Inaugural San Diego Winter Brew Fest: A Ringo Schwag-Away

Is there nothing more satisfying than that first refreshing taste of an icy-cold, draft beer? You know, that sweet sip of the liquid gold that leaves a dream of a foamy path in its wake?

Do you take delight in witnessing its frothy spiderlace develop about the perimeter of your pint glass as it slowly dissipates, then relish as that barley pop sends the tongue to somersault as the flavors play leapfrog over one another? Do you then bask and smile from ear to ear, leaving a contented sigh behind?

sandiegobrewfest.com

  

If you find yourself waxing poetic about the pleasures you find in beer consumption, then I’ve the event just for you.

Ladies and gents, mark your calendars for the inaugural San Diego Winter Brew Fest set for next Friday, February 8th. This milestone occasion is set to take place at the scenic Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier (you know, that big glass box nestled on the pier’s edge?), and it’s shaping up to be one of the finest beer events of the year for our fair-weathered city.

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Piggybacking off the success of the big and brewy Denver Beer Festival, this blooming frothfest has made its way to the best coast, I mean the west coast! Here in our very own Napa Valley of finely crafted brews, and they’re ready to paint the town sudsy with a rockstar list of participating brewers.

 

Live local music, food, vendors and a special guest appearance by a handful of San Diego food trucks will be by the waterfront to help satisfy your roaming hunger, and celebrate our California brewers and beyond.

With funds benefiting local non-profits Outdoor Outreach and the San Diego Mountain Bike Association (SDMBA), you can feel good about swilling the suds away for the noble cause.

Responsibly of course!

innsofaurora.com

 

The generous folks over at RightOn Productions, LLC have been darling enough to throw some schwag this here way, so I've a pair of giveaway tickets to this fantastical event.

 

That's right ladies and gents, these are absolute freebies!

It will cost you the A-mazing price of nothingness to win this here pair of tickets for you and your usual suspect.

or you can use your winnings to:

make peace with an enemy!

impress a colleague!

dazzle a date!

connect two friends who have never met!

have an early Valentine's Day!

thank your mother for putting up with you!

take a finicky grown-up to try new brews!

hob nob with fellow beer enthusiasts!

 

beerclubguide.com

 

The inaugural San Diego Winter Brew Fest event is set to take place next Friday, February 8, 2013!

 

Tickets are now available at http://sandiegobrewfest.eventbrite.com/

General admission is $40 in advance/$50 day of event, with a VIP Power Hour option to include beer and cheese pairings, followed by Amore cheesecakes for $50 in advance/$60 day of event. Both options include a commemorative keepsake glass.

-OR-

You can win a pair here for FREE by adhering to the following:

 

Rules

1). Follow this blog (by clicking the 'Join this site' icon in the left sidebar of this blog).

Alternatively, you can click on the 'Follow' link on the far left side of the (nearly black) navigation bar located at the very top of this blogsite.

If you're already following, a hundred-thousand thank yous! Just follow the next step to enter.

2). Leave a comment describing your favorite local brew

That's all folks!

A couple of muy importante details:

Prize is limited to those who can attend in the San Diego region. They are indeed etickets, ready to be sent your way through the aethers of the interwebs, and printed in the comfort of your very home, workplace, nearest library, etc. 

 

Winners will be automatically generated via Randomizer.org

Contest begins now and ends next Wednesday, February 6, at 5:00pm PST

Winners will be notified here on the eve of February 6.

 

Get ready to savor the flavors that America's Finest City has to offer.

 

Participants of this event must be 21 years or older and have a valid ID to enter.

For further details visit:

 http://www.sandiegobrewfest.com/

Good luck!!!

 

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Fromagerotica: Soft Cheese Porn

What do Geraldine Gruyere, Roxane Cantal, and Mademoiselle Adeline Camembert have in common?

nationalconfidential.com

Why, they're all scantily clad women with French cheeses!

Such blatant imagery would never fly in this here new world, but over in the French Republic parts, The Association of Traditional French Cheese Makers, a nonprofit organization, has published their racy cheese calendar for its eighth consecutive year.

The glossy pages are speckled with images of pinup-style, From' Girls (From being short for Fromage) poised with wheels and wedges of the country's finest cheeses in an effort "to increase sales and smash the unflattering stereotype of the frumpy, French farm wife".

Hanker for a hunka?

Then this juicy bit of undeniable cheese porn is for you.

nationalconfidential.com

Miss Adeline Camembert kicks off the set gushing with her reeling, little schoolgirl smirk. Her sly grimace is quite likely due to the fact that resting between her fingertips lies a sumptuous, creamy, milky cupcake encased within a soft, supple bloomy rind.

Why, I bet she's got a couple slices of honied apples, a loaf of chewy bread with a heavy crust, and a rack of lamb or other, hidden somewhere within the immediate vicinity.

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Meet Juliette Comte, aka Miss April. Armed with an old carbon microphone, she's a real songbird quite likely crooning away about the wild range of flavors present in this here butternut of a fine mountain cheese.

A far cry from the dowdy, slumpish, farmgirl type, she's certain to never be cast off to Frumpland, or any other dwelling where one is banished to a pair of sweatpants without a beauty routine.

cyberbougnat.net

The month of May is brought to you by the fierce Ladymiss Roxane Cantal. A sultry, vixen clad in a dominatrix-like romper.

Because nothing screams raw, traditional, luscious-sweet, farmhouse cheese like head to toe black vinyl. Equipped with a red plume in hand, she's like the very Catwoman of French cheese.

bonappetit.com

Here lies Mademoiselle Diane de Valencay proudly displaying the delicate pyramid of a classic mold ripened cheese, as well as over the knee city-slicker, spiked-heeled boots.

Everyone should be as proud to display such a delicious morsel. One perfectly dusted with a salted charcoal ash to maintain its flavor, and keep you cool long enough to make it to your local cheese counter.

bonappetit.com

The lovely Daphne is seen here with her Vieux-Lille at an arm's length for good reason. This extremely mature cheese is a real stinker, with more funky-funk than Mr. George Clinton himself. A strong contender for being one of the most aggressive cheeses on the market.

You should note that this cheese is simply not for the fainthearted, but then again neither is a real salacious lass like Daphne, and she does make up for her dirty, rotten, stinkin' cheese smashingly with a knockout pair of shiny, disco ball hotpants.

Pair both with a strong beer or black coffee.

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Last but certainly not least, there's Miss December, Charlotte de Brillat-Savarin, the buxom vixen armed with a fierce Marie Antoinette updo, dainty ballet slippers, and a wheel of decadent, sinful Brillat-Savarin.

Soft, round, and tasty, this cheese is a rich and creamy variety yielding a thin, edible, snowy rind. It's basically the cheese equivalent to ice cream. 

Ah, yes... Triple cream and triple D's, because what could possibly be more enticing and scandalous than 75% butterfat cheese with cleavage to match?

cateringclick.com

Sex sells my friends, and since the fine fromages are seething with the natural chemical phenylethylamine (PEA) which release endorphins, or what I like to call the “happy hormones", AND are loaded with phosphorus, plus calcium to increase saliva production (and keep the stinkbreath at bay), it can certainly help you get you a whole lot closer to nookie time.

Hopefully by now, the thought of unpasteurized cheeses has ceased to conjure up images of unattractive, portly women and snooty, beret-wearing men with day-old baguettes tucked beneath their arms, the only problem now is...

 Will it be the girl or the cheese?

It's a delicate dance, I say.

Choose wisely, or have it all here:

thedailypage.com

Ménage à Fromage

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Such a floaty little Thursday

Hello little happy Thursday.

How I love the way you float to the far edge of the week.

Your gentle tease into the much needed weekend.

The way you whisk away headthoughts off to a dreamy someplace,

that's far less cubicle, and far more Cuban.

Tucked away in a small cornerstone of the earth where the wind rustles through forgotten leaves like invisible horsemen,

and blows slowly over splashy waters to lull and soothe like a sweet, hazy lullaby.

Far off in a place where one can breathe their fair share of oxygen from a crisp countryside waterfront,

and bask in the warm glow of the day's sunlight.

Let yourself go and marvel in the moment.

Enjoy the serenity that a short break can give you.

Take luxury from this moment in your head, and especially in your heart.

 loveyourchaos.tumblr.com

and while you're there, couldja please find me an English/Portuguese dictionary so that I can make out these screaming hot samba lyrics with the powerful clout to render one all hot and bothery?

Don't we all have hidden stories buried within the depths of our burning hearts?

*bites palm*

 kind thank yous

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Cheese and Cheers: A Champagne Supernova

The 2013 Queso Diego kickoff celebration went out with the best bubbly bang that any cheese boy or girl could ever wish upon a star-filled sky for.

This go around? 

A cheese and bubbly blowout to ring in the new year, and to celebrate the two year anniversary of coming together as a cheese club.

It was our largest attended gathering to date!

Imagine being tasked with pounding the pavement in the hunt for sparkling choices to appease this hearty group of cheese-loving folk! Not that I mind, I mean, who wouldn't love anything with six atmospheres of pressure that sparkles?

the final cut!

Now if only I had a proper Napoleon Bonaparte suit to properly execute a champagne sabering.

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For the record, should you happen to come across such a fine ensemble, I'm certainly in the market for one. I mean a real fierce getup, one so bloody French, it'll make the Eiffel Tower look like it belongs in Mexico City. 

That's right, because nothing says festive occasion like firing powerful cannons, and beheading champagne bottles (sans the military dictatorship, of course!).

mychampagnedaze.com

Ahem.

Members and guests gathered at our former alma mater, the beloved Curds and Wine, 

San Diego's 'go to' cheese and wine making supply shop, for the evening festivities.

Mingling with the finest of folks, eating of the finest of culinary goods, and imbibing on the finest of festive beverages ensued, (as did heaping spoonfuls of merriment).

A gleamy-golden, passionfruit cheesecake, 

homemade fromages,

and of course, our astounding cheese bounty!

The evening commenced and Queso Diegans were treated to a tasting menu stuffed with five out of the ordinary sparklers, and five equally amusing cheese pairings.

It's not everyday that one gets to pop open thirty bottles of sparkling goodness, let alone six bottles of the fanciest brew on the face of the planet.

Meet Deus Brut de Flandres, the high-end, specialty brew with a split personality. You see, it's brewed in Belgium, then shipped off to that region of France (the only region where those persnickety French allow us to call the bubbly, Champagne. A title well-earned, I might add).

In the end, you're left with the very champagne of beers, that when paired with a vintage Gouda, makes for an otherworldy experience. 

Additional pairings included a salmon-hued, velvety-bubbled, Rose Brut with a triple-creamy, Brillat Savarin. Together, the result was something fiercely close to strawberry cheesecake.

A coconut milk gouda with a crisp and light almond California Champagne followed, as did a dark, rich, and juicy sparkling shiraz married to a creamy, spiced, Cambozola.

This class selection happens to be a delicate combination of Camembert mixed with Gorgonzola, or what I like to call the cheese that the French and Italian played Frankenstein with.

youngwinosofla.com

Truly an evening for splurging on life's little treats and delicacies. What a smashing feast!

 Now, if only cheese had its own food group.

I say it's high time we initiate the possibility of such.

One thing's for certain, nobody goes away hungry around these parts.

Joyeux anniversaire, Queso Diego!

x

        

She is made from books and butterflies

She is made from things tucked away into fairytales.

Things lost in fables and folklore of long ago.

In sleety forests where in the company of kind dwarves, forest wolves, and mothergoats, winter roses
bowed before the crescent moon to bid their fond farewells.

In a sanctuary of talking animals, the mouse queen, 

and a honored polar bear ice king.

In a place where lovestruck fools, and men with blue beards, would gather beneath a fluttering, winged-horse sky.

A time when a princess would find herself lost in sleep for a hundred years

A time for imperium silver crystals, and dark-sparkled curiosities.

Beyond the black rainbows, to a place of respite, where the spirit is swallowed up in reading books,

and can safely drown in a sea of prose and poetry.

And only the butterfly knows truth and virtue, for her wings are transparent,
as she drinks from the tips of flowers,
and views the world through kaleiodoscopic eyes.

Before long, she'll arise from the lavender dust

with wings of gold to carry her through the hurricane waters.

...and she shall have the steadfastness to know,

the only sounds that can come from a cage of butterflies, are the squawks of sorrow.

all images copyright of Kirsty Mitchell Photography

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