Hopalicious

After a long day, I had a surprise waiting for me on my doorstep. My early "wedding" present finally arrived, and let me tell you, it is AMAZING. To celebrate, I indulged in a new beer. Purchased from Total Wine a few weeks ago, this tasty brew hit the spot.

Today's Beer
Two Hearted Ale

Two Hearted Ale is one of Bell Brewing Company's IPAs. For about three months last year I went hopcrazy and had a hopattack, resulting in a constant stream of IPAs being purchased. After that, I have been pretty sick of IPAs; however this one brought me back. Two Hearted Ale is not overly hoppy and has a delicious and slightly fruity taste. I think this one will be added to my list of vices next time I go on a hop rampage.

My Time As A Sandwich Supervisor

Today's sandwich is a passport to a land where my wedding is final and done. A taste vacation, if you will, that lets me escape the all encompassing vortex that is planning a wedding. Not even really planning a wedding, just listening to someone complain about planning a wedding. Good thing this sandwich ripped me away for a second. As for today's beer, I will likely be drinking them too fast to write about it.

Today's Sandwich
Joe's Market MTO
Sun Dried Tomato Wrap
Turkey
Honey Mustard
Horseradish Spread
Avocado
Tomatoes
Banana Peppers
Lettuce
Provolone Cheese

Sometimes it is nice to have someone do your dirty work for you! For those of you who don't know, MTO is the single greatest combination of letters in the English lexicon. Go to Sheetz if you don't believe me. I oversaw a small woman construct this delicious turkey monstrosity. I say monstrosity not because of it's taste, but because of it's epic proportions. It filled me up right, and I like that. Joe's Market has a fantastic horseradish cream sauce that perks up an ordinary sandwich; and of course I couldn't resist some honey mustard to accompany. Anyway, back to getting yelled at for seating arrangements.

Viva Cuba!

Today's sandwich is in honor of Castro stepping down. As for today's beer... well it is in honor of Cuba's reputation of human rights violations. I certainly feel like I spent a lifetime in hell when I was drinking it...


Today's Sandwich
Grilled Cuban Sandwich
Sliced ham
Roast pork
Swiss cheese
Pickle
Mustard sauce
Coleslaw
Hoagie roll

The sandwich featured today is the Grilled Cuban Sandwich. I was invited to eat lunch in honor of a coworker/jerk leaving his job, and we made our way over to the Tobacco Company Restaurant. This sandwich was great; however I felt that if I am eating something from Cuba, it should be spicy. Unfortunately, it was not very spicy. In fact, it was more like a BBQ sandwich than anything else, and it was accented well by the coleslaw. Good though! Now I don't have to see stupid Jonny at work anymore...

Today's Beer
Bud Light Chelada

OK, so I know what you are thinking. Who on Earth would willingly drink that!? Well, your instincts are right; only a fool drinks this. I was foolish enough to start writing about sandwiches. Now I am foolish enough to drink new beers even though they do not sound appealing at all.
I'd like to draw your attention to a certain part of the can. As you can see it contains "Salt and Lime - The Perfect Combination". Clearly, that is a lie. Skittles and beer, now that's the perfect combination. I don't know how to describe this, other than to say it is like drinking rancid tomato juice. Neither Clamato or Bud Light are particularly good, and combining them do not help any!

Taste of the Far East

In honor of Spring's unexpected arrival, I tried a new beer today. It was a delicious hay-colored Asahi Super Dry lager. Man, I needed it too; today I spent an hour and a half with our fabulous wedding event coordinator. Men: beware. If you ever get asked to go along with your fiancée to help with the table arrangements and final wedding preparations, get out of it! Seriously. Like, cut off your arm if you have to. An hour and a half passed in what seemed like a week. Ugh, sweet beer...

Today's Beer
Asahi Super Dry

Asahi Super Dry is brought to us by a Japanese brewing company called Asahi Breweries, Ltd. According to their website, Asahi Breweries started a beer revolution in Japan with the release of their Super Dry. They moved from being the third largest brewery to the second largest brewery in Japan. Progress! The term "dry beer" is a marketing (stupid marketing people...) term for a fully attenuated pale lager; which comes from a long fermentation period. During which, nearly all the sugar is converted to alcohol resulting in a clean, lean flavor.
Asahi Super Dry definitely lives up to it's title; and I think it is a very good beer. The "dry" taste is interesting, because I do feel a dryness akin to being thirsty in the back of my throat when I stop drinking it. It makes me think "hmm, another beer would really help quench my thirst." This is likely how many bad nights begin for people in Japan, as the search in vein to quench a thirst caused by the very beer they're drinking. Hangover, I know you well.
Maybe I am a n00b for never having had the beer, but it was a very good beer. Not as good as an Amurican lager, but a nice change of pace. Anyway, I need another four to forget how long I talked about place settings today...

My First Beer (Today)

Here is the first installment of the "beer" portion of this blog. If you notice spelling errors, it's because I had many more after this one. This was found at Total Wine on Broad St here in Richmond. For those that don't know, I freaking love beer. I have tried brewing it several times; however it has never really worked out. In fact, the first beer I made was probably poisonous; I drank it on a dare, and have never been the same since. This particular beer came just in time, as I was dangerously close from sobering up from this weekend (today is Wednesday... thank you, Las Vegas!)

Today's Beer
Heineken Dark Lager
Maybe I'm behind the times, but I have never seen this particular beer before. I am usually not a Heineken fan, but I wanted to try something new to write about. Heineken normally sucks because a) it is shipped in a light sensitive glass bottle and usually is left in the sun too long by stores/distributors/restaurants b) it's just not great. But let me tell you, this was definitely drinkable. It doesn't come in a clear bottle, so the light sensitivity is reduced big time. And while it's not a great beer, but it was definitely good. Think of Shiner Bock if you've ever had it. I liked it, but it did not blow me away. Respectable though! Anyway, I could see it paired well with a pastrami sandwich or something on the heavy side.

Double Feature

Today we have a wonderful surprise for my blogulating audience! It's a Friday miracle, you get to hear about both a SANDWICH and a BEER. Finally I'm living up to the title of this thing!

Originally I was going to write a post about a sandwich I got from Coppola's deli here in Richmond; however I ate it without taking a picture. Oops! It's better that I don't write about that one though, because it was a let down.

Today's beer looked like it was going to be good. I have become quite a fan of Belgian wheat ales as of late; Blue Moon is one of my favorite beers and I hoped this one would be similar.

Today's Beer
Shock Top Belgian Wheat

This beer was good. The lable claimed to have won some awards the past two years, so I was confident it would at least be drinkable. Shock Top turned out to be made with lemon, lime, and orange peels along with coriander. The inclusion of coriander helped spice this up quite a bit, but I wonder if it wasn't a bit too spicy for what I think of and enjoy in a wheat ale. The hints of fruits and the sweet taste are what make wheat ales so drinkable and refreshing, and I think the coriander might have detracted from that slightly. Overall, a good beer though!



Today's Sandwich
Turkey-liscious
Turkey Breast
Wheat Bread
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Red Onions
Banana Peppers
Honey Mustard


Mmmm buddy. The classic. This was a plain turkey sandwich but it was so good! Sometimes I forget about classics like this and get caught up in the world of exotic pickles, sun dried tomatoes, and pungent cheeses. It's good to return home though. This was the sandwich I made as a kid (maybe not with onions or banana peppers then). Changing up and returning to old standards does wonders for me, as I can appreciate the rare and exotic treats that are more complex sandwiches.

Be Warned: Cabbage Attack Coming

Ugh, today’s sandwich was a tough one. It is very rare that I detest a sandwich, but I have totally found my worst sandwich enemy. Remember how a few days ago I said “I have run the gamut as far as sandwiches at work go”. Yeah, I found the nadir today. This monstrosity was 90% cabbage and 10% everything else (Margin = 9%). I don’t even really like cabbage! Anyway, here is a picture of my worst mistake yet. You guys should feel lucky I took this hit for you. Already this sandwich experiment has gone horribly awry...

Today’s Sandwich
Shanghai Chicken Noodle Wrap
Chicken
Cabbage
Carrots
Asian Dressing (barely!)
Noodles
Tortilla

It is a terrible, awful, frightening sandwich. I should not even call it a sandwich. I should call it a mistake. The chicken had no flavor and was crazy dry. That made me want the Asian dressing really bad, but it was barely even there. To top it all off, it came on a plain flour tortilla. I mean, come on!? At least make it an herb or spinach wrap or something! Ugh, I wanted to jump over the counter and show these rookies how it is done.

Travelog: A Surprising Find

Today’s sandwich comes to you from far away land in the New World. I had a two hour layover in Hotlanta, which gave me just enough time to reward myself for not going crazy in the large crowd of roaming travelers. I needed something quick, because I had to catch my next flight to Las Vegas. Of course, a sandwich was the first thing I thought of.
Something funny happened while I was waiting to get this bad boy. My traveling companion and I had sat down and ordered two tall refreshing beverages without the waiter questioning our age. Afterwards, a man and woman, clearly in their forties or more, sat down next to us and the waiter decided that he needed to see their ID’s. Not unusual I suppose, but I found it odd that he asked for their ID’s but not ours. After all, I am still a spry 23 years old. But apparently, I look fifty. Who knew? Maybe I have more gray hairs than I realize…

Today’s Sandwich
Boston BBQ Sandwich, Samuel Adams Restaurant
Kaiser Roll
Pulled Pork BBQ
Coleslaw

An amazingly good combination of Sam Adam’s Boston Lager and the Boston BBQ sandwich from their restaurant in Atlanta’s airport. Generally, I would stay away from a southern delicacy served in the style of the North; however this blog is about experimenting. And it is a good thing I took this gamble. The heavy, spicy, and flavorful combination of pulled pork BBQ matched perfectly with Sam Adam’s flagship lager. Not too sweet or heavy, the lager was a great match. If I do this long enough, I should publish a guide to my favorite sandwich and beer combinations. This would definitely be at the top of the list.

Cafeteria Sandwiches: A Windfall

Hello again everyone, today's sandwich is an ingenious adaptation of an old favorite from my employer’s cafeteria. I have run the gamut as far as sandwiches at work go. Some of them are decent (like today’s gem), while some of them are lackluster at best. The first time I decided to order this one was after watching the sandwich artisan behind the counter craft a meticulous and delicious buffalo chicken wrap for the two gentlemen in front of me.

I said to myself, “Self… that looks good. Only I don’t want the hot sauce. Or the ranch dressing. What to do!?” That’s when it hit me. “The mustard you love so well!” and thus was born the BK Chicken Wrap (Burger King will probably take that name from me, if they haven’t already). A healthy dose of my favorite alternative dressing, honey mustard, compliments this sandwich perfectly.

Today’s Sandwich
BK Chicken Wrap
Spinach Tortilla
Chicken Tenders
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Lettuce
Tomato
Honey Mustard

A superb sandwich; however the dryness of the chicken tenders requires additional application of honey mustard. Once the mustard was applied in earnest, this sandwich was truly a delight. I recommend it highly (for those who don’t care if they die young).

Greetings from the Fifth Earl of Sandwich

Greetings Blog-o-verse!

Welcome to the new home of everything I know, feel, and think about sandwiches and beers. Initially this site would be solely dedicated to sandwiches; however I was despondent to learn that the URL sandwiches.blogspot.com was taken. So I decided that I needed to add something more to my new venture. That’s right, beer!

So to start things off, let me tell you about sandwiches. Sandwiches can take many different forms, but generally, they consist of bread, meat, cheese, and toppings. But, of course, myriad computations and combinations of ingredients are possible, and that’s what I hope to explore.

Not only will I be telling you about sandwiches I like, but also ones I dislike. Same goes for beer. So check back often, because I love sandwiches and beer!

Today’s Sandwich:
Number 36, Padow’s Deli
Kaiser Roll
Chicken Patty
Bacon
Cheddar
Honey Mustard
Lettuce, Tomato

Mediocre… not your finest work, Padow’s. The chicken patty was rubbery, which detracted from my overall enjoyment. Otherwise, the cheddar was sharp (always good) and the honey mustard was not overly sweet. If the chicken had not been over cooked, this would be a much better sandwich. Hopefully the next person won’t suffer the same fate as me.