Tuesday of Cleveland Beer Week, we stopped into The Greenhouse Tavern for their New Holland Brewing pairings. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a menu to take home with us for exact descriptions of food-and-brew, but the food courses were: potato gnocchi, Jonathon’s “famous” chicken wings, something like a coq au vin made with a pork shoulder (just as delicious as a pork belly — it was incredible!) an out-of-this-world (English?) aged cheddar served on some toasty cracker “thing” (beer fart heh) drizzled withhoney (… which produced a mouth orgasm!) & chocolate mousse (which I wasn’t really in the mood for… wha? Right?) which was served with a & coconut macaroon.
The beers selected were paired brilliantly with each course: Full Circle Kolsch (gnocchi), Mad Hatter IPA (wings), Dragon’s Milk, Night Tripper… and unfortunately, we cannot remember the last beer. Argh. I know I didn’t have Ichabod until the next night… so, great work on this review, Mel.
Wednesday, we stopped into Gillespie’s Map Room, and were denied a Cleveland Beer Week Victory tasting, so as previously mentioned, I had a New Holland Ichabod. Apparently, there was some sort of mishap with scheduling. No probs. Catching a cab was easy on West 9th to hit up the Bier Markt for two previously untapped (in Ohio) Belgians — Augustijn Grand Cru and Troubador Ocscura. Of course, in Bier Markt fashion, I finished with a Maredsous (”Merit-sous” — thanks, V!).
While we were for even having a crazy-ass cab driver as we did on our way to West 25th, we ended up walking home — WTF cabs? The Lorain-Carnegie Bridge is… long. Especially when you still have to walk all the way to East 4th. *sigh* At least it gave me motivation to run it a week later (we call that blog foreshadowing ’round these parts).
Thursday’s event was NOT to be missed (too bad for you, Blog Readers)! “It’s FIRKIN Alive” at the Indigo Imp Brewery, that’s what. The event was an in-house event, showcasing the open-fermentation process of Imp beers, selected with a few other small-craft delights and more than AWESOME cheeses. Om nom nom nom heaven in a brewery. Aside from Imp’s Blonde Bombshell, Gatekeeper, Winter Solstice and Jester (my favorite), we were served: Storm King Imperial Stout and Yakima Twilight Double IPA from Victory, Clipper City Pale Ale, Heavy Seas Loose Cannon and Weizen Bam with lemon from Jolly Pumpkin. Again, I was surprised by the Imperial Stout (not being particularly fond of them). Let me tell you, this was an event to hold out for the end — as the pours became significantly taller.
I also must share a new-found love of the cheese and the family behind Mackenzie Creamery made nearby in Hiram (and not just because we tried to hide the goat and they played along). Local. Healthy. 100% hormone-free. Cheeeeeese. Goat cheese. All that being said, they make a toasted pumpkin chevre. It is a MUST for your holiday party cheese platter. Trust me. At the Imp event, it was served on a gingerbread cookie, and it was delicious. Also sampled from Mackenzie was a Cocoa Caprine. Next up from Beer Week is the Sweet Fire chevre (blackberry with habanera syrup) — WHERE CAN I BUY THIS?!
Additional cheese pairings included: Buttermilk Blue’s Bleu Affine (one of my favorite bleus), Widmer’s 4-Year cheddar, Crave Brothers’ Petit Frere and Bellavitano from Sartori (not my favorite).
Once back on our corner, we joined Greenhouse again for a late-night entry into the Ithaca tasting (we had plenty of cheese and did not require more nosh). We both really enjoyed the Ithaca Brute — which was a beer, but tasted like champagne. We bought a bottle for home.
Friday (thankfully, I suppose) was a break from beer at the House of Hunan in Akron. AB took advantage of a beer lunch at Fathead’s, while I recharged with Liquid Planet. And although there was no beer, I did enjoy a nice Shiraz with my pad Thai (strange blend? I thought the spiciness worked well with one another), then after returning to the ‘rents, they opened up one of their Oregon wines from their recent vacation.
Still one. more. day… the Cleveland Beer Week finale.
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November 15th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
[...] this inaugural event a success. And that success was HUGE! We went to one or two events EACH AND EVERY night of Cleveland Beer Week. So, who is in charge of CRW, and why does it seem to be a major [...]