Beer Bellies

I often say that if not for calories and money issues, I would be a stone alcoholic. So perhaps it is good that I have “body image issues” and am always worried (often needlessly) about going broke. Nevertheless, these issues do not prevent me from drinking and eating a lot. This past Sunday, I got to do both at the first Wolverine State brewpub’s “Beer Bellies” dinner (and why yes, I did increase my beer belly, thanks! :))

Let me start by saying that this dinner was AMAZING and one of the best dinners I have been to. The menu appealed to me because it did not feature pork, which I do not eat and which is often front & center for any kind of dinner event (might have eaten the shellfish though).

The dinner started with these things called beignets which I still can’t pronounce but I sure can eat! They are this doughy bready thing filled with chives and cheddar cheese and then, I think, deep friend. What the fuck? Who thought this up? Get this person in the space program–BRILLIANCE!!! Those were served with prawns that were made with the Mai Bock beer. These were paired with the Pastoral Winter beer, which is one of my current favorites at the Wolverine.

The next course had cornbread, which is normally not a favorite of mine. But, I am happy to say that this was the first cornbread I ever really enjoyed. This is possibly because it had spicy peppers in it! Yum! Might have had seconds of this. The District 16 Vienna Lager was paired with the cornbread and I have to say that I very much enjoyed this batch of District 16. If you tried it before, go back and try it again…it’s delicious.

Next up were the black eyed peas and greens. Again, black eyed peas are not always my favorite but yet again, I may have found myself having seconds. They went very well with the Vienna Lager…nice compliment to the tangy tomatoes in the b.e.peas.

Next up was the macaroni and cheese and, rumor has it, squash. I normally don’t like squash (Jesus Christ, how did I get an ass like this with all the food I DON’T like?!) but I couldn’t tell it was in there. Very clever disguise, oh caterers my caterers. The macaroni and cheese was out of this world…truly. AND, they paired the Gulo Gulo with it which just rocked the house. May have had seconds of this as well.

By now, I was stuffed. But did I keep on eating? Hell yeah. Our next course was the main course, which was lager fried chicken and porter braised BBQ beef brisket. Lawd have mercy, friends. They paired this with their Wolverine Premier Lager and Wolverine Dark, each complimenting the lighter and darker meats. As I have probably said before, the Premium Lager is a thousand times better now that our man Oliver is brewing it on site.

For dessert, we had peach-pecan bread pudding with some kind of sauce that was truly awesome sauce. I know I talk about awesome sauce a lot but I’ve never actually eaten it until Sunday. It’s really quite yummy! We had the Teenage Mutant Ninja Porter which, with its coffee like taste, was the perfect after dinner drink. By this time, I could actually feel my ass getting bigger but that of course didn’t stop me from consuming the entire dessert. Cuz that’s how I roll (pun intended!)

I cannot say enough good things about this dinner. It was delicious, the brewpub was packed with friendly people and it was cool to hear from the founders/brewers/Beer Wench. I met some new folks and got to meet Fred & Debbie in person which was way cool! And the best news is that I have until the next beer dinner to Jazzercise off the calories!