To Do: Two Roads Sourcopia Beer Release Party and Sourcopia Beer Dinner with Chef Plum

For a two year old brewery that has become the biggest in the state, Two Roads Brewing Company in Stratford has been putting out impressive beer…especially when it comes to their special and limited release brews. Take Igor’s Dream, for example: when they held a special release event on January 25, hundreds of people lined up for hours to get their own bottles to take home—including us! And this year there is going to be a special release party with food trucks on 10/25 from 12-9 at the brewery where you can get to try and take home two lambic beers (Kriek and Gueuze) as well as the highly-anticipated Philsamic. Beer can be purchased by bottle (max of 2 per style) and will be on tap at the brewery while supplies last. Here are some descriptions from their site along with pricing: 

“Two Roads Kriek is re-fermented with sour cherries sourced locally from Staehly Farms in picturesque East Haddam, CT. There, our brewers hand-picked sour cherries from trees imported from France in the 1950’s. After brewing, the lambic is mixed with the cherries into oak barrels and aged for over one year until the right balance of sourness and cherry-like tartness is achieved. The bottles are 375 ml with a cork and cage finish.  700 bottles will be on sale for $10 each.”

“Two Roads Gueuze has been a work-in-progress at our brewery for 15 months, maturing in oak barrels and undergoing a series of secondary fermentations to develop its characteristic sour, farmhouse funkiness. Honey from our own estate beehives was added to the bottles to aid in bottle conditioning. Gueuze is packaged in 375 ml cork and cage bottles.  700 bottles will be on sale for $10 each.”

“Last is Two Roads most unique beer to date – a beer made with 14-year-old Italian balsamic vinegar from Modena and aged in red wine barrels for 20 months. We are calling it “Philsamic” to celebrate Brewmaster Phil Markowski’s 25th year of craft brewing. Philsamic is packaged in 750 ml cork and cage bottles. 500 bottles will be on sale for $25 each.”

But, hey, want a shot at tasting these awesome brews even before then? Of course ya do…all you need to do is head to Two Roads on 10/21 at 6:30 pm for the Sourcopia Beer Dinner with Headbrewer Phil Markowski and Two Roads founding partners. This 5 course dinner (get tix here) features the previously mentioned special release brews (plus two bonus brews) and the cooking skills of Chef Plum, who not only has made his mark on food TV by winning multiple competitions, but who has also produced some amazing pop-up dinners via his catering company Plum Luv Foods.

Look at this menu:

Kriek: Local Arugula salad with crispy blue cheese, smoked tomatoes and a sweet pepper vinaigrette
Gueuze: Sashimi Tuna with compressed watermelon, sesame and baby coriander

Philsamic: Stratford Surf and Turf – Beef Short ribs and local sea scallops with a Philsalmic reduction, bok choy and fennel pollen

Unorthodox: Pork Belly and Seared Pumpkin with crispy turnips and toasted nutmeg

Roadsmary’s “Other” Baby: Inside out pumpkin pie with smoked vanilla bean ice cream and broken cinnamon sugar

Digging deeper into the menu, we asked Plum about how he created the dishes for this very special dinner, and he shared, “My inspiration is always flavor. After tasting the sours I knew I had to truly bring the flavor to match up with these unbelievable beers and I think this menu does that! It’s always a constant battle within myself to strive for that perfect dish, the only way to do that is to respect and understand where the food comes from, I think this menu uses that same philosophy paired with the beers.” 

We also asked him how he figured out the pairings which would seem even more difficult because of the sour natures of Kriek and Gueuze, and the sour complex flavors going on in Philsalmic: “Its all about respect, making the beer that Two Roads does is an art, so it’s important to respect that. I knew that we had to go out of the box…we could not do the typical stout or porter for desert, so that’s in the middle of the dinner instead, and you know I had to do a take on pumpkin pie with Rosemary’s Other Baby involved. Trust me—if you like Roadsmary’s Baby, her other baby is out of this world!”

Beer and food geeks definitely need to get in on this Two Roads action, whether you attend just the Sourcopia release party, the Sourcopia Beer Dinner with Chef Plum, or both. Yeah…do both. ;)