Pumphouse Brewery Beer Pairing Dinner Recap
Posted on January 23, 2008
Filed Under Events and Festivals |
My wife and I went to the Pumphouse’s Beer Pairing Dinner last night and had a great time. What is a Beer Pairing Dinner? In general, breweries and/or brewpubs are holding these events as an introduction to enjoying quality beer with quality food. I’m seeing more and more beer pairing dinners pop up, however this was the first one we’ve been to. Having not been to an event like this, I have no idea if the menu and price the Pumphouse offered is typical or not.
We paid $40 per person. I figured that amount was not too bad for the meals below and five beers each.
To start, there was a guest greeting that featured Cheese and Wild Boar Sausage that was paired with their Hindenburg Light, Kolsch-style Ale
We really thought the Kolsch Ale matched well with the sausage and cheese, especially the spicy mustard that they offered too. My wife travels quite a bit to Germany, specifically, the Cologne region and has had several Kolsch Ales and said this one wasn’t quite as “hoppy” as the ones she has tried. For me, I could have probably had a couple of these in a sitting. It was dry and crisp. I’ll have to remember this come the summer months as well.
Then for the dinner portion, we had the following:
Appetizer:
Jumbo Shrimp Skewers served with a Mojito Marinade Paired with Wildfire Wheat
Unfortunately, we both thought they “missed” on this pairing. They explained during the dinner that they tried to get the spiciness of the marinade to go with the brew. Neither one of us thought the shrimp were that spicy which I think effected the pairing. I actually got two samples of the beer with this pairing. I threw in a lemon wedge on the first one and it gave the beer too much citrus flavor. One the second one though, I left it out. I could then actually taste the citrus flavor of the beer and not have it over done by the lemon. We both thought if they paired this beer with a sampling of spicy salsa and guacamole with tortilla chips, then it would bring out the flavors of both the brew and the food.
Salad:
House Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette Paired with Igniter Pale Ale
This was by far our favorite pairing. The hoppiness of the Pale Ale along complimented the nuttiness of the vinaigrette. Normally, my wife doesn’t like Pale Ales, but with this pairing, she loved it.
Entree:
House Smoked Pork Loin served with Garlic mashed potatoes and baby Vegetables Paired with Pyro Porter
We both liked the porter on its own. The dark beer had good roast aroma and had hints of a coffee flavor to offset its chocolate sweetness. It could have been matched with dessert as well. The pork was served topped with reduced Pyro Porter. We thought it made the meal too sweet. We thought a cherry or raspberry sauce might have suited it better.
Dessert:
Chocolate Stout Cake and rich ganache set in a pool of crème cafe Paired with Cherry Imperial Stout
I liked the cake; my wife didn’t. She really didn’t like the Stout either. She thought it tasted too much like Robitussin cough syrup. There was an overpowering of alcohol at the finish (9% ABV after all). I personally thought the cherry taste in the beginning was great though.
Overall, we ended up having a great time. We found out during the meal that this was the first beer pairing they have done in a while, so they’re getting the hang of it again. Special thanks to David Mentus (head brewer) for getting out from behind the brewing and introducing everything as well as Carol Cross, the bar manager, for organizing everything and the staff for the great service! We look forward to the next one.
Thanks again!
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