Program for tonight's Merchant du Vin beer & cheese pairing in Prost.

Beer & Cheese Pairing from the Merchant du Vin portfolio
Monday, November 19, 2007 – 6:30pm
New Albanian Brewing's Prost Room

Cheeses provided by LOTSA PASTA; presented by Will Eaves.

Merchant Du Vin beers provided by World Class Beverages & the New Albanian Brewing Company; presented by Tisha Dean & Roger Baylor.

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Tasting Notes (from Merchant du Vin)

Ayinger Braü Weisse (Germany)
Delicious lemon-scented wheat beer with yeast. This is an aristocratic beer with a champagne sparkle and a beautifully sustained head. Pale in color, tart in palate—a brut beer. Experience as an aperitif or with your meal.
Cheese Pairing: Capriole Soft Goat Cheese

Zatec Bright Lager (Czech Republic)
Medium-bodied; natural, soft conditioning; hedonistic fresh herbal aroma; a flavor that is the best of fresh-baked bread, fields of grain, and spice, with a solid malt middle. Clean, sparkling, and quintessentially thirst-quenching.
Cheese Pairing: Kenny’s Horseradish Cheddar

Orval Trappist Ale (Belgium)
Sunset-orange color; a fruity and slightly acidic bouquet, firm body, profound hop bitterness, and long, dry finish.
Cheese Pairing: Orca & Capriole’s Sofia

Samuel Smith Winter Welcome Ale (England)
Honey-amber-colored, creamy head of small bubbles, floral aroma and delicious malt flavor with great finesse.
Cheese Pairing: Kenny’s Mild Cheddar

Green’s Gluten-free Quest Tripel Ale (Belgium)
Fairly light body for beer of this strength; spice and herb nose with flavors of candied fruit. Aromatic, long finish. Vegan.
Cheese Pairing: Capriole’s Tomme

Traquair House Ale (Scotland)
Deep reddish-golden in color; full, velvet-like body; medium dry and powerful, with an earthy hint of peat character.
Cheese Pairing: Kenny’s Kentucky Bleu

Lindemans Cassis (Belgium)
Deep reddish-purple color with exceptional aroma, flavor, and complexity. Fuller bodied and soft, while still being refreshing and crisp.
Cheese Pairing: Capriole’s Chocolate Bourbon Torte

Special thanks to the following that made this event possible: Reva Hagedorn, Prost Special Events Coordinator ... and Chefs Andrew McCabe and Josh Lehman for consultation & preparation.

Merchant du Vin beer and cheese tasting Monday, November 19 at NABC.

Thanks to the efforts of Tisha Dean, our diligent local sales representative for World Class Beverages, there’ll be a beer and cheese tasting in NABC’s Prost special events wing on Monday night, November 19.

While Tisha remains in the process of rounding up suitable cheeses (we’re hoping these will be primarily local), the beer lineup, which is drawn entirely from the portfolio of Merchant du Vin, is ready for sampling.

Ayinger Braü Weisse
A classic Bavarian-style wheat ale with the typical balance between fruity esters and clove.

Green’s Quest Tripel Ale
Gluten-free, vegan ale; contract brewed in Belgium by DeProef, and never before tasted by the Publican.

Lindemans Cassis
The least sweet of the Lindemans fruit lambic range retains a hint of funk and a powerful black currant punch.

Orval Trappist Ale
This quirky standard bearer from Belgium’s prettiest Trappist monastery has English antecedents and is dry-hopped, with the suggestion of a sliver of wild yeast adding to the fun.

Samuel Smith Winter Welcome Ale
Tadcaster’s brownish-amber seasonal ritual is a silky and rich ale for cooler weather.

Traquair House Ale
Strong ale along the lines of barley wine, brewed in an old Scottish place and hinting at peat.

Zatec Bright Lager
Textbook hop-accented Czech lager, known everywhere except the Czech Republic as a “pilsner” style.

To defray the cost of the cheeses, we’re asking for a $10 cover, and the starting time is 6:30 p.m. To RSVP, contact me at the e-mail address in my blogger profile.