Stephen always puts on a great dinner especially when paired with both his chef from beerbistro in Toronto, Brian Morin, and Adam Glickman of Monk's Cafe. This time out, he decided to use Scandinavian beers and South American food for some exquisite pairings.
We began the night with a stand alone beer from Nils Oscar brewery of Nykoping, Sweden. Kalasöl is an amber lager which was quite tasty.
Next up was Shrimp, Avocado and Lime dish with outstanding spicy shrimp skewers and shrimp salad. The beer was from the Lammin Sahti brewery of Lammi, Finland. It is not a traditional sahti, but was made with the juniper bed filter giving it a slightly tart finish.
Two brews presented themselves for our next course. Nogne ø Porter from Norway and Norrebro Porter from Denmark. Each had its own profile and went up against a large pork tenderloin with a spicy mole rub, sweet potatoes, asparagus and crab mayo. They made the rub on the spicier side so as to really make the porters work for our appreciation. Both did the job magnificently, but the majority thought that the Norrebro outshone the Nogne ø by a little. The Nogne was quite roasty while the Norrebro was dry and slightly tart in the finish and stood up to the spice better.
Stephen then brought out a classic, a 2004 Pripps Carnegie Porter, from Göteborg, Sweden. Now a Carlsberg company, this was brewed by Pripps 5 years ago. There was a great deal of oxidation in this selection and allowed the cheese plate to compliment it. There were 3 cheeses: Cotija, Oaxaca and Queso Blanco served with dried figs and apricots in Duvel and some grilled flatbread.
Last but not least, we had Mikkeller Monk's Brew from København,Denmark. This was a high gravity beer similar to a quad with lots of malt. We were served a Peanut Butter and Banana Roll with bitter chocolate & cinnamon and monk's brew and ancho chili ice cream.
This was our first Beer Week event as my work schedule kept me close to home this year. Keep an eye on Monk's website for upcoming events.