On Saturday night, my best friend Margaret held her second (I’m sure of many more to come) beer tasting party; no theme, just tons of beer in pints and foods. It was a great party full of delicious brews we can’t always get here, since her brother brought some from California. The party was so good, in fact, I was unable to attend any St. Patrick’s Day festivities on Sunday… at least the weather was so cold and rainy I didn’t mind staying home too much.

Here’s all of the beers we tried Saturday night. Please note that there were usually between 2 and 6 of each kind but in order to fit them all in the photo, we only displayed one of each:

There were some interesting brews that I had never heard of, like Druid Fluid (a barleywine) and Red Rocket Ale (an American amber). Although I enjoyed most of what I sampled that night, the stand-out for me was Dogfish Head Midas Touch. I don’t know if it’s because it was so different from everything else I tried, but it certainly stuck in my mind.

According to DFH, their Midas Touch "recipe is the actual oldest-known fermented beverage in the world! It is an ancient Turkish recipe using the original ingredients from the 2,700-year-old drinking vessels discovered in the tomb of King Midas." Made with barley, honey, white muscat grapes and saffron, it was one of the most interesting beers I’ve had in a while. I could envision myself enjoying this on a hot summer day or paired with Indian or Thai food. I really look forward to picking more up soon.

Along with all of the beer, we enjoyed Stone Ruination IPA Cheese Soup, IPA cheese dip (I believe that was made with Stone Ruination as well, come to think of it), fresh guacamole and a selection of fine brie and champagne cheddar.

We finished off the night with some chocolate and coffee stouts, paired with my tasty Guinness cupcakes, which I frosted this time with my very own Guinness buttercream concoction, instead of my usual cream cheese icing.

All in all, the party was a raging success and we can hardly wait to do it again. In fact, even my cousin’s girlfriend is interested in having a beer tasting party – I believe this one will be in May. I’ll be sure to regale you on it in entirety.

Cheers!

TAGS [ BEER TASTING | BEER TASTINGS | CRAFT BEER | DOGFISH HEAD MIDAS TOUCH | GUINNESS CUPCAKES | BEER REVIEW ]