Ipanema Beer Dinner

I recently had an opportunity to hook up with another NMD editor and go to the Ipanema Beer Dinner. The beers and food were both independently excellent, but I thought I’d note just the pairings themselves.

  • Pumpernickel Soft Pretzel and Founder’s Centennial IPA: an IPA is a big beginning for a beer dinner, but in this case totally appropriate. Pumpernickel pretzels with tangy, fresh pickles (and pickled asparagus) and mustard require something fairly intense. The IPA was, and I think the big beginning was balanced enough that it didn’t overshadow the rest of the evening.
  • Arancini and Avery’s Ellie’s Brown Ale: the fried risotto had a lot more flavor than I expected, perfect for the nutty brown ale. Maybe not the best pair of the evening, but probably my favorite; fried foods and brown ale just work so well together.
  • Roasted Chestnut Soup and Straffe Hendrik Bruges Tripel: this pairing caused some debate at the table. The question was whether the chestnut soup helped or hurt the beer, robbing it of some notes. Looking at it from the other direction, I think that the tripel was a neutral partner for the soup. I’m not sure I can think of a better pairing for the soup, which was rich and savory, so this pairing might have been a best-possible compromise.
  • Seitan Au Poivre with sauteed Oyster Mushrooms over Homemade Spinach Pappardelle Pasta and Speakeasy Untouchable Pale Ale: winner, “Most Syllables in the Menu Description,” this was a wonderful main course. The seitan had been rolled in some concoction involving Jack Daniel’s, and was scrumptious. The  pale ale was very flavorful and stood up to the dish, and had a crisp, punctual finish that didn’t mess with the food. By the way, it’s lovely that you can get this beer in the bottle on the east coast.
  • Mocha Torte with Honey Pear Ginger Ice cream and Stone Imperial Stout: this was a truly awesome pairing in the same way that the appetizer was, just on the other end of the taste spectrum. Stone has been making an impression on me so far this year, and, even in the context of a dinner that contained two big ales and a tripel, this was still the biggest beer of the night. Offset by one of the best tortes I’ve had (did I mention it was cashew encrusted?), this was a brilliant pairing.

For the record, Ipanema’s food was amazing, and really was the focus of the evening. It was a great meal, and the restaurant is highly recommend to anyone who happens to be in Richmond, VA.

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