Beer Lunch at the Swan

Rory the head Chef

Below is the menu from the beer lunch that was held at the Swan Hotel. The food was fantastic, Rory the head Chef at the Swan came up with some really great matches.

Aperitif – bottled Spindrift

STARTER

Slow cooked salmon, fennel compote, pancetta, orange and fennel seed dressing, paired with cask Explorer

MAIN

Beer and maple syrup cured Gammon, red onion and chilli jam, saute potatoes, buttered cabbage. Sauce made using Gunhill and maple syrup, paired with bottled Gunhill & cask Bitter

DESSERT

Grapefruit and creme fraiche custard tart, Guava fruit sorbet, paired with Innovation.

We started off with a glass of Spindrift which I think was universally liked.

The starter of Salmon with orange and fennel dressing worked well with the citrus flavours of the Explorer, I should say that not everyone enjoyed the Explorer as much as I did, two people didn’t get on with grapefruit flavours in the beer but as I said on the day I don’t expect everyone to like all our beers, as long as you can find one that you do then I’m happy.

We used two beers with the main, again it worked really well, the Gunhill picking up on the sweet caramelised flavours in the dish while the Bitter cut through and refreshed the palate. The flavours of the Gunhill particularly were enhanced by the food, several people commented that, while they enjoyed the beer beforehand ( I think the actual comment was ‘It’s nice but it’s not Broadside’ ) they enjoyed it much more with the Gammon and it certainly brought out the toffee and Chocolate flavours in the beer.

The final dish was, for me, the triumph. Firstly the dessert itself was amazing, but then pairing it with Innovation worked even better than we could have hoped. There were certainly a few converts to Innovation and I suspect that a few cases were bought that afternoon from the shop. The citrus and tropical fruit flavours in the beer were taken to another level by the Guava and grapefruit and the biscuity backbone of the beer melded with the pastry in the tart while the bitterness in the beer helped to lift the palate for the next mouthful.

That was the food and beer but like most things in life it was the company that really made the day, really nice people with great stories to tell. The real star of the show was Rory who created a great menu.

I hope we do some more of these events, maybe not too often as I don’t think I can eat that well every week.