Brooklyn Brewery Mash: Dinner with Friends

This year we got to experience a little taste of The Brooklyn Brewery Mash when we stopped by Bing Bing Dim Sum for Dinner with Friends on August 25th. Little did we know this would be one of the most lively and exciting Thursday nights we’ve had in quite sometime! Whether you’re an expert in beer or not, this was a special evening.

The Brooklyn Brewery Mash is a weekend-long cultural festival exploring vibrant communities in cities around the world through food, music, art and beer. The Mash is the largest international traveling tour of its kind, stopping in six U.S. cities plus London, Stockholm and Paris in 2016. Brooklyn Brewery’s latest iteration of the Mash takes a reimagined look at four time-honored celebrations: the meal, the beer festival, the bar crawl and the concert, by curating a series of forward-thinking experiences through collaborations with Philadelphia-based tastemakers, musicians, chefs, and breweries. This award-winning craft brewery brings immersive beer-centric festival to Philadelphia with a weekend of collaborative events featuring local friends in food, music, and beer.

Dinner with Friends was the first event to kick off the weekend of Brooklyn Brewery events. The night was organized by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson, a proud Philadelphia native, and Chef Ben Puchowitz of Bing Bing Dim Sum, who reunited to create a one-night-only-menu, served in its entirety and paired with some of Brooklyn’s rarest beers.

Their vision: The more friends you gather at the table, the more dynamic beer pairings you can taste and try together.

This dinner was absolutely unique, not only was the dim sum delicious, but paired with small-batch crafted beers from Brooklyn Brewery made the flavor pairings and combinations unbeatable. From the sake at the start of dinner to the dark stout at the last course our bellies were bursting with happiness. Bing Bing Dim Sum did an excellent job of hosting a packed house for this special dinner.

First Course: We started with some Crudo made with mako, shiso vinaigrette, sea beans, and watermelon. This dish had a great balance of salt from the vinaigrette and a light sweetness from the fresh watermelon. The Littleneck Clams, although might have been the favorite of this course with seaweed, fermented black bean, and bing bread for dipping in the delicious broth. Finally some Shrimp Dumplings were served made with fresh horseradish, and poppy seeds. The beer for this course was Brooklyn Brewery Sorachi Ace, Bel Air Sour, and Lacto Futura.

Second Course: We loved the hearty Crispy Lamb and Eggplant Eggroll with kimchi dipping sauce and the lightness of the Cucumber Salad with fermented garlic, mint, and sesame chili oil. And our favorite of the course might have been the Sichuan Pepper Pork Dumplings with black vinegar, and shishito peppers. We washed it all down with Brooklyn Brewery Defender IPA.

Third Course: Although our appetite was fading we had to try the Char Siu Pork Shoulder & Fluffy Buns, served with fun sauces and pickles this dish was tender and juicy. The Dry Fried Green Beans with shrimp powder and crispy onion were good, but a little salty for our tastebuds. Luckily we had Brooklyn Brewery K is for Kriek and The Discreet Charm of the Framboisie to quench our thirst.

Dessert last but not least was the Black Chocolate Stout Soft Serve with assorted toppings and Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout. This drink was so dark and chocolaty it almost felt like drinking dark chocolate syrup. We applauded the chefs and staff for a very successful evening and then slowly slipped into our food-induced comas. Till next year Brooklyn Brewery Mash, we to see you back in Philadelphia soon!