I approach catered events with much caution. I’ve found that attention to detail can vanish when overworked culinary school undergrads looking for experience are forced to reheat pre-dried fish fillets for bluehairs night after night during their summer wedding catering gigs. Add to that the fact that most brides and grooms have been too overwrought with the political intricacies of the seating chart and ceremony sequence to even begin to think about what their guests would most enjoy drinking at their joyous event. What you end up with is mediocre food and Amstel Light. It can get ugly.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
I attended the wedding of two college friends over the weekend that proved to me that, with a little effort, you can please all of the people all of the time. The centerpiece of the dining hour was a full service sushi bar staffed by two real-deal sushi chefs preparing individual pieces and handrolls with astonishing speed. It was fresh, light, well-presented, and delicious. The wedding was held in Fairfax, VA, but the groom’s family being from Cleveland, the beer of choice was 10 cases of mixed Great Lakes beers trucked in by various family members. There were wines and mixed drinks as well, but I was so psyched to be drinking these amazing Great Lakes brews for the first time I couldn’t be bothered to divert my attention.
I started with the Dortmunder Gold. Darker and more complex on the nose than many of the lager’s I’ve sampled lately, I was most intrigued by the hints of spice behind the more forward malt and mildly piney hop aromas. There was also a bit of that cidery sourness and earthiness I’ve started looking for in these beers lately. The first sip was a revelation, all the aromas come through on the palate as well and the good carbonation and rich but not-too-heavy mouthfeel is both satisfying and refreshing. A solid balancing act to be sure and a great introduction to this brewer’s beers.
I moved on to the Burning River Pale Ale after that one, ready for some more hops, and it delivered readily. This one has the nose of all the best “California-style” pale ales covered and then some. There’s citrus there to be sure but also some apple and plum, but the malt isn’t totally obliterated by this, coming through as toasty and bready. This one is pretty heavily carbonated as well, but with a nice crisp and dry mouthfeel that is beyond refreshing, finishing perfectly balanced between tight and sweet. I ended up with these for most of the rest of the night and would love to try their Commodore Perry IPA and Lake Erie Monster DIPA to see what they can do with hops in more heavy-duty styles.
The Imperial Dortmunder case was kind of a wedding-party reserve, but I got my hands on one late in the night at the afterparty, well after I was able to appropriately evaluate it, so let me just say that it was good. It seemed pretty malty and thick, and I’ll definitely have to look for it again when I am less inebriated.
Congrats to Emily and Eric, and thanks again for a killer party!
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