It looks like I easily have the entire Northeast region covered thanks to my recent visit to Portland, ME (which can be read about here and here too), in which we seriously did nothing but eat and drink all weekend long (not that there’s anything wrong with that)!  Now, on to conquer the rest of America’s beer towns!

A few pictures from our various beer adventures over the years:

PS – Kevin will most likely kill me if he sees the picture I posted of him, but when I found it, I really had to share it.  I love it

I’ve been meaning to blog about it all, but there’s just so much!  I thought I’d take some time to share some photos and a few words about some of the awesome places we went, though, to appease the angry masses (Mom and Dad! Ok, mostly mom…)  who have been asking me when I’m going to update.  I’ve decided to break it into parts, because there’s really just too much to put it all into one post.

Our first stop of the evening was Gritty McDuff’s, where Kevin and I each just had a beer while we waited to meet Tom and Heather.  Kevin has fond memories of a Beer Summit he attended at which Gritty McDuff’s actually brought a bar with them while most others just had boring tables.  I, sadly, have no pictures from Gritty’s, but I will say the beer was great and I really liked the relaxed atmosphere.  It was a little crowded, but everywhere was crowded – it was a Friday night.

When Tom and Heather showed up, we finished our beers and wandered around town for a bit and tried to decide where to grab some dinner.  Tom read a review somewhere of a place referred to as a “five star dive bar” and that sounded perfect for us!  To Bull Feeney’s we went!

I started with an Allagash White.  They had a pretty decent selection of beer, but I wanted to drink Allagash when I was in Portland, because they’re local (there are actually a TON of breweries located in Portland).

I also had an order of their fried shrimp, which came with a couple different choices for sauce – a sort of Thai Lime Chili Sauce and an awesome cocktail sauce with a big lump of horseradish in it!  Love it!

After dinner, the night was still young so we decided to continue on to a place Kevin and I had stopped by earlier in the evening (but didn’t stay because it was so crowded) that looked very intriguing – Novarre Res. This place was great!  I wish there was a place like that somewhere near us at home.  They had a really impressive beer menu and great food, too!  To drink, I had the Allagash Fluxus ’10, which was just about the most delicious thing ever!  We also split a Bahn Mi among the four of us.  Awesome, just awesome.

After Novarre Res, we decided it was time to part and head back to our hotel to rest up for the next day, which I will talk about in my next post.

Plan B, however, does things right and everything is of a super high quality (handcrafted, 100% natural goodness) and they have a really awesome beer list.  I really can’t ask for anything more than that.  What can be better than grabbing an amazing burger and some awesome brews?  Nothing.

They have three convenient locations in West Hartford, Glastonbury, and Simsbury.  Plan B’s West Hartford location is actually the first of these sort of premium gourmet burger bars that I had tried and while I was very impressed with the food, I didn’t necessarily want to go back any time soon.  Why, you may ask?  Well, their West Hartford location is a bit cramped.  It’s really more of  a bar atmosphere…  it’s kind of dark, the table’s are small and close together and there’s frequently a long wait.   These are things that normally wouldn’t bother me so much, but if I’m eating a big messy burger, I need some room – I need to be comfortable.

When I’d learned that Plan B had opened up a couple of new locations, I had to give them a try.  I still have yet to have eaten at their Simsbury location, but I have now been to the Glastonbury one twice and I can honestly say that they got it right this time.  It’s perfect.  Same great menu as the original and much more spacious – a large bar to relax in, outdoor seating , and a large dining area with lots of  GIANT booths that you can really get cozy in.

Last weekend,  I went to the Glastonbury location with my parents and my aunt Annie.  Here are a few photos that I took of our awesome meal.

Lobster Bisque:

Dad’s Bacon Cheese Burger Served With a Tower of Onion Rings:

My Pretzel Burger and Sweet Potato Fries:

Parmesan Fries:

Everything was great and I’m sure I’ll be back again soon – probably with Kevin, as he couldn’t join us and I know he was jealous!

You see, Kevin and I really aren’t your typical barbecue fans… we’re generally not even big meat eaters, but we do appreciate good food and good beer – and at Smokin’ With Chris that is what you will get!  And you’ll get a lot of it -  I would consider both Kevin and myself to be  big eaters and I always take half home with me and  Kevin usually leaves very full.

They have great food, a great beer selection (they only have about 6 taps, but they’re generally all really good craft beers that you just don’t find everywhere), and if you go on the right night, great music.   The owner, Chris Conlon, is always there and can always be found speaking with the patrons.  It’s clear that he has a real passion for what he does there and that’s what makes the place so special.  Everything is just done right.

Some pictures (from my iPhone -sorry about the less than stellar quality) from our most recent visit:

Kevin started with the French Onion soup, which he said was quite good – and he’s something of an expert on the subject.

I had the pulled pork sandwich – which is what I usually end up getting – with a side of fries and they’re cucumber salad – gotta get some vegetables in there somewhere, right?

I chose to wash it down with the Flying Dog Raging Bitch, which is really an excellent IPA.

Kevin ended up choosing the Meat Lovers Combo, which is a TON of food… and I don’t know how he does it.  He chose sides of mac  n’ cheese and onion rings. I did  try a little of everything and it was all pretty awesome.

Overall, it was another great trip  to Smokin’ With Chris!  As always, we both left very full.  If you find yourself with a craving for BBQ and are  in or around Southington, CT, this the place to go!

Today, I bring you 50 Ways To Reuse Your Old Beer Bottles.   For the record, I will probably not be doing any of these…  but you can – if you have LOTS and LOTS of time on your hands.  If you want to make some of these for me, you’re more  than welcome to.  I personally have my eye on number 26.  Someone please build me a beer bottle temple.  That would be sweet!

Or you could just, you know, turn them in at your nearest recycling center.  Just a thought…

So drink up folks!

On Friday night, Kevin and I really weren’t sure what we should do with ourselves,  so of course we decided to hit up a bar -  because that is just how we roll.  But where to go?  It seemed like the perfect night to to try out Prime 16!

While the place was busy when we got there around 8pm, we had no trouble getting seated.    The first thing we did, of course, was look for the beer list, which we found on a giant chalkboard hanging on the wall… and oh, what a list it was!  Widmer Hefe,  Flying Dog Golden,  Lagunitas Pilsner,  Blue Point Blueberry,  Shipyard Summer,  Lagunitas Correction Ale,  Great Divide Titan,   Lagunitas IPA,   Dogfish Head 60 minute,  Southern Tier Unearthly, Weyerbacher XII,  Guiness,  Great Divide Yeti,  Rogue Captain Sigs, BBC Draymans Porter, Farmington River Mahogany, Wolaver’s Oatmeal Stout, Chimay, Delerium Tremens, and Alagash Double… and that was just what was on tap!   There was also a multiple page bottle list on the table!

So needless to say, we were thrilled with the beer selection.   And the food was pretty great, too. We ordered an appetizer of Chipotle and Agave chicken tenders, which were perfect in every way – crisp, spicy, smokey, and a little bit sweet.

Prime 16 specializes in burgers, so that is what we had. Kevin had the Maui burger, “topped with grilled pineapple, Maui onion, bacon , pepperjack cheese, and tropical mayo”. I chose the stuffed mushroom burger, “stuffed with crimini mushrooms and shallots, topped with swiss, portabello mushrooms, and IPA mustard. Both burgers were really phenomenal- juicy, flavorful and cooked just right!

Kevin and I will definitely be hitting up Prime 16 again in the near future. It has easily become my new favorite beer bar and I have to admit, it even kind of makes me sad that we no longer live near New Haven.

172 Temple St.
New Haven, CT 06510
phone: (203) 782-1616

When we got there, it was hopping (it was Friday night, after all), but we were seated immediately and got the last available seating out back on their patio. In normal Kevin fashion, he immediately grabbed the beverage menu upon taking our seats. It’s Only Natural has an interesting selection of beer.  Kevin chose the Peak Espresso Amber Ale and I ordered the Sam Smith Cherry Ale. Both were quite delicious.

Neither Kevin nor I had eaten much that day, so we were starving and decided to order an appetizer. After looking over the menu for awhile (there were so many interesting choices!), we decided on the nachos – which come with red bean chili, tofu sour cream, salsa and your choice of cheese. They did not disappoint and filled us up quite nicely.

For our meals, Kevin and I each ordered our usuals there. I had the Cali Melt Wrap, which can also be served on their homemade whole wheat bread. The wrap was awesome- served warm, with hummus, your choice of cheese ( I chose Mozzarella), mushrooms, and avocados. Kevin had the ION Burger, which is probably the best veggie burger anywhere (and I know my veggie burgers) and is also served on their whole wheat bread. Both were served with a heaping pile of their sweet potato fries, which are really phenomenal and in my opinion the star of the meal.

The waitstaff is friendly and knowledgeable and the decor is cozy and fun, with the works of local artists adorning the walls and the patio was really cute, too. I highly recommend It’s Only Natural for any vegetarian or vegan or  for anyone like Kevin or myself who just like to try something a little different once in awhile.

Here are a few pictures from our evening: