Happy belated Party Day everyone!  Yesterday was the celebration of Belgium’s Independence also know as Feestdag or, “Party Day.”  On July 21^st 1831, after all the fights and riots, Belgium attained its freedom and to this we drink!  If you want to know more about it, you are going to have to do your own research because I’m not a history buff, I’m a beer drinker.

Iron Abbey celebrated Belgium’s Independence by having nothing other than a kick ass Belgian Beer Dinner.  It was a great 5 course dinner made by their chef, Jonathan Lee,and hosted by Brendan Johns of Latis.   Here is the menu and a little bit about what I thought of the beers and the dishes.

• First Course the beer was Brugse Zot 6%ABV and the food was a Foie Gras Sandwich with battered brioche, pancetta and raspberry syrup.
  Brugse Zot is the only beer that is actually brewed and lagered in Brugge.  This is one of those hard to find beers and if you find it, it’s one to pick up.  Lemon and citrus hit the nose first with a fluffy white head.  The first taste started with spice, moved to some orangey lemon and ended with a nice malty finish.  This beer was an excellent choice to pair with the first course.  They really went hand in hand with the way the foie and pancetta paired with the lemony maltiness of the beer.  If there was a way to order more sandwiches I would of.  The sandwich reminded me of  bacon, egg and cheese, without the egg or the cheese.  The first course was a nice eye opener and it really got your taste buds excited for the rest of the dinner.
• Second Course beer was Hoevebrouwers Toria Tripel 8.6%ABV and the food was Endive and candied walnuts with aged blue cheese, arugula, white asparagus, and roasted beet dressing.
  We all know how arugula can be really peppery and spicy, right???  Well, this longed name beer meaning “The Farm Brewery” we had last night knew exactly how to take care of that.  Let’s get back on track and talk about the beer some more.  Right away you smell honeysuckle and you taste honeysuckle.  For a beer with a moderately high ABV, the alcohol was nicely hidden.  It’s a very nice drinkable summer time beer that pairs well with light food.  This is one of those beers you are going to be nice to, you can drink a lot but it will come back to haunt you.  With everything going on in the salad palate wise (peppery arugula, sweet walnuts, creamy blue, and roasted beets) the beer stood its ground nice and played nicely with the salad.
• Third Course beer was Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van De Keizer 11%ABV, phew, and the food was Currywurst and frites which was a Bratwurst with curry ketchup and homemade fries.
  You could of given me just this dish for the night and I would of gone home very happy.  French fries, everyone loves fries, but when you personally homemake the fries they are even better.  The curry ketchup was awesome, I could of drank a glass of that and the grilled Bratwurst, give me 10 links and a liter of beer and I’ll see ya later!  This was a very simple dish, but it was one of my favorites.  Now, let’s talk about this beer.  For me, personally, it was a hard one.  It had the smell and a light taste of whiskey with some cherry and plum hiding in there.  The alcohol took over from start to finish, but you could taste some carmel notes along with plums.  I felt like it overpowered the food if you drank it after you ate, but if you reversed rolls and drank the beer THEN ate, the food seemed to calm the alcohol down and you could pick up more of the beer’s characters.  This was a tricky one to tackle for me.
• Fourth Course beer was De Dochter Van De Korenaar Noblesse 5.5%ABV and the food to go along with it was Rabbit Stew, a traditional Belgian dish braised in amber lager.
  Chef Lee braised the rabbit for 3 hours in beer which is always nothing to complain about and served it in a bread bowl.  The stew was rock solid awesome!  People get nervous when they hear rabbit, but this was a nice way to introduce it to those people.  It was a nice tight stew with very little liquid, the rabbit had a nice flavor as did the stew itself.  The best part was after the stew was gone, you still had the bread bowl to eat which has been sitting soaking up the stew!  It was never ending goodness!  How could I forget the beer!  De Dochter Van De Korenaar Noblesse had a nice creamy, malty nose.  A nice smooth, somewhat herbal and bitter hop finish on the taste paired well with the stew.  Having such a hearty stew, the beer came through with a nice clean finish.
• Fifth Course beer was Boon Framboise 5%ABV paired with Belgian Waffle and Ice Cream, it also had poached fruit and chantilly cream.
  I’m used to the Lindeman’s Framboise which has sweetness added, but this beer has no extra sugars added and is all natural.  Boon Framboise is definitely different, it is more sour and less sweet, highly carbonated and very crisp. This beer turned out to be a nice palate cleaner for the whole meal.  The dessert was nice and light and paired well with the beer.  Both excited the palate and cleaned it for the finish.  There isn’t much to say about the dessert, Belgian Waffle and Ice Cream, how could you get that wrong?!?!?

Overall I had a great time.  As always the company was great and so was the food and beer.  If you haven’t been to one of Iron Abbey’s Beer Dinners, I would recommend anyone going who is into the beer scene.