Tag Archives: Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams Pairing Dinner

My job is awesome. Awesome and delicious. I’m the craft beer pairing and education specialist for my company, which means that I get to help design beer pairing menus and participate in drool-worthy dinners.
amLast night, that dinner was at Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine in Woodland Hills. If you follow me on Twitter, you got a preview of what I’m about to show you.
am3Samuel Adams was the brewery of the night. Everyone filed in and was greeted with the social beer – Boston Lager, along with a keepsake pint glass.
am2The tables were laid out in a German picnic family-style, forcing everyone to meet new people and share awful and hilarious jokes.
am4Mike from Samuel Adams was there to give an introduction to the flagship beer and the glass design and how it affects the beer.
am1I’d met with Bart, the chef, about a month and a half ago, carrying in a full case of beer and some extra on the side to make sure we got the correct beers paired with the dishes. It was a rough afternoon of research, I tell ya.
am5The first dish that came out was the lobster sandwich on a housemade pita bread that was full of peppery lobster bisque and drizzled with avocado creme. We paired this with Samuel Adams Summer Ale – light and citrusy with a hint of coriander and grains of paradise that finishes dry.
am6The spices in the beer matched the pepper of the bisque while the citrus enhanced the natural sweetness of the lobster without overwhelming the dish. I demolished this.
am7The salad was next – spicy arugula wish goat cheese, strawberries, roasted nuts and drizzled with a citrus vinaigrette that incorporated the pairing beverage – Angry Orchard Crisp Apple Cider. Tangy and sweet, the dressing was absolutely wonderful and showcased the acidity of the cider. (Angry Orchard is made by Boston Beer, for those of you who were unaware.)
am8The first entree was something I’d been looking forward to since the first tasting (although I was looking forward to everything after they sent me the menu): Seared scallops with a white chocolate foam and peppered parmesan chip on top paired with Samuel Adams Norse Legend Sahti.
am9The sweetness of the white chocolate foam was tamed by the earthiness of the beer and pine of the juniper berries. At this point, I was starting to fill up. Only one and a half scallops was consumed, to my chagrin.
am10Final entree – Beef cheeks. Face cheeks, not butt cheeks for those of you who are wondering. Bart slow roasted these in a stew for hours, until they were falling apart. No knife needed.
am11I paired this with the Samuel Adams Third Voyage Imperial IPA – intense hoppiness and carbonation cut right through the rich fattiness of the beef and scrubbed the palate after every sip. I finished more than I probably should have thanks to that pairing…
am12And finally – a chocolate bomb with Jameson caramel and gold leaf paired with Samuel Adams Dark Depths Baltic IPA (which is actually a lager, but labeled as an ale?).
am13Intense chocolate filled with light and airy marshmallow ice cream. The hints of chocolate in the Dark Depths matched the flavor of the thick shell while the hoppiness evened out the intense sweetness and cleansed the palate. I only had a few bites of this before I had to quit. For shame.

Overall, a very successful dinner! Thanks to Bart and the entire team at Roy’s for their incredible menu!

3 Comments

Filed under beer pairing

Scientific Beer Research

Aaaaaaaaaah! Happy sigh! It is SO good to be home! I just got back from a long weekend in the Vegas, selling art, gambling (and winning! I won a whole dollar!!!), and being smacked in the knees and face by large panels as the 50mph gusts lifted our tent into the air, then set it down on my toes.

I repeat: It was a LONG weekend.

On to the more important things in my life: beer tastings and serious, scientific research for my next brew. We recently got a Total Wine (an actual beer haven! SO many craft beer selections!) a few towns over, and brought back a beautiful bounty to try out.
For scientific research purposes only!
First came Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat. Verdict: Not for me... This had an artificial cherry scent, and tasted like Miller Lite. Actually, I only THINK it’s what Miller Lite tastes like, since I’ve never actually tried Miller Lite.
Next up:  Samuel Smith Organic Cherry Ale. Verdict: LOVE! This had a nice, delicate, NATURAL cherry scent, and tasted more like a cider than an ale. I LOVE fruit beers, but I don’t want my brew to be quite as sweet, plus the entire brew process for a beer like this is highly complicated since you have to mix two separate brews that have fermented for different amounts of time with different yeasts, then add cherry juice. Yeah, way too complicated for my third brew… I will pick this up again when I’m hanging out with non-beer drinkers that I’m trying to convert!
Lastly: Raspberry Trail Ale by Marin Brewing. Verdict: LOVE the soft raspberry scent it gives off, “meh” on everything else. This beer was much too light for my liking. I like a beer with a little thicker mouthfeel and a richer flavor: this tasted like they’d added water to increase the volume. Not worth the price.

Overall, I think I’ve decided what my next brew will be, thanks to my tastings! I’ll wait to get all the logistics figured out and then announce it on my brew day! Woohoo!
I celebrated my awesome decision-making skills with a nice tall glass of intense Gulden DraakDizzy deliciousness!

2 Comments

Filed under beer tasting