So I tried Simcoe Sensation from Oddside Ales a few nights ago. I was really looking forward to it because Oddside is relatively new to bottling and they are in West Michigan, right out of Grand Haven. My most coveted beer of theirs is definitely the Pineapple IPA and it pains me to say I haven’t tried it yet. Their Citra Pale was quite nice, but the Simcoe is.....
Certainly not bad? Just underwhelming, I think.
This is my second bottle, the first I had was after a few beers and wasn’t sure if I was judging it fairly.
There is definitely a gorgeous, fluffy white head to this beer, looks great in the glass. Good lacing. Comes out a tawny orange with a little bit of haze.
Super hoppy nose, very citrusy and I’m getting a little pine as well.
This is an incredibly bitter beer. Though it was citrusy in scent, the hop profile is much floral and grassy. First note is like wildflower, then there are notes of pine resin throughout. The bitterness overwhelms most of the beer, and is almost somewhat assaulting upon first sip, but eventually my palate numbs to it, and it begins to taste more herbal.
Which is the moment I decided to use about a third of the bottle in a cooking endeavor.
I had a globe eggplant that was on its last leg. I knew I could keep the freshest bits for baba ghanoush, but I had parts that I really just wanted to cook down pretty hard. I had decided to cut the eggplant into disks to batter and fry.
The larger eggplants have such a mild flavor, I knew adding Simcoe to the batter would definitely mean having to work with the bitterness of this beer.
I eventually decided to do the Simcoe and flour with some chopped basil and lemon pepper, and served it with leftover marinara for dipping with pulled strings of fresh mozzarella.
Fried food is never the prettiest to photograph, but this was truly delicious and I’m sure my mouth will be watering when I check back on this post tomorrow and see the picture.
Of course the process of frying all these little discs is something I would love to forget. It was pushing 90 degrees all day, and my kitchen was sweltering. Not really a well thought out meal for today, but I’m rewarding myself for sticking it out with ice cream and the rest of that frothy, cold Simcoe Sensation.
