ok, here's the menu; mind you, I saw on another thread that this year they're having something called "Brewers Dinners" so I don't know that it's going to follow the same format at all...
As we walked into the Rose & Crown, there were several servers standing with trays full of the 1st beer, Tennent's Lager. At the table, there was Irish Potato and Guiness Bread served w/buckwheat honey-ale butter.
The next course was "tour of UK pub cheeses and seasonal fruit" - whiskey malt cheddar, red dragon, tintern, boilie, stilton blue cheeses & fresh honeycomb - perfectly paired with Tennent's Lager (they didn't refill your glass from what you picked up on your way in - didn't know that at the time!) I don't remember much, except that the honeycomb was a great foil for the stilton. I can't remember much about what fruit was there (sorry, it was 9 mos ago now!)
After that was the starter, "Fried Oysters with a smoked tomato jam, served on a seaweed salad" - accompanied by Hoegaarden. This was a good course, 2 fried oysters on seaweed salad (the type you get in any sushi restaurant) on a bed of kosher? salt. very tasty.
next was soup - Potato Ale Soup garnished with creme fraiche, accented by Stella Artois. Very rich soup, but good
Entree - Grilled Wild Boar chop with a cherry demi upon horseradish mash potatoes and asparagus. Perfectly accompanied with Bass Ale. This was very good. Meat was excellent, and potatoes were great - not spicy but very flavorful. My boyfriend eagerly handed over the white asparagus to me, which was also good (if you like asparagus, an aquired taste if there ever was one! the only other thing he gave to me was the seaweed salad from the starter, and that's saying a lot, he's not very adventurous at all when it comes to food!)
Palate Cleanser - Fresh apple sorbet paired with a refreshing Boddingtons. The sorbet tasted like pureed frozen apple. The best part of this course was the Boddingtons - I love it!
After's - Walnut-caramel ice cream float featuring Belle-Vue Framboise Lambic. A very sweet beer with ice cream. They also brought around separate glasses of the framboise as well as coffee and tea.
Throughout the dinner, the Area Manager, Cathy Young, spoke between courses regarding each beer presented as well as a brief history of beer. She was very pleasant and humorous, and despite this being the first Beer dinner and the fact of the problem with the time starting, she handled everything very professionally and well. The chef, Mark Norberg, also spoke before every course, explaining why he chose each course and how it paired with the beers. At the end, a rep from the beer company handed out pint glasses as a souvenir to each participant.
All in all, it was a great experience in my opinion, and one I would repeat in an instant. I am eager to see what dinners and lunches are to take place this year.
Hope this helps, and if you have any questions, I'll try my best to answer them!
Anybody have the dates for 2004? That's my idea of a good time
