorite must attend beer festival). I love this beer,it is one of the seasonal beers I can't wait to get my hands on as soon as 'spring' hits.

#6: Bristol Brewing - Beehive Honey Wheat. Apparently Bristol Brewing has the summer beer thing figured out (and beer in general, they are one of my favorite craft brewers). Instead of rewriting what I already wrote, you can read what I posted about Beehive here.

#5: Elevation Beer Co. - Apis IV I know, I know it looks too dark to be a 'Summer Beer' (at least to me, because I usually think light beers when I think of summer beer), but it is actually similar to Bristol Brewing's Beehive, and again, if you want to read more, you can read my post here.

#4: Amica's - Bomber Blonde Ale. Bomber Blonde Ale is light and has just a hint of a fruity taste, but not an overwhelming fruity taste, because if you follow this blog you probably know that I have an aversion to fruity beers (I may be a girl, but that's a little too girly, even for me). It's a great beer for summer, and day drinking (as I mentioned in my post here)!

Now for my top 3 summer beers and believe me it' was tough to figure out what order to put these in, but here they are.

#3: Breckenridge Brewery - SummerBright Ale. If Fat Tire was my introduction to craft beer, SummerBright Ale was the beer that cemented my undying love of craft beer. This is a summer beer for everyone, even the 'non-beer-snobs', this is even the one and only craft beer that my brother will drink (and he is a guy who only drinks Corona and Coors). I have read some reviews that say it is too watery, but for me it is one of the best summer beers!

#2. Asher Brewing - Treehugger Organic Amber. When I first tried this beer a couple of summers ago, it was the first beer in a very long time that just made me say, wow! It is a slightly sweet amber ale, which was so good that I forgot to take pictures when I was at the brewery. But, this is not only a great summer beer, but as of right now my favorite beer. (So, sad I can't get it here, but next trip I make to Boulder, I will definitely be picking up a growler - or two)

#1: San Luis Valley Brewing Co. - Valle Especial. Valle Especial is a Mexican Lager, you know, like Corona, which is why I rated this as my number one summer beer pick. Corona always has been and always will be the first beer that I grab for relaxing on a hot summer day, the Valle Especial is very similar to Corona, but made in Colorado! Honestly, there is nothing better in the summer than an ice cold beer with a slice of lime.

Gluten Free Beer

Gluten Free seems to be all the rage lately, every where you go there are gluten free options. With so many people going gluten free it makes sense to have some gluten free beer options. Of course there are a few gluten free beers out there, but the Colorado craft beer lovers need an option too.

This post is somewhat of a follow up to  my last post 'Hard Cider, Baby', in which I mentioned that a friend-of-a-friend had asked me about gluten free beer and hard ciders made in Colorado for the bar she works at. I told her about New Planet Beer, but I had never tried it myself. So, last Friday night when I headed to my favorite liquor store (The Little Daisy, which I wrote about here) I happened to notice that they had just started carrying New Planet Beer.

I had never actually tried New Planet Beer (or any gluten free beer) for a few reasons. First, because I was a little scared that it wouldn't be very good, second, because up until last week I had never run across any in my local liquor stores (a down side to living in a small town is that I have long ago exhausted their selection of craft beers) and finally, because I have not gotten nearly as many chances as I have wanted to visit breweries lately. So, after seeing a new craft beer in the cooler at my little liquor store and because I had told someone about it already, I, of course was going to have to grab a six-pack.

So, with my new beer to try in hand off I went to my usual Friday afternoon hangout with my friends, my friends who happen to make their own beer (which I wrote about here). I have to admit that I cracked the first bottle with just a little bit of trepidation, but I was pleasantly surprised with my purchase.

They had a choice of 'Tread Lightly Ale', 'Pale Ale', and 'Raspberry Ale'. I, of course went with the 'Tread Lightly Ale', because as I mentioned at least a few times before I am not the biggest fan of 'hoppy' beers, obviously the 'Pale Ale' was out (even if they aren't quite as 'hoppy' as an IPA), they are still a bit hoppy for me. And despite the fact that it is generally considered a 'girly beer', I just can't get on board with fruity beers (although I will admit that I did have quite the love affair with Tommy Knocker's TundraBeary Summer Ale once upon a time).

There was a hint of sweetness , which while I am not an expert I would guess comes from the corn extract. I will also mention that for those of us who watch (or do our very best to try to watch) what we put into our bodies, their labels actually list the ingredients. Also, they list the nutrition information, which as much as I have always thought they should put on beer labels, I now see why they don't. Let's just say that it made me want to go for a run, and it's probably not nearly as high calorie as some beers. But, back on topic, I was impressed with my first gluten free beer and would like to try some of their other options (maybe someday soon I will get a chance to take alittle brewery visiting weekend trip.

***On a side note, I would like to mention that my thoughts are with all of the people who have been/are being affected by the wildfires in Colorado right now. And I would like to mention that much of Colorado does have fire-bans currently, so if you live in or are visiting Colorado, please check on the restrictions in your area. And please follow all bans.***

Hard Cider, Baby!

Honestly, I never knew that anyone in Colorado made hard cider, actually I had never even thought about it. I have only had hard cider a hand full of times in my life.

Why write about cider now? Well, an acquaintance of mine is a bartender and the bar that she works at is trying to specialize in alcohol from Colorado. A mutual friend of ours told her about my blog and suggested that she talk to me. So, she asked first if I knew of any gluten free beers from Colorado, so I of course told her about New Planet Beer. And then she wanted to know if I knew of any hard ciders from Colorado, and as I already mentioned, I had no idea. So, with the help of my good friend Google (which I'm sure thinks I am a raging alcoholic with all of the alcohol related searches I do), I found out about the Colorado Cider Company, and hunted down a bottle of 'Glider Cider' (I even had to go to a liquor store the next town over to find it).

Like I said, I have only had hard cider a hand full of times, so I don't really have much to compare it to. The Colorado Cider Company website describes it as :

Colorado Cider Company was founded to produce a fresh hard cider for the discerning Colorado drinker. With a well-developed craft beer market and and educated populace, Hard Cider has been a missing choice in the cacophony of craft drinks in local pubs & liquor stores. We hope to remedy that.

Glider is our flagship dry cider. Crisp, tart and drinkable.

Gluten Free-All Juice, 6.95% ABV- in 22oz bottles

It isn't quite as sweet as I remember the few ciders I have tried in the past, but I actually like that about it! The fact that it has a little bit of tartness to it may have made me become just a little bit of a hard cider fan and if I am ever asked again if I know of a hard cider from Colorado I will have an answer.

Spring Beer Picks

 

While a majority of people are starting to think of summer, here in Small Town Colorado, it is just now starting to feel like spring. So, while I will be thinking about summer drinking soon, here are just a few spring beer picks.

Just a Little Earth Day Post

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a bit of a hippy. Yes, I recycle, I try to avoid wasting electricity, I turn the water off while I brush my teeth and I try to buy recycled products when I can. No, I am not an eco-zealot, but I do believe that there are little things that we can all do to take better care of the planet, many of which require little to no extra effort.

I have not always been a big water drinker, but I have been making an effort to get my full recommended 64oz. of water a day. We all know that bottled water is expensive and for those of you who do not recycle, it adds A LOT of waste to our landfills. Luckily I happen to live in Small Town USA in the Mountains of Colorado and I have well water, here we don't have to drink bottled water or worry about having a water filter. However for those of you who aren't as lucky visit FilterForGood to see how Nalgene and Brita have teamed up to help cut down on waste from bottled water. I liked it 'cause it's sponsored by Nalgene, and I just happen to have a slight obsession with Nalgene water bottles (especially covered in stickers, but we will save that for a future blog). Don't believe me? Well here is just a portion of my collection.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. As a nature/landscape photographer, who just so happens to be lucky enough to live in one of the most beautiful places around Leave No Trace is another organization that is worth checking out. Isn't that really a principal that we should all live by anyway? I am all for enjoying nature, with summer just around the corner I know I am ready to partake in all of my favorite outdoor activities. But just be considerate of the next person and leave your favorite outdoor getaway in the same or better condition than you found it.

And of course what mountain girl does not enjoy a good beer? And it just so happens that some of my favorite beers of choice are brewed by Colorado's own New Belgium Brewery who just so happen to use wind power to brew their beers (and have for over a decade!) Even my faithful friend Mr. Fat Tire Flyer, who is currently hanging around on my wall waiting to go out and play is made of recycled plastic :) Recycling can be fun!

So have fun, enjoy nature, drink beer and feel free to share your own eco-friendly links.

Scotch and Home-Brew Beer

I know I haven't written much lately, but that's because I decided to take a month off of drinking (I may have gone a little overboard partying for my birthday at the end of March). I decided to post a little somethin' anyway. I wasn't planning on posting about this since it's not really a brewery, but I'm gonna anyway.

A couple of my friends make their own home-brew beer, which so far has been pretty good.

The first beer they made was a European Bock which was really good. When their next batch was ready to be bottled I offered to help (since I helped them drink the last batch). So, I spent an evening washing out beer bottles (many of which I had donated to their cause) and putting caps on 3 cases of beer.

I capped those beers, go me!

And as my friend Tom told me that I would appreciate it more if I helped... I told him that I ALWAYS appreciate beer, but I was pretty proud of myself :)

Tom looking through the beer recipe book, trying to pick the next batch

After 2 weeks of waiting, not so patiently, the beer was ready to drink and it was delicious, tasted a lot like Fat Tire! So, we have this tradition of getting together on Friday nights and drinking the home-brew beer and as of late Scotch (since Tom is on a mission to become a Scotch aficionado).

 The official first taste of the beer I helped bottle.

I know, I know, the Scotch is not from Colorado, but not everything I drink can be from Colorado :) This is probably a good part of the reason that I needed a detox month, but it's always fun!

Deerhammer Distilling Company... Redux

For those of you who've been reading this for a while, maybe you will remember that I wrote about Deerhammer Distilling Company before and that I was not particularly impressed (you can read that post here). But I also promised to give them a second chance, it just took a little longer to get around to than I had planned on. I did finally get around to it though. And I am glad to say that this time around I can give them my 'seal of approval'.

Deerhammer Drink Menu

I went in there on a Thursday night, which in the winter in Buena Vista is usually a slow night wherever you go. So, still being a little unsure about the place when I was told they had a drink that wasn't on the menu which was a gin drink (I don't remember the name of it), I opted to give that a try, mostly because in general I prefer gin to whiskey. 

I may be letting my 'white-trash' side show a little bit here, but when I drink gin, I usually mix it with Squirt. This drink tasted a little bit like that, but with a little bit of a honey flavor. Not quite as sweet, but it was delicious! And since I've already admitted that I have a 'white trash' side, I may as well admit that I like 'girly drinks' too...

'High Roller'

So, for my second drink I had the 'High Roller' which is whiskey, coconut, pineapple, orange basically it is piña colada-esque. It was very tasty and I can see this becoming a favorite summer standby! After two drinks I was feeling pretty good and had to call it a night. So, I will give you a little heads up, if you ever find yourself at Deerhammer Distilling, the drinks are strong. Later I was talking to a friend and mentioned that I had two drinks, and his comment was that 'you only ever have one drink when you go there, even I know that'. So, yeah, pace yourself!

 

Also if you happen to be in the Arkansas Valley next weekend, check out the Ark Vally Libation Society launch party in Salida.