Beer Dinner Review: Oak & Dagger Public House

By Jennifer Primrose | March 15, 2018
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On Thursday, March 8, Taylor's Wine Shop and Oak & Dagger Public House teamed up for a beer and food pairing dinner. This 5-course meal was set to showcase the food offered by Oak & Dagger as well as the craft beer made by head brewer Pete McCabe. The simple, yet powerful, German-style beers created by McCabe really paired well. And it all started with something as small and traditional as beer and pretzels.

Course 1

Course 1: Bavarian Pretzels and House-Made Beer Cheese paired with Mil's Pils Traditional Czech Pilsner. The brightness of the Pilsner cut with Saaz hops, with that nice herbal and spice notes paired well with the fattiness of the cheese and saltiness of the fresh baked pretzel. When referring to Bavaria, head brewer McCabe said it best, "That area of the world got it right when they made this combo."

Course 2: Spätzle and vegetables with bratwurst meatballs paired with A Little Bit of Everything Dunkelweizen. "We call it A Little Bit of Everything because we threw in a little bit of everything," says McCabe. "We threw in a little bit of rye, a little bit of wheat, a little bit of unmalted wheat, biscuit malt, victory malt. That's what we call playing around with the depth of character."

Course 3: Brat Bomber Slider with braised cabbage, whole grain mustard and beer cheese paired with Lator Hator Doppelbock. The dark malts and toffee flavor of this beer paired well with the bratwurst and mustard. Probably the best pairing of the evening.

Course 4: Shrimp & Grits paired with So Many Hoptions (Summer) IPA. The fruitiness of the IPA paired nicely with the shrimp. "Summer has a lot of nice, fruity notes that aren't necessarily citrus," says McCabe. "Summer has a little more melon and apricot in it ... and it works."

Course 5: Bread pudding with Cooler Beans (Imperial Coole Beans). The bread pudding paired well with this brown ale that gave off strong aromas of coffee. Perfect for the coffee drinker, it is reminiscent of pure cold press coffee. Great combination to end the evening.

This night couldn't have happened without the help of these two ... Ben Cash of Taylor's Wine Shop, who teamed up with Pete McCabe and his staff at Oak & Dagger Public House.

For more events hosted by Taylor's Wine Shop, visit the web page here.