I went to a beer & ice cream tasting yesterday

[Catshrink]

I decided I needed to get out more. Some of the pairings sounded a bit odd but worked out pretty well. This was held at Four Peaks Brewery in Tempe, AZ but the group, "Girls Pint Out" is in other places also. They have regular outings to sample beers and tour breweries. This was yesterday's menu:

Cucumber Sorbet with Sunbru Kölsch Style Ale
Vanilla Bean with Hefeweizen
Chocolate Espresso Gelato with Oatmeal Stout
Pecan Gelato with Kilt Lifter Scottish-Style Ale
Pink Peppercorn with Hop Knot IPA


The cucumber sorbet was awesome and went really well with the Sunbru. It was really refreshing for a hot & humid day. OTOH, the pink peppercorn ice cream was borderline gross. My favorite was the pecan gelato and Kilt Lifter. The beers were mostly good - I don't like Hefe so can't judge how good it was and I thought their stout was a little watery.

http://www.girlspintout.com/

http://www.fourpeaks.com/Beers.asp

[Seneca]

1. Your Ralph Wiggum pic kills

:D

[Catshrink]

2. Thank you...

Season 13 will be released Tuesday - and Ralph is featured.

[Seneca]

3. It's cold and hurty!

[tammywammy]

4. Cucumber sorbet does sound good

Sounds "light."

[MiddleFingerMom]

5. Cucumber sorbet sounds incredible...

.
.
.
.
...but the whole concept of beer-and-ice-cream pairings seems at LEAST
borderline gross to me.
.
.
.
.
One of the subtler funny parts of my favorite book, Steinbeck's "Cannery
Row", is the way that Doc is fascinated by the idea of a beer milkshake,
but has always been afraid to order one because he may be perceived as
some sort of anarchist.
.
.
Nick Nolte portrays this exceptionally well in the movie (the whole movie
is exceptional).
.
.
.

[Catshrink]

6. I thought it sounded kind of weird but it was pretty good.

One of the ladies at my table made "beer floats" out of some of the pairings. The cucumber/Sunbru was really good. I know, it sounds weird but it was good.

[Phentex]

7. That sounds like fun!

I am most curious about the pink peppercorn. Just too weird, huh?

[Catshrink]

9. I figured it could go either way

be really good or really bad. It was a vanilla that had chunks of coarsely chopped peppercorn mixed in so that every now and then there was a burst of pepper. I thought it would be more evenly distributed. Is it better to have a burst of pepper or a "constant" presence?

[Callalily]

8. Not sure how I'd like

sorbet and beer pairings, although I did have a most fantastic sorbet made with cabernet sauvignon.

But the event sounds like a lot of fun.

I go to wine tastings where the pair wine with food. Fun and yummy - now that's a great pairing! ;-)

[Catshrink]

10. It's got to be the right pairing..

I don't think a sorbet would go with a darker beer - those were paired with ice creams. The lighter brew worked well.