The Beer Dinner Drought

[Rich Pawlak]

Aside from the monthly beer dinners at Monk's Cafe in Philadelphia, and a less formal monthly one at Waterzooi on Long Island, NY, there are fewer and fewer beer dinners these days, it seems to me.

But prove me wrong; tell us about any good beer dinners in your neck of the woods.

I was inspired to post this by a menu I received today from Todd Ashman, perennial medal winning brewer when he was at Flossmoor Station in Flossmoor, IL, and now the new brewer at Titletown Brewing Co. in Green Bay, WI. To welcome Ashman, this is what Titletown BC will serve up as an Inaugural Beer Dinner with Todd, for, get this, $17.50 per person. And I hear the weather there this time of year is just special.

To wit:

Inauguration Dinner Invitation

Join us in welcoming Brewmaster Todd Ashman to Titletown Brewing Company. Enjoy a gourmet Wisconsin meal where each course is coupled with the perfect ale to complement and contrast the complex flavors in both the food and brew.

Prior to seating

Wisconsin Craft Cheeses and Assorted Sausages with Railyard Ale Beer Mustard

Beer Pairing - American style Wheat Ale and India Pale Ale

Soup

Stilton Beer Cheese soup

Beer Pairing – Old Fort Howard Pale Ale

Salad

Baby Spinach and Endive with Wisconsin “Blue” Cheese, Door County Cherries Caramelized with Toasted Oats and Molasses Brown Ale then

Topped with Raspberry Honey Ale Vinaigrette Dressing and Walnut Crustini

Beer Pairing – “400” Honey Ale

Entrée

Smoked Pork Chop served on a bed of spent grain stuffing

with warm German Potato Salad and fresh vegetables

Beer Pairing – Johnny Blood McNally Irish Red and Railyard Ale

Dessert

Warm Bread Pudding Topped with a Russian Imperial Stout Bourbon Sauce

Beer Pairing – Russian Imperial Stout and / or Toasted Oats Molasses Brown Ale

Starts at 3:30pm with Tours of the Brewery and Historic Train Station with dinner served promptly at 5:00pm

After Dinner: Hang out with Todd and Talk Beer!!

Cost: $17.50 plus gratuity

For those of you who have never sampled Ashman's beers, they are extraordinary, and I would imagine that will far outshine the decent, starightforward menu they have planned above.

So, are beer dinners a dying breed or what?

[JPW]

DOn't have any menus handy, but RFD and the Brickskeller in DC (owned by the same guys) have beer dinners once a month.

[Okbrewer]

Here's a review I did of Waterzooi for our local beer club newsletter:

I hit the road again last week (November 3-7)! Went back to Long Island, this time to Garden City, NY. In preparation for any of my trips I always try to plan in advance my extracurricular activities (read: beer excursions!). For this trip, that was easy! I consulted my handy New York Breweries book written by my friend Lew Bryson. I also chatted with Lew online to get some clarification and the latest updates on where to find good beer in New York. Check out Lew’s website at: www.lewbryson.com

I have been to Garden City before so I knew of at least one place that I HAD to visit: Waterzooi Belgian Bistro! This place has a nine-page BELGIAN BEER MENU! They also have a Monday night beer dinner. Three courses of delicious and attractively prepared food, paired with Belgian beers. What a way to start off my trip!

Waterzooi is located in a strip of shops off Franklin Avenue in the quaint downtown area of the village of Garden City. Entering the long, narrow bistro from the parking lot entrance you first pass through the bar area. The restaurant and bar areas are divided by a glass block wall. Though smooth jazz plays in the background, the subdued lighting and low, arched ceilings provide a sense that you are entering a monastery. Arched entries and the minimalist décor of decorative stained glass and framed mirrors complete the allusion. I arrived around 6:00pm and the place was not yet crowded. However, after 7:00pm the restaurant became full, though not overly crowded or noisy.

In contrast to the tome that is the beer menu, the food menu is contained on a single 11x14 sheet of paper. From the appetizers to the salads to the main courses, the menu looked wonderful! Of course, a Belgian restaurant must offer Moules and Frites and Waterzooi is no exception. Mussels prepared a dozen different ways are served with Belgian-style fries and home-made mayonnaise. Another time, perhaps, for I was there for the Beer Dinner! The specially prepared beer dinner is offered every Monday night and is equally enticing as the regular menu.

First course was carmelized beef short rib on top of wild mushroom risotto, surrounded by a gingered carrot sauce. Paired with Corsendonk Brown. Very delicious indeed! The main course consisted of flame seared Halibut atop a nest of roasted garlic spinach, atop a bed of truffle mashed potatoes, surrounded by a caper butter sauce. On top of the fish was a dollop of chopped tomatoes and basil. Served with Pavel Kwak. The dish was presented well, and tasted very good, especially the fish and the spinach, but there was just too much going on! Too many competing spices and flavors, and the basil in the tomato in this dish really didn't do anything for me. Also the potatoes were kind of soupy from the sauces. In this case, I think it was personal preference that was the problem and not anything the chef did, so I ate and didn't feel the need to report it. Dessert was somewhat dissappointing. A strawberry and kiwi fruit tart that was on the crusty side, kind of dry, and a scoop of blueberry sorbet, which was rather good by itself. I told the waiter I would have much preferred the always delicious bread pudding. The dessert was paired with Lindemans Peche, which is also not one of my most favorites. Since I have been to Waterzooi before and had a wonderfully satisfying experience, my expectations were high for this visit. The food was still good, though not as good as on previous visits, and the beers were also good, but not as imaginative or creative in their paring with the food. But I think I got my moneys worth! All of that for $35 plus tax and tip. I would definitely do it again.

The service at Waterzooi is always first class and prompt. If you want a semi-elegant dinner, paired with a great selection of Belgian beers, Waterzooi is the place to go!

In addition to the beer, Waterzooi also has an extensive wine list and offers small batch vodkas, single malt scotch, and martinis. Something for everyone!

[Okbrewer]

Why wait for someone else to put on the dinner!!? Invite some like-minded friends over and hold your own beer dinner! A 'themed' dinner helps to keep the food and beer pairings somewhat manageable. But a 'free-for-all' approach, sampling various beers with each food course, also can be fun. Below are some notes from a Belgian beer dinner I hosted at my house. This is an annual event.

Wow! What a sensory overload! Rich, Belgian-style fare paired with various Belgian beers.

The evening event was scheduled to kick off at 5:00pm, with guests arriving around 4:45. Ten adults and 4 "young adults" attended. While we waited for all the guests to arrive we munched on my salmon mousse decoratively piped onto cucumber slices, and also used the mousse as a dip with other veggies and crackers. This was washed down by one of the two non-Belgian beers of night, New Belgium's Abbey ale. When all had arrived, our first sit-down course was presented: Brie en Crout! A huge wheel of brie smothered with a slightly tart marmalade and cranberries, baked in pastry. Mmmmm! This was paired with the other non-Belgain beer, Hennepin. Well, actually, we started with Hennepin then our planned pairings quickly turned into a rush to see what other beers might taste like with this! One delicious pairing with the brie was a Framboise. As some of the guests cleared the table and washed and dried dishes, a few of us ventured out back to put the mussels on the cooker! 12 pounds of mussels cooked in a rich buttery saute of garlic, shallot and thyme, and then 2 bottles of home brewed geueze.

Served with crusty bread to sop up the juice, these were amazing! We could have eaten another 12 pounds! By this time the formal beer pairing had evolved into grab a bottle and open and see what it tastes like! Many tripels were to be had this evening! The salad course followed with a delightful salad of mixed greens and walnuts with a homemade raspberry vinagrette. Needless to say, the beer of choice here was the Framboise again! A short recess was called on the food, but not on the beer, as the Waterzooi was finished. This traditional creamy-rich soup was filled with various pieces of fish, shrimp and mussels! Even the kids called for more! More crusty bread allowed us to sop up every last bit! As all of this was being consumed, the aroma of roasted Cornish game hens filled the kitchen and dining area. When we were ready for the main course I made a sauce from the pan drippings as the birds rested. Into the pan drippings went a bottle of New Belgium Trippel to deglaze the pan. Once strained into a sauce pan, I added a stick of butter some corn starch for thickening and at the finish some pearl onions and mandarin orange slices. You couldn't ask for a better presentation! The sauce ladled on to the plate with a few pieces of orange and onions with the hen perched on top!

The birds were served with mashed potatoes and leeks, and green beans almondine. By tihs time various bottles of beer were spaced on the table and you just grabbed what you wanted when your glass was empty!

After another slight recess from the food, a cheese course was presented. Maytag Bleu, English Stilton, and a Danish Bleu along with a blend of goat cheese and ground coriander and black pepper served as a palate cleanser of sorts before dessert. Dessert consisted of a delicious raspberry mousse made by one of the "young adults" and my moist and rich bread pudding served with my creme Belgique: New Belgiums Abbey ale brought to a simmer, added some brown sugar and then several scoops of vanilla ice cream, all brought to a creamy consistency. MMMM!

Cigars were the next item on the proposed agenda, but by this time we were all too stuffed and tired (it was 11:00pm) so we cleaned up the kitchen and savored the last few beers and called it a night! What a night it was! You would have enjoyed it!

Some of the beers enjoyed were Chimay (all varieties), Rose De Gambrinus, Lindemans Framboise, "Mad Bitch", Hennepin and Ommegang, the New Belgium Abbey and Trippel, Unibroue 10, Orval, and a bunch of others that I'm having trouble remembering!

Thought you'd appreciate this line up!