Red Pepper Crostini, Olivada, and Red Sky At Night

We had a good friend over for dinner last night and Colleen served a delectable appetizer to kick off the evening. She prepared Red Pepper Crostini which was served along with homemade Olivada paste and thinly sliced mozzarella. Some non-toasted bread was also set out with herbed olive oil. As the smells of the cooking wafted through house during preparation, I immediately thought of Clipper City Red Sky at Night as the beer that would start the evening. When the appetizers were served I opened the Saison for Colleen and I. (Our guest isn't a beer drinker, yet.)

In The Brewmaster's Table, Garrett Oliver states "Saison is not just verstatile — it's downright promiscuous. It seems to go with everything." Well, I've not yet tried it with everything, but I can tell you this beer went with the Red Pepper Crostini and the Olivada quite well. The beer has enough of a spice component to match up to the garlic and pepper flavors. At the same time it doesn't over power the food and keeps the palate fresh.

We feasted on the appetizers for quite some time. Colleen toasted a second round of bread, and I poured myself a second Red Sky at Night. Eventually we moved on to the rest of the meal. The steaks I grilled, if I do say so myself, were quite good, but this appetizer with the Saison ale from Clipper City was the food highlight of the evening.

I previously reviewed the Red Sky at Night here.