The Brew Master Dinner at Port Ludlow

Back in September when I was on a break from the blog, I got to take Damon (it was his first visit uop to see me) and experience an amazing weekend at the Inn at Port Ludlow.  Lovely spot up on the Hood Canal.  We met up with Lisa and Mark, dear friends from Portland.  Made for a festive time.  I got the room and dinner free in that they were offering a FAM trip as they call it and so why not.  I had never had a multi-course dinner where each course was paired with a different beer.

Before dinner began, they brought out fresh out of the oven bread and it was topped with an olive tapenade.  Quite delicious.  The first beer of the night was a Hefe Weizen.  It was also used with the appetizer.

Appetizer - Casscioppo Bratwurst and Braised Cabbage / Hefe Weizen was the beverage served and while the bratwurst was very good, the cabbage was amazing.

 Soup - Ridgetop Red Ale Cheddar Soup w/ Fried Leeks that was stunning.  The fried leeks on top really gave a twist to what could have been a rather boring soup.  A bit on the rich side, I found I did not finish mine.

Entremet - Indianola IPA Poached King Salmon w/ Braised Lentils was not a course I was overly excited about initially in that I am not a fan of IPA nor lentils.  Well, in this case it ended up being my favorite course.  The IPA had a floral overtone I usually do not taste in an IPA and the lentils really worked with the salmon.

Intermezzo - Granita - Clear Creek Pale Ale and it could not have been better timed.  Light and refreshing, it was also a point in the evening to use the facilities and stretch the legs.  And to think we were only half way through.

The gentleman on the right is a sous chef at the restaurant and had the night off so he brought his wife and they ended up at our table.  He was quite knowledgeable about the menu and it was funny how quiet his wife was.  We spent a good chunk of the evening trying to get her to talk and finally when we complemented her jewelry, it opened the flood gates.  The man on the left is the executive chef and it was funny in that he was wearing the cook shirt of the guy on the right.

Main - Fat Scotch Ale Kobe Beef Braised Short Ribs which were HUGE!  Seriously, I have never seen a presentation like this in my life.  By this time all the earlier food was starting to tell the body it was full.  We did have a couple of bites, but as you see below, most of it was pulled off the bone and made its' way into a doggy bag for a snack later that night.  And it was just as good cold as hot.

Thank goodness by this point it was only two courses to go and they would be lighter.  Below is the only course that did not have a beer and it was not missed.  Allowed us to get some water into the body and mellow out the beer nirvana that was overtaking all of us.

Greens - Local Red Dog Farm Greens and was lightly dressed.  Clean and crisp it was a delight to cleanse the pallet before the final course arrived.  Yes, we are finally getting to the end of the dinner.

Dessert - Panther Lake Porter Chocolate Ice Cream was a wonderfully sinful finale to an amazing dinner.  It was not a heavy dessert and yet it really was a nice pairing of the porter and the chocolate.  Not a huge chocolate fan, but it was a nice ending to a lovely dinner.