Hyatt-St. Louis Quarterly Brewhouse

Beer Dinners Brings New Experiences

                             by Pat Lindsey

It’s not just beer and pretzels and bar food anymore at The Brewhouse Historical Sports Bar in the downtown St. Louis Hyatt. Get ready for quarterly gastronomical experiences as local craft breweries pair their creations with multi-course original meals prepared by Brewhouse Sous Chef John Zimmerly.

Before you indulge in one of Chef Jon’s feasts, be sure to come hungry and perhaps line up a designated driver for your return trip home. Every course, including dessert, comes with a specially selected beer and that means you could consume at least six beers before the evening is over. But then they are only 4-6 ounces.

My husband and I attended the Hyatt Brewhouse preview beer dinner by default. The invitation was sent to Lisa Kampeter, our Dining Divas columnist, but she had another commitment that evening.   Since I am not a beer drinker, I was apprehensive about this meal. I decided I would at least try each beer that was served. And no one was more surprised than I was to learn that I actually liked most of the beers. No doubt that the chef’s pairing of them with just the right foods made them palate pleasing.

The featured beers were from 4 Hands Brewing Co., a

family-owned brewery in the Soulard area. Steve Salas and Nathan Brand were on hand to explain the differences in beer ingredients and why they pair so well with certain foods. Divided Skye Rye IPA is its flagship beer. In the past year, 4 Hands produced 9,000 barrels of beer in total, which is doubled from the previous year.

Our dining experience began with appetizers of Korean

Barbeque and Caribbean Grilled Shrimp. They were paired with Single Speed Blond and Centennial Red. Most beer dinners will begin with a light beer and progress to reds, IPAs, and end with a stout. Generous amounts of marinated steak, ribs, brisket, and pulled pork were served with unusual sides, such as garlic yucca fries, smoked potato chips, kale salad, smoked tofu, and succotash. Everything was delicious, including the beer.

Chef Jon has a new smoker and he used it well. Chef Jon’s barbeque sauce was among the best we’ve ever tasted. It’s so good, in fact, that restaurant manager Jon Sandretti is investigating ways to commercially bottle it.

The “Death of Me” chocolate cake with a Chocolate Milk

Stout chaser was nearly the death of me. By the time we finished the divine chocolate raspberry cake with alderwood smoked sea salt, it was time to roll us out in one of 4 Hands’ beer barrels.

For information on upcoming beer dinners, go to website:

stlouisarch.hyatt.com/en/hotel/dining/BrewhouseHistorical

SportsBar.html.

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