My first beer pairing dinner was very enjoyable this weekend. Karen helped out so much.

Here are the trout after being just put on the Big Green Egg cooker to be smoked. They turned out very tasty, but I wish they had been 100% bone free.

The Rotisserie Chicken Salad was very flavorful, but I made too much. Karen and I really loved the vinaigrette that I made for the salad.

The raspberry crisp was awesome. I am looking forward to making more of them especially with all of the apples around the here.

This is a very good pilsner. The bouquet is very nice and finish is very crisp.

Their beer is very classic pilsner. Karen loves it!

Hmmm!

I always enjoy a fruit beer.

The strawberry flavors are mild and reminded of the light flavor of the strawberry in a strawberry yogurt.

I would say the finish reminds me of a Twinkie, which makes me want to do a beer pairing.

The lager was very little body, which is very comparable to a domestic light lager.

Laughing Skull has very nice amber ale flavors, but it is on dry side of the flavors.

There are some sour tones, too.

Hmmm. This is a very dry beer. The spices all lost in the dry taste of this beer. It has a tart taste also, which sticks on the tongue.

I enjoyed the beer, but the style is normally more flavorful.

Katie Beth is still napping, a chicken is soaking in a brine, and Karen is busy with making Craiglist posts.

I’m relaxing so I have a moment to enjoy a good beer. (I have already run all of my errands.)

James Trolinger (a.k.a.: Jim) was right about this beer. Cellar temperature is the right temperature. In Alabama, a garage is at cellar temperature given our lovely cold weather lately. (I’m ready for Springtime, baseball, and warm weather.)

I’m enjoying this before I get my Bell’s HopSlam.

The apricot is nice, but it is not over the top.

Well, it has a very citrusy taste with light honey sweetness that is left on front of the tongue. I would say the citrus is biased to grapefruit and kumquat. I go so far as to say the sweetness is very similar to the sweetness of a kumquat’s peel.

The bouquet is full of hops with citrus and floral aspects.

The alcohol is undetectable, which very unexpected given it is over 10%.

I have acquired some HopSlam and now we wait for it to chill down.

It was blast working to get the beer. The beer should be great. The reviews say this year batch is super.

Now, we wait.

I like this beer. It has a fuller body than many lagers. It has a great mouth feel, but I don’t like the smell in the nose. The finish is not has crisp as I expected.