Of course, the first brewery dinner was so great, a high standard was now set for the remaining 11 dinners and it can't be easy to follow.
Out of the beers listed on the menu, we did have Sawtooth Ale before, we thought we had Milk Stout Nitro before, the rest didn't sound familiar.
Course 1
Sawtooth Ale, an American style ESB (Extra Special Bitter) is a light-colored beer, with moderate bitterness (despite ESB designation) so it is suitable for most people, not just hopheads like me, also malty and pleasant overall. First course was fish (shutome, aka swordfish) on beer-braised (same Sawtooth ale) tomatoes, lightly roasted cauliflower and some hazelnuts and gremolata. Tomatoes, in a thick and chunky sauce, were the base for this dish, and that was by far the best part. Delicious! And the cauliflower, lightly roasted to keep its crunch, was great as well. This could easily be a vegetarian dish if fish is omitted, or for those still wanting their protein, substituted with cheese. I think, given the Italian flavors of braised tomatoes and fresh basil (in gremolata), Mozarella would be a good choice. Shyam, being Indian, suggested paneer, which I think would be great as well, especially fried to crispiness.
Course 2
We didn't recognize 400 Pound Monkey on the menu, described as English Style Pale Ale, but seeing the bottle and reading that in fact it is an IPA, we remembered that we have tried it before. I would call it a very typical IPA, hoppy, but not high on alcohol, amber-colored. We did enjoy it before, and we did enjoy it this time. As the second course was served, we immediately smelled wonderful smokiness of the fish - arctic char, a relative of salmon. It was served on fried grated potato pancake (it was rosti-like, but rosti I've had in Switzerland and Germany was crispy yet soft, and this was fried to be much harder and tougher pancake), topped with dried fruit jam (moustarda) and garnished with herbs and dried capers. The combination of just the char (oh so smoky and so fatty and falling-apart soft... mmmmm...), the moustarda and the beer - smoky, sweet and bitter together - was absolutely delicious!
Course 3
Third course featured Milk Stout Nitro, which we thought we had tried before, but we didn't. We actually had Milk Stout, which is not the same as Milk Stout Nitro. Normally, each beer with each course is served by a waiter and each person gets about six ounces in a glass. However, Milk Stout Nitro pouring process is pride and joy of Left Hand brewery - in their own words: "We beat Guinness at their own game", and the bottle actually contains the instructions for serving this particular beer.
(my apologies for not the clearest of photos, here's what the label says: 1. pour hard, 2. admire and enjoy.)
We each received a whole bottle to open and pour ourselves at the request of the marketing representative from the brewery. Left Hand brewery bottle opener keychains where already provided to each guest as souvenirs (in addition to Left Hand pint glasses that we also got to take home). Representative demonstrated the pouring process himself.
And then was our turn to have fun pouring this beer. Step 1 - pour hard:
Step 2 - admire and enjoy:
Now that we had our fun with beer, which by the way is great - so smooth, it was time to enjoy more of delicious food. I was looking forward to this course as it was a beef (featured Ralston Valley beef) and venison (yay!) sausage.
Wurst was delicious as expected, it also contained some pistachios and raisins, which was a nice touch. Brussels sprouts were great as well, and so was the sunchoke puree on which sausage was served. But what got my attention most, and completely unexpectedly, was the blackberry mustard. I have never had it before, and this was an amazing discovery for me. It is a mustard, but it also has a clear blackberry flavor on top of typical mustard flavor - it adds some sourness and a bit of sweetness to the pungency you would expect from mustard. I'll be looking around to either buy it or make it myself. Needless to say, it was also a fantastic condiment with the sausage. And do I need to mention that beer and wurst are a great combination?
I think unplanned extra beer consumption (we had a whole bottle each instead of intended half bottle) disrupted the flow of dinner a bit, not to mention that we were getting drunker and fuller in our stomachs. And yet bigger course was still to come, as well as two more very filling beers. We just had a whole bottle of a stout - a meal on its own (those of you who regularly drink Guinness know exactly what I am talking about), and the next two beers are a porter and a stout still! That is a bit too much.
Course 4
Next beer was Fade to Black and it was described as pepper porter. We haven't had this beer before. It is part of a series of beers, and this is the third in this Fade to Black series. I wasn't sure what pepper porter meant until we were told that three kinds of chillies are added to this brew. It has typical chocolaty flavor from the dark roasted grains that are used for porters, and a slight heat on the back of your tongue that develops more and more after you drank the beer. This certainly reminded me of Cocoa Mole Ale beer from New Belgium's Faith of Lips series, although this is a much subtler beer than Cocoa Mole Ale. We asked master brewer at which step of making the beer he adds the chilies and we'll be certain to try this when brewing at home.
And here comes the next delicious dish - shepherd's pie with beef tongue, short ribs and brisket, showcasing the beef from Ralston Valley perfectly. My and Shyam's plates had slightly different presentation, and I liked his more.
The portions were very big. I don't know if it was original plan to serve such a big portion or more food was added to counteract that additional alcohol we consumed in the previous course, but it was definitely a lot. The dish itself was amazingly delicious, everything was perfectly cooked - meat, vegetables, potato puree. I was very surprised how traditional this dish was. Somehow I was expecting something slightly different, a TAG version of shepherd's pie, rather than a shepherd's pie as it is. The smoky and spicy notes of the beer worked very well with this stew. I think for most of the people in the room this was their favorite course of the dinner.
And as full as we already were, dessert was still to come.
Course 5
Fifth beer was also one that we haven't had before. Called Wake Up Dead Imperial Stout (name was omitted on the menu), it is a very rich barrel-aged stout, which can be a dessert on it's own. It is very complex - a bit sweet, a bit sour (smell made me think of prunes), a bit smoky, a bit bitter, overall - tasty and very filling.
Given the description of the dessert (and yes, the name did brought out a few giggles in the room as the course was announced) as having carrot-cardamom custard served with the pudding ("spotted dick"), I somehow was expecting something close to carrot halva (Indian desert) somewhere on the plate next to the pudding, but it wasn't it. It was a good dessert (Shyam said it reminded him of carrot cake, and although it didn't immediately came to mind for me, I do agree). Unfortunately being so full already, I found myself not caring much for it. And I do feel guilty saying it because effort did go into making it and after a smaller meal I would have appreciated it so much more. Also, given the amazing last beer and it being a stout, very filling, and very delicious - it was a dessert on its own and therefore was in competition with the pudding, rather than complementing each other.
Last thoughts
This was an excellent dinner overall, and we are coming to the next one (TAG is yet to announce the date, sometime in March). But the first dinner set a very high standard, and this dinner did not live up to that.
Thank you to Chef Troy (pictured) and Chef Sam and everyone else at TAG for creating this wonderful event!
Scorecard so far:
| Beer | Food |
| 1. Tommyknocker | 1. January dinner |
| 2. Left Hand | 2. February dinner |
Cheers!
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