CBC Autumn Brewers Dinner Nov. 14, 2009

Cambridge Brewing Co.'s Autumn Brewers dinner from November 2009.

This was a fabulous beer dinner I went to last minute at CBC back in November. I wasn't sure if we were going to end up going or not and then two friends called saying they really wanted to go too so off we went.

Amuse Bouche:

Double Happiness Cocktail. Tangerine twist with duck crackling and apple cider caviar.

Double Happiness- strong golden ale refermented in chardonnay barrels with Brettanomyces and lychee fruit. Bright with perfumed tropical fruit and a lightly tart finish. 10.4% 

This was an awesome little opening. The caviar was solely made from apple cider. The duck crackling added an odd but oddly necessary hit of grease to the whole tasting. It seemed strange but it worked.

The brettanomyces was low and not dominating in this beer, and the fruit flavors were crisp and fresh, not cloying as it would seem with something sweet and sticky like lychees. Very refreshing and unique.

Apple cider caviar? At first I thought it was actual caviar in apple cider. But it was apple cider in small pearls like caviar. It even had that little bursting effect when you eat caviar. Very interesting and cool.

For those of you who haven't been to a CBC dinner before, the way they offer the courses is to have a few selections from each course to choose from. When the waiter comes to take your order you generally order the whole meal in one shot. I am going to post the menu and and then talk about the courses I myself had and some of the folks at our table had.

CBC Autumn Brewers Dinner
November 14, 2009

Amuse:
Double Happiness Cocktail
Tangerine Twist, Apple Cider Caviar, Duck Crackling

First:
Island Creek Oyster Bisque
Butter Poached Yukon Gold Potato, Leeks, Fried Salsify
Blackout Stout

Local Celeriac Soup
Beer Brown Bread Croutons, Crispy Carrot-Celery Salad, Raisin Jus
Cambridge Amber

Second:
Long Island Duck Rillette
Cerise Cassee Cherry, Clear Flour Sourdough, Beer Mustard, Micro Green Salad
Cerise Cassèe

General Gau's Frogs Legs
Steamed White Rice, Broccolini
Biere de Gourde

Maine Lobster Pierogies
Local Spinach, Porcini Cream, Amaretto Crumb
Om

Warm New England Vegetable Timbale
Spaghetti Squash, Glazed Root Vegetables, Aged Gouda,
Braised Greens, Hazelnut Vinaigrette
Red God

Third:
North East Family Farms Venison Loin
Sweet Potato and Chestnut Puree, Swiss Chard, Sweet Ginger Salt, Natural Jus
2008 Bannatyne's Scotch Ale

Wild Mushroom Cannelloni
Autumn Squash Bolognese, Toasted Pumpkin Seed, Parsnip Béchamel, Crispy Kale
Great Pumpkin Ale

Braised Rabbit Stew
Gnocchi, Tomato Confit, Hen of the Woods, Local Spinach, Butternut Squash,
Piave Cheese
Sgt. Pepper

Nantucket Bay Scallops
Brown Butter Fried Cauliflower, Fingerling Potato, Candied Kumquats,
Toasted Pinenuts
St. Alphonso

Dessert:
Vintage Blunderbuss Barleywine Flight
Stilton, EVOO Fried Almonds, Heirloom Apple Compote
2009 Port Finish, 2008 Bourbon finish, 2007 Dryhop finish Blunderbuss Barleywines

Benevolence Bread Pudding
Barleywined Fruits, Apricot Caramel, Pumpkin Ale Ice Cream
Benevolence

Gingersnap Napoleon
Sweet Pumpkin Custard, Cinnamon Cream, Bittersweet Ganache,
Candied Ginger
Olde Pumpkin Porter

Second Course:

Local Celeriac Soup
Beer Brown Bread Croutons, Crispy Carrot-Celery Salad, Raisin Jus
Beer: Cambridge Amber

Cambridge Amber- Well balanced, medium-bodied, deep amber-red. Malty caramel notes, hints of chocolate, slightly roasty finish, complemented by a touch of fruity, spicy hops. 4.7%

This was an excellent pairing. The soup was creamy and rich. The amber was a perfect match. The soup actually brought out a lot more of the complex characters of the Amber like the roasted finish. The only negative to this course was that I finished it all the way through and it was more filling that it sounds. We had a whole evening to get through....

Sadly my shot of the amber was blurred, but I got a somewhat decent shot of Todd's beer. He had the Island Creek oyster bisque paired with the Black out Stout. I did not however, get a shot of his soup. Todd gets annoyed when I take foodie pictures while we're trying to eat. Boo Todd.

Third course:

Long Island Duck Rillette
Cerise Cassee Cherry, Clear Flour Sourdough, Beer Mustard, Micro Green Salad
Beer: Cerise Cassèe

Cerise Cassèe- sour ale spontaneously fermented along with 300 pounds of tart red cherries and aged in a Solera system of wine barrels. Aggressively tart with flavors of sour cherries, malt, vanilla and oak tannin, and a finish that defies description in its funky-yet-balanced uniqueness.  8.5%

Another great course. The Cerise cherries were so delicious and sweet. The duck was simple, flavorful and fatty. This batch of Cerise Cassèe was more acidic and tart than normal. Usually Cerise is a sour beer with a decent level of acidity that doesn't burn the throat when drinking. so people live for that burn I do not. Having said that, the fatty duck helped tone down the acid. The acid in turn helped cut the fats and oils and allowed the flavors of the mustard, sweet cherries, and duck to add their own pop. Lots of different tastes, but very tasty. 

Sadly my pictures of the beer are not doing them any justice to get the full effects of their rich colors.

Warm New England Vegetable Timbale
Spaghetti Squash, Glazed Root Vegetables, Aged Gouda,Braised Greens, Hazelnut Vinaigrette
Beer: Red God

Red God-  Featuring Simcoe, Amarillo, and Columbus hops at a rate of over three pounds per barrel, with American pale and Belgian caramel malts providing a malty but dry pedestal upon which this hop fest rides to its long, lingering, hop-bittered finish. Beware this vengeful god.8.5%

My friend Courtney went with this course. She suffered the same fate I did with the soup. It doesn't look like it from the picture, but this course was huge. And she weighs all of 90 pounds soaking wet. But from what I gathered it was hard to stop eating this course. And it was paired with Red God which is one of my all time favorite beers from CBC. Courtney is a hop head too. So this course was hard to not gorge on.

And Todd had the lobster pierogies.

Maine Lobster Pierogies
Local Spinach, Porcini Cream, Amaretto Crumb
Beer: Om

OM- Strong golden ale aged in French oak chardonnay barrels. Brettanomyces exresses with flavors and aromas of pineapple and peach fruit, creating a harmonious balance of honeyed malt and hop, yeast and flora, and oak character. 9.4%

Fourth Course:




Wild Mushroom Cannelloni
Autumn Squash Bolognese, Toasted Pumpkin Seed, Parsnip Béchamel, Crispy Kale
Beer: Great Pumpkin Ale

Great Pumpkin Ale- 150 pounds of fresh, locally grown, organic sugar pumpkins are hand-carved and added to each batch, along with a touch of cinnamon and allspice. An appropriately orange beer with subtle pumpkin flavor, enhanced by a touch of traditional autumn spices. 4.2%

I didn't get a shot of the beer because I jumped right into this course. This thing was fabulous. And it paired really well with the Great Pumpkin. GPA from CBC is one of my all time favorites. They have really mastered making a pumpkin ale that tastes like squash and not over-spiced. It's so tasty. It went amazingly well with the cream sauce and rich mushroom cannelloni. I loved this meal. And unusual for me is getting a vegetarian course when there are meat options. This sounded terrific and it was. Very rich and filling. Noticing a pattern here?

This was our other friend at the table Mark's course. Originally it was supposed to be be scallops, but he ended up with monk fish instead. I am not sure if they had run out of scallops, or if it was requested to be different. Mark was happy with his course.



Nantucket Bay Scallops (Monk Fish)
Brown Butter Fried Cauliflower, Fingerling Potato, Candied Kumquats,
Toasted Pinenuts
Beer: St. Alphonso

St. Alphonso- Our American take on the Belgian single, or table beer, with our house Belgian yeast strain and bucketloads of American hops. Well-attenuated, super-dry, light-bodied beer with tons of fresh hop flavor. 4.5%

Dessert:



Gingersnap Napoleon
Sweet Pumpkin Custard, Cinnamon Cream, Bittersweet Ganache,
Candied Ginger
Beer: Olde Pumpkin Porter

Olde Pumpkin Porter- After one year of age in bourbon oak with Brett., this porter was blended with fresh pumpkin, crystallized ginger, whole cinnamon, and new toasted oak. Very complex yet drinkable, with smooth blending of subtle spices and roasted malts. A great dessert porter! 6.5%

This was amazing but messy! This was by far the worst thing I could have done to myself ater having this insanely rich meal before and finish it off with a decadent and super rich dessert like this. The cookies were weird though. They tasted amazing and were soft, yet you couldn't just cut into the dessert. It smashed and squished all the insides out. So while it was delicious and awesome, it was incredibly messy.

This dessert paired awesomely with the pumpkin porter. Another brett beer that didn't overwhelm me with funk. Brett beers are an interesting thing for me. My body will either respond well to them or not. This was one of those days where the funk just added some flavor and didn't make me ill. It wasn't overwhelming to the beer either. Sometimes when working with brettanomyces it has a propensity to completely overtake a beer and all other flavors there may have been in the beer.

I had a hard time noticing the ginger in the beer with ginger cookies and crystallized ginger on the plate, but the pumpkin spices, and the rich notes of the porter were enough to come through and make this a flavorful and yet again, super rich course.

Todd got the cheese plate and flight of barleywines.



Vintage Blunderbuss Barleywine Flight
Stilton, EVOO Fried Almonds, Heirloom Apple Compote
Beer: 2009 Port Finish, 2008 Bourbon finish, 2007 Dryhop finish Blunderbuss Barleywines

2009 Blunderbuss Barleywine, Port barrel finish- A delightful sneak preview of this year's unreleased expression of Blunderbuss. Aged in vintage port wine barrels, which provide a touch of fruit and oak to this massive, malty brew. 13.2% sherry glass

2008 Blunderbuss Barleywine, Bourbon barrel finish- Last year's expression spent time in barrels from the Buffalo Trace distillery, where it picked up notes of caramel, vanilla, hints of cotton candy, and toasty oak. Super smooth. 11% sherry glass

2007 Blunderbuss Barleywine, Dry Hop finish- heavily dry-hopped with Simcoe and Ahtanum hops before its annual release. This extraordinarily complex ale boasts flavors and aromas of caramel, dried fruits, toffee, lots of spicy, resiny, and floral hops, and a very warming alcohol finish. 11.5% sherry glass


This is generally how CBC rolls when they do a beer event. Their pairings are spot on and the food is always creative, good, and really filling.

*Beer course descriptions via CBC menu courtesy of Will Meyers, Brewmaster.