Grand Fir Brewing and Breakside Collaboration Dinner

I am a supporter of all things delicious – including craft beer, with special appreciation for those female brewers out there who make it in what is a male dominated field. Being a woman in engineering, I have to support and applaud their resilience, naturally. Whitney Burnside has been an award-winning Portland brewmaster that I have followed for many years and now she recently founded along with the other half of power-couple duo husband chef Doug Adams, the brewpub Grand Fir Brewing. Recently they launched a collaboration beer with longtime friend Ben Edmunds of Breakside Brewery a new collaboration brew called Chef’s Kiss! They decided to celebrate this launch with a five course Grand Fir Brewing and Breakside Collaboration Dinner.
Grand Fir Brewing and Breakside Collaboration Dinner Menu of the pairings for the Grand Fir Brewing and Breakside Collaboration Dinner

If you have not been to Grand Fir Brewing for Doug’s BBQ Wednesdays, you are missing out! Every Wednesday there is a new barbecue special on offer to enjoy with the refreshing and approachable beer lineup of Grand Fir, adding to the regular menu which offers a small curated list of a handful of small plates and handful of large plates. But a beer dinner with multiple courses that were created to pair with specific beers – yes, I was excited. And I was extra excited to see that there was smoked rib on the menu for this collaboration dinner – the 12 hour slow cooked beef rib with green sauce with tortilla was my favorite dish from the smoker from his previous restaurant Bullard Tavern, and I’ve really missed it.

Well, let me tell you this whole dinner met and went beyond my expectations.
Grand Fir Brewing and Breakside Collaboration Dinner Menu of the pairings for the Grand Fir Brewing and Breakside Collaboration Dinner

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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
Snackdown 2018 pairing of Loyal Legion/Dirty Pretty + Breakside brought together Spicy Pork Tostada. Crispy corn tortilla, spicy pulled pork, pineapple salsa, slaw, lime crema with the Loyal Legion/Breakside collaboration beer 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

Snackdown 2018 pairing of Afuri/Wayfinder brought together Hidden Handroll - Capicola-wrapped Asparagus, Chasu Don Pork Belly, Spicy Hidden Sauce with the 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

Snackdown 2018 pairing of Danwei Canting/Buoy brought together Scallion Bing with Oregon Bay Shrimp, Crispy Garlic and Lime Vinaigrette with theSour 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
Snackdown 2018 pairing of Lardo/Pono brought together Smoked Pork Burger, American Cheese, Dirty Mustard, Grilled Pineapple with the Pono Brewing Pineapple Kölsch Snackdown 2018 pairing of Lardo/Pono brought together Smoked Pork Burger, American Cheese, Dirty Mustard, Grilled Pineapple with the Pono Brewing 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!

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Imperial Session New England Beer Pairing Dinner

This quarterly dinner series by Imperial Session duo Advanced Cicerone Ryan Spencer (Bailey’s Taproom) with dishes from Chef Spencer Watari (Clyde Common) pairs beers and food. Unlike many beer and food dinners, this pop up concept does not beholden itself to any particular breweries or restaurant so they can select any beer or dish to make an interesting pairing without worrying about representing or promoting any business. The last dinner focus was on beers from New England.
Imperial Session New England Beer Dinner Imperial Session New England Beer Dinner Imperial Session New England Beer Dinner, Ryan pouring beerse for one of the courses Imperial Session New England Beer Dinner

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Beer for Breakfast

Beer is the perfect accompaniment to dinner or lunch. But it also goes great with breakfast! Especially when the beers themselves taste like some of our favorite breakfast treats.

The Beer for Breakfast special event on September 25th brought together beer and food pairing in a meal many not think to pair with beer. With two seatings available at 9AM and then 11AM at Great Notion Brewing, the event offered for $50 a grand 3 courses with literally a dozen beers – 4 beers with each course!
Beer for Breakfast at Great Notion Brewing on September 25, 2016 with 3 courses (omnivore or vegan) along with 12 beers with beers from GNB as well as guest breweries

Great Notion is not usually open for brunch, though I hope they might consider doing so after tasting how great these dishes were and how well they paired with beer. I also greatly appreciated that there was an omnivore option as well as a vegan option, which allows the meatless eaters out there to also be able to enjoy the deliciousness.

Course 1

Parfait (either dairy or vegan yogurt) with marionberry and ginger compote and pulverized hazelnut brittle and Random Order blueberry muffin or a vegan blueberry fig bar.
Beer for Breakfast at Great Notion Brewing on September 25, 2016: Course 1 Parfait (either dairy or vegan yogurt) with marionberry and ginger compote and pulverized hazelnut brittle and Random Order blueberry muffin or a vegan blueberry fig bar. Beer Pairings of Great Notion Brewing Barrel Aged Apricot Mimosa, Reverend Nat's Tepache with Prosecco, Culmination/Ruse Breakfast in Paradise Imperial Wit with Pineapple, Great Notion Brewing Blueberry Pancakes Beer for Breakfast at Great Notion Brewing on September 25, 2016: Course 1 Parfait (either dairy or vegan yogurt) with marionberry and ginger compote and pulverized hazelnut brittle and Random Order blueberry muffin or a vegan blueberry fig bar. Beer Pairings of Great Notion Brewing Barrel Aged Apricot Mimosa, Reverend Nat's Tepache with Prosecco, Culmination/Ruse Breakfast in Paradise Imperial Wit with Pineapple, Great Notion Brewing Blueberry Pancakes Beer for Breakfast at Great Notion Brewing on September 25, 2016: Course 1 Parfait (either dairy or vegan yogurt) with marionberry and ginger compote and pulverized hazelnut brittle and Random Order blueberry muffin or a vegan blueberry fig bar. Beer Pairings of Great Notion Brewing Barrel Aged Apricot Mimosa, Reverend Nat's Tepache with Prosecco, Culmination/Ruse Breakfast in Paradise Imperial Wit with Pineapple, Great Notion Brewing Blueberry Pancakes

Beer Pairings

  • Great Notion Brewing Barrel Aged Apricot Mimosa
  • Reverend Nat’s Tepache with Prosecco
  • Culmination/Ruse Breakfast in Paradise, an Imperial Wit with Pineapple
  • Great Notion Brewing Blueberry Pancakes

By itself, I liked the hint of spicy of the Tepache with Prosecco with its effervescence. But, it seemed a bit much with the yogurt unless you made sure you got a spoonful of the ginger with your bite. The Blueberry Pancakes, the stout of these four, went best with the blueberry muffin, no surprise there not only for its hint of blueberry but because it’s stronger sweet maple syrup could then be balanced by the crumb of muffin.

Meanwhile I liked how the Imperial Wit with Pineapple highlighted the berry and the yogurt with its fruit and bit of funkiness in the flavors of the beer. I’ve always like the Tepache, but since it’s not a beer even though I adore it it won’t make my list of best beers of the brunch, though it is a fantastic mixer for many a beer.

Of all four beers, my favorite of them all in this pairing since it went with everything was the Barred Aged Apricot Mimosa that was tart and refreshing with a fruitiness that went well both with marionberry and with blueberry. This beer also makes the top 2 faves of the whole meal.

Course 2

Oatmeal Brulee with grilled peaches, caramelized brown sugar, Double Stack Stout reduction and either housemade sausage or vegan sausage
Beer for Breakfast at Great Notion Brewing on September 25, 2016: Course 2 Oatmeal Brulee with grilled peaches, caramelized brown sugar, Double Stack Stout reduction and either housemade sausage or vegan sausage. Beer Pairings of Great Notion Brewing Bellini, Double Mountain Lyle Rider Bloody Mary Red Ale, Scout Beer Porridge Oatmeal Pale with Vanilla and Raisin, and Great Notion Brewing Double Stack Imperial Breakfast Stout Beer for Breakfast at Great Notion Brewing on September 25, 2016: Course 2 Oatmeal Brulee with grilled peaches, caramelized brown sugar, Double Stack Stout reduction and either housemade sausage or vegan sausage. Beer Pairings of Great Notion Brewing Bellini, Double Mountain Lyle Rider Bloody Mary Red Ale, Scout Beer Porridge Oatmeal Pale with Vanilla and Raisin, and Great Notion Brewing Double Stack Imperial Breakfast Stout

Beer Pairings

  • Great Notion Brewing Bellini
  • Double Mountain Lyle Rider Bloody Mary Red Ale
  • Scout Beer Porridge Oatmeal Pale with Vanilla and Raisin
  • Great Notion Brewing Double Stack Imperial Breakfast Stout

My #1 favorite beer of the entire Beer for Breakfast event is definitely the Double Mountain Lyle Rider Bloody Mary Red Ale which perfectly mimicked a bloody mary. I found the Bellini to carry peach flavors well, but also had a slightly harsh finish as if it was a Bellini made with a cheap prosecco? Ha ha I still finished it though. The Oatmeal Pale had a great texture, but I was hoping for more vanilla and raisin then I got than just porridge.

The best pairing of the four was the Double Stack Imperial Breakfast stout with its sweet maple and roasty coffee – since the oatmeal has reduced Double Stack reduction the fact these two were complimentary – with the reduction being sweeter and thinner so you could detect more body and coffee (including natural coffee bitterness) in the beer – was intriguing for me.

Course 3

House Empanada stuffed with pepper bacon, sharp cheddar, home fries with scrambled cage free eggs, or alternatively for vegans the empanada was stuffed with marinated tempeh, Daiya cheddar, and home fries with scrambled Ota tofu
Beer for Breakfast at Great Notion Brewing on September 25, 2016: Course 3 House Empanada stuffed with pepper bacon, sharp cheddar, home fries with scrambled cage free eggs, or alternatively for vegans the empanada was stuffed with marinated tempeh, Daiya cheddar, and home fries with scrambled Ota tofu. Beer Pairings of Great Notion Brewing Blueberry Muffin Berliner Weiss, Great Notion Brewing Orange Creamsicle, Cellarmaker Coffee and Cigarettes Coffee Porter and Modern Times City of the Dead Barrel Aged Coffee Stout Beer for Breakfast at Great Notion Brewing on September 25, 2016: Course 3 House Empanada stuffed with pepper bacon, sharp cheddar, home fries with scrambled cage free eggs, or alternatively for vegans the empanada was stuffed with marinated tempeh, Daiya cheddar, and home fries with scrambled Ota tofu. Beer Pairings of Great Notion Brewing Blueberry Muffin Berliner Weiss, Great Notion Brewing Orange Creamsicle, Cellarmaker Coffee and Cigarettes Coffee Porter and Modern Times City of the Dead Barrel Aged Coffee Stout Beer for Breakfast at Great Notion Brewing on September 25, 2016: Course 3 House Empanada stuffed with pepper bacon, sharp cheddar, home fries with scrambled cage free eggs, or alternatively for vegans the empanada was stuffed with marinated tempeh, Daiya cheddar, and home fries with scrambled Ota tofu. Beer Pairings of Great Notion Brewing Blueberry Muffin Berliner Weiss, Great Notion Brewing Orange Creamsicle, Cellarmaker Coffee and Cigarettes Coffee Porter and Modern Times City of the Dead Barrel Aged Coffee Stout

Beer Pairings

  • Great Notion Brewing Blueberry Muffin Berliner Weiss
  • Great Notion Brewing Orange Creamsicle
  • Cellarmaker Coffee and Cigarettes Coffee Porter
  • Modern Times City of the Dead Barrel Aged Coffee Stout

The Orange Creamsicle here boasts strong orange flavor, but a hint of bitterness like from the rind ratehr then vanilla creaminess like I was expecting – still an enjoyable beer, but I was mislead by the name of the beer.

The Barrel Aged Coffee Stout had the most coffee of all the coffee beers this day, but it does have the extra advantage of using barrel aged coffee beans and that extra depth from bourbon. Of all the coffee beers though I still preferred of all of them the Coffee and Cigarettes Coffee Porter because I liked the strong smokiness and I thought the mouthfeel was so smooth with a nice body.

I was surprised to see the Blueberry Muffin here as really does taste like a muffin, but with extra tartness from the Berliner Weiss – perhaps juxtaposing it with the actual blueberry muffin in Course 1 was too on the nose. I really like the beer – but was a little confused on how it went with eggs or an empanada. I might have swapped the Tepache with Prosecco of course 1 with this one.

Beer for Breakfast at Great Notion Brewing on September 25, 2016 with 3 courses (omnivore or vegan) along with 12 beers with beers from GNB as well as guest breweries

Overall, a fantastic event. One thing I wish had been clear is that although the ticket purchase via Mercury Tickets had described the price as all inclusive, we were asked at the end to drop some cash tip to show appreciation for the staff – fine to ask for, but wish we had known before hand so we could have been better prepared.

The other wish is that it would have been nice to hear a little extra about the beer or the food on why they were chosen or why the particular food preparation based on the beer. On one hand it is nice to taste everything on your own to see what you experience without being told what to look for, but on the other hand it can be educational since some might have finer palates to hear on what they might pick up on.

Ok, maybe one more wish. I wish this event, or the ability to at least have Great Notion Brunch, would be available again, not just this one event – maybe even if it’s just the last Sunday of a month, or quarterly, I would so love to experience this again and not have to wait a year. Particularly many of the GNB beers as you saw from this list are so perfect for a brunch pairing!

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Imperial Session Beer Dinner Pop Up Series

A new pop up is starting up in Portland this time focused on food with another PDX famous love, beer! Advanced Cicerone Ryan Spencer (you may have seen him at Bailey’s Taproom) and Chef Spencer Watari (Clyde Common, Pok Pok) are collaborating together under the name Imperial Session to launch a quarterly dinner series focused on beer and food pairing. The first Imperial Session Beer Dinner will be a five course dinner with pairings for each course on Sunday September 18th at Shift Drinks’ Makeshift Room (former home of Nomad PDX). The dinner seating starts at 7 PM with reservations via tickets available now on EventBrite, with a suggested cash donation of $55 paid at the end of the meal.
Imperial Session Beer Dinner Series, this pop up offers guests the ability to experience a wide range of beer and food interactions without boundaries of a single brewery or single restaurant

Ryan and Spencer are working together to break down the biases and commitments of a typical beer dinner, with the goal of offering guests the ability to experience a wide range of beer and food interactions without boundaries. For instance, usually beer dinner events feature a single restaurant working with a single brewery.

“The problems we found with these dinners were that they all felt more promotional than genuine. Brewer’s wanted to showcase their flagship beers and restaurants wanted to promote their establishments. Both parties seemed to be looking out for their own best interests with little collaboration taking place. We wanted to create a dining experience where we could pour whatever we wanted and serve food that created the ultimate pairing.” Ryan and Spencer explained.

Imperial Session Beer Dinner Series, this pop up offers guests the ability to experience a wide range of beer and food interactions without boundaries of a single brewery or single restaurant

Meanwhile, Imperial Session has intentionally selected beers that are a little outside of the norm. For instance, for this initial dinner, 2 of the 5 beers are unavailable in Oregon, 2 are vintages which are no longer available, and 1 is a small batch brewery only release.

The dinners are intentionally small in order to have guests easily interact with Ryan and Spencer as well as with other guests and allow for smaller batch sourcing of quality ingredients, including rare beers.

Down the road Imperial Session hopes to feature different local chefs to create unique tasting menus for the dinner series, where Spencer operates as the permanent chef and assists the guest chef in formatting their menu into their constraints while also working with Ryan to create pairings.

They have also discussed the opposite situation where they bring in someone from the beer industry to curate a selection of beers to pair with one of Spencer’s menus. Imperial Session could be a venue and opportunity to work out some creative ideas with people whose formal positions in the food and drink industry don’t currently allow that chance.
Imperial Session Beer Dinner Series, this pop up offers guests the ability to experience a wide range of beer and food interactions without boundaries of a single brewery or single restaurant

Background on Imperial Session

Ryan and Spencer have known each other for the majority of their lives, both having grown up in the Portland Metro area and first meeting in third grade and then attending University of Oregon where they home brewed together. Growing up in The Pacific Northwest, surrounded by a wide range of food and beverage,  they said it seemed pretty natural to both of them to pursue careers in those two fields.

Ryan got his start as a dishwasher position at Hopworks before expanding to jobs at Deschutes, Gigantic, and his current position at Bailey’s Taproom where he also has been getting cicerone certifications (the equivalent of a wine sommelier, it requires various levels of examinations). Meanwhile, after college, Spencer moved around for a bit until he settled at Pok Pok for two years before he transitioned to Clyde Common to continue to develop his skills with a more diverse range of cuisines.

For years they have both talked about going into some type of venture together. The specific idea for joining forces to do beer and food pairing dinners came from attending several “Brewer’s Dinners” throughout Portland when Ryan was studying to take the Master Cicerone exam and trying to gain experience with beer and food pairing. Imperial Session is finally those talks, their history, experience, and their expertise coming together for them.

Menu for Upcoming Beer and Food Pairing Dinner

Here’s a look at the menu for this first Imperial Session beer and food pairing dinner. For this particular menu, a few of the dishes were dishes Spencer was really excited about, they tasted through them, and Ryan tried to find beers that might work. On the other hand, a few of the pairings started with a beer that Ryan felt would be really interesting and food friendly, then they designed a dish around the beer. They hope to impart some of the knowledge they acquired from the beer and food pairing process to guests as part of the dinner.

This is the omnivore menu, a vegetarian version is available by advanced notice at their discretion.

Course One:

Grilled corn, kewpie mayo, togarashi cracklin, and avocado puree
Paired with Trillium Pier (a hopped American Pale Wheat Ale from Massachusetts)

Course Two:

Radish and turnip salad, caramel egg dressing, carbonated citruses
Paired with Breakside Carte Blanche (American Wild Ale with Brett, gin and hops)

Course Three:

Lamb pierogies, mint chimichurri sour cream, peas, spring allium
Paired with De Garde/Heater Allen Doppelbock (Eichenbock, an oak barrel-aged Doppelbock)

Course Four:

Sai oua sausage, fingerling potatoes, charred green onions, mushroom demi-glace
Paired with Holy Mountain The Goat (Saison / Farmhouse style ale from Washington)

Dessert:

TBA
Paired with Block 15 2015 Kriek (Kriek is a cherry sour /wild ale style)

 

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