You may think I’m crazy, I’ve been called worse, but beer moments are a real thing. Let me explain.
It’s when you drink or eat or both something (in this case, beer) and you commit it to memory. You savor it not only with your senses but fireworks go off in your brain and your internal Instagram captures that moment. This happened to me once when I was in London eating at a restaurant called Pearl. It was the first time I had bone marrow and the Sommelier had chosen a red wine from France that was smooth, not too sweet, and not too dry and left spicy notes on your tongue. It was the best damn meal I had to date. That was a memorable food moment and I can still taste it. I never thought I’d get the chance to have another moment like that one ever again.
But I did. And you can too. You don’t even have to leave the state of Wisconsin! I had a beer pairing dinner at Merriment Social with 5 Rabbit Cerveceria. Let me start by saying Merriment Social is this cute place with food that is so good you’ll want to slap your Momma (but don’t actually slap your Mom, she loves you and it’s not nice to hit.) I was already a huge fan of 5 Rabbit but it really wasn’t super available in Wisconsin. After getting settled in at a long dinner table, they served me 5 Rabbit Golden Ale Cerveza with Motueka hops (from New Zealand). This beer was a great opener. It wasn’t paired with anything but it was completely refreshing. Its honey and fruit notes were succeeded by a clean bitterness. This could easily be a session beer as it’s only 5.3% ABV.
The first course actually started with a single oyster in a coconut-coriander granita/lime mojo de ajo paired with 5 Lizard Latin Style Witbier. Let me break that down for you…The oyster is the greyish blob, the white chunks are the coconut-coriander granita (texture of Italian ice) and then mojo de ajo is essentially what we would call sauce. After you slurp down the oyster in all its glory to take a drink of the beer; instantly your eyes roll back in your head and the fact that you may not like oysters ceases to exist. The beer brings out all the flavors you might have missed in this dish. 5 Lizard is brewed with coriander and lime peel instead of the usual orange and then they add PASSIONFRUIT later in the process.Yes, I said passionfruit. That beer alone is a moment, not to mention the food. The ABV on the 5 Lizard is 4.3%.
The theme with the second course was very earthy. The dish was Parisienne gnocchi with chanterelle mushrooms, huitlacoche (DO NOT GOOGLE) with crispy chicken skin. The beer paired with this dish was 5 Grass Hoppy Ale which is bright hoppy ale with added spices of juniper, sage, rosemary and pepperberry with an ABV of 6.4%. It was the nicest way to taste nature. The beer alone showed up this dish. Although coming off the first course, it was all hard to live up to.
The third course was a carnitas pork belly with red kuri squash, pickled apple and dulce de leche aioli paired with Vida y Muerte which in Spanish means Life and Death. Vida y Muerte is a loosely based Oktoberfest/ Marzen style caramelly beer with dulce de leche and Mexican cinnamon added. The way it interacted with the meal was like having a decadent party in your mouth. That was definitely a beer moment. I say this because I’ve had Vida since; on its own and while a very good beer, it needs a dance partner. The ABV for Vida y Muerte is 6.3%.
This picture is not worth a 1000 words but the meal is worth this moment. The fourth course was a rabbit crepinette with carrot, mole coloradito and parsnip mofongo paired with 5 Vulture Oaxacan Style Dark Ale. The beer has a complex flavor of caramel and fruit with additional depth coming from the roasted ancho chile being used. It stood up next to this dish beautifully with the rabbit, carrot and mole being the main attraction on the plate. This course made me want to eat mole and drink beer together forever.
The fifth course was the show stopper. We had a chocolate-porter tres leche cake with a latte whipped cream, caramelized white chocolate and fudge crumble paired with Yodo con Leche Imperial Porter. Every bite and sip gave you the feeling of the New York City Ballet doing the Nutcracker in your mouth. Yodo con Leche is this dark porter filled with dark malts, dulce de leche, creamy milk caramel from Argentina with coffee added during the fermentation process. I don’t know how many times I can phrase just how well the beer and every component in this dish worked together.This was a beer moment. Heck, it was a beer/food experience.The ABV for the Yodo con Leche is 8.2%.
I feel like I just relived the whole thing while writing this! If you’d like to experience a beer moment or just a beer dinner check out Merriment Social, Erv’s Mug, Meraki and or the Rumpus Room. If you’ve had a beer moment and want to share or just think I’m talking crazy email me at beerblog@shepex.com. You can also find me on Facebook and Twitter!
