Week 7 of the Year of Drinking Adventurously!
So beer! Yay! We have left the realm of exotic potent potables and returned to a place I am familiar with – the land of beer! You have no idea how excited I am! Or maybe you do, I haven’t ended a sentence with anything but an exclamation point so far!
The first entry in the brew department is Chili Pepper beer, a subgenre of the micro- or craft brew movement. According to Jeff’s book: 
Nothing pairs better with spicy food, than a chili pepper beer. In fact, it leaves wine in the dust, much to the chagrin of wine snobs. I went on a mission to find Left Hand Brewing Company’s Fade to Black Porter. My pals at North Penn Beverage had it in stock! Listen to the description: Dried ancho, smoked Serrano, and brown chipotle peppers, infused in a dark mahogany, medium bodied porter. The resulting brew balances the vegetal, peppery heat with a subtle smokiness, making it a good companion for rich stews of assorted wild game. It also kind of makes me want to go hunting. (Kidding!)
Alas, Harry, my situationally practical husband, pointed out that buying an expensive (ish) case of porter that only I would drink (because he is lame!), when we already have 2 full kegs of home brew and a case of Great Lakes Brewing Company’s Edmund Fitzgerald (which is also a porter), is kind of silly.
“But it’s for my blog!” I whined. “And it sounds so good!”
“Go look for it at Wegman’s,” he replied with a long-suffering sigh. “At least, you can buy just a six-pack.”
“Fine,” I grumbled. “No squirrel and turnip stew for you.”
But of course Wegman’s didn’t have the Fade to Black. Grr. So what I came home with was Tommyknocker Green Chile Lager pictured in the header. And it was not at all what I wanted. Now, I’m not going to bash the Tommyknocker* (cough!) because beneath the green chile flavor was a nice crisp lager. I would absolutely consider trying some of the other varieties they brew. They seem like a pretty cool little brewery. Of course, not one to waste beer, I will find a way to use the Green Chile Lager. It might actually make a good base for a marinade or be incorporated into an actual batch of chili. Nevertheless, now I really need that Fade to Black Porter! I considered venturing out in the snowstorm for it, but better judgement prevailed. Then again, if I’d ended up in a ditch, at least Harry would have to acknowledge that it’s never practical to settle for something you don’t really want.
Don’t forget to check in with Lula and see what she drank this week!
*A little folklore from the side of the bottle: “Tommyknockers slipped into the mining camps of Idaho Springs in the 1800s with the discovery of gold in our mountains and streams. Those mischievous elves, though hardly ever seen, were often heard singing and working. They guided many fortunate miners from harm’s way and to the gold they sought.”
Meg Sorick, Author/Artist 