Since it has opened, Oktopus has really hit it’s stride – a promising opening which I wrote about here [http://electrokemistcuisine.weebly.com/blogs/oktopus-preview] and then a very good review for Liverpool Confidential [https://confidentials.com/liverpool/restaurant-review-oktopus] was finally followed up by a great verdict from Marina O’Loughlin in the Guardian [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/sep/08/oktopus-liverpool-restaurant-review-marina-oloughlin]. This event was in June and I am admittedly a bit behind the curve due to a combination of factors, but now, things are being caught up. This experience was simply one that had to be shared. The evening before the first day of the Liverpool Craft Beer Expo back in June, saw Oktopus host one of the UK’s most prestigious breweries in Somerset’s Wild Beer Company. Following on from the usual meet the brewer type introductions, Andy informed diners that the whole premise of Wild Beer was to pair beers with food and brew using the influence of various existing food sources and translate these into beer. The first pairing was one of Wild Beer Company’s flagship beers; Ninkasi (so named after the Sumerian beer Goddess) is a saison, made from blending 10% apple juice into the wort. The peppery, fresh and bitterly acidic apple notes with big carbonation that are perfect for cutting fattier elements of the food and it has a reminiscent perry-esque character at 9% abv. The dish is was paired with, a chickpea panisse with cheddar and celery was a pleasant combination and pairing all in all; a lot of contrasting elements and with the burnt apple, some complimentary notes. Following on from the panisse was peach, nectarine and goats cheese which was a superb and delicious salad and paired with the Evolver IPA. Evolver is a brettanomyces (a wild yeast strain) brewed IPA with very bitter notes, some coconut, hay, pineapple and nettles thanks to the use of Chinook and Sorachi Ace hops. The stressing of the yeast creates additional phenolic flavour compounds to really alter the flavour and aroma profile of this IPA. The notes from the Sorachi (some people get coconut, others get more herbal dill) really complimented the goats cheese, but otherwise some of the other elements (the sweeter fruit flavours of the food against the bitter and sour notes in the beer) clashed a little around an otherwise solid central pairing premise. The next beer and food pairing was the Squashed Grape, which is where white grape skins and then red grape skins are added to the brew to give various character in the fermentation from the various yeasts harnessed. At 5%, this juicy cordial like brew isn’t the strongest of the Wild Beer stable, but the beer is remarkably complex, albeit not for everyone. The supposed lactic character and citrus notes were not that prominent for me, with lots of raw, cidery, bubblegum and sour, if slightly tannin notes coming through. The mouthfeel was excessively thin and actually a bit flabby, however, the pairing was pretty good. Many of the food elements from the haddock and yoghurt worked very well with the brew. Following the very divisive pairing came the main course along with another of Wild Beer’s flagship brews; Beyond Modus (II). Beyond Modus is a series of barrel aged sour beers, and II is akin to red wine in many ways, making the pairing with the lamb all the more solid. The beer is aged in red wine barrels to up the tannic notes, topped up with a barley wine, molasses and caramelised orange peel. The 100 barrels used to age the beer are blended at the end of the aging period in order to gain a single uniform product. This time, notes of chocolate, sour cherries and some balsamic notes all work wonderfully with the lamb and marrow jus. Fresher notes work in harmony with the sweeter carrot and more brassic-sharp cauliflower. Into the dessert courses and an exclusive Liverpool Craft Beer Expo brew of Fixer was given. Fixer was a one off New England style juicy IPA with loads of aromas of pineapple and other tropical fruit, pairing it with pineapple and coconut was safe but very enjoyable. Loads of coconut, peach and a lovely soft-hoppy bitterness worked well with the dessert, with no real clashing of flavours or aromas. I’ve talked about Fixer elsewhere, so will spare you the waxing here. The final course was another of Wild Beer’s regular and more widely available brews, the excellent chocolate stout, Millionaire, paired with Claremont Farm strawberries, chocolate and meringue. Not much can really go too wrong pairing a chocolate beer with a chocolate dessert surrounded by fruit elements. Nutty notes, sweetness, a lovely silky body and elegantly structured stout went very well with a perfectly executed sweet course. The only struggle was finishing such decadence.
Oktopus will be rolling more of these events out in future, so it is worth following their Twitter feed. Beer and food pairing really doesn’t get the press it deserves, even in the currently craft-friendly climate. Keep your eyes peeled for more, especially when Wild Beer are in town with their often abstract ideas about beer! Pedro. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oktopus Hardman Yard, 24 Hardman Street, Liverpool. tel: 07565 299 879 https://www.oktopus-restaurant.com/ Wild Beer Co. Lower Westcombe Farm, Evercreech, Somerset, BA4 6ER. tel: 01749 838742 email: [email protected]
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