Free State Beer Banquet

Free State Brewery is one of our favorite places to eat in Lawrence. The food is excellent, the beer is the best small brewery beverage (trust me--we have tried a lot of brewery beers on our travels!) and they have Monday beer day (select beers for only a $1.75/pint)! The last few years, they have had a beer banquet in February where the head chef prepares a special meal and they bring multiple beers in to go with the food. We hadn't had a chance to do it in the past for various reasons, so we jumped at the chance when Jackie and Bruce decided to do it this year.

For $45/person, we were treated to 5 courses and 8 beers (not full sized ones, but big enough to give you a nice buzz).

The list of beers---
Urthel Samaranth--a Belgian Quadruple Ale. Probably my favorite because it reminded me of our trip to Belgium last year.
Boulevard Saison Brett
Fireside Imperial Pilsner--One of Free State's own.
Oak Aged Ironman Imperial Stout--Another FS beer.
Big Sea ESB
Anderson Valley Hop Ottin
Santa's Helper
North Coast Pranqster

The food by course:
1st course--Pistachio Pork Pate on a tiny hash brown with Gruyere, cherry relish, mustard and sweet pickles. Not as liver-y as some pates are. Really quite tasty.

2nd course--Stout Marinated Duck Salad--with local greens, grapefruit and a roast shallot vinaigrette. I LOVE duck, so I loved this dish.

3rd course--Plum, orange and ginger sorbet trio. The ginger part was really interesting and tasty. The little gingersnap cookie was awesome!

4th course--Pomegranate Beef Filet with white cheddar potato gratinee, pork belly, brussels sprouts and cipolini onions. Really amazing!

5th course--Molten Chocolate Puff with malt ice cream, candied kumquat and hazelnut syrup. I am a not a big chocolate fan, so I wasn't impressed plus it was a let down compared to the rest of the meal.

Overall, we were really impressed with the food and beers. We had a great time with Jackie and Bruce, their friends and the other people sitting at the table. Seriously how can you go wrong with great food, beer and company?