Five years ago today, Chews and Brews was born! This little food and drink blog has morphed from a random food blog with writings of what I was eating or drinking daily into a more specific blog where all recipes I post are using an Alberta craft beer in it! Since narrowing down my blog niche, I have written recipes using beers from over 20 Alberta craft beer breweries. On top of that, I have visited over 35 Alberta breweries.

When I first started blogging 5 years ago I was randomly sharing what beers or other things I was drinking and randomly posting recipes. Most recipes I shared didn’t include beer. That has since changed. At first, I was just using any beer I was enjoying that week in a recipe, and then I decided to narrow it down further and only post recipes that are using Alberta craft beer, starting with a Smoked Rye Porter BBQ Sauce with the beer from Apex Predator Brewing (previously Bench Creek).

I have made sauces, baked goods, savoury pasta dishes, seafood dishes, barbecued meats, and beer-cocktails! Every post is now set up to share my thoughts on the beer, the brewery, and then the recipe. After five years, I now feel like I have a method and process to this fun little hobby of mine. I love craft beer and especially love the craft beers that come from Alberta. Other provinces definitely produce amazing beers too, and I share these beers on my Instagram feed. Be sure to follow along as I have an exciting trip coming up that will be in the feed! NYC!

In my 5th year I am going to continue focusing on Alberta beers and post twice a month. The industry isn’t slowing down at all so I will always have new beers to try and use in recipes and share with you!

Thank you to all my followers and readers here, on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook! I hope you will continue following me for the next 5 years of Chews and Brews! Cheers!