I was making lasagna for lunch and was wondering if I could have some cold beer?
Why not.
I prepare lasagna according to a well-known recipe and I know in advance what kind of taste I can expect.
It is a combination of the flavors of stewed ground pork, stewed mushrooms, mild béchamel sauce and sour tomato juice.
But I had no idea which beer to choose with the lasagna.
I opened the fridge and took out one that had an interesting label, a beer I bought in Greece.
Considering that the beer contains 9% honey, I could immediately assume that this beer would not go well with spicy lasagna, but what does it matter, I'll drink it when I finish lunch, just to sweeten myself up a bit, because I didn't have any dessert 😀
Septem, a Greek microbrewery brewing since 2009, is located on the Greek island of Evia, which is famous for its honey production.
The founders of Septem brewery are chemists and oenologists, as well as economists, who based their beer production on high-quality hop varieties, and in production use fresh, unpasteurized malt, in order to preserve all the aromas in the beer.
The one I opened was Sunday's Honey Golden Ale.
When they made the first beer collection, they used the name Septem (Seven in Latin), so that they would have one beer for each day.
It's a pity that, when I was shopping, I didn't know that so I chose the Saturday's bottle 🙂
This way, I have to enter the #beersaturday contest with Sunday's beer 😀
When pouring, the foam is firm and high, it lasts for a long time, and the smell of orange dominates.
Unpasteurized, cloudy beer, beautiful, golden, almost orange in color, recommended to be drunk chilled at 10°C, invites tasting.
With the first bite of lasagna I tried a sip of this beer and my guess turned out to be correct.
The sweet taste of flower honey from the island of Evia and not so much bitterness 27 IBU, with a fairly high alcohol % (6.5%), did not go well with the salty and spicy lasagna.
If it didn't have a high percentage of floral honey, probably the quality blend of malts (Pilsner, Pale Ale, Crystal Malt) and the carefully selected Styrian Golding and Tettnanger hops would make this beer compatible with a strong dish like my lasagna.
But as the taste of honey prevailed, I gave up with the tasting with lunch.
And that's why, while the beer warmed up a little to the recommended temperature of 10°C, I enjoyed every bite of lasagna, and drank the beer after lunch, when the taste of lasagna disappeared in my mouth.
The taste of beer is slightly sweet, balanced by bitterness, and in addition to orange, you can feel the flavors of peach and exotic fruits.
A real dessert after a quality, spicy meal.