Craft Beer Market has set the standard in Canadian craft beer and with the pinnacle, Olympic Village Vancouver location this is no exception. Growing the spread of craft beer in the province of BC, Craft Beer Market has started their Brewmaster’s dinner series of bringing culinary and brewing excellence together in one, seamless and delicious dinner package.
Beer Me BC paired up with the latest of pairing dinners to experience Four Winds Brewing and the culinary team at craft Vancouver in the creation of a unique, beer inspired menu. This intimate event gave attendees a close encounter experience with both the brewing and culinary expertise through a 4 course dinner.
The four course meal was pre-empted with a glass of the Four Winds Pilsner to wet the palate and get things started off. This czech style pilsner comes with a hop kick and is one of the top Pilsners on the BC market. Following this, the Also well known Four Winds Pale Ale was served along side a honey-curried cauliflower with pine nuts and a spicy apple sauce. Here, spice from the curry and applesauce contrasted the hop bitterness of the pale ale while a caramel tone in the beer was complimented with the sweetness of apple. This pairing was delicious, balanced and really allowed both the food and the beer to shine in their own spotlight.
Second up was a traditional French Farmhouse Sassoulet served with the Saison Brett. In this dish a butternut squash base with Pork Hock gave a rich, fall flavour. The Saison Brett has a sharpness and earthiness to it which contrasted well with the mellow-natured farmhouse dish. Here the saltiness of the Pork helped to heighten the beer’s flavour and give the stage to Four Winds.
Crossing the half way point in the evening, a Heritage Angus Osso Buco dish was served with parsnip, forest mushrooms and bordelais jus. This rich, slow-cooked beef dish was paired to the new, Nectarious Dry Hopped Sour. A bold pairing, this dish illustrated great contrast. While the Osso Buco was rich, dark and seemingly melted in your mouth. The beer was crisp, sharp and rather fruity. The two struggled to meld but with such great contrast the palate was able to hit reset with each bite to start the whole experience all over again.
Finally for dessert came a Steel Cut Oat and Bitter Chocolate Brownie paired with the Four Winds Oat Porter. Here, a cinnamon and chocolate sweetness and a grainy-oat texture paired with the heartiness of Oats in the beer but being a porter it remained light and put the brownie up on a pedestal. The Beer mellowed the bite of chocolate and brought the dish together rather seamlessly.
Each dish served at the Craft Beer Market Four Winds Beer Pairing Dinner was meticulously prepared and each dish related to the beer in a different way. Through melding of flavours and drastic contrast, each serving could enhance the complete package or place importance on one side or the other. Beer and Food were designed to be served together and through the culinary expertise of Craft and the brewing prowess of Four Winds this is the complete, unrelenting package!
A big thanks to Four Winds and Craft Beer Market for putting on this amazing event. Great food, amazing beer and together they are greater than the sum of their parts!
To learn more about dinners at Craft Beer Market visit craftbeermarket.ca
To learn more about Four Winds Brewing visit fourwindsbrewing.ca
Photos by Dan Barham