Pining for the Fjords

In Part the First , we started out AZ Beer Week 2016 at Dubina Brewing and attended Strong Ale Fest, ending with some delicious homemade ravioli for Valentine’s Day.  On to the second part of the beer journey! While Beer Weeks in the past have traditionally featured tap takeovers, rare offerings, and a sampling of beer dinners, this year, it seems like there was a much greater focus on educating aficionados about craft beer, which was cool.  For example, one day we headed to the Scottsdale location of O.H.S.O. (a series of three gastropubs that started out as a bunch of buddies who liked to homebrew – it stands for Our Homebrew Society), where they had what they were calling their “Yeastie Boys” series of beers.  Essentially, the brewers made one big batch of their standard pale ale, and then divided it into four tanks, adding a different yeast strain into each tank. The Yeastie Boys Whatcha, whatcha, whatcha want? After having a sampler from each tank,...

Like last year, we’ve been participating in several events over the past 10 days or so to celebrate AZ Beer Week 2016.  Here’s a recap of the shenanigans so far! As in 2015 (thanks to Facebook for reminding me of this), we started out Beer Week with dinner and a special tapping at one of our west-side breweries, Dubina Brewing Company.  Dubina’s been open for a few years now, and they continue improving their beer and food offerings; it’s become one of our favorite local spots to grab a solid pint and meal and hang out with friendly people in a laid-back setting while not breaking the bank.  This year, the first special tapping was the Arrowhead IPA aged in wooden barrels; it was also slightly sour, having been infused with brettanomyces (aka Brett), a yeast that gives beer this particular quality.  Chris actually ordered the beer as I was in charge of transportation, but I had a small sip, and it was quite good.  We split a buffalo chicken salad and Philly...

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m pretty hard on my running gear.  While I don’t mean to be super destructive, and I generally think I’m being careful with it, inevitably I end up bouncing things off the ground, dropping them from heights, or just eating through them with my apparently nuclear grade corrosive sweat (I’m so adorable!  How can I be so gross?).  Unlike some runners who can’t put on their shoes before their headphones (no judging if this is you – we’re all different), I can run without music, although my preference is to have something playing, mainly to distract me from all the random thoughts in my head while I motor along.  A sampling:   Mmmm, I smell bacon. Is that man on the bench homeless? Why is that person walking on the wrong side of the path? A aaaah, lady, reign in the leash on your dog! W here is the closest bathroom? Oh no, shouldn’t have had spicy chicken tacos for dinner last night.   Man, I really want baco...

With only one week to go until Arizona’s celebration of all things adult-beverage-y (seriously, why are AZ Beer Week AND AZ Cocktail Week the same week?  The week after should be called AZ AA Week), fun events are starting to pop up all over the Valley, and we’re planning our calendar!  Our first event of 2016 in this vein was held about a week and a half ago at Bink’s Midtown in the Arcadia area.  We’ve eaten at Chef Binkley’s original restaurant, Binkley’s (in Cave Creek), a few times over the past couple of years, once for an anniversary dinner and once for Restaurant Week with our buddies Jake and Keeli.  You never quite know what you’re going to get at Binkley’s; the restaurant focuses on new American cuisine and has a molecular gastronomy bent, so it’s all a bit odd, but it’s all 100% delicious.  In fact, a recent Phoenix Magazine article claimed that they would put some items of Binkley’s in their “Best Dishes in the Valley” issue, but you never know ...