Deadline Brewing Project Celebrates

Deadline Brewing Project celebrates their third anniversary.

Let me begin by saying I am not a beer drinker. Even when enticed by beer enthusiasts to “take a sip”, I am not intrigued. Deadline announced their Anniversary Celebration, a private event of craft beers created by Deadline’s owner Darrell Cuenca and food parings by local chef Angelo Martinez from Bonefish Grill. Our son and daughter in law along with close friends planned to attend. After determining that I could bring a bottle of wine, my daughter, the ‘Ole Buckeye and I decided to join the celebration.

A little background about Deadline might be helpful. Deadline is a nano brewery (small brewery) making beers using a two-barrel (62 gallon) system. This makes it easy to brew a lot of different beers and vary the offerings regularly. Three “news” guys from TV and newspaper started Deadline, thus the name. Darrell Cuenca is the creative brewer…creative indeed.

My son has frequented Deadline since the beginning. It is a neighborhood brewery with a regular following and an easy bike ride from his home. He hosted his Naval Retirement Party at Deadline at a private event in 2018. Memorable.

Over the years many beers have been enjoyed, thus being part of an anniversary celebration was imperative. It was also an “evening out” and those have been few and far between over the past 7 months. Knowing that it was a private event made the decision to attend an easy one. 

Groups were socially distanced and masks were worn by the wait staff. Our party of 6 beer drinkers and me (with my bottle of red wine) were very ready for a great time.

A champagne toast to 3 years, a particularly giant achievement considering the past 7 months, began the evening.

Course 1 Cheese Paired with “Lauren” Enigma IPA with Sauvignon Blanc Grape

The initial presentation was a cheese course paired with an IPA beer. The cheese plate consisted of three very unique selections. The “Red Dragon” English cheese covered with a hard red wax is made with Welsh brown ale, whole mustard seeds, coriander, dill, cumin, tarragon, garlic powder, bay leaf, black pepper, cloves, and cow’s milk. The Challerhocker cheese, pronounced “holler hocker”, meaning “sitting in the cellar” is a Swiss cheese with a paper covered tan rind. This cheese, made with cow’s milk, is washed in brine, rubbed with spices and then aged for a minimum of 12 months. The final selection the “Greatest of Ale Time” is a cheese made in Belgium, by Trappist monks using Chimay Dore’ a beer brewed in the Chimay Brewery which is a brewery at Scourmont Abbey, a Trappist monstery in Chimay, Belgium. 

The cheeses were paired with the “Lauren” Enigma IPA with Sauvignon Blanc Grape. Inspired by Darrell’s trip to Sonona, this beer is brewed with an Australian hop known as Enigma, heavy on the wine like characteristics of being “dry” and “grassy” and slightly “green”. A little over 5 gallons of Sauvignon Blanc grape juice was added to this beer post fermentation. After a brief secondary fermentation, it drinks more like a wine than an IPA. Incidentally this was my favorite beer overall – most likely because of the wine content.

Course 2 Spanish Omelet with Orange Vanilla Blonde

Traditionally this Spanish omelet is a vehicle for using whatever vegetables or meats are leftover from other days of cooking. It is baked in the morning with fresh eggs and left out to be eaten throughout the day. Tonight’s version was nothing close to “leftover”. It was served with a red pepper aioli. 

The omelet was paired with Orange Vanilla Blonde. This beer was the first on the list when Darrell opened his doors 3 years ago. Starting out as his house blonde recipe, after fermentation it gets additions of orange and vanilla extracts making it a ‘Creamsicle’ in a glass. 

Course 3 Butternut Squash Soup with “Summers” Apple Biers de Garde

Course number three showcased an outstanding butternut squash soup. The farm fresh butternut squash, apples and shallots were roasted and pureed with chicken stock and a little heavy cream and finished with a garnish of fried prosciutto crumbles. It was brimming with fall flavor. 

The soup was paired with “Summers” Apple Biers de Garde. The beer is Darrell’s farmhouse ale bringing slight brown color from the malt, fermented with saison yeast. This is a great fall beer. The addition of fresh pressed apple cider smooths out the ‘funk’ known to accompany this style of beer. This pairing proved to me without a doubt that beer can be paired with food truly enhancing the flavor of both.

Course 4 Tuna Sashimi with Dulce de Leche Milk Brown

The Sushi grade Ahi Tuna is rolled in ‘tuxedo’ (black and white) sesame seeds and flash seared. This cooking action leaves the edges of the tuna slightly cooked while the center remains raw. The perfectly prepared tuna was served with three sauces: a very hot Sriracha sauce, an Asian spicy mustard sauce, and Wasabi Cream sauce. This selection was taken from the menu at Bonefish Grill. 

The beer pairing was Dulce de Leche Milk Brown. Starting out with a brunette recipe, the addition of lactose and lots of brown sugar gives this beer a rich mouth feel with a back note of molasses. A malty brown ale drinker’s dream, it doesn’t come off too sweet or linger on the palate. I will admit that this beer was not my favorite and I passed it on. Considering that we were finishing our 4th course and I had fully enjoyed all of the other beers speaks volumes.

Course 5 Flank Steak Chili with ‘Smith’ DIPA

And then there was chili. This was not your normal football weekend chili, this true Texas chili was loaded with flank steak. The recipe originated from chili served by the Chili Queens outside of the Alamo. We requested the recipe, but were politely refused! Additionally the beer served with this chili rose to the occasion. 

The spicy chili was paired with ‘Smith’ DIPA, Darrells’s first beer with an ABV over 7%. This is truly a West Coast style IPA showcasing an almost equal amount of Citra and Mosaic hops. This beer has a ton of hop punch, a touch of bitterness, and an alcohol burn to let you know that it’s a double IPA. It held up beautifully to the bold chili.

Course 6 Pork Tenderloin with “Carlson” Red IPA

This course featured a perfectly prepared and moist pork tenderloin served with a port wine cherry reduction sauce. The pork loin was sous vide and then seared, sliced on the bias, and served with dried cherries reconstituted with port wine. (This sauce is definitely one I will attempt to duplicate.) A lovely sweet corn risotto completed the plate.

The “Carlson” Red IPA made its’ first appearance during Deadline’s one year anniversary celebration. This hoppy, malty garnet colored beer is the perfect autumn IPA. The hop profile is very present but so is the toasty biscuit flavor from the caramel malts. In the taproom, this beer is also known as “if it bleeds, it leads”.

Course 7 Sea Bass with ‘Gines’ Passion Fruit Blonde

What a treat! Sea Bass, a naturally oily fish, was seasoned and baked to perfection and served with a fresh mango salsa and mashed potato. 

The paired beer is the ‘Gines’ Passion Fruit blonde. This is the house blond recipe with the addition of 40 pounds of passion fruit post fermentation. This beer packs all the aroma and taste of the passion fruit but finishes clean.

Course 8 Flourless Brownie with Blackberry and Raspberry Stout

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better…dessert arrived. This rich, dense chocolate brownie was accompanied by a raspberry and blackberry sauce and topped with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. I will be perfectly candid when I relay that I was relatively certain that there would not be a beer that would enhance this decadent dessert. Wrong. In fact I was basically proven wrong over the entire course of the evening. Delightedly so.

The Blackberry and Raspberry Stout completed the evening’s beer extravaganza. This dry Irish Stout recipe with the addition of the most fruit ever used in any of their beers thus far, a whopping 30 pounds of blackberries and 20 pounds of raspberries. This beer tasted like a chocolate truffle filled with berry ganache. 

So there you have it…a grand evening of fabulous food and extraordinary beer. The wine that I opened upon arrival and poured into a glass to begin the evening remained untouched. Aside from the Dulce de Leche Milk Brown the beer offerings were entirely consumed…by me! The pairings complimented each other so well that one could not be enjoyed without the other. My compliments to the chef and the brew master. I am looking forward to their next celebration.

The celebration continues at Deadline with the special brews ready to enjoy.

CHEERS!