O'Fallon Brewery

I had attempted to go to the opening of the new O'Fallon Brewery O'Bar in Westport Plaza, but it was pretty jammed packed by the time I got there. I could not wait to go back at a more reasonable day and time.

I finally got my chance after returning from vacation and needed a bite to eat. We were just as excited about trying out the new menu as we were getting a flight of beer to taste!

9pm on a Friday night, the small patio was full and the main restaurant was only mildly busy at that time. I am thinking that it was probably hopping right after work for happy hour since it's in the middle of an industrial park. So it worked out best that we went for a late dinner.

We started off with an appetizer, Flash Fried Spiniach, so we could get something healthy in before the beer.

I was impressed with the range of the appetizers and menu as a whole. Not your typical bar food! (Yes, there is even a cheese plate!) A few sandwiches, salads, and flatbreads. Nice and simple. Good portion sizes...you get your money's worth, but it's not too much.

Flash Fried Spinach

Patience got the burger...

O'Bar Premium Burger

...while I got the Veggie Hummus Wrap.

Veggie Hummus Wrap

Silly me, I almost forgot the beer! Starting on the right, we split a flight of Golden Ale (light and refreshing for summer), Cherry Chocolate (delicious and not heavy), Strawberry Best (fruity summer beer for sure), and the Porter (waaaaay too heavy for this time of year).

Not pictured is the pint of King Louie Stout that Patience loves!

Beer Flight

We both had wanted their Homemade Mac and Cheese, but they ran out...we'll definitely have to go back for that!

Resources:

O'Fallon Brewery = http://www.ofallonbrewery.com/obar/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Cheese and Beer Pairings - O'Fallon Brewery

O'Fallon Beer and cheeses

Accompaniments

This month's cheese and beer pairing at Dierbergs featured O'Fallon Brewery, which I didn't know that much about beyond their famous pumpkin beer in the fall and their "Wheach". The "Wheach" is exactly what it sounds like, a peach wheat beer that's very fruit forward and perfect for summer time. I thought the Manchego was a little dry to match the sweetness of the beer, but neither one overpowered the other for a nice balance. I also learned that the Manchego goes great with honey on top!

But even before the first beer, my favorite was the welcome beer, Kite Tail. As a cream ale, it's so easy drinking. Definitely a patio pounder!

The second beer was new to me, Hemp Hop Rye. To answer the first question you probably have, no, there is no THC in the beer. The amber ale uses toasted hemp seed to create a nutty flavor in the beer. There is only a mild hop flavor so this is very drinkable, and it was paired with a triple creme, LA Bonne Vie Rouge for a "bread and butter" taste together. I thought the sweet pickles on the side were a bit too overpowering though.

I had heard of the 5-Day IPA before and the five stands for the number of days the beer rests on top of hops. As per usual, the IPA was paired with a blue cheese as well as prosciutto.

Another newish beer by O'Fallon is "Zeke's Pale Ale", which again is only slightly hoppy and very easy to drink. This was paired with my all time favorite cheese, Midnight Moon by Cypress Grove. (It's about time they served this during a pairing class!!!!!!) Good thing the beer is mild enough to let the cheese shine on this one. And when it's decorated with fig paste on top....OH MY!!

I was impressed with the last beer, a Smoked Porter, since I had never tried one before and O'Fallon is among a few that make a smoked beer in the St. Louis area. The bigger flavor of this beer was paired with a peppercorn cheddar. The smoked beer did chill out the cheddar to balance it out, but the best part was the dark chocolate with the smoked beer!!

O'Fallon is almost finished with their new brewery and tasting room in Maryland Heights - should be open next month!

Resources:

O'Fallon Brewery = http://www.ofallonbrewery.com/

Dierbergs = http://www.dierbergs.com/

PW Pizza O'Fallon Beer Dinner

I am a little sad that this is the last PW Pizza Beer Dinner of the year, but I'm pretty proud that I only missed once. This month, O'Fallon Brewery was featured and they were all new beers to me. I am really high on O'Fallon Brewery right now because they're going to be building a new facility in Maryland Heights, not that far from me!

Menu

We started off with the best salad of the year. While the title claims "Bacon Parmesan Salad", I didn't get much much bacon, and loved all the goodies in the salad with a rich, thick, Ranch-like dressing.

Bacon Parmesan Salad

Oh yeah...it was paired with the Zeke's Pale Ale, nice and light but still a little too hoppy for us.

My favorite beer came next. The Hemp Hop Rye was very mild with an easy finish. The pizza paired with this was very busy with toppings and with flavor since there was chicken, portabella mushrooms, blue cheese and red onion. Everyone tried to fill up on this one.

Marinated Chicken & Portabella Pizza with Hemp Hop Rye

The third pairing of the night put together all the pumpkin flavors. Unfortunately, the pumpkin on the pizza and the beer was really intense. The Imperial Pumpkin is no joke! The Roasted Pumpkin Pizza was topped with goat cheese, caramelized onions, sage, and golden raisins. First time I've ever had raisins on a pizza!

Roasted Pumpkin Pizza with Imperial Pumpkin

Of course the dessert course was Patience's favorite: Pecan Walnut Bread Pudding (really dense!) in a ginger caramel sauce and lemon grass whipped cream with a King Louie Winter Toffee Stout.

Pecan Walnut Bread Pudding with King Louie Winter Toffee Stout

I can't wait to see what breweries are available in 2015!

Resources:

PW Pizza = http://pwpizza.com/

O'Fallon Brewery = http://www.ofallonbrewery.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon