Regina Heffington
“Low hanging fruit” – that’s what I thought of when I learned this month’s EU edition would be centered on favorite summer foods. Easy pickins’ for me, it’s food paired or made with beer! I popped open the laptop, and then I realized the task was far more complicated than I originally thought. What food, what beer, would be best to enjoy during the hot summer weather? I turned my thoughts to what most folks like to do during the summer: vacations, barbecues, beaches, swimming, and relaxing. Here are a few suggestions for you to try:
Keep it Sweetly Simple
Ask your local craft beer purveyor for a fruit lambic-style Belgian beer and enjoy this in the shade with a bowl of chilled, fresh fruit or a decadently sweet confectionary delight.
Carnivore’s Delight Barbecue Sauce
Start with 2 to 3 cups of ketchup. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons (to taste) of each chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, brown sugar, yellow mustard, molasses, and apple cider vinegar. Add 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper if you like some heat in your sauce. Stir in 8 ounces (or more!) of a good brown ale. Local favorites are Bold City Brewing Dukes Cold Nose Brown Ale and Engine 15 Brewing Company Nut Sack Imperial Brown Ale. Whisk all ingredients in a pot and bring to a slow boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Then pair your barbeque with a hoppy IPA!
Leaning Vegetarian
It doesn’t get much simpler than this. Pair your hummus and pita with a malty red ale. Local favorites include Pinglehead Brewing Pinglehead Red and Intuition Ale Works Riverside Red Ale.
Summer Nightcap
You might hear craft beer lovers say they prefer stouts only in the winter, but pouring a tasty, dark stout over some vanilla ice cream yanks that beer right into summertime enjoyment! Finish off your evening with a stout beer float. Local favorites include Green Room Brewing Count Shakula and Aardwolf Brewing Company Styrofoam Pony.
Some of the local favorites are available in cans and others are available in quart or gallon growlers filled at the respective breweries. Good thing for us that our local establishments don’t take a vacation during August!
Here’s what’s happening in the Greater Jacksonville area brews and chews scene:
Aardwolf Brewing Company
Every Wednesday is Pilot Batch Wed – mark your calendars for their first Anniversary on September 13th!
Intuition Ale Works
The release of the King Street Stout in cans. One-Off Wednesdays.
Bold City Brewery
Pint Night at Copper Tap House (Please see www.jaxbrewbitch.com for updates on the date and details to be determined.)
Engine 15 Brewing Company
Beer Wednesday with Pint Nights and beer and food pairing and Tap 42 Thursdays.
Green Room Brewing
Pilot Batch Tuesdays and New Beer Thursdays.
Brewers Pizza / Pinglehead Brewing Company
Tenacious Tuesdays – special one-off brews or a pilot batch of a Pinglehead creation is tapped. Also on varying Tuesdays, a Brewery Spotlight is presented. Please check their website and Facebook page for details.
Silver Cow – Riverside
Tuesday August 5th Unibroue Night & Tasting starting at 6pm. Buy two Unibroue beers, receive a glass to keep! Or do the Unibroue & Charcuterie Tasting – only $20 per person! Which includes a flight of four Unibroue beers, four cheeses, and four cured meats, and receive a Unibroue glass to keep. Reps will be on hand from Unibroue! Thursday, August 14th is 3 Daughter Brewing Tap Takeover. Tuesday is Open Mic Night. Performers receive 10% off, and when 10 or more performers sign up, Silver Cow will raffle off a bar tab for $25! 2nd Wednesdays is Bards & Brews Night featuring poetry and spoken word – 10% off for performers. Happy Hour everyday from 3-7pm. Monday All-day Happy Hour. Sunday Craft Beer & Homebrew Share and Movie Night. Please visit www.silvercowjax.com for more details and dates coming soon.
The craft beer industry is booming across the country! Jacksonville is blessed to have such an active craft beer community with ample opportunities for even craft beer newbies to enjoy. Come on! Get out and about and pick your own “low hanging fruit” from the bountiful orchard our local craft beer purveyors provide.
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