Awhile back we encouraged our readers to try their hands at having a beer tasting party.  On Friday, June 5, I got together with 13 other people to try thirty beers.  A tall order, indeed!  We had a blast at the party, and I think that we all learned a lot.  I hosted the party but had some help with the beer purchase (thanks to all of you who contributed).  For my part, I brought three of my homebrews along with my purchases.  Here is a list of all the beers at the tasting: Ichnusa (Sardinian Lager) Spaten Lager (German) Duvel (Belgian Golden) Ayinger Brau-Weisse (German Wheat) Jever (German Pilsner) Samuel Smith’s Pale Ale (English) Chapeau Framboise (Belgian Lambic) Victenaar Flemish Sour (Belgian-Flanders) Saison (Belgian) Rochefort 8 (Belgian Trappist) Crooked Tree IPA (U.S.) Victory Hop Devil (U.S.) Chouffe Belgian Trippel IPA (Belgian) Tilburg ...

Some things are just commonly compatible:  Hot Dogs and Baseball, Nascar and Mullets, Beer blogs and the their insanely cool authors, etc... When it comes to beer, perhaps the most common food congeniality that comes to mind is beer and pizza.  In fact, a top google search term is "beer and pizza."  At the mention of this inseparable pair, I am reminded of a night eight years ago in which some college buddies and I, the hell-raisers we thought we were, ordered a Papa John's pizza and picked up a twelve pack of the champagne of beers.  Despite the poor beer choice, I remember being caught up in the slendor of flavors.  (Don't judge me too harshly...I was 21 and had not yet discovered the delights of craft beer!) So recently, when the wife and I had a hankering for pizza, instead of hitting up Papa John's, we hit our pantry of ingredients and created a delicious homemade Italian delight.  The crust was made using my favorite of ingredients...beer.  Beer is a fantastic substitute for time and quick rising yeast, as the carbonation simulates hours of natural rising from raw yeast, as well as imparting desired bready and beer flavors into ...