I love beer, I love food. So tonight I cooked (with just a little help from my friends and loved one!) 8 courses of international cuisine and paired them with 15 different (mainly Belgian style) beers. Obviously this was Awesome.

1st course was ceviche with Orval. The Orval tackled the chilli and lime with gusto whist letting the fish delicately come to the forefront of our palate. It lost a little of its funkiness (which, to be honest, is fine by me as it can be a little too much like drinking wet silage infused with cleaning product sometimes) and its balance of almost lemony tartness and funk complimented the dish perfectly. 

2nd course was chilli, garlic and ginger stir-fried king prawns (courtesy of Lee from Brewers Droop who was almost overwhelmed by the chilli in the first course but somehow managed to wok those prawns through streaming eyes and running nose) paired with Bristol Beer Factory ‘Acer’ and La Trappe ‘Witte’. The witte was almost overpowered but fought back with a suprisingly match to the sweetness of the prawns despite its being a relatively dry specimen. The Acer, a saison style, complimented the sweetness too but did not have the boon of the slight spicyness of the witte. Neither was a perfect match as the garlic had caramelised (opportunity for perhaps a Tripel to step in?). 

3rd course was aloo gobhi which was delicious (and Esmes first course!) paired with Delirium Tremens. Curried potato and cauliflower, it was wonderfully complex and the beer provided a welcoming palate cleanser and brought out some of the more delicate flavours of the dish. After each mouthful of food our palates were refreshed by the cleansing carbonation and the suprisingly lightness of the beer lifted away some of the heavy oils of the dish. 

4th course was Carbonnade de Flamandes with Westvleteren 12 and St Barnardos Abt 12. The beers were poured side by side and the slightly sweeter Abt and more complex and candied Westvleteren each had a part to play complimenting the deep complexity of the stew. The beer used in the dish itself was Rochefort 10 which gave the base a deep dried fruit richness and obviously the entire dish and the paired beers made us think we had died and gone to heaven!

5th course was lamb’s liver pate paired with…well…whatever was on the table…this was made with homemade cherry port so obviously we drank that with it too! 

6th course was the lighter cheeses – manchego, Swiss Gruyere (paired especially with the Aventinus Eisbock which brought out a suprising sweetness and was decided to be the best pairing of the night) and Cornish yarg. 

7th course – strong cheese – Colston Bassett Stilton (paired with Cromarty 11th anniversary double dry hopped barley wine (bbe date 01/2015) which worked well), washed rind goats and washed rind cows. These paired well with the stronger earthier beers on the table – by this point we had several Barley wines (including an awesome one by Wiper and True) and a couple of dubbels – Westmalle Dubbel really showed its true colours here! 

 8th course – biscuits! We ate these alongside the Buxton and Omnipollo masterpiece that is Yellow Belly and the deep nutty sweetness worked really well with the Hobnobs and Caramel Digestives!

After finishing all this deliciousness, we went on to drink some homemade cherry brandy and then as a final touch tried some Jamon Serrano with Verhaeghe‘s Duchesse de Borgogne – the sweetness in the meat worked well with the sweet balsamic-like beer whilst the acidity cut right through the rich fat – melt in the mouth gorgeous. 

Bottoms up!