Event: Birra del Borgo Degustation Dinner
Venue: The Wynn Room at Grossi Florentino
Date: May 21, 2013
Good Beer Week Stream: Foodie
Preamble:
There is an unwritten law in the craft beer world which states: “Thou shalt not run events that cost more than $100.” Speak to those who have tried in the past and they will tell you that this figure represents a mental stumbling block for beer lovers.
There have been exceptions: the Gypsy & the Goat that I ran with Mikkeller and Mountain Goat in March 2012 sold out before the $150 tickets went on sale, for example. But, certainly, when the Good Beer Week program went live it was the dinners at the lower end of the price range that sold out quickest and those at the upper end that tended to move the slowest.
As the festival approached and ticket sales remained slow for certain events, I pondered this unwritten law. Central to it is an acceptance that, for the most part, the early adopters in the craft beer world are quite different to those who would regularly attend food and wine events. They are generally not the sort who will drop a few hundred dollars on meals in fine dining establishments on a regular basis, being of slimmer means and choosing to spend their disposable income carefully. As a result, venues hosting beer events have looked to cater accordingly, even though this might mean compromising the standard of the event (most likely on the food side) or taking a hit and making a loss.
This is all well and good, yet it seems to go against the grain of what many people claim to be striving for within the beer world. Why say: “Beer is as worthy of a place on the dining table as wine.” if you’re not going to back it up with actions? By only ever catering to a certain price point, you’re tacitly accepting that you don’t think it is worthy – or at the very least refusing to give people genuine opportunities to put that claim to the test.
Thus it was with great excitement that the Good Beer Week team watched as events from the likes of Grossi Florentino and Cumulus Up were registered for the 2013 festival, with the Birra del Borgo Degustation Dinner priced at $175 per head and set to take place in the grand venue’s private dining room. After all, the festival aims to promote good beer to as many new audiences as possible, and that includes established food and wine people who aren’t yet aware of what beer can offer.
The Event:
Leo di Vicenzo, the founder of Birra del Borgo, produces a huge number of beers with amazing stories behind them. There is the Equilibrista, which combines beer wort with Sangiovese wort from his local region northeast of Rome, to create a delicate beer / wine hybrid. There is the Keto Reporter that features Kentucky tobacco. There is Enkir, brewed with an ancient grain that was originally farmed in Mesopotamian times. And there are collaborations with Italian brewers and Dogfish Head’s Sam Calagione.
He is as much a student of beer as he is a lover and brewer of beer. He cares about what he does. Deeply. He loves to talk at length about the concept behind each of his beers, the processes which brought them to life and why he has brewed them. And in the Wynn Room, with an attentive audience all gathered around a single, large dining table, he had the perfect stage upon which to tell the tales of all of the beers listed above.
It was also the perfect stage upon which to sample his beers, whether you had done so before or not. For not only was each paired to a dish from Guy Grossi’s kitchen, but each was served at 10C and in high quality glassware, with each beer also matched to the most suitable glass. As the Spiegelau Masterclass the previous day had made abundantly clear, quality glassware – and the right choice of shape – makes a huge difference to the drinking experience. (To give one example, we were asked to transfer some Hop Hog that had become flat and lifeless in a standard pot glass for half an hour into the glass Spiegelau recommends for that style and it instantly regained its head and aroma. Apologies to Csilla Swain from Spiegelau for suggesting she might be a witch, but it was like black magic – everyone should do the session with her next year…)
Over the six courses, guests had their own favourites, from the pairing of the My Antonia Imperial Pilsner with Fritto Misto to Keto Reporter with Braised Ox Cheek (my pick), while for Leo it was a first chance to sample wallaby. Service was, as you would expect, impeccable and unobtrusive (even when Guy popped in from the kitchen it was a case of blink and you missed it). The food and presentation was outstanding.
Leo’s six babies from the night
What’s more, while Mark Protheroe and his team at Grossi had provided the perfect stage for Leo, he proved the perfect guest. Not only because of the beers and the stories that accompanied them, but because the care and attention he takes over each label and the design of each bottle is in keeping with the venue’s approach too.
Each element combined to create an evening that was decadent yet refined, offered proof that the right beer really does deserve a place on the best tables, and showed what can be achieved when you look beyond that invisible $100 barrier.
Killer beers:
In such a setting and presented as they were, even beers that I’d enjoyed previously seemed better than before. But personal standouts were the Equilibrista (I’ll be pulling this out to bamboozle people in the future), the Etrusca ancient ale and the Keto Reporter, served in a Grossi Grand Cru glass for the ultimate in beer geekery!
Highlights
The moment the event was registered in November last year: a sure sign that times they are a-changin'.
Being served the aforementioned Keto Reporter in the Grand Cru glass.
Enjoying beer in such an elegant setting, alongside truly exquisite food.
Mark telling me he already knows what their event is for Good Beer Week 2014.
The event in three words.
Refined. Sumptuous. Welcome.
