The Beer Tasting Class

I went to the beer tasting class at Bellingham Technical College today and it was great. I was already familiar with six of the eight beers -- five from Boundary Bay Brewery (BBB), plus Lindemans Kriek -- and found the food pairings very interesting. The most surprising was a lavender shortcake cookie with the BBB IPA. The IPA's citrusy flavor and the lavender were in total harmony, like the notes of a musical chord.

I was impressed by the quality of the food, which included Stilton and Bleu d'Auvergne cheese, sopressata, prosciutto, molé salami, braunschweiger, pear and apple slices, dried apricots, and chocolate.

Anthony, the instructor, was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and there was a lot of class participation in the discussions. It was a very congenial group -- as most groups of beer aficionados are.

Next Saturday I'm taking the train down to Seattle to go to a Belgian-style beer festival with Mr. Mole of model train fame. The list of brewers is very impressive. I have no doubt that it will be worth the journey -- I always enjoy a train ride, even when there's no beer festival at the end of it.