Pairing: Bear Republic and Dessert
July 3, 2008 · Print This Article · Written by Mario
[This article is courtesy of Mario at Brewed for Thought, a blog dedicated to home and craft brewing across the country. Originally published 12 April 2008.]
As a beer snob/junkie/aficionado, I like to help introduce my friends to an assortment of fine ales. Mostly this involves forcing my wife to sample whatever it is I’m drinking that night. When we’re out with friends, I extend this privilege to them. One of my favorite activities though, is to host a beer pairing, where I select a theme and pair it with food. Tonight, we featured local brewery Bear Republic and paired their selection of bottled beers with various desserts.
I got this idea a while back, shortly after my Anderson Valley cheese pairing. During that evening, I learned a few things. First, cap the tastings to 5 or 6 beers, because after that, it begins to blur together. Second, don’t take it so seriously. I kind of drug the party down by trying to turn the group into beer snobs like me, instead of just enjoying the beer and cheese.
So the lineup tonight featured all 6 of the readily available Bear Republic family. This was a good choice because one of the people in our small group had mentioned a fondness for Racer 5. Since Bear Republic favors strong brews, and hoppy ones at that, I had a tough time deciding where in the sampling a few beers should go, but in the end, I figured the order would go as such: XP Pale Ale, Red Rocket, Racer 5, Hop Rod Rye, Pete Brown Tribute, and Big Bear Stout.
We started with the XP Pale Ale. My wife’s friend Kayla was delighted by the color of this beer. We paired this with a green apple pie from Marie Calenders. The flavors blended well with the tartness of the green apples shining through. This was an excellent way to start the pairings, very accessible flavors that were familiar to everyone.
Next was the Red Rocket paired with flan (Mexican custard, for the uninitiated) made from scratch by my wonderful wife. The Red Rocket and flan were both very rich, with the vanilla from the flan standing out. It was this richness of the two that made them match so well. All involved loved this pairing as well, except Johnny, who just doesn’t like flan. Too bad, his loss.
Third we went to my favorite beer and dessert pairing, IPA and carrot cake. We chose a carrot cake from the local Safeway (we picked the gourmet slice, because that’s how we roll). The intense sweetness of the carrot cake and the frosting was amplified by the bold malt and hop flavors of the Racer 5. When making this pairing, if using a different IPA, be sure to chose one with strong, floral hops flavors and a very sweet malt character. To me, Racer 5 reminds me of a biting a fresh hop dipped in honey, that’s the kind of IPA you want. Also, if you’ve ever bitten a fresh hop, with or without honey, you’d know this is not a pleasurable experience, and I would not recommend actually trying this. As for the pairing, this was the most popular of the evening.
Making the turn, we went on to the Hop Rod Rye paired with a dark chocolate torte from Whole Foods. This one was hit and miss. The group was split on the Hop Rod Rye. Johnny, Kayla and I really liked it, while my wife and Tommy were not fans. It’s a very aggressive beer, and asking newcomers to enjoy it is a bit much. Not only that, the torte was too dry, and while it looked fantastic (no picture, sorry), the taste didn’t back it up. What I can say is the two did compliment each other, with the beer really bringing out the flavors of the cake.
As we headed into the homestretch it was time for the “dark beers.” Pete Brown’s Tribute Ale was paired with Häagen-Dazs coffee ice cream. For me, this was the highlight of the evening. Ironically, Kayla commented the beer looked like root beer as it poured. Paired with the ice cream, the sensation of eating a root beer float came to mind. I actually took a large spoonful of the ice cream and dropped it in the last half of my beer. The two mixed together extremely well. Not everyone was a fan though, with one dissenting vote, costing this amazing pairing the “Best in Show” ribbon.
The finale for our evening was the Big Bear Stout and chocolate mousse from a local Italian restaurant. Our group of friends knows this restaurant for their mousse, so when we saw this as an option to be paired, we knew exactly what we would be getting. The mouse was fantastic, and brought out the roasted malt flavors of stout. Not as inspiring as the Brown and ice cream, this was a nice way to finish the evening. Aside from Johnny and I, no one else cared for the beer though, and we had the duty of finishing the last of the stout on very full stomachs.
In the end, the evening went well. I relaxed and let everyone have fun, simply asking for impressions after each sampling, then letting the conversation flow where ever it went. When it comes to desserts, I will probably buy less next time, as we were all a bit stuffed by the time the evening ended.
A big thank you goes to Jayne Allegra of Bear Republic. She came up with the pairings we had. Initially she gave us this list of pairings that we chose from. Maybe you can use it in the future to plan your own pairing.
- Red Rocket - Strawberry Rhubarb Pie or Flan
- Special XP Pale Ale - Apple Pie or Cobbler (Green Apple)
- Racer 5 IPA - Carrot Cake
- Hop Rod Rye - Dark Chocolate Torte or Tiramisu
- Pete Brown’s Tribute Ale - Coffee Ice Cream
- Big Bear Stout Ale - Milk Chocolate Mousse or Champagne Cake
Update: The wife was picking through the leftovers this afternoon and noticed the box for the chocolate torte. Turns out this was a vegan chocolate torte, which would explain why it sucked.
Sounds like a combination that I will have to try out! Yum!