Pic(k) of the Week: Wearing USA colors at Abita Brewing Beer Dinner.

Possibly forlorn about USA's 2-1 loss to Belgium in the 'knockout' round of the soccer World Cup, this Star-Spangled-Bannered fan may have taken solace in the beer dinner he attended, immediately following the game, at Lyon Hall Restaurant, in the Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia.

For the dinner, Lyon Hall's executive chef Matt Hill had designed a 5-course menu. In return, David McGregor —Lyon Hall's Beer Director— selected a Belgian beer for each of the 5 courses. In competition, Brendan Cahill —the Washington, D.C.-area representative for Louisiana, USA's Abita Brewing— chose an Abita beer for each.

Then, at the dinner, the diners voted for their preferred beer-with-meal pairings. It's a clever concept, and one that Lyon Hall has executed on several prior occasions, with other breweries.

On this evening, it was schadenfreude. Abita Brewing —of the USA— 'defeated' Belgium.

The menu

• Blue Crab Beignets with lemon jalapeño aioli.
  Served with:
  Abita Lemon-Wheat Harvest Ale VS. Petrus Oak-aged Pale Ale
  ---> Winner: Abita Lemon Wheat


• Roasted Cobia with sweet corn, fava bean, & herb salsa verde.
  Served with:
  Abita Andygator Helles Doppelbock VS. Duvel Single
  ---> Winner: Abita Andygator


• Slow Braised Pork Belly with crisp oysters & pickled green tomato, celery.
  Served with:
  Abita TurboDog Brown Ale VS. Corsendonk Pater Abbey Brown Ale
  ---> Winner: Corsendonk Pater


• Gilled Myer Beef Sirloin with Tasso ham gravy & black vinegar-braised kale.
  Served with:
  Abita Imperator Black IPA VS. St. Bernardus Prior 8 Abbey Dubbel
  ---> Winner: Abita Imperator


• Fried Calas with sour cherry granita & rum/star anise sauce.
  Served with:
  Abita Triple Haze VS. Liefmans Cuvée Brut
  ---> Winner: Liefmans Cuvée Brut

Abita Brewing may have 'won' the vote, but the applause at the dinner's end was strong for Chef Matt Hill and his menu. And, in defense of the flag-bedecked gentleman above, the bag to his right was not his man-purse.

1 July 2014.

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• More pics from the dinner: here.
• Caveat lector: As a representative for Select Wines, Inc. —a wine and beer wholesaler in northern Virginia— I sell the beers of Abita Brewing.
• Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of personal photos, often posted on Saturdays, and often, but not always, with a good fermentable as a subject. Camera: Olympus Pen E-PL1.
• Commercial reproduction requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.