My First Brewery Tour..followed directly by my second!

Happy Sunday!

I am sure it will a surprise to no one that I enjoy drinking delicious, local craft beer.  What may be a surprise is that this is a very new development...like in the past 3 years new.  I was an affirmed beer hater from the start...er when I started drinking at the appropriate age of 21 years.   Back then, all I knew of was one type of beer, the awful tasting type.   It was unbeknownst to me that beer came in many different types of brews, much like wine, and all I had to do was find the kind I liked..and find them I did!  Wheats, stouts, porters, largers and many more..just keep those bitter IPAs out of my pint glass and we will get along fine..

So this brings me to my first brewery tour.  I went with my expert friend Dana and her awesome friend Monica. Dana has been to more breweries than I have been farmers markets and was a great person to share this experience.  Since we live in Somerville and like to do things as close to our homes as possible, the logical choice was to hit up Night Shift brewery, only skip over into the city Everett.  All you need to know about Everett is that is the home of Teddie's Peanut Butter, Night Shift brewery and, to our surprise, Idle Hands brewery as well!

I  twitted a warning that we were on our way and were expecting the fun-est tour ever..of which they replied  "always a fun time @Nightshiftbeer".  I like them already.   Replying to tweets keeps it personal and that is what small business is all about..being personal!
We arrived and found this sign..which was good because it is one creepy alley you need to head down to get there, but be sure it will be worth the trip!

As we entered we met Michael, our tour guide for the event.  He was friendly, greeting us with a great smile and wise, offering us a drink before the tour even started.  

First up the  flagship beer Trifecta, a Belgian-style pale ale with vanilla beans and my favorite.  It was crisp, smooth, subtle and the prefect way to head into the factory.   On the tour, we learned that the brewery has only been open for 5 months although the guys have been home brewing in Somerville for 5 years prior to the start of the company.

They brew 200 gallons per day which produces ~700 bottles, demonstrating the true meaning of small batch brewing!  Not shown are the pounds of hops and other favorings such as Taza chocolate nibs that are on display.   We then went it the area were the beer is stored after bottled..below is the Somer Weisse which is named after the city were it all started..

Speaking of Somer Weisse, that was our next taste.  Made with lemongrass and ginger, this is the most unique tasting beer I have ever had.  Tart on first sip, it surprises your palate, however as you go for another sip you find an amazingly complex brew that will have you wanting more. No doubt the perfect Summer beer.  Next up, Bee Tea, a Belgian-style wheat.  As you may have guessed this contains honey, but it also has green tea.   Possibly the best beer to have when you have a cold or when you just want a lovely, sweet light beer.  Side note: I learned from their website the the tea is sourced by Mem Tea imports based in..Somerville!  These guys do not forget their roots!   

Now on to the heavier beers.  The Quad Reserve is a Belgian-style quad ale fermented with brown sugar and Shiraz grape juice..yes grape juice and brown sugar.   If you look up the description online, you may think you are reading about a fancy french wine as opposed to a craft beer, but be sure it is beer..tasty, tasty beer.  I hope to be able to find this on the first chilly Fall night of the year, as I think it would be a perfect way to deal with the end of Summer.  Finally, what we were waiting for as huge Taza chocolate fans, the Taza stout.  It is brewed with chicory root and ginger then aged on cacao nibs from Taza Chocolate, Somerville (of course).  If The Quad Reserve is going to help us get over the loss of Summer, this Stout will be our  long Winter life-savor!  Rich and delectable, it was a lovely desserty party in my mouth.  

The guys that run the joint are super nice and welcoming and all the beers were winners in my book.  I highly recommend taking the trip to the no-mans land know as Everett and down the scary alley that leads to the happy land of Night Shift Brewery.  Oh and if you are a brewery tour newbie like me..you will be happy to know these are free!   How I did not know this is beyond me since I have a nose for free stuff, but now I know and so do you.  I did buy a t-shirt so I can show my support as I bike around the 'Ville on the weekends..

As I mentioned, we were surprised to see Idle Hands right beside Night Shift living in harmony with one another.  We like small businesses that support one another.  We did not get a full tour of Idle Hands as it was getting late and understandably this guy wanted to get home------>

However, he was nice enough to let us sample and chat while we enjoyed all his brews.  Another nano-brewery but this time it is run by a husband and wife team.  Clearly had a wonderfully busy day because there were only 3 beers left, Blanche de grace (named after his wife!); Patriarch and pandora.  We loved them all!  I for sure see going back to check out the facility and the beers that we missed!  Here I bought a glass that I can drink future Idle Hands purchases!

We were 3 happy ladies at the end of our visits. Highly recommend supporting both these fine businesses when you are patronizing your favorite bar or saloon.  If you can't find them there, make sure you make it known you want them tap!  

Remember to support your local businesses!

Stay happy and healthy!

~L

Sometimes I do things that don't involve food..

As it turns out, I do other things with my time that don't involve taking pictures of food that I am about to shovel into the mouth.  Granted a good 7 hours of my non-eating time is spent sleeping, however there is a hour or two within waking hours that I am actively doing something that is fun and local..and food free.  Whether it is an outdoor festival, art event, concert or writing a blog,  I am someone who needs to be doing thing and get bored at the notion of just sitting.  Doing something always trumps doing nothing.  Now, thanks to online deal websites such as Groupon, a plethora of even more enjoyable activities are waiting in my inbox daily screaming "You know you want to do XYZ! Buy me and oh the fun you will have!"  I resisted for a while, but now that my internship workload as significantly decreased, I am game for anything and everything that comes my way.   

Today was indeed a random online deal event that brought myself and bunch of friends together to just have old-fashion silly fun.  Google+ had half off entry to a race called Color Me Rad 5K.  I know what you are thinking..."running in a 5K is not silly, nor fun.  Stopping lying to us."   I promise you, this one is different!   This zany run had a course that zig-zaged for the entire 3.1 miles within the Braintree Mall parking lot.  That alone was amusing!  As you run through certain check-points, an ever-so-cheerful volunteer slams you with a colorful corn-starch based powder  that takes you from looking like this:

The first to arrive..

To this:

The whole team!

How can you not have fun while participating in the human form of tie-dying?   There was no clock tempting us to beat our best times..in fact you were told if you came in first to not come back next year. This was intended to be pure and absolute silliness in which all were welcome.  You could run, jog, walk or just hangout by the powder stations...no one cared!  We were being tie-dyed!  As you can see, we were a happy group at the end.  

As the website states: "You'll end up looking like a kindergarten art class gone wrong..."  No truer words have ever been stated.  When the race was complete we were given a bottle of water,  had a cool new colorful T-shirt and the satisfaction of having fun while giving back. Yes, proceeds even went to a charity.  The Simon Youth Foundation provides educational opportunities for students at risk of dropping out of high school.  The MA chapter is located in Peabody.   Besides eating, running and giving to charity are my favorite things!  I think we all took something away from this event..mostly it was that the blue dye will not come off as easily as the rest of the colors!

I know I said this would be a food free post, but I would not be true to myself if I didn't say something!  After the race, a few of use hit Veggie Galaxy in Central Sq. for breakfast.   Where else but Central Sq can a group of people walk down the street looking like they lost a fight with a paint bucket and not even be noticed?  As we entered the restaurant we were greeted by the friendliest staff that were more than excited to see hear about what we did and seat us right away.  I got the Cambridge St tofu omelet with vegan cheese, home fries and whole wheat toast.  Cooked perfectly and served hot, this was the perfect post-race meal. 

Overall an absolutely fabulous Sunday Funday!

Stay happy and healthy!

~L

Has it really been that long since my last post?

Wow!  April of 2011 was the last posting.  Maybe I thought that tofu curry recipe was too amazing to top!  Maybe I was busy traveling the world learning new and amazing recipes and had no time to write!  Sigh..only if.  What I have been doing is working by butt off in an intensive dietetic internship at a local Boston hospital.  The time commitment was overwhelming and the free food plan from the cafe was too hard to pass up given the lack of pay that accompanies the long hours.  Do not be mistaken, this is not me complaining!  I would not trade this experience for anything and have loved every minute..even those minutes I hated!
Now, with mere 9 weeks left, the light is finally shining from the end of this long tunnel.  I can only hope a real job will be standing in the light when I get there, but I will worry about that later.  More importantly, each week brings a little less take home work and more free time to create and explore local foods.  I think I am a bit rusty.  So far there have been more boring bland meals than yummy exciting ones, but things are starting to come together again.

Today's meal was inspired by what I bought at the farmers market yesterday, little time to go too crazy and the heat.  When you live on the 3rd floor without air conditioning, 90 degree weather quickly makes you a raw food lover.  The result?  An Asian cole slaw that had me reaching for seconds before I was done with firsts!

True to my cooking ways, very little was measured and I encourage you to add your on flare and flavor to this dish.

Inspiration ingredients:
Slaw:
1 head of cabbage
3-4 large carrots
12-ish Sugar snap peas
4 small golden beets
(all above from Parker Farm, Lunenburg MA)
4-5 small scallions (Drumlin Farm, Lincoln MA)
1/4 cup of cashews (Superior Nut Co., Somerville MA)
21st Century Foods Tofu (Jamaica Plain, MA)
Handful of dried cranberries
fresh ground pepper

Dressing:
Adapted from here
3 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 inche ginger, minced
3/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey (local is best!)
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup water

For the dressing: I put everything in processor and got it done.  I rather go less on the soy sauce and add more salt if needed, but up to you on that!  I used about half the dressing on this slaw and saved the rest.
Slaw: Used the handy mandolin to shred the cabbage and then simply sliced all the other vegetables, add dressing and mix.  I let it sit for a few hours to let the flavors blend.  It was delish and I bet tomorrow it will be even more so!

End result is a colorful and flavorful dish!  Add the is super healthy and involves no oven, totally made my Sunday!

Stay Healthy and Happy!

Lisa