We had a blast at the Brooklyn Brewery beer and oyster Sip ‘n’ Slurp last week, a huge thank you to everyone who attended! It was an adventurous experience for many, and we were amused by the article that was subsequently posted by our friends at Gothamist. Read on for a transcendent journey into beer and bivalve wonderment.
Last night we stopped by an unusual tasting at Brooklyn Brewery pairing oysters and beer. Garrett Oliver, Brooklyn’s brewmaster, said that in all of the hundreds of beer tastings that he’d hosted, he’d never done one with oysters before. That put a current of fear in the air—the fear of oysters tasting really weird when mixed with a mouthful of beer. But we persevered, driven on by our insatiable curiosity and increasing inebriation. And our courage was rewarded. The oysters, provided by the family-owned W&T Seafood, were good, and served without any garnish except for the beer. That brought out some oyster flavors we never tasted before, as well as a strange oyster beer buzz, through which we dictated the following tasting notes to our assistants:
1. Brooklyn Radius and Totten Inlet Virginica: This was the easiest pairing: the beer was a dry, spicy Belgian farmhouse variety. The oysters were mild and deep shelled. A good pair for that summer night at a seaside farmhouse in Belgium, just you and the moonlight and a bucket for the shells, staring out into the ocean thinking: this is much classier than mussels and fries.
2. Brooklyn Local #2 and Kumamoto: This was a dark 9% brew that tasted like burnt candy. The oysters were buttery and meaty, deeply cupped in their shells. A nice match for after you’ve sold that photo sharing company to Facebook and moved to that island in the bay 100 miles north of Seattle, alone, with nothing but a case of dark beer and your thoughts. You are alone, yes, but you are not lonely. You eat another oyster and think, “I’ll never go back.” You snap a picture of your oyster shell and click “Valencia.” You stare moodily off into the darkness.
Continue reading at Gothamist:
http://gothamist.com/2012/04/11/what_beer_to_drink_with_your_oyster.php