On November 29th, 2016 I was lucky enough to attend the Moody Ales Brewmaster's Dinner that was held at Craft Beer market in the Olympic Village of Vancouver.
It is crazy to think that this is both my first brewmaster dinner at Craft was well as my first with Moody Ales. I had every reason to believe this would be an epic dinner though as Craft makes some great food and Moody Ales is a very solid brewery. I was also luck to be sitting at the Moody Ales table and got to catch up with some of the staff that I had not seen it a long time.
To start the night off everyone was served a glass of the Hardy Brown Ale. It is always nice to have a sleeve of beer to get the lips moving with new people. With the long table nature of this dinner that makes it a much better night when you can get to know your neighbors early. With that beer we also noticed the menu on our plates.
Before every course the head brewer Robyn Guille and the executive chef got up and talked about the beer and the food that were about to be delivered to the table.
First Course
Queso Fundido
Chorizo, melted cheese, BC Kennebec potatoes
Paired with Vienna Lager
I will have to say that nothing is better than a very well made chip dip! This happened to be one epic chip dip to boot. The cheese, potato and chorizo made a great flavour combination. The sweetness of the Vienna Lager cut though the mild spice quite well. This was my first taste of the Vienna Lager and it was very full flavoured and if you know me I am not a Lager fan usually.
Second Course
Roasted Corn Chowder
Charred serranos, roasted corn, cream, chili oil
Paired with Affable IPA
To continue with the firsts this was my very first corn chowder. I wish this was a much bigger portion as we all agreed that this was epic! I really liked the pickled corn. There was an almost non existent hops bitterness that built when you took a sip of the IPA. It a counterpoint to the first course the bitterness of the beer seemed to cut the sweetness of the soup.
Third Course
Buttermilk Fried Chicken
Chili spiced honey drizzle, jalapano cornbread, whipped butter
Paired with Sociable Pale Ale
Course three again stepped up the game. This fried chicken had amazing flavour with the honey drizzle without having a single note of being greasy. I felt that the honey from the chicken and the citrus from the beer mingled well. Now the chicken was deadly good but the cornbread with the jalapenos really paired up nicely with the mild bitterness form the pale ale.
Dessert
Chocolate Terrine
Raspberry leather
Paired with Russian Imperial Stout
The chocolate was very nice with a mild salting on top. The bourbon, oak and roasted malts of the Russian Imperial Stout really cut through the sweetness of the chocolate while still really working amazingly together. The raspberry leather was quite interesting in its own right.
In the end this dinner turned out to be one of my favourite that I have attended. Not only was the beer very tasty but the food paired well on each course. The kitchen killed it and I hope to check out more of these dinners in the future!
Catch up with Moody Ales
http://www.moodyales.com/
Catch up with Craft Beer market Vancouver
http://craftbeermarket.ca/vancouver
