-Jim McGlasson, CraftBrewVegas May 4, 2021
With 5% ABV and a soft hop profile, HopNuts Golden Blonde Ale proved to be a very approachable , easy drinking beer. Looking to the internet for suggested pairings, we came across the following: Pepper Jack cheese, spaghetti with meatballs, and sugar cookies! Interested, we searched the pantry for what we might have on hand to a create dishes with these flavor profiles. With a growler to share, we decided to stretch our sampling throughout an otherwise lazy Sunday.
When paired with our brunch of Huevos Rancheros , a side of spicy pinto beans and topped with the melted pepper jack cheese, the Golden Ale was light, effervescent, and refreshing. Not surprisingly, the ale was especially good when sipped with a warm corn tortilla and the pepper jack cheese!
After reading the Sunday paper, we put on a pot of Sunday Gravy to simmer. Later that evening we served the HopNuts ale with the savory sauce, Penne pasta and sweet Italian sausage with freshly grated Parmesan. Not bad! The defining moment of the meal, however, was when we sipped the ale with the crusty french bread and thin slivers of the Parmigiana Reggiana that accompanied the pasta. Amazing! The yeasty flavor of the sourdough and the umami pop from the Parmesan cheese brought out the light malt sweetness of the ale. Its soft hop profile worked together with these flavors, making each better than when tasted alone.
We finished our daylong tasting with dessert. Not wanting to heat up the house baking cookies, we experimented with, of all things, tapioca pudding. Using oat milk, we made the pudding as usual, adding cinnamon and extra vanilla to the mix. The resulting custard tasted surprisingly like oatmeal cookies! Topped with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar, our dessert was nicely complimented by our final glass of the Golden Blonde Ale. Who would have thought!
Yorumlar