Beer on a Sunday

I invited over a friend to have some beers Sunday. I have several beers in my stash that not just anyone would enjoy. On top of that, I don't know that I should enjoy them alone. So, there they sat on their shelf under the basement stairs until yesterday.

My friend Alan is a major foodie. In fact, you might have heard of his chocolate. He brought over some super dense rye bread, this great cheese with a strip of ash running through the middle, some chorizo, Branston pickle, and some homemade pickles. The pairings of all these slightly off, mostly sour foods went well with the beers I chose to sample.

We started with a Jolly Pumpkin La Roja. The nose of this beer is quite sour, but somehow balance is maintained with just the right amount of bitterness. If all sour beers were like this, I may drink more of them.

It was cool to bring out the Jolly Pumpkin as Alan has been talking to the brewer and founder at JP concerning some projects. I won't divulge any information at this time, but I think it will be a great partnership.

When that beer was done, we moved on to the very excellent Mikkeller Monk's Brew. What a fine example of a quadruple. Again, the beer paired well with the foods. It's a cliche to say that I tasted raisins, but I tasted raisins. That's probably all some people need to know about a beer.

It was a nice afternoon of discussing beer styles I don't often consume. The food pairings and Alan's profession have convinced me to make pairing his single-origin chocolate with with the perfect beers. Stay tuned for those developments.