With Beer Pairing Dinners

Some Superheroes wear spandex and bound into burning buildings; others spend countless hours fine-tuning their culinary crafts like they were students of some food fundamental X-men. Instead of lasers, they shoot Rainier cherry gastrique out of their eyes. Prohibition Gastropub, Elysian and Bellwether Brewing are some of Washington’s elite. The craft beer scene continues to build and as new flavors find their way into our glasses, we are starting to see a trend of up-and-coming and long-standing breweries fleeing their hoppy home-base to play with fine dining establishments across the INW. Half dinner date, half pub crawl, a beer dinner is not your Grandma’s country club. Within minutes I had everyone conjoin tables and ordering pre-beer beer instead of conventional introductions. Tim wanted an IPA, Patrick was more into ambers and reds and Denise found out she was pregnant three days after ordering tickets.

Course 1: To get us started we received a beautiful arrangement of mesclun greens and herbs with asparagus, peas, pickled shallot and a six minute egg. A sweet vanilla lime aioli and green goddess dressing (which usually consists of mayonnaise, sour cream, chervil, chives, anchovy, tarragon, lemon juice, and pepper). A perfect pairing of Elysian Avatar Jasmine IPA had our 10-person table going strong as it was unanimously voted the best pairing of the night.

Course 2: It was an immaculate presentation and the crispy pork belly sitting atop smoked pork rillettes and thinly sliced golden beets had many of us hoping they would just bring this course back for dessert. They could have easily paired this with a small glass of the glorious Rainier cherry gastrique it was plated with, but Bellwether Buying Time Pale Ale did the trick. A refreshing mild cop who knocks on the door of the party that was just in my mouth.

Course 3: Seeing grilled octopus on the menu had the audience a little up in arms but I am a sucker for seafood. Often chewy or over-charred, tentacles can be notorious for over-cooking.  Chef JD and his crew hit the nail on the head. The dense sweet meat that settles somewhere between crab and chicken was fantastic. The spice of the chorizo puree and cilantro oil were consummate accompaniments. I’d never had an arancini before, but I now want more. Think of a well-seasoned saffron rice, balled, breaded and fried to a crisp. Pairing beer for such a dish with such a variety of flavors would be tricky.  Apparently beer guru Thomas Croskrey of Bellwether agreed and brewed Prohibition Secret Knock just for the occasion.

Course 4: Finally time for something a bit lighter. Smoked beef brisket and potato pavé? I’m pretty sure the chef was trying his best to make us explode. Small tidbits of savoy cabbage and smoked bacon danced around a decadent grilled corn puree. It was supposed to be served with a whole grain mustard but I somehow received more Rainier cherry gastrique. This didn’t offend me in the slightest as I would happily dip cardboard in that sweet nectar of the Gods. Anyone who smokes meat knows black pepper is a must. Elysian perfectly paired their spicy Saison Poivre with the course, leaving no taste un-turned on my palate.

Course 5: Even the foodiest of the foodies learn things. Apparently Gianduja is a chocolate that contains about 30 percent hazelnut paste, and when it’s turned into a mousse there is a good chance you’d steal more of it from a baby. A drizzle of vanilla bean white chocolate sauce and macerated peach relish gave everything dimensions. My only complaint was needing more of the crumbled shortbread that was pulling everything together. You can’t object for long when you have two beer pairings to finish the night. Bellwether’s Patrick Horn Brown had a smooth nutty finish that lent savory depth, and Elysian’s Dragon’s Tooth Stout was dessert in a glass. Chocolate, coffee and oatmeal rolled in to a strong 8.1 ABV.  Someone grab me a pint of Rainier cherry gastrique and call me an Uber.