Well, we’ve reached the end of Session 8 and beer blogging Friday. Beer Sage, who did most of the Session blogging today is sleeping soundly, so it’s just me and Barnum out on the deck by our bar now.

Before bed we’re doing a triple pairing of sorts (if it’s possible to triple pair) — Guinness Extra Stout, Jameson’s Whisky, Baily’s Irish Cream and Ding Dongs — aka an Irish Car Bomb and Ding Dongs. I like the creamy taste of the Irish cream balanced with the caramel maltiness of Guinness and the slight bite of the Jameson’s. (Plus Barnum and I like racing each other to the bottom of the glass.) Ding Dongs, which are good anyway, are the perfect chocolately complement to a beer drink like this.

Well, I hope you enjoyed our daylong Session posts. I know we did. Have a good night.

9:00 pm - Dinner

(NOTE:This is a day-long continuation of the Session 8 Beer & Food post, so make sure you start with Breakfast.)

We enjoy eating late, so we wandered over to Churchill’s Pub for dinner a little past 9pm. Churchill’s is one of our favorite beer & food beer places because the tap selection is quite large (24 or so), and the food — unlike many good beer places — is always outstanding.

Tomme Arthur joined Molly and I and we all shared a plate of Irish Nachos over pints of Black Butte Porter (Molly), cask conditioned Wipeout IPA (Tomme), and Lagunitas IPA (Me).

For dinner Molly had buffalo wings, I had a French dip, and Tomme chicken strips (sometimes I think we should just buy him a Happy Meal). You’re looking at Molly’s chicken there. Very tasty.

Next up: a nightcap

After a long day of beer & food it’s often best to have a little refresher before moving on.

5:30 pm - snack

(NOTE:This is a day-long continuation of the Session 8 Beer & Food post, so make sure you start with Breakfast.)

We’ve moved on over to Port Brewing where we’re holding down the tasting room bar for the evening. We were really hungry but unfortunately the popcorn machine once again caught fire and we had to send it flaming down the delivery ramp outside (do other breweries have these problems?).

That leaves us with no snack but beer. Which, of course, is what we have maintained from the very beginning. Beer is food.

So for snack I’m having a pint or two… or three of Red Barn from Lost Abbey. Hopefully not too much — the tasting room closes at 8 pm and then there’s dinner. (PS: you’re invited)

See you at dinner.

12:45 pm - Lunch

(NOTE:This is a day-long continuation of the Session 8 Beer & Food post, so make sure you start with Breakfast.)

Last night was pizza night here at the ranch, so that naturally makes today’s lunch leftover pizza. I’ve paired my two slices of pepperoni, sausage, bell pepper, tomato and onion with 12 ounces of cold, refreshing Stone IPA.

Originally brewed with extra hoppy goodness to keep it fresh on its voyage from North County San Diego to the rest of San Diego County, Stone’s IPA now ships throughout North America and a few places beyond.

I’m particularly fond of Stone’s IPA because I think it’s excellent early example of the West Coast IPA style. A deep amber color, rich white head, big floral hop bouquet and excellent flavor balance of big malt and hop combination, it’s a perfect offset for the strong flavors and aromatics of the cured meats and fresh veggies of my pizza.

Plus it does a great job of cooling the molten blobs of cheese that weld themselves to the roof of my mouth every time I take a bite of pizza. (You think I’d learn about microwave ovens and hot cheese, but I don’t.)

The only drawback to a Stone IPA at lunch is, even though it’s really good, you have to limit yourself to just one. At 7% ABV, two or so of those and you might as well forget about operating heavy equipment, flying jets, doing open heart surgery, or any of the numerous other things we all do after lunch.

Next up: snack time!

The subject of this month’s Session (graciously hosted by Beer Haiku Daily) is beer and food. Molly and I have long held the opinion that beer is food, but if everyone wants to do beer and food, fine, we’re flexible. We can do that too.

Undoubtedly a good many of our beer blogging fellows will be writing about pairing a fine beers meats, cheeses, fruits and breads. Or about a favorite pub that has great food and beer. Or perhaps a recipe or two based on beer.

Well, we’re not that cultured or imaginative, so we’ve decided to go the pedestrian route of simply drinking a beer at every meal throughout the day and blogging about it (let’s call it a series of sub-sessions). We invite you to follow along and enjoy.

Let’s begin with the most important meal of the day.

7:15 am — Breakfast
Some of my ancestors were tossed out of England in the mid-1700’s for some petty crime or another and wound up in Hartford, Connecticut. (Molly’s relatives were still living a dismal beer-free existence living in teepees and hunting buffalo.) Back then it was a tradition to start your day with a good breakfast so you’d have strength for the labors of the coming day. This naturally meant strong beer and some sort of meat or gruel or something.

In keeping with our founder’s tradition, we’re starting today with a hearty breakfast of Founder’s Kentucky Breakfast Stout and Cocoa Puffs.

Some people claim that the Founder’s is much better with pancakes, but honestly, who has time to make pancakes on a weekday morning?

We’ve found that the deep bourbon maltiness and caramel flavors of the Founder’s blends perfectly with the chocolately goodeness of the 12 essential minerals and vitamins in Cocoa Puffs. Another great breakfast combo is one we affectionately refer to as “Count Viscosity”, which is a hearty glass of Port Brewing’s Old Viscosity and Count Chocula. (Either one is a great way to kick off the day.)

See you at lunch.