Black Isle Organic Pairing
For as long as anyone can remember, the drink of choice when eating out has been wine (with optional jug of tap water). Pairing food with wine is seen as the natural option – even the bargain boozer knows the ‘white with fish, red with meat’ rule. But slowly, things are changing. The idea of beer and food pairing is becoming increasingly commonplace, as both chefs and brewers alike become more experimental. In the States, the Craft Beer movement has really pushed this link, and pairing dinners have become more mainstream.
It’s easy to see why – wine has a classy (if not snooty) reputation that beer – the working-class cousin – can only dream of. Proving that the flavours in beer can match with something other than peanuts infers legitimacy on the brewers’ art, helping close that gap. Why not serve beer with food? Well, as much as I love both, I’ve always erred on the side of caution – in my experience the multiple complex flavours involved tend to cancel each other out in a way wine does not (although maybe that says more about my knowledge of wines).
Last night it was time to put all that to the test, as Edinburgh’s Caley Sample Room hosted a beer and food pairing event with the Black Isle Brewery. Hosted by Black Isle’s new sales manager Chris, the evening began with a welcome pint of their brand new Dolphin. A hoppy, citrusy session beer created for Black Isle’s recent brewery festival (or as Chris put it, ‘knocked up in twenty minutes’), it went down tremendously well – even more so when he explained that the name refers to donations made to a local dolphin charity when the beer was developed.
Then it was time for the food to come out – five organic courses, each matched with a Black Isle beer. Ingredients for the meal were sourced either locally or from the brewery farm in Ross-shire. First up, the appetiser – Hibernator smoked oyster, paired with Hibernator Oatmeal Stout (7.0%). Kicking things off with a bang, the enormous flavour of the wood-smoked oyster matched really well with the mighty oatmeal stout. The beer mellowed that smokiness somewhat, but managed to hold on at the same time.
Next – a crab and ginger tart with chilli jam, paired with Black Isle’s 4.0% Yellowhammer Pale Ale. Brewed with Cascade hops, Yellowhammer has a good bitterness to it – but at 4% I was wondering if the sessionable nature would be able to cope with the flavours from the dish. The crab tart – which was outstanding – was rich and almost creamy, with the sharp sweetness of the chilli jam working perfectly to cut through it. Against all that, the Yellowhammer took a bit of a battering, which was understandable.
The main course was roast shoulder of lamb, marinated in honey and herbs, and paired with Red Kite Amber ale (4.2%). Organically reared on the brewery farm, the shoulder – not a usual cut – was really tender and tasted fantastic. Lamb is one of the richest and fattiest of the red meats, and the bitterness of the Red Kite came through nicely. Slightly sweet from the marinade, the pairing was bang on. The dish featured sugar snap peas, boiled potatoes and sweet potato mash, which with my Gregg Wallace hat on I found slightly strange.
Time for dessert next, which for me is always the point I start to wonder about beer and food pairing. Can anything other than a sweet wine match to a pudding? Admittedly, I’ve never tipped a slug of Three Floyds Darklord over my ice cream, but time for an open mind. The dish was gooseberry tart with ginger and syrup ice cream, and the beer Heather Honey Ale (5.0%). At first, the beer was noticeably sweet, but the food took this away slightly and made it more bitter, which complemented the gooseberries. The tart was great, and the ginger and syrup ice cream unbelievable – without doubt the highlight of the entire meal.
The final course was the artisan cheese board, served with Black Isle Porter (4.6%), which is one of my favourite Scottish dark beers. The cheeses – Dunsyre Blue, East Lothian organic Brie, Applewood smoked cheddar and a chive-based one with a name I didn’t catch – were tremendous, and again worked well with the beer. The fatty nature took the roastiness out of the porter, and brought the bitterness up instead. Being the cheesehound that I am, it was a great way to end the meal.
Or so I thought, as at the same time a digestif arrived in the form of Export Scotch Ale (7.9%), another new beer recently released by Black Isle. Chris explained that the expansion of the business into a new brewhouse has freed up the original kit for more experimental beers, big hitters, limited release specials and so forth. Clearly that’s good news for everyone – the Export Scotch was my beer of the night. A great roasty component, mellowed with the boozy hit – there was a sweet, yeasty edge going on as well, with a lovely smooth finish. My girlfriend – whose favourite Black Isle beer is kegged Blonde – also said it was the best of the night.
With that, we wandered off with happily groaning stomachs – huge thanks to the guys at the Caley Sample Room for hosting the event, and to Chris at Black Isle for doing the pairings. We hear there may be others in the pipeline, so rest assured we’ll be there to pass on our thoughts. As for me, maybe my beer/food scepticism is fading somewhat – there could be something in this…
