Attendees enjoy some amazing French cuisine and tart Cantillon lambics at Gini's Restaurant

The Cantillon Tasting evening promoted on this website was held this past Thursday to a sold-out room of curious beer drinkers. On the whole I think it went quite well.For those of you who were thinking of coming, but didn’t, you missed an enjoyable evening with one of the world’s most unique beer and some astonishingly wonderful food. Gini’s Restaurant went above and beyond; the portions were larger than expected and the food prepared with elegance, class and an eye for subtle flavour blending. The Cantillons were even better than I remembered, with lively, complex, tart character.

Now, I could just write this post to make those of you who were not in attendance jealous, but that is not what I want to do. I want to discuss what I learned from the evening and what I think it might mean for the future of beer culture in Edmonton. First, I am now convinced that there is space in this city for more beer elegance. There is an appetite for quiet, informal evenings with beer as its focus – events that are not about pushing vast quantities of sub-standard swill on uninformed masses, but about slowly appreciating the complexity and subtleties of beer and learning about beer as a food, rather than a cabin-side hydration tool (not that there is anything wrong with that).

I was fascinated by the mix of people who attended. It had a good collection of experienced beer adventurers, including representation from the Edmonton Homebrewers’ Guild and Alley Kat Brewing, but I found most of the room were fairly new to exploring beer, many brought by a friend who acted as the catalyst. Three things seemed to have drawn their attention. The unusual nature of Cantillon was the first selling point – it is a rare, unique beer. Second, pairing it with fine French cuisine intrigued many. Third they knew it would be more than just sampling beer, it would be an integrated evening of beer education. I think that final point is the one that both surprises and encourages me the most.

I am also reminded that beer more than holds its own with food. Wine deserves its food pairing reputation, but beer is just as capable of enhancing any kind of dish – sweet or savoury. Budweiser might only work with nachos and pizza, but the world of beer is varied, complex and multi-layered. There is, indeed, a beer for every food. In case you were wondering, for the record, this is what we matched at the Cantillon evening:

Welcome: We started everyone with a sample of Alley Kat Full Moon, both because it is enjoyable in and of itself, but also because it provided a useful anchor for our flavour journey.

1. Bio Lambic Gueuze with Bouillabaisse (a tomato seafood soup). The Bio Lambic is their base beer, a blending of one, two and three year-old Lambic vintages. Mixed reviews from attendees on the pairing – some thought the soup brought out the citrus fruit notes in the beer, but others thought the acid in each partner tussled too much.

2. Iris with Gini’s House Pate (seasoned lamb at the moment). Iris is the most un-Cantillon beer – it has no wheat and has additions of fresh hops to give it a more traditional beer character. Strongly positive reviews about the pairing (I demurred on the pate, so cannot speak to this particular match).

3. Lou Pepe 2007 Kriek with Duck Medallions in a cherry guinette sauce, mashed potatoes, asparagus and carrots. The duck was cooked to perfection, and the soft flavours of the dish matched sublimely with the tart cherry of the kriek, A fabulous pairing.

Jason's favourite Cantillon and, possibly, favourite beer label

4. Rose de Gambrinus with no food pairing. Cantillon’s framboise is my personal favourite in their line-up. I really enjoy the sweet sharpness of raspberry with the lambic earthy tartness. We used it as a transition between the savoury courses and the dessert course.

5. Vigneronne with poached pears with blue cheese and a strawberry sauce. Vigneronne is blended with muscat white grapes, which mellows out the tartness and leaves the beer more like a dry white wine. The flavour combinations here were spectacular. First, I never believed that pear and blue cheese would work together, but I loved it. The soft, acidic fruit of the Vigneronne added a third dimension to the course. This course spotlighted the potential for pairing – how the two partners can accent each other and draw out new flavours to create a synergistic outcome greater than the sum of the two parts.

At the end of the evening I polled everyone on which Cantillon was their favourite and the result was an adorably even-split – which is how it should be, really, and is a testament to the consistent strength of Cantillon’s line-up.

Gini’s, Sherbrooke Liquor and I were all quite pleased with how the event turned out. And as near as I can tell everyone who came enjoyed themselves and felt it was money well spent. I think a second Cantillon event next year that does a vertical comparison tasting of this year’s batch with next year’s vintage would be a blast. I also know Sherbrooke’s Jim is already talking about future tasting evenings with other interesting beer. I think Edmonton might see a few more nights like the Cantillon night in the future. I certainly hope so.