Malternative: Beer and Dessert Recap
 |
| Malternative: Beer and Dessert (click for photo gallery) |
Whew! We are so very glad that the Malternative: Beer and Dessert event is done. It was a little stressful in the beginning with having to reschedule the event and an always in-flux guest list but I think it went well. We scheduled the event for later in the evening to give our guests enough time to get some dinner before being stuffed with an assortment of dessert and beer. Let’s just say that if you were on a diet and wanted to loose some weight, this would not be the event for you!
The night started off slowly enough. We had a few people show up and more as the evening went on. By the end of the event, we even had a few people still show up! Luckily for both them and us, there was enough beer and dessert to go around. If anything, these people who showed up late got to have a one-on-one presentation with me so they had my full attention with any questions they may have had.
Here’s a quick recap of the tasting notes course by course:
- Faultline Hefeweizen and Crepés: Faultline’s Hefeweizen exhibits a lot of fruity esters (clove and especially banana) in the nose and it’s noticeable in the flavor as well. I wanted a dessert that echoed those characteristics and we developed a crepé filled with bananas, strawberries, nutella, and whipped cream.
- Firestone Walker Double Barrel Ale and Bread Pudding: Firestone Walker’s Double Barrel Ale (DBA) is an example of an english style pale ale. The balance between malty sweetness and hop flavor leans firmly in the hop spectrum but not so much that it’s over-powering as in the American styles. The DBA has some wood in the flavor (from the Union Oak Barrel System Firestone Walker uses) and caramel notes. We decided on the bread pudding with pecans and a caramel sauce as it’s pair. Not a favorite in anyone’s book mainly because the bread pudding overwhelmed the beer. What was pointed out though was that the pecans alone, drizzled with the caramel sauce, went much better. It should be pointed out that bourbon was used in the bread pudding and helped to tie in the use of oak barrels in each pair.
- New Belgium 1554 and Mocha Chocolate Cake: New Belgium’s 1554 is an example of a zwartbier (almost literally “black beer”) and gets its name from the year the earliest example of this style was brewed. It’s dark, roasty with chcolate notes yet smooth because it’s a lager. We felt this paired well with the mocha chocolate cake as it has harmonizing flavors.
- Firehouse Imperial Stout and Coconut Flán: Fláns can be tricky to pair with. They have a huge custardy, creamy element while being thick and heavy. A dessert as big as this needed to have an equally big beer and we settled on an Imperial Stout. The Imperial Stout is big and bold in is roasted malt flavors while having a noticeable hop backbone that supported but didn’t overwhelm in it’s role. We added coconut to the flán to add another level of flavor and complexity to compliment some of the bittersweet and chocolately notes.
- Rabbit’s Foot Diabhal with Fruit Tarts: Rabbit’s Foot Diabhal differs from many other Belgian Golden Strong Ales in that they brew theirs with honey making up 25% of the fermentables. Knowing that Rabbit’s Foot is a meadery, this makes perfect sense. You can imagine then how much more complex the aromas and flavors become with the honey component. The paired fruit tarts fresh fruits, sweet filling and buttery crust all help to balance it with the beer’s fruity aroma and flavors, soft alcohol presence and light malt characteristic.
- Lindemans Framboise with Fudge Brownies: This is a pairing we keep coming back to as an old standard. The Framboise has a prominent raspberry aspect supported by the mouth puckering tartness found in all lambics. When deciding on what to pair with a raspberry beer, chocolate brownies seemed to make perfect sense. We garnished the brownies with a generous dollop of vanilla ice cream and fresh raspberries to contrast the brewed raspberry flavor.
Unfortunately for me, I left the feedback forms I developed back at my parents’ home where we had this event. I will pick them up tomorrow and update this entry with the fan favorite. After going over the feedback sheets we asked our guests to fill out, we have a clear winner in the favorite beer/food pairing. Winning by a landslide: Lindemans Framboise with Fudge Brownies.
The Hefeweizen/Crepé and 1554/Mocha Chocolate Cake combos tied for second place with the Russian Imperial Stout/Coconut Flán and Diabhal/Fruit Tart combos also tied for third. I can honestly say that I’m not surprised that the Framboise/brownie combo won, I thought some of the other pairings would’ve done better.
There’s a reason the framboise/brownie combination is a mainstay at most of these parties. First of all, it’s a hugely popular beer that I refer to as my “gateway” beer. At every event, there is always a woman who says she doesn’t like beer but after I introduce her to the framboise, all of a sudden she likes beer! It’s raspberry aromas and flavor, effervescent character, and tart sour notes throw everyone for a loop. They just can’t believe that this is a beer. Also, pairing the framboise with chocolate is an obvious choice. It’s to end the night on a high note and this is the beer to do it with.
Hopefully you will read this entry and be inspired to try your own beer and dessert pairings. I’d love to hear the results of whatever you come up with or to help you design a menu.