This is a great opportunity to not only be one of the first people to get your hands on the coveted Golden Ticket from Fifty West for their 2017 Fiftyfest – but to also get your fork on Arnolds first-ever beer dinner (that looks to be pretty spectacular). Let’s start there… shall we?
The Beer Dinner
Fifty West knows how to put on a fantastic beer dinner – they’ve been hanging their hats on their events (especially those dinners since they opened their doors) and for that reason alone, Arnolds Bar and Grill is brilliant for teaming up with the rapidly growing brewery for their first-ever beer dinner.
They’re teaming up to combine a 3-course Southern Chef’s tasting menu with 3 of Fifty West’s brews, and then coupling each course up with one of Cincinnati’s best blues artists as well. Yep… you heard it right – music… beer… food…
Course 1
Course one is a duo of deviled eggs – the first is a beet pickled egg finished with smoked paprika, and the second is a classic preparation with onion marmalade and mustard seed caviar. This course is being paired up with Fifty West’s Doom Pedal White Ale (you can read my tasting notes of the beer here) – the beer is brewed in memory of the late Allen White, a close friend and family member of Fifty West. It pours a hazy blonde and has notes of coriander, orange peel and grains of paradise that come together to masterfully blend black peppery spiciness with crisp, sweet citrus notes.
Course 2
Course two is a braised pork belly, with minced collards and roast corn whipped cream. They’re pairing it up with the award-winning Going Plaid Scotch Ale. This beer is fermented at a cooler temperature to ensure a smoother brew. It pours a dark honey color and you can expect a fruity apple and pear aroma followed by a malt-forward flavor of juicy fresh plums. (You can read my full tasting notes here)
Course 3
Cornmeal fried catfish, with shishito pepper and cheddar grits, and a miso bbq sauce. This course is paired up with Fifty West’s Tangelo Fruit Stand IPA. I haven’t tried this beer yet… so you don’t get any tasting notes from me – but the brewery says about it: “Standing alone off the side of 50 West in Nowhere, NA is a rickety wooden stand with some of the ripest fruits you could ever imagine. Some say it’s a mirage caused by the insanity that the lonely road causes. Some say when added to an IPA these fruits make on hell-of-a juicy and dank brew.
The Music
As if all this isn’t enough – I mentioned music would be paired with each course too. Arnolds has lined up three fantastic Blues artists to go with each Southern-inspired menu item:
Diamond Jim Dews
John Redell and Erin Coburn
Ricky Nye
Again…it’s awesome. The beer is worth going. The food is worth going. The music is worth going. When you put it all together into one package, though… it’s setting itself up to be a mind-altering night.
Get Your Golden Ticket Too
If you remember in the past two years, before the annual Fiftyfest, the brewery has launched a limited release of cans to celebrate not only summertime but to give you a chance at free admission to the event, via a ‘Golden Ticket’ which doubles as the label on the cans.
Part of this beer dinner is your chance to be one of the first to snag one of the cans. In fact… at the end of the night, you get your pick between one of the two to take home. This year’s beers are the Tangelo Fruit Stand IPA, and their Ocean City Gose – the ticket alone is a $15 value. When you couple that with the menu, the beer, the music, and then remember that these tickets are only $39 bucks…. yeah… it’s a no-brainer.
So – get onto Fifty West’s website and snag your tickets fast, they’re pretty limited and are going fast! The dinner takes place at Arnold’s on July 27th at 7 pm. You’ll be greeted by Arnold’s owner, Ronda Breeden, and the dinner will proceed through the evening until around 9:15. Do it. For the love of all things beer and food… do it!
