Goose Island @ Monk’s Kettle
I’ve been a big fan of Goose Island Brewing for a while now, and am excited to report that they’re starting to widely distribute in the SF Bay area. To celebrate an influx of Chicago brewed Belgian ales, Goose Island and Monk’s Kettle teamed up for launch party, with a selection of treats from the kitchen designed to go with the beers.
The three new beers being introduced to the market:
Sofie – Light, spritely, with hints of citrus, and a bit of brett in the bottle. My favorite of the bunch.
Matilda – A Belgian pale ale – lots of spicy yeast character, with a light touch of hop balance.
Pere Jaques – Similar to a Dubbel, with chewey malt character, and warming alcohol.
All of the beers are specifically brewed to go with food. Monk’s Kettle delivered a selection of passed apps and cheese plate for the occasion. As a rule, when you pour three beers at an event and want people to try pairings, it can be very hard to get people to try them together in way the chef and cicerone intended. The solution – as the tastes were passed around, a matching bottle of the paired beer was brought in tow to ensure that everyone got the right pairings.
If you’re new to this “beer with food” thing, pick up a few of Goose Island’s new SF offerings – they’re extremely food friendly, and a great place to start. Since they’re balanced, dry clean belgian ales, they make a great easy learning curve for getting to know how beer pairs with food. Try Sophie wherever you might use white wine or Champagne, and Matilda with meat – or better yet, game – you won’t be disappointed.
Tags: belgian, Chicago, Goose Island, Monk's Kettle
April 16th, 2010 at 11:39 am
Great pics and thanks for attending!!
April 16th, 2010 at 11:55 am
I wanted to make it to this event but getting to SF by 4pm mid-week can be a bit difficult. Great pictures as usual. You didn’t mention anything about Greg though.
April 16th, 2010 at 11:58 am
@Mario: Brewmaster Greg Hall was indeed there. I only chatted with him for a few minutes through, and didn’t get any pictures – so in the end I decided to just focus the post on the beer and food. After all, no one comes to this blog looking for pictures of brewmasters do they? Usually… anyway…. http://beerandnosh.com/2009/03/the-brewmasters-beard/
April 16th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
I feel better seeing a couple apps I couldn’t have eaten anyway. So I take it Greg doesn’t have a beard?
April 16th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
Great flicks.Did you have any fave/least fave pairings?
PS – How come Nick looks ten years younger than me?
April 16th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
@Sayre: I was partial to the Sophie with the second cheese on the Humbolt Fog Plate (no idea what it was – some sort of washed rine cows milk i think) with the membrillo.
I also surprised myself by falling head over heels for the mussels casino – they were really well executed, with just the right amount of heat applied to the mussels – those went great with the Pere Jacques & Matilda.
As for why Nick looks so much younger than you, I can only assume it’s the wear and tear of beer pairing make you age faster.
April 16th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
*From notes on a tasting we did with itsnotyouitsbrie.com
Wavreumont Belgian Cheese, Wallonia, Belgium
Unpasteurized, cow, semi-firm, washed-rind
“Although technically a trappist cheese, the monks hire a local cheesmaker to craft this mild beauty while they harvest latex from the nearby forest. Yes. The porters we tried with this one were too dark. The cheese is buttery with a touch of funk, but didn’t sport the strong scent of an average washed-rind like Époisses or Comté. What worked best with Wavreumont was a Biere de Garde.”