Elevation Brewing pair up with Alfalfa Market in Boulder

Barley's Angels Colorado had another outstanding event with Elevation Brewing at Alfalfa Market in Boulder. It was a snowy night and more women then I thought who braved the weather for a beer pairing. I assumed the beer pairing was in the market but ended up being in the back offices in a community room.

Community room at Alfalfa Market.

 Megan Braid, Elevation Brewing sales representative was on hand to talk about the beers while Deborah Cameron, founder of the Barley's Angels Colorado chapter served us the food that was being paired with the beers. She brought her own glassware for everyone, little taster snifters. I ended up with the smallest glass, boohoo :(

Deborah Cameron announcing
future Barley Angels events.

Megan Braid.

First course was a Peruvian quinoa salad that had black beans, corn, and bell pepper that was paired with Elevation blue series First Cast IPA ale, 6.5% ABV, with the slight bitterness on the finish surprisingly went well with the salad.  You know me, not an IPA fan but this one was rather palatable.

Took this before the IPA was poured,
then forgot to take another picture.

The next course was for the next two beers, a cheese and meat plate which consisted of a French blue cheese, a goat Gouda cheese, and a spicy salami. The first beer was a 6.2% ABV  Porter, the Little Mo'.  With it's coffee nose and solid porter flavor, it paired well with the salami and with the Gouda.

Apis IV, a 10.7% ABV Belgian Quad also went well with the cheese and meat plate especially the blue cheese which was changed by the sweet flavor of the beer. The Apis IV is brewed with Colorado honey in the boil.

The dessert pairing was with Señorita Horchata Imperial Porter which is brewed with Madagascar vanilla and cinnamon. This 8.4% ABV porter cut the sweetness of the coconut and chocolate from the German Chocolate cupcake.  The cupcake was rather dry so the porter helped much.

It was a nice food and beer pairing even with the snowy weather outside.

Barley's Angels Pizza and Beer pairing at Hops & Pie, Denver

Sunday was pizza and beer pairing at Hops & Pie in Denver hosted by Barley's Angels Colorado. There must have been 19 women not including the hostess, Deborah Cameron, all seated in the main dining area. Deborah greeted everyone and took a seat at my table with three other lovely ladies who hadn't been to a Barley's Angels event before. Our host from Hops & Pie was Remi, who is the taproom manager. He describe the pizzas and beers for each course.

Remi, taproom manager of Hops & Pie.

Ladies at my table, Deborah Cameron is on the
very left.

When I arrived there were  two glasses at each table setting. I thought it was rather odd for a pizza pairing, a small snifter of soup with a taster of beer. The soup was a chilled strawberry and goat cheese with a balsamic reduction. The beer was Elevation Brewing's 3rd Base, a Tripel that is 9% ABV. I have to say the soup had that earthy sweet flavor with the combination of the fruit and cheese but it surprised me in that it was quite tasty. The Tripel with it's lemon, pepper, and orange notes went very well with the soup.

3rd Base Tripel and chilled strawberry goat cheese soup.

The first course was my favorite, it was a southern fried chicken, waffles, sweet potato, bacon, and roasted Brussels sprouts pizza with aged white cheddar cheese with a maple bourbon gravy that we asked to have on the side. I decided to pour some of the gravy on my piece of pizza and I'm glad I did because it was so good. A great brunch pizza especially since the weather outside was cloudy and chilly. The beer paired with it was Triple XXX, 9% ABV barrel-aged Old Ale from Eel River Brewing. I enjoyed both pizza and beer, the dark slightly sweet with a boozy finish of the Triple XXX complimented the sweet and savory flavor of the pizza. With luck, I will hope to be able order this pizza and beer combo again.

Southern fried chicken and waffle pizza.

The next course was a pulled pork, smoked ham hock, smoked pork loin on top of a blackberry barbecue sauce pizza. It was paired with a Tequila barrel-aged Oskar Blue's Gubna, a 10% ABV Imperial IPA. I don't really enjoy IPA's but the Gubna cut through the smokiness of the pork.

Tequila barrel-aged Gubna and pork, pork, pork pizza.

The last course I would have thought would have been a dessert pizza but I was disappointed. The last pizza was a vegetarian with jalapenos, cherry tomatoes, and white onion. The beer paired with this pizza was Why Can't IBU, a Belgian IPA from Stillwater Artisanal Ales. This lower alcohol beer at 5.6% ABV was just as bland as the pizza, so they went very well together. I'm not sure if the beer should have been more of a contrast where it would have brought out the flavors of the pizza. Not my favorite course.

Belgian IPA and vegetarian pizza.

But all in all this was a good event where women were enjoying the beer/pizza pairing along with the company of other women. This is why I like gender specific beer events, such camaraderie among women who are friends and women who are making new friends over beer and food.