OktoBEERfest 2016

Kolbe got to enjoy OktoBEERfest

Each year we host an OktoBEERfest which is our way of honoring some wonderful friends who moved to Illinois a few years ago.  They would always host an Oktobeer-feast and our OktoBEERfest was born out of their idea.  It's a fun event filled with delicious beer (Chris brews) and beer-infused recipes.  Last year was filled with recipes that we ended up loving, and it was so successful overall in so many ways that we kept a lot of this year's the same.  As you'll see from the recipe list below, mostly the same recipes.  Check out last year's post for more pictures of the various recipes individually.  

The Appetizers

Roasted Garlic and Parmesan Beer Cheese Dip

Corn and Cotija Beer Cheese Dip

Pimento Beer Cheese Pie Bites

These are the only pictures of food from this year

And this is only part of it.  It shows the dips and dippers (tortilla chips, pretzel sticks, and veggies), the pimento bites, and the salad and various toppings (raspberries in bowl with the spinach and bacon and toasted almonds on the side).  Unlike last year where I forgot the bacon for the salad, I forgot to put out the goat cheese...I can never seem to quite get the salad right.  lol.  

The Main Courses/ Sides

Beer Braised Pulled Pork Sliders with Chipotle Beer Cheese Sauce

These were the only NEW recipe of the year.  And they were delicious.  And easy. 

Beer BBQ Meatballs

Spinach and Raspberry Salad with Bacon Stout Dressing

This year, I spiced up the decor a little with some pretty fall flowers in the beer bottles from the beer that we used in the recipes.  Kayla made some decorations too.  There was a 'Welcome to OktoBEERfest' sign for the front door among other various little signs.  My favorite is the one pictured above.  Beer Beer!

Dessert

Vanilla Bourbon Stout Brownies

Wild Ale Mixed Berry Sauce

The one thing I didn't get to this year was making this new recipe I'd found that looked yummy.  Another sauce for the ice cream....but I still plan to make it in the fairly near future to see what we were all missing out on at the party.  :)

Salted Beer Caramel Sauce

And of course the best part of every OktoBEERfest is the wonderful company and Chris' amazing beers on tap. This year he had a Kolsch, a pale ale, and a fall ale.  

Breckenridge shirts

  

Megan (on the left) took many of the pictures  and the guys on the right made everyone smile with their great suspenders.

And I'm linking up with Bobbi at Revolution of Love for a Weekly Writing Link-up for the month of October.  If you are a blogger (or want to begin) but have been having a hard time getting posts up, this is a great way to challenge yourself to get writing!