December Beer Dinner At Slows BBQ: Blow by Blow

Oof. I would say we were stuffed like the proverbial Christmas goose Monday night at the Slows Beer Club Dinner for December. (And partly stuffed with said goose.)

Butter Poached King Crab Leg, Spaghetti Squash, and Asian Pear
with
Seriously Bad Elf

This beer is Ridgeway's decidedly British take on a Belgian Tripel. It's estery (pear,) with a whiff of higher alcohols. The rough edges were smoothed away by the food.


Turkey and Coconut Milk Soup
with
Bad Elf

Awesome pairing. The soup had lemongrass in it, which really clicked with the beer, a strong bitter made with UK grown Cascade hops.

Foie Gras and Golden Raisin Risotto with Goose Cracklings
with
Great Lakes Christmas Ale

The luscious rich ale, with caramel, ginger, and cinnamon, was perfect with the foie gras.

Pan Roasted Pork Tenderloin, Pink Lady Apple, and Beet
with
Anchor Our Special Ale

Spicy, herbal Anchor Christmas was especially good with the pork and the beet. As a bonus, there were smoky beet greens with bacon.

Cassoulet with Goose Leg Confit, Sausage, and Goose Pastrami
with
Scaldis Noel

It takes a beer with backbone to stand with the hearty bean and meat stew. No problem here. The peppery pastrami, smoky kielbasa, and savory confit played nicely against the 'big wall of malt.'

Tourtiere
with
(Mr. Cicerone's) Winter Warmer

Tourtiere is a meat pie with ground pork, beef, onions, and other vegetables. Kind of like a Quebecois version of a pasty, only it gets a dose of clove or allspice. The beer is similar to a strong Scottish Ale, with a threshold level whiff of smoked malt, so this worked well.

Plum Pudding with Egg Nog Ice Cream
with
He'brew Jewbelation 13

This beer goes to 13! Wheeze, gurgle, gurgle, gasp, thud.



The pudding. That's brandy in Chef Brian's hand, at left. Unfortunately, the flames from brandy don't photograph well, so you'll just have to imagine them....