Stanley Park Brewing has launched their latest beer in the WinterGlow IPA. For the launch they held an event at the Stanley Park Pavilion inside Stanley Park.
The event started at 6:30pm where they started us off with a bottle of WinterGlow. For the first half hour we were treated to WinterGlow and a few other beers and a sample or two of a duck canape.
The WinterGlow IPA pours a golden colour with an off white head. The aroma consists of biscuit malts, mild hops and a hint of mandarin ornages. The flavour is of Biscuit malts, mandarin orange rind, mild mandarin orange, citrus and hops bitterness. The alcohol content comes in at 6.4% with an IBU of 55. Don't let the Mandarin oranges scare you as they add a nice note of orange while the IPA characteristics rule the day.
Once the welcome tasting was done everyone was welcomed into the dining hall. Once everyone was seated we were treated to a family style beer dinner. Share plates of each dish were set out on the table. The dinner started with with two salads then followed with 5 entrees and one dessert.
Salad CoursesWatermelon Salad
Kalamata olives, pickled onion, mint, arugulaPaired with Noble Pislner
Broccoli & Grape Slaw
Cheddar, sour cream dressing
Paired with WinterGlow IPA
The Watermelon Salad and the Pilsner both were very light and refreshing. The mild hops in the pilsner are a nice accent to the flavour of the salad. The WinterGlow IPA had a nice earthiness that worked with the Broccoli Slaw but the hops bitterness was a bit of a off putting for the pairing. The Pilsner seemed to be a better pairing for the group I was sitting with.
Once the salad course was done the entrees started to come.
BBQ Chicken Legs
burnt & sticky
Paired with Windstorm Pale Ale
Steelhead En Papillote
SPB Mandarin IPA, bergamot, lemon, dill
Paired with WinterGlow IPA
Roasted Baby Potatoes
sea salt, olive oil
Paired with Foghorn IBA
Ratatouille
Paired with Noble Pilsner
Starting with the Chicken Leg the flavour was awesome! The chicken was sweet and sticky and I found the Windstorm kind of got lost in the sweetness. The WinterGlow on the other hand was a great pairing with the mandarin orange and the hops bitterness both complimenting the meat. The Steelhead was tasty but mild. The IPA was a bold pairing for a mild fish but it worked. The Roasted Potatoes were the best pairing of all 4 entrees. The root vegetable pairs amazingly with an earth beer like the Foghorn. The final of the 4 was the Ratatouille that had a mild peppery note to the beer. The mild hops bitterness helps to accentuate the pepper in the food.
DessertGrapefruit Pana Cotta
pistachio crumble
Paired with Windtorm Pale Ale
The big grapefruit citrus in the dessert really matched up with the fruitiness of the Pale Ale. I don't usually get overly excited about desserts but this one was super tasty!
Stanley Park Brewing really knows how to throw a party! I look forward to the next launch party they hold. But until then make sure to pick up some of the WinterGlow IPA as it is quite tasty!
