SEA DOG, I TOLD YOU SOMEONE CAN EAT HEALTHY & ENJOY IT!

As part of an ongoing weekly post yours truly will be picking one food menu item and pairing it with one of our 150+ bottle beers from our monster beer menu. Stay tuned each week for an informed, tried and true suggestion.

This weeks' winning couple is:

Mudville's Portobello Salad and the crisp Sea Dog Apricot Wheat Ale 

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The Chemistry:

Welcome back! I see you've made it to 2012. Congrats! Feeling sluggish yet? Are your New Year's resolutions in full swing? Well, I know you weren't dumb enough to cut out beer so I've picked a pair this week to keep it light on the "remainders of 2011" (aka, your beer gut).

Don't worry, Mudville's portobello salad isn't small by any means. And there's so much flavor going on here you'll forget it's actually good for you. The standout flavors though will come from a couple of key ingredients - the goat cheese and the marinated portobello (overnight-ed in balsamic vinaigrette dressing). 

As many of you know, cheese and beer were meant for one another. Usually, the rule of thumb follows that the more pungent the cheese the stronger flavor you'll want in your brew. Even more, wheat beers tend to go great with all cheeses. So, following this formula (carry the one), having a lighter goat cheese means we need a lighter wheat. I took it up a notch and chose a nice flavored wheat beer to accompany this week's meal. The Sea Dog Apricot Wheat Ale isn't your normal wheat though. The mouth-feel is light-bodied and sweet with not too much complexity to steal the thunder from the salad. It has strong elements of apricot (of course) and a bit of a creamy finish. The wheat yeast brings out the very subtle nuances of the goat cheese and the crispness of the fruit cuts through the tangy vinaigrette. Beer geek tip: let this beer warm a little bit...it gets better! 

See (dog), you're feeling better already!

Bon Apetit!

P.s.  If you can't have a meal without meat, ask your server or barkeep to top the salad off with some grilled chicken. 

Cheers!

A PORTER WORTH SWIMMING UPSTREAM FOR

As part of an ongoing weekly post yours truly will be picking one food menu item and pairing it with one of our 150+ bottle beers from our monster beer menu. Stay tuned each week for an informed, tried and true suggestion.

This weeks' winning couple is:

Mudville's Salmon Burger and the robust St. Peter's Old-Style Porter

 

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The Chemistry:

Before you head off to that faraway, distant home-made meal for the Holidays (or as you're getting back from your food coma), do your body a favor and try out my latest pairing. Yes, it's a burger, but it's a salmon burger. That being said, who doesn't crave something a little different every once in awhile? Take a break from your usual and dip this tasty treat into Mudville's daily fresh homemade tartar sauce. And it's no stretch to see that I've chosen a Porter to mate with this Atlantic Salmonidae morsel.
This porter in particular is very robust. Being that it's a classic British Old-style, there are no bells and whistles here. Simply, WYSIWYG - what you see is what you get. The toasted, almost smokey, malt though is what drew these two together in my head. The brew really draws out the grilled smokiness in the fish without masking any of the notorious fishy flavor salmon is known for. And traditionally porters have that nice hop bitterness in the end. This is no different. Here that hop cuts through the oiliness of the salmon perfectly giving you a nice balanced palate with every round of your bite-sip.

Bon Apetit!

P.s. Add on some delicious grilled asparagus to round out this "lighter burger" meal.

Cheers!

VEGANS DESERVE GOOD BEER TOO

As part of an ongoing weekly post yours truly will be picking one food menu item and pairing it with one of our 150+ bottle beers from our monster beer menu. Stay tuned each week for an informed, tried and true suggestion.

This weeks' winning couple is:

Mudville's Vegan friendly Veggie Burger and the ever accommodating Allagash White

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The Chemistry:
To you Vegans out there (or even cautious eaters in general): sure, it took a while but menus are becoming more accommodating throughout the foody-verse. BUT what if you want to enjoy a nice craft beer in a place with 18 digital screens and screaming football fans? Well you can have your veggie cake and eat it too at Mudville.  This week I've chosen a pairing that will fit you right in with the carnivores for gameday.

The first of the pair is a no-brainer. We've created this veggie burger specifically for you. It's made from scratch with 100% vegan ingredients (you know...carrots, tofu, beans, rice and a plethora of secret spices). If you're a vegetarian we'll add a dollop of tzatziki sauce on the side.
Now, for the significant other to this pair you might be wondering why one couldn't choose just any beer, right? I mean, after all, according to German Law Reinheitsgebot beer is supposed to be just grain, hops, water, and yeast right?! These are ingredients that any vegan/vegetarian can eat. Though these ARE the main ingredients for most beers of the world the lesser known fact is that there are some types of beers (ESB's for example) that may use isinglass as a clarifying agent. Isinglass is derived from cod bladder and so would not be considered a compliant food. And for those of you who thought "cask-conditioned" or "hand-pumped" ales are vegan friendly - think again. These brews are usually made with some sort of gelatin. So, I've chosen the totally vegan friendly White beer out of Maine's Allagash Brewery. According to my sources, Allagash Brewery and a vegan wine and beer source I like to reference, this beer is bona-fide vegan. Oh yeah, and this beer tastes great! Moreover, the style is very complimentary to the veggie products in the burger. There aren't lots of malts overpowering the flavors of carrot, rice and tofu. The crispness of the citrus notes in this particular white add a nice extra zing and the yeasty flavor resonate perfectly with any essence of roasted vegetables. At last!

Bon Apetit! 

P.s. For a nice vegan side addition ask for our grilled asparagus!

 Cheers!

ON A CHILI DAY, SET SAIL!

As part of an ongoing weekly post yours truly will be picking one food menu item and pairing it with one of our 150+ bottle beers from our monster beer menu. Stay tuned each week for an informed, tried and true suggestion.

This weeks' winning couple is:

Mudville's grande Spicy Chili and the award winning Full Sail Amber

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The Chemistry:

Fall is officially upon us and what better food to warm your bones than chili. Chili is one of those dishes where everyone has their own secret recipe. Well, at Mudville9, we’re no different. Usually these secret recipes simply mean that 18 different pepper varieties are in the sauce or something weird like spaghetti might be added - but there are plenty of ways that people enjoy chili. Ours includes our proprietary buffalo wing sauce to give it that necessary zing. With such a variable dish one needs a flexible beer that can handle the heat, meat, beans, spices, cheddar cheese, sour cream and fresh onion. That beer is an Amber Lager. The style may seem a little odd at first but this combo is tried and true in Mexico since the 1800's when Austrian brewers moved to Mexico and introduced their amber lager where it remains a standard (you've heard of Negro Modelo, Dos Equis and Corona, right?)  

The sweet, caramelly Full Sail is an excellent foil to temper dishes with a lot of heat. They use chocolate malt which complements the richness of the sauce while the bright citrusy notes in the beer play nicely against the earthy notes of the beans and cumin dashes. There are many Amber Lagers out there to choose from but for this guy's money I choose the Full Sail (it might have something to do with the fact they've won 14 gold medals with this one).

Bon Apetit!

P.s. Add a fire roasted corn to your order to go all out Mexicana! Can you say "Queso Fresco"?

Cheers!