Sunday beer brunching.

You know how I mentioned that we went to a beer brunch recently?  It's just as amazing as it sounds.  Instead of the standard "beer dinner" you might attend, this is a brunch where dishes are paired with beers.  We went to the Raleigh Times 1st Annual Beer Brunch last year, and it was delicious and brutal.  They paired everything with breakfast-type stout beers which were high in alcohol.  The portions were massive.  I left feeling insanely full and a little too tipsy.

[You might recognize this outfit!]

This year, Raleigh Times got things right!

This line-up is pretty stellar, and the chef is pretty dang awesome!  Oh, and even though I'm vegetarian pescatarian flexitarian pescatarian, one of my personal exceptions for eating meat is beer dinners/brunches (which is a story for another day).

First course was a pancake topped with sausage (which I learned I really don't miss unless it's the spicy variety), molasses, and honey.  It was paired with the Mother Earth Tripel Over Head beer.  This is a great beer for those of you who enjoy beers of the lighter variety.  The sweetness, which isn't overpowering, has the amazing ability to hide the 9% alcohol that could quickly catch up to you.  This beer and pairing was pretty yummy.  It was a nice, light start to a brunch.

The second course was probably my favorite.  The frittata had duck confit (which I've had only a handful of times and has been amazing every time), mushrooms, and asparagus in it.  The green chili hollandaise was really where it was at though.  Everyone wanted bowls of that shit to go (apparently they don't do that).  The beer pairing was like the cherry on top for this course.  Stone Vertical Epic is a cool beer with an even better story.  Stone brewed one batch of this beer every year starting on 01.01.01.  They have continued with one batch every year as so: 02.02.02, 03.03.03...you get the idea.  These beers cost ridiculous amounts of money if you tried to get a hold of them now.  We were lucky enough to have the 11.11.11 version.  Perfection.

[No idea why Blogger decided to rotate this picture on its own]

This course was good!  The sorbet was delicious and a great palate cleanser; then there's the mimosa.  The Cascade Apricot was absolutely perfect for mixing with juice to make a mimosa.  I wouldn't recommend this beer alone unless you like sour beers.  I could drink that mimosa all day long.

Surprise!  The bloody mary wasn't on the menu!  That on the left is candied bacon.  The bloody went down oh, so smooth...

This course was a bit of a fail for me.  Remember how I mentioned portion-size was a problem?  This was a major problem.  And as a regular "non-meat eater," I just couldn't handle this one.  I took a few bites max and gave the rest to D.  The Mother Earth Silent Night on the other hand was amazing.  The pairing of the beer and food was really delicious, but I the meat just didn't work for me personally.

I wish the dessert would have focused a bit more, but let's face it, the photographer was not quite taking pictures at her prime at this point.  The chocolate mousse was really delicious, and you know I'm a fan of the Terrapin Liquid Bliss beer pairing.  The peanut brittle was super sweet for me, but I wish I could have eaten more of it.  

How did we leave after this year's beer brunch?  Luckily I could still walk in my heels, but we came home and crashed.  A little drunk and a lot full makes for a great nap.