We continued our monthly series of Dublin City Brewing Co. Tasting Clubs last night with another sell-out event, tasting our delicious core range of beers and a special new addition alongside some delicious Mexican food.
The 110-strong audience of Dublin beer and food lovers were joined, as always, by our Master Brewer Fergal Murray and this month’s special guest Lily Ramirez Foran of Picado Mexican Pantry on South Richmond Street.
Lily opened Picado Mexican in 2014, when it was Ireland’s first dedicated Mexican grocer and cookery school, which imports and sells the finest food items from Lily’s native Mexico.
The Dublin City Brewing Co. Tasting Club takes place on the final Thursday of every month, and gives our loyal craft beer fanatics the opportunity to get to know our team as well as discover the perfect food and drink pairings for our drinks.
Fergal started the tasting with our Liberator Irish Lager and discussed how his aim with this particular expression was to create the perfect drink for “satisfying your thirst” and the lager was described by one enthusiastic audience member as “the best lager I’ve had in years!”.
The Tasting Club were then introduced to a special treat, our “extraordinary” limited-edition Pioneer Pilsner, which is a tribute to the independent pioneering brewers once prominent across the towns and cities of Ireland and boasts layers of malt characters.
It’s fair to say it was an instant hit with the lucky guests, with many picking up the beer’s floral and spicy notes and calling for it to be a more permanent fixture in our range moving forward.
Lily, who is a self-confessed “beer cooker” due to her Mexican heritage, referred to the Pioneer Pilsner as tasting like “sunshine” and the perfect extra ingredient for her Drunken Salsa, which she then proceeded to create live for us.
The delicious looking salsa, which Lily said “despite being a bit boozy, is perfect for breakfast foods, such as a fried or a scrambled egg” is a Mexican staple containing chopped onions, jalapeños and fresh tomatoes all cooked in our pilsner of course!
Lily talked about her journey from Mexico to Dublin 21-years ago, when she initially wasn’t able to find too many exotic flavours in the capital. She’s delighted at how the city’s food scene has diversified over the years to now being much more multicultural and being home to flavours from all around the world.
She also provided background into how beer made its way into Mexican cooking as the salsa steamed away, accompanied by her corn tortillas – making you wish you could smell her kitchen through the screen!
For Lily’s full Drunken Salsa recipe to create at-home see here.
Our Master Brewer Fergal then finished off the Tasting Club with our Patriot Pale Ale, which he says brings an extra level of hops and is ideal for ‘settling back and relaxing’, while providing insight into his production process.
“Brilliant beers, food and knowledge, thanks everyone!!”
Next month we’ll be joined by Andy Noonan, the maverick Pitmaster behind Baste BBQ and the Big Grill Festival. For more information on how to get involved make sure you follow us on: www.instagram.com/dublincitybrewing
