"I'm starting to cook more with beer," said Katie, a chef-in-training and one of the 40 or so people who came to The Retreat Friday for the resurrection of Beer Club.
"I find that I cook more with beer the more beer I've had to drink," I told her. "If I order pizza after a six pack, there's a good chance I'll pour beer on the pie, intentionally or otherwise."
I went on to give Katie a list of other dishes that can benefit from a healthy dose of beer: day-old nachos with three different types of congealed cheese, top-shelf ramen noodles and Cheerios. Of course, the thing that goes best with beer is more beer.
"Everyone keeps trying to get more than their share," said the Pepin pourer — dubbed "The Ticket Nazi" by a group of college kids who dubbed themselves "The Shizer boys."
The fact was that we wanted people to drink more than four samples of the Michelob Porter, Widmer Hefeweizen, Landshark Lager, and Shock Top, but we wanted them to be creative in earning their extra drink tickets. Next month we'll test out a rewards system for guys who bring more than two women a piece and hefty men willing to pull up their shirts and do the truffle-shuffle.
This article appears in Jun 18-24, 2008.