Ancho Chile Brown Ale + Chili

Exceptional Foundation's 2009 Chili Cookoff

This may have been a once-in-a-lifetime pairing.  I hope not.

This past saturday, the family and I went to The Exceptional Foundation’s Fifth Annual Chili Cookoff in Homewood Park.  The event was widely advertised on Live 100.5 since a.) they were a sponsor, and b.) 100.5 artist Tim Brantley was one of the live performances, and it was ridiculously crowded.  This is the first year that I had even heard of the event, so it may draw equally large numbers every year, but I was really surprised at how many entrants and patrons there were.

There were around 60 booths of various kinds of chili to eat–some with beans, some with just meat, some with brown sugar, some with beer, some with bacon, and most with sour cream, cheese, and oyster crackers or some other starchy sidecar.  My favorite was Protective Insurance’s “Chili of the Gods.”  It had a serious kick, and had lots of fresh chiles and even some fresh herbs (I think).  Fantastic.

Kudos goes to all the businesses who participated as sponsors to the event, but serious kudos goes to Good People Brewing Co. This is the kind of local brewery you can be proud of.  Not only were they a sponsor, they were a participant with a great chili, AND they donated a slew of beer for the event, the sale of which benefited The Exceptional Foundation.  If you were there and were able to try some Good People Brewing Co. beer with the various chili dishes, I’d love to hear about what you had and how it paired with the chili.

Fortunately for us, we arrived early, about 11:00 a.m., and while the place was already crowded when we arrived, the beer line was only about a half-dozen people long.  By the time we left–closer to 1:00 p.m.–the line for $2 beer (yes, only $2!) from Good People Brewing was at least 100 people long.  It wound all the way through the gym and out the door!  I am seriously glad I tried their special Chili Cookoff Beer.  I was told it was their already-exceptional brown ale “dry hopped” with ancho chiles!  Can you imagine a better beer to pair with chili?  I actually considered trying the IPA or the Roggenbier… but I ultimately decided that I’d better go with the special occassion beer, as I might never have the opportunity again (or will I?…).  I’m glad I did.

I’d already sampled some of the food, and my mouth was already stinging from the heat, so initially the anchos in the Chili Cookoff Beer were lost on me.  But, after a little water and a little beer, I was getting awesome vibes from the mellow anchos and was ready for rounds two and three with the chili.

Our system worked well.  My wife would hang out with the kids on a bench in the shade while I would retrieve three or so samples to share.  The ancho brown ale was a perfect match for round after round of chili onslaught.  It handled a Texas-style all-beef chili with aplomb.  It worked magic on the sweet brown sugar chilis, and, of course, one-upped the beer used in the beer-based chilis.  With my mouth again on fire, I relented to the goodness of the brown brew.  My only regret was that I had no time left to go another few rounds with the Chili Cookoff Beer before I had to head home to put the kids down for their naps.  Here’s hoping that the good people at GPBC make the Chili Cookoff Beer a regular in their already stellar lineup.

Tags: Ancho, chili, Chili Cookoff Beer, Good People Brewing Co.