We took the drive to West Jefferson, NC by a different route this trip. We were looking for a campground nearby with a drive that would be easy enough for us to navigate with a 35 ft. RV towing a car. Our tentative plans are to drive to Bristol on our way home to see Ann's sister Kathy and her husband John again. West Jefferson is between Hillsville and Bristol.
We did find a decent campground that is only a short 20 minute drive from West Jefferson, The drive from the campground back to Highland Grayson State Park will be less than an hour as well. We are hoping Ann's ankle is strong enough in 3 weeks that we can take the short hike to go see the wild ponies in the park. When we tried this hike back in June, the rain poured down before we could get to the ponies.
When we arrived at Boondocks, we sat at the bar and sipped one of the more than 30 craft beers on tap. We love the sign on the wall saying "I would give up beer but I'm not a quitter". Boondocks is a brewpub with a great atmosphere!
We moved to the private dining room for the beer dinner and were seated with Gary, the owner and head brewer. It was interesting as he talked about the beginnings of Boondocks and the plans to open a separate catering facility a block away in the near future.
This beer dinner was sponsored by Bell's Brewing Company located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Bell's has been brewing beer since 1985. We had never heard of Bell's but were eager to taste the beers they offered as a critical part of the dinner experience. We started off with Bell's Amber Ale, their flagship beer. he Amber Ale looked and tasted similar to Sam Adam's Boston Lager.
The first course was orange-mint glazed shrimp & scallop. The flavor was dominated by the orange with only a slight after taste of the mint. This course was accompanied by Bell's Oberon Wheat Ale, which is their summer beer. It had a crisp and clean flavor that complimented the seafood.
The second course was a sausage and black bean soup. It was very tasty, with a spicy bite to it. This soup would be a good option as a lunch entree, especially when the weather gets cooler. Bell's Lager of the Lakes was a very refreshing beer which helped compliment the heat from the local North Carolina (Lansing, NC) sausage that was used to make the soup. It was interesting that this soup was served warm, not hot. It was the chef's idea that serving the soup steaming hot, enhancing the spiciness, would overpower the beer.
Our main course was Sirloin Chipotle-Coffee Au'poive. The meat was tender enough to cut with a fork. As the name would imply, there was definitely some spicy aftertaste. The heat was easily squelched with Bell's Hopsolution, a double IPA that was so smooth. If it weren't for the 8% alcohol, we could have sipped additional servings of this outstanding beer. Our definite favorite beer of the night.
Dessert was a Bacon-Porter Brownie. The saltiness from the bacon blended well with the deep dark chocolate flavors in the brownie. Just look at the artful presentation on the plate. Bell's Porter even gave off hints of a chocolate taste. This was a great ending for those of us who really like chocolate.
This was our fourth beer dinner at Boondocks, and it lived up to our expectations once again. This restaurant does a great job of pairing the various beers with their exceptional food. The food items served at the beer dinners are created especially for the beer dinners and are not found on their regular menu. The food is high quality, and their chef uses many fresh locally grown ingredients.
Sounds like a great bill of fare
ReplyDeleteYou may have a retirement future in writing restaurant reviews. Nice job recapping your experience. I know I would have enjoyed these meals and I am glad you did as well.
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