FNSC: Beer Table

For Sofia's birthday she chose to have dinner at Beer Table in Brooklyn.  We pulled up at the address to find a parking space right out side (Todd was ecstatic) and then realized that we'd already been there on the park slope bar crawl in 2008.  Since it was several bars into the crawl we mostly remembered that it had had good beer and that we'd picked up a bright green pistachio muffin on the way there that had been surprisingly good. (side note: Todd, slightly tipsy, simply ran off without saying anything and returned with the muffin. He apparently saw it in the window and ran back a few blocks to get it. Good decision.)

As we were siting in the car trying to decide if she should go in and get a table or wander around the neighborhood for a bit while we waited for Sofia, the table in the front opened up and we decided to grab it.  Although it was Sofia's birthday dinner and we'd beaten her there we figured we should pick out a few things to get started so we started off with a Hog's Back Old Tongham's Tasty (cask ale) and a Great Divide 16th Anniversary ale (both on tap).  Both of these turned out to be superb.  Then Todd had already checked out the menu and had his eye on the pickled eggs with jalapeno powder, so when our neighbors order the pickled eggs we quickly followed suit and also ordered the spicy pickle plate. 
We managed not to inhale the fantastic pickles before Sofia arrived but it was a near thing.

Once Sofia arrived the first order of business was to get her a drink and after a long discussion the waiter suggested this terrific beer:

Also among the waiter's suggestions was this beer:

This was my favorite beer of the evening and one of the best beer's I've ever had. It is a very subtle and rich sour beer, complex and interesting without being

We thought about getting the three course meal but since we'd had the pickles and we had a tasty dessert waiting for us we decided to go light, getting just the pickled watermelon and roasted beets from the first course choices and the meatloaf and the butter beans from the second. 

The meatloaf was tasty and spicy as promised, but the butter beans were a really delicious surprise.  I had not voted for the butter beans but Sofia and Todd out-voted me and I'm glad that they did.  Neither of them like mayonnaise, but the whole dish worked really well including the creamy dollop of mayo on top of what looked like semolina bread smothered in beans that were tender to the point of disintegration. (Todd's note:  The watermelon was unusual in that the red parts hadn't absorbed much heat or vinegar and were mostly sweet, but the rind was completely spicy and picked. It totally worked.)  The staff were really nice and even let us have the cake at the table, as well as bring us an unlisted sour ale from the cellar. This venue is highly recommended and a new favorite.

Happy Birthday Fif!