Last night Pinnora Brewing partnered with housing developers Barratt Homes to host a Beer & Food tasting event for the press launch of their housing development, Eastman Village, located on the former Kodak development in Harrow.
We worked closely with their events team to co-ordinate a selection of 4 different beers, a Session Pale Ale, a Stout, a Sour & and an American Pale Ale. We were then given the freedom to pair each of these beers with a snack food of our choice. Although COVID restrictions were easing, we felt it best to create a number of individual grazing boxes, giving guests the comfort of having their own individual portion.
We eventually settled on a "4-course tasting menu" which elevated the flavours of the food and beer while taking the assembled press on the night a natural progression through the choices.
First up was our experimental Session Pale Ale at 4.5% - with heaps of citrus notes and hoppy fruit characteristics we paired this with individual portions of Habanero Chilli Corn - which cut right through the fruit and left a tangy spice on the tongue - perfect for encouraging further sips of the beer.
Next was our Dessert Course, which comprised of our highly coveted "9PM Toast" Imperial Stout. At 9% we once again had to assure those present that the strength of the beer was well hidden beneath layers of coffee and chocolate and further convinced them of this by pairing the stout with a delicious range of home cooked Chocolate Brownies. Once again the pairing was enjoyed by all and many indicated that this was indeed their favourite course so far.
Finally, no 4-course meal is complete without a Cheese Board. We paired a wonderful cheese and cracker selection with our intensely hopped American Pale Ale. Once again this pairing was chosen to contrast the fruit notes from the beer, with the wonderful different flavours of the cheese selection, encouraging everyone present to see how the beer evolved as they went through the different cheeses. At only 5% this subtly brought people back down to the end of their journey, before their awaiting transportation could whisk them away.
We were thrilled with the responses we received at the event, and how many non-craft beer and non-beer drinkers generally were won over through the complex flavours of the beer and the rich pairings of the food choices.
