Happy EASTER and Craft Brewers' Conference

By now, I imagine most people who read my blog know my mom passed on March 13. I've just been a little unmotivated to do anything over the minimum since that day. Can't explain it. Then came Easter on April 5th and the week after that was the CRAFT BREWERS' CONFERENCE in Chicago! I have to say, that was a pretty amazing week. So much to do! I got to meet one of my idols, Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing; I was able to spend some time with Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head and my pal Doug Moody of North Coast Brewing. I had a fantastic dinner at N9NE Restaurant, paired with North Coast beers. We drank New Holland Envious at the Green Mill. At least two events every night! Totally distracting for me, and really fun. I will collect pictures and post here!

The night before Easter, we decorated eggs at John and Tom's house. And, of course, I brought along some of my favorite bottles, such as Dogfish Head Red and White, Three Floyds Rabid Rabbit, Coney Island Human Blockhead, and many others.

Thanks to all for your patience and love during my Mom's illness and passage. Of course I thought I would be just fine, but it has been harder than I imagined. Good friends and good beer always help.

Mom's been in the hospital again, that's why no blogging

Yeah. That's why. It's not just laziness. My mom's in the hospital, so I've barely been on line, let alone blogging. She is currently on dialysis to try to clear an infection in her blood, and she has been on a respirator since last Thursday.

So, right now, I am having a nice New Holland Full Circle Kolsch. I've been wanting a German-style beer since watching the "drink a boot of beer" portion of last week's AMAZING RACE.

Thoughts and prayers, please, dear readers. By the way, my mother's favorite beer is Seadog Blueberry Wheat. Have a nice toast to Sandy Piechota! Cheers, Mom!

Here's Pictures!! BRANCH 27 CHIMAY DINNER!

Yes, indeedy, it was quite a dinner. Last Wednesday, the 24th, we enjoyed a four-course dinner at Branch 27, courses lovingly prepared by Chef John Manion with Chimay beer pairings. We all know about Chimay, right? Chimay beers are brewed under the auspices of the monastery at the Abbey D'Scourmont in Chimay, Belgium. They have been brewing beer there since 1850, and it has been available for sale outside the abbey since 1863. Chimay beers have been available here in the United States for the past 20-ish years. There are three available -- the Premier or "red label", which is their Belgian Double style, the Cinq Cent or "white label", which is their triple style, and the super-rich and delicious Grand Reserve, or "blue", which was originally brewed as a special Christmas beer.

We stopped eating long enough to take pictures of Chef Manion's Parmesan Gnocchi with pork meatballs (think sausage meatballs, ridiculously good!) and braised kale. This was the second course, and it was so good and we ate so much of it that we forgot to take pictures of the third course, the Gunthorp Farms Porchetta with polenta.

Dessert was a Chocolate and Walnut Tart with CHOCOLATE BACON, served with a Jereboam of the Chimay Grand Reserve from 2008. A Jereboam is a large-format bottle, and beer ages differently in large bottles. This beer had a smooth, almost-port-like quality.

The Branch 27 dinner for March will be paired with DOGFISH HEAD BEERS! We are starting to put that together now, so call Branch 27 for reservations. It will sell out fast! www.branch27.com

Chimay Dinner at Branch 27

ooof. too full. Can't post now. I love Chef John Manion. We took some pictures of the Gnocchi and pork sausage and the chocolate tart with the chocolate bacon. I'll get it together for tomorrow.

BUT IN THE MEANTIME -- get reservations NOW for the Dogfish Head Beer Dinner coming up at the end of March.

Look out Chicago, Stone's a-comin'

That's right, Chicago Beerios!! Stone is coming!! We don't know with which distributor they'll be, but one way or another, STONE BREWING WILL AT LONG LAST BE IN CHICAGO!! Yeah, you can tell, I'm a little excited.

In the past, I've picked up bottles of delicious Stone beer on visits to Indiana and New York, or anywhere I happened to find it. What I can honestly say about their beers are, they are consistently, dependably excellent. I had the chance to chat with Aaron, the Midwest Stone rep, today at Twisted Spoke. We talked about how Stone Brewing is one of those breweries where you can pick up ANY of their beers and be confident you're going to have a fantastic drinking experience. Three Floyds, Dogfish, Lost Abbey . . . there's a few breweries where, even if a certain style isn't your favorite, or if a particular beer is a little "out there" for your palate . . . you still KNOW you're gonna have an awesome fermented beverage.

SO . . . rumor has it, Stone Brewing products will be available in Chicago by the beginning of April. When I know where you can buy them, I'll let you know.

By the way, I got my ticket today for the Chicago Beer Society's Day of the Living Ales! Did you?

New Holland Embossed Bottles -- get 'em while you can!

Who's excited about the Tim Burton ALICE IN WONDERLAND movie? I am!! It is my all-time favorite story, can't even tell you how many times I've read the original stories. And Tim Burton is one of my favorite directors. So tonight, I am enjoying a bottle of New Holland Imperial Mad Hatter I saved from last summer. I know, I know, you're not supposed to save IPA's, you want to drink them fresh, the hop character changes, the bitterness mellows, the citrusy piney character starts to smooth out and sweeten . . . I know!! And yes, the Imperial Hatter has mellowed. But it's still delicious, and it went great with my italian-style turkey sausages, green beans and baked potato.

IN MORE INTERESTING BEER NEWS . . . another reason for breaking out the Imperial Hatter was, I want to rinse out the bottle and save it. This year, New Holland will not be using the embossed art directly on the bottles for their High-Gravity series. So, if you are a borderline-hoarder beer-collector like I am, go out and get a Dragon's Milk, a Pilgrim's Dole, some stores still have the absolutely delicious Charkoota Rye -- get the bottles and save them! The new labels are beautiful and I am excited to try the new styles they're releasing -- and I promise to let you all know as soon as they are available. The Imperial Hatter will be available from time to time throughout the year in both bomber and four-pack formats. Dragon's Milk will be in both bombers and four-packs, too. Extra, extra, extra awesome.

Meantime, I hear the new Showplace ICON theaters on Roosevelt Road will be featuring Mad Hatter IPA on special when the movie is released! I'll be there. Can't wait!!!

FLOSSMOOR STATION SING THIS SONG, DOO DAH, DOO DAH

I have a new bunch of friends!! Our team went out to FLOSSMOOR STATION BREWERY, in historic Flossmoor, Illinois, natch, and oh man, did I have a good time! We met and hung out and drank beers with Brian and Richard, the brewers; Sandy the Marketing/PR/overall go-to gal sampled us out on ALL the beers (that's right -- ALL), and we had some nibblies and drank more and just had a blast. In hindsight, I wish I would have EATEN more, but we had an Olympic Opening Ceremonies party to go to, so I didn't want to be too full. Anyway.

We just started selling their beers last week, and I gotta tell ya, it's a lot more fun to sell beer when you've BEEN to the brewery, you've MET the people . . . it is just a joy. And I must say, I honestly think the liquids are just delicious. In bomber bottles, we have the Stationmaster Wheat beer, a light, very easy to drink American wheat ale; the Pullman Brown, a dark, rich, slightly chocolatey and somewhat smoky brown ale -- might be my new favorite American brown ale, and TWO of their many IPA's. The "Hoppy Hoppy Joy Joy" is a fantastic, INTENSELY hoppy and complex classic American IPA -- floral and citrusy and piney -- there's a lot going on, not like some IPA's lately that just taste like they boiled some Cascade hops in some light malt and called it a beer. The other IPA is called "Chaos" (I think), which is a Belgian style IPA using an authentic Belgian yeast strain. Really good. SO!!!

SUPPORT MY NEW PALS! Go buy a bomber bottle. I know my Binny's, on Grand Ave., has it.