Beer Dinner

[18/10]

Was out of town-couldn't do it.

Did anyone do the Fair Food benefit at RTM this past weekend?

[xtian]

Was out of town-couldn't do it.

Did anyone do the Fair Food benefit at RTM this past weekend?

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It is actually this Sunday, the 10th. You still have time to get tickets!

[Capaneus]

Was out of town-couldn't do it.

Did anyone do the Fair Food benefit at RTM this past weekend?

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It is actually this Sunday, the 10th. You still have time to get tickets!

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Yeah, I did not a half-hour ago: go to victorybeer.com, there will be a link to the event on the lower left-hand corner. Then *charge*!

[cdh]

I'm going! Looks wonderful.

[Capaneus]

Hah! It *rawked*! So neener neener neener to all of you who didn't show up.

Now I'm going to lay down. I'm inu... ini... un... drunk.

[mrbigjas]

it was a lot of fun. i feel bad for those who didn't get there in time--several of the restaurants ran out of food. i spoke with cdh for a while, saw rich but didn't talk to him (incidentally, have i mentioned the time i ran into dude outside of tria and thought it was you, rich? funny story. well, not that funny), and had lots of great food and beer. some interesting notes beer-wise were dogfish head's aprihop, which unlike the nasty magic hat #9 isn't overly sweet and koolaidish, and triumph brewery's jewish rye, which had caraway seeds soaked in it. good stuff. oh and heavyweight's heresy, which is aged in bourbon barrels and picks up those vanilla and butterscotch flavors...

food-wise, standard tap's lamb pies in puff pastry were outstanding. rx's gingerbread was not to be missed. white dog's beef and wild boar stew was excellent with the barleywine from..... someone or other. tria matched blue d'auvergne with the heresy, and humboldt fog goat cheese with lunacy--heavyweight also brought bottles of their excellent saison.

oh and iron hill did a nice job pairing a scallop with saffron-orange aioli with their saison, smoked duck breast with a (too sweet if you ask me) dried fruit chutney with their abbey double, and a badass stout. excellent.

oh and the line at black sheep for their crabcakes? way too long. move along, people.

it's been a long afternoon. ok more later.

[rlibkind]

What a feast!

I didn't take notes and, because I was too busy drinking and eating, can't recite which beer accompanied which food from which restaurant. But among the extraordinary vittles and vettles (vettles?) were . . .

Down Home Diner's pulled pork and sesame-flavored eggplant/zucchini salad (oddly enough, a combination that worked. Or was I already too drunk to discriminate by the time I worked my way around to this table?)

Milk Stout from Lancaster Brewing. Unfortunately, I waited too late for the dessert, the accompanying chocolate mousse, which was all gone by the time I was ready for it.

Pastrami and slaw on grilled rye to go with Triumph's Jewish Rye (which I missed!!@*%&).

The aforementioned duck breast (though I think it was really a confit).

The crabcakes were worth waiting for, since they were cooked before your eyes (hence the short wait, less than five minutes).

Someone's triple Belgian ale.

Appalachian's Scottish Ale.

The Victory Pils with London's Vietnamese hoagie.

The aforementioned lamb and mushroom pie.

Lotsa good IPAs -- never met one I didn't like.

Paul Steinke, the RTM's general manager, told me the event was a sellout. Ann Karlen, who manages the Fair Food Project's stand at the RTM, was a happy camper. In fact, EVERYONE at this event was a happy camper.

[cdh]

Tremendous fun indeed.

Ran into a few eG folks, apparently missed a few others.

Was particularly impressed by the match of the Appalachian Scotch Ale with the Down Home Diner's pulled pork. That one really worked.

The London Grill's octopus salad on top of a bean puree was excellent... soft and delicate, herbed with tarragon or something similarly licorice-y. Delicious with the Victory Prima Pils.

The Triumph Jewish Rye beer was awesome! Their rauchbier was also good, particularly paired with Rx's mushroom tarts.

I also luckily got the final piece of Rx's gingerbread as well, and was well impressed with that when paired with Lancaster's Milk Stout. (I'd already tried the Independence Imperial Stout it was supposed to go with, so I picked a similar beer I'd not yet tried.)

The Nodding Head BPA was a wonderfully fruity and aromatic, showing how hops can produce plenty of good flavor beyond just the bitter.

[mrbigjas]

Milk Stout from Lancaster Brewing. Unfortunately, I waited too late for the dessert, the accompanying chocolate mousse, which was all gone by the time I was ready for it.

the milk stout was good stuff.

The aforementioned duck breast (though I think it was really a confit).

the confit was from a different restaurant--they had a duck confit, caramelized fennel and something else on a bruschetta.

The crabcakes were worth waiting for, since they were cooked before your eyes (hence the short wait, less than five minutes).

you only had to wait five minutes? i waited longer than that and the line didn't even move. actually i'm not complaining; later on things cleared up, and the crabcake was some good stuff, although i have to admit that it was the last thing i crammed on top of like 80 other things, and my stomach is just now settling down.

The Victory Pils with London's Vietnamese hoagie.

ah yeah, i forgot about this one. one of my all-time favorite beers paired with one of my favorite snacks.

[rlibkind]

The aforementioned duck breast (though I think it was really a confit).

the confit was from a different restaurant--they had a duck confit, caramelized fennel and something else on a bruschetta.

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Oops. That means I missed the duck breast. Drat!

[KatieLoeb]

Wow - sorry I missed this event, but alas, I was working. I know in addition to the PhilleGulleteers in attendance was my good friend, Beer and Wine Geek Extraordinaire, Marnie Old. We both rushed back to town today after attending the Women in Wine event at the Borgata in Atlantic City (report to follow) yesterday - I for work, and she for the Brewer's Plate event. Sounds like a good time was had by all and the food and beer pairings were well constructed. It also reads like a parade of my former employers and/or "products-I-know-and-sell" either in the past or present tense!

[Rich Pawlak]

It was a blast.

James, I'm sorry I missed you, ya shoulda said hello!

I was impressed (and , as always, fascinated) with beer/food pairings, moments of synergy that I live for:

Standard Tap's puff pastry lamb stew pies with Nodding Head's Grog and/or BPA, two fabulous pairings.

The Victory Prima Pils and London's bhan me slices. Oh my.

Tria's inspired cheeses and Heavyweight's Lunacy, a truly stunning marriage of savory, salty and sweet.

The pastrami and slaw and rye nibbles with Triumph's rye brew. I'd like to have blended the rauchbier with that rye beer. Think ham on rye. Really.

Genl Lafayette's duck confit with thier Triple was an oustanding pairing.

Thomas's Kobe beef and corn sprouts with Yards Saison. Inspired.

the aforementioned pulled pork and eggplant salad from the Down Home Diner, paired with Appalachian's Scottish Ale, was the best pairing of the day.

Rx's gingerbread with lemon sauce and Independence Brewpub's Imperial Stout was the runner up

Chesse fondue and Troeg's Troegenator dopplebock was second runner up.

Bumping into so many participants from past beer tours, eGulleteers (Chris Holst, Bob Linkind, Janet McBaker, Greg Salisbury!) and other friends and foodies: priceless.