Just wanted to send out a huge thank you to all the new friends we made out in Cooperstown, NY on Saturday at the finest brewery in the the world,
our very own OMMEGANG, the pride of USA!
Having the pleasure of living so close to the center of beer production makes it easy to take great joy in imbibing and cooking with this marvelous assortment of local products. Appealing right from the start, OMMEGANG is an experience from when you first pick one up until long after the last sip. Simply put, this beer is a lifestyle that comes along with the pride of those people who brew it, and venerated by the people who love it.
As with any artisan product, the one unique characteristic of craftsmanship lay in it's individuality. Each bottle has it's own solidarity, every year the beer grows immeasurably, yet more than retains it's roots to Belgium. It exemplifies them. These same rules apply to cuisine, carrying forth tradition but demonstrating s desire for refinement that is defined by the very thing that created tradition: A striving for excellence.
The next ingredient in any great cuisine is simple. Love. With that love comes the confidence that what you are producing for the enjoyment and nourishment of thousands is the absolute BEST product that is possible. This is life to the fullest, and so is drinking OMMEGANG.
Preparing food in the brewery has left me with a HUGE awakening. The huge realization in my head as I drove the two hours home was really quite alarming. I REALLY love this beer, the people who make it, and all the people who drink it.
And I will make it my quest at this point to dedicate the remaining years of my culinary Journey to the honorable task of demonstrating and sharing just how to enjoy this beer not just in a glass, but in just about everything you could imagine.
The other night, my suburu ran out of gas. I could swear that the "light" had never come on, but either or, there I was, very far away from anything. Oddly enough, thats why I love the catskills. So as I feebly tried to start and drive over and over again, she sputtered a bit. I thought to myself "man, if I only had some gas!" and at that very moment peered over the backseat at an entire case of OMMEGANG, destined for the test kitchen (and my glass...). I recalled that the THREE PHILS' is pretty high in alcohol. Thats right, you guessed it, I poured one in the tank.
Sitting in the driver's seat, just about to turn the key, I thought to myself; you have to believe that this is going to work. You can't have any doubts.
I GOT TO THE GAS STATION.
It is in this same manner that I encourage you to cook with this beer. With absolute wreckless abandon, and total pride and confidence.
Cheers! Recipes to follow as soon as I come down off this cloud.
