Brewer’s Plate 2017
On March 5th, nearly 90 local breweries and restaurants joined hands at the 13th annual Brewer’s Plate to support Fair Food through a celebration of beer and food. Fair Food, a non profit organization founded by the same people who run our campus favorite White Dog Cafe, works to support sustainable farming and bring healthy local food to restaurants and the public.
The Kimmel Center was transformed as the local breweries and businesses filled the three floors with countless small plates and beers. Unfortunately we were unable to try something from all 90 vendors, but here are some of the highlights from the night.
Our first bite of the night was black currant smoked BBQ beef from El Camino Real. The beef was melt in your mouth tender and the pickled onions perfectly cut through the richness.
Right next door was High Street on Market, serving beer poached cheddawurst with whole grain mustard. The sausage was very flavorful, but as always, High Street’s bread did not disappoint. This was paired with Evolution Craft Brewing‘s Pine’hop’le IPA, our first of many fruit flavored IPAs of the night. The pineapple and honey undertones were not overwhelming but definitely present – we loved it!
Weckerly’s served a fantastic stout black lodge ice cream with a sour cherry swirl and chocolate cookies. This was a really great balance of flavors – it wasn’t screaming stout but that made it even better because it felt like such a natural mix of flavors. We went for seconds…
Jose Pistola’s roasted Cuban pork taco was a great combo with Captain Lawrence Brewing’s Apricot Sour.
Vault Brewing served a delicious Irish Potato Stout with rich vanilla undertones.
We also tried Kurant‘s cider with hops. This is perfect for people who can’t decide between a full on IPA and a sweeter cider. We got a big cup of this for the ride home before we left.
Varga Bar‘s IPA Cake with white chocolate ganache, pistachios, fruit gastrique was dense, moist, and beautifully plated. The IPA flavor was not super strong, but nonetheless this cake was delicious.
Red Owl Tavern served pork belly toast topped with lingonberry mustard. This picture is pretty self-explanatory so I won’t add unnecessary words – but yes, pork belly and beer is the perfect dynamic duo.
Ploughman Cider‘s Pinot Noir’let (N’arlet) was another highlight from the night. Macon and Arlet apple cider was fermented with Pennsylvania grown Pinot Noir grapes to create this blush colored dry cider. This cider combines the best of both worlds.
Tria served their Taproom Babaghanoush alongside cheese with Asian pear spread.
Our hands down favorite cheese from the festival was the Seven Sisters Gouda from the Farm at Doe Run. We really had to control ourselves to not go for thirds.
We ended the night with Troegs Brewing’s first cut mango IPA. Made with comet & simcoe hops with hints of mango, green pineapple, and honey, this beer was perfectly fragrant and light.
Everything was incredible from the choice of vendors, to the beer, to the lively atmosphere. Brewer’s Plate, we will most definitely be back!