Category Archives: beer pairing

Tap Takeover at Dish

Last night, Enegren Brewing Company took over the taps at Dish in Thousand Oaks.
amChef Alfie had been inspired by a few of EBC’s beers and decided to put together a burger pairing for Dish’s weekly Monday Craft Beer and Burger Night.
am3While the boys set up for the evening, I greedily studied the menu and proceeded to order each of the featured burgers.
am6Buffalo Mole Burger, inspired by Captain Patrick’s Irish Stout – A thick, juicy buffalo patty cooked perfectly to medium, topped with a savory mole sauce emanating essence of dusty cocoa, sweet onions and a delicate spice of pepper. The dry Irish stout enhanced the smokiness of the burger and brought forward the rich chocolate in the mole while taming the spice.
am7Three Little Pigs, inspired by Protector Imperial IPA – This burger was a little overwhelming at first. Stacked to high heaven and no knife and fork in sight…
am8We topped it with the tender brioche bun and proceeded to compress it until it was almost short enough to take a full bite. House ground pork patty topped with the thickest bacon I’ve ever seen topped again with barbecue pulled pork and crispy onions. The hoppiness of the beer cut through the adiposity of the bacon while balancing out the sweetness of the barbecue sauce.
am9I also happened to see a new addition to the chalkboard – Onion rings coated in Golden Spur Saison batter, served with warmed zesty dijon mustard dipping sauce spiked with Golden Spur. The batter was light, flaky and piping hot. Everything was greedily consumed and copious amounts of napkins were used.
am4In addition to the five beers on tap, the boys brought along a cask of Vanilla Oaked Valkyrie – a favorite of the brewery regulars.
CaskRon of Dish tapped the keg in the early evening and we were pleased to see many glasses being sent out around the restaurant.
am5After a taster of the cask, I was designated the task of disposing of any “mispours” made by the boys. I didn’t complain – gotta do what I can to help out!
am1Overall it was yet another delicious night, as seems to be tradition when there’s beer and food involved.
am10The night was almost ruined for me when my camera bag betrayed me and threw my beloved camera onto the street, cracking the lens right down the middle. While I stood in shock, hyperventilating, internally cursing and trying not to faint, Commander Matt calmed me down and showed me that the body and actual lens of the camera were fine – the protective UV cover had taken all the abuse. The above picture is proof that my lovely camera still lives. Crisis averted.

Said camera bag may be burned and replaced for its betrayal.

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Getting Up to Speed

A few of the things that have transpired lately…
amPLINY THE YOUNGER! Didn’t even have to wait in line! I was taking a different route home, got a call from a lovely lady from Ladies at Ladyface and was receiving a pour two minutes later. I’m glad that I tried it, but I’m very glad I didn’t wait in line for it. It’s a perfectly balanced beer. Someone at Tony’s Darts Away explained it the best way – “So perfect it’s forgettable.” I’ll remember it just because of the hype. And the jalapeno and bacon mac ‘n cheese I paired with it.
am3Enegren Brewing and El Segundo Brewing beer pairing night at Short Order!
am1am4Tom from El Segundo Brewing, Matt and Joe from Enegren Brewing.
am2Valkyrie California Alt in front of the fire on a warm evening.
am5Bad news for you guys – the food was so delicious that it was devoured before I remembered I should be taking pictures. My apologies.
am7Custom Melt visited the brewery for our St. Patrick’s Day event!
am9Green Mac ‘n Cheese with Bangers. Spinach blended into the cheese made it green. And healthy. That’s how that works.
am8Heavenly corned beef and cabbage melts. It was jam packed again, similar to Superbowl Saturday, so I was only able to snag a few bites of everything.
am6Irish Car Bomb bread pudding! Thomas of Custom Melt made Valkyrie beer bread to use in this recipe. Have I mentioned how Custom Melt is my hero/haven/love/dream?
am10We had the 21st meeting of Ladies at Ladyface! Irish brews were the theme.
am11Plenty of donations from the ladies.
am12Traditional examples of nitro Irish stouts.
am13And and “Irish Car Bomb” beer by Ladyface owner Cyrena. She used Ladyface’s Barleywine and threw in whiskey-soaked oak chips. Dangerously delicious, plus each glass had an oak chip or two gracefully floating atop the sweet nectar.
am15Corned beef and cabbage sliders to top off the evening!
am17I also designed and hosted a beer pairing at Cafe Fiore in Woodland Hills!
am16The things my job requires me to do… It’s rough, I’m tellin’  ya.
am18Chef masterpieces commence….NOW.
am20Ahi Tuna Tartar with fresh avocado,  house-pickled cucumbers and crispy focaccia. I could’ve eaten just this all night and been content.
am21Citrus-glazed shrimp skewers with citrus wedges and spring greens.
am22House-made chicken and sun-dried tomato sausages atop sweet polenta, drizzled with a balsamic reduction. Again, heavenly.
am23Corned beef sliders – twas the season.
am26Awful picture, but possibly my favorite dessert EVER – caramel sauce, freshly sliced Fuji apples and asiago cheese atop freshly baked pizza crust. My boss, my boss’s boss and myself each ordered an additional one to take home and share with those who were truly deserving of such an abundance of deliciousness – that means I ate the majority of it. It’s THAT good.
am27I had a lovely girls’ night with Janelle and her little Avery last night as well! She made an amazing spread of stuffed peppers, roasted sweet potatoes and fresh salad to pair with the beers I brought.
amamaFarmer’s Reserve No. 2 by Almanac Beer Company. Wonderfully tart and not overpowering with spices at all. This will be a repeat.
am28Avery was a little jealous of us I think. Only 20.3 years and then you can join us in appreciation of fermented liquids! She shall be trained well when the time comes, but for now I’m enjoying capturing her beautiful innocence.

Coming up this week – a new restaurant review. I did a beer education at this amazing place with an eccentric/genius chef and have been dying to sit down and have a full meal there. Tomorrey is that day.

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Superbowl Saturday

Enegren Brewing and Custom Melt joined forces today for a Superbowl Saturday Extravaganza!
am10Food and brews for six hours straight. We prepared for a heavy onslaught of hungry and thirsty revelers.
am1The menu was set – partly created by our very own Brianne Braun Enegren! She created these short ribs with Daniel Irons Oatmeal Stout for a brewery “family dinner” a few weeks ago, and the owners of Custom Melt decided to turn it into a sammich. Yes, please, thank you very much.
am2The food was prepped right outside the roll-up door behind the brewery and the smells were devastatingly tempting to all of the hungry souls inside.
am3About twenty minutes before Custom Melt officially began serving…
am4And this is what the brewery looked like for the rest of the day – a constant flow of brewery and Melt fans alike poured through the door. Those of us working behind the bar didn’t have a single chance to sit down, let alone enjoy a full dish from our in-house chefs. In between inhaling bites while hidden below the bar, I went around snapping pictures of other people’s food in order to have some sort of commemoration of what had graced our presence.
am7Mac ‘n cheese with parmesan crumbles.
am8Zesty chili paired with a Daniel Irons Oatmeal Stout.
am6Mac ‘n chili dog! My personal favorites of the day were a tie between the EBC short rib melt and the mac dog – both of which went unphotographed as they were being quickly consumed in between pouring glasses and washing said glasses.
am5It was an incredibly successful day full of happy, patient people, delicious foods and brews and incredibly sore feet. I’m attempting to heal with a Maui Brewing Sobrehumano Palena’ole. It’s not quite killing the ache yet.

Tomorrey is Superbowl Sunday! I’ve got a few recipes up my sleeve that I can’t wait to share with you!
amI have it on good authority that Daniel Irons Oatmeal Stout French Toast might be on the menu in the morning. Stay tuned!

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Golden Road with Pops

My pops came into town for a business trip and was staying in Burbank, so I hopped into my new car and cruised down to pick him up for dinner.
AM3Golden Road was only ten minutes away and we arrived right before the dinner rush.
amFigueroa Mountain’s Stagecoach Stout for me…
AM1Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout for my pops!
AM2We split two dishes – slow cooked ribs with housemade balsamic, hefeweizen barbecue sauce and cornbread…
AM4and cast iron lasagna full of tender noodles, ground chuck and piping hot cheeses alongside fresh garlic bread. Thick, warming stouts ended up being the perfect pairing for these rich dishes – espresso, chocolate and high alcohol (at least for the Yeti) enhanced the richness of both the ribs and the deep dish of cheesy goodness.
AM5I topped off the meal with Golden Road’s Berliner Weisse with Woodruff syrup – dessert! Since I was designated driver of the night, I really appreciated the option of a 2.8%ABV brew. I was hoping to show my pops inside Chloe’s, the new semi-private beer industry space connected to the pub, but was told that they were having a private event.

“A private event… I recognize almost everyone going into Chloe’s right now… The L.A. Beer Blogger event was tonight!” – My thought process. Since I’d signed up to attend and completely forgotten that the blogger gathering was that evening, it worked out extremely well for me to be able to give my dad a glimpse of the cute little pub-like area.
AM7Kip Barnes of Bierkast was the originator of the event which was kindly hosted by the PR peeps of Golden Road, Cambria and Frances.
AM6It was almost as jam packed as the invitational grand opening night! Drew Beechum and John Palmer made guest appearances to give talks on writing about beer and homebrewing. After checking the place out we said a quick hello to blogger and beer friends before making our way down the street to Glendale Tap for a rousing game of billiards and more craft brews.

Tomorrey is Enegren Brewing’s Superbowl Saturday event with local deliciousness Custom Melt! Come down for some amazing grub and brews between 12pm-6pm!
am10SHORT RIB MELLLLLLLLT!!!!!

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Beer ‘n Wings Night

One evening I was sitting at home after a long day’s work, in desperate want of buffalo wings and a good craft beer to pair with them. I opened my computer, went into Facebook and created the group “Beer ‘n Wings“. Once a week a group of friends and brewery regulars (who are now friends) get together at a new spot and test out the wings and taps, in search of the best in the state. So far we’ve hit up Hooters (twice), the Dugout, Arkaine’s, Brendan’s Irish Pub in Newbury Park, BJ’s in Westlake, Wood Ranch and our latest destination: CUSTOM MELT!!!
amThe owners of Custom Melt, Phil and Thomas, offered to host our latest wings night. Thomas specially prepared out-of-this-world wings drenched in his own creation of sauces. Thomas and Phil, thank you so much for going out of your way for us!
AMImportant things first – chips and cheese and BEER! Firestone Double DBA on tap? Yes. Sweet toffee malts balanced out with rich, earthy oak and topped off with a touch of hop bitterness. 12%ABV. Yes.
AM1First up were the spicy wings. Tender, succulent and a hearty kick of spice at the end. The second – chipotle barbecue wings. Smoky and sweet. The third?
AM2A combination of the spicy sauce with the chipotle barbecue. This was everyone’s favorite and made for a PERFECT pairing with the Double DBA. The ribbons of caramel in the malts complimented the sugar in the sauce and tamed the flame while the oak danced with the smokiness of the chipotle making each bite and sip taste like more. Okey, now I’m hungry again.
am8We had a lovely group of nine craft beer and wing enthusiasts. When people heard that Custom Melt was hooking us up, they raced to sign up. This place is HOT within the people of Moorpark for good reason!
am3Enough pictures, time to eat more.
am4Good job, John. We went through THIRTY POUNDS of wings that night! I’m quite proud of the nine of us accomplishing this grand feat.
am7Of course we had to end with an official dessert. Daniel Irons – Missoura style! Enegren Brewing’s Daniel Irons Oatmeal Stout with a splash of coffee, topped with whipped cream and another dash of rich stout.
am5Delicate aroma with hints of vanilla, robust cocoa and a touch of coffee.
am6This message was approved by Chris Enegren.

Now the question that awaits us all – where do we go first in the new year?

I’m off to Colorado for eleven days of breweries, beer, brewery tours, family, Christmas, beer and breweries! Keep up with my Twitter, Facebook and blog for updates throughout the upcoming week!

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Ladies at Ladyface: 13

This month, the ladies planned a hike to the top of Ladyface Mountain! Unfortunately, I arrived too late to attend.
Definitely missed out a little bit, but instead I got to have an awesome 3 hour dinner with this lovely lady!
Janelle’s little one is due very soon!
I started off with the Spring Farm Salad – arugula, fresh blueberries, avocado, shaved parmesan and candied almond slivers tossed in a champagne vinaigrette. This monster of a salad took me almost an hour to complete, but I couldn’t stop – so delicious! I paired it with a taster of the Derailleur and a taster of the Reyes Adobe Red.
We had a tough time deciding what to get for dessert, so we got two dishes and split them. First up was the slow roasted stone fruits – white peaches, nectarines and black and red plums served with ricotta dulce and honey lavender. We probably should’ve gotten two the way we demolished the contents of the glass.
The Chocolate Porter Torte was next, with fresh vanilla gelato slowly melting atop. The drink pairing for this was obvious.
French press coffee! Not what you were expecting?
We were serenaded by the peaceful voice of Masha McSorley as the sky began to darken.
The ladies who had attended the hike came back burdened with a huge bouquet of mountaintop gatherings which they promptly presented to us and then immediately ordered their refreshments for proper rehydration after their strenuous exercise.
More french press was foolishly consumed by myself, and I spent the rest of the evening/night buzzing around in an overstuffed bliss.

Next time I’ll be joining in on the hike and then eating even more to refuel after!

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Ladies at Ladyface: One Year

Happy Anniversary to the Ladies at Ladyface: The Fermentables and Comestibles Education and Tippling Society!
Ladies at Ladyface: 1 – Trying out Ladyface beers.
Ladies at Ladyface: 2 – Brewery tour and aroma lessons.
Ladies at Ladyface: 3 – Favorites of the ladies.
Ladies at Ladyface: 4 – Summer brews!
Ladies at Ladyface: 5 – Harvest Ales.
Ladies at Ladyface: 6 – Oktoberfest.
Ladies at Ladyface: 7 – Holidays and white elephant beer exchange.
Ladies at Ladyface: 8 – Ladyface’s second anniversary.
Ladies at Ladyface: 9 – Chocolate and beer pairing.
Ladies at Ladyface: 10 – St. Patrick’s day brews.
Ladies at Ladyface: 11 – Dry hopping experimentations.
For Ladies at Ladyface: One Year, I brought along my cousin Allie to partake. I’m slowly trying to lure her away from wine and replace it with beer. Baby steps.
We split the goat cheese and basil fritters – I missed out on these last year when they came out, so I had to get an order! The tangy goat cheese with the spicy jalapeno jam and smooth avocado is a brilliant combo! Perhaps a little too much goat cheese for one bite, but delicious nonetheless!
Since we were turning one year old, Cyrena decided we would have an “aged” night. Barrel aged beer and cheese pairings, anyone?
The cheese plate contained a firm goat cheese, creamy basque, nutty Manchego and zesty blue cheese as well as sliced apples and a cherry reduction. We were served the Chaparral Saison, Blind Ambition, Co-Hoperative IPA and Blue Belly Barleywine that’s been aging for a while. After plenty of experimentation, I decided that the IPA helped cut through the silky, creamy basque, the Blind Ambition enhanced the nuttiness in the Manchego and also brought out the sweetness of the goat cheese. Not a fan of blue cheese, so that poor neglected cheese was basically ignored… Oops.
In addition to the beers above, J.J. brought this bottle of oak aged insanity from Brew Dog: Tokio. You are indeed reading that right: 18.2%ABV. The aroma on this baby is overwhelmingly tar and sherry-like. If you like roasty cough syrup, this is for you! It hurt to sip, but I wouldn’t quite say it was bad… It’s just not beer.
This aged beer was more to my liking – Supplication by Russian River. This is a sour beer that doesn’t have the hint of sweetness that you tend to find in beers aged with cherries. A powerful aroma swimming with cherries and a crisp tartness that stings the tongue in a delightful way.

It was a wonderful way to celebrate the way all of us ladies have grown in our knowledge of beer and overwhelming excitement about bringing craft beer into the world of women.
In other Ladyface-like news – Christian finally picked up his growler! There are still a few left waiting to be claimed! Those of you who won, come and get them, otherwise they’ll be donated to the next customers who look excessively thirsty.

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Ladies at Ladyface: 9

Last night was our monthly meeting of Ladies at Ladyface: The Fermentables and Comestibles Education and Tippling Society. On the agenda – beer and chocolate pairings!
I absolutely love spicy chocolate. I also love IPAs. I also love how IPAs make spicy chocolate seem even spicier!
(Photo credit to Stacey P.) We brought along some fiery chocolate from my favorite little chocolate shop in Ventura, Trufflehounds, to pair with Ballast Point Sculpin IPA (an AMAZING IPA, by the way!). The bitterness of the hops amplify the spice of the chocolate by tenfold, so if you like spice, you’ll love this combo! For those attendees who don’t enjoy the pain of spice as much as I do, I brought La Trappe Quadrupel. The creamy maltiness of this beer still allows you to relish the spice in the chocolate, but also acts as a mellowing agent after the first sip. The majority of the ladies seemed to prefer the quad pairing over the IPA.
I began the night with Ladyface’s Blind Ambition, which I haven’t ordered in over a year but was feeling nostalgic for.  This was a flashback to the first time I tried it – a nice floral aroma, hints of malty sweetness and a clean, crisp ending. I also got a taster of the cask of the week, Beer PancakesRussian Lullaby Imperial Stout with maple syrup and vanilla beans. The vanilla aroma really emanates from the beer, even in a taster glass, while the maple hides right beneath it, finishing the beer with an extra layer of smooth, sugary goodness. This beer is like a delicious, boozy chocolate milkshake. Love!

We had a full house of ladies, with other pairings like C7 (homemade cashew brittle with cumin, cinnamon, chocolate and three other “C”s) with a homebrewed pale ale, homemade spicy peanut brittle drizzled with 67% dark chocolate paired with Ladyface IPA, dark chocolate sprinkled with lavender salt paired with Ladyface’s smoky Midnight Special scotch ale on nitro, and a handful of others. I was too busy enjoying myself to get more pictures, so here are a few random ones from my weekend.
Sweet potato tater tots at Lazy Dog Cafe.
Spicy buffalo sauce chicken nuggets, also from Lazy Dog Cafe.
Grilled pizzeti with goat cheese, prosciutto, fresh basil and garlic with a red wine sangria from Roman Holiday.
Random sighting in my town. CHIVE ON!

Tonight, I head back to Ladyface for yet ANOTHER off flavor tasting. Wish me and my poor taste buds luck.

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Beer Pairing: Sweet and Sour Chicken

Welcome to the second edition of pairing food and beer! This recipe is compliments of my mumsie who threw a bunch of random things into a bowl and made delicious magic!

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Quinoa
(Serves 4-6 people)
Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken breast, chopped
2 tbsp gin
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 can of chopped pineapple, drained
1/2 cup pineapple juice
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 cup quinoa, dry
2 cups water or chicken broth

1. In a large bowl, combine the chicken, gin, soy sauce, olive oil, onion, bell peppers, pineapple and pineapple juice. Stir well, cover and let marinate for 1-4 hours.
2. With a slotted spoon, remove vegetables and chicken and spread one even layer on a cookie sheet covered with foil.
3. Take the marinade and bring to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the balsamic vinegar and simmer until reduced by 1/3.
4. Bake vegetables and chicken in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally until chicken is no longer pink inside.
5. Remove the chicken from the trays and place in a bowl, covered to keep warm.
6. Bake the vegetables until soft and golden – about 15 more minutes.
7. Cook quinoa according to directions on package, substituting chicken broth for water.
8. Serve everything together, drizzled with the marinade reduction.

Deliciousness marinating!
Spread in one layer so all the vegetables are cooked evenly.

This is a hearty, filling meal with a lovely tangy sweetness. I’d recommend pairing this dish with a rich nut brown ale or any other sweet malty beer to really emphasize the caramelized sugars that form as a crust on the pineapple after it’s baked in the oven. If possible, drink local!
Enegren Brewing’s Valkyrie California Alt – rich, malty and a smooth finish. The residual sugars in this match perfectly with the marinated chicken and vegetables.
Island Brewing Company’s Nut Brown Ale – this one is a little drier, but still has enough malty sweetness and roasty back-end to enhance the sweet marinade reduction. If you want to be blown away, throw a handful of roasted peanuts on top, combine with a nut brown and let your taste buds go crazy!

Some mainstream beers that would pair well with this dish:
Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale – rich malts and a toasted nutty finish with just a touch of hops.
Chimay Premiere (Red) – sweet dried fruits and a relatively dry end.
Sierra Nevada’s Tumbler – hints of chocolate and toasted nuts with medium high carbonation and light sweetness.

I’m sure there are plenty more! If you make this, share your beer pairing choices!

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Beer Pairing: Bite Me Chicken Stew

Good afternoon! I’ve decided to start a little series about pairing different styles of beer with food -  partially in preparation for the Cicerone test, and partially because every single type of meal can be brought to another level when combined with the right style of beer. I’ll try to post a new pairing every week and if you have any questions, recommendations or requests, feel free to write them down in the comments!

Yesterday I was feeling a little under the weather and was craving something warm with a spicy “bite”, so I threw a bunch of random foodstuffs from my cupboards into a pot and came up with:

Bite Me Chicken and Brown Rice Stew
(Serves a lot of people)
Ingredients:
6 cups homemade chicken stock (recipe below) or premade chicken stock
1 can (4 ounces) diced green chiles
1 can diced tomatoes
1 box Rice-A-Roni Spanish Brown Rice + 1/2 of the spice packet
2/3 cup frozen or fresh corn
1 avocado, cubed
The juice of 1 lime

1. Bring the homemade chicken stock to a boil.
2. Add the green chiles, tomatoes, Rice-A-Roni + 1/2 the spice packet and reduce to a simmer.
3. Let it simmer for twenty minutes, stirring occasionally, and add the corn.
4. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and garnish with diced avocado and sprinkle with lime juice.

Homemade Chicken Stock
Remnants of a baked chicken, bones and all
6 cups cold water
4 carrots, sliced
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1-3 tsp hot pepper flakes, depending on spice preference

1. Place the chicken in a large pot, cover with cold water and bring to a boil.
2. In a pan, saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent (about 7 minutes).
3. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, salt, pepper and hot pepper flakes to the pot and let simmer for 1 to 3 hours.
4. Remove the chicken bones, keeping as much meat in as possible and bring stock to a boil.
5. Continue with the Bite Me Chicken and Brown Rice Stew recipe above.
I decided to pair this wonderfully spicy stew with Uinta’s Cutthroat Pale Ale (I’d recommend either a pale ale or an IPA for this soup). The pale ale has just a hint of a bitter backend to enhance the spicy bite that rounds out the edges of the stew, but enough of a light graininess so as to not compete with the flavors. The caramel malts that grace your palate at the end of the sip brings out the sweetness of the corn and tender chicken. If you want to really suffer (in a good way), pair this with a seriously hoppy IPA like Dogfish Head 90 Minute or another dry pale ale. The hops will make the spice even more pronounced and clear your head of any congestion, guaranteed.

Other pale ale pairing recommendations:
- Fish ‘n chips – crisp hops help to cut through the grease
- Grilled/broiled halibut – dry pale ale doesn’t overwhelm the delicate flavors of white fish
- Gumbo – hops bring out the spices while chilling the afterburn at the same time
- Sushi – light flavors in pale ale add a sweet complexity that pairs well with the vinegar-graced sushi rice
- Anything fried, spicy, or seafood of any kind
- Pale ales with higher IBUs are good for dishes like roast beef or pork roasts to bring out the sweetness of the meats

Any other food pairings you’ve tried with pale ale that you’d like to recommend?

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