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Sunday, May 4, 2014

Dogfish Head Beer Pairing @ 622 North

Ah my fellow winos, I'm back for another great read today inspired by my beer dinner attendance a couple weeks ago at 622 North. Dogfish Head Brewery sponsored this event and Executive Chef Katherine Shipko prepared the meals tonight in honor of the pairings.


Intro: 60 Minute IPA
The picture of the beer was photograph taken from Google images, unfortunately I was so distracted by the food, beer, experience as well as my fellow dinners, I forgot to take pictures of my beer glasses, etc. However the picture above closely resembles the glass in which we had the beer served. 

Beer Description: "60 Minute IPA is a continuously hopped --- more than 60 hop additions over a 60- minute boil. (Getting a vibe of where the name came from?) 60 Minute is brewed with a slew of great Northwest hops. A powerful but balanced East Coast IPA with a lot of citrus hop character, it's the session beer for hardcore enthusiasts."
http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/year-round-brews/60-minute-ipa.htm

My Review: Very mild for an IPA, normally I am not an IPA drinker because of the bitter after taste but this was a great selection to start the palate on because it did not have a bite on the finish but more a smooth gradual taste.

First Course: Sixty-One


 The picture of the food on the right hand side is photographed by me: Rachel Milteer, the picture of the beer was photograph taken from Google images, unfortunately I was so distracted by the food, beer, experience as well as my fellow dinners, I forgot to take pictures of my beer glasses, etc. However the picture above closely resembles the glass in which we had the beer served.

Food: Seared scallop, with grape leaves stuffed with braised pork, rice, fennel, golden raisin, and pine nuts, with a carrot orange and ginger puree, and shaved gruyere.

Beer Description: "Sixty-One, our first new core beer since 2007, was born at the crossroads of serendipity experimentation and brotherhood. Sixty-One captures that tradition in a bottle and marries two Dogfish Head innovations: beer/wine hybrids -- which Dogfish has focused on for well over a decade with beers like Midas Touch and Raison D'etre and continually hopped IPAs. The name Sixty- One is a reminder that this beer is Dogfish Head's best selling 60 Minute IPA PLUS one new ingredient: Syrah grape must from California."
http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/year-round-brews/sixty-one.htm

My Pairing Review: The food was amazing, something so unique and different I think the carrot, orange and ginger puree really picked up the grape notes in the beer as well as the overall experience was fantastic. This beer was sweeter than the 60 Minute and had a wine finish and that fuller body. The scallop was cooked to perfection, and I liked how she paired the braised pork to give that great meaty flavor that paired well with the tender scallop.

Second Course: Midas Touch

 The picture of the beer was photograph taken from Google images, unfortunately I was so distracted by the food, beer, experience as well as my fellow dinners, I forgot to take pictures of my beer glasses, etc. However the picture above closely resembles the glass in which we had the beer served. Also I was so hungry that I completely forgot to take a picture of the food this course, but promise the rest of the post has pictures.

Food: Pineapple marinated duck breast, with soba noodles tossed in a thai chili papaya sauce, lime segments, peanuts, green onion, pineapple, finished with a saffron lime creme fraiche.

Beer Description: "This was the first beer in our Ancient Ales series. This sweet yet dry beer is made with ingredients found in 2,700 year old drinking vessels from the tomb of King Midas. Somewhere between wine and mead, Midas will please the chardonnay and beer drinker alike."
http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/year-round-brews/midas-touch.htm

My Pairing Review: A mead/wine version of beer, sweeter, a very mild wine undertone, good and light, wouldn't recommend with meal and I wouldn't drink this beer over a long period of time. Smells like welches, served in a wine glass. (All from my notes). The meal was very citrus intense and I thought it might have overpowered the entire meal a bit even the beer too. The acidity level I thought was too high, but then again I do like a meal that has more punch than no punch. The duck was cooked perfectly and I thought the dash of onion on top was an excellent choice. I think the main reason I didn't think the pairing worked was the acid level in the dish.

Main Course: Noble Rot


 The picture of the food on the right hand side is photographed by me: Rachel Milteer, the picture of the beer was photograph taken from Google images, unfortunately I was so distracted by the food, beer, experience as well as my fellow dinners, I forgot to take pictures of my beer glasses, etc. However the picture above closely resembles the glass in which we had the beer served.

Food: Lobster cake with a red cabbage, pear and coriander salad, pear and apple parsnip puree, port wine and honey reduction, pear coulis and a salami chip.

Beer Description: "This saison-esque science project gets complexity and fermentable sugars from two unique wine grapes sourced with our friends at Alexandria Nicole Cellars in Prosser, Washington. The first addition is unfermented juice, known as must, from viognier grapes that have been infected with a benevolent fungus called botrytis. This noble rot reduces the water content in the grapes while magnifying their sweetness and complexity. The second is Pinot Gris must intensified by a process called dropping fruit, where large clusters of grapes are clipped to amplify the quality of those left behind. This is the absolute closest to equal meshing of the wine world and the beer world that has ever been done commercially" -Dogfish's Sam Calagione.
 http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/occasional-rarities/noble-rot.htm

My Pairing Review: Served in a Champagne flute. Many apple tones, very sweet sweet beer. Thought the lobster was extremely rich and meaty, loved the mixture of the apple pear puree, added that slice of sweet to cut through that savory richness. Thought it was an overall great pairing, along with the beer being a great subtle wino flavor profile.

Dessert: Positive Contact


 The picture of the food on the right hand side is photographed by me: Rachel Milteer, the picture of the beer was photograph taken from Google images, unfortunately I was so distracted by the food, beer, experience as well as my fellow dinners, I forgot to take pictures of my beer glasses, etc. However the picture above closely resembles the glass in which we had the beer served.

Food: Peppercorn crusted goat cheese, cheesecake, apple compote, caramel popcorn and spiced peanut mousse.

Beer Description: "A positive combination of Fuji cider, slow-roasted farro, a bit of cayenne and fresh cilantro. Named after a key track on the first album, Positive Contact is a 9% ABV hybrid beer and cider brewed. This sweet and sour Belgian-ish brew is a light straw color with fruity cider like notes. The cayenne an alcohol give it a warming finish."
http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/occasional-rarities/positive-contact.htm

My Pairing Review: Personally think that the bitterness was extreme in the beer and had absolutely no correlation to the dessert in my opinion. The dessert was a fantastic mix of sweet and salty and probably was the best of the night. I loved that peppery note at the end, gave it that punch but still kept the silky texture of the cheesecake quality, it was not that sweet which I loved and was the perfect ending to the meal. The beer I could not drink it was so hoppy and bittery. Unfortunate that, that was the beer that had to end my meal.

Conclusion:
  The night was overall a great success, I think the chef did an excellent job bringing a lot of flavor out of the beer with her ingredient choices. She really woke up my palate in new and unusual ways and I was excited as the dinner progressed! A true evening of great food, great drinks and great times.

FOR TA ONLY:

If any verification is needed for this dinner, please feel free to contact 622 North and they will be happy to relay the guest list with Walker Perkovich who invited me to this event a long with 3 other guests seated with us, Chef Tim being one of them! THANK YOU!


60 Minute IPA is continuously hopped -- more than 60 hop additions over a 60-minute boil. (Getting a vibe of where the name came from?)
60 Minute is brewed with a slew of great Northwest hops. A powerful but balanced East Coast IPA with a lot of citrusy hop character, it's the session beer for hardcore enthusiasts!
- See more at: http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/year-round-brews/60-minute-ipa.htm#sthash.iQCB5Wu8.dpuf
60 Minute IPA is continuously hopped -- more than 60 hop additions over a 60-minute boil. (Getting a vibe of where the name came from?)
60 Minute is brewed with a slew of great Northwest hops. A powerful but balanced East Coast IPA with a lot of citrusy hop character, it's the session beer for hardcore enthusiasts!
- See more at: http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/year-round-brews/60-minute-ipa.htm#sthash.iQCB5Wu8.dpuf
60 Minute IPA is continuously hopped -- more than 60 hop additions over a 60-minute boil. (Getting a vibe of where the name came from?)
60 Minute is brewed with a slew of great Northwest hops. A powerful but balanced East Coast IPA with a lot of citrusy hop character, it's the session beer for hardcore enthusiasts!
- See more at: http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/year-round-brews/60-minute-ipa.htm#sthash.iQCB5Wu8.dpuf


Wine Dinner #1

Greetings all my fellow winos, tonight I am going to recap my wine dinner from earlier this week. I decided to a tasting of three different wines, 2 white and 1 red. I thought I would make a simple pairing with 3 courses that were light, refreshing and scrumptious.

First Course: Caprese Salad with Spinach

Recipe:
1 Tomato
3-4 Slices of Mozzarella Cheese
4-5 Spinach leaves
A few sprigs of FRESH basil
& Balsamic Vinegar reduced down

Directions: Slice tomatos and cheese, intermingle every other, place on a bed of spinach then add desired amounts of basil and balsamic vinegar.

This salad was paired with a wine I tasted earlier and is in my tasting blog "Pascual Toso Sauvignon Blanc 2011." I thought this wine would pair extremely well with the acidity of the tomato but bring out subtle herbal notes and thought the basil would add a freshness to the palate as well. It was a good pairing considering I'm not an expert and it was a great summer starter.


Main Course: My Version of Beef Stroganoff

Recipe:
1.5 lbs of leaner Hamburger meat (cooked and seasoned)
1 Can of Mild Rotel (drained)
1 Jar of Light Alfredo Sauce
1 Bag of Egg Dumpling Noodles (boiled to aldante)
1 Jar of Sliced Mushrooms (drained)
1 Shallot (diced)
3/4 Valdalia Onion (diced)
1 dollop of Sour Cream (on top at the end)

Directions: Cook and season meat to desired taste (then drain fat), sweat the onions and shallots in pan and then add to meat as well as drained Rotel and Mushrooms. Leave on low heat for a few moments and then add Alredo Sauce until nice creamy texture. Boil noodles until the perfect doneness and then add into the same pan with meat sauce. VIOLA. Spoon out and add a dollop of Sour cream and if you are feeling extra zesty you can always add some jalapenos to the meat mixture.

Growing up my dad used to make this for us about every other week, it was such a hardy meal and it would always have great left overs. It was a meal that in college always reminded me of home and can be made a variety of different ways which I love (cause as a poor college student I couldn't always afford Shallots or Rotel etc). I paired this meal with a lovely Pinot Noir. Acacia 2011 Pinot Noir has a great smokey flavor that is mild but unctious and I thought with the meat and noodle dish that I created it would add a level of fullness and burst of flavor with each taste/bite. I thought the pairing was nice, but maybe a different red, something perhaps not as heavy would have gone better with such a hardy dish.

Dessert: Baked Banana's & Cream
 
Recipe:
1 Banana
Lite Whipped Cream (to go on after it's baked off)
1/2 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar

Directions: Slice Banana and sprinkle the cinnamon and brown sugar mixture over them and bake on 350 for 5-10 minutes until done! Then dollop whip cream on top!
I decided to pair this dessert with a moscato because I thought the sweetness of the wine would pair well with a dessert that isn't overally sweet and make a good balance. The wine has such a mild flavor with a very sweet finish that a simple dessert seemed to be just the right pairing. Overall the bananas made a good palate for this wine, any other overly sweet dessert would have been just too much to compare to the wines sweet profile.

Conclusion:

An overall evaluation of my cooking and pairing techniques is in my opinion basic and simple. I love to cook but I do it to the simple and straightforward approach and well I haven't learned all the proper techniques yet nor do I have the tools for that either. For the dinner in general I felt that I made good smart decision upon the wine choice. I thought each one complimented the food, although the red was a little too heavy for this particular meal it was a great try. If it means anything my roommate loved the whole thing and was happy to have my cook and provide three good wines for her to try and evaluate.



Tasting - "Ca Momi Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon"

Name: Ca Momi Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Napa Valley of California
Country: United States
Year: Not 100%
Alcohol: N/A
Vintage Cellar Price: Regularly $35 - Sale $19.95

Review: "This wonderfully ripe wine has a rich palate, a complex nose and lots of layers, providing depth and a nice dense color. This cabernet is softly complex, rich in cassis, cherry, spice, chocolate and oak flavors anchored with warm, earthy tannins - balancing nicely with sweet vanilla and chocolate toasted oak. This is the maestro of wines: a rich palate, a complex nose with lots of layers, great depth and a deep and rich color.100% Cabernet Sauvignon"
http://www.snooth.com/wine/ca-momi-cabernet-sauvignon-napa-valley-2011/#winemakernotes


My Review: Lots of blackcherry, and cherry notes on the smell along with a hint of smoke. The taste was surely a smokey one, but not too overpowering, I can hang with it. The taste of cherry however was crazy bursts. It was a very bold wine that I could definitely learn to appreciate in the next couple of months with a great beef or red meat along side of it. The finish was very woody in my opinion, nothing overwhelming though, an all around great red wine in my opinion.

On this occasion I tasted this wine on its own without food


Tasting - "Parra Jimenez Tempranillo 2010"

Name: Parra Jimenez Tempranillo 2010
Variety: Tempranillo (All Organic)
Region: Valencia
Country: Spain
Year: 2010
Alcohol: N/A 
Vintage Cellar Price: Regularly $15 - Sale $7.95

Review: "This easy drinking ruby red wine is fruity, balanced and has good acidity. A big hearty Spanish red"
http://www.nothingbutthegrape.com/producers/parra-jimenez.html

My Review: Lots of raspberries on the forefront part of the nose and also a mixture of dirty sock smell. The taste was barely there for me and again I was disappointed. I thought since this wine had such a great and weird nose it would have been a very interesting wines and it seems I need to train my palate a little to pick up on the miner more subtle notes in the wine. I thought there was definitely some cherry aspect but that is really all my palate picked up. It was mild obviously with nothing overly aggressive about, not even heat at the end which was nice.

On this occasion I tasted this wine on its own without food

Tasting - "Molly Dooker The Violinist Verdelho 2010"

Name: Molly Dooker the Violinist Verdelho
Variety: Verdelho
Region: McLaren Vale
Country: Australia
Year: 2010 
Alcohol: 15.5% 
Vintage Cellar Price: Regularly $30 - Sale $11.95

Review: "A blend of 1/3 Adelaide Hills fruit and 2/3 McLaren Vale, the 2010 The Violinist Verdelho gives intense aromas of lemon juice, white pepper, coriander seed and a touch of grapefruit peel. Crisp, rich and very full in the mouth (15.5% declared alcohol), this Verdelho provides a great intensity of spiced citrus flavors with some poached pears and apple slices coming through in the long finish. Delicious now, it should remain fresh and vibrant to 2013. "
90 Points


My Review: Nose had strong hints of apricot, dried fruits. Strong start to the wine, mid palate was clean how I like a great wine as well as the finish was milder than I had expected, I felt as though I couldn't dissect a particular flavor profile that stood out on my palate, it seemed to me the flavors sort of muddled together to much to really give me a specific note of one fruit or any wood or anything for that matter it was kind of upsetting in regards to the nose having such a wonderful first thought.

On this occasion I tasted this wine on its own without food

  

Tasting -" Pascual Toso Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Name: Pascual Toso Sauvignon Blanc
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Region: Mendoza
Country: Argentina
Year: 2009 
Alcohol: 14%
Vintage Cellar Price: Regularly $15 - Sale $6.95

Description: "Light straw green colour with aromas of herbs and lemon. This delightful wine is complex with fruit yet light enough to be enjoyed by itself or can be equally enjoyed with food"
http://www.donnybrookfair.ie/dfcatering/wine/argentina/all/pascual-toso-sauvignon-blanc

My Review: Smell seemed odd, of old shoes and leather car (not new leather) more like worn leather. Again this wine had an excellent mid-palate of lots of freshness from muted citrus undertones and bright finish for me. Really small hint of mint in a weird way, but it is allergy season so my palate could be all kinds of wacky (especially my nose).
 
On this occasion I tasted this wine on its own without food

Tasting - " Logos Navarra Rose"

Name: Logos Navarra Rose
Variety: 42% Barrel Fermented Garnacha,
28% Garnacha with no oak, 30% Tempranillo
Region: Navarra
Country: Spain
Year: 2012
Alcohol: N/A
Vintage Cellar Price: Regularly $18 - Sale $4.95

Description: "Light strawberry with copper tones proceeding from the barrique. Mature red fruits aromas, creamy spicy touch and with a vanilla bottom. Ample in mouth, filling it of fruit flavors of the variety, with a slight touch of good oak. Excellent balance between alcohol and acidity."
 http://www.timelesswines.com/logos-rosado-navarra-2012/

My Review: Sharp on the nose, extremely mild flavor compared to previous rose's I've tried in the past (which most have been sweeter side of things) Lots of floral notes on the nose as well as the mid-palate. I didn't think the finish held up to the first taste of the wine, but I guess that is how it goes. I honestly didn't get a very good or bad impression of the wine, it simply left me with a "forgettable" attitude towards it.


On this occasion I tasted this wine on its own without food 


P.S. Keep in mind during this weeks tasting there was a selection of 30 different wines to choose from, and the five I choose were simply based on price as well as grape variation. The above description of the wine is off a website in which I found a good amount of information about the wine that the "selection sheet" we were given did not offer. Thanks for being understanding about these next four wines as well!! :)