June
Chocolate Guiness Cake
Saturday, July 12th, 2008 | Tasting Reviews | 1 Comment
Chocolate Guiness Cake went well with Oatmeal Stout
It’s been 3 weeks since our June tasting, and the one thing that sticks out most about the June Beertasting is the Chocolate Guiness Cake. Which says a lot, because in addition to some excellent beers, we had an incredible food line-up for Todd’s June Beer/Food Theme tasting. A special thanks to Todd and his wife for making this truly a memorable event and many bonus points are unquestionably coming — the only controversy is who should get the bonus points, Todd or Lora?
As a side note, it’s been a busy couple of weeks for our family, and we are heading to Athens, Ohio for the Ohio Brew Week Festival ( http://www.ohiobrewweek.com ) , so I may hit the main points and follow up later with any corrections or additions.
- Todd (host) - Sterken’s White Ale, Unibroue Don De Dieu, Trader Joe’s Anniversary (vintage)
- Chuck - Wiehenstephan, Bell’s Octoberfest
- Steve B. - AleSmith IPA, Brooklyn Lager
- Jay –
- Steve V. - Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar
- Pete - Sam Smith Pale Ale, New Holland Blue Goat Doppelbock (?)
- Zombie - Jimmy Buffet Land Shark Lager, Full Sail Session Lager
- Luke - Belgian Style Wietbeer(?)
- Mike/Joe - New Holland Zoomer Wheat Ale, Founders Dry Hopped Pale Ale, Bell’s Porter
- Andrew - Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout
- Paul - Southern Tier IPA
- Unclaimed — Morlein Emancipator
Here was the menu that was served…
- Pre-Tasting - Trader Joe’s Anniversary
- Chevre on crostini(paired with the Weihenstephan Hefeweizen)
- Grilled Portobello Mushrooms(paired with Rogue Hazelnut and Sam Smith Pale Ale)
- Garlic Shrimp Skewer(paired with a Belgian Style Wietbeer and an Brooklyn Lager, Full Sail Session & Land Shark)
- BBQ Beef Sliders(paired with AleSmith IPA and Founders Dry Hopped Ale)
- Beer Brined Pork Medallions(paired with Bell’s porter, Morlein Emancipator & New Holland Blue Goat Doppelbock)
- Lemon Squares(paired with Sterkens White Ale and Zoomer Ale)
- Chocolate Guinness Cake (new recipe)(paired with a Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout and Bell’s Oktoberfest)
- Bonus Beers - Southern Tier IPA & Unibroue Don De Dieu
Since the theme was food & beer pairings, my comments are strictly on the pairings themselves and how I felt each complimented the other. I felt all the food and beer were excellent selections!
The banana wheat flavor of the Weihenstephan complimented the crostini well. Most of the comments I heard suggested that the Rogue Hazelnut overwhelmed the grilled mushrooms; however, I felt the earthy flavors of the Hazelnut complimented these flavors better thean the Pale Ale. I didn’t think I would enjoy an American Lager, but I must say the crisp flavor of the lagers (especially Session) was an excellent choice to go with the shrimp skewers. Both Ale’s were great selections to go with the Beef, but the Founders Dry Hopped Ale stood out the best (maybe because wasn’t that much of the AleSmith to go around. Hmmm, I wonder if you get full credit for not bringing enough for everyone. :-)).
I thought the pork medallions went better the the Dobbelbock, the porter was a bit too heavy. The lemon bars were perhaps my favorite pairing, as I really thought the Belgium White Ale and Wheat beer went well with this desert. I didn’t think the Octoberfest was rich enough to go with the Guiness Cake; the Oatmeal Stout was a much better pairings.
As always, feel free to add your own comments or to correct any of the beers above. I’ve got a couple beer’s unaccounted for, I’m assuming they are from Luke and/or Jay…
MVP Points Totals
Todd (ie, Lora) gets 10 extra bonus points for the incredible meal selections had at this tastings as well as for posting all the recipes. He is docked 1 point however for his Russian Judge comments without checking to see if Jay earned his extra bonus point through some other means such as a blog entry). So in total, I’ve given him 15 hosting points + 10 hosting bonus points + 9 points for 3 beers + 5 for postings, including all the recipes, minus 1 Russian judge comment = 38 points, moving Todd into the lead. Steve and Chuck get bonus points for top 100 beers and Steve B and Steve V gets 5 and 1 extra points respectively for relevant postings (It really helps me if you post your beer selection and that’s an easy way to pick up an extra point). Let me know if I short-changed you on a bonus beer or if brought something special/difficult to find. Joe/Mike as well as Pete also had bonus beers.
Prev Total June Score New Total
- Todd 44 38 82
- Steve B 61 16 77
- Andrew S. 45 0 45
- Mike 40 5 45
- Steve V. 40 3 43
- Andrew W 35 3 38
- Chuck 27 8 35
- Jay 27 3 30
- Zombie 23 6 29
- Dave S 28 0 28
- Luke 19 3 22
- Joe 13 5 18
- Pete 12 6 18
- Dave H 3 0 3
June Tasting: Food/Beer Pairings
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 | Tasting Reviews | 9 Comments
Here’s the latest information from Todd regarding beertasting…..
As of today, we have 10 attendees (including myself). Based upon that, I have planned the tasting around 13 beers. I will provide multiple beers, and anybody else who wants to provide more than 1 is welcome to do so. Here is the list of beer styles we need:
- Belgian Style Wietbeer I (TBD) Todd
- Belgian Style Wietbeer 2 (TBD) Luke
- Hefeweizen Wiehenstephan (Chuck )
- American Style Wheat Beer New Holland Zoomer Wheat Ale (Mike)
- American Lager Jimmy Buffet Land Shark Lager (Zombie)
- Pale Ale I Founders Dry Hopped Pale Ale (Mike)
- Pale Ale 2 (TBD) Pete
- IPA AleSmith IPA Steve B.
- Brown Ale Hazelnut Brown Nectar (Steve V)
- Porter Bell’s Porter (Mike)
- Oktoberfest/Marzen potentially Bell’s Octoberfest (Chuck)
- Stout Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout (Andrew)
- Bock (TBD) Pete
(Chuck: Here are some possible suggestions of some of the traditional beers in each categeory.that we’ve not tasted yet this year. Selections marked with an * are in the top 100 list)
Belgian Style Witbiers — Hoegaarden, Unibroue Blanche de Chambly, Allagash White Ale, Celis White, Sam Adams White Ale, Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat
American Style Wheat Beers - Bell’s Oberon, Sam Adams Summer Ale, Three Floyd’s Gumbalhead, Sam Adams Hefeweizen, Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat, Magic Hat Hocus Pocus
American Lager — Lots of beers qualify for this category but I was hoping for something a little more refined such as Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold, Heavy Seas Uber Pils, Penn Pilsner. Technically, Dortmunder Gold and Penn Pilsner are German style lagers brewed in US, but I’d rather have them than Budweiser…
Pale Ale — Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Anchor Liberty Ale, Magic Hat #9, Alpha King Pale Ale*, Great Lakes Burning River Pale
IPA — Given the recent hop-themed beertasting, might be difficult to find a non-repeat in this category. Here’s some options… AleSmith IPA*, Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA, Heavy Seas Loose Cannon, Founders Centennial IPA, New Holland Mad Hatter IPA, Stone IPA (but Ruination IPA would be a repeat)
Brown Ale — Sam Smith Nut Brown Ale, Sam Adams Brown Ale, Pete’s Wicked Ale, Goose Island Nut Brown Ale, Abita Turbodog, Hobgoblin
Porter — Sierra Nevada Porter, Sam Smith’s Taddy Porter, Darwin Original Flag Porter
Octoberfest/Marzen — Not sure what’s available this time of year. The only Octerberst we’ve had this year is the Dayton Art Institute Octoberfest.
Bock — Shiner Bock, Anchor Bock, Dead Guy Ale, Aventinus* , Kulmbacher Eisbock ( I expanded bock beers to include maibock, doppelbock and Eisbock)
(Todd)
Please let everybody know what you are bringing so we end up with the right counts. Specify the specific brand/label if you are bringing one of the beers requiring two varieties.
Here is the menu:
- Chevre on crostini(paired with the Hefeweizen)
- Grilled Portobello Mushrooms(paired with a Brown Ale and a Pale Ale)
- Garlic Shrimp Skewer(paired with a Belgian Style Wietbeer and an American Lager)
- BBQ Beef Sliders(paired with an IPA and a Pale Ale)
- Beer Brined Pork Medallions(paired with a Porter and a Bock)
- Lemon Squares(paired with Belgian Style Wietbeer and an American Style Wheat Beer)
- Chocolate Guinness Cake (new recipe)(paired with a Stout and an Oktoberfest or Marzen)
_____________________________________________
From: Todd
Subject: June Beer Tasting
We will be meeting at my house on the 25th at 7:30 PM with tasting to begin shortly there after. Just to recap, it will be a food pairings theme. My lovely wife and I are working diligently to close on the menu, but the overall execution will be as follows.
My wife and I will prepare a handful of appetizers, main course finger foods, and of course the famous Guinness Cake, for a targeted number of 6-8 courses depending upon attendance. Early next week I will send out a note with the courses, as well as two beer selections (by type to allow the buyer some choice in selection) for each course (for the comparison). For example, we might have lamb and we will taste the dish with a Belgian Ale and an American Style Pale Ale (just an example, I am not saying this is a good choice for pairings).
Confirmed so far:
- Steve Brooke
- Jay
- Chuck
- Stephen VanHorn
- Pete
- Zombie
- Luke
- Mike
- Barter
What my house lacks in gadgets and high-end electronics, I promise to make up in ambience! I have polished the rabbit ears and channel 16 looks pretty good in B&W!