Beer and Food 101 at the Nova

Dave and I attended Beer and Food 101 at the Nova in Hudson, WI last night.  Let me start with I don't like beer.  I can count on one finger the number of beers I've had in the last two or three years.  Part of it is, well, I don't like beer.  As Dave can attest, I "make a face" when I drink it.  The other part is my allergy to barley.  One beer and I'm completely congested!

But, Dave loves beer and I knew the food at the Nova would be amazing so we went! And this time I remembered my camera!

We got there early enough to snag one of the great tables with the big chairs.  They are so cool.

All of the beers served were craft brews.  The rep said they were all the "New Glarus" beers of their region.  Dave likes New Glarus!

Each beer was paired with a different food, and as expected they were all fabulous.  The first beer was a Victory Prima Pils.  It was ok.  I don't like beer, remember, and Dave prefers a darker more robust beer.  It was paired with Crostini with Wild rice Gouda and Pickled Mustard Seed.

The second beer was a Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale.  This was a really fruity beer!  It was paired with Spicy Pork Kabob with Pineapple, Onion and Peppers.  This was delicious!  My second favorite dish of the night.  Trust me... it was pretty too!  We were hungry, I forgot the picture!

Next was Founder's Harvest Ale.  Now we were getting into more of Dave's type of beer.  This one was served with Pizza with Parsnip Dijon Puree, Lamb Sausage and Raclette Cheese.  I am totally going to add dijon mustard to my parsnip purees now!  It was delicious.  Neither of us really cared for the lamb sausage, and to be honest, I had to look up Raclette Cheese when I got home.  Raclette cheese is a Swiss semi-firm cows-milk cheese. It is like an Emmentaler or Jarlsberg cheese.

Now the next beer, well, I liked it!  It was Oskar Blues Old Chub.  It was a darker beer but didn't have any of that bitterness that I usually associate with a dark beer.  It has a nice, toasty flavor.  I even drank the whole sample!  It was served with a Caramelized Shallot, Bacon and Roaring 40's Blue Cheese Tart, again delicious.

An Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout was the next pouring.  This one really tasted like coffee!  It was served with my absolute favorite dish of the night, Gnocchi with Chorizo, Fig and Parmesan Cheese.  This was the best gnocchi I've ever had.  Had there not been other people in the room I would have licked the bowl clean!

The final beer of the evening was Southern Tier Pumpking Imperial Pumpkin Ale.  Yes, you could smell and taste the pumpkin in the beer!  It was served with Pumpkin Chevre Bread Pudding which was also delicious but I was still drooling over the gnocchi!

Thanks to the Nova and their amazing staff for a great evening!  The hosts were great, service impeccable and the food amazing!  We can't wait to go back for the next one.