Beer-Food Pairing at Five Seasons Brewing

I have never experienced a beer-food pairing before, and what an experience this dinner was! This dinner was not only enjoyable because of the perfect pairings created by Biermeister Kevin and Chef Lance. Both Kevin and Lance were so excited and enthusiastic to have us at their restaurant, and to be able to create a dinner specifically designed for us.

All of the beer we tasted was brewed by Kevin and all of the dishes on the menu were created by Lance with food that is in season and from farm-to-table.

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The first beer was a Berliner Weiss paired with a Fall Roasted Vegetable Salad. What made this pairing work is that the salad had a sweet and spicy flavor to it from the apple-bacon vinaigrette and the beer was complemented this taste because it was a wheat beer that was light and would refresh your palate so you taste each bite like it was the first bite.

The second beer was a Scotch Ale. This beer was perfect for the time of year because it is heavier, darker, maltier beer that complimented the Persimmon Soy Smoked Salmon. This salmon was the best salmon I have tasted in my life. Most of the people at my table seemed to enjoy it the most as well. The art of presentation also made this dish magnificently superb. The servers brought the fish out on a smoked wooden plank and placed on the center of the plank was a smoke-filled mason jar over the wood chips used to smoke the fish.

The third beer we tasted was a Saison paired with Oak Smoked North GA Mountain Trout Cake. The Saison is a light beer that is highly carbonated and had some fruity notes. This paired well with the trout cake and complimented the Cajun remoulade and the pickled red onion. I enjoyed this dish because we were eating trout from the North GA mountains, but the taste felt like I should be near the ocean.

Festbier was the fourth beer we were served. By this time my taste buds had experienced several distinct and bold flavors, so this Festbier was a nice break because it was not too complex. It was refreshingly clean and not very strong. This beer was paired the Registered Ossabaw Island Pork Cassoulet. I found the story behind this dish to be my favorite story of how Lance created it, however this dish was my least favorite. The cuts of meat in the dish were excellent, and they paired with the beer because they were bold in flavor. However, the beans were too salty for me, so I couldn’t enjoy it.

The last beer served was an REV Coffee Stout. This was my favorite beer we drank because I love the dark chocolate and coffee notes in beer. It was paired with Coffee and Chili Braised Goat. At first, I found it odd that Lance decided to braise a goat in coffee, but soon did I learn that the chef is the chef for a reason. This dish undoubtedly paired well with the beer because of the coffee braised goat and the coffee brewed in the stout. I also found that the dark roasted malts in the beer paired so well with the goat cheese.

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I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and I learned a lot about pairing food with beer. It was challenging to engage with the food and beer and constantly think about what I am tasting and how it pairs with what I am drinking.

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