Thursday, February 02, 2006

Monk's Beer Dinner 1/24/06 : Pizza Port & Russian River deux :-)

This is a followup to Bryan's first post on the Monk's beer dinner. I was so anxious to visit Monk's Cafe considering I had never been there. So Bryan and I were off from work early and hopping the Amtrak to Philly with time to visit Ludwig's before dinner. Another first for me :-) Mmmmm...saurkraut! And now.....Monk's Cafe.....drumroll please. I don't think I have ever been in a darker restaurant or pub. It reminded me of a monestary I once visited....seriously. Maybe we should call this the "Monk's Vibe"...heheh. Our bartender was very cordial. She served us our beer with a smile. We soaked in the surroundings and looked around for people we knew. Ahhh....Monks. Then it was time to be seated. Yeah, we were at a small table at the end of the bar. From there we were able to see the wine glasses being filled for each course. Yes, all of the beer was served in wine glasses. We looked over the menu and I was a little confused. Two beers for each course and some dishes I never heard of. Now Bryan seemed a little more at ease with the the Foie Gras Tourchon, but, I guess I can say I was about to expand my horizons ;-) In fact that would prove to be the theme of the evening. Now when the first beer was servered I was thinking, "This is different." Not in a bad way though. Then the first course came Foie Gras Tourchon. As I tasted it I thought, "THIS is different." It took me a while to get comfortable with the beer and the first course. I still can't say I wholely enjoyed the Foie Gras Tourchon, but, it certainly was an experience. Still riding on the wave of excitement that started over two months ago I wasn't really phased. I've had belgian sours before. Not many times, but, enough to not be shocked by their taste. I just wasn't prepared for the roller coaster of brettanomyces (new term for me BTW). I would agree with Bryan about differentiating between the beer. I had to ask him more than once which was which. Of course that had nothing to do with the fact that I already had a few by then ;-) Le Woody was super sour, Mother Pucker was the beer equivalent of eating a sour tart candy. The Cuvee de Tomme paired with the Chocolate Cherry Bread Pudding was the most incredible beer and dessert pairing I have ever had. If I could get that combination for dessert once a week I would be in big trouble. Wow, I can still taste it a week later...mmmmm. I enjoyed all of the others too, but, I just can't remember them as well as the extreme bret beers. I do plan to go to another beer dinner at Monk's Cafe to experience something a bit less sour. One could almost say these didn't taste like beer. So, was it all I expected? Yes! Would I go again? Yes! Would I drink Russian River and Pizza Port again. You bet! This experience took me to a place that I won't get to visit very often. Bretland the home of brettanomyces. Quick Note: I've noticed a few places on the web stating that Guinness Stout is made with brettanomyces. Hmmmm...interesting.

2 comments:

Bryan Kolesar said...

Wow! great writeup. Go Brett! However, I think we can always use more practice, so that means we must do more of these kind of events to hone our writing skills ;-)

Adam said...

Yeah...and do I need some honing! Eh...I don't worry about that too much, as you can tell. I just assume that I'll get better. LOL

Hopefully I won't turn away too many readers ;-)

GO STEELERS!