Event Recap | Mainline Ale House & Odell Brewing Co. Fall Beer Dinner
Two beer-centric establishments of Fort Collins, Mainline Ale House and Odell Brewing Company, joined forces last Friday night in bringing roughly forty attendees an unforgettable four course beer dinner. At the start of dinner, Mainline’s Executive Chef Justin Burdick really emphasized sourcing local ingredients (shout out to the Fort Collins Farmers Market) and fall-forward flavors. The Mainline kitchen did not disappoint in delivering four thoughtful, tasty pairings to accompany always-solid Odell beers. Moreover, after Chef Justin discussed each dish, Odell beer representative Alex Cousins presented the story, style, and flavors of the beers during each respective course. Overall, Mainline’s motto, “A passion for beer and food you can taste,” could not have been more evident over the course of this event!
Amuse
Beer Braised Pork Belly Sushi
Odell Brewing Co. | IPA
To start off the night, Chef Justin kept in light with pork belly sushi. The pork belly had been braised with Odell IPA, an American-style India Pale Ale that is brewed with nine different U.S. hop varieties. The cucumber and toasted sesame seeds in the sushi itself, along with the sriracha and wasabi aiolis were all great ingredients to showcase the pork belly. Moreover, having the Odell IPA along with the sushi was quite refreshing and this beer’s bitterness cut into the fat of pork quite delectably!
First Course
Apricot Smoked Duck Salad
Odell Brewing Co. | Drumroll
Next up, Mainline brought out a fantastic fall salad with duck breast. This wasn’t any old duck, however. Chef Justin prepared the duck in three stages by smoking, sous-vide, and then searing the duck. The beer to accompany this course was Drumroll, Odell’s newest offering to its core line up (its first in three years), is an unfiltered American Pale Ale. Incidentally, Drumoll actually has the same exact hop profile as the aforementioned Odell IPA, but just with less overall hoppage (did I just create that word?) used in its brewing process. The dried apricot in the salad was actually the key to this pairing, because its citrus-y character really brought out the fruitiness of the Drumroll.
Second Course
Colorado Lamb
Odell Brewing Co. | 90 Shilling Ale
For the main course, Chef Justin brought out the big guns with some local Colorado lamb lollipops. At first I was confused about the cheddar potato gratin side because it was sliced soooo thin, I thought it was filo dough! Nonetheless, this course was super filing and tasty. The beer pairing for this red meat-focused dish was 90 Schilling – Odell’s oldest beer dating back to 1989. The maltiness of the 90 Schilling, an amber ale, complemented the expresso coffee undertones of the lamb. Notably, the lamb’s demi-glace was the exact same reddish-brown color as the 90 Schilling!
Third Course
White Chocolate Blackberry Tiramisu
Odell Brewing Co. | Friek
The last course – dessert – ended the dinner on a high note. Mainline’s uniquely-tailored tiramisu, was made with mascarpone cheese, white chocolate, and expresso-and-blackberry-soaked Ladyfingers. Mascarpone cheese actually has the highest fat content of any cheese, so Chef Justin thought it would balance out the acidity of one of my all-time favorite Odell beers – Friek. The Friek is a wood-aged sour ale, brewed with raspberries and cherries (sometimes I just say chazberries). Honestly, the dessert was so pretty to look at, I just drank my Friek for a while just taking in its visual splendor. Once I dug into it however, it disappeared quickly.
Overall, every course of this Mainline-Odell beer dinner was a memorable pairing. I would highly recommend attending one of Mainline’s beer dinner in the future!
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