Friend Feast and a Beer Pairing

A holiday tradition around here is the annual Friend Feast on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It began as a second Thanksgiving meal with friends, a whole bird roasted by the hosts and sides provided by the attendees. Over the past couple of years, the hosts, Beer Scout Crossbow Project and his wife Jenn, have turned Friend Feast into an experimental dinner. They test recipes on a happy and willing crowd.

This year Jenn, who is the driving force behind the über-popular and très-down-to-earth Fit Bottomed Girls and Fit Bottomed Eats websites, asked me to provide beer parings for each of the secret courses in the four-course meal. She has a very good write-up of the whole event on Fit Bottomed Eats. But I thought I’d provide a little background to the beers I chose and the thought process behind my pairings.

Appetizers: Charcuterie and The Devil

Saison Dupont & Perennial Aria with charcuterie and the devil on horseback
Saison Dupont & Perennial Aria with charcuterie and the devil on horseback

All attendees were asked to bring the finest meats and cheeses for a charcuterie welcome. The host provided the Devil on Horseback, a prune with herbed ricotta cheese, prosciutto and a drizzle of balsamic reduction.

For beer pairings I first look to the food and what flavors can be enhanced or complimented by the beer. With this course, there was a lot to work with. Salt and umami from the meats. Creamy texture and a myriad of flavors from the varied cheeses. Dark fruit, vinegar, and herbs from the Devils on Horseback. I also wanted a lighter-bodied beer to start off a four-course meal. No need to be full right away. I considered a Belgian-style dubbel to hook into the flavors of the prunes. A gueuze, maybe, for high carbonation and sharp acidity to swipe away the cream and salt from the meat and cheese. Or possibly a German pils for a bite of palate-cleaning bitterness. But I decided to go with a pair of saisons for their earthy and spritzy character: Perennial Artisan Ales’s Aria and the Dry Hopped Cuvée Saison from Brasserie Dupont. Both worked quite well.

First Course: Carrot and Cardamom Soup

Left Hand Sawtooth and carrot cardamom soup
Left Hand Sawtooth and carrot cardamom soup

The course I was most dreading was the soup. The carrot cardamom soup was made from carrots, leeks, apple broth, ginger, spices and coconut milk. I was hoping to find Left Hand Brewing’s Good Juju, an American pale ale with ginger. Alas, no luck at two beer stores. Instead I was drawn to a British IPA, grassy hops and malt character to meld with the sweet parts of the soup. But fearing too much bitterness from the IPAs, I ended up serving Left Hand’s Sawtooth, an American ESB. This went over well, though it was not perfect.

Second Course: Vegetable Gratin

Urban Chestnut Dorfbier dunkel with vegetables gratin
Urban Chestnut Dorfbier dunkel with vegetables gratin

From the kitchen, via the Julia Child cookbook, emerged a dish of roasted eggplant, zucchini, tomato and squash topped with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Loaded with toasty and roasted flavors, my mind went immediately to brown beers. English browns and milds, German doppelbocks. I decided on something more local, the Dorfbier dunkel from Urban Chestnut in St Louis. The mild sweetness and toasted malt went swimmingly with the dish.

Main Course: Korean-Style Short Ribs and Mashed Potatoes

Unibroue La Fin du Monde and Westmalle Tripel with Korean-style beef short ribs
Unibroue La Fin du Monde and Westmalle Tripel with Korean-style beef short ribs

When Jenn described this dish, I was expecting something gooey. Sweet, sticky and lots of soy sauce. That is not what was served. Our plates were filled with fall-apart tender beef short ribs with a rich beefy sauce over wonderfully creamy mashed potatoes. Unlike the other courses where the flavor of the beers were akin to flavors in the food, I chose to go the other way with this course. I wanted a stronger beer, one with enough flavor and alcohol to cut through the dish’s richness. And something to brighten the course. I went with two tripels, La Fin du Monde, from Unibroue and the Tripel from Westmalle. Both beers did their jobs, scrubbing away the rich food and adding a zing of bright fruitiness between each bite.

Dessert: Chocolate Pots de Creme with Rum Whipped Cream

Pots du chocolaté and St Louis Framboise Lambic and North Coast Old Rasputin
Pots du chocolaté and St Louis Framboise Lambic and North Coast Old Rasputin

Dense, rich and oh-so dark chocolatey, the pots de creme were amazing. I couldn’t decide on the beers for dessert, so I went with two completely different ideas. First idea was to go along with the dark chocolate flavors in a imperial stout. I chose one of my favorites, Old Rasputin from North Coast. The other idea went the other way. Lighter, though still semi-sweet, tart and very fruity: St Louis Framboise raspberry lambic. Of the two, the lambic shined. It added a completely new level to the dessert course. The chocolate and roasty flavors in the Old Rasputin, taken with the dish, came across as burnt and bitter. The great qualities of that beer were simply swallowed up in the decadent dessert.

I was generally pleased with how the beers complemented the food for each course. I’d give myself a B on this, my first official multi-course beer pairing dinner. A couple winners and no duds makes for an above average score. The others who joined in the pairings seemed to like my choices, too. And it was fun to get to shop for beers to share with friends in a fancy meal.

Cheers to Ryan and Jenn for hosting and their idea for the beer pairings. It was fun, let’s do it again next year!


Notes

I consulted a couple books when researching. The Brewmaster’s Table, by Brooklyn Brewery’s Garrett Oliver is a great read and full of useful information. Randy Mosher wrote Tasting Beer, another wonderful trove of information on all the flavor components found in beer. I also consulted the Beer Steward’s Handbook, edited by KC Bier Company’s own Steve Holle. It is an encyclopedia of everything you could possibly need to know about beer from raw ingredients to serving.

By jimmywags

I began the path through good beer in college. Exploring different sixers and bombers based on packaging and label design (art student, mind you), I weaved my way around the continental lagers and Colorado craft ales. My knowledge and interest exploded upon receiving a homebrewing equipment kit as a graduation gift from my parents. Twelve years later, I've brewed most styles, experimented between them, and hunted for the perfect pint.