“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” – Benjamin Franklin
Word.
Are you ready for another Open It! weekend on 24-26/02/2012? Time to either raid the deep dark corners of the beer cupboard or grab those beauties that take pride of place. Their time has come.
In case you’re new to Open It!, it’s a weekend of drinking prized beers, sharing them with friends and hopefully spreading some beer love, dreamt up by those beery rascals, Andy Mogg & Mark Dredge.
er, I think that maybe a bit past its best ...
Leeds
What started out as a plan to get together and open some big bad beers with some of the beery faces of Leeds soon became a full blown event. A big thanks to Dean from Mr Foley’s Cask and Ale House, Matt from North Bar , and Marc from Create for offering their venues and working with me to pull this all together. Good work lads!
So, what’s the plan Stan? An evening event where people get together, open some rarities and pair them with good food at a venue that understands how great beer and food can be together. After the meal, more quality beer at the two finest drinking establishments in Leeds. First on to Mr Foley’s and then on to North Bar.
Who’s up for it?
19:00 – food and beer pairing meal
People will be able to bring their own beers along and a menu has been created to offer the best potential food pairings from the styles of beers likely to feature e.g. barley wines, old lambics/Brett, Imperial IPAs, Imperial Stouts, old ales and quads, and barrel aged oddities from the four corners of the globe.
The gluttons attending will be:
danielvane, SWBAndy, deanfromfoleys, i96jms, tabamatu, Tuff86,
ZakAvery, CptCheerful, realalereviews, misterfrosty, Tkiley1 & me
£25 for a six course tasting menu with a separate area reserved for us from 18:30. There will be a £3.50 corkage per bottle. So far the majority of bottles people are bringing are 66cls and 75cls, and as people are sharing, it will be no more than around £7 corkage per person.
21:00 – 23:30 – Mr Foley’s
Those that cannot make the meal should join us at Mr Foley’s for more Open It shenanigans and beery adventures. Rather than a corkage fee, we’re going Old Skool and you need to just share a little bit of your beer with Dean. Dean’s also lined up Saison Dupont, Faithless Xi (Black Ageless) and Ska Modus Hoperandi for our delectation.
Reprobates include:
GhostDrinker, juffage, BGRTRob, SWBrewery, tunks23,
Ol_Foz, misterjk, briggatebeer, and possibly MagicRockRich
23:30 – 02:00 – North Bar
Then it’s off to North Bar where Matt has promised some aged treasures for those still standing. There may also be some of these stunners on the line up: 12 month old Great Divide Belgian Yeti, StoneRuination, Magic Rock 8 ball, and maybe some Sierra Nevada Red Rye.
Those that wish to bring some rarities along are welcome to do so.
The plot thickens …
The Menu
- Potted duck, toasted rye bread, rhubarb and vanilla compote
- Smoked haddock fritter, tarragon mayonnaise, watercress
- Crispy pork belly, black pudding, celeriac and mustard salad
- Chargrilled skirt steak, celeriac puree, shallot and red wine butter, crispy mushroom
- Chargrilled bananas in rum with toasted marshmallows and white chocolate ice cream
- Cheese board: Smoked Ribblesdale (goat), Old Yorke (ewe), Wold Blimey (blue), Coverdale (hard), Inglewhite, Blackstick Blue, Stinking Bishop (washed rind)
The Beer & food pairings
| # | Food | Beer | Name |
| 1 | Duck | Cantillon St Lamvinus (75cl) | Gav (@misterfrosty) |
| 1 | Duck | Goose Island Lolita (66cl) | Ben (@CptCheerful) |
| 1 | Duck | Goose Island Madame Rose (66cl) | Ben (@CptCheerful) |
| 1 | Duck | Upright Brewing Sole Composition Barrel-Aged Seven Blend (75cl) | Zak (@ZakAvery) |
| 2 | Fishcake | Brooklyn Local 1 (65cl) | Paul (@Tuffs86) |
| 2 | Fishcake | Kinn Vestkyst IPA (75cl) | Dean (@mrfoleys) |
| 2 | Fishcake | Marble Saison Special 2011(75cl) | Jane (@i96jms) |
| 2 | Fishcake | Mikkeller Three Floyds Ruggoop (66cl) | Dan (@danielvane) |
| 3 | Pork | ? | Tyler (Tkiley1) |
| 3 | Pork | De Molen Bloed, Zweet & Tranen (75cl) | Me (@rickfurzer) |
| 3 | Pork | Fraoch 20 (75cl) | Zak (@ZakAvery) |
| 3 | Pork | Mikkeller Stella 1 (150cl) | Gav (@misterfrosty) |
| 4 | Steak | ? | Fletch (@realalereviews) |
| 4 | Steak | Bush Prestige 2008 (65cl or 75cl) | Andy (@tabamatu) |
| 4 | Steak | Crooked Line Cockeyed Cooper Barley Wine (75cl) | Paul (@Tuffs86) |
| 4 | Steak | Mikkeller Monks Elixir | Me (@rickfurzer) |
| 5 | Pudding | Goose Island Bourbon County Vanilla Stout (75cl) | Jane (@i96jms) |
| 5 | Pudding | Marble Decadence (75cl) | Dan (@danielvane) |
| 5 | Pudding | Summer Wine Brewery Kopi Kat | Andy (@swbandy) |
| 5 | Pudding | The Bruery Autumn Maple (75cl) | Andy (@swbandy) |
| 6 | Cheese | ? | Fletch (@realalereviews) |
| 6 | Cheese | ? | Tyler (Tkiley1) |
| 6 | Cheese | Firestone Walker 14th Anniversary (65cl or 75cl) | Andy (@tabamatu) |
| 6 | Cheese | Langunitas Hop Stoopid IIPA (65cl) | Dean (@mrfoleys) |
gastroturf 
Fantastic! Count me in for the meal, I have a first batch Tokyo* which I’ll donate for definite, shall have to see what else I can bring.
Cheers Bri. Your down on the list. I’ll add Tokyo* to the list, which I’ll add to the blog. Please let me know what else you’re gonna bring
I’m in – are we going to list here a few bottles that we could bring? Would that help?
Hey Zak, brilliant, you’re on the list. Yes please list it here and I’ll collate and update on the blog. If you have a choice/selection we can use the page to narrow your selection down.
Hi Rick – having checked the magnum, it’s very heavily and loosely sedimented, so I think what I’ll bring is a 75cl Fraoch 20 and the 75cl Upright Brewing Sole Composition Barrel-Aged Seven Blend (no, I’ve never heard of it either!).
Heather goodness in the house. Nice! Thanks Zak – I’ll update the list.
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Count me in!
I’m more up for it if its at Cross Keys as I’m not right keen on paying additional corkage at Create on top of the silly amounts I spent on the bottles in the first place.
I’ll be bringing bottles of:
Ommegang Three Philosphers 2010, 650ml (Belgian Quad with cherries)
An imperial Stout –
Either De Molen Hel & Verdoemenis 2010 or it may be 2009
or Dechutes Abyss 2009 – A bourbon aged imperial stout (I hope its not one of the infected bottles)
or Odell’s Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout
or Alesmith Speedway Stout
These are either 650ml or 750ml
My third choice is a bit of wildcard but will probably be a Barley Wine. I think I’ll bring Lost Abbey Angel’s Share (bourbon barrel version) but I’ve heard its a bit of a let down so I may bring another barely wine or one of those beer that can only be classed as “Strong Ales”.
Beyond that I may bring additional bottles that can be shared once up at Foleys.
Good man!
Yeah, fair point on the additional corkage from Create. I was hoping they’d be up for the whole ethos of the event but their management want to charge the lowest price of a beer bought there. I guess with the bombers and 75cls we’re likely to get 3 people sharing a bottle – so equivalent of a bit under £1.20 per glass. Still £10 if there are 6 courses though ….currently we’re under 20, so The Cross Keys is looking more likely but will see how this looks after weekend.
Thanks for the detail on which beers your bringing/considering – some great looking beer in that lot, and will be perfect for food matching. I feel your pain with the Abyss. I have some Gales Prize Old Ale and Thomas Hardy from 2003/2004 that I’m gonna be bringing that may well be infected too, but not gonna find out til I open them. I was disappointed with the Angel’s Share only because of price. It’s an interesting beer and I’m glad I tried it but …
I’ll update this blog with a list of bottles – so give me a shout if when you’re settled on the beers you’re bringing. Thanks.
I won’t be able to make the meal, but I shall be bringing a bottle of Dogfish Head ‘Hellhound On My Ale’ to Mr Foleys for prompt sharing, and maybe even something a little extra special for North Bar later in the evening! 😉
That’s a shame you can’t make the meal Will (you working?), but great that you’re joining for mullarkey at Foleys and North Bar. I’ll DM people tomorrow to see where we’re at with the ‘maybes’. If you’re after any whisky too, give me shout as I’ve just taken a delivery of some seriously ancient Speysiders.
Hi,
I currently have the following big bottles that I can bring along…
Crooked Line Cockeyed Cooper Barley Wine
De Molen Hel & Verdoemenis
Brooklyn Local 1
Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Grand Cru
The Bruery Rugbrod
Stone Old Guardian (Early 2010 release)
Happy to bring them all if neccessary…
Paul
Hey Paul – That’s a great selection there and very helpful. Not sure whether you need to bring all of them but what I’ll do is create a table tomorrow evening of possible beers so we can see how were balancing out styles for food pairing. Think this is gonna be a lot of fun and be good to actually meet up so many faces and share some brilliant beers. Cheers!
Be great to come over for this, not sure of this is my name down but i’ll make sure i can make an appearance, plus i have a few nice beers to bring along including Kelham island stinger barley wine, Thornbridge Halcyon and black sheep brewery imperial stout.
Are you coming to the meal or joining us at Mr Foleys and North Bar? Thanks
Hi Rick, as discussed briefly on twitter last night, I’m up for coming and the girlfriend (who is an imperial stout fiend and keeps raiding my stash haha) is too. Do you have room for 2 at the meal? I’ll bring:
Firestone Walker 14th Anniversary
Lost Abbey Gift of the Magi 2010
The Bruery Coton 2010
Bush Prestige 2008
The above are all large bottles. We’ll also bring some other stuff for later (maybe some Russian River and Stone rarities).
Hey Andy – really pleased that your girlfriend and you will be able to make it – 2 places at the meal are reserved. Man, that’s a sweet selection of beers you’re offering to bring. I’ll respond to your other comment re the beers.
Ah, I see you wanted a selection to narrow down. Can also offer:
Mikkeller Funk-e-star
Gueuze Girardin
Hoppin’ Frog Doris the Destroyer
Marble Decadence
Marble Saison
Goose Island BCS Vanilla 2010
Lost Abbey Angel’s Share
Andy – you’re really spoiling us with this selection. Firestone Walker sounds epic & will be amazing with puddings, Marble Saison could be really interesting with the food too. I’m bringing Funk-e-star, Decadence & GI BCS Vanilla. Will add the list to the blog and maybe narrow down the selection for the food pairings once we get other peoples beers listed. Gonna be epic!
I’m really looking forward to it Rick, will be amazing! I’ve not put much effort into food & beer pairing before so will be really interesting doing something like this with yourself & many other beery folk.
Andy you have some seriously amazing beers in your collection. Think I’d happily try any of those!
Paul
I’m having a mini #OpenIt the weekend before in Northern Ireland with a fellow Ratebeerian. Looks like you have plenty of beers to keep you guys going! HOpe it goes well and look forward to the write-ups post event
Thanks Steve
Hmmm… I’m waivering since its been moved to Create. I can’t cope with a big old feed and then booze, I’ll be falling asleep!
£25 THEN £3.50 per bottle on top of what I already paid isn’t appearing all that appealing. When it was at The Cross Keys it was factored into the costs of the meal.
I’ll certainly be at Foley’s for a couple of hours, but to be honest just the bottle share at Foley’s seems like a better idea to me.
Hey Rob, yeah it’s a shame that The Cross Keys existing booking has expanded and Matt can no longer accommodate us. I tried another option (The Reliance) as you’d raised concerns with the corkage but they had no space either. It was simply a question of a great meal or none.
The feast at Create will be stunning. We’re talking about a six course tasting menu with 20-25cl beer per course (opening 2 beers per person, so sharing bottles and having a different beer with each course). It’s standard practice to charge the retail cost of your cheapest bottle for corkage – which is often £10 per bottle of wine. The fact that most of our beers are 10%+ and 75cls does mean we’ve kinda got a bargain vs what a wine bringer would pay.
Obviously it’s your call and it’s cracking that you’re joining at Mr Foleys and North Bar. I’ll take your name off the meal list unless I’ve just swayed you 🙂
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