Beer & Chocolate Dinner at Firehouse Brewery featuring Pete Slosberg Recap

I had been looking forward to this event for some time now. Having had a part in its planning, I couldn’t wait to see how it would turn out. The event was held in the upstairs area of Firehouse Brewery & Grill. This has its advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage, of course, is that the brewery can host special events without any interruption to its regular service and walk-in customers. The importance of having a separate events area cannot be underestimated.

The disadvantage of the upstairs of the Firehouse location stems mainly from how it’s built. The second floor has a gaping hole in the center. It’s mainly meant, from an architectural standpoint, to keep the top floor open and airy and connected to the bottom half of the restaurant. Therein lies the problem, the connection. Sounds travels easily from downstairs to upstairs. The result is that even though I sat but two tables away from Pete and Steve, I could barely make out what they were saying. I’m sure the tables behind me didn’t hear a thing. They do have a private room in the back that’s enclosed but it’s not nearly large enough to hold everyone.

You needed a reservation for this event so seating was pre-arranged. That was cool though as Steve sat Sammy and I with, what we would learn as the evening went on, some of the coolest people we’ve met. At our table, we met Jen and Joey from www.wetyourwhistles.com. Www.wetyourwhistles.com is part of the Bay Area Beer Bloggers group and they are the Caltrains version of www.beerbybart.com. I know, I know, so many websites to remember but that’s just the nature of the world today. Also at our table were Diane and Mike. Diane used to work across the street from Firehouse but has since retired. She and her husband now travel the world, taking in new experiences, drinking good beers and bringing good beers back for Steve. Makes me wonder how I can get on that gift list. The last person at our table was Mark. Mark is part of the South Bay Beer Advocates, a group of beer lovers who meet up every 2nd Wednesday at the Rose & Crown to talk beer, drink beer and trade beers.

Pete Slosberg provided the opening chocolates for the event. He invited me over to his place to help him make them, an offer I strongly considered, but ultimately had to turn down because of work. Damn that day job. Here’s a list of the chocolates and the beer and what my notes were:

• Brewer’s Malt Cookies in Milk Chocolate with Pale Ale – I felt this was an awesome pairing. The brewer’s malt (kind of like Whoppers, the candy) just disintegrated in your mouth. The pale ale was a contrasting beer that helped to cut the sweetness of the chocolate while toning down the bitterness of the beer. All of this without sacrificing the qualities of one another.
• Toasted Almonds in Dark Chocolate with Porter - The dark chocolate and almond nutty flavors worked well with the roasty, slight coffee and chocolate flavors of the beer, while the slight astrigency tied in well with the nutty characteristics.
• Dried Ginger in Dark Chocolate with Brother Tommy’s Tripel – The ginger quality in the chocolate was quite subdued but when you pair it with the Tripel, the ginger really popped. Depending on your feelings regarding ginger, this may or may not have been your favorite pairing but I thought it was interesting and a great conversation piece.
• Hazelnut Gianduja Truffles and Scotch Ale – I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this pairing. I like the Scotch Ale but I wasn’t sure what to make of the truffles. A lot of it has to do with the truffles. I just don’t know enough about them. Truffles taste just like chocolate but aren’t they a fungus? I think I just need to taste an unadulterated truffle. Something that’s not chopped up or pureed or mixed or whatever. Just the truffle. Until then, I can’t really understand what all the hooplah is surrounding truffles.
• Dried Sour Cherries in Dark Chocolate with OTIS – This was a great pairing. The chocolate and stout characteristics worked harmoniously together while the dried sour cherries worked complimentary with the beer.

Here’s the menu, pairings and my notes:

• Roasted Parsnip and Vanilla Chocolate Soup Paired with FireHouse Hefeweizen – Overall, a good pairing. The hefeweizen and the parsnip soup had a very similar, creamy texture. The hefeweizen has a very, very light vanilla note that tied in with the vanilla chocolate in the soup.
• Baby Greens Salad, Endive, Chocolate Covered Bacon, Radicchio, Chocolate Vinaigrette Paired with FireHouse Red Ale – To be frank, this was the worst pairing of the evening. We (at the table) found the salad green to be wilty and lifeless and a little overly drenched in dressing. I thought the flavors, a black peppery spiciness and slight bitterness in the salad, worked to match the hop bitterness of the Red Ale but the dressing was overwhelming. The chocolate covered bacon was chocolatey and salty. You either loved it or hated it. We wished that the chocolate covered bacon was chopped up into smaller bits and sprinkled onto the salad instead of having one big chunk but I can understand how difficult that would be.
• Rotisserie Duck Enchilada in Mole Sauce Paired with FireHouse Scotch Ale – I thought this pairing was the best of the evening. The duck enchilada had an interesting texture, it was like tofu. Duck is known for having a strong flavor but I thought it was fairly mild. The mole sauce was a bittersweet, dark chocolate that had a good level of spiciness to it. The malty sweetness of the Scotch Ale served to compliment and harmonize with the flavors of the duck and chocolate while the higher alcohol helped to balance out the heat of the mole sauce.
• Chocolate Ravioli, Vanilla Honey Drizzle Paired with FireHouse OTIS – The chocolate ravioli was deep fried and stuffed with chocolate. I thought it was an interesting recipe. Deep frying the ravioli gives is a crispy and lighter texture that contrasts with the heaviness of the beer while the chocolate echoes the flavor of OTIS.

Truthfully, I’m surprised I remember as much as I did about the dinner as my notes were pretty sparce. We were having such great conversations at the table that I almost didn’t remember to write anything down. I’ve seen the emails from Jen but I’ve never met either her or Joey. Likewise, Diane and Mike seemed to have visited so many places and tried so many beers. When I get to retiring, I hope to be as well traveled as they are. Mark was also great to talk to and I’m looking forward to joining the South Bay Beer Advocates at one of their meetings. Steve did a great job putting our table together.

Just typing this out now, I can’t help but have a slight grin on my face. We had such fun that night. As good as the food and beer was, the people made it better. Sure the beer and food dinner was good but what good is all that food and beer if you can’t share it with good people? It never ceases to amaze me at how many cool people we meet at these beer events. This is a huge reason why I love craft beers and the craft brewing community. I’m looking forward to the next event!

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