Dogfish Head-Stone-Victory Saison du Buff. A fun collaboration beer from three of my favorite breweries. It’s a fairly light, somewhat Belgian-styled ale that is really dominated by the infused herbal notes. You can really smell each of the components—rosemary, parsley, sage, and thyme, with the rosemary the most prominent. I can’t imagine opening one of these up to drink on it’s own or when I crave a beer… but with the focaccia and good Parmesan I drank it with, it was great.

Dogfish Head’s Aprihop, the 2012 version is now available. This beer used to be too fruity for me, but in 2010 they transformed it into a true IPA that also happens to be brewed with and tastes like apricots. The 2012 is delicious and Aprihop is quickly becoming a welcome sign of spring each year.

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale. I love the fall. In the last two days, the temperatures dropped, I had my first PSL of the season, and Dogfish Head released their 2011 Punkin Ale. What better way to enjoy the first NY Giants game of the season than with a tray of nachos and one of my favorite beers of the fall? This year’s Punkin is very similar to last year’s in style—lot’s of great brown ale characteristics, a nice dose of baking spices, and subtle pumpkin. Now let’s hope the G-Men win some games.

I finally made it to Birreria, the new rooftop beer garden at Eataly. The fried shitake mushrooms in this photo were perfect. The Cotechino sausage was also very good. As for beer, the Sofia—a cask beer styled after classic Belgian Wits—was really nice, although on a hot muggy day like today, Dogfish Head’s Festina Peche was much more enjoyable and a great match to the food. At noon on a Friday, the place was empty, but it quickly filled up. I’ve seen complaints about the price, and I can understand why: for a salad, fried shitake, a sausage, and two beers, the bill was $86. Still, I’d say it’s worth going at least once to check it out.

Shake Shack Battery Park City served it’s first burgers yesterday. I’m pretty excited to have Shake Shack close enough that I can get a burger home and eat it while it’s still hot. My first burger wasn’t quite as good as those from the original location… but it was close so I’ll give it time. The fries were better for some reason. Washing it down with a Port Brewing Anniversary Ale that I managed to find a couple of weeks ago was just an added bonus.

Mac and Beer Cheese from Stone World Bistro and Gardens in San Diego. A while ago I wondered about the often bland and uninteresting macaroni and cheese most restaurants serve and asked where to find the best stuff. The Mac and Cheese at Stone is a great example of good restaurant mac and cheese. It’s made with beer cheese and handmade sausages and is perfectly creamy and crispy. It’s even better when washed down with anything from Stone’s beer selection.

Stone’s “World Bistro and Gardens” is another favorite San Diego area attraction. The food is good and aside from having all of their own beers on tap, they have an amazing collection of other brewers’ offerings on tap and in bottle. Here I enjoyed Stone’s 9th Anniversary Ale, which has about 5 years of age on it and is quite nice. Even better was a rare treat of Russian River Brewing’s Pliny The Elder, one of the best IPAs around.

Pizza Port Carlsbad. Port Brewing is one of my favorite breweries, and when I lived in San Diego I would visit their Carlsbad pizza joint/ brewery quite regularly. The pizzas are interesting and good enough, but the array of excellent beer on tap and overall fun atmosphere makes the place a winner. I highly recommend going, getting some pizza, and trying any of their IPAs, although I doubt there’s a bad beer in their lineup.

Port Brewing Wipe Out IPA, found in a NorCal Bev Mo. One of my favorite beers. Access to this and others from Port Brewing on tap at Pizza Port is something I really miss about San Diego.

Southern Tier Unearthly Imperial India Pale Ale. This is a delicious double IPA. Surprisingly smooth with nice caramel-y malts to go with the expected pine and citrusy hops. Really nice beer.