I’m a lover of beer and in my search of all things hoppy and awesome, I came across the show Beer Geeks on Ora.Tv. Host/Master Brewer Michael Ferguson is getting ready to take the beer experience to a whole different level.

Have you ever paired beer with…cupcakes?

The Odell Brewing Company of Fort Collins, CO is known for crafting some amazing beers. Their 5 Barrel Pale Ale has a distinctive hop character that is created by extracting essential oils from select hops. They treat 5 Barrel Pale Ale to an infusion of fresh whole hop flowers, as well as four hop additions during the kettle boil. It gives this tasty Pale Ale a fresh, lively flavor.

If you’re ever in their area, make sure you stop by and check out the tap room.

Their tap room hours are:

Sunday – Tuesday 11-6

Wednesday-Saturday 11-7

Brewery tours are offered every day of the week at 1, 2, 3 and 4 PM. Tours are given on a first come first served basis, within a half hour of the start time. Reservations or tickets are not necessary. They cap their tours at 25 people in order to keep them safe, enjoyable and manageable!

Enjoy this sneak peek of the upcoming episode:

Master Brewer Michael Ferguson is a pioneer in the craft beer world and among the first genuine Beer Geeks. With BJ’s Restaurants Inc since 2004, and currently BJ’s Director of Brewery Operations, Michael has been involved with some of the most influential breweries in America. As a Dan Gordon protégé he climbed to Director of Brewery Operations after a decade at IBM. If that’s not enough, he also has a B.S. in Engineering from UC Berkeley.

You can get the chance to talk with Michael Ferguson when he joins us at the twitter party!!!

Here’s the 411 on the #BeerGeeksLIVE Twitter party & everything you need to know:

What:

#BeerGeeksLIVE Twitter Party

When: 

Thursday, Nov. 20th from 8-9pm ET

Who to follow: 

@BeerGeeksonTV

@OdellBrewing

@OraTV 

Be sure to RSVP!

5-hour ENERGY® just held their first Yummification Contest. People submitted videos explaining their recipe and coming up with a name for it. I myself submitted one, Where’s My Runner Up Trophy, Dammit?!  These videos are really well done and very funny.

ENJOY!

I’ve noticed it and I know you have too, everywhere I look, everything is pumpkin flavored. It’s the new “Go To” for fall holiday flavors. Candles, breads, ice cream, soap. gum, it’s everywhere! But, one the best things flavored with pumpkin or pumpkin essence or pumpkin fairy dust (Whatever the hell it is they use!) is BEER. They’ve always been there, but in the last 5 years, the pumpkin beer business has exploded. Every brewery has at least one, if not more, pumpkin beer on the market. Now, keep in mind many beers are only available regionally, which is a real bummer. The ones I’ve chosen are carried at Total Wine or can be ordered through them.

1. UFO Pumpkin –  The Harpoon Brewery describes it like this. Imagine a pumpkin vine wound its way in a field of barley, and a brewer harvested it all to make a beer. Add Northwestern hops and a blend of spices, and you’ve got UFO Pumpkin. The malt combination provides a smooth body and slightly sweet flavor, which balances perfectly with the earthy notes derived from the pure pumpkin. And like all of our UFO beers, UFO Pumpkin is UnFiltered. This is one of my favorites! It’s well balanced and I love the fact that it’s unfiltered.
2. Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale – Here is the Blue Moon Brewing Co. describing their beer. We wanted to create a beer that was a little different than what was already out there and complemented the season by highlighting the flavors we’ve all grown to love during this time. It was so popular that it became the first nationally available pumpkin ale. Harvest Pumpkin Ale, as it’s called now, is crafted with pumpkin and spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice for a taste you’ll want to fall right into. A lot of beer snobs will scoff at this one, but I have a method to the madness. This is a great beer to help introduce people to the whole “pumpkin beer thing”. It’s a little sweet and very drinkable.
3. Punk’n Harvest Pumpkin Ale – This is a great beer from the Unita Brewing Co. Malt and hops accented with roasted pumpkin and spices of the season. A subtle hint of vanilla and honey. Punk’n is a wonderful compliment to foods with nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove flavors. Try it with roasted turkey, squash or pumpkin ravioli, peach cobbler, or pumpkin cheesecake. A great beer, with a beautiful finish and real pumpkin flavor.
4.  Brooklyn Post Road Pumpkin Ale – The Brooklyn Brewery has some amazing beers and this is one of them. Early American colonialists, seeking natural ingredients for brewing ales, turned to pumpkins, which were plentiful, flavorful and nutritious. Blended with barley malt, pumpkins became a commonly used beer ingredient. Post Road Pumpkin Ale brings back this tasty tradition. Hundreds of pounds of pumpkins are blended into the mash of each batch, creating a beer with an orange amber color, warm pumpkin aroma, biscuity malt center, and crisp finish. I tried this for the first time this year and I love it. I will be stocking up on this one before the fall is over!
5. America’s Original Pumpkin Ale – Buffalo Bill’s Brewery has been brewing this beer for a LONG time. America’s Original Pumpkin Ale was first brewed in 1985. Made with real pumpkin, it has a golden amber color, and the sweet aroma of pumpkin pie. This brew is perfect for Fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving. Pumpkin Ale is available from August – November. This is the first pumpkin beer I ever tried and it sets the standard for me. It’s hard to brew a beer that hits every note and this is one of them. You can pair it with food or break it out at the next football game. Amazing!

I know for a fact that there are so many great pumpkin ales out there that I haven’t tried, so it’s hard to do a Top 5. But these are the ones that I dig on. I hope everyone has a great fall and drink responsibly.

What are your favorite pumpkin beers?

It’s official, February 22 is  National Margarita Day! I don’t know when this happened. I’ve checked my e-mail, I’ve checked my voice mail… I was never invited to the meeting. I’m a little hurt, but I’ll get through it. I started doing a little research about the popular adult beverage and this is what I came up with.

A margarita traditionally is tequila, triple sec (Cointreau), and lime juice. Served in a glass with a salted rim and a lime slice. You can have your margarita on the rocks, frozen or as a martini. In recent years, thousands of different spins and flavors have been introduced to the “traditional” margarita. But the authentic recipe is this:

• 50% tequila
• 29% triple sec
• 21% lime juice

Throw some salt on the rim with a lime wedge and this is what is known as a Perfect Margarita.

There are a few different accounts of how this drink came to be. In 1938, at the Rancho La Gloria Hotel, which was right outside Tijuana, Mexico. Bartender Carlos “Danny” Herrara is believed by some to be the creator of the margarita. Other accounts have a bartender named Don Carlos Orozco creating the drink at Hussong’s Cantina in 1941. Still others believe that Margarita Sames, a Dallas socialite, was at a Christmas party in Acapulco, Mexico in 1948 and created the drink that bears her name. Some drunk socialite from Dallas gets “bombed” in Acapulco and claims she came up with the drink… right. I once heard a drunk sorority girl say she invented the Jack and Coke, somehow, I’m not buying this story AT ALL.

Like any popular drink, these are only a few of hundreds of accounts. In my opinion it does not matter who came up with it, I just want to drink one. Everybody have a great Margarita Day! I encourage you to come up with your own version of the drink and let me know how it turned out. If it’s good, I’ll put the recipe up and share it with all the R.O.T.R. readers to enjoy.

Please always drink responsibly!!!