When I surprised my husband by reserving seats for a Harpoon Beer Dinner at Wood-n-Tap Bar & Grill in Connecticut, my objective was to reward him for months of putting in long hours at work, to make up for the fact that we never made it to an Octoberfest this fall, and to take a night off myself for a rare change! But when Al Marzi, Chief Brewing Officer at Boston's Harpoon Brewery, began speaking eloquently about the art of brewing, beer history and pairing beer with food, I couldn't help it: Out came my pencil and camera!
I knew I had to share some of Marzi's tips and insights with you, and to be quite frank, I wish I could have shared some of the beer and food with you, too! The dishes the Wood-n-Tap presented as part of this four-course beer dinner were hearty and flavorful, and the portions were enormous: Each could have served as a meal in itself. As you can see from the photo above, we didn't manage to finish our beer, either.
The evening began with a spread of farm cheeses and cured meats, paired with Harpoon Octoberfest beer, an earthy red ale made with six different malts. This festival season beer paired well with hors d'oeuvres, balancing the saltiness and spiciness of the meats and cheeses.
Marzi said, "I could sit here with Octoberfest and cheese and meats and breads and be happy for hours," and we shared that sentiment. But we were just getting started.
