Kalamazoo Beer Week

The past few days have been hectic to say the least.  Kalamazoo Beer week started Saturday night with a pub crawl.  Although there were a few technical difficulties, everywhere associated with the crawl were still packed almost to the point of lack of breathing room.   This was a great night and Sunday night worked out roughly the same.  There will be updates through most of the week as we explore the fun that Kalamazoo Beer Week offers.

But this is Monday.  This is the night we would normally be checking out some food, possibly even some food made with beer.  With it being beer week there isn't enough time for that this week.  Instead the folks over at Bacchus have gone an extra step for us.  Not only are they hosting tastings for beer week, they are adding in food pairings to match with the different breweries that share their space each day.

So far this week I have had the pleasure of spending time with a rep from Arcadia Brewing on Sunday.  This pairing included chocolate and bbq pork sliders.  Of the beers sampled with the bbq the London Style Porter went pretty well, but for me the natural match was Arcadia's Nut Brown Ale.  That was a perfect match with the malty notes of the Brown matching with the richness of the bbq sauce.  The rich chocolate and coffee notes of the London Style Porter went perfectly with the dark chocolate that Bacchus had provided for the pairing. 



On Monday night Merchant Du Vin, importers of such classically brewed beers like Celebrator Dopplebock and Samuel Smith's was at Bacchus with a few beers to pair with cheese and pate. 

Lindemans Frambois, Celebrator Dopplebock, and Samuel Smith's IPA were presented by Adam McLean the state manager for Merchant Du Vin.  By themselves these are some great beers.  Paired with foods they reach new levels. 

The fruit notes of the Frambois made a perfect match for the cheese.  The acidity of the fruit cut through the fatty richness the cheese brought in making a perfect pairing.  Then when you worked the Celebrator with the pate you could also find a great match. 

While I was at Bacchus I ran into Nate Melvin (on the right) from Discover Kalamazoo.  Starting Monday with him and Nate McLean (on the left) made for a great start to the rest of the evening. 

As we move into the week I will be going over more of the brewers and brewery reps I have been able to spend some time with during beer week but I say now this is Kalamazoo Beer Week, you never know you might run into.  As we find right here, Kevin Romeo and Angel Arnold from Rhino Media Productions, the group bringing us the Michigan Beer Film.  It was an amazing bit of happenstance that they ended up in Shakespears tonight while I was there.   

Be ready, there is more to come. Kalamazoo Beer Week is still going strong. 

 

 

Time for a pint...