9th Feb 2009

Beer with Food

Red Lion, Steeple Aston

An enjoyable evening was had by all as Hook Norton Brewery hosted another ‘Beer with Food’ night at The Red Lion, Steeple Aston.

Seven beers were matched with dishes by Sarah and Mel Phipps. A talk by James Clarke, Managing Director of the brewery was followed by a sumptuous feast. A choice of four main dishes were available with beers to match.

Spicy crab cake with prawns and chilli dipping sauce went extremely well with Haymaker. Fish dishes would normally be paired with something a little lighter like 303AD but with the added spice, a beer with slightly more depth was required and Haymaker was perfect for this.

Sticky Slow Roast Pork with 303AD was an interesting matching. However, it turned out to be very pleasing, the dryness of the 303AD cut through the greasiness of the pork (which was beautifully cooked). A Chicken and Tarragon Tart was perfectly partnered to Hooky Gold.

The delicate flavouring of the tart could easily have been overpowered by a darker beer so Hooky Gold worked well. Everybody seemed to be in agreement that the Game Casserole with Old Hooky was the best combination of flavours.

The casserole had red currants in it and the fruity flavour of the Old Hooky really complemented this. One diner described it as a “Sublime blending”. Another diner said that he thought the 303AD went equally as well with the casserole.

The Game Casserole was truly delicious and Sarah, the Landlady received deserved praise for this dish in particular. Next on the menu was Strong Marksbury Cheddar with Twelve Days. This worked very well, although there was also a Stilton which tends to go better with Twelve Days.

The point was made that when you have such a stunningly strong, ‘hit the roof of your mouth’ cheese, an IPA style of beer like Flagship would work well to cut through the acidity. Lastly, diners were treated to homemade Chocolate Brownies with Double Stout.

These two were particularly well suited as the taste of the chocolate really brings out the taste of the dark malts used to brew Double Stout. The evening ended with a roaring round of applause for Mel and Sarah, the Landlord and Lady and the last word went to James – “Beer is our National Drink and we should definitely be very proud of it.

The French have wines and they should be proud of that but please, next time you have a dinner party, put a bottle of beer on the table and see how your guests respond”.