Barley's Angels: Beer and Desserts, Together At Last

First of all, a quick update.  The Boy has received his luggage finally and they have started working on the floor of a library for the Salabwek Primary School in Kenya.  From the sounds of the last email, they are being kept busy!  I am dealing better now with the empty nest thing, especially now that I know the Boy has his luggage.  Hubby and I have painted the bathroom, the living room, and the front entry way.....my arms are tired.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...as much as this blog is scheduled...

Last night I had the fabulous opportunity to head out to Bistro 7 1/4 for a Barley's Angels outing.  Barley's Angels you ask? The Barley's Angels are a group of women looking for learn more about beer. Last night they held a beer and dessert pairing evening....WOW!
We were completely spoiled rotten with four beers and four full size desserts...seriously. We were expecting mini desserts....I went to the gym today!

Now let me remind you, that I do not know a lot about beer or pairing it with food I am learning so I have included the links to the beers to give you a more accurate description of each one.

First we started with a vanilla creme brulee and the Innis & Gunn Original.
The Innis & Gunn Original definitely had a strong malt flavour and bitterness that cut through the sweetness of the creme brulee.  The creme brulee was almost mousse like and wasn't very dense. It did taste absolutely heavenly although I would have liked more vanilla in the dessert.

Second, they brought out chocolate banana bread pudding with caramel sauce.  This was paired with Half Pints' Bulldog Amber Ale. Bulldog Amber Ale has a softer bitterness to it and wasn't as big a contrast to the dessert as the first pairing was.  It was a tasty combo.  The bread pudding was everything a bread pudding should be and that caramel sauce...well, I wish I had a glass of caramel sauce to drink too...

The third dessert was a wonderful goat cheese cheesecake with fig compote paired with the Innis & Gunn Highland Cask. This beer had a smoother finish than the original and I preferred this beer over the original but it really evened out  the sweetness from the fig compote.  I was expecting a sharper tasting cheesecake with the goat cheese in it but it was all sweet and all delish!

Last but not least, we had a dark chocolate espresso cake with Kaluha ganache and the coveted Half Pints Black Galaxy Beer. This beer is a dark IPA.  When you look at it, you think stout, but when you drink it, you think India Pale Ale.  This went so well with the dense chocolate cake.  The bitterness of the beer and the overt sweetness of the cake (and the ganache) made this a great way to close the evening.  It is only too bad I was too full to finish the dessert!

A fabulous night out with great food, drinks, and company! I look forward to the next Barley's Angels outing.

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.