I attended this dinner at Biercraft on the drive on March 14 that featured a 5 course meal created by Certified Cicerone Don Farion and Executive Chef Steve Chadband paired with a variety of beers from local brewer Parallel 49.

Now on to dinner and the pairings!

First Course:

Cajun Picnic – oysters, fried oysters, fingerling potatoes and corn

Paired with Ugly Sweater Milk Stout

Second Course:

Crab Tom Yum – crab meat in a hot and sour Thai broth

Paired with Lord of the Hops IPA

Third Course:

Tacos de Tierra – spiced and roasted wild mushrooms, pickled beets, pico de gallo, crema and tortilla chips

Paired with Hay Fever Saison

Fourth Course:

Beef Tenderloin –caramel glazed fillet, pommes anna, carrot and parsnip

Paired with Salty Stout

Fifth Course:

Chevre Cheese Cake – graham cracker crust , tri-berry coulis

Paired with Vow of Silence Belgian Quad

Surprise Course:

Chocolate Coated Bacon

Paired with From East Van with Love

My Take:

As usual creating a menu for a beer dinner at Biercraft involves much research and tastings that begin weeks in advance. Don Farion and Steve Chadband do what they do best, they learn about the beers they are going to present from the notes to the flavours, then they go about creating an exciting menu that tells the story. They told this story very well and should be applauded for pairing all the different types of Parallel 49 beers with the perfect dishes. Graham With who is the Head Brewer at Parallel 49 Brewing was on hand to describe each of the beers as presented with each of the courses.

My favourite of the food dishes and pairings was the outstanding Crab Tom Yum hot and sour Thai broth with the Lord of the Hops IPA; I also loved the Beef Tenderloin that was caramel glazed and tender with pommes anna, carrot and parsnip and paired with Salty Stout. The surprise course was cheered by all the guests, obviously this was one that capped the night of eats and drinks so well, featuring in-house smoked bacon that was coated in Chocolate bringing out the sweet and salty flavour pairing so well with the From East Van with Love beer.

Biercraft Bistro offers Beer and Food pairing dinners monthly contact them for details at 604-254-2437 or visit them online at

http://biercraft.com/commercial/

By: Richard Wolak