Iron Abbey’s Beer Dinner was hosted by Chris Trogner, Brewer/Founder/ and Owner of Troegs Craft Brewery.  Being able to actually have a brewer, let alone one of the brothers hosting a beer dinner was, in beer geek way, pretty cool.  Chris and John Trogner started this Pennsylvania Brewery back in 1997 in Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania and when they first opened, they only had two beers going, the Pale Ale and an ESB, now called HopBack Amber.  Now that Troegs is growing and so is the Beer Industry, Troegs is moving the whole thing up to Hershey Pennsylvania.

The dinner started with Troegs Dreamweaver Wheat paired with Italian Chicken in Little Gem Lettuce Cups.  I’ve had the Dreamweaver Wheat before, but pairing it with a dish nice and light gave the beer bright flavors.  The banana and coriander came through strongly in the smell and the flavor was bright, peppery, and somewhat tangy from the wheat and yeast used.  A decent pairing for the beginning first course.

Second course came one of my favorite beers from Troegs, the Hopback Amber Ale.  This was paired with “Hopback” Braised Rabbit and Leek Rosti.  The beer was crisp and clean with a nice hop aroma and flavor, the malt bill is high, but nicely balanced.  Overall, I enjoyed this pairing, the beer really cleaned the palate from the richness of the rabbit.

The third course was served family style.  Clams cooked in Troegs Pale Ale served with toasted bread.  The beer served was no other than Troegs Pale Ale!  This beer is less hoppier and lighter in color than the Hopback, but the flavor still stands strong.  This was a nice summers day pairing, something you can enjoy while sitting outside at a picnic on a nice hot fall day.

The next course was the surprise course, 09′ Troegs Mad Elf paired with Orange Sorbetto.  Like Chris Trogner said, “when do you ever see an 11% beer put in the middle of a tasting for a palate cleanser?!?!”  Not many times, but actually, this pairing was really really good.  You had the nice warm heat from the Mad Elf cooled down by the sorbetto.  Some people in the dinner were pouring the Mad Elf over the sorbet, things get crazy when you have a little Mad Elf in the middle of a pairing.  Caution people, this beer creeps up on you!!!!

Troegenator Double Bock was paired with Blackened Tilapia and cilantro lime aioli for the next course.  This beer known as “liquid bread” has a nice chewy rich body.  Through the course of fasting, the Monastic brewers relied on this type of beer for all their nutrients.  Tradition says double bocks are all finished with the suffix “ator,” so Troegs gives you nothing other than Troegenator.  This turned out to be a nice pairing, a dark beer paired with fish is something I would never consider, but now I may have to change my some.

Dessert course time!!!  Beer and dessert seem to pair so beautifully together I can’t think of no other beverage that can do the trick.  Troegs Dead Reckoning Porter paired with Beeramisu, Tiramisu made with Dead Reckoning Porter.  This pairing was unbelievably good!  I feel bad for the people coming up to me at the end of the dinner to learn more about TapHunter.  I didn’t ignore them, I just became way too involved with this pairing.  The beer was light bodied, which most porters are, but the flavor of the beer was very pronounced with a roasted malts, coffee, and chocolate.  The beeramisu…..awesome.

I would like to thank Chris Trogner for an awesome flight of beers and Iron Abbey for another great Beer Dinner.  If you haven’t gone to any Iron Abbey beer dinners, do yourself a favor and take a trip to one.  The next dinner will be 10 Fall Beers with 5 courses, the beers favored in each course get to go on tap at the bar.  ALSO, if you haven’t made it to Troegs, go before they move to the new one, or just wait to go to Hershey, beer and chocolate anyone?!?!?!?!?!?!