B is for Beer, Belgium, Birthday!

This weekend was a Blast!  There was great beer, delicious waffles, lots of friends, cake, brunch, some presents, pizza, and homemade granola.

Today I turned the big 28…not so much liking how that number looks.  Sounds so much older than 27; officially in the late twenties, scary.  However I still enjoy celebrating, especially when that means an excuse for lots of delicious food.

It all started Friday, when I hit up Starbucks on my way to work to use my Free Drink coupon!  Instead of my usual misto, I went with a grande non-fat cappuccino with caramel drizzle ontop.  I’m not a big fan of the flavored syrups, but I love the caramel sauce they drizzle on top and a little of that adds just a hint of sweetness to the drink…plus delicious caramel to taste on top!

(even more exciting to me is the RED HOLIDAY CUP!!!  I CAN’T FREAKING WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS!!)

I also treated myself to breakfast: the Huevos Rancheros wrap.  I’m currently obsessed with this thing.  Too bad I only have a photo of the bag!  Try it!!

The real festivities began Saturday…

I started the day by filling my belly with some delicious Kodiak Cakes!  I added a couple Tbsp’s of quick oats to the batter as well.

and a cappuccino

and a side of non-fat Greek yogurt with some Pom arils and pineapple chunks.

I needed fuel for my day… 

Brian’s FAVORITE beer event of the year:
                   Belgian Beer Fest

A group of 9 of us headed into the Cyclorama in the South End to have an afternoon of tasting unique and pretty strong beer. 

I have a confession though, I’d pay the $45 ticket fee just to have one of the Belgian sugar waffles they always sell.

These are waffle-utopia!!  Seriously!  They are made from a yeast dough/batter, so they are slightly chewy but so tender and have a delicate caramelized sugar coating.  You can get them drizzled with chocolate, but why mess with perfection…

Ok, back to the beer. 

I sampled many beers that afternoon, and I admit as the time past it because a bit more difficult to really keep track of which beers I was consuming ;)  I’m definitely a light weight and these beers are usually on the high end of the ABV scale.

The event was sponsored by Allagash, and that is where I began. 

First up: Avance

I’ve really been loving tart/sour beers lately, so I was excited to see so many of them at this fest.

Big fan of Avance!!  Refreshing with a slight hint from the strawberries, definitely not a “fruity” beer.

NOTE: I like beer, a lot, but I’m not really up on my beer lingo and have a really hard time describing beers…other than the very basics.  All the beers I’m showing on this post were ones I liked or REALLY liked :)

   Old Mother Hubbard (Cambridge Brewing Co), was good…strong squash taste, not sure if I’d drink a whole pint though.  

Goose Island was by FAR my favorite brewery of the day!!  All the beers I tried, I LOVED…too bad they are fairly hard to find in stores.  Let me know if you see them in Massachusetts!!

 

I was so intrigued to try Fleur as it was made with Kombucha tea!  I’m actually not a huge fan of the tea…but this beer was my FAVORITE of the day!!  Tart and refreshing!

Goose Island’s Sofie was my second favorite!

Black and Blue from Dog Fish Head…yum.

Witch’s Wit from The Lost Abbey 

Another favorite that skipped the camera was Le Bleu from Ithaca Beer Company.  It was by far the most sour/tart beer I tried that day, but like I said I love tart.  It reminded me of my beloved Cherry Woods from Cisco , but even more tart and obviously blueberry hints instead of cherry.  

From Stone Brewery, I tried the 090909, while my friend Jocy tried 101010…

(continued below)

The 090909 is on the right…seriously tasted like delicious espresso beer!!

Loved it!

  

The rest of the night consisted of lots of pizza!!  It was a really fun day and I’m sure I’ll be there next year :) 

Ok, I’m going to end this with some birthday presents..

Brian surprised me this morning with something I was talking about this summer…

woot woot!  My Vineyard Vines tote!

and another item I’ve been eyeing for at least a year now…the elusive Piggy Watering Can!!!!

Yes, random, but every time I’d see this in Target I’d tell Brian how much I wanted it and he’d make fun of me saying how useless it is.  Who cares about that when it’s so cute!!  Can’t wait for gardening season next year.

The BFF hooked me up too…

Looking forward to diving into this book to create some treats!

A reusable Starbucks sleeve:

and a fabulous new mug with a copper name plate! 

There was also a hot oil manicure gift certificate, and the goods from last weeks shopping with mom which I still need to share. 

Loving this extra hour today, but not looking forward to work tomorrow. 

What’s your favorite beer?? 
I think if I had to pick right now it would be Cisco’s Grey Lady…extremely drinkable and refreshing!