The National Homebrewers Convention went out with a bang, with a massive beer dinner coordinated by the Homebrew Chef. The dinner was sponsored by Rogue, who provided all the beers, including a very special surprise for the last course. We started with a salad.

We were treated to an “Asian Style Noodles Mixed with a Sesame Hefe Dressing and An Asian Inspired Slaw with Butter Lettuce.”  This was paired with Rogue’s Mom Hefeweizen.  While the salad underneath wasn’t anything special, the dressing poured on top was bright, spritely, and slightly tart – in other words popping with the kind of flavors I would expect from the Homebrew Chef.   The beer was a nice pairing for the salad, and brought the usual hefe phenolic and citrusy bite.

Our table was also littered with Rogue paraphernalia, such as stickers and temporary tattoos. Being cynical homebrewers, we’re note easy impressed by this sort of marketing gimmickry, and can see right through it. Instead, we’re much more swayed by the craftsmanship of what’s in the bottle, right guys?

So much for that.  What’s next?

The main course was a case study in “How can I infuse as much beer as possible into this cut of pork?”  We were served “Charlie Ale Brined Pork Loin Served with Caramelized Onion and Thyme Mashed Potatoes Infused with Mom Ale, Seasonal Vegetables, Topped with a Dried Apricot Chutney with Somer Ale, Orange Peel and Honey and a  Charlie Demi Glaze infused with Shallots and Cherries”  The final dish was amazingly tender, and packed with flavor.  I was particularly impressed by how nuanced the layering of flavor was – you don’t often get food like this from a Marriott hotel kitchen.

Poured with it was Rogue’s American Amber, which had a nice hint of sweetness and roasted malt, which brought out the carmel flavors in the pork.

Last up was the highlight of the meal, dessert.

Dessert featured “Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Infused with two TCHO Chocolates and Rogue Hazelnut Brown, Served in a Chocolate Shell and Topped with Cocoa Nibs and 120L Crystal Malt”  having spent over an hour talking about TCHO chocolates earlier in the day, it was great to line up flavors with the discussion earlier.   The mousse was rich and thick, with an indulgent creamy texture, with just a hint of crunch from the crystal malt on top.  As an added bonus, there were small TCHO chocolate squares on the plate, allowing the diner to mix and match the chocolates with the beer, and pick out the distinct characteristics of each bar. The beer is a special imperial chocolate stout, brewed exclusively for Japan.  The beer had a hint of alcohol heat, but the overwhelming character was the chocolate – which was in the nose, middle palate, and long rich finish of the brew.

It was a stellar meal which was an appropriate end cap on a great weekend.  Sean managed to take his homebrew chef style, and scale it to a large scale production, without sacrificing quality.  It is a nice parallel to the many of the professional brewers who started out as homebrewers, and transformed their passion for beer into a business, while keeping the same commitment to quality and craft.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 6:42 pm and is filed under Reviews, Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.