There are meals and then there are MEALS. Last night I sat down for a five course beer dinner prepared by Chef Stephanie Izard and her fantastic team. Each course was paired with a Founders beer, including the extremely rare CBS and an exclusive taste of the upcoming Blushing Monk.
Chef Stephanie Izard kicked off the meal with a story about a beer dinner she attended with the famous Greg Hall. The restaurant, she said, typically hosted wine dinners and this was their first beer dinner. When Greg stood up to welcome everyone to the meal, he started with a question, “what’s the difference between a beer dinner and a wine dinner?” No one answered. “Beer dinners are supposed to be fun.”
With that she welcomed us to an evening of food and beer that none of us would soon forget.
First Course: Blushing Monk (Belgian Raspberry Ale) Paired With “Hot Pot” Soup and Grilled Pork Belly
Founders Co-Founder Dave Engbers told the stories behind each beer as each course was served.
“This beer doesn’t come out until Monday so… pretend it doesn’t really exist. Blushing Monk hit the radar internally because of a lady who works for us would always say that ‘it’s like crack and when I drink it, my husband likes me more.’ It’s a lot of fun. It’s this decadent Belgian raspberry ale and was actually our first Founders Backstage Series beer. Our cellar crew hates brewing it because it’s brewed with a different yeast strain from all of our other beers, but we think it’s worth the sleepless nights. It’s an absolutely gorgeous beer.” – Dave Engbers
Second Course: Black Rye (Black Ale) Paired With Roasted Duck Breast, Silver Needle Noodles, Rapini, Shrimp-Duck Jus
“We first brewed Black Rye in 2005 and it was too early and I don’t think people’s palates were ready for a dark beer with the bitterness it has. So we shelved it, 86’d it for a while. When we were working our schedule out for 2015, we decided that we had to bring it back. People’s palates have changed and they’re ready for this darker beer with a nice high bitterness and hop aroma.” – Dave Engbers
Third Course: Curmudgeon (Old Ale) Paired With Lamb Ribs, Chili Garlic Chive Sauce, Hot Potato Salad
“Old Curmudgeon is named after my father. When we started the business we quickly learned that everyone is a marketer. Everyone has a great idea for a beer. My Dad would call me all the time with ‘great’ names so when we created this beer, I called him up and said ‘we named a beer after you.’ He said, ‘what’d you call it? Asshole?’ ‘No, it’s Old Curmudgeon’ and he just said, ‘screw you.’ That’s just the kind of relationship we have. In all seriousness our families have been very supportive of this whole thing.” – Dave Engbers
Fourth Course: Dirty Bastard (Scotch Ale) Paired With Goat Mole, Tortilla, Avocado
So good it’s almost wrong. Dark ruby in color and brewed with seven varieties of imported malts, Dirty Bastard is complex with strong notes of smoke and peat, paired with a malty richness and a punch of hop power.
Canadian Breakfast Stout (Imperial Stout) Paired With Mont Amore & Bittersweet Chocolate Cake
“A chef friend of ours in Grand Rapids named Steve Stallard has a company called BLiS that makes a bourbon barrel aged maple syrup. It’s the best maple syrup in the world and probably the most expensive… it’s STUPID good. One day I was walking through the brewery and there were three bottles of it in the lab and I’m like, ‘what’s THAT doing here?’ Jason Haystack who was our head cellarman at the time was like, ‘Dude, check this shit out’ and poured a quarter shot of this BLiS syrup and it’s so delicious that it’s too good for pancakes. He said, ‘Steve’s got all these bourbon barrels that he’s aged this syrup in and he doesn’t know what to do with them. I want them.’ So we started aging some of our breakfast stout in the barrels which eventually turned into CBS.” – Dave Engbers
It was a fantastic evening of fantastic food and beer that won’t soon be repeated. At least we’ll always have the photos to remember it by.
// Matt Tanaka
Want to learn more about Founders Brewing Co? Check out this post we did recently with an inside look at the brewery!
