Saint Arnold’s Brewery was the host, and we tried seven different beers. Here’s what we had:
We started off with the Elissa IPA – ordinarily I’m not a huge fan of IPAs (they’re too hoppy for me and therefore rate high on my Ack-o-Meter), but this one, even though it was full of Cascade Hops, was nicely balanced. Paired with it was a platter of chipotle hummus, pita bread, cucumbers, tomatoes and feta. The chipotle notes and the smooth hummus took any hoppy edge off the IPA and really brought out the citrus notes in the beer.
Next we had the Texas Wheat paired with cream of jalapeno soup. While totally drinkable, the Wheat seemed a little “meh” to me. It has a lot of citrus right up front, and I got just a hit of mint on the finish, but there’s no real oomph to it. This is an American Pale Wheat, not a Hefeweissen, so there wasn’t the usual clove, banana or bubble gum flavors that jump out of that German style. The soup, we all agreed, was a little lame. There was some spice to it, but no real FLAVOR. That lameness, combined with the meh-ness of the beer left me ready for the next course.
Ah! The Brown Ale. One of my favorites. It pours almost red, and you can smell the vanilla, the malts and sugars. The taste blasts nuttiness – probably pecans – a just a hint of chocolate (although I didn’t get the chocolate until I gulped the last in the glass). This was paired with a ham sandwich jazzed up with sautéed apples and gruyere cheese. A great paring. So much so, we recommended they put the sandwich on their regular menu. Here’s hoping they do!
Up next was their Lawnmower brew – a stab at the Kolsch style so popular in Koln, Germany. I think they fall way, way short. Both Joe and The Rev liked it, though. It’s very floral, almost peat-y. There’s a sharpness to it that just isn’t present in the Kolsch brewed in Germany...it has a bit of sweetness that plays wonderfully against the florals instead of fighting with them. The food presented was a bacon-wrapped, cream cheese-stuffed chicken mcnugget and some asparagus. A nice pairing, even with the undesired sharpness.
Time for the Amber Ale. Also one of my favorites. This amber has a great balance between hops and malt, but the roasted malts win out in the form of lots of raisin, caramel and molasses flavors. The mouthfeel is almost sticky and totally delicious. I was not happy with the food pairing for this great beer: cod and cilantro fish cakes with sweet chipotle sauce. Ick. So...I just drank the beer.
The highlight of the evening was this next course: Divine #9, released a couple of years ago. It’s an American Double Imperial Stout weighing in at 11% abv. It’s a chocolate pumpkin cheesecake in a beer bottle. Loads of flavors: nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and pumpkin, dunked in dark chocolate. Truly divine. They served this little slice of heaven with a dark chocolate mousse garnished with whipped cream and graham cracker cookies. OMG! I can only hope that I see this on a shelf somewhere...I’m sooo buying it!
Finally, as if we needed another course after the fabulousness, was a Root Beer, paired with pecan pie. Let me just say this, I hate root beer. Always have. But, again, Joe and The Rev thought it was great. I even gave up my pecan pie to them. Two reasons: I wanted to end on the high note of the mousse, and I was totally full.
All in all, a good dinner/tasting. I understand they’re having another one in April, featuring Stone brewery. Yeah, we’ll be going to that one.
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