To start off the first course, Jason and Jen treated us to a Carrot Ginger Curry Soup paired with a Weihenstephaner Hefeweiss and homemade bread. That was a meal in itself, but we were just getting started!
For the main course, Mike and Lee brought their Honey Blonde Dressing (that is, "stuffing" Jason) and Jesse supplied the Drunken Shepherds Pie, made with Guinness. Dave made homemade baked beans with his porter, and Rob brought a Bavarian Casserole, made and paired with Aventinus Eisbock. Ted and CiCi whipped up some Stout Infused Green Beans. They also topped off the meal with a yummy Stout Spice Raisin Cake, which paired perfectly with Mikes Holiday Spiced Ale.
Following the meal, an informal brew competition was held to claim the annual ECHO homebrew trophy... a cache of donated craft beers. This year, the cache was a bottle of Celebrator Doppelbock, Bells Expedition Stout, and Young's Double Chocolate Stout. With 13 entries, the judging panel was overwhelmed with the variety and quality of the brews. The beers were split into two flights according to style, and an impartial judging panel was assembled (Ted and all the wives!). Instead of rating based on adherence to style, due to the wide variety, it was decided to take a more like/dislike approach to the rating system. Then the judges would discuss their choices as a group and come to a consensus regarding the winner for each flight.
A comment was made during the tasting that there was not one bad brew in the entire group, which is testament to the talent and dedication of ECHO for brewing consistent and crowd pleasing beers. Rob and newcomer Mike each won a flight, and Mike scored the most overall points and got "Best of Show" with his amazing brown ale.
Thanks again to the Richters for hosting, and to club for the preparation and participation! Lets do it again next year!
