Real Ale Dinner at Vic & Anthony’s

Last summer I had the pleasure of attending a Dogfish Head beer dinner at Vic & Anthony’s downtown, it was before I started this illustrious blog, but I do have photos here. V&A continued to host beer dinners (Brewdog and Left Hand that I missed for whatever reasons) and announced a while back that they would do a Texas-style beer dinner featuring Real Ale Brewing out of Blanco, Texas. I am a big fan of their Coffee Porter, their yearly barleywine- Sisyphus and of course their special casks and kegs like Devil’s share. After Chef Rodriguez shared the menu on twitter I knew I had to be there! The owner of Real Ale, Brad Farbstein, was there to walk us through a bit of history of the brewery, how he got involved and then, of course, the beers that were paired with each course. To explain the food was Chef Rodriguez and the guest pastry chef, Rebecca Masson.

1st Course:
“Redneck Cheddar Enchilada”: With Guajillo Chili Sauce and Soft Poached Local Egg
Paired with: Real Ale ESB, Cask Conditioned

This was by far my favorite course of the night, but then again I love eggs of all kind especially if there is also cheese involved. Growing up in Texas, especially Houston, enchiladas are part of the food pyramid so I take them pretty seriously. These enchiladas were awesome, the chili sauce added just the right amount of heat and the cheddar was perfectly matched with the sauce. However, the heat from the guajillo sauce may have wrecked my palate for the rest of the dinner, not that I was worried because I was too excited for the poached egg and the oozy goodness it added to the enchiladas when I poked it open. The beer paired with the enchiladas was one of Real Ale’s that I haven’t had in a long time, and on that note, I hardly ever see it to be able to try it anyway, the ESB (extra special bitter). I am not a big fan of this style but I thought this beer was pretty well balanced and helped cool off my mouth from the heat of the enchiladas, it was a tad on the hoppy side, but not so much that I felt like it was assaulting my mouth.

2nd Course:
“Texas Gulf Oyster On Ice”: With Habanero Granita
Paired With: Rio Blanco Pale Ale

I love oysters. Ever since I was a child I have been destroying dozens on the half shell with my mother who taught me the greatness that is a little booger in a rock that you slurp down with some fucking hot horseradish sauce. Instead of a standard horseradish sauce, this raw oyster was served on a bed of ice with a habanero granita (a shaved ice) on top and some Meyer lemon strips. The heat from the habanero paired with the sweet from the lemon was a great combo on top of the raw oyster, which is almost a blank canvas for a chef. The beer selected for this dish, the Pale Ale, was a good companion for the oyster, it was light and crisp, pretty refreshing. The Rio Blanco Pale Ale is a 2010 GABF Gold Medal winner made with Czech Saaz hops that is 5.3% ABV.

3rd Course:
“Slow Roasted Pork Belly Slider”: With Escabeche and Smoked Tomato BBQ Sauce
Paired With: Phoenixx Double ESB

This dish ended up being a torta rather than a slider, which was no big deal to me, you generally can’t go wrong with pork belly anyway, right?! I had to ask my awesome chef friend, Diane, what the fuck escabeche meant and was told its the style of pickling the vegetables (carrots and others) that was the topping for the pork belly. I thought the slider was good but not great. I don’t have any suggestions to make it better, except maybe MOAR PORK BELLY. The beer paired with the torta was the Phoenixx Double ESB, which I had the night before on cask, that was excellent. This is a fall seasonal release from Real Ale that has some caramel flavor but to me it was drowned out by the hops. The cask conditioned one I had the previous night didn’t have as big of a hop presence, which is probably why I liked it better than at this dinner. I also felt like this wasn’t the best pairing for the pork belly, although I’m not sure what in the Real Ale line-up would have been better. The beer was hoppy and the vegetables were pickled, a little bit too much for me.

4th Course:
“East Texas Style BBQ Crab”: With Sea Salt Fries
Paired With: Full Moon Pale Rye Ale

“East Texas Style” must mean “so fucking hot it clears out your sinuses” because that crab was hyper seasoned. I generally love spicy, and it was a well prepared crab, I just thought the spices may have been overdone. The fries were excellent with a tartar sauce they made and the beer paired with it, the Full Moon Pale Rye Ale, was a great counterpart to the spiciness of the crab.  It was sweet but you could definitely taste the hops. I liked the balance and was glad to have something light to wash down the spicy crab.

5th Course:
“Whole Roasted Cabrito”: With “Real Ale” Borracho Beans
Paired With: Mysterium Verum -Highlander

Cabrito is baby goat, if you didn’t already know that, and is delicious if done properly. I would regale you all on the story of Mr. Peaches, my childhood goat, but it may be too much for y’all. Let’s just say I learned not to fall in love with animals that can be eaten. RIP Mr. Peaches. Anyway, the cabrito was roasted whole and then the tender juicy bits were put together with borracho (drunk) beans that were prepared with a Real Ale beer. I didn’t catch which one though, but it was paired with what was perhaps my favorite beer of the night, The Mysterium Verum- Highlander. The Highlander is their Real Heavy (a wee heavy or Strong Scotch Ale style) beer that was aged in wine barrels for about 4 and a half months. It was so good, I tasted caramel and a bit of booziness (the regular Real Heavy is 9.7%) along with the awesome wine barrel flavor. I am not sure why this beer was paired with the beans, but either way I was happy to have tried the Highlander. The beans were a bit bland to me, but that may have just been that my palate was slowly being destroyed by all the spice from the enchiladas and the crab.

6th Course:
“Lengua Taco”: With Radishes and Pico de Gallo
Paired With: Brewhouse Brown Ale

I love Lengua (cow tongue), I have been eating it since I was young, my dad used to bring back stuffed tongue from Louisiana that we roasted in the oven for my grandmother who loved it too. I made it once myself in the crockpot to make tacos, it’s so easy to prepare and it was so tender it fell apart once it had about 6-8 hours in the crockpot. The tongue we had was done “street style” in a basket with paper, and was dedicated to Jay our own Houston taco (and gun) connoisseur. The lengua was tender and seasoned just right. The radishes were an interesting touch and the salsa was a perfect addition, giving it a little bit of spice. The beer paired with it was the Brewhouse Brown Ale, a caramel-y and chocolate-y (I can add “-y” to anything, right?) beer that is light-medium bodied. This is the Real Ale beer that I would have on hand for those that aren’t too into craft beer or for those times when you don’t want anything too big. It was a great pairing for the taco for sure.

7th Course:
“Coffee Porter Float”: With D’Aristi Xtabentun Ice Cream
Paired With: Coffee Porter
(By Guest Pastry Chef Rebecca Masson)

Dessert! This dessert was a little DIY, we poured part of our glass of Coffee Porter into the ice cream that was made with a Mexican liqueur that is comparable to Sambuca. I cannot stand the taste of licorice, so I was worried I wouldn’t like this. I could taste the licorice, but surprisingly, it went well with the Coffee Porter. I also LOVED the churros that were on the side. They were sweet, warm and fluffy, the perfect dipping tool. I think almost any dessert would be complimented with the Coffee Porter, so the pairing was fine with me. The Coffee Porter is a rich, roasty beer with a big coffee flavor (the coffee used is a Houston local coffee, Katz Coffee Roasters). Although the flavors are quite rich, the body of the beer is quite light and it is only 5.7% ABV.

Nightcap:
Vertical Tasting of Sisyphus Barleywine, ’07, ’08, ’09, ‘10

From L to R: '07, '08, '09 and '10 Sisyphus Barleywine

Barleywines are my favorite style, so I may be biased about the night cap (hell of a nightcap!). They served starting with the ’07 and every few minutes bringing out the next year. I’ve had all of them except for the ’07, so I was excited to try it and the rest of them all at once. The ’10 and even the ’09 need some more time to age to help balance out the big hop flavor in this beer, but the ’07 was awesome. The ’08 was still a bit bitter, even more so than the ’09, which was strange to me. The ’07 and ’09 were definitely my favorites of the vertical.

Overall, The food was excellent and the beers were great, although I’m not sure the pairings were matched up in the best way. My favorite beer was the Highlander and then the vertical of Sisyphus while my favorite dish was the enchiladas. They didn’t announce what the next (assuming there is one) beer dinner is, but I am sure we will find out soon! Thanks to Brad Farbstein and Chef Rodriguez and his staff for putting together another great beer dinner!