Friday Cheer! Stone Ruination IPA to drink and eat

Guess what? I read a lot of blogs. A lot of food-centric blogs.  While they inspire me to be a better blogger (still working on that...), they also make me want to cook so many of their incredible recipes. Today's Friday Cheer was instigated by a post from a favorite blog, The Beeroness.  This brilliant lady develops delicious recipes, sweet and savory, that feature different types of beer.  I've tested several of her recipes and every single one has been awesome...from Chocolate Stout Cheesecake with Pretzel Crust to Chocolate Pretzel Beer Toffee (a huge hit with my coworkers and family) to the  IPA Marinated Citrus Pork with Peach Poblano Salsa that prompted today's post.

Not only does The Beeroness offer recipes featuring beer, she gives some useful advice on how to choose a beer to use in a specific dish.  So if I can't find the exact beer she recommends, I know what features I need in the beer I ultimately choose.

Can you tell I'm a fan?

Thankfully I was able to find Stone's Ruination IPA, because her description of it as one of the few perfectly balanced IPA's made me mad to try it.  Because they are tremendously hoppy, IPA's are not a style of beer I drink too often. I really have to be craving an IPA to enjoy it, and summer is the time I love IPA most -- with a burger and on the patio. It's bliss.  But if I'm not in the mood for an IPA, it just sits there, collecting dust and wondering why all his beer neighbors are disappearing.

Stone Ruination IPA
Perfectly balanced and beautiful
Very drinkable

Apparently it is a serious issue that many IPA's on the market aren't balanced. They focus on cramming in as much hop flavor as they possibly can. And a population of people goes bananas over it...which I also dislike (be educated about what you love, people!), but that's a whole other thing.  Trust me, though, as The Beeroness claimed, Stone's Ruination IPA is balanced - it's full of hops with citrus and pine flavors which are balanced against a honey-like sweetness.  Don't think this beer is a sweet one, though. It's hops, through and through, but used in the way they ought to be.

I followed The Beeroness' recipe for IPA marinated pork chops with peach poblano salsa. The IPA came into play twice:  in the pork chop's marinade and in the salsa.  The salsa, by the way, is fantastic on it's own. Her recipe makes extra salsa, so I enjoyed that on my beloved Milagros tortilla chips for days.

Incredibly delicious

Up close, it's just as delicious

Thanks for the inspiration, Beeroness!  I know I'll be back for more recipes and more beer recommendations.

Happy Friday!!!