Best of the West Women and Beer Dinner with Dea Latis

On Thursday evening I went along to the 'Best of the West' Women and Beer dinner hosted by Dea Latis, who's goal is to get more women interested and trying beers. Held at The Albion in Bristol and supported by St Austell, this was Dea Latis' first time holding an event like this in the West Country. I found out about the event via an email sent out by The British Guild of Beer Writers of which I am a member of. Despite the fact my boyfriend works for St Austell/ Bath Ales, I paid full price for my ticket and I am not affiliated with the brewery. I went along to the dinner out of my own interest and to challenge myself with food and beer pairings.

Annabelle, beer sommelier and host for the dinner, guided us through the history of women's involvement in beer production. She was very quick to dispel any misconceptions women may feel about beer, i.e. the dreaded beer belly. The main focus of the evening, however, was to look into food and beer matches that we could try for ourselves at home. From a previous blog post you may remember that I struggle with trying new foods. I was struck with fear as I realised that two out of the five courses were foods I wasn't particularly keen on but I went into the dinner with the mentality that I had to try to eat these dishes to see how they matched with the beers. I may not have eaten everything on the plates but I gave them a good try! My highlights if the evening were a chicken liver parfait teamed with Leifmans Kriek Brut and a lemon posset with prosecco strawberry jelly matched with Bath Ales' Dark Side. These two courses stood out to me as they were so contrasting and the flavours were really complex on the palate. 

A really great thing I came away with from the experience was seeing everyone eating and enjoying beers, so much so that spare bottles were being passed up and down the table. Our group had a good mixture of frequent ale drinkers and women who were new beer. I even saw a couple of ladies, who thought that they had a definite beer type, try a new style of beer and really enjoy it. I believe that most of us who attended were challenged in different ways and have all learned something about our beer preferences.  

This was the first 'Best of the West' Women and Beer dinner and I hope to be able to go again. It would be great to see some new faces next time!