Mike Loves Beer

The finished result arranged with all the fixings and the Avery White Rascal.

Due to a lot of watching the Travel Channel, I have become reinterested in cooking as of late.  And if you are going to cook why not pair it with some good beer.  So I decided to do exactly that with my first entrance back into cooking.  So a couple weeks ago to my parents’ surprise I let them know I would be making dinner for them one night.

My thought behind that pairing was mostly to match up a beer and a dinner that my dad would enjoy.  He is a pretty picky eater so finding a dish that he would like was key.  I sort of decided first that I wanted to do the beer as a white ale.  It is summer and the white ales are just so refreshing during this time of the year.  So I thought why not make a citrus marinated chicken.  I figured the citrus taste from the chicken and beer would compliment each other nicely.  I also decided to add some yellow rice and grilled veggies, the veggies of which my dad would not touch but for the rest of us.

I went shopping with my mom and picked up all the needed ingredients include zucchini, asparagus and sweet bell peppers.  Then we returned to my parents’ house and marinated the chicken thighs in salt, pepper, vegetable oil, zest from oranges, limes and lemons, juices from those as well and a little thyme and hot sauce.  I let that marinate for an hour and half before putting them on the grill.  We prepped the veggies and started cooking the rice and right before a big thunderstorm started we had everything done.

Everything came out really well as the chicken was very juicy and retained the citrus taste to it a lot better and I really anticipated.  The veggies were a nice compliment and the Avery White Rascal ale just brought it all home.  I was also pleased that everyone enjoyed it.  I had a good time making it and really feel good about starting to cook again.  I plan on doing more of these for my family and friends in the future and will try to take some pictures during the prep and cooking process as well.  But overall it was a great success, I am proud!

Name - Ommegang Witte
Country - United States
Type - Witbier

Appearance - Poured a cloudy straw gold color with a big bubbly white head.

Smell - Pleasant citrus smells, predominantly lemon but some orange notes in there as well.  Some mild spice smells in there as well.

Taste - Very nice mixture of the citrus tastes as mentioned before with some spices making it a very flavorful white.

Ommegang are quickly become a favorite of mine as they make solid beers to the style that they are going for.  Witte is no different.  It has a great smell and taste that fit the mold of what a white beer should be perfectly.

Overall Grade – A

Name - Allagash White
Country - United States
Type - White Ale

Appearance - Poured a very hazy straw gold color with a nice white head that laced the glass pretty well.  You can see the yeast floating around in this.

Smell - Combinations of yeast and orange stick out in the smell.

Taste - Pretty much right on with the smell nice orange taste with a wheat/yeast hint to it.

This was a really good all around white ale.  Not to yeasty or overboard with the citrus flavors.  Just right on all of those.  This will definitely be a good one to have during the hot summer.

Overall Grade – A-