Beer bests wine at FeastivALL dinner

Beer got the better of wine this year at the annual food and beverage pairing dinner held to benefit Charleston’s FestivALL program. Last Saturday evening, beer defeated wine on the first three course pairings, sealing the best-three-out-of-five courses win right there. However, wine did come back strong to take the coveted main meat course pairing and also the dessert course.

The dinner event, called FeastivALL, features five food courses, each paired with both a beer and a wine. Following each course, diners vote for the beverage they thought paired best with the food. This year beer redeemed itself after taking losses the two previous years.

Rich Ireland (the beer guy) and John Brown (the wine guy) both did an excellent job with their pairings. The quality of each beer and wine was solid. There were no weak entries. It is truly pretty amazing when you realize that neither Brown nor Ireland get to taste the food prior to selecting their pairing beverages. They choose their pairings based on a brief written description of the food item.

Course by course FeastivALL battle recap

1st Course  – Won by Beer 
Goat Cheese Tartlet. (Local winter greens & roasted beets in a tart shell with an herb buttermilk dressing)
Beer: Ommegang Pale Sour Ale
Wine: Trimbach Pinot Blanc, 2016

2nd Course – Won by Beer
Smoked Fish Nicoise (Smoked salmon and trout, boiled egg, haricots verts and micro lettuce)
Beer: Traquair Jacobite Ale
Wine: King Estate Willamette Pinot Noir, 2015

3rd Course – Won by Beer
Mushroom Bisque (Creamy wild mushroom soup with grilled crostini)
Beer: Trappist Rochfort #6
Wine: Clos Pegase Mitsuko’s Vineyard Chardonnay, 2017

4th Course – Won by Wine
Waygu Short Rib (Baked short rib, w/ demi glace, roasted root vegetable, served on faro parmesan “risotto”)
Beer: Ommegang Rosetta Oude Bruin
Wine: Artezin Mendocino Old Vine Zinfandel, 2016

5th Course – Won by Wine
Chocolate Ganache Tartlet (Chocolate shells filled with salted caramel whip cream and stewed berries)
Beer: Samuel Smith Organic Chocolate Stout
Wine: Taylor Fladgate 10 yr. old Tawny Port

This was the seventh year for the fun head-to-head competition, which wine now leads beer four wins to three. The event takes place at Berry Hills Country Club just outside Charleston, WV. The food portion of the meal was masterfully put together by chefs Paul Smith of Buzz Products and Heath Ax of Berry Hills Country Club. North Central Distributors deserve a special plug working with Rich and bringing the beer.

Master of Ceremonies L.J. Fairless kept things moving throughout the evening. Musical entertainment by Bob Thompson, Ted Harrison, Michael Lipton and others added a classy backdrop to the festivities. Our hats are off to the FestivALL team of Brittany Javins, Allie Bodnar, and Rachel Coffman for a great job with this project.

For More Information

Beer and Food Pairing Guide, Brewers Association
Beer and Food Pairing Guide, Webstaurant Store 
Wine and Food Pairing Guide, Wine Enthusiast

Quick Reference Chart, Brewers Association