Smooth Operators

When the critical components of a good beer dinner work in unison, good things happen. So it was at last night's third Humphrey's Tavern Beer Dinner, which, as usual, featured Larry Cera's culinary wizardry, the unique airy-cozy ambience of Mike Keller's historic tavern and the beers of Southern Tier Brewing Company as presented by Rob Muscatello.

Muscatello has become synonymous with Southern Tier in NJ, having hosted at many successful events, including beer dinners, brewfests and tap takeovers. And it's not hard to see why they're successful. Muscatello has a smooth, relaxed, passionate--and informed--delivery about his products that seems to hold his audience's attention.

At many beer dinners, the guests pay attention to the speaker for the first beer description or two, but the presenter's voice fades in direct correlation to the number of beers (and their relative ABV) being consumed, so that by night's end, few give a damn about what the presenter is saying.

Not so at a Muscatello event. And Rob was smart enough to present his Creme Brulée, a big 10% Imperial Stout at the end (with Larry Cera's amazing Pecan Pie dish), so all he had to do was thank everyone for coming and wish them a safe trip home.

Cera's (right) excellent food choices were prepared with an eye towards solid pairings. His first course, featuring a succulent piece of beef in a flavorful broth (above), was paired with ST's Pilsner, a light lager.

His second, a most interesting Shrimp and Brat dish on a bed of rice (below), came out with ST's Raspberry White Wheat Ale. Actually, Muscatello--rep turned alchemist--made a delicious hybrid of the Raspberry and the Creme Brulée and called it Raspberry Brulée, prompting my seat mate Gina Delusant (Rob's sister) and I to break out into a few bars of an old Prince classic song.

Speaking of Gina, I knew it was going to be a good night as soon as I met her. A RWM (Rabid Wrestling Mom) with four sons into wrestling, we hit it off immediately when she noticed the TCNJ Wrestling logo on my shirt. There's a special place in Heaven for moms of wrestlers, as well as grandmoms of wrestlers. Rob's own mom Fran, a contemporary of mine, was on hand for the event, and we had a delightful time talking about the "old days" during courses.

A third course from Cera featured specially prepared Canadian Bacon Slices atop a bed of delicious grits, and ST's outstanding Porter accompanied it. Roasty, toasty and laden with rich layers of chocolate and coffee notes, The PubScout considers it one of ST's best beers.

The fourth course was a Southern-style chicken dish (right)--tender, juicy and loaded with flavors that paired perfectly with ST's Nu Skool IPA. The Mosaic and Simcoe hops worked wonders on the dish--and vice versa. Nu Skool's going to be a winner, I predict.

As I've always maintained, you get to meet the nicest people at beer events, and one of those was in the person of Komal Das, who attended the event solo. Turns out Komal (below) runs a gourmet/handmade ice cream shop in Budd Lake ("best ice cream in Morris County") and she uses ST's famous Choklat in one of her recipes.

Another was Rachel (below), another RWM wrestling mom friend of Gina's who stole my seat when I got up to flit about the room. And I learned that owner Mike Keller is actually a youth wrestling coach with a promising young wrestler of his own named Nathan. Small world, but the wrestling community is a solid one. As Dan Gable once said, "Once you've wrestled, everything in life is easy."

Apparently, that includes running successful beer dinners, because Keller and Humphrey's Tavern are now three-for-three, all due to a very smooth operation.

And I even got a selfie with the beautiful, but elusive, Hannah (below).