Saturday was a beautiful day for the The City Beer Hall’s annual Bacon Fest. Perfect for sitting on the patio, catching up with friends, enjoying some cocktails, eating some pig and cooling down with some Nine Pin Cider. Let’s take a look at the food porn.
Bacon
Guild Fine Meats | Burlington, VT
Guild Fine Meats
Got the chance to grab lunch up at Guild Fine Meats on one of my monthly trips up to Vermont. I’ve been very impressed with The Farmhouse Tap & Grill in the past so I was excited to check out another one of The Farmhouse Group’s restaurants.
Currently sizzling in the the Chez Fuj oven…
Bacon Habanero-Infused Vodka
— Hey y’all. Remember when I posted this? Well that ended up turning into a little something I call Bacon Habenero-Infused Vodka. I didn’t end up using all of the peppers, but I did use the majority of them.
After cooking a few slices of bacon, and slicing the peppers but maintaining the spines and seeds as much I could, I patted down the bacon to get as much grease off (you’ll never get it all off) and infused the vodka for a few days with it. On the day that I was going to present it to my chili-head friend as his birthday gift, I took the the vodka out, washed down all of the bacon and chilies to get them as clean of fat as possible, and then I filtered the vodka through a coffee filter I screwed on top of a mason jar.
You can see there’s plenty of fat that needs to be taken out of the vodka. The filtering is definitely a must.
Yeah, it ain’t pretty, but if you like heat, you’d love the stuff. It got passed around Wayne’s birthday and pretty much every had a taste of it. Reactions went from Wayne thinking it was the best thing he’s ever drank, to “Hey, that’s got some heat, but that’s not bad” to “HOLY SHIT MY MOUTH IS ON FIRE”. Haha.
Last minute I tossed the chilies and bacon back in so it looked great for presentation.
I’m sure you could put this stuff to good use of than drinking it straight. Maybe a spicy chocolate martini or, while they aren’t my thing, a pretty killer Bloody Mary.
Happy International Bacon Day Everyone!
Voodoo Doughnut Maple Bacon Ale – Rogue Ales
This beer is like that random deep-fried carnie food truck at the fair: you have to try even though you know it’s going to be gross. I was lucky enough to have Funky Buddha’s Maple Bacon Coffee Porter at Hunahphu Day this year, and given that Funky Buddha’s was rated a 98, and Voodoo Doughnut is rated 76, I knew I was in a world of hurt. I didn’t want an entire bottle to myself and graciously Jon was willing to split the bottle he picked up from Hoosick Street Beverage.
We cracked open the bottle and immediately gave it a whiff. You know how imitation liquid smoke smells like? Well think imitation liquid bacon. It simply overpowered any other aromas going on in the bottle. A quick pour into a Duvel tulip yielded the same scent. The beer was a bit cold so I decided to let it warm up for a few. This did not improve the aroma. Maybe some maple trying to sneak it’s way out but I could have just been looking too hard for it.
The white head consisted of small bubbles that dissipated quickly leaving a small white ring around the edge of the glass. Clear to slightly hazy in appearance.
I had the same reaction at first sip and the aftertaste: imitation bacon bomb. Any kind of maple or bready (read:doughnut) flavors trying to make it’s way out were immediately crushed by imitation bacon. Medium bodied mouthfeel with medium-to-high carbonation.
Overall, this beer sucked and I wouldn’t drink it again. We had a pretty tough time finishing the bomber between just the two of us. If you’re going to try this yourself, split it with four friends. Preferably with a bacon and a doughnut to undo the aftertaste that is going to stick around in the back of your throat for a while. Or you can wash it down with Utopias like I did. Whichever.
At most, Voodoo Doughnut is a gimmick like all of the other products on the market right now riding on the bacon craze like baconaise, bacon perfume, and bacon scented candles. And good for Rogue, I’m sure they sold a shit ton of these beers. Now that this puppy has been crossed off the bucket list I can move on with my life.
Burlington, VT: Farmhouse Tap & Grill [Food Porn]
Grass Fed Vermont Highland Beef Burger with Landaff Creamery ’Landaff’ cheddar, house made bacon, house pickled onions, Laughing Lotus Farm Kimchi and a healthy dollop of their house-made garlic mayo. Phenom.
Paired with Hill Farmstead Abner.
matthew 'fuj' scher 