A Honkin’ Good Time

Mellow Mushroom Avondale is teaming up with Goose Island Brewing this Thursday, Aug. 7 for a special five-course dinner, with each course paired with a different beer from the Chicago brewery.
The dinner will get started at 7 p.m. with Mellow Mushroom pretzel bites, served with beer cheese, aged and smoked Gouda, nuts, honey, and fresh fruit. The first course will be paired with Goose Island’s highly-rated Belgium strong ale Matilda. At 7 percent alcohol by volume (ABV), Matilda is slightly lemony, with peppery notes from the spicy hops.
The second course will be Chili Lime Nachos, pineapple Jamacian jerk chicken, queso, avocado, fresh jalapeño, Pico de Gallo, crumbled cotija cheese, and drizzled with lime vinigarette. The spicy nachos will be paired with The Ogden, Goose Island’s big 9 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) Belgian-style tripel ale, brewed with Citra, Brewers Gold and Saaz hops. The Ogden is named after Chicago’s first mayor, who also opened the city’s first brewery.
The third course will be a ricotta salata, with Kalamata olives, fresh watermelon, topped with basil and course sea salt and drizzled with a lime vinegarette. It will be served with Mellow Mushroom’s Summer Hoedown Cocktail, which is a watermelon cocktail that’s topped with Goose Island’s 312 Urban Wheat beer.
The fourth course is Mellow Mushroom’s Beast of the Southern Wild pizza, which is a thin flatbread pizza with a ricotta base, poached shrimp, roasted corn, and basil, served with a simple arugula salad. With so many flavors going on, this course is nicely paired with Sofie, Goose Island’s Saison/Farmhouse ale that is 80 percent Belgian style ale and 20 percent Belgian style ale aged in wine barrels with citrus peel.
The fifth and final course is the dessert course, which includes carrot and zucchini cupcakes with salted cream cheese frosting. To cut through the sweetness, the cupcakes will be served with Goose Island’s clean and crisp All Day IPA, which is a low-alcohol but tasty India Pale Ale. All Day has hints of fresh oranges, grapefruit, pine, herbal, and some trace of grain. It has a grassy hop character without being too bitter.
Lastly, there will be a beer milkshake with Ambrose Farm cantaloupe and vanilla bean ice cream to close out the dinner..
Tickets are $30, $25 for 100 Beer Club members, and $20 for 200 Beer Club members . Mellow Mushroom is located at 19 Magnolia Road. To purchase tickets, visit www.mellowbeerdinner.com/avondale.