Winter Beer Class

Assuming that all of you know what winter beers look like, I decided to blip this interesting sculpture at Bellingham Technical College this afternoon and play with it in iPhoto as a change from my usual straightforward food and drink photos.

Here's another view of it that made me think of Viking drinking horns.

And just to prove that I took these photos before the class began -- before any beer passed my lips -- here's where to find this sculpture on campus.

But I don't want to disappoint you, in case you do want to see the food and beers, so let us turn our attention to the instructor, Anthony Stone, assistant brewer at Boundary Bay Brewery (our "local"), the winter beers, and the carefully crafted food accompaniments created by Matt Hansen, kitchen manager at the same fine place.

The first "course" of spiced beers (Pike Brewery's Auld Acquaintance and 21st Amendment's Fireside Chat) was nicely matched with Savory Saffron Biscuits with Lemon and Blackcurrant Mascarpone. (Note: In all but the last food link, you will also see the beers.)

Strong ales were represented by Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome and Boundary Bay's Cabin Fever, both of which were well-paired with Oatmeal Stout Soda Bread with Scotch Ale and Molasses Compound Butter.

There were three barley wines, one of my favorite winter drinks, and two sweets to accompany them. Boundary Bay's Old Bounder was superb, and in my opinion was the best of the lot, which also included Sierra Nevada Brewery's Bigfoot (both the 2010 and the 2011 versions) and Genesis 15:15 by Shmaltz Brewing.

The Salted Stout Caramels were superb with all of them, and Matt had made them even more ambrosial by using different salts on each one -- Hawaiian black salt, ginger sea salt, and pink Himalayan salt.

The Fig Nutmeg Donuts with Five-Spice Apple Compote (not shown), Crème Anglaise, and Pomegranate Seeds were delicate and delicious, and complemented the complex flavors of the Genesis 15:15 barley wine.

All in all, it was a very pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon with Phil and to celebrate the snow being gone!