On April 2nd, 2015 I was lucky enough to attend a Maui Brewing Long Table Dinner at the Hop & Vine Tap house in Burnaby.

As can be noticed on the menu there was also a wine option for people that do not like beer.  I did not even take a second to look at the wines though as I am not a fan of wine.

Maui Brewing was being launched in BC the entire week.  Beerthirst is responsible for bringing in their beer and I am happy that they got the contract as I really liked Maui Brewing when I was in Hawaii.

For this dinner we were very lucky to have the National Sales Manager Pete Scheider from Maui Brewing in house to talk about each beer.  Pete Scheider is very knowledgeable about the breweries beers and was great at telling us all kinds of information on each beer.

Once everyone was seated the dinner began.  Pete got up and spoke about each beer before each course and so did Scott of the Hop & Vine Tap House who spoke about the food they were pairing.

Course 1
Bikini Blonde Lager
“Wild Mushroom Salad”
Wild Mushrooms, citrus and thyme salad served with garlic crostini

Let me start by saying I love mushrooms so I was very excited to try this salad.  The multiple different wild mushrooms were very tasty on their own but the citrus and thyme dressing was great!  The Bikini Blonde Lager really matched up nicely as it was fairly citrusy as well.

Course 2
Mana Wheat
“Tuna Poke”
Tuna poke with tropical fruits, chili, lime and seaweed

This beer is huge on pineapple and great for a summer day.  I love Tuna Poke also and a great summer beach beer goes well with a Seafood dish for sure.  The pineapple in the beer and in the food both cut through the mild spice well.  I personally wish that the Poke was seared a little bit as I prefer my Tuna Poke with a mild sear.  I don’t like fully raw fish.

Course 3
Big Swell India Pale Ale
“Chili Coconut Prawns”
Chili and coconut crusted prawns served with a wasabi beurre blanc.

This beer has a great malt profile with a ton of hops.  I do not eat prawns but my girlfriend said that they were awesome which was easy to believe as she ate mine as well as hers.  The chili and wasabi sauce really tasted good though and really accentuate the hops bitterness.

Course 4
Lorenzini Double IPA
“Pulled Pork”
Pulled pork with burnt citrus and pickled onions on a brioche bun

The Lorenzini Double IPA is quite earthy with a sweet bloody orange and tangerine with lots of bitterness.  The bun had some caramel notes with some great tang from the pickled onions and the pork was very tasty.  This was my favourite course of the five!

Course 5
Coconut Porter
“Coconut Cream Pie”
Toasted coconut cream pie topped with whipped cream

The coconut porter had flavours of chocolate, coconut, malty, sweet and some earth.  The pie was full of coconut, cream and sweetness with a great graham cracker crust.  The roasty earthy notes of the beer are a great juxtaposition to the sweetness and graham cracker crust.

I really enjoyed this dinner and had a great time sitting beside Pete Scheider of Maui Brewing and the guys from Beerthirst and the crew from Kooner Hospitality Group.  I look forward to checking out more of these dinners in the future as not only do they pick great beer but they pair it with awesome food!

Full sized photos.

Hop & Vine Tap House
http://www.hoptaphouse.ca/
1601 Burnwood Avenue
Burnaby, BC
(604)421-1092