Doesn't the dude above (video by Jake Katel) just look-and sound- like the human embodiment of a Boston-brewed beer with a whopping 27% alcohol content? All he needs is one of those colonial get-ups and, like, a drunk horse by his side.
Sam Adams brewmaster Bob Cannon invited Short Order to a "beer dinner" at the Upper Eastside eatery Michy's. This was a lot different than the beer dinners we usually treat ourselves to, which usually involve malt liquor and a peanut butter cracker. Chef Michelle Bernstein paired different Sam Adams' varieties, from Coastal Wheat to the warm-and-toasty Old Fezziwig Ale, with complimenting dishes like braised and seared pork belly with smoked grapes.
It's all part of Brewmaster Bob's master plan to make Americans re-think our notion of beer as something that's most at home in a bong. "Beer can easily be as complex and versatile as wine," he tells Short Order. "There are seven hundred flavor compounds in wine, and two thousand in beer. For example, everybody thinks of wine and cheese, but beer's actually more appropriate for cheese. The CO2 in beer actually works as a pallete cleanser."
He converted us, but to be fair, we're easily wooed- especially when a beer's ABV is larger than Joe Sanchez' final voting bloc. After the dinner, we tasted Utopias, one of Sam Adams' "extreme beers", which is five times stronger than your average beer, looks and smells like a cognac, and costs $150 per small bottle. After the jump, some photos from the dinner.
