crannog dinner at rogue - part 1

last week i had the pleasure of attending a beer pairing dinner at rogue kitchen and wetbar in vancouver
the beers were from crannog ales
part 1 of 2:

brian and rebecca of crannog were on hand to tell us about the beers they brought with them
and their 100% organic, zero waste, salmon-safe farm in sorrento
they grow their own hops, and get the rest from local farmers
their farm is a mere 10 acres, so they import barley and have it malted locally
keeping their operation local provides sustainability, a sense of community and works for the greater good

they heat on demand and use their own well water
bringing them in well under other brewers for volume of water used (approx 2/3 less)
they treat and re-use waste water
slurry goes to the compost pile, clear water to irrigation
the pigs eat the mash
zero waste!

course one:  gael's blood potato ale with house cured arctic char

the char was served with new potatoes, root vegetables, dill mustard emulsion and cherry gastrique

and it was a schmorgusboard of flavours

a wonderful appetizer!

the gael's blood is an immigrant ale
its not a style included in the bjcp beer styles
its an irish ale with north american characteristics
they use their red ale recipe and then add potatoes for starch, mouthfeel and lots of malt
oh yeah, and enough hops (fuggles and goldings) to get it to 46 ibus!
they refer to it as irish with the volume turned up to 11
the potatoes used vary from season to season (so each batch tastes a little different) and are sourced from their own farm and neighbouring ones, and include russets and russian blues
look forward to a fresh hopped cask in the fall!

as for the pairing, it worked well
potatoes with a potato ale, smoked char brought out some smokey notes in the beer (even though we checked and there are no smokey bits actually in the beer)

course two:  red branch irish ale with braised pork belly

the pork belly

the salmon they subbed in for me

served with mashed sunchokes, butter braised radish, curry foam and jus

the curry foam was delicious, the sunchokes were an interesting texture (this is a good thing)

i heard good things about the pork belly

my salmon was a little overdone for my taste, but went very well with its accompaniments

the red branch irish ale is named for the red branch of ulster (not to be mistaken for the 6 counties)
caramel and chocolate notes
following tradition, it is not a very hoppy beer
i do love me a red ale, and this one was quite delightful

as for the pairing, i found the red branch too sweet to pair well with curry and salmon
i think an ipa or hoppier ale would have been a better pairing
and it would have cut the fat of the pork belly too

and that's it for part 1