Beer Pairing Dinner

Last night the hubby and I went to Feather Falls Casino in Oroville with some other couples from our homebrew club for a beer pairing dinner. 5 courses of awesomeness complimented by the casino's own craft beers. The dinner started at 6:00 pm so we got there a little early to make sure we hooked up with the other couples we were dining with. Since there were two open chairs at our table the head brewmaster, Roland, joined us too. That is, until a couple came in late and there weren't two chairs open at the same table so Roland left so that they could sit with us. Who comes 40 minutes late to a dinner? But enough about them, more about the food...

An appetizer of prosciutto wrapped asparagus served with their Soaring Eagle Pilsner were first up.
The asparagus was served cold and with a delicious spicy mayo. I could see trying to make this at home. Next was a caesar salad with blackjack vinaigrette (made with their blackjack beer) served with their Golden Feather Extra Pale Ale.
Good, but not as good as traditional caeser salad dressing. The first entree served was a honey habanero glazed salmon with black pepper risotto served with the Sticky Bee Honey Wheat Ale.
Loved, loved, loved this! Nice and spicy, flavorful and just plain fabulous. I think it was everyone's favorite. The second entree was stuffed pork loin with apple sausage dressing and roasted golden beets served with a Squirrel Trail Brown Ale.
The brown ale seemed to be the crowd favorite. I didn't finish my pork loin because I'm not a pork fan and I was getting way too full by then, but the Canadian was more than happy to take the rest off my hands. The last course was dessert - an ice cream float made with the Naughty Native IPA.
Blech. Super bitter beer paired with sweet ice cream. No bueno. I dug out the ice cream and then pushed the rest aside. I actually didn't drink any of my beers for the evening. I took an obligatory sip of each one and then passed them to the Canadian to finish. The yeast in beer makes my stomach want to explode with pain so I steer clear of it.
Captain Canada however, was willing to take one for the team and drink double the beer. Poor guy. For our efforts we also got commemorative glasses. And the couple who came late? They turned out to be really nice and I felt bad thinking such bad things about them making Roland move. The best part about the evening? Finding out that they're going to be doing these dinners quarterly to coincide with the solstices. And Roland, the brewmaster, said that he was brewing a cranberry beer for the winter dinner which made Chris very excited. New meals and new beers - we can't wait!