New Belgium Dinner
Monk's Cafe
4/10/07

Only Tom Peters could have pulled off an event like this. What brewery would haul their products over 2000 miles to a place where they don't distribute? New Belgium is a well-known brewery throughout the world, but only brews in Colorado and distributes its beer in several surrounding Western states. They have grown quickly in the last 10 years not only for their products but for their dedication to being a "green" brewery. They buy wind power, recycle practically everything in the building and support organizations of the same bent.

I have had their beers at the GABF in Denver, "Fat Tire" has become their flagship brew and "La Folie" has become legendary and extremely sought after on the East Coast.
Lauren and Eric Salazar came out from Fort Collins with six of their best offerings and Chef Adam Glickman went to work pairing up culinary delights with them. Lauren and Eric are the "barrel-agers" of the company. They see that the beers are put into oak and are well-cared for until they leave the brewery in bottles or kegs.
First up was Springboard Ale, a 6% brew with oats and wormwood which gave it a dry, earthy flavor with a light fruit finish. Accompanying this distinctive beer was an Apple Fondue, cheddar dipping sauce served in a hollowed-out green apple with black bread cubes. It was so good, we had wished for more.
Their geek-popular La Folie was served next. This outstanding beer is tart, malty, woody and fruity, all the things we find interesting, but not the easiest to make. It must be blended to try to keep a consistency from batch to batch which means lots of labor must be expended to produce it. The organic greens with fresh berries and warm goat cheese brioche and a dressing made with La Folie.
Our next course was attended by 2 beers....Abbey and Le Terroir. The Abbey is in the dubbel style with a big flavor of candi sugar. Le Terroir was quite woody, tart and fruity. Also a slight medicinal flavor from the dry hopping with Amarillo hops prevailed. The grilled scallop topped with Le Terroir hollandaise sauce and braised short rib braised in Abbey were a perfect complement to these two libations.
The next beer was a real treat. It was actually a beer that Eric made and cared for and was appropriately named Eric's Ale! It was a strong golden ale with peaches added. It was tart and had a dry fruit flavor..certainly not overwhelming. A Peach Granite cleansed the palate at this point and added to the peachiness of the ale.
Their flagship beer, Fat Tire, came with the Roasted Pheasant with figs and vegetables. This beer has a nutty, malty profile and does not offend even the lightest of beer drinkers.
The last beer of the evening was an interesting one. It was of the Belgian Trippel style but had what we thought to be a briny flavor in between the candi sugar. Eric responded that it was done on purpose to enhance the profile a bit....interesting!! This was accompanied by a Caramel Hazelnut Torte with Chocolate Banana Mousse....a fantastic finish to another great meal at Monk's!!
Be sure to watch on this site and at Monk's site for future events.

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