Dogfish Head – Sierra Nevada Life & Limb Release Dinner at Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain
It’s not every day you get to attend the release dinner for an amazing collaborative beer. When I heard about the Life & Limb collaboration beer between Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada and their east coast release dinner was going to be 20 minutes away, I had to get there. Not only beer from two amazing breweries, but food and the pairing done by Bobby Flay at Bar Americain. According to Sam Calagione(Dogfish Head) and Ken Grossman(Sierra Nevada) Bobby Flay had been working on this menu and beer pairing for the last month and it was a great meal! I think for the most part, I’ll let the pictures of the food and beer do the talking!
The first coarse of this 5 course dinner was Tuna Tartar. A very spicy, yet delicious raw tuna paired up with the Limb and Life. Limb and Life is basically the session beer of the Life and Limb collaboration. It is a 5.4% abv beer created from the second running’s of the Life and Limb mash. A big thank you here to the waitstaff at Bar Americain, my wife is allergic to seafood, she asked them to skip this course for her because of the allergy. A few minutes later they came back with this giant bowl of the most amazing pumpkin soup.
Asparagus Chopped Salad, Vermont Cheddar, and Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette, this was a beautiful salad and our second course. All the herbs, spices, and vegetables was a beautiful companion to the Dogfish Head Sah’ tea. The Sierra Nevada Pale ale, while the most pedestrian of the beers we had this night, was equally well paired. The citrus and herbal qualities of the beer was a wonderful match with the salad and dressing. To polar opposite beers, but worked equally well with the dish.
The next course, unfortunately (or fortunately) for my wife, was Red Snapper with Plantains, Black Beans, and Cilantro paired with Sierra Nevada Kellerman Hefeweizen and the Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA. Since my wife would not be able to eat the snapper, she politely refused the plate and for a second time they brought her an amazing substitute, this time a plate of vegetables, cooked a bunch of different ways. I was actually jealous of her food, until I tried my snapper. This meal was meant for the Sierra Nevada Kellerweizen, the clove and banana esters in the beer was a spot on perfect match for this fish and plantains. I wasn’t sure how well the 90 minute IPA fit into this meal, but what the heck. It is probably one of my all time favorite beers, so I was happy to drink it.
The fourth course and by far my favorite, Lamb Porterhouse Chop with Mustard Barbecue Sauce and Sweet Potato Gratin. This was paired Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale and Dogfish Head Punkin Ale. For this dish the meat was the main player, the beer complimented the beef instead of the other way around. But, the Celebration, as always, was top notch – a delicious beer! Most of you how read my blog, know I’m am not a huge fan of pumpkin beer. With that said, the Punkin Ale and the Sweet Pototes were made for one another and it worked fairly well with the lamb.
The final course, the apex of the night, what we all came for, the unavailing of Life & Limb. The 10.2% abv strong dark beer was paired up with an equally intense desert, a German Chocolate Cake! Wow and Wow. The Life & Limb is a lush, sweet, big bold beer. I’m not a huge Chocoholic like my wife, that cake was like chocolate wrapped in chocolate, deep fried in chocolate and then smothered with chocolate. My wife loved it, I loved the beer. This will be one of those beers that is going to age very well. In fact was one of the goals behind the beer so both ken Grossmans Kids and Sam Calagione’s kids could enjoy this beer when they took over the breweries.
All around this was a wonderful event to be at, celebrating the release of Life and Limb with the families of Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head. Ken and Sam crafted two amazing beers, Life & Limb and Limb & Life. The food and pairings were delicious! Finally, the waitstaff at Bobby Flay’s bar Americain were wonderful! We had such a great night and can’t wait for more events to come.
spot on write up; what an amazing event.
Elena, were you there? One of the best beer dinners I’ve been too.
Yes, I was there with my husband and 2 other friends. (looking at your picture we were sitting at the table right next to you) It was an amazing night we all thoroughly enjoyed it. Great food and great beer aside getting to meet Sam and Ken was the big treat; I was amazed with how generous they were with their time and knowledge.
🙂 small world! Did you see my interview with Sam? (http://www.simplybeer.com/blog/2009/11/16/sam-calagione-talks-about-life-limb-and-future-collaborations/)
yes; new collaboration sounds yummy
Peter, this is Steve(your tablemate from the dinner).
nice review and good interview with Sam. it must have been hard for the interviewer and interviewee after so much beer and great food to not just pass out on the table.
what a great dinner that will not be soon forgotten.
Hey Steve! That was a great dinner, one not to be forgotten. It was nice sharing the table with you and putting up with all my picture taking.
Wow Elena. A woman who goes to beer dinners with her husband! You sound delightful. My wife would never. Call me if you ever find yourself single!
LOL, Ted, sorry your wife doesn’t join you. Mine does for the food, she not really a beer person, but will try them. There were a lot of women at this dinner, I’d say about 30%.
LOL Ted – I bet your wife doesn’t drink your beer either 🙂 its all give and take
Man I am soo jealous…good food & great beer….the snapper sounds like it was awesome…again….jealousy from the west coast!
Justin, what goes around comes around. I’m sure i’ll have an event that I’ll be uber jealous of too! You have tons of great breweries up there!
Wow, that looks like it was an amazing night. One of the best meals I’ve ever had was at Bobby Flay’s MESA Grill in Las Vegas. Looks like his NY joint doesn’t disappoint either. It also sounds like most of the parings were spot on.
I’m hungry (and thirsty) now. Looks like a terrific time.
I was totally at this amazing event and totally thought the food was amazing and the beer was amazing in its amazingness. Absolutely amazing. And it was so good. I thought eh collaboration was amazing and everything was so good. It was so good it was amazing. Like you said, it was an amazing event to be at. You’re an amazing writer. Seriously. You’re so good you’re amazing. Your blog is amazing, too. Where did you ever get this amazing tempalte? It’s so good.