Craft Brew Dinner #5

It has been a busy week, but finally I can write about this past Monday night when we attended another Heritage Series Craft Brew Dinner at Dexter's Pub.  We have grown from just my wife and I, to us plus my friend Ted, to us and Ted plus his friend, to us and Ted and SteveBob and another couple, Josh and Casey.  We got our half a dozen seats about a month ago, maybe 2 days after seats became available, and from what I understand it sold out all 20 available seats just a day or so later - quicker than usual, word must be getting out.

I don't want to spend a whole lot of time on it, but it was not the best dinner in this series that we've attended.  The rep for Deschutes Brewery was a likable guy who had the knowledge of the brewery but had bad timing for his between course talks.  Normally the waitresses have a routine; serve the featured beer, serve the course, remove plates and glasses as finished, and repeat for all 5 or 6 courses.  The rep has everyone's attention when the featured beer is being served, not when everybody gets the paired course of food.  There was some good swag included - pint glass, can/bottle coolie, sticker and what is a wide rubber band with their name printed on it that I think they want to be a wristband - I didn't say it was all good swag.

Their beers were kind of a letdown for me, though.  They didn't suck, but nothing stood out.  Many ales, one bitter, at least none of my least favorite, the perfumey-tasting IPAs.

In keeping up with what I started doing at dinner #1, there is a staged photo of beer, dessert and menu here.  The menu was bigger this time so you can't read it all, but you get the gist.

To cut to the chase, the biggest disappointment of the night came when half of our party, my wife and I included, got the last three of the second course served from the kitchen.  It was a "Volcano" pork sandwich.  While all others got the heat, it was just a pork sandwich for us three.  They must have run out of the jalapeno jelly for the last three sandwiches.  We had absolutely no spice.  The pork tasted good but for us there was nothing "Volcano" about it.  Plus, one had no little crispy onions and there were complaints of fattiness in some sandwiches.  They sold only 20 seats yet seem to have run out of some things when serving.  Makes me wonder if that happened to others that happened to get the last dishes out of the kitchen for a course.

For now, the next scheduled dinner is with Rogue Brewing Company, and we have not heard good things about their beers from our friends that know more about that kind of thing.  And the menu is, well, meh.  We've attended four in a row and after this one I think we will be skipping the next but we will surely keep an eye on future dinners, still.  Thanks, Nick!