I’m back with a whole slew of  Food Friday posts starting with a lovely meal I had last week at the Bier Markt.  This meal was to celebrate the executive Canadian availability of Chicago’s Goose Island Honker’s Ale on draught at Bier Markt!

Goose Island Brewmaster, Brett Porter, and Bier Markt Executive Chef, Michael Cipollo, narrated each of the 4 courses from the new menu (debuting April 24th) and shared tasting notes from each of the Goose Island’s beers: Honker’s Ale, Sofie, Matilda, and Pepe Nero.

RESTAURANT: Bier Markt
ADDRESS:
King West – 600 King Street West Toronto, ON
Esplanade – 58 The Esplanade Toronto, ON
Don Mills – 7 O’Neil Road Toronto, ON
Queensway – 199 North Queen Street Toronto, ON
CUISINE: Pub Food
PHONE: (416) 862-7575
WEBSITE: http://www.thebiermarkt.com/

One of the most interesting things we learned during the meal was how to properly “taste” beer from Brewmaster Brett Porter.  We all heard of wine tastings…but beer tastings?

First, you want to smell the palm of your hand as a starting point. Then you want to hold your hand over the glass of beer and swirl it for a bit.  Slowly lift your hand and take a short sniff.  The purpose of this step is to release the smell of sulphur from the beer.  Then place your hand over the glass and swirl again.  Lift your hand slowly and take two long sniffs.  The full aroma of the beer and smell of hops will be sensed during this step.  Now my dear friend, you have learned the art of beer tasting!

To start off the night, we were presented with a lovely mixed drink comprised of Honker’s Ale, Bushmills Irish Whisky, white grapefruit juice, and bar lime.  This drink was called The Windy City Radler which is quite appropriate considering Goose Island is from the Windy City!  I loved this drink!  I have to say that it is the perfect summer patio drink as you got the bitter notes from the beer, sweetness from the juice, and sourness from the bar lime.  Definitely a refreshing drink that will cool you done during those hot summer days!

Here is description of Goose Island’s Honker’s Ale:

This classic British-style pale Ale has a wonderful amber, burnt orange hue with a delicate off-white foam. The nose is reminiscent of caramel and toffee with hints of fresh fruit. Malt-forward flavours reflect dark breads and toffee. The moderate bitterness balances the malt sweetness making this a truly sessionable Bier.

When we did the first short sniff to get the sulphur out, there was little to no trace of sulphur present in the beer.  But when we did the longer sniffs, we could smell the notes of orange, caramel, and toffee.  Beers can be sometimes very bitter but other orange, caramel, and toffee notes definitely balanced it out.  It’s important to note that most of Goose Island’s beers are very light and won’t leave you with a very heavy “I need to sleep” feeling.

 

The sweet and bitterness of Honker’s Pale Ale was paired with a dish that was contrasting in flavour…Salt Spring Mussels.  The mussels were perfectly cooked.  Despite the name, it wasn’t super salty but just enough where it enhanced the sweetness of the beer.  Normally smoked bacon is incorporated into the filling of the mussels but due to our  dietary restrictions, it was removed from our dish.  I’m not sure what herb was mixed with the bread crumbs, my guess is basil, but it really worked well with the mussels.  Nice to have a crispy texture with a perfectly cooked mussel.

 

What’s most interesting about the next three beers is that it comes in champagne bottles.  You read that right…beer…in a champagne bottle!  Because of the wild yeast in these beers, they actually age and change in taste over time.  By housing it in champagne bottles, a bottle of beer can last for up to 5 years!

Sofie was the next beer from Goose Island.  It’s a Belgian Style Farmhouse Ale that was originally for Belgium workers, so they didn’t need to drink water.  The brewing process is very similar to wines. 10% of the beer is placed with 40 pounds of orange peels in a wine barrel and ferment for 3 months then placed back into the same barrel as the remaining 90%. Sofie is a tart, dry, sparkling ale with notes of pepper, orange, and vanilla.  My boyfriend and I aren’t huge beer drinkers, but with their innovative brewing process, the effervescence made it similar to Champagne and very light.

 

Once again Chef Mike Cipollo chose to enhance the flavours of Sofie with a dish that was contrasting in flavours.  He compiled a Beet Trio where the creaminess from the goat cheese coulis and the sweetness from the beets brought out the spicy and citrus notes from the beer.  I never had quinoa croutons before, but it was absolutely delicious and made me feel less guilty eating it since quinoa is grain with a high protein content.  I just have to mention that the presentation for this dish was fine dining/restaurant quality…absolutely stunning!

 

If you’re a fan of Guinness, you will fall in love with Pepe Nero.  Not only is the dark mahogany hue similar to Guinness, but as its Guinness but without the thickness or heaviness due to the brewing process.  Pepe Nero is comprised of the same wild yeast as Sofie but has a very earthy & rye taste where notes of black pepper are revealed.

 

Pepe Nero is recommended to be paired with grilled meats and roasted vegetables and that’s what Chef Michael Cipollo did.  Originally the complimentary dish was 72-Hour Short Rib, but due to our dietary restrictions, we were given a delicious substitute, Brasserie Chicken.  The chicken was so moist and flavourful and the fat was rendered from the skin causing it to be very crisp.  One of the highlights from the dish was the cauliflower purée.  My boyfriend despises cauliflower, so seeing him eating it and licking it off his plate was surreal.  The purée mimicked the flavour and texture of mashed potatoes.

 

Before I go into the last beer and dish pairing, I just have to say how impressed my boyfriend and I were impressed with the service and level of detail we received.  Bier Markt customized a menu for us to include the dish substitutions.  The little things don’t go unnoticed and we really appreciated it!

The last Goose Island beer of the night was the Matilda.  It’s actually the hardest beer to make as it involved a 9 day fermentation and hardest to replicate since it ages over time.  Over time, it does lose sweetness as the wild yeast starts to take over, causing more acidity to form.  This beer had the most sulphur during the first sniff.

I’ve always watched reality cooking shows where they have to create conceptual dishes and the Dessert Charcuterie was like a completion of a reality show challenge in front of me.  To be honest, I could have dealt without the items in the shot glass.  The cherry and almond tapenade along with the yogurt were too sweet for my liking.  The strawberry & white peach “prosciutto” brought back childhood memories as it tasted like a grown-up version of Fruit Rollup!  The red velvet “boudin noir” aka blood sausage and the milk chocolate “country pâté” were decadent and satisfied my chocolate craving.  The chocolate “rye bread” and banana crostini were crisp and very light.  The peach and apple terrine were very reminiscent of Jello cups!

One mixed drink and 4 glasses of Goose Island beers later, it was a good good night!

I’m absolutely in love with the new menu from the Bier Markt and super excited that they have exclusive Canadian availability!  Like I mentioned before, these beers are very light.  My favourite has to be Sofia due to its effervescent qualities.  But if I were to go to the Bier Markt again, I would first order the Windy City Radler!

Disclaimer: Menu tasting was provided by a PR Company and Bier Markt’s for review consideration. All opinions are my own and are always open & honest, especially when it comes to matters of the stomach.