Beer Dinner at The Red Avocado

Novel writing took a backseat tonight for a tasty LV assignment: a review/outline/whatever about the five-course “Beer Dinner” at The Red Avocado.

Herr Editor sent me the dinner announcement a couple days ago, suggesting I attend for The Quiet Man. Vegan food paired with beer? Needless to say, it piqued my interest — especially since my food pairing skills are lacking. I offered to write something for the LV site and now have 12 pages of notes to piece together into a readable, and terse, review. I have decided play around with a post until I get a solid deadline and word count requirement.

Tonight was the second official beer dinner at The Red Avocado; David Burt, the owner, said the first was in January. He hopes to host beer dinner’s four times a year from now on, and, given how excellent tonight was, I hope they become a seasonal staple.

Shamefully, tonight’s meal was my first ever at TRA, IC’s vegan/vegetarian landmark. I felt guilty as hell meeting Burt earlier to ask a couple questions having never eaten at his restaurant. (Even worse: I interviewed him for a potential piece way back when I return to IC and have yet to listen to the tape. Yikes.) Thank God that shame is no longer weighing me down.

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Course #1


Beer: Point Special Lager (Stevens Point Brewery of Stevens Point, Wisconsin).
Food: Tempura vegetables and English mustard dipping sauce.


The meal started off with an American adjunct paired with vegetables fried in a light batter made with the same beer. As you can see, the six-ounces of lager was served in an oversized wine glass — totally improper beerware. A pint glass would be ideal, but it’s an excusable faux pas.

Burt told the group the beer was not meant to enhance flavor, but to extinguish the spiciness of the mustard. Though the mustard was not too spicy for my taste — it reminded me a lot of horseradish — the beer did its job nicely, dousing the sharpness the spices left lingering in the back of the throat.

The dish was presented with shredded pieces of greens, which I thought was spinach. I dipped a couple pieces in the mustard sauce, but felt the placement was mostly for presentation.

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Course #2


Beer: Pastime Pale Ale (Madhouse Brewing Company of Newton, Iowa).
Food: Curried black eyed pea soup.


Pastime Pale Ale, one of the flagship brews of Madhouse, was also presented in an oversized wine glass — which is much more appropriate for the style. (Personally, I would prefer a pint glass or tulip.) It was paired with a curried soup filled with peas, chopped celery, and onions, which was spicy in that delicious Indian way. Basically, it was the curry that set the dish apart. On the side of the plate was a generous slice of buckwheat bread.

Burt said the grapefruit citrus and hop bitterness of the pale ale would bring out the bitterness in the buckwheat; he also said it would balance the spiciness of the curry and enhance the greens in the soup. It did exactly as promised, though the beer did not completely counter the curry spice; a little was left lingering in the back of the mouth.

The best part of the course, I felt, was the piece of buckwheat bread. It was thick, rich, and grainy, and I used it both to soak the soap and cleanse the palette.

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Course #3


Beer: Sheephead Ale (Brau Brother’s Brewing Company of Lucan, Minnesota).
Food: Marinated tempeh with apple-daikon slaw, sweet potato chips, and snow pea shoots.


Sheephead Ale was another pale ale pairing served in an oversized wine glass. Burt explained that the beer was a favorite of TRA’s because the brewers grow all their own ingredients. (Very cool.) He also said that its gentle bitterness and the sweetness of the dish — three pieces of marinated and cooked tempeh, a couple sweet potato chips, snow pea shoots, and “slawed” apple — complimented each other perfectly.

I felt this dish did more to compliment and enhanced the flavors of the beer than the other way around. The dryness of the tempeh and the sweetness of both the apple and potato chips amplified the grapefruit citrus and mild hop bite.

Right about this time I realized each beer had been presented at around 55º-60ºF. The beer was not warm, but it was not overly chilled, either. It was just about the perfect temperature to bring out the aromas and flavors.

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Course #4


Beer: Traquair Jacobite (Traquair House Brewery of Peeblesshire, Scotland).
Food: Buckwheat blini topped with spiced shiitake mushrooms.


Traquair Jacobite, a Scotch ale (not Scottish ale), was served in an oversized wine glass. The color was a dark ruby and Burt said the ABV was pegged at 8.6 percent. It smelled of dark fruit (cherry and plum), caramel, chocolate, molasses, and a hint of alcohol. The flavors mostly mirrored the aromas, but it was not as sweet as the smell. This paired perfectly with the small buckwheat “pancakes” (I am no foodie) topped with curry-spiced mushrooms (at least I thought it was curry).

Burt explained how beer pairs well with vegan food because of the grains that often go into recipes. Indeed, the buckwheat blini enhanced the chocolate and caramel malt characteristics of the beer, and the beer in turn softened the somewhat tame spiciness of the curried mushrooms. As a lover of mushrooms and bread, this dish was a delight for me. Somewhat shamefully, I have to admit the mushrooms offered a meat-like consistency and juiciness that I savored. The mushrooms were, according to an earlier version of the menu, supposed to share topping space with “Local Microgreens,” but those were apparently scratched. It’s March in Iowa — nothing is growing — so it was no big deal to not see the microgreens.

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Course #5


Beer: Whole Hog Russian Imperial Stout (Stevens Point Brewery of Stevens Point, Wisconsin).
Food: Triple ginger cake with warm caramel-stout sauce.


The final course was dessert, and boy was it special.

The ginger cake was excellent. Though, it was a tad on the spicy side (I could smell it from across the table), it was like a high quality, thick, and fluffy gingerbread man. At the bottom of the plate was the syrup-like sauce, but I was unable to differentiate its flavors from that of the overpowering ginger and cinnamon of the cake.

Whole Hog Russian Imperial Stout was presented in an oversized wine glass. The color was black but not opaque, and it smelled of dark fruit, dark chocolate, caramel, and a hint of alcohol; Burt announced an 8.2 percent ABV. The taste was smooth and much maltier; the caramel and dark chocolate stood out. Also present was the slight hint of alcohol and, in the background, the dark cherry and plum.

Though I loved the ginger cake, I did not dig the beer pairing. Burt explained that the imperial stout was to enhance the spice of the ginger and cinnamon, and that the cake would bring out the caramel and coriander in the beer. (Coriander in imperial stout?) It was supposed to be an overall warming experience, but I just got a ton of spice; the beer brought out the sharpness of the ginger and cinnamon, which was a tad overpowering for me. However, that affect faded after a few mouthfuls of cake and beer; the spiciness was balanced nicely with the beer’s malt characteristics.

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Overall, I was very impressed by the pairing skill of the TRA staff. They really know how to accentuate both the flavors of the beer and the food. Though I felt the dessert pairing was a tad off at the start of the course, each pairing was perfect. Burt delivered on the premise of the beer dinner: to highlight the flavors and textures of vegan food. For $37 a head I think I got my money’s worth in food, drink, culinary professionalism, and atmosphere. TRA is a very classy joint, and I highly recommend attending future beer dinners.

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