Sam Adams Beer Dinner
Arooga's is a local chain of sports bars out here. Their food is decent, they have a large draft selection, and they have Buzztime trivia. All of those can make for a very happy Wendy! I recieved an email about a Sam Adams Beer Dinner they were hosting, and Mac and I decided to try it. I purchased tickets online ($28/each), and we were told that once we did that, they had our names, and we didn't need to pick up tickets.
We arrived shortly before 6 PM, the designated start time, and snagged a little round, corner booth for just us. It was cozy, and nice because we could see everything. The beer tasting didn't start until almost 6:30, due to the Sam Adams rep arriving late, discussion about how to serve the samples, and attendees arriving late. We won't go there!
The first course was Angry Orchard Cider, paired with Hawaiian Flatbread Pizza. I'm not a cider fan, but this was cider for non-cider fans. It tasted just like apple juice. The pizza was very sweet. I'm not a fan of pineapple, and I could eat the pizza without feeling like I needed to remove the pineapple.
The second course was Grumpy Monk Belgian IPA served with Bleu Chips. The beer still had a bit of a candle wax taste, but not a lot. I had no idea Arooga's served potato chips covered with melted bleu cheese! It is probably best I forget that, because they are definitely not on Weight Watchers!
The third course was Arooga's Amber Ale, paired with Adult Mac 'n Cheese. Arooga's Amber is a house beer, brewed for Arooga's by Sam Adams. It's better than macroswill, but nothing special. The Mac and Cheese has bacon bits, but also contained green peppers and tomatoes. I made the comment to Mac that there were veggies in my Mac and Cheese. It needed more cheese, less veggies, but the bread bowl was yummy!
The fourth course was what we really wanted to try, in regards to beer. It was their Third Voyage Double IPA. Incredibly yummy, if you like IPAs, but served way too cold... It was served somewhere around 35 degrees, and should've been allowed to warm to about 50 degrees before serving. Drinking it ice cold greatly reduces the flavor, and this had an outstanding hoppy flavor that was meant to be savored. Oh, food... Right! A standard wing, a skinny wing, and a boneless wing, all covered in their Almost Everything sauce, served with a few french fries. Sauce was spicy but good.
The fifth course was Chocolate Squirrel, a brown ale, with a fake chocolate scent. Dessert was a campfire cookie--a half-baked chocolate smores cookie, covered with ice cream. The beer was uninspiring, but the cookie was very yummy!
We each received a Sam Adams glass for attending, and we were all entered into a drawing for one of three door prizes. The first was a windbreaker, the second a jacket, the third a Sam Adams cooler. Mac won the cooler, which is tall enough that you can use it for bottles of beer!
We arrived shortly before 6 PM, the designated start time, and snagged a little round, corner booth for just us. It was cozy, and nice because we could see everything. The beer tasting didn't start until almost 6:30, due to the Sam Adams rep arriving late, discussion about how to serve the samples, and attendees arriving late. We won't go there!
The first course was Angry Orchard Cider, paired with Hawaiian Flatbread Pizza. I'm not a cider fan, but this was cider for non-cider fans. It tasted just like apple juice. The pizza was very sweet. I'm not a fan of pineapple, and I could eat the pizza without feeling like I needed to remove the pineapple.
The second course was Grumpy Monk Belgian IPA served with Bleu Chips. The beer still had a bit of a candle wax taste, but not a lot. I had no idea Arooga's served potato chips covered with melted bleu cheese! It is probably best I forget that, because they are definitely not on Weight Watchers!
The third course was Arooga's Amber Ale, paired with Adult Mac 'n Cheese. Arooga's Amber is a house beer, brewed for Arooga's by Sam Adams. It's better than macroswill, but nothing special. The Mac and Cheese has bacon bits, but also contained green peppers and tomatoes. I made the comment to Mac that there were veggies in my Mac and Cheese. It needed more cheese, less veggies, but the bread bowl was yummy!
The fourth course was what we really wanted to try, in regards to beer. It was their Third Voyage Double IPA. Incredibly yummy, if you like IPAs, but served way too cold... It was served somewhere around 35 degrees, and should've been allowed to warm to about 50 degrees before serving. Drinking it ice cold greatly reduces the flavor, and this had an outstanding hoppy flavor that was meant to be savored. Oh, food... Right! A standard wing, a skinny wing, and a boneless wing, all covered in their Almost Everything sauce, served with a few french fries. Sauce was spicy but good.
The fifth course was Chocolate Squirrel, a brown ale, with a fake chocolate scent. Dessert was a campfire cookie--a half-baked chocolate smores cookie, covered with ice cream. The beer was uninspiring, but the cookie was very yummy!
We each received a Sam Adams glass for attending, and we were all entered into a drawing for one of three door prizes. The first was a windbreaker, the second a jacket, the third a Sam Adams cooler. Mac won the cooler, which is tall enough that you can use it for bottles of beer!
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