OLDE TOWNE DINNER, 24 JANUARY 2009

This dinner was arranged by the J Clyde to celebrate the welcome return of Olde Towne beers to Birmingham after a brewery fire caused a too-long absence.

Reception: Olde Towne Pilsner A Selection of Gourmet Cheeses

I am generally quite indifferent towards beers in the Pilsner/lager styles – I am not a huge fan of the style. The OT Pilsner is a persuasive offering, and paired very well with the mustard seed and porter infused cheeses: it brings out the richness of the cheese, while cleaning the palate afterwards. Nice.

First Course: OT Porter with Local Winter Vegetable Soup

A surprise pairing here. The soup was truly outstanding – rich, tasty, with nice chunky vegetables. The porter lent its richness to the stock, leaving a lingering caramel/coffee sweetness that successfully played off the flavour of the vegetables.

Second Course: OT Hefeweizen (wheat beer) with Spanish Potato Omelet

Hefeweizens are a hard style to do well: many brewmasters come out with a good, but not outstanding, hefeweizen. OT’s brewmaster should be proud of this beer: it is, quite simply, world class: one of the best hefeweizens I have ever had the pleasure of drinking. Subtle, delicately sweet, with a very gentle spice flavour at the back of the mouth. The combination with the omelet was astonishing: taking a sip of the beer with the omelet in my mouth produced a phenomenal blast of clove spices! Superb!

Third Course: OT Pale Ale with Pecan Chicken Salad on leaf lettuce

This is a contrasting pairing. The Pale Ale is in the English style, very balanced and eminently drinkable, with a gentle hop dominance. The pecan chicken salad is sweet and rich. The combination? Both shine out full force: the Pale Ale clenses the palate, allowing you to fully appreciate the salad, and the salad leaves a rich sweet nuttiness which the Pale Ale washes down. Dynamite combination.

Fourth Course: OT Amber with Local Venison tossed in a rich red sauce over farfalle pasta

The Amber Ale is a style I only came across after moving to the U.S. It rapidly became one of my favourite styles, due to its flexibility: it pairs with pizza, burgers, milder chilis and curries, most cheeses, and so on. It’s also just a good sipping beer! This pairing proves I am not so nuts for liking the style: there is enough malt sweetness there to balance the spicy red sauce and to play with the richness of the venison, while keeping enough hop bitterness to leave a clean taste in your mouth, ready for the next bite. If you have never had this style before, the OT Amber is a great introduction to it.

Fifth Course: OT Chocolate Stout with Classic Homemade Cheesecake

I am, as you may recall, Mr “Dark Beer And Cheesecake”. There is nothing I can usefully add to my previous article: porters/stouts and cheesecake are simply Da Bom. The OT Chocolate Stout is an interesting take on the style. While there is the expected hop bitterness, there is also a dark chocolate bitterness. This double whammy could have been overwhelming, but the cheesecake came to the rescue by providing dairy richness and sugar sweetness to offset the hop/chocolate combination. An odd combination, but still very tasty!

As you can see from above, a beer dinner is quite a serious time – and waistline! – investment, but well worth it. It allows you to explore beer and food, and try pairings that would not necessarily have occurred to you.

A truly outstanding pairing is cheesecake and a good porter or stout. Fuller’s London Porter has a subtle but unmistakable coffee taste. Rogue’s Shakespeare Stout is dark, intense, and works well with rich fruity cheesecakes.

A good surprise pairing is strawberry cheesecake and summer seasonal beers, like Blue Moon Honeymoon. This pairing is light and delicate and will appeal to a palate that does not appreciate the intensity of dark beer!

Guinness, despite being the name everyone recognises, is a bit lacking in flavour and so I would only suggest it as a pairing with a delicate tasting cheesecake. I generally advise people to avoid Guinness because of its weak taste – there are many better options to choose from, most of them from right here in the USA.

Introducing your friends and family to dark beer and cheesecake should open their minds to why you like craft beer. It may also win some of them over from pairing wine and food which can only be a good thing: wine and food simply do not offer the same level of complexity and precision that you can get from pairing beer – good craft beer – and food.