{"id":55256,"date":"2014-03-18T10:31:30","date_gmt":"2014-03-18T08:31:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=55256"},"modified":"2014-03-19T00:36:14","modified_gmt":"2014-03-18T22:36:14","slug":"devils-peak-brewing-company-pairs-with-beerhouse-food-beer-like-no-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/devils-peak-brewing-company-pairs-with-beerhouse-food-beer-like-no-other\/","title":{"rendered":"Devil’s Peak Brewing Company pairs with Beerhouse food! Beer like no other!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Beerhouse<\/a>Beerhouse opened a year ago<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, with the proud claim of having the largest collection of bottled beers, 99 in fact, as per the song. \u00a0Last night a number of writers were invited to the first of a monthly ‘Meet the Brewer’<\/em> food and beer pairing evenings. The Devil’s Peak Brewing Company and Beerhouse food pairing was led by Brewmaster JC Steyn, previously a winemaker for nine years at Dornier in Stellenbosch, and a brewmaster for the past two years.<\/p>\n

We were a mixed bunch: wine writer Harry Haddon, whisky aficionado Bernard Gutman, beer blogger Lucy Corne, blogger Amy Rankin, and blogger Karissa of ‘My love affair with Cape Town’<\/em>, and others. \u00a0The biggest surprise was seeing Chris Z\u00f6ller, previously at Kloof Street House, now at Beerhouse, a gem of a host, an asset for Beerhouse. \u00a0His brother had worked with Beerhouse GM Murray Slater when they worked in London.<\/p>\n

Chef Roy MacAllister took us through the do’s and don’ts of beer and food pairing, and he said\"Beerhouse<\/a> there aren’t many. ‘Anything goes’,<\/em> he said. \u00a0It is not an exact science with hard and fast rules. The yeast and hops add flavour to the beer, and one needs to take this into account when choosing matching food. \u00a0The bitterness in beer, which seems to go with a higher alcohol content, accentuates the salt content of food. \u00a0Stronger beers can over-dominate the food, he warned. \u00a0 The chef had chosen the appropriate food pairings without the brewmaster. \u00a0Each of the Devil’s Peak beers was paired with two or three food items. \u00a0Each of the food items were prepared especially for the evening, and are not on the Beerhouse menu. \u00a0It is planned to add food and beer pairings to the menu in future.<\/p>\n

\"Devil's<\/a>JC led us through the tasting of five of the Devil’s Peak Brewing Company beers, the four Founder Series beers names all linking to an aspect of Devil’s Peak: Silvertree, First Light, Woodhead (the first dam on Table Mountain), and King’s Blockhouse ( a National Monument on Devil’s Peak). \u00a0It was said that Devil’s Peak is not like any other beer, being ‘quite way out<\/em>‘, and it has pushed the boundaries of beer brewing. \u00a0While one may add ingredients\"Devil's<\/a> to beer, Devil’s Peak only uses water, yeast, and hops.<\/p>\n

Our first pairing was with Silvertree Saison (season), a Belgian-inspired 4% alcohol beer. The bulk of the hops come from Slovenia and some from New Zealand. \u00a0It is not over-dominated by hops, and is a good summer drinking beer, we were told.\u00a0\u00a0Chef Roy paired the beer with\"Beerhouse<\/a>oysters and shallot vinegar (not a good pairing, in my opinion), Portobello Franschhoek Angelot cheese with green fig preserve (good pairing, the acidity of the beer cutting through the fat in the cheese Chef Roy explained), and chicken liver pat\u00e9 (excellent pairing, matching the earthy and spicy taste of the hops in the beer).<\/p>\n

First Light Golden Ale has a 4,5% alcohol level, and is designed to attract lager drinkers. It is made from American hops, and is not bitter. \u00a0It was paired with a smoked mackerel pat\u00e9 with gooseberry chutney (food overpowered), and apricot and \"Beerhouse<\/a>Amaretto baklava containing a taste of marzipan (reasonable pairing).<\/p>\n

Woodhead Amber Ale is much darker, with greater bitterness and 5% alcohol. \u00a0No dry-hopping is used, instead hop-bursting is applied, adding hops in the last 20 minutes of the boiling process, giving the \"Beerhouse<\/a>beer a roasted caramel taste. \u00a0This was paired with very yummy BBQ pork baby back ribs (an excellent pairing), Banoffee pie, and a very dominant vintage (12 month matured) Gruy\u00e8re cheese (too dominant for the pairing).<\/p>\n

King’s Blockhouse India Pale Ale (IPA) is ‘overly hoppy’<\/em>, JC explained, it being a bitter beer style. It ferments for five days, has an alcohol level of 6%, and has a strong pronounced bitterness and fruitiness. \u00a0 It was first made in the UK and then sent to India, the hops acting as a preservative on the journey. \u00a0IPAs are popular in the USA. The pairing with curried chicken Bitterballen was overpowered by the beer, while the carrot cake with a peanut butter frosting was an odd pairing choice.<\/p>\n

Imperial IPA is only available in the Devil’s Peak Brewery, and is part of their Explorer Series. \"Beerhouse<\/a>It has an alcohol content of 7,5%. This was paired with slow braised shoulder of lamb, and it came across as very salty when paired with the beer. \u00a0The dark chocolate calzone was a weak pairing, the beer overpowering it, and Gorgonzola and roasted pistachio was a balanced pairing.<\/p>\n

The next Beerhouse ‘Meet the Brewmaster’<\/em> event will take place on 14 April, with Lakeside Brew Works presenting. \u00a0The monthly beer events are an excellent way of getting to know more about craft beers, to meet the brewmaster, to experience Beerhouse, and to meet some very nice beer drinkers.<\/p>\n

\"Beerhouse<\/a>Beerhouse<\/strong>, \u00a0223 Long Street, Cape Town. \u00a0Tel (021) \u00a0424-3370 \u00a0www.beerhouse.co.za<\/strong> <\/a>Twitter: @BeerhouseonLong \u00a0 \u00a0Tuesday \u2013 Sunday, from 12h00 until\u00a0\u2018late\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n

Devil’s Peak Brewing Company<\/strong>, \u00a0 95 Durham Avenue, Salt River . www.devilspeakbrewing.co.za<\/strong><\/a> \u00a0Twitter: @DevilsPeakBC<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0Twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beerhouse opened a year ago, with the proud claim of having the largest collection of bottled beers, 99 in fact, as per the song. \u00a0Last night a number of writers were invited to the first of a monthly ‘Meet the Brewer’ food and beer pairing evenings. The Devil’s Peak Brewing Company and Beerhouse food pairing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[20517,4795,3,124,1918,20,22,21],"tags":[24388,4357,20518,18026,24390,19558,24385,24401,24393,24391,24397,24389,5489,24400,24399,24398,24387,24394,17815,20873,24386,20531,5315,24396,24392,24395,5488],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t