Fido Beer Tasting

Last night we attended what I believe was the first beer class & tasting held by local restaurant Fido.   Beth over at Eat.Drink.Smile had tipped me off, and I'm glad she did.  The organizers said they plan to make this a quarterly event, and I can assure you we'll be going back.

For $20, we got to taste seven beers and eat an outstanding four-course local meal.  And, as a bonus, we got to sit with one of Fido's bakers [Kevin] and pick his brain about all things baking (Patrick was particularly interested in how one starts a career in baking...)

The food:

Homemade pretzel with parmesan, lemon, and honey mustard

Lemon garlic chicken skewer with toasted coconut and parsley 

(and with what tasted like a sate sauce)

Handmade pizza topped with pesto and heirloom tomato

Local mini burger of lamb and beef topped with feta and crispy onion strings

The burger was the shining star of the evening - too bad I was so full by that point I didn't even make it through half of mine.  

The beers:

Vieille Provision Saison DuPont (Belgium) - farmhouse ale, a little yeasty, fairly light, very drinkable.  Our instructor said that more craft breweries are getting into saison brewing, and indeed our local favorite brewery Yazoo has rereleased their Rye Saison in the last few months (also delicious, now available in Nashville grocery stores)

Czechvar Lager (Czech Republic) - good for a lager, not as hoppy as the Pilsner Urquell, nothing to write home about but a good solid beer

Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen (Germany) - Patrick could probably drink this every day for the rest of his life and be happy.  Hefeweizens aren't my favorite beers (at least not his favorite, the Franziskaner), but this one was pretty darn good.  Beautifully cloudy (see below), very filling, not too hoppy for me, and pleasantly complex flavors.  We learned that the US custom of adding a citrus wedge only diminishes the intended flavor.  

(picture courtesy of The Captains Chair )

Fuller's ESB (UK) - one of the favorites of the women in the room (I was surprised by this).  Not my favorite, but I was too busy looking forward to the Paulaner.

Paulaner Oktoberfest Marzen (Germany) - the only beer that caused people to boo.  Not sure what they are thinking, because Oktoberfests are my favorite beers.   Maybe because there is just a special place in my heart for all things Oktoberfest and maybe because I prefer to drink mine out of (one of) my Paulaner steins, but I think it's a freaking delicious beer. 

Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel (Belgium) - the best surprise of the evening.  One of the best IPAs I think I've ever had.   Very complex flavors, hoppier than I generally like but very enjoyable.  We'll be looking for this one to bring home in the future.

O'hara's Irish Stout (Ireland) - the surprising lesson was that stouts are fairly low in alcohol content.  The O'hara was a good solid stout and a nice way to close out the evening, but this is not my favorite style of beer.

Unfortunately, I took zero of my own pictures because I was too busy shoving food and beer into my mouth (and I was post-call).  Next time - because there will be a next time.  I think we'll also be checking out some of the Wine 101 classes.