GRAIN cooperated with @letsdrool, a start-up in the event-szene. GRAIN offered it's first "Drool Public-Table" with a great event.
Amy Paape, the event manager of grain is very friendly and I received a warm welcome when I arrived. I didn't hear of this restaurant before, it's pretty new, just opened last October and already in the top 100 out of 1800 restaurants in Zurich on tripadvisor! Congrats - very strong! So I was very excited to join this special event. I never attended a craft beer event before, nor did I had a dinner course matched with different beers. So far it was always about matching the wine . Up until recently beer was never much about the taste to me , till I came across craft beer and now after my visit to @graincraftexperience it opened up a whole new world of different craft beers with different flavors to me. For starters we had Boon Kriek Mariage Parfait craft beer from Brouwerij Boon, Lembeek, Belgium. At first I thought our host Dave poured us some wine. Looks can be deceiving as they say... the color originates from overripe cherries which are added to the beer (400 grams per liter). Dave, a Canadian living for 25 years in Switzerland, told us how it was made, that the brewers are using airborne yeasts, taken from the wild! how cool is that? I sensed that Dave really loves his role, his storytelling is very passionate and he likes to be around his guests. A very important point for me, the host should give you the feeiling that he is always present.
So #letsdrool and find out how it did taste? I was very biased when it comes to 'flavored' beers, based on the ones that are out there in the mainstream like eve for example. But this one was totally different , altough bitter at first, after a few sips it changed to a pleasant feeling on my taste buds - real cherries! What a great start, I already fell in love with this place!
1st course - marinated fingerling
the first course of the @letsdrool dinner at @graincraftexperience was a marinated fingerling with horseradish, viper's grass, hazelnut and shallots. Very fresh fish, so nicely presented and topped off with said sides, which enhanced the taste. I also liked the plate itself and the whole interior of the restaurant, especially that brick wall at the bar . This is another point for me, which is important. The interior design fits the theme of the restaurant and adds alot to the experience. Furthermore although the restaurant was full, it never felt loud inside, perfect to enjoy the food and the beers.
Dave served us a Grimbergen Blanche Belgian Witbier and explained how it's made and that orange peels are one of the ingredients. Despite the beer having 6% alcohol it is very light in taste and has a hint of citrus, cloves and coriander. Great match to the also light fish.
Beer snack - malt!
feeding Mr @letsdrool with a snack - it's malt! Never saw this served before , it's highly addictive , much better than peanuts and of course it perfectly fits the theme! Dave told us in the near future @graincraftexperience will offer malt with several flavors, e. g. spicy or sweet. one more reason to go back there! Be sure to give it a try when you visit Grain!
2nd course - pork belly
the second course of the @letsdrool event at @graincraftexperience was pork belly with green cabbage, black horseradish, onion rings and pale ale. All packed into three cute little balls. It may not look like much, but I can assure you they are little taste bombs!!! I was lucky to get a second serving, still I couldn't get enough of them on the side one of their house beers from @bachwegbrewing David Hasselhop American IPA - seriously the first thing that came to my mind was don't hassel the hop!
dessert - beeramisu
the dessert at the @letsdrool event at @graincraftexperience was #beeramisu - even the desserts here are beer inspired and live up to the restaurants name! So cool! the ingredients for this dessert were vanilla porter beer, mascarpone, pale ale malt and coffee ice cream - yummy! the coffee eh beer on the side was a @BachwegBrewing Porterhouse Vanilla Porter - Dave explained there's always a debate in the beer community about what's a porter and what's a stout. But you'll easily notice the difference in taste, the stout is more bitter, e. g. Guinness, which to me is like a very bad cup of coffee haha. The Vanilla Porter, which was paired here with the beeramisu is less bitter and easier to drink, most important it's a great match!
It was a fantastic evening at this #droolevent and I want to thank Dave, Amy and their grain team for making such a wonderful tasting experience , it was truly outstanding! Last but not least also thanks to the @letsdrool team for creating this event - rock on! Already looking forward to the next drool event at Grain on 21 March 17 for burger , beers and bowling I already got my ticket how about you?
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