I would like to share some experimental beer pairings that I have done recently with some delicious results.  The first was Guinness Foreign Extra Stout and a hearty burger with all of the fixings and a side of hand-cut sweet potato fries.  The burger ingredients are:

• 1 ½ pounds of organic ground chuck


• Tsp of Kosher salt


• Tsp Fresh cracked peppercorn


• Tsp of onion powder


• Tsp of garlic powder


• One whole egg


• Tbsp A-1 steak sauce


• ¼ cup of the stout


• 1 ½ oz of Weller bourbon

 Mix all of the ingredients together, form five generous patties, and cook them on the grill to your liking.  I prefer medium rare to keep them nice and juicy.  Toast the buns on the grill for about a minute and add whichever condiment you like.  I had mayo, ketchup, yellow mustard, white onion, beefsteak tomato, Romaine lettuce, Clausen pickles and Valley Forge black wax cheddar cheese.

 The sweet potato fry ingredients are:

•  Six sweet potatoes cut into a large steak fry size


• Two tbsp of extra virgin olive oil


• Tsp of chili powder


• Tsp of ground cumin


• Tsp of onion powder


• Tsp of garlic powder


• Tsp of paprika


• ¼ tsp of cayenne pepper

 Put everything in a large freezer bag and shake until evenly coated.  Preheat the oven to 425 and bake for 30 minutes turning once half way through.

 The beer was served slightly chilled in my Guinness pub style glass.  Enjoy!

Beer blogger Adam Shugan is assistant manager at our Archer Road, Gainesville, store