Craft beer enthusiasts have packed the Meddlesome Moth for the beer bar’s week-long celebration that includes an exciting lineup of events as well as tappings of beer rarely (or previously never) available in the area. The festivities also brought representatives from four different breweries for beer pairing dinners, and the week closes out with two massive tastings on Saturday.
On Tuesday night, the Moth hosted fifteen guests in their Mansfield room to have dinner with Bill Graham, a co-founder and the Head of Brewing Operations for Ska Brewing Company. Bill Graham and Dave Thibodeau were the original partners that formed Ska Brewing by combining their passions: beer and ska music. Mike Vincent offerred to have their beer as a guest tap at his brewpub, and he later purchased a share of ownership. Ska’s beer is distributed to nine states and two countries outside of the U.S.. Similar to many other craft brewers across the nation, Ska started out as homebrewers, and the brewery is now experiencing explosive growth and increased demand for product.
Many exciting features have been installed in their $4.2 million headquarters in Durango, CO, where Bill said, “everything is new, or at least new to us.” Their latest equipment includes an automated canning line purchased from Oskar Blues, an award-winning brewery from Longmont, CO regarded as the pioneer of canned craft beer. Four beers out of Ska’s lineup are canned: ESB Special Ale, True Blonde, Modus Hoperandi IPA, and a winter seasonal, Euphoria Pale Ale.
I think a “beer amuse bouche” should be apropos for beer pairing dinners, and we started off with a particularly noteworthy one: Ska Toasters 30th Shebeen Black IPA. The beer was brewed in celebration of The Toasters’ 30th anniversary, a legendary ska band whose music is used as the background music on the Ska Brewing Company website. The small number of reviews on BeerAdvocate and RateBeer imply that this one-off was brewed in extremely limited quantities. The look is deceiving since after pouring, the beer has the appearance similar to a stout. The flavor is very hop forward with a slight burnt toast, roasted bitterness and a chewy malt backbone.
First course: True Blonde, paired with Alaskan halibut cheeks with leek tartare
The halibut had a gorgeous brown sear on the outside, while flaky, yet firm on the inside with a moderate level of seasoning. I thought the leek tartare was like a creamy salad and could have been a course on it’s own. Both balanced nicely against the True Blonde’s citrus and sweet grainy malt flavors; just imagine a similar flavor profile to Real Ale’s Fireman’s #4.
Second course: Pinstripe Red, paired with Smashed Beet Salad with Purple Haze and maple dressing.
I have a love/hate relationship with beets. Jay (aka @GunsandTacos) and I shared the same sentiments as we both hated them as children, but we felt enlightened when we did encounter an execution that showcases the beets’ sweet characteristics. This was exactly the case for the second course, and the sweetness of the beets were a lovely match with the creaminess of the cheese on top. The Purple Haze is a goat’s milk cheese from Cypress Grove, but the biggest highlight is the fennel and lavender pollen that gives the cheese an addictive flavor. Every part of this course felt comfortable and refreshing. The salad as a whole was a stellar pairing with the bready nature of the Pinstripe Red’s malty, but balanced, flavor and smooth mouthfeel. Based on the other diner’s reactions, looks like Chef Kelley knocked this one out of the park.
Third course: Modus Hoperandi IPA, paired with Tikka Masala, roasted chicken, and rice
Yes, you read that correctly: Indian food at the Meddlesome Moth, but I’m also not going to sugarcoat my initial feeling of apprehension. I admit I have a tendency to gravitate toward more aggressively spiced and complex Indian cuisine. However, not everyone is a spice-head and wrecking everyone’s palate in a meal like this wouldn’t be the best idea. The chicken was moist and tame, but apparent, level of heat. Overall, I felt the execution did hit the mark as the point of the course was to highlight how the bitter hops in an IPA cut down the heat of spicy foods.
Fourth course: Decadent Imperial IPA, paired with Pork Tenderloin ‘Schnitzel’ with jalapeno corn bread crust and spiced apple butter.
The crust on this schnitzel was a notch spicier, but not quite the level of heat I’d prefer. A heavy pork dish does work particularly well in this pairing, as the Decadent IPA has an caramel malty sweet slap to the face with a distinct lingering bitter finish. On the note of weight, I did notice that the fourth course here drew similarity to what I had during the Sierra Nevada dinner. Both courses centered around a particularly heavy application of pork. Although I don’t recall seeing anyone finish their schnitzel, I noticed that all servings of the moderately sweet and spiced apple butter were wiped clean, with diners grinning ear to ear. Cicerone Matt Quenette joked, “what if we started just serving apple butter and bacon jam?” Not gonna lie, I’d be happy.
Fifth course: Cask-conditioned Nefarious Ten Pin Porter with a sundae with salted caramel, banana, and spanish peanuts
Excellent showcase of salty and sweet. The bananas had a distinct crispy exterior while firmness was retained in the center, which worked nicely with Nefarious Ten Pin’s sweet caramel, roasted, and nutty flavors. The creamy body and elimination of carbonation due to the cask conditioning really improved the beer. This final course was my second favorite dish and I know I had a tough time fighting the urge to directly apply the beer to the dessert as opposed to sipping after each bite.
Bill shared many stories about the growth of the brewery and enthusiastically answered questions from participants during the meal. I asked a question about collaborating with other breweries, as I’m aware Ska brews limited batch beers that don’t get very far outside Colorado (such as casked Nefarious Ten Pin Porter made with Peeps). Bill described Ska’s traditional collaboration with Avery. The two breweries team up and brew a beer for the Tour of Colorado, a fundraising event and bike tour from Boulder to Durango benefitting bike advocacy groups. He also has immense respect for the close-knit community built by craft brewers and shared a particularly interesting story back when the brewery was shopping for used equipment. The process involved dealing with various representatives from other other craft breweries, whose staff were more than happy to help out, provide advice and answer questions.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to hear majority of his other anecdotes because the acoustics in the room weren’t the best, and this was my only real complaint about the whole meal. I know that I heard Bill say the word “Randall” at one point, and I was real curious to hear about how he applied the device to his beer. Overall, I felt the pairings were thoughtful and particularly bold, especially having two IPA’s back to back without wrecking the diner’s palate. I’ll be back at the Moth on Saturday for the 2 PM tasting session, so if you’ll be there, come say hi and have a beer!