Princeton’s Salt Creek Grille does a great job with special event dinners, sometimes designed around different wines. On Saturday night, they hosted their first Beer Tasting Dinner featuring Dogfish Head Beer and a special menu created by Executive Chef Fabian Quiros. It was spirited evening full of satisfying food and (rather) strong beer.
Chef Quiros and his staff put together an interesting series of dishes to showcase four Dogfish Head beers. Erik Bell from Hunterdon Brewing Co., representing the distributor, warned that the beers would get stronger or “heavier” as the night wore on. (He wasn’t kidding.)
The dinner started with a first course of Tuna Tartare, Pickled Oysters and Mango Crab Salad. The presentation was lovely. The oysters, topped with crème fraîche were served on the half shell. The crab was nicely paired with small chunks of sweet mango. The tuna, though fresh, tasted a bit bland and in need of acid. A punch of citrus would have been a good addition.
Paired with the seafood was a Dogfish Head wheat beer, Namaste, 5% ABV (alcohol by volume). Others, much more beer savvy than I, compared this fresh-tasting beer to Blue Moon. Namaste is made with the addition of dried organic orange slices, fresh-cut lemongrass and coriander. I got the orange notes, but not the coriander, which I was happy about since it’s not my favorite spice. By the way, coriander is used around the world both as an herb (yummy) and a spice (not so much).
The second course was a Barramundi Arugula Salad which was served with a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, 6% ABV. The menu as a whole didn't really need another fish course, but this was a wonderfully fresh combination of sautéed filet of barramundi, served with arugula, pickled grapefruit and baby heirloom tomatoes. The outside crust could have been a bit crisper, but the fish was hearty enough to stand up to the beer. Also the acid in the grapefruit went well with the fish and the beer.
A tablemate, Dan Kelly, a true Dogfish Head aficionado, pointed out that any beer changes character considerably as it sits out. I thought I wasn’t a fan of warm(er) beer, but I did enjoy the additional flavors that were revealed as the beer sat at room temperature.
Dan also said he enjoys beers served at about 65 degrees, the same temperature as red wine. Because beer drinkers are a free-thinking bunch, I’m guessing he wouldn’t say they “should be” served at that temperature. But any beer expert would probably agree that the beer gets better as it warms up a bit.
The third course was a Dogfish Head Raison D’Etre (8% ABV) and a swashbuckling burger, made from of three great-tasting cuts of beef - short rib, brisket, and chuck meat. It was topped with foie gras butter and truffle cheese. Those two were a bit unnecessary, because the burger was rich enough. The truffle mayonnaise, though, was packed with truffle flavor and was a wonderful counterpoint to the thick fries.
I smelled caramel and a bit of mustiness in the Raison D’Etre. It was more robust than the first two beers and it partnered well with the rich meat. (I couldn’t finish either.) The 8% alcohol WAS much stronger than the previous beers. As with all the beers, I liked this one more after it warmed up a few degrees.
The fourth beer, Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron (12% ABV), seemed strong enough to be a party in a bottle (at least judging from the high jinx at another table). New beer buddy, Dan, told us that this beer is aged in Palo Santo wood barrels, which are so super strong that a 38 slug would bounce off it. (It was good to know that the “happy” people at the next table weren’t in a position to be testing that.) The beer is said to taste of caramel and vanilla and those Palo Santo barrels. It was over my head, but some online tasters call the molasses and vanilla notes as “serious as a heart attack”.
Not difficult to understand at all was the last course of the night – a Coffee Caramel Tres Leches Cake that Chef Quiros remembered from his Costa Rican youth. The name refers to the three milks the cake is made from - heavy cream, evaporated milk AND sweetened condensed milk. The last two are poured over the baked cake and the result is a lusciously creamy, super-moist cake. The caramel sauce alongside was particularly nice with the tiny sips of beer that I managed.
Chef Quiros and staff, Dante Johnson and Luis Estrada, did an excellent job devising a menu that suited the Dogfish Head beer beautifully, but also made non-beer connoisseurs very happy.
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