Snackdown 2018

As in the previous 2 years, the sort of closing party of the Portland Beer Week was a beer and food pairing event called Snackdown. 10 teams of brewers and chefs put together a pairing of a beer and a snack bite, and then the audience got to vote as they tasted all the pairings while teams also each had a little time at the mic to smack talk each other, old school WWF style (often completely with costumes). Here’s a look at this year’s beer and food pairings for Snackdown 2018 to give you an idea of the event to encourage you to attend next year, or as ideas for beer and food pairings in general!

Loyal Legion/Dirty Pretty + Breakside

Spicy Pork Tostada. Crispy corn tortilla, spicy pulled pork, pineapple salsa, slaw, lime crema
Call Me Hazy Pale

Although hoppy style beers are not my preferred beer, I appreciated how some of that hoppiness was tamed here by the spicy pulled pork along with the creaminess of the lime crema and brightness from pineapple salsa. The negative though was that this was just messy to eat as the crispy corn tortilla would break apart from bites.

Afuri/Wayfinder

• Snack: Hidden Handroll – Capicola-wrapped Asparagus, Chasu Don Pork Belly, Spicy ‘Hidden Sauce’
• Beer: Hidden Hand Dark Lager

It was very cool to see these handrolls being made before us, including getting the pork belly seared with a blowtorch and rolling the asparagus and capicola together and the smear of the “spicy hidden sauce) on the rice in the seaweed before finally rolling the handroll. Though you wouldn’t normally thing to pair a dark lager with a handroll, I was impressed with how it worked here with both strong flavors being an equal match for each other.

Danwei Canting/Buoy

• Snack: Scallion Bing with Oregon Bay Shrimp, Crispy Garlic and Lime Vinaigrette
• Beer: Sour Blonde with Pomegranate, Grapefruit and Citrus Zest

Although what looks like a fried wonton here may not appear to be much, the shrimp inside and topping of the crispy garlic was tamed well by the sour blond’s fruity acidity.

Lardo/Pono

Snack: Smoked Pork Burger, American Cheese, Dirty Mustard, Grilled Pineapple
Beer: Pineapple Kölsch

The pineapple slaw was being freshly grilled outside on the sidewalk outside Loyal Legion to make this slaw fresh, and not surprisingly, this ended up being the winner of the Snackdown belt for 2018!

Hotlips/Little Beast

• Snack: HOTLIPS Meatball with housemade meatballs and housemade basil pesto on a parmesan frico taco or Falawsome*Ball Frico Taco (the latter is the vegetarian option, the only one of the whole Snackdown) with housemade Falawsome balls using chickpeas, couscous, bread, vegetables, and spices
• Beer: Fera Brett Ale

While I wasn’t really a fan of the pairing, the smell of them making these fricos – fried parmesan crisps – was wonderful the entire event.

Mi Mero Móle/Heater Allen

• Snack: Torta Sliders with Chicken Tinga and schmear of guacamole and top your own pickled onions and cheese
• Beer: Schwarz Beer

I liked the pairing, but ultimately I thought it was too overwhelmed by the bread.

Noraneko/Stormbreaker

• Snack: XO Beef Jerky with Fermented Daikon
• Beer: When I Froot, I Froot For The… Mango Guava Fruit beer

I have to admit that by the time I got to this bite, which was the last on my card, I was more then full and it didn’t stand out in my  mind as much, though vaguely I did think the XO sauce here had a nice punch that was relieved by the beer, but the chewiness of the jerky wasn’t to my liking, though I am not usually a jerky fan either.

Toro Bravo/Culmination

• Snack: Albacore Tartare, Avocado, Ginger, Chile, w/Onion Chile Cracker
• Beer: Sun Rey Radler w/Ginger, Lime, and Black Tea

Playing the villians at this Snackdown, Culmination had great attitude but even with the cool modern gastronomic trick of the chile sauce “egg” to burst on the albacore tartare, it’s a tough fight against a slider.

XLB/Ecliptic

• Snack: Duck Bao with a Hoisin Black Bean Chili Sauce, Asian Slaw and Radish
• Beer: Starburst IPA

In this case, the bao was too much bun and just couldn’t stand up to the solid IPA here.

Gigantic/Spätzle & Speck (at Park Avenue Wines)

• Snack: Porcini Toasts, smoked cherries, hazelnuts, lardo
• Beer: Playdate – Cocktail Beer w/ Pomegranate, Ginger, Tangerine aged in Bourbon Barrels

This was one of the most unique beers of the event, and of all the snacks this was my favorite – however I don’t necessarily think it was the best pairing because the snack really showed up the beer and made it pale in comparison. Still, I really enjoyed the idea of the beer and appreciated Gigantic bringing the only aged beer of the event.

Which of these pairings would you have enjoyed and voted for? At $49, the 10 “snacks” some of which were all paired with 10 beers I think is definitely getting your money’s worth, and proceeds go to the non-profit P:EAR, a non profit that mentors and works with homeless youth.

For previous years recaps I have written, see Snackdown 2017 for PDX Beer Week or Snackdown 2016 Recap Meanwhile, look for Portland Beer Week next year (every June) for the next incarnation!