This Is My Blood: Monk's Café Flemish Sour Ale / Lager of the Lakes / Guinness Foreign Extra Stout

On April 22nd, I made a three-course meal for me and Pam, and we split three different beers during dinner, pairing a beer with each course. This is my second attempt at such a pairing. It went a lot better this time, now that I have a little bit more know-how when it comes to different beer styles.

Note #1: Each of these beers is also a "new style" of beer off this list, but in an attempt to not muddle this blog post with too much information, I will write about each of these beer styles in tomorrow's post (along with tomorrow's new beer style). Today, I will stick to concentrating on the pairings.

Note #2: Instead of using my shitty cellphone, I attempted to use Pam's fancy camera to snap some better pictures of the beer/food combos. The light coming into the kitchen at 5 PM did me no favors. That's something to work on next time I get around to a three-course pairing meal (probably in August).

Appetizer: Goat Cheese Platter

Goat cheese log, with fresh raspberries and a few almonds. Occasionally combined with a Ritz cracker. Paired with a "Flanders Oud Bruin" a.k.a. a Flemish sour ale, the sour of the beer complementing the base sweet of the cheese, while going toe-to-toe strength-wise. The beer had a hint of fruitiness, which mirrored the raspberries without being too like/like.

Entree: Parmesan Encrusted Chicken Breast with Dirty Rice

Boneless chicken breast, baked with parmesan and garlic, with a side of dirty rice. Paired with a Bohemian pilsner, a.k.a. a Czech pilsner. Chicken is always tough to pair—it goes with everything, so it goes with nothing. We needed something simple. The beer was crisp and clean, and the somewhat "spicy" Czech hops complimented nicely the spiciness of the rice.

Dessert: Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies and a Scoop of Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Chocolate chip cookies (batter mixed with assistance from Willow), soft-style, with a scoop of Lidl-brand chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Paired with a Foreign Extra Stout. Beer has exotic cocoa and coffee flavors, which seems like it would pair well with any dessert (but chocolate especially). Fuck any concerns about like/like, and give me chocolate.


NOTES (Beer #1)

BEER: Monk's Café Flemish Sour Ale

GENRE: Flanders Oud Bruin

ABV: 5.5%

BREWED BY: Brouwerij Van Steenberge N.V.

LOCATION: Ertvelde, Belgium

PURCHASED AT: Foodery NoLibs

PAIRED WITH: goat cheese

GRADE: 4.5 pukes out of 5


NOTES (Beer #2)

BEER: Lager of the Lakes

GENRE: Bohemian Pilsner

ABV: 5.0%

BREWED BY: Bell's Brewery

LOCATION: Kalamazoo, Michigan

PURCHASED AT: Foodery NoLibs

PAIRED WITH: parm-encrusted chicken

GRADE: 3.5 pukes out of 5


NOTES (Beer #3)

BEER: Guinness Foreign Extra Stout

GENRE: Foreign Extra Stout

ABV: 7.5%

BREWED BY: Guinness Ltd.

LOCATION: Dublin, Ireland

PURCHASED AT: Foodery NoLibs

PAIRED WITH: chocolate chip cookies

GRADE: 4 pukes out of 5

BEER COUNT: 217