Hump Day Happiness

I’m doing a crossover post with my personal blog since it suits both places. This is the Easter Beer Ham that Lushie and I worked on this year. Its been a couple of weeks since we’ve made it and the taste of deliciousness is still present.

It was difficult to decide on the right beer that would compliment the ham. That was until I opened a Coney Island Lager ( www.shmaltz.com/CONEY/cil.html ) from Shmaltz brewing ( www.shmaltz.com ) while prepping the side dishes. The beer has a mild malt flavor and some bite from hops which will balance the sweetness of the brown sugar we’re going to use.

Go see the beer ham goodness over at Flickr and follow the steps below in making this beer food porn gem.

What we used:

• 7 pound ham
• 2 cups of Coney Island Lager from Shmaltz Brewing
• casserole dish
• 1 cup of brown sugar

What to do:

1. Place ham in center of casserrole dish
2. 1 inch deep cuts made around the top so the beer bath will be able to soak in
3. Put 1 cup of packed brown sugar into a large bowl
4. Add 2 cups of Coney Island Lager to the brown sugar and whisk together
   
5. Pour  the mix over the ham where you made the cuts so it runs down covering the ham
6. Let the ham sit for a few minutes while you prep your side dishes
7. Bake 15 minutes per pound. Since ours was 7lbs we baked for 105minutes or 1hr 45minutes
8. Baste your ham with the beer bath every 15 minutes. For smaller hams than 4lbs I’d suggest every 10. Judgment call really, just don’t let it burn
9. The beer bath that you were basting it in will put a sweetness to the outside that you’re going to be temped to lick. Err I mean wait to enjoy at dinner
10. Let the ham sit for 5-10 minutes. It will finish cooking itself while resting and locking in the juice
11. Slice to size you prefer. I like it .5 – 1 inch
12. Use the leftover bath as a gravy. Plate, serve and enjoy!

We weren’t worried about presentation at this point. The aroma of beer and ham was intoxicating (no pun intended).

Let me know how it works out for you!

cheers!

Live from Los Angeles, an evening dedicated to celebrating the world of craft beer and the American entrepreneurial spirit.

With over 95 million beer drinkers, beer is an American icon and is interwoven into our culture, yet the real story of these independent brewers has never been told. Beer Wars introduces the who’s who in beer while following the journey of small, independent brewers who are challenging the corporate behemoths. The evening will feature the world premiere of the groundbreaking documentary Beer Wars, followed by a spirited LIVE discussion with brewers and experts from the film. Using clips and never before seen footage to spice things up, this inspirational event will cap a movement 25 years in the making at a time when everyone is looking for proof that the American Dream is alive and well.

Panelists include:

• Sam Calagione – Dogfish Head Craft Brewery founder
• Rhonda Kallman – Founder of New Century Brewing Company and co-founder of Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams)
• Greg Koch – Stone Brewing Company founder
• Charlie Papazian – Brewers Association president
• Maureen Ogle – Beer historian and author of “Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer”
• Todd Alstrom – Beer Advocate founder

Playing in 440 movie theaters nationwide on Thursday, April 16th, Beer Wars LIVE will begin a conversation about the future of beer in America.

Purchase tickets for the LIVE event on April 16th at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/8pm PT (tape delayed) at www.fathomevents.com/upcoming/details/Beer_Wars.html

For more information, visit www.beerwarsmovie.com

***ATTENTION PITTSBURGH RESIDENTS***
Beer Wars will be showing at 2 local theaters.

The SIDT crew will be at the Pittsburgh Mills showing. Stop out and join us!

cheers!
Spoon

I’m taking a little bit of a break. As you can see from the picture above, my son decided to come a little early. About 8 weeks early. Teaspoon here deserves some extra attention so Lushie and I are doing just that.  I’ll be back in a week or so when things calm down a bit.

cheers!

I love December 31st every year. The wife and I usually treat ourselves to things we won’t normally have during the year. As you can see above, I’m going to have a good night drinking martinis. I know, there is no craft beer but I have been known to fancy myself a lover of the juniper delight. As my good friend Griff would say, we’re gonna party like rockstars. With Tea Spoon coming to this world in April I need to get it in while I can

Thank you for supporting this site and making it a reality after years of dragging my feet. Without you I wouldn’t have been able to make this site come to life. I appreciate your patience as I continue to toy with a format that I think will be most beneficial to you as a reader and myself as a writer.

prost and have a safe NYE!

It’s Friday and you’re at work looking to kill some time before the holiday. Why not do it with beer! Once again the shows at Beer Safari have gotten together for a mega beer exchange. As a member of Should I Drink That, I joined sickpuppy in unwrapping a very delicious gift from Big Foamy Head. Video is about an hour long so kickback with a 6 pack and enjoy! We may release the SIDT one as a separate download. We’ll see it motivation moves me this weekend

In order of appearance:

• Big Foamy Head
• The Good Beer Show
• The Beer Report
• Speaking of Beer
• Craft Beer Radio
• My Life as a Foodie
• Should I Drink That?
• Brain Gravy
• Davis on Draft

Don’t forget to check out my craft beer podcasting brothers at Beer Safari and the writings of Beer Porn!

Thanks to all who voted for  Should I Drink That?” in the food & drink category! Unfortunately we didn’t win this year and while rumors started to surface of us having a fate like Susan Lucci I can assure you that… aw screw it. Have a craft beer and keep on supporting Should I Drink That?, this site Humpday Happiness and our friends at Beer Safari!

cheers!

Voting ends November 6th at 23:59:59 so keep on voting for Should I Drink That?” (that would be my podcast) in the food & drink category! Finalists for the 2nd year, we want to come home with the hardware and can only do it with help from you!

You can vote every 24 hours so write yourself a reminder!

After much procrastinating I finally purchased this domain over the summer and if it wasn’t for Podcamp Pittsburgh 3 I would probably still be dragging my butt moving all of my reviews over to this site. A new design will be coming soon as I transfer from the old domain and all of the comments will hopefully make the move also.

Subscribe to the RSS feed and join me each Wednesday as I review beverages to get you over the hump of the workweek and ready for the weekend.

prost!