Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Beer Pairings at the Publick House – Carrots 'N' Cake

Sunday, March 1, 2009 at 06:22 PM

Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Beer Pairings at the Publick House

A few weeks ago, Foodbuzz did a call for submissions for its 24, 24, 24 event: 24 Meals, 24 Hours, 24 Blog Posts. I’ve been meaning to submit a proposal idea to Foodbuzz for 24-24-24 for awhile now, but I never really had a good idea. 

One of my favorite restaurants in the Boston area is the Publick House in Brookline. They have the best beer selection around and their menu is packed-full of delicious comfort foods. Mal and I used to live a quick 10-minute walk away from the Publick House, so we’d visit all of the time. However, since we moved south of the city, we rarely visit. When the idea of having a 24-24-24 event at the Publick House popped into my head, it was easy coming up with a proposal!

Most people have heard of classic wine pairings with food, but beer also has the potential to pair wonderfully well with certain foods. My 24-24-24 proposal was to have a leisurely beer-food pairing at the Publick House with Mal and our favorite beer connoisseur friends, who appreciated and contributed much insight to our experience. 

The Atmosphere 

The Publick House was an excellent place to have our tasting, mostly because the restaurant is all about good beer. In fact, you won’t find any “ho-hum” selections on their menu (aka “Lawnmower Beer”). The Publick House motto, printed on the menu, guided our tasting: EAT GOOD FOOD. DRINK BETTER BEER. 

The dim lighting, dark wood-paneling, and candlelight inside the Publick House gives the restaurant a relaxing, laid-back feel. However, once the sun set outside and light no longer shined through the large windows, it was difficult to take quality photos (or video) of our food. It was sort of a bummer, but I did my best capture our dining experience with limited lighting.

The Players

I considered having the beer pairing tasting with just Mal, but having it with a couple of our friends as well was such a better idea! (You may recognize our friends from our recent trip to Mohegan Sun!)

Dave, beer connoisseur and brewmaster:  

Dave’s lovely fiance, Marie:

Mal and me: 

The Food and Beer

I started the tasting with a sample of a beer on draft called Coney Island Sword Swallower. I’m glad that I started with just a taste because I didn’t like this beer that much. 

After pursuing the beer menu again, I decided on the Éphémère Apple beer. The Éphémère Apple had a fresh apple aroma with a subtle flavor of green, sour apples and a hint of spiciness. 

As an appetizer, we ordered the Publick House Plate, which came with selection of artisan cheeses, bresaola, prosciutto, garlic mushrooms, orzo pasta salad, and truffled veggie polenta. 

I especially loved the truffled veggie polenta. The flavor combination with the cheeses was out of this world! 

Orzo salad with corn and peas… 

The select artisan cheeses were both from France: Morbier and Petit Jurassic. The Morbier is a semi-soft cow’s milk cheese with the flavor of nuts and fruit and an aroma of fresh hay. The Petit Jurassic is a hard raw milk cheese with a a soft tangy, and almost fruity flavor. Mal really liked the pairing of his hoppy IPA with the strong-tasting Petit Jurassic cheese and the different meats.  

The Éphémère Apple beer was a perfect accompaniment to a tasting dish like the the Publick House Plate. The beer went especially well with the lighter and creamier Morbier cheese.  We didn’t have room for dessert after our tasting, but I think the Éphémère Apple would be delicious with any sort of apple or pear dessert.

Our next course was on order of the Publick House Moules Frites (aka French fries in a greasy paper bag)! I am obsessed with these fries! They are seriously to die for- crisp and crunchy on the outside, but soft and smooth on the inside. They are my most favorite French fries EVER!!! 

I paired a Belgium beer, called ‘t Smisje Dubbel, with the French fries. The ‘t Smisje Dubbel was a murky brown color with red hues. It had a rich raisin-esque aroma, and tasted like a lightly spicy blend of dates and honey, which actually reminded me of toffee a little bit. It was truly delicious! The sweet, creamy, and thick flavors were different than the usual brews that I have tried, but the complexity of the beer went well with the everyday French fries. 

When it came time to order our entrees, I was already stuffed from the two appetizers and two filling beers. I decided to steal a few bites of Mal’s entree instead of ordering my own.

Marie had the Scallops Dasilva, pan roasted day boat scallops, ragout of asparagus, maitake mushrooms, and butternut squash, shallot, and herb cream. Marie said that she is very picky about how she likes her scallops, and she loved this dish! She paired her seafood entree with a raspberry-flavored pilsner, which brought out the sweetness of the butternut squash. 

Mal ordered the Publick House’s Famous Mac & Cheese with bacon. The Mac & Cheese is orrechetti pasta in a five cheese sauce with a choice of add-ins that range from tomato and mushrooms to shrimp and scallops to bacon and grilled chicken. 

I thought a dark, spicy, lightly hoppy ale would pair well with a strong-flavored Mac & Cheese. I mostly liked the flavor combination (and the glass that the beer was served in), but I just wasn’t a fan of the hoppy-ness of the ale. Dave likes strong, dark beers, so he offered to drink the McChouffe for me, so I could order something different. What a guy!

Instead of the McChouffe, I ordered a Troubadour Obscura, which was a Belgium mild stout. This beer was a pretty dark color, like you would expect from a stout, but it had a slightly more red-brown hue to it. The flavors were nice and rich– I think I tasted hints of coffee and perhaps chocolate? It was definitely a beer that you sip and savor every ounce of flavor.

When paired with the Mac & Cheese, the Troubadour Obscura was an ideal match for a dish with a strong-tasting flavor. It put up a good fight against the bold and assertive five cheese sauce. 

For his entree, Dave ordered the Publick House Burger, which he paired with a Fuller’s ESB Ale. 

ESB’s flavor is described as:

An ample, grainy-nutty aroma and a broad, authoritative flavor, with lashings of dry marmalade-like bitters… an enormous attack of rich malt, tangy fruit and spicy hops in the mouth, with a profound Goldings peppery note in the long finish and hints of orange, lemon and gooseberry fruit”.

Dave said that the ESB was a fine compliment to his burger. 

From our beer and food pairing “discovery session,” I learned that beer tasting doesn’t have any hard and fast rules (like wine pairings sometimes do).  While there are a number of “acceptable” beer and food pairings that exist, we were able to explore some new combinations and untraditional pairings– most of which turned out very well. With the help of my husband and a couple of enthusiastic and adventurous friends, I explored my palate, shared my opinions, and tasted and created some delicious food and beer pairings. Thank you, Foodbuzz, for such a wonderful opportunity!

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Tags: Publick House