Beer and food aficionados rejoice at craft beer tasting
Food Fundi hosted the Innis & Gunn craft-beer tasting over a six-course dinner at its new venue at the Pick n Pay Centre.
MBOMBELA – Lovers of beer, those tipplers who consider themselves connoisseurs, foodies and the curious all joined in an evening of gastronomic fun at the The Food Fundi last week.
The eatery hosted an Innis & Gunn craft-beer tasting over a six-course dinner on Tuesday May 24 at its new venue at the Pick n Pay Centre.
The food was delectable with each course paired with the tasty flavours of a different Innis & Gunn beer.
Rowan Leibrandt from Truman & Orange, which imports Innis & Gunn from the United Kingdom, played master of ceremonies, informing drinkers of what they were tasting.
“Whatever people tell you craft beer is, the main thing is that it has much more flavour,” he explained. He also offered some helpful tips.
“Never spit beer at a tasting. Your bitter taste receptors are in the back of your throat, so make sure to swallow. Don’t pour your beer down the side of the glass. If you pour it straight down, you get a good head and the beer oxygenates to improve the flavour.”
Also, he said, don’t drink it too cold – beer tastes best at around 10 degrees Celsius.
The evening kicked off with the Innis and Gunn Toasted Oak IPA, a classically British, fruity and light beer paired with canapés like salmon tartar tossed in a soy sauce with chili, lime and coriander.
The second course featured grilled calamari and fried squid heads served with sweet pepper relish. Perfectly complementing the Mediterranean-inspired dish was a sweet and caramel Bourbon Pale Ale.
With the next course of crisp pork belly and Earl Grey tea smoked potato puree, diners sampled the Original Innis and Gunn beer. A rich Scottish ale, TV chef Gordon Ramsay has said this is the best beer in the world to enjoy with food, according to Leibrandt.
Perhaps because it has the least strong flavour of those sampled on the night, it was also preferred by the most people at this reporter’s table.
Next on the menu was the Irish Whiskey Finish. Paired with the main course of beef fillet, grilled thyme polenta and roast beets. The dark beer with hints of coffee and dark chocolate was extraordinary with the dark red meat. The Rum Finish beer brought out the best in the desert of three cheese soufflé with fig and rosemary chutney.
Leibrandt said their marketing was centred on such tastings, as food was the ideal way to experience an Innis and Gunn. The Food Fundi’s Jason Powell said they hoped to host more tasting evenings on a regular basis in future.
- See more pictures: Food Fundi hosts Innis & Gunn craft-beer tasting in pictures
