Seattle Beer Week 2012 - Days 7 & 8

I started out day 7 of Seattle Beer Week 2012 by heading up to Cooper's Alehouse for the start of their IPA Championships - the conclusion of the blind tastings they held during their 10th Annual IPA Fest in April.  

Wait - That Sign Says Thursday & It's Only Wednesday.  D'oh!

Seattle Beer Week 2012 - Days 5 & 6

Seattle Beer Week 2012 rolls on - and is wearing me out!  On Monday, I headed down to Big Time Brewing for their first ever bourbon-barrel beer release.  That's the tap handle above.

The Heavenly Bourbon Limited Edition Growlers

'Now For Something Completely Different' With Sean Paxton & Firestone Walker

At last year's Seattle Beer Week, I attended an amazing dinner at Brouwer's Cafe, featuring the Homebrew Chef, Sean Paxton, and beers from one of my favorite breweries, Firestone Walker.  (You can read all about that amazing 10-course, 12-beer dinner HERE.) 

Cajun Prawns Brined In FW Pale 31With Pale 31 Beer Batter - 2011

My Firestone Walker Proprietor's Reserve Holiday

Firestone Walker is one of my favorite brewing companies.  Two big reasons for that are their Double Jack Double IPA, which is my favorite Imperial IPA, and the plethora of oak-barrel-aged beers they offer.  I'm a sucker for a well-done barrel-aged beer and Firestone Walker definitely does them right. 

So, during the holidays this year, starting just before Christmas and finishing a few days before New Year's Eve, I decied to drink each one of the beers from Firestone Walker's Proprietor's Reserve Series of beers, which consist of the following beers:

Firestone Walker's Full Proprietor's Reserve Lineup.

(Not pictured/availble: Xth Anniversary, XIth Anniversry & XIIth Anniversary.)

From Left To Right In The Above Photo:

-Double Jack Double IPA, signed by David Walker

-Walker's Reserve Porter

-Abacus Barleywine (Now §ucaba)

-Parabola Imperial Stout, signed by David Walker & Sean Paxton - The Homebrew Chef

-XIIIth Anniversary Ale

-XIVth Anniversary Ale, signed by David Walker

-XVth Anniversary Ale

-Double Jack Double IPA, unsigned - to 'end-cap' the lineup

Firestone Walker & The Homebrew Chef Collaboration Beer Dinner at Brouwer's Cafe

Last night, Monday, May 23rd was, for me, the highlight of Seattle Beer Week.  My wife and I attended the Firestone Walker & The Homebrew Chef Collaboration Beer Dinner at Brouwer's Cafe.  This was a 10-Course dinner, paired with 12 different Firestone Walker Beers and beer creations.  Brouwer's Cafe closed at 3:00PM to prepare for this special event, and the doors opened for ticket holders shortly after 6:00PM. 

As we were brought in and seated, servers came around to present us with our 'Reception Beer': Firestone Walker's Union Jack IPA on Cask.  Other than Brouwer's few booths, most of the seating for the dinner was at long tables.  So we enjoyed our Union Jack as we introduced ourselves to the other attendees at our table and marveled at the menu for the evening, which was laid out in front of us on large, beautiful menu sheets.

As we were finishing up our Union Jack, Matt Bonney (Owner of Brouwer's Cafe), Sean Paxton and David Walker (Owner of Firestone Walker Brewing Company) came out to welcome us all and to tell us a bit about the evening we were about to experience. 

Course 1:

The first course for our dinner consisted of Cajun Prawns.  These were prawns, brined in Firestone Walker's Pale 31, dusted with Creole spices, coated in a Pale 31 beer batter, coated in shaved coconut, fried crispy sweet and served with apricot DBA mustard sauce.  This was paired with a Firestone Walker Solace - a Summer Wheat beer. 

I'm sure many of you have had coconut prawns as an apetizer at one time or another.  These... were nothing like that.  The succulence of the prawns was easily apparent due to the Pale 31 brining, and the subtle yet slightly spicy Creole spices came through beautifully in contrast with the apricot DBA mustard sauce. 

Intended as a light opening course, it paired perfectly with Firestone Walker's Solace, whose citrusy/fruity notes and clean finish complimented the prawns without obscuring the flavors.