Cutting-edge partnership
Marble Brewery teaming up with Bien Shur for pairing event
Marble Brewery craft beers will complement some savory courses as part of a special beer dinner on Thursday, June 1, at Bien Shur Rooftop Restaurant.
This is the second time Marble and Bien Shur at Sandia Resort & Casino have teamed up for a beer dinner.
“Marble has become an industry leader,” Bien Shur manager Bill Howley said. “Their beers are fantastic. They’re cutting-edge. They are food-friendly, and they are just a great group of people that love beer and love food. And (it will) be a lot of fun to do it with them a second time.”
The welcome reception starts with blue lump crab tater tot with avocado aioli paired with Marble Pilsner.
“In talking with chef Martin, who is a great guy and fun to work with, we wanted to make more than the traditional food pairing through a nice introductory beer in cans in an informal setting,” Marble head brewer John Heine said, referring to Bien Shur head chef J. Martin Torrez. “They can get a can of Pilsner out of the ice chest like at a backyard barbecue. … The cans sort of set the mood and create a relaxed environment.”
The first course features blue cheese and baby heirloom beet salad accompanied by Marble Brett IPA, which has an earthy, fruity, grassy aspect that you don’t get out of an IPA. Unlike regular IPA, which is matured 14 to 21 days, the Brett IPA is left to mature six to 12 months.
“The Brett IPA was kind of sour so I wanted something that would go with the sour,” Torrez said. “I think the sweetness of the beets, the sweetness of the pear would blend good with roasted mushrooms and pea shoots and blue cheese and I think that would just be a great combination with that, and it’s only going to be available at Bien Shur, that beer, the Brett IPA.”
The second course is made up of grilled lemon parsley-rubbed escolar with avocado mango bamboo rice with a charred orange reduction. It will be paired with Marble White Out, which will have a special bottle release in June. The main course features wild boar loin with bacon fingerling potato and Brussels sprout hash with a pancetta cipollini onion vinaigrette.
“Wild boar is so underappreciated, and I know that it’s a lot leaner than just regular pork, so that’s why I want to showcase something different, because we’ve done lamb, we’ve done elk, we’ve done short rib, we’ve done beef cheek, so I think this is going to be a lot different,” Torrez said. “… It’s awesome. It’s something that’s going to get people talking about it. It’s going to give them an experience with that one dish alone.”
The main course will be paired with Marble Bacon’s Best Friend.
“That is in the style of a rauchbier, which is German for ‘smoke,’” Heine said. “It has ingredients of malted barley that got exposed to woodsmoked oak. It was created early at Eubank and Montgomery by Josh Trujillo. He does experimental batches. It’s great we have it stored away in our archives. The richer, sweeter flavors as opposed to the hoppier beers age well. … It’s lighter in color than some traditional German smoked beers.”
The dinner ends with a finale duo of Meyer lemon semifreddo and summer berry tart complemented by Marble Blackberry Gose.
“Our beer is fermented with saccharomyces beer yeast and Lactobacillus that is found more in sour cream and yogurt,” Heine said of the gose. “It gives it a natural tartness. … We treat it as we would any other beer and add some hops to it and add a load of blackberry puree to that beer, which is 4 pounds per barrel. It gives a nice crimson, purple color to it. … It’s a nice light beer and a great palate cleanser.”