Olivier Bioteau from Farm House Cafe paired Alaskan salmon confit, wheat flour corn pancake, fennel relish and harissa oil with Lightning Brewing companies Ionizer Lager. The sweetness of the pancake had a great contrast against the lager, while bringing out the fresh clean flavor of the salmon.
Paul Mccabe from kitchen 1540 paired a great foie gras brat with fingerling potato salad and mostardo with Ballast Point's Navigator doppelbock. The balance of the brat to the beer for me was a little off. The creaminess off the foie took over alot of the flavor of the doppelbock, with high notes of acidity, maybe it was the mostardo.
Jason Knibb of nine-ten did a pairing with one of my favorite beers Green Flash's Le Freak. Jerk chicken with plantain puree and scotch bonnet pepper jam went really well with Le Freak. I was expecting more from the scotch bonnet pepper jam, to cut threw the sweetness of the beer. The chicken was juicy and tender.
Christian Graves of J-six did a awesome pairing with Stones Sublimely Self Righteous Ale.
Smoked prune pork sausage, with watercress and wild rice, red wine vin gelee and hoppy crouton. One of the highlights of the tasting, great ratio of fat to protein on the sausage. The saltiness balanced well with the hops and lemon aroma. The roasted caramel flavor paired well with the pepper of watercress and nuttiness of the wild rice.
Andrew Spurgin of waters fine catering and Tomme from The lost Abbey did an amazing pairing with Berkshire Pork Belly cherry smoked celestial figs injected with balsamic and a nice fennel salad. Great fat content on the pork belly. Nice tones of spices and herbs balancing along with the Sourness of Cuvee de Tomme. A nice touch of pickled fennel right at the end to remind you that you have one of the best sours in the world, in your hand. San Diego represent!
Brian Sinnott, Michael Ruffner and Ted Glennon of 1500 Ocean also paired with Cuvee de Tomme. Taking it old school with a juicy duck crepeinette. Great fruit and balance from the cherries, but a slight harsh bitterness from the frizee contrasting against the cherrie note from the cuvee. It's great to see how a beer changes. Comparing both dishes to the beer were to me night and day; sweetness, acidity and balance of flavors from fat to protien.
Antonio Friscia paired Mashima Ranch black waygu tataki with ponzu, shunku radish salad with Stone's Self Righteous and turned out to be very pleasing, the light acidity of the ponzu contrasted well along with the sweet and hopiness off the beer. Almost gave it a kind of a mock soy sauce taste, nice and clean tasting salad of cucumber and fresh radish.
Nathan Coulon from Quarter Kitchen paired duck confit with corn/apple puree and a reduction of Le freak with Green Flash Le Freak. Overall the dish paired nicely with the beer. Very hard to distinguish different flavor profiles since most of the flavors were very similar. The duck was a little dry.
Jack Fisher bringing back your childhood with a Porter Triple X float from Green Flash. Amazing notes of sweet and aromatic coffee. Balance of abv and flavor. Not too overwhelming.
The beer was the highlight of the dinner!
Amy Dibiase paired her hazelnut brown butter cake with navigator ice cream and beer macerated cherries. The cake was very moist and balanced with the doppelbock. The hint of lemon confit in the dish paired beautiful with the beer. Night and Day!
My wife Vanessa and I had such a great time at the dinner. I wish could have talked to the chefs and brewers more about their passions. But, the masses did not allow this to take place. We met some beautiful people. From purveyors like Anita Boen pictured above. What a amazing women. We talked everything from Valle de Guadalupe to great restaurants. She is the herb expert in charge of running Rancho Tres Estrellas, currently supplying Rancho La Puerta with beautiful produce. She is currently with tonysfinefoods.com here is a really nice interview about her Organic Essential Oils: TH Interviews an Expert
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