23rd November 2009
Beer and Food
We have had three very successful Beer with Food events recently.
The first was at The Sun Inn, Hook Norton with Mick Howe & Amber Wheatley on the 22nd October. Mick at The Sun Inn certainly gave us a challenging menu to match beers to! The meal started with Stilton Rarebit on Roasted Onion & Garlic Bread which we paired with Flagship, this went very well.
Next up was a Smoked Haddock Fishcake which we paired with Haymaker. The main course was Honey Glazed Ham Hock and we matched this with Old Hooky. For dessert we had Treacle Tart with Hooky Gold followed by Homemade Petits Fours with either Twelve Days or Double Stout.
On the 5th November, Frank & Freya at The Bell Inn, Great Bourton were our hosts. We started the evening with a Curried Parsnip and Apple Soup which we matched with Haymaker.
This was a real treat and around our table we agreed that it was one of the best matches we’d ever had! This was followed by a Double Baked Goats Cheese Souffle which went beautifully with Flagship.
The main course was Pork Belly with Colcannon which we paired with Old Hooky. The beer really brought out the sweetness in the pork. Pudding was a Fudge Mocha Pie with Espresso Custard Sauce. As always, Double Stout complemented a rich pudding beautifully.
The evening was rounded off with cheese and Twelve Days which worked just as well as it always does! Nick Saul at The Roebuck Inn, Drayton was the next of our tenants to give a Beer and Food evening a go!
On the 10th November on a stormy night we were all greeted into this cosy pub and handed a glass of ‘Ali’s Ale’ (The Roebuck’s House Bitter) as an Aperitif.
We were then ushered into the beautiful dining area and the meal started with a Fish Terrine accompanied by Haymaker. This worked very well as a match, the beer stood up well to the strong flavours of the fish but did not overpower them.
The main course was a Game Casserole which was absolutely delicious! We paired this with Steaming On and it was not a disappointment as a match with the smokiness of the beer bringing out the flavours of the different meats really well. This was followed by a Chocolate Cheesecake which we paired with Double Stout.
This was interesting to have Double Stout with a fairly light chocolate dish but it complemented the bitterness of the cheesecake and made a delicious match! The evening then came to a close with Twelve Days and Cheese which we know always works!
All of these evenings were a huge success with more people being introduced to the wonderful world of Real Ale, especially Hooky!
