Exploring Tampa-Southern Tier Beer Dinner

Last night Jamie and I attended a Beer Dinner at The Pub. The Pub is located about five minutes from our apartment on Bay Street which is an area outside of International Mall. Bay Street has lots of different restaurants and bars all with outdoor patios. When I first moved to Tampa I thought it was a very strange concept to have all these great restaurants 20 steps outside of a mall, but I have warmed up to the idea and it is now one of our favorites places to go out.

The Pub itself is a British Inspired bar with a lot of craft beers on tap from the United Kingdom. About two months ago they began hosting a monthly beer dinner. The dinner is five courses paired with five different beers, and all of the courses have the beer you are tasting cooked into it somehow. Last night's beer was from a brewery called Southern Tier located in Lakewood New York.

Here is a picture of Jamie and me when we first arrived at The Pub

The restaurant had reserved the second floor for the beer dinner and there were about 50 people in attendance. The first course was a grilled flatbread with prosciutto, poached pears and blue cheese with a balsamic glaze. This was paired with their Pale Wheat Ale. The beer was not as fruity as a typical wheat beer however it was very refreshing and light. (Please excuse the pictures, I had left my camera at home so they're all taken with my phone)



The second course was a beer cheese soup with a cayenne cheese straw and it was paired with the Iniquity Imperial Black IPA. When this course was first brought out I thought for sure I would not like the beer. I was pleasantly surprised when I took my first sip. Although the beer was very dark it did not taste like a typical black beer. It was very 'light' and smooth and easy to drink. I put light in quotes because this beer is 9.0% ABV!

The next course included an arugula salad with grilled corn, bacon, goat cheese and a cornbread crouton. A 2x IPA was served with the salad. The 2x IPA was made with 4 different types of hops and although it is an IPA the hops didn't consume your taste buds.



The main course was a braised short rib over a white cheddar grit cake and succotash paired with an Unearthly Imperial IPA. This IPA was quite hoppier! You could smell the hops while the beer was sitting on the table. This was also the first time I had ever had grits and they were quite interesting!

The dinner finished with a ppumpkin creme brule with cinnamon whipped cream and a Pumking Imperial Pumpkin Ale. I would have liked more of a Pumpkin flavor in this ale, but it was still nice for fall. 

All in all the night was a lot of fun and we got to try some different beers that we may not have typically ordered. Rumor has it that next month's beer dinner is being hosted by Cigar City Brewing, a brewing company about 10 minutes from our apartment. We have also heard that they are brewing two beers specifically for the dinner so we will definitely be checking it out!