Black from a chemex

Fried lardon on top of an arugula and spinach salad with bacon fact vinaigrette.

I definitely echo the lack of good beer on this list.

And I echo the billing of this as "worth a slurge" or "money is no object."

So let's take the conversation in the direction of better beer, and of beer that's worth the splurge. For my money, I would splurge on a 2004 (or so) North Coast Old Stock Ale. I'd also splurge to buy Surly Darkness (but not $100 on eBay splurge, more like stand in line to get it) and Tripel Karmeliet.

What about carrot cake with a DIPA for dessert?

I'm really interested in the Sahti - it's a style that's new to me. After seeing everything from double to sextuple IPAs (just kidding about the sextuple...) it's nice to see something genuinely new! I'll have to pick up Sam Adams' version, or maybe find the Lips of Faith.

I have:

Odell Cutthroat Porter
Odell Mountain Standard
Grainbelt Nordeast (for the sloppier occasions)
La Chouffe
Mikkeller Barrel Aged Black Hole
Schlafly Coffee Stout
Lucky Bucket Certified Evil
Deschutes Black Butte Porter
Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale
Great River Redband Coffee Stout

And a growler of Elevator Doppelbock from the great new Minneapolis brewery Harriet Brewing

I saw IPA and sessionable in the same article and I immdiately was ready to be outraged, but I see that All Day IPA is only 42 IBU. More like an English IPA than the pints of pure IBU coming from the west coast. I can see that as a sessionable beer.

I am in agreement with the proponents of Guinness. I usually session with similar styles (but usually brown ales or porters). I love Surly Bender and Brooklyn Brown, maybe a Newcastle.

Here's my question: Is the cocktail trend peaking? Are we going to see beer and wine - drinks that are special on without mixologist magic - take the top billing in 2012? I think there's reason to think so.

The amount of beer bars in every city across the country is rising, and most seem to be doing very well for themselves. In my city (Minneapolis) all sorts of groups are popping up to appreciate and educate about beer - Barley's Angels (beer-loving women), MSP Beer School (educating and sampling), MN Beer Activists (self-explanatory), and Better Beer Society (educating consumers and bars).

I like going to HomeGoods and finding the heaviest and largest forged knife. I look for a good balance and end up with a $60 knife for about $10.

Served with fresh buffalo mozzarella and drizzled with a good balsamic vinegar.

These are always the American Browns that top my list (especially Bender)! As a Minnesotan, I probably drink Bender once a week. I wish I could get my hands on some Cigar City.

And they are also the ones that usually top lists at places like Beer Advocate. They happen to be distributed mostly in MN and FL, But I think it's that's a lousy excuse to complain about it, especially since most of these lists include beers that are only available in the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast.

@andrewjswitzer Don't buy the IKEA one. I was at the Minneapolis location a couple weekends ago to see them pulled of the shelf due to ... duh duh duh ... shattering from the heat of boiling water.

I have been using a Bodum Brazil Press for over a year with no incident. Over that time, I was a college student (meaning I was pouring A LOT of grounds into the pot) with the crappy blade grinder (meaning lots of fines).

Of course, you should switch to a burr grinder to help avoid any problems related to pressure build up. The Hario Skerton model is hand crank and about $40. Not only will you be less likely to explode your French Press, your coffee will be instantly better quality. Fewer grounds will be overextracted because of inconsistent size, so there will be fewer bitter notes in your brew.

It sounds like most people have similar strategies - try to write it down, and then sometimes forget.

Discipline is going to be big for me in the future. When I go and buy expensive foods, I don't want to waste any of it.