Four courses, five beers, sensible price tag

I have eaten many meals (and slugged back quite a few beers) at Cambridge Common in my day, but Monday night was the first beer dinner I've ever attended. Cambridge Common holds their popular beer pairing events at least once a month, and trust me when I say, it’s worth trying out. On Monday, the brewery featured was Clipper City out of Maryland, the same guys who made brew pubs legal in their native state. The folks at Clipper City pride themselves on integrating traditional brewing conditions with modern techniques. The beer dinners at Cambridge Common always feature a specific local brewery, and are set up family-style; yup, you sit right at the table with other beer snobs, foodies, people from the featured brewery, and the owners of Cambridge Common themselves. Suzanne Scholow and Kate Baker are the masterminds behind this comfortable downtown eatery with over 30 beers on tap at a time. Baker pairs the food for these events with the beer, and after tasting just the first course, you’d think she attained a master’s in the trade. For an appetizer, we enjoyed Maryland crab cakes with chipotle aioli, paired with a Loose Cannon Hop3 Ale Cask as well as its un-cask'd counterpart. The pairing was good, but I found the significant difference between the cask and the ale the most interesting. Next was a salad of tomatoes, romano cheese, and arugula, which provided a needed pepper-y flavor, and which was cut nicely with the subtle, sweet Uber Pils it was paired with.

For an entrée, I opted for the pumpkin ravioli with the Imperial Pumpkin Ale, which was a little too much nutmeg and sugar for me in one dish. However, the ravioli had a needed savory touch with red peppers, which paired much better with the other entrée’s beer – the Oxford Organic Amber. The other entrée, cranberry apple stuffed pork loin, just happened to taste better with the pumpkin beer, too.

Dessert, however, I am still dreaming about. Chocolate crème brulee with a Below Decks Barleywine (2007). The barleywine had well-rounded tones of cherry flavor, which paired perfectly with the otherwise-too-sweet crème brulee.

Tickets for the beer dinners are about $50, but for four courses and five or six beers, you’re getting a deal. Next month: Magic Hat’s bringing their brews on 11/10. I suggest you be there.

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