Beer geek

Here's a link to a post on the New York Time City Room blog about the Sixpoint Craft Ales Hop Obama beer Jesse had at Jimmy's No. 43 in November.

We both really liked the Hop Obama a lot so I'm excited to hear that they're bringing it back under a different name.

I liked this quote best from Paul Kermizian, the co-owner of Barcade, in the City Room post:

“We get beer geeks and we get video game geeks. Surprisingly, there’s a lot of crossover.”

Cheesy stuff to do in the news

There are two interesting tidbits in the New York Times's Food Calendar:

1.Hudson Valley Sampler

Cheeses, wines and other products from the Hudson Valley will be served at a tasting to benefit Columbia County Bounty, an organization that supports farmers, on Feb. 15 from 2 to 5 p.m. at Deffebach Gallery, 125 Warren Street, Hudson, N.Y., $40 from www.hudsonvalleycheesefestival.com.

2.Cheese and Beer

A class in pairing cheeses with Belgian beers will be held on Feb. 16 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Artisanal Cheese Center, 500 West 37th Street. The fee is $85: www.artisanalcheese.com.

I was particularly interested in the former because work is beginning to pick up on my graduate thesis project, which is related to the locavore movement and supporting farmers directly.

As for the latter, I've been to Artisanal twice (I even organized a client event there!) and had the cheese flights, which are amazing! It's a wonderful restaurant and a classy bar, so it's a great place to stop for an after work nibble of cheese and sip of wine even if you can't commit to an entire flight of cheese.

Alas, Jesse and I are hoping to be in Boston the weekend of these events so we probably won't be able to attend. But we are aiming to be at:

3. Single Malts, Free

A free tasting of single-malt Scotches will be offered on Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. at D.B.A. Brooklyn, 113 North Seventh Street (Berry Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn. (718) 218-6006.

Of course there are lots other things on the calendar listed so you should check it out, especially the free chocolate tastings at La Maison du Chocolat, and the champagne tasting led by expert from Chrisities! New York Magazine also has a good guide to Valentines Day weekend if you're looking for some ideas.

Cheese in the news

There are a number of reasons I never liked our former president, G.W. Bush. But the story "U.S. In Long-Running Trade Dispute With EU in yesterday's" All Things Considered program on NPR has given me yet another to add to the list. Just before leaving office, Bush increased tariffs by 300% on Roquefort cheese from France in retaliation against the E.U. ban on hormone-treated beef.

I'm not a big fan of hormone-treated anything, and I have nothing against cheese-eating surrender monkeys. So naturally I'm not a big fan of the tariff, never mind the fact that I prefer Stilton.

It's been a busy first week for President Obama as he has taken on foreign policy and diplomacy, economic recovery and stimulus, torture and Guantanamo Bay. But I have to admit that for my sake, and for cheese-eaters everywhere, I hope blue cheese rates some space on his to-do list so he can overturn Bush's war on French cheese soon.