Surprises can absolutely kick major ass.  Especially when out the blue you get invited to attend a beer dinner.  Such an event happened last week when I was invited to attend a beer dinner last night hosted by Holy Mackerel and Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza.  Luckily I was available for the night so it was not something I would turn down.

I arrived slightly late of the 7:00 pm start time due to work and the every lovely South Florida traffic but apparently things started a bit late and I didn’t really miss much.

The first course was a salad with mozzarella and fresh tomatoes paired up with Magic Hat #9.  Yes I know it’s not Holy Mackerel and was the only exception.  All of the mozzarella was gone by the time I got there so I passed on the salad and just had the beer.

The second course was really three courses in one.  First we were brought meatballs that were about the size of a baseball with ricotta cheese on the side.  Up next were oven roasted chicken wings with caramelized onions and rosemary.  Then even after that were short ribs with peppers.  These were all paired up with Holy Mackerel Panic Attack.

Then the main course of pizzas just blew my mind.  Three different types of pizzas from plain cheese to sausage, peppers and onions to my favorite of the night (and one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had) cauliflower.  Trust me it was as close to life changing as a pizza could be.  And I don’t think food can really change one’s life so take that for what it is.  This was paired up with Holy Mackerel Special Golden Ale.

The finally for dessert was New York Style Cheesecake matched up with Holy Mackerel Mack in Black.  The cheesecake was delicious but the cinnamon sprinkle over top didn’t match great with the beer.  Some shaved chocolate or fresh raspberries over top would have matched up better in my opinion.

Now if you remember when I posted about this event the other day I gave you the price for this.  For $30 this was probably the most bang for your buck beer dinner ever.  So much food to go with some really good brews was something you couldn’t beat.  If Anthony’s didn’t treat me to this dinner I would have gladly paid this much for it.

Plus I got to meet Anthony Bruno himself, the man behind Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza, as well as talk with Bob Gordash of Holy Mackerel.  And hanging out with Ed Roberts of Total Wine and Rob from Daily Beer Review (all be it shortly with Rob) isn’t a bad night either.

I thought the event was great and from talking with Toby representing Anthony’s they hope to do more of these in the future at other locations.  These will be something that you have to try if you missed this one.

Again a big thanks to Anthony and Toby from Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza and Bob from Holy Mackerel for having me.  It was a pleasure.  And Toby provided me with a Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza gift card for me to give out to a reader.  I will come up with some brilliant scheme idea on how to give that away to one of you folks.  Keep an eye out for that next week.