Winter season welcomes beer pairing dinners

With cold weather putting more focus on indoor activities, you can’t do better than attending a craft beer & food pairing dinner. Last weekend, I attended the first in this year’s Appalachian Dinner Series at the Stonewall Resort outside Weston, WV, as a guest of the resort. I found it something to write home about.

The eye-candy views from Lightburn’s Restaurant, which sits atop a snow covered hill, provided the perfect backdrop for wintertime beer dinner enjoyment. Delicious food and beverage pairings completed the primetime feel.

The Four Diamond-rated Stonewall Resort doesn’t disappoint when it comes to dinner. Executive Chef Corey Pickens leads the Appalachian Dinner Series and coordinates the beverage pairings with help from brewery and distributor personnel. Last weekend’s dinner showcased beers from Big Timber Brewing, the state’s largest craft brewery. Several more are upcoming with different brewers featured at each.

Matt Kwasniewski, Big Timber’s co-owner and overseer of brewing operations, along with Rebekah Rovira, district manager for beer distributor Mountain State Beverage, assisted Chef Corey in ensuring that the selected beers and foods would make delightful pairings.

At last Saturday’s dinner, following Chef Corey’s presentation of the food side of each course, Kwasniewski was on hand to introduce each beer. Diners at the Big Timber beer dinner were rewarded with a series of four pairings that were not only mouthwatering but looked great on the plate. A feast for both the eyes and the palate.

Kwasniewski says they have done probably a half dozen special beer dinners with the resort through the years.

“Stonewall’s hospitality is first rate,” he observes. “It’s always fun to come out here to the resort. They always take care of you and do a great job.”

A beer dinner like this one gives you a chance to try some of the smaller releases from a brewery that you may otherwise miss. Big Timber’s Logger Lager was the only full-time beer on the evening’s menu. All the others were special seasonal selections.

A melding of regional food and beer

While you may have missed the first one this year, more beer dinners are ahead. Upcoming Appalachian Dinner Series events will show off brews from Greenbrier Valley Brewing (March 31) and Jackie O’s Brewery (February 25) — and we hear rumors that more pairing dinners may be scheduled soon.

Chris Audia, the resort’s marketing director, says Stonewall Resort wants to create “really neat experiences, bringing our side of the culinary flair together with some of the best brewers of the Appalachian region.” He says all the the future scheduled dinners will have quite different menus. Every course may be inspired by and include flavors carefully selected to pair beautifully with the selected beer.

“The culinary team loves it,” adds Audia. “They get to flex their muscle; try something new.”

For this Appalachian Dinner Series he adds that the culinary team is looking for beers to work with that are a bit out of the ordinary — something new, seasonal, or small-batch — and not primarily beers from a brewer’s core line-up. That strategy allows for more creativity in both the food dish and the pairing.

“We want it to be special,” he says. “The goal for this series is to pair beers you can’t find everywhere else.”

Big Timber Dinner Menu

Course One

Walter Stew — Creamy Havarti dill cheese soup base with house corned beer and spiced creamed marbled rye croutons, topped with sweet and savory red cabbage

Beer pairing: Big Timber Logger Lager

Course Two

Bacon Mushroom and Brie Strudel — crispy bacon, wild mushrooms and creamy brie, encrusted in a buttered filo shell, served with a side of cranberry-orange slaw

Beer pairing: Big Timber Alpenglow Cranberry Orange Sour Ale

Course Three

Cast Iron Chicken Saltimbocca — organic chicken, fresh sage, Parmesan, Prosciutto, rutabaga mash, topped with fried Brussels Sprout petals.

Beer pairing: Big Timber Frost Notch Winter Ale

Course Four

Cornmeal Apple Upside-down Cake — West Virginia apples, cornmeal, coffee toffee, fresh whipped cream

Beer pairing: Big Timber Cake Smash German Chocolate Cake Stout

LINKS

Stonewall Resort