Another great dinner was held at Iron Hill-Maple Shade
and was enjoyed by all the attendees. These dinners for Mug Club members
have become so popular, they've taken to holding 2 of them on succeeding
nights. Gotta sign up quick or the tickets are gone!
We started out with a welcome beer. I had an Ironbound
Ale and Mary Lu a Vienna Lager. Chris also brought us out a taste of the
collaboration with his significant other, writer for several publications
and rep for Sly Fox, Suzanne Woods. Saizanne is tasting great and will
be released on April 30 at noon. Looking forward to that!
Well, our meal started with a Sea Scallop Carpaccio Salad-frisee,
blood orange segments, caramelized fennel and citrus vinaigrette. Quite
tasty with lots of layers of flavor. It was accompanied by a Belgian Wit
which was a perfect choice. The refreshing, fruit flavor of the Wit really
blended well with the citrusy vinaigrette and scallops ceviche.
Next up was a Belgian Rye ale that had a nice balance
of sweet and dry. It was served with a Duck Pastrami (which I had never
had before)on a bed of pickled white asparagus, rye toast and a dijon mustard
sabayon. Wow, was this a great course! Everyone was impressed with the
wide range of flavors and textures.
For a palate cleanser, a Rhubarb Granita was served with
Thai basil and rose salt accompanied by the very popular Rising Sun IPA
made with Sorachi Ace hops. Sorachi hops impart a citrusy flavor that melded
well with the refreshing ice.
The entree was an excellent Grilled Pork Tenderloin that
would melt in your mouth served up with rainbow Swiss chard, apple-horseradish
sauce and five-spiced onion rings. It was tough to eat it all, but I almost
did. The beer with this course was an American Brown Ale that I've enjoyed
before. It has a great hop/malt balance and complemented the meat beautifully.
As a dessert, instead of the usual sweet cake, they served
up a trio of artisanal cheeses: camembert du bucage, noord hollander aged
gouda and gelmini gorgonzola piccante, with caramelized figs, toasted pistachios
and port wine-black pepper reduction. For sweetness, an Abbey Dubbel was
poured with the cheeses. It cleansed the fatty cheese from the palate perfectly
and allowed you to enjoy each cheese.
As is usually the case here, there were lots of newbies
who attended this dinner, many who had never attended a beer dinner before.
The young people we sat with were wine lovers, but they were impressed
with the selections.
Looking forward to the next dinner in July or August.
Make sure you keep an eye out for this, there will only be one! Cheers!