Non-Alcoholic Brews from Athletic Brewing

Trying out some non-alcohol brews from Athletic Brewing Co. Canada. The All Out Stout has a dark, molasses flavour while the Upside Dawn Golden Ale is light and crisp, with a hint of citrus. They are both refreshing and under 100 calories. 

Pulled Chicken in Adobo at Situation Brewing

Pulled chicken adobo sandwich. #yegfood

A photo posted by Paula E. Kirman (@livingsanctuary) on Dec 10, 2016 at 4:03pm PST

Situation Brewing is a new microbrewery and pub on my favourite block of Whyte Avenue. I finally got a chance to try it this past weekend, and of course ordered a pint of one of their beers. All pints are $7 which is good value. I had the Afternooner Tea Saison, which was an Earl Grey Blackberry ale. It was a pleasant, smooth ale, but I really could not taste the Earl Grey or the blackberry. I was disappointed, as I love both tea and fruit beers.

For my food, I chose the pulled chicken in adobo sandwich. It was a mountain of pulled thigh meat in a tasty adobo sauce, topped with avocado slaw. I loved the slaw, as it was full of avocado flavour, and I love avocado. The bun was also spread with avocado. However, I am not a fan of slaw in sandwiches, as the slaw tends to get room temperature as opposed to cold, and the hot filling cools down. Still, the sandwich tasted good enough for me to overlook this. Plus, there was a mountain of fries, perfectly crispy and seasoned, that I was simply unable to finish.

I would try Situation Brewing again, but definitely make a different beer choice and perhaps try some of the other menu items that caught my eye.

Breakfast for Lunch: Brunch at CRAFT

On Saturday I had brunch for the second time at CRAFT Beer Market. I had the smoked salmon eggs benedict, sans hollandaise. I also asked if there was cheese on the bennies, and was told no. I ended up with a mouthful of cream cheese with my first bite. Fortunately, I don't mind cream cheese, but it wasn't listed on the menu and obviously the server did not know the menu well. The eggs were done to perfection and the smoked salmon was fresh and delicious. I also enjoyed the homemade biscuit upon which the eggs were served. The hash browns were well cooked and seasoned, while the skewer of fresh fruit made for a nice finish. I had a glass of Liefmans on the rocks, which is a fruit beer that almost tastes like a cranberry mimosa.

Cheers! Beerlini at Brewsters

I stopped in to Brewsters at Meadowlark on Saturday for a nightcap (which was actually an evening-cap in my case) and tried a drink on the specialty menu that had me curious for a while: the beerlini. It is a pint of any of the beers on Brewsters' menu topped with peach bellini, which is sweet and has peach schnapps. I have had many a beer at Brewsters and numerous bellinis, but never thought of mixing them together. So, I ordered a beerlini with the Original Lager as the base. On my first sip, I tasted the bitterness of the beer first, with the peachy sweetness finishing off the flavour. The bellini made the drink extra cold - I could really see myself going for this in the summer - and got sweeter the further down the glass I went. Next time though, I would pick a less bitter beer like the Flying Frog or Wild West Wheat Ale.

Breakfast for Lunch: Chicken and Waffles at CRAFT

I was hungry and thirsty between events on Sunday, and as I was in the Churchill Square area, headed to CRAFT Beer Market for the first time. I had a couple of the hundred or so beers on tap (nothing here is bottled) including a Steigl Radler Zitrone which is a fruit beer exclusive to CRAFT, and a Liefmans on the rocks - my favourite fruit beer.

CRAFT serves brunch on weekends until 2 p.m. My chicken and waffles had two chunks of breaded, fried chicken, four wedges of waffles that had some pepper in them to make them more savoury than sweet, and a garnish of fruit on a kebab skewer. I adored the little individual glass jar of maple syrup and the side of CRAFT hot sauce had a citrus kick - and major after burn. Use sparingly if you are sensitive to spice. My chicken was slightly over done on the outside, but was redeemed by the moist, juicy meat inside.

Edmonton Blues Festival

Thanks to one of my social media friends, I was able to score tickets to this year's Edmonton Blues Festival. I am a big blues fan, and Blues On Whyte is one of my regular weekend hang outs.I loved the variety of Blues presented at the festival, and the fact that the performers were from all over the world. You can read my blog post about the music over at Inside World Music. The band pictures above is MonkeyJunk, my new favourite!

The food was as diverse as the music! Of course, I had to have a Fat Frank because hot dogs and the Blues go so well together. There was also a Vietnamese vendor offering both freshly-made vermicelli bowls and wraps, as well as fries and onion cakes. I had one of the onion cakes, then later had a brisket sandwich from Smokehouse BBQ - talk about east meeting west!

The choice of beer was also quite diverse - everything from Molson Canadian to Newcastle to Corona, a few coolers, and Strongbow. At $7 per drink ticket it was slightly pricer than other beer tents I have visited, but large cans were being served (the 473ml variety) so the portion size fit the price.

Great music, great food, and great atmosphere - the Edmonton Blues Festival is definitely worth checking out for any serious music fan.

The Ritual of the Beer Garden - EFMF 2013

The Edmonton Folk Music Festival is one of the city's most popular summer events. It is known for its music, first and foremost. It is known for the camaraderie on the big hill in Gallagher Park. related to this previous point, it is also a social experience for many. And for many who attend the Folk Fest, it doesn't get more social than in the beer garden.

With a capacity of 2000, there is usually a long line up from both entrances when the park gets busy and the temperatures rise. A "ten out/ten in" then ensues. I had to wait for a short while a couple of the times I tried to gain entry, but things went very smooth, mostly due to the attention of the many volunteers staffing the entry/exit points.

Once inside, the EFMF beer garden is like a microcosm all its own. There is its own set of washrooms as well as access to the Fat Franks vendor, so that people can have something to eat with their drinks. There is lots of seating, and plenty of tents for shade. When things really got hot, volunteers walked around with spray bottles of water. I don't really like being sprayed with water, so I did my best to duck when I saw them coming! But seriously, you can really be set for the day (or evening) in there - and in fact, some people spend most of the EFMF experience in the beer garden. What about the music? At the north end, there is excellent sound from stage one, while at the south end, once can hear stage two pretty clearly. The main stage performances are also audible.

Big Rock is the exclusive beverage supplier to the beer garden. After you purchase your tickets, you then get in line for your drink(s) to be poured. I found that the drink ticket lines were way shorter than the line ups to pick up the drinks. I first tried a Pilsner called Saaz, which was smooth. Later, I had a Grasshopper, which is one of the first beers I ever liked. However, I am not always in the mood for beer when I was a hard drink, and Rock Creek Cider was perfect on a hot afternoon.

Life in the beer garden can be noisy and crowded, and sometimes a stark contrast to the hill. But many of the people move in and out freely (at least, when the line ups are not too bad) and are ardent music lovers. Those who stay in the beer garden tend to view the EFMF primarily as a social experience, and like any good bar, there are the characters and regulars. The photo above is of the Hockey Prophet, who appears on the Sunday afternoon. And yes, I do know this person in real life.

This year, I really wanted to get a feel for why so many people hang out in the beer garden, and I think I discovered why. The atmosphere is very free, cold beer tastes wonderful on a hot afternoon, and you really do meet all kinds of people. I probably ran into more people who I know there than I did in any other place on the festival grounds. Cheers!

Heritage Festival 2012: Non-Alcohol Beer at Germany

Heritage Festival 2012, a photo by raise my voice on Flickr.

I was down to my last six tickets, it was getting hot (again), and I wanted something to drink. As the oompah band was getting ready on the stage at Germany, I got myself a non-alcoholic beer. Krombacher is a popular German brand. It was quite smooth, with a slightly sweet finish. I particularly enjoyed the looks I got when I wandered away from the German pavilion, drinking my "beer." Oh, Heritage Festival, how I love you.

Chicken Fingers at Santo's

Chicken Fingers, a photo by raise my voice on Flickr.

It was a dreary, snowy, mid-April day, and I was in Little Italy on business. Not wanting to walk any further than I had to, I lunched at Santo's.

Santo's has draught beer and appetizer specials every day of the week. A small (12 ounce) glass of beer is served with one of the restaurant's appetizers, for one low price of $9.95. Today's special happened to be what I wanted to eat anyways: chicken fingers.

Chicken fingers is my favourite bar comfort food. The three fingers were thick and juicy, served with a heap of crispy fries. What really made the meal was the honey mustard sauce - it was creamy and had grains in it. I found myself dipping my fries in it and ran out before I was finished my meal (note to self: next time, ask for more). The addition of pickled hot peppers on lettuce was an interesting way to liven up the plate a little.

My small glass of Stella was refreshing, and just enough beer for me at this time of the day (yes, there are jokes that can be told here by those who know me, but we'll just ignore those for now).

A full listing of Santo's' appetizer specials are on a board inside the main lobby, and also listed on their website.

Fish and Chips - Rose and Crown

Fish and Chips, a photo by raise my voice on Flickr.

I am a stickler when it comes to fish and chips. A friend of mine and I have been trying fish and chips at just about every restaurant and pub we've been at, rating them (to ourselves) as we go. Personally, I find that besides places that specialize in the dish, like Joey's Only and Back Home Fish and Chips, the best place to get a delicious, large portion is at pubs.

This meal of fish and chips from the Rose and Crown is enough for two to share (and we did). Rose and Crown's fries are the battered, bottleneck variety which, when served crispy, are excellent (and they were). The two pieces of fish were large, not greasy, and had seasoning mixed in with the batter, which was just right, without being too thick.

My beverage of choice was a bottle of Pilsner, which is my favourite domestic beer (other than microbrews). This was a wonderful summer lunch for two.