COCHON 555 was founded as a means to help raise the awareness of heritage breed pigs. These are pigs that are raised and grown naturally, providing a richer, more robust flavor when compared to their blue collar counterparts: factory raised industrial pigs. Naturally, the only way to preserve these upper class heritage pigs is to eat as many of them as possible!
COCHON events feature several whole heritage pigs, along with several chefs to prepare various dishes using every piece of the pig. Jokes aside, the idea is that through these nationwide events, consumer awareness will be raised, not just of heritage pigs, but also of sustainable food systems.
One of the event’s sponsors, Crispin Cider, was generous enough to provide us access to the Las Vegas COCHON event, located at Commonwealth downtown. To ensure that these pigs are getting the awareness that they deserve, Danny and I made sure to overindulge, and binge eat as many pork products as possible. That was the point of all this, right? (more…)
You all remember CraftHaus right? Back in May, I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting with (and drinking with!) Dave and Wyndee Forrest, founders of CraftHaus Brewery. At that time, they were just launching their Kickstarter campaign to help with the final funding of their brewery. They’ve since surpassed their goal, and have been sitting quiet while they prepare for their grand opening.
Not satisfied by simply waiting for the brewery to open, I’ve reached out to Wyndee to catch up on where they are in the process, and to get their thoughts on what it’s like to start a business.
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Truth be told, this is the first of Russian River’s sour beers that I’ve tried. I have had their hoppy beers though, including a fresh bottle of Pliny The Elder (however I am more of a Blind Pig fan). So when given the opportunity, being the sour fan that I am, I happily picked up a bottle of Temptation.
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Cisco Brewers is a Massachusetts based brewery that is one part of a 3 part brewery/winery/distillery located on Nantucket Island. Soon, they will begin distributing their beers to Las Vegas. I was given four of their year round beers for review, and after tasting these beers, I’m excited for what may soon be available in Las Vegas. They also have a line of sour beers, and their current fall seasonal is a smoked pumpkin beer; all of which I’m very interested in trying! Without further ado, below are my tasting notes for the beers that I tried:
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Though I don’t often, if ever actually, talk about saisons on here, I am a bit of a fan of them. I’m not even going to bother writing about the history of saisons, because Jeff Alworth of Beervana does an incredible job doing so here.
I will however include this snippet from Garrett Oliver’s Oxford Companion to Beer that describes the flavor profile of a saison:
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Raise your hand if you were at the beer and chocolate pairing event with Happy Ending Chocolates at Tenaya Creek Brewery. If you didn’t raise your hand just now, go ahead and slap yourself for missing out on an incredibly fun evening enjoying delicious beers and chocolates specially prepared for the event.
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The Atlantic posted an interesting article today questioning the decline of beer. The primary source for this data is from a Gallup poll that has measured for the past two decades the drinking preferences of consumers. The below graph is one of several in the article showing that wine and liquor are making gains towards beer as the preferred alcoholic drink of choice.
…why [would] Americans would turn against light beer, which dominates the market. For that, we need another explanation …
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I contributed a little bit to a great article over on Brewbound.com about the growing craft beer culture located in Las Vegas. The article primarily focuses on the strip and how craft beer is becoming more and more prevalent in the casinos.
Read it here.
UDATED WITH TAP LIST!
This upcoming Friday, July the 26th, the Nevada Craft Brewers Association is having a tap takeover at the new Aces & Ales on Tenaya. Expect to see most of the local breweries in attendance as they pour specially brewed beers for the event. Additionally, $1 from each pint will be donated to the Nevada Craft Brewers Association.
The event begins at 7PM.
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Vegasinc.com wrote up a nice article of the growing trend of growler fills here in Las Vegas. I managed to get a quote in there as well.
Read it here.