New Year's Day Brunch at the Foundry

While standing around with wine drinkers as they discuss what is in their glass, you may come across the idea of pairing food and drink. For a wine, this usually means something like a red wine with a steak or white wine with chicken. This concept can get so specific with styles of wines or blends pairing with specific spices used in food. Well a beer just like a wine can be paired with food that accentuates the flavors both of the food and the beer. I know this could be overwhelming sometimes for someone who just wants to just have a drink with dinner. I am just learning the principles of pairing food and beer. However there is a way to enjoy the complementary flavors from combinations you wouldn't even think of.

The Foundry by McCoy's in Westport put on a Brunch pairing foods specifically with beers that complimented the food. C and I found out about a beer brunch from social media and saw that this brunch was scheduled for New Year's Day at the Foundry in Westport. She looked at the menu for the food and I looked at the menu for the beer. She got excited for the Chicken and Waffles course and I was stoked for quite a few of the beers.

The brunch started at noon, which felt like 9 am for being New Year's Day. We showed up and found a table that had four place settings, none of them were set for fewer, which I was perfectly fine with. If you don't know me, I am extrovert and some would say for me that there are no strangers, just friends I haven't met yet.

As we sat down the staff brought us a beermosa. If you have a wheat beer that you feel is less than stellar or maybe you don't want to be judged for morning drinking then a beermosa is definitely an alternative for a bloody Mary or actual mimosa.We were lucky to find the couple that sat across from us were very nice, friendly and sociable. The high school sweethearts were funny and good conversationalists. This trifecta of good beer, good food, and good conversation made for a awesome way to start the New Year.

The beermosa was accompanied by a citrus oyster slider. C was off put a little by it, but I liked the combination of oyster and tomato juice with the orange juice and wheat beer. The reason it was called a shooter was because it slide nicely down the throat.

While finishing the drink and getting to know our table mates, the second course was brought around. This one had Prairie Ale paired with a salmon frittata and creme fraiche. We decided creme fraiche was a fancy way of saying sour cream. Having since looked it up, this is actually pretty close to what it is. The Prairie Ale is made by an Oklahoma brewery that at least has this quality beer and has peaked my interests to try some of their other brews. So keep an eye out as I look for others from them to review. The salmon was good with the fancy sour cream.

As we finished up our beer and salmon, the staff brought around the next course starting with Boulevard's Bourbon Barrel Quad. This is one of their Smokestack series beers. Nicknamed BBQ, this beer has a strong cherry flavor that isn't an overpowering manufactured flavor like cough syrup but a smooth and refreshing flavor like eating a fresh cherry. The beer was strong enough to stand up to a pork belly Monte Cristo slider. If you have never had a Monte Cristo think of french toast with cheese and pork, usually ham to make it a sandwich. This one was nicely prepared and had a thick cut of what was essentially ham with the consistency of bacon. This sandwich was very good, and I will have to make it at home real soon. Despite the really good Monte Cristo, the BBQ was definitely the highlight of this course as it was very good and I am on the look out for this beer in stores and bars around the area.

The next beer was the Cambridge Red God, this beer was well named as it was a VERY red beer and was surprisingly light. The hop characteristic of this beer was wild, but that will happen with 7 different hops used in making the beer. The only other time I have heard the phrase of the Red God was on Game of Thrones, also known as the God of Light. Coincidence? This powerful beer was paired with a very good eggs Benedict made with corned beef hash. I am definitely a fan of corn beef hash and this use of hash was very good.  We were having such an amazing time that we didn't get pictures of this course.

After the plates were cleared, we were given C's favorite course. She is a chicken and waffles fanatic. The Foundry's take on this one was great! They took the sweetness of the waffle and savory of the chicken, tying them together with a nice brown gravy and sweet malty Cutthroat porter from O'dell. The waffles were nice and fluffy. The chicken was fried and juicy. I was also really impressed by O'dell's Cutthroat porter, as a well balanced malty dark beer.

The final course was very good. C was stoked for the beignets that were brought by. These were essentially doughnut holes set on a layer of caramelized sugar then powder sugar sprinkled over top. The light and fluffy goodness bites were paired with one of my new favorite beers, Founder's Breakfast Stout. Take a look at my review of that one. This was an amazing way to wrap up the great brunch with good company.

I am going to be keeping my eye out for more of these kind of events. I know I am going to be at the Boulevard Beer dinner at Port Fonda on January 29 at 7 PM. This one I will be hanging out with Dad. Please feel free to come join us eating good food with great beer. If I hear of other beer events around the Kansas City area I will be sure to post them. Make sure you look at the Contact me page above to find different ways to stay up to date.

To summarize the brunch menu:

1. Beermosa with a Oyster Shooter
2. Prairie Ale with smoked salmon and creme fraiche
3. Boulevard's BBQ with pork belly Monte Cristo slider with a maple drizzle
4. Cambridge Red God with Corned Beef Hash Benny
5. O'dell Cutthroat porter with Chicken and Waffles
6. Founder's Breakfast Stout with Beignets