What could be better than a beer and food pairing? A progressive beer and food pairing. And what could be even better than that? Going from house to house on the Cycle Pub. Confused yet?
Last Friday, a couple of us got together to pair four Bogus brews with four courses of food. To mix it up a little, we held each course at a different house and went from house to house on Boise’s own Cycle Pub. We started things off with a roggenbier, paired with cheese and crackers. The tangy spiciness from the blue cheese balanced nicely with the spiciness from the heavy rye grain bill in the beer.
Mike from the Cycle Pub showed up shortly afterward and we loaded up onto the bicycle. Well, quadcycle, to be completely accurate. Up next, a raspberry saison, paired to a green salad with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. The route took us slightly uphill, but the bike does weigh 1,400 lbs. We cranked our way slowly up Pueblo, accompanied by the shouts and waves of the people we passed on the way.
Naturally after a few beverages, the urge to cruise through Hyde Park on the way to the next course was irresistible. Mike bumped the tunes again and we noisily pedaled through as everybody in the restaurants hollered back at us. I had this vision of very slowly running out of the tunnel onto the football field…
On to the main course. Ginger saison paired with sushi. That’s one pairing that’s a no-brainer! And my personal favorite way back from when I used to live in Japan, we had a few unagi rolls.
Finally, we wobbled back to where it all began for the last course: the Double Hip Check and blackberry cheesecake. I don’t know about everybody else, but I had a hell of a good time. Clearly, we’re going to need to do that again.
